AAD Cape Town or Waterkloof?

[JetPark]

I am not sure if anyone had the experience I had to endure on the opening day of AAD Cape Town? Having arrived timeously to register as a Trade Visitor (having registered on-line as required/suggested by the organizers) we (my high profile guest from Europe was with me) were advised upon arrival by some idiot that we should "come back at 2pm" because "they were in a meeting". As the time was 10h30 - clearly that did not go down well with me, and by now, a few other delegates. The event people on-site were sadly lacking in communication and with a care-less and arrogant attitude that did not bode well for our image. How was it possible that the Registration Unit was not ready for visitors? And then to keep us all waiting for an hour in the sun and wind - quite ridculous to say the least. It was pathetic. Tempers flew and with a "take it or leave it" attidtude of event staff - best we take AAD back to Waterkloof and change a few things. Cape Town must wake up. Heaven help us for 2010 if we can;t even get the basic right!!!:ugh: The show as a disappointment for me personally.

[jagunmolu]

Dont take it personal they were just having a bad day,It always happens when everybodys expects the other to make it work and nothing gets done, a brain glitch perhaps.Make sure attend thier next one i can assure you arrangements will be better made as it was more embarassing to them than you a little bird told me.....It could actually have been worse cheer up buddy.:) :)

[B Sousa]

Are we voting.??
One for Waterkloof.

[JetPark]

Hey Jag, I need no cheering up I promise. AAD has been and gone so it's all over now anyway, and the blood pressure has normalized. ;) And embarassed they should have been - there was NO EXCUSE good enough for what went on there that morning. I am just intolerant of incompetence. Waterkloof it needs to be:ok:

[whiskeyflyer]

Waterkloof please next time.
On trade days not as many aviation professionals as in Waterkloof (boosting numbers with every type of military staff does not count) Also many people had problems getting on flights from JNB to CPT.
Gauteng is the business centre of RSA (and Southern Africa) and the majority of avaition businesses. Cape Town is for holidays, rip off beer prices and slow, slow restaurant service.

[Life'sShort-FlyFast]

My vote is for Waterkloof. Ysterplaat was not nice at all. The atmosphere was very strange, the exhibitors, who pay a fortune to present their wares, felt that they did not have "a lot of qualified buyers through their stands." For me, it cost a bomb to get to CT, then another bomb to stay there. A mate of mine said if they were to have it in CT again, then he would rather take R100 notes and throw them away. 2010, not so sure!!

[Goldfish Jack]

Well according to newspaper reports the organisers were very happy with Ysters.

Was no problem from an ATC point of view - what pleasure to see some fighters moving at speed and professionally operated as well! Pity they could not have stayed longer.

Was a pity there was so much going on that week in the Cape - maybe next time their planning will be better.

Ysters gets my vote any day - besides it is not only an aviation exhibition - the planning for the next one indicates a much bigger naval presence as well.

[Gauteng Pilot]

Spoke to 2 large exibitors about it

They both said they wernt in favour of holding it at ysterplaat again for 2 reasons

1) Cost them a lot more to exibit there (transport, hotels ect ect ), but yet they had many LESS potential business visitors to their stands / aircraft

2) They had major problems getting guests in , similar to what JetPark mentions in the first post