Korean Job Discussion Forums

[diver]

Well, the first Korean GP has come and gone. Some notes.

It was a mess organizationally.

The good
English speaking staff at info booths

The bad
They didn't have any information.
You don't have to be fluent in English to say 'I'm sorry' or 'I don't know'.

The good
I was able to get tickets to the race.

The bad
The seats I paid for didn't exist.

The bad
Holding fans outside the gates Saturday morning until about 20 minutes before morning practice. If you've never been to a race, once you get through the gate you still have a long walk to your seats. If they exist. If they don't then you just pretend to wall to your seats.

The ugly
They held fans outside the gate because the computers were down and they couldn't use their scanners to scan the tickets. Grand Prixs have been run since long before computers, and they did so successfully. The ticket takers had eyes. Couldn't they just look at the tickets?

The bad
Not enough transportation from the circuit. Getting in was easy, getting out was very difficult.

The ugly
Line jumping for buses. This was mostly jackass foreigners. You know who you are.

The dirty
When organizers promised the track would be ready, they meant EXACTLY that. The track was the only thing ready. The rain turned most public areas in our section into muddy swamps. Think Woodstock without the great music and nudity.

The bad
ONE, I repeat, ONE food kiosk in our section selling barely edible hamburgers. I could have lived without the tent displaying traditional models and gone for more food and drink. They did have a mobile Family Mart on a truck if you wanted small food. You need more dining options than that at an all day event.

The good
3 day ticket holders allowed into pits to see cars and drivers. Even the cheapest thee day ticket holders. In Montreal you're not even allowed to make eye contact with the drivers if you sit in the cheap seats.

The bad
No one at information knew where the autograph session would be held.

The very ugly
Drunken foreigners shouting slurs at every team as they walked down pit row. Including racial slurs.

[Poker]

Kinda sad. I was planning on going. Glad I didn't after reading this. Will go to next year's event, hope it improves.

[tefain]

I think the organizers will naturally see what worked and what didn't and make improvements.

As for the jackass foreigners, that just seems to go with being in Korea.

[shifty]

Thanks for informative post, OP!!

[diver]

[eamo]

[diver]

[balzor]

I second the OP's takes on the races and I add some of my own.
1. I paid for a cheap seat and because they were not even safe to sit on I got upgraded to seat that were 300,000 more than my tickets. That was nice.
The track was really nice and Qualifying was a lot of fun to see, too.

2. The mud everywhere sucked. The port-a-potties were disgusting and why would you have a temporary bathroom at a permanent track/stadium. STUPID!! This was real bad.

I'm Hungry! Where is the food? Is there any better way to make people appreciate Korean culture than to have a DDoek stand or a rameon booth out there to feed the hungry, shivering masses? Bad form Korea FamilyMart doesn't count as real food.

3. Korea did an average job at making their own citizens interested, but a horrible one at making foreigners interested. For example, the various booths showing traditional Korean crafts, well the 2 that I saw were dinky and boring. The booths showing the Jeollanam-do fruits and herbs (BORING) was completely in Korean. Even if I wanted to learn about the local fruit, I have to know the language. Bad Form Korea.

4. Where are the fan games and booths? Put something like a Midway or some kind of games in. Give us some Electronic gadgets to play with or some cool displays about the building of the track. Better yet, Why not a mural showing me the process of building the track.
BTW, I don't give a pile of dog crap about some no name band that plays after the race is over and everyone is trying to leave. again, STUPID attempt at fan entertainment



TL:DR version: Racing=fun, seat upgrade=good/ No food=bad, no facilities=bad, no fun outside race time=bad, no know Korean=bad

[mellinger]

I really think Korea needs to take some tips from Singapore on how to run a proper F1 Event.

I was flying through Singapore early this month on the same weekend that the F1 race was going to be happening down by the waterfront. Even from just walking through the airport, I knew that an F1 race was going to be happening. They had tons of stuff in the airport promoting the event, like a remote control race track, where people in the airport could race them around and miscellaneous other stuff promoting it. They also had huge signs up everywhere, letting people know about it.

Now, entertainment. Singapore had a huge line-up every day of big name entertainment. I wasn't necessarily excited about some of the bands they had there, but it was some big names and ultimately it drew some huge crowds. In fact, each day, I heard the entire event was sold out. And that it was sold out weeks or even months in advance.

I didn't get a chance to go down by the waterfront to see what kind of food they had there, but knowing that it was Singapore, I'm sure they had a good amount of tasty food to come by.

I realize this is Korea's first time hosting and that Singapore has hosted it for a while, but I really think they need to take some tips from the way Singapore has hosted it. Singapore makes millions each year from hosting the event. It gives the country great publicity and draws foreigners in.

I'm just afraid that by Korea doing this 50%, that the bad press will just hurt the country more than if they hadn't hosted it in the first place.

Hopefully, like others said, they can improve for next year.

[saram_]

I didn't go down but will seriously consider next year..

Some points from the commentators on Star Sports..

They were saying how that the whole Yeongam area is only beginning its construction now.. In other words..they built the track first and then building a city around it. It will be completed in time for next year. There will be a yachting area etc there.. (Kind of mad how they built the track first and then the city after instead of bringing the track to a city)
Guess its typical of some of the Korean new cities etc that they plan..

Anyway, I think it all means that next year will certainly be better..

Another point.. was that as some have said..the track may have been just about completed but that was all that was ready. The construction guys were working through the night on Thur, Fri etc to fill in the large muddy areas with concrete... Obviously they didn't get it all done in time, I guess due to bad planning. The rain too was the first that fell since the asphalt was put down and the timing was kind of disastrous (cos so muddy) but again that was a planning issue surely.

They also noted that the track itself was a real good racing track that was tricky but one of the better ones on the circuit..


I reckon the Koreans will be shook up a bit by the whole thing and they will get most things right by next year..
I am sure next year will be an altogether better experience..

[diver]

[Louis VI]

Thankfully there were no crashes, were there?

And, btw, how was the race? Was it close at the finish? Who won?

[diver]

[Globutron]

Anyone else get battered by the free tickets? Free tickets for foreigners, but then when they arrived, they decided not to allow it, and turn them back home.
I went for these tickets too but I didn't go for that day so I didn't waste my time. Just my effort in applying.

[sojusucks]

They had years to prepare for this event and this was the best they could do?

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2927568