Official Press Statement
April 22nd, 2010 by Marketing CV One LtdStatement Regarding Godiva Festival Facebook Group
A regular element in the feedback from our annual surveys at the Festival has been that the same bands dominate the Godiva Unsigned Competition year on year. We therefore decided that for 2010 we would open the competition up to the West Midlands to give the region an opportunity to showcase its combined talent and to increase awareness of the Midlands largest Free Family Festival staged here in Coventry
This year, of the bands that entered the competition, only 19% of the original entrants lived in Coventry. The remaining 81% of entries came from across the West Midlands region. Everyone had the same amount of time and opportunity to enter, and the competition was promoted for several weeks on the Godiva Festival website, through the media, e-newsletters and on Facebook and Twitter. The tracks submitted by the bands were judged by a panel comprised of representatives throughout the region purely on the quality of the entries. The panel were unaware as to who the bands were or where they came from. This meant that the result of the vote was wholly objective and resulted in a final shortlist of 20 bands whose origin and identity was unknown to the judging panel. It is wholly erroneous therefore to suggest that there is no Coventry representation in this year’s competition as some of the Facebook contributors seem to believe.
The Godiva Festival attracts over 85,000 people annually to Coventry and amongst them is a diverse mix of people who individually take pride in the city’s Free Family Festival; creating a fantastic atmosphere where families and festival goers can enjoy a eclectic mix of entertainment, including local musicians, top name bands, comedy performances , singer songwriters and family attractions. This is one of the most important and respected dates on our local calendar and one of which we are incredibly proud.
We are very disappointed by the Facebook campaign, as we responded to the public’s request to encourage a wider range of live acts to apply to the Godiva Unsigned competition.
We are also saddened that a proportion of these Facebook entries have resorted to personal criticism of CV One’s services, products and individual staff members. We appreciate that people can and should have the opportunity to voice their opinions but to single out individual staff members is, we believe, completely unnecessary and potentially libellous.
CV One has a remit to put Coventry and Warwickshire on the map as a destination to live work and visit. We work extremely hard by producing events that not only residents can enjoy but that visitors will want to attend, thereby, increasing awareness of our local attractions, generating tourism spend and putting the money back into the city of Coventry.
It is encouraging, however, to see that the members of the Facebook campaign are as passionate about the city as we are and we have invited some of the members in to discuss their concerns further.
