Toyota Center test-drive feedback (please read, Tim)

I think the second open house was executed very well but to bad it was not anounced to the public at large. But looking at it in a marketing point of view the first open house was a success in that it sold tickets man the tickets they sold at the open house directly or indirectly was a success from what I heard.

 

I loved it... I was a bit disappointed about not seeing the locker rooms, but just to get in the place was awesome and if Clutch the Bear would have been the only entertainment, I would've been happy.

Players have other committments prior to the season starting. JVG was there and I got his autograph. That was cool. I'm not disappointed because I didn't see any players. I'm gonna see them several times a week during the season.

Entertainment? You have got to understand that the Rockets organization were trying to capture a wide range of fans' attention. Country, Tejano and Reggae were a decent mix. I didn't go for the entertainment, I went to see the new arena and Clutch the Bear! I got what I went for.

I think the Test Drive was a great thing... and it was free!

 

That's my sentiment on the whole thing as well; just with a little more emphasis on the locker room disappointment.

I came down from Austin and drug my non-Rocket fan girlfriend with me, then drug my nonfan-Houstonian best friend and his nonfan-Houstonian girlfriend with us...all under the main selling point of "You gotta go; we'll be able to check out the locker rooms and stuff...how many chances will you ever get to do something like that?"

Then, when that didn't happen, I had to spend the whole time trying to pacify the now antsy crowd just so I could check out the arena.

I loved the arena, didn't even take notice to the entertainment, and enjoyed myself overall.



One thing though...why was it that on August 29th or therabouts, Rockets.com posted pictures of the new arena's locker rooms and they appeared to be completely finished; yet over a week later, they were said to be "Under construction"?

 

http://groups.msn.com/HoustonRockets2003/shoebox.msnw

 

Not to sound like a dick but the event was to showcase the arena. You got in free, right? I'm guessing if you want players or real entertainment you should go to the ticket office and get a ticket to a game or concert of your choice.

 

http://groups.msn.com/HoustonRockets2003/shoebox.msnw

 

Hmmm, arena was fabulous, you loved the place but you are not happy becuase you were not entertained properly?

 

I just wanted to say it was nice of you to get his attention first.

 

This has all been covered before (in excruciating detail in a 200+ post thread I might add), but we had to make a decision to close down the locker rooms at the last minute because construction issues would have made it dangerous to take people down there.

I was as disappointed as anybody. Seeing the locker rooms would have been one more fun thing people could've done at the open house. But it wasn't worth people getting hurt. So we made the call. I'll stand by it.

As for the entertainment -- the purpose was to show off the arena. The entertainment was just to have some activity in the bowl so it didn't seem too quiet or empty. I said that several times in the forums here before the event, so what we did at the arena shouldn't have surprised anybody. The building was the star for the day. As it stands, we offered a lot more entertainment than other open house events we're familiar with -- by all accounts, much more than the Astros or Texans did -- and their open houses were considered pretty successful events.

If you want entertainment, we have plenty of events for sale -- we'd love to have you buy a ticket and come on down.

Tim