Oh no, its the po po!

I have a fairly wide street with a 20 car carpark just behind the park next door and no direct neighbours so we can accommodate about 20 cars watching at once or about 200 people if they get out of the car.

I did enjoy when the 3 young girls in their pajamas got a flat battery across the road and I had to clutch start the car. All I know is my wife doesn't have pajamas that revealing and she buys Victoria secret.
 
Christmas Lights is quite big here in Brisbane due to the 4KQ/Channel 7 Christmas Lights competition which has been running for many years. Near by Ipswich also has their own competition with rival networks that is just as popular.

Both competitions publish the addresses and 'winners'. So that's question number #1 answered here :)

Naturally the week before Christmas is the busiest, but it does quieten after an hour or so usually

I'm also in a dead-end street, which is only two cars wide. I put out witches hats and signage which discourages most people from parking. When it's not busy it's usually OK to let people park on the other side of the street. But that then leaves only 1 'lane' for passing, which can then lead to Russian-roulette style dashes as cars attempt to pass those parked opposite the house. Preventing people stopping here altogether definitely makes a huge difference to keeping traffic flowing and idiot driving. (eg: parked cars pulling out & not checking blind-spots or indicating.)

I also have parking directions is on my website & facebook pages advising that people won't be able to stop in the street as keeping the street clear for neighbors is important. This has worked very well for my "fans" or anyone who has done their homework planning their light-seeing trips.

At all times whilst lights are running, I'm usually out the front or not very far away (eg: live CCTV). I wear a fluro vest & have a torch (on, towards the ground) if I need to approach any cars that are blocking the street. A friendly "Hi there - are you looking for parking?" will usually get...
a) "nah we are just looking" (and then start moving again)
b) "yes" - then direct to parking
c) or if no reply within <1second, "we just need to keep the street clear for the neighbors / buses that need to turn around / influx of sudden cars when the traffic lights change. Most people are cool with this. Those that are not will drive off anyway! :p

The fluro vest & torch to light the ground you are standing on is important so you can be physically seen (people will be looking at lights. Also don't walk towards cars from their blind spots - you don't want to spook the driver and scare the crap out of them if they don't see you heading over.

Don't let people park across driveways as it's car parking 101. "you are blocking my neighbors driveway and they are about to [make something up]" I had one guy ask 'aren't your neighbors all home by now?' (Seriously? - your not home right now either???)

Dealing with noisy (annoying) people is usually solved by a soft friendly 'hi how are you going / what do you think?.....oh yeah I'll need everyone to be quiet, neighbors have a baby - gotta keep them happy. etc" These people probably don't mean to be loud - they just don't think - after seeing something which probably looks quite professional...quote "is this actually someone's house" ::)


Remote controlling the speaker volume is also handy - if they can't hear the music they will be quieter generally! The FPP web interface from my phone is VERY handy here to adjust volume on the fly. :)


Supporting a Charity is also a big help. "Raising money for sick kids" will be seen favorably by most people.

The big 700mm traffic cones are much more effective than the tiny/cheap 250mm ones too. But I did notice the owners of luxury cars are the ones who think they can still park where ever.


I also had the cops turn up randomly (they were patrolling) whilst I was making a video after midnight once. Naturally they asked a few questions...."oh this is a Christmas light house!!?" Called for backup and they all got a private show :)
 
BradsXmasLights said:
Dealing with noisy (annoying) people is usually solved by a soft friendly 'hi how are you going / what do you think?.....oh yeah I'll need everyone to be quiet, neighbors have a baby - gotta keep them happy. etc" These people probably don't mean to be loud - they just don't think - after seeing something which probably looks quite professional...quote "is this actually someone's house" ::)
Click to expand...

I found that the noise issues would start after 10:30 - 11:00pm after all the families had gone and then you would end up with the young hoons coming around blaring the music with their 10 million watt stereos, screaming girls and loud cars

But nearly every time I ever had an incident with either noise or traffic the first thing I did was look at the number plate and nearly every time it was a young P-Plater, it got to the point where it was predictable and I knew before I even looked that it was someone young.
 
Agreed Eddy, after but after 9pm here. (lights on @ 7 here in Brisbane)


The competitions here promotes lights being on between 7 & 10pm every night - but TBH on "school nights" going till 9pm would be enough for me.


I hope we never get daylight saving in QLD - switch off at 10pm is definitively late enough for me.
 
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