"HHN marketing is horrible."
"They don't know their @$$ from a hole in the ground."
"They're really missing out on potential ticket sales"
"They had great websites a decade and a half ago."
"They need to release more info earlier."
(not actual quotes, just paraphrasing common complaints)
Nevermind the fact that ticket prices have more than doubled and the lines (indicating the amount of tickets sold) has tripled since they did all that magical marketing.
People need to chill out and realize this is a business. If the business is doing gangbusters, to the point that not only are express tickets selling out most nights, but the event as a WHOLE is selling out nights in early September. Guess what? What they're doing, that is an affront to our sensibilities and so utterly stupid that my dog could do marketing better than them is WORKING. They're printing money.
Get over it. You are still going to the event, so who cares what you know now? Marketing doesn't micro manage down to the fan base(s), their job is to get butts through the turnstile for the event and drive revenue. And they're doing TOO GOOD of a job in my book, the event is too crowded, too popular, and too expensive.
Would I love interactive and engaging websites? Of course. Would I prefer that flying on an airplane was a regal experience like in the 60s where you got complementary champagne to celebrate the majesty of flight? Sure. Do I wish Busch Gardens and Sea World gave out free beer (yes, I realize there's a limited promotion doing so right now) all year? Of course. But guess what, those things cost money and used to be needed to draw paying customers to come. If they don't need to do it now, it's a waste of time and money from budgets that could be used elsewhere.
But if you want to get butthurt because you didn't get an announcement when you personally thought you should get one, you're probably right. Marketing $#!+ the bed once again and are horrible at their job. You and your dog would do a much better job by revealing everything too early, spending millions on web content, putting billboards up across America, putting commercials on local TV stations in Maine, and demanding that the HHN A&D team figure out a way to have 13 houses this year.