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I would have liked to had the Midnight on the Dragon earlier in the event schedule. By that last evening I was too tired to drive the Dragon at midnight and I had to get an early start out the next morning... It's not good to start a 600 mile drive w/ only 4 hours of sleep.
WHEW... I just caught up on this very fast-moving thread. I have a lot of feedback that I want to respond to, so bear with me everyone. First of all, I do want to state that constructive criticism is VERY welcome, but the keyword in that is constructive. I stickyed this thread on Thameth's request because we do need feedback. And not just DC Metro MINIs, but all involved clubs and individuals! If you don't have reasonable and positive suggestions to make to improve something you didn't like, please don't speak up, because you aren't contributing to the discussion. That being said, here goes:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thameth
1) Add into the schedule somewhere or somehow a big meet so we can try to get almost everybody in town all in one place at one time. I would suggest at the base of the Fontana Dam for some kind of Car show or something. And have someone at the entrance with a clicker counting cars in and out to see how many we have in all at one point.
That is a good idea... in theory, the "traditional dam photo" before the Parade can serve this purpose, but 8:30am on Friday is a difficult appointment to make for many... either because they are not morning people, because they are staying further away, or both. Perhaps on Friday, in combination with the panoramic photo, we can try to get as many MINIs there as possible. Maybe organize into clubs to take photos together? Or organized by car colors? Definitely an idea worth exploring. An official count is next to impossible however, since people come and go as they please, and some people can't even arrive until Friday afternoon or evening.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thameth
2) Change the Lanyard Badges so they are actually useful. The person's name and Screenname is sooooo small that i still have no clue who is who unless i see them with their cars and even then they have to have a pretty well known car. The person's ScreenName should be on the bottom of the tag in huge type and on both sides so you can see who is who from at least a few feet away. I'll post a photoshop a little later to illustrate what i'm saying.
This is the first year we have done REAL badges as part of the registration. I hope you all feel that they were high quality and worthwhile. The design of the badges was quite unique, I thought... but certainly next years design can be altered to take things into account. Perhaps the screenname will be the most prominent text, while still including other interesting info like their real name, where they are from, their Motoring ID, etc... in smaller text. We do mostly associate each other by our screen names, this is true. However, it's nice to know someone's real name sometimes, as well as where they are from, don't you think? The suggestion also came up from someone to put a copy of the signatures on the badges. That would be far too difficult, since each badge has to be printed individually, and the work involved to duplicate their signature is just too much... especially since signatures can dynamically change at any moment!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thameth
3) Give more use to the Registration packages for the $$$. By my count of 612 registrations and with 242 being basic that comes out to around $18,000 taken in. Now alot of that goes into the goodies that came in the $40 registration T-Shirt, Bottle, Lanyard, etc..... But other than the goodies i never used my registration for anything else at the event, neither did i use my one basic registration that i bought for anything. We were told we would need it to be part of events, but all the events had to be paid extra for?????
I'm very on the fence on if i should buy any registrations for next year because i didn't see the use......
Thameth, the money is tighter than you may think. We try to squeeze in as much as we can into the registrations, and especially the $5 basic registration to include the badges was a very tight fit, financially. Please keep in mind that part of the registration is to be counted, which helps us all to determine the direction the event is headed, and plays a significant role in approaching vendors for their involvement. Aside from that, event insurance is part of the equation - a very important part, I might add... since all involved groups and individuals (and not just DCMM) are putting themselves at legal risk simply by working to organize all of this! It is quite possible that next year all events on the schedule will require registration. I don't know what you meant about "all the events had to be paid extra for"... it's up to each event organizer whether or not additional funds are required. Surely you don't expect free meals as part of the registration for $5 or $40... and the drive-in movie event (organized by Tar Heel MINIs) was a charity event, as were several others.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thameth
4) Get MINIUSA involved! 4 years now and nearly 1000 MINI crazed people all in on place at one time they should really get involved and help the event as an invited VENDOR....
Believe me we tried... but they chose to stay in the background and observe. We are fine with this, but it would be nice to get extra official MINIUSA "stuff" to give away as prizes, or cool handouts as part of the great MINI ad campaigns, etc. Please understand that we did NOT (and would not) ask them to take over planning and organization of the entire event. We would hope they take an interest in acting more like a vendor, as you suggested. Maybe next year they will be more involved.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thameth
5) I'm willing to volunteer to keep an up to date and detailed Schedule of Events thread or something for MOTD 07 if anybody wants. I think the hardest thing for me as a first timer this year was trying to figure out everything that was going on and when before i got there. I couldn't find a thread with a comprehensive list of all the events, big or small.
Your willingness to help volunteer for the planning is greatly appreciated... we struggled at times to find people outside of DCMM to help with organizing things. For example, DCMM hosted both the welcome and farewell dinners simply because we couldn't find another club to take one of them... but already we are getting positive signs of more club involvement for next year, which is good! Help can take many forms though such as organizing individual events (Aaron Granger (agranger) REALLY stepped up to the plate this year, all the way from Texas, having NEVER been before... by planning the Saturday Scenic Drive for 90 MINIs... way to go Aaron!) We hope to have a whole set of "new recruits" for next year since more people have come now and want to be involved.
Personally, I would have liked to see more people step up and voluenteer for the event planning and management.
There was a sticky here in the MOTD2006 Dragon Forum asking folks who wanted to organize events to contact DCMM's Dragon Organizing Committee to have their event listed on the Events Planner Calendar. I submitted the Dragon Jam to it. It was online for quite a while, so people did have an opportunity to put something together.
I'm sure that some of the newbies will have ideas for fun events for upcoming MOTDs.
I really like that idea. What about doing this on Saturday morning and moving the parade also to Saturday morning? I think that would be better than Friday morning for 2 reasons: (1) lots of people don't arrive until sometime on Friday, so the traditional Friday morning gathering does not nearly capture all of the attendees and (2) the parade each year is becoming a slower crawl, so why not do it on Saturday when there's more traffic on the dragon anyway, and leave the dragon (and schedule) open on Friday morning for those who want a spirited drive before the weekend crowd arrives?
Mark, the whole point of the parade is to signify the start of the weekend to us and EVERYONE else (especially the bikers!), since most people arrive Thursday afternoon and evening. That doesn't mean we can't have a separate photo gathering (in conjunction with the panoramic?), but the parade will probably continue in the way it has. The parade is not SUPPOSED to be fast. I led it this year, and I deliberately tried to set a pace that was reasonable but not outside of people's comfort zones. Based upon initial feedback, most people who have attended before were very happy with the pace of the parade this year. If you are concerned about getting uninterrupted runs in, I recommend you show up a day or two early, or simply wake up earlier before most people are getting moving... it makes a huge difference! The numbers are only going to grow, uninterrupted runs are only going to become harder to find.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jray
I also agree with somehow moving all the vendors into one location. It seems like the parking area by the General store is plenty large enough to host it if Fontana is willing to let us rope it off (except to let cars in to be modified of course). It would be better to have an area where people can walk without car traffic. I'm sure next year the vendor area will grow even more making it even harder to navigate - either by foot or car - if it is set up like it was this year. And really, the general store parking lot is easily within walking distance. Having the tents set up near that road did add to the congestion and probably made it difficult for the vendors to operate efficiently.
The "all vendors in one location" concern actually came up while we were there, and we're already considering doing that... putting ALL vendors in the lower area near the general store - provided there is room for them all! Directions and clarifications on where they are could have been done better too - on Saturday, we put up a "mud map" on the whiteboard in front of the adventure center which displayed the locations of all of the vendors. Next year we hope to be more proactive about that too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gabe
Now, how to improve the Dragon? How about hangtags for cars that have the car owners name and/user ID. Or stickers that are designed to fit on the front of mirrors indicating name, ID etc. Sorta like they did at Misano but with actual info.
I like the idea, at least the hangtags... but as we start to add more ideas, the question will come up... are people willing to pay more than $5 for basic registration? The reason it has been kept at $5 is to try to encourage the "fence sitters" to register anyway. At the minimum though, a hangtag for the full registration is a great idea... and perhaps blank MOTD4 hangtags for sale separately (inexpensively) so the basic registration people can buy one, write their own info in, and hang it up. I don't know for sure, but the concept is good.
I can halucinate Fontana building a MAJOR convention center with hotells... But then the locals get angry because they can't get on the public roads because of all the MINI's.
But aren't we close to that right now?
I would also think that there would be other roads besides the Dragon and Cherohala Skyway to explore the Lateral G's on.
The White Water Rafting might be fun but also COLD. It is still spring. The train rides also sound fun.
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I don't know for certain, since I wasn't in charge of managing the prizes... but I think some of the donations you may attribute to MINIUSA were actually donated by dealerships, like MINI of Sterling and MINI of Nashville. I may be wrong. I think AtlantaMINIs, at the chili cook-off, managed to get more "official" stuff from MINIUSA and/or a dealership... but MINIUSA could do a whole lot more (without taking over) if they chose.
I don't know for certain, since I wasn't in charge of managing the prizes... but I think some of the donations you may attribute to MINIUSA were actually donated by dealerships, like MINI of Sterling and MINI of Nashville. I may be wrong. I think AtlantaMINIs, at the chili cook-off, managed to get more "official" stuff from MINIUSA and/or a dealership... but MINIUSA could do a whole lot more (without taking over) if they chose.
Yea, thats why i said they should be invited as a vendor. Then they could basically get their own setup, bring a few cars. And basically do almost what they would do at any autoshow but even better since its for MINI owners. It could basically become MINI owner appreciation day. Like lets say this year they could have brough a GP or two (do they have two? ). Then they could have given out ride alongs or even test drives. They could have maybe brought the last Traveler concept to show off. Maybe some classic concepts. There is ALOT they can do which would come out REALLY kool. Hell maybe even give away one car every year in some kind of contest.
Thank you. There are so many left-field statements being spouted off here I wouldn't know where to start. Now, how to improve the Dragon? How about hangtags for cars that have the car owners name and/user ID. Or stickers that are designed to fit on the front of mirrors indicating name, ID etc. Sorta like they did at Misano but with actual info.
Awesome idea Gabe!
Edge, if you want i can start to put together the best suggestions in one post to make it a little easier for you guys to go through for next year if you want??
There was a sticky here in the MOTD2006 Dragon Forum asking folks who wanted to organize events to contact DCMM's Dragon Organizing Committee to have their event listed on the Events Planner Calendar. I submitted the Dragon Jam to it. It was online for quite a while, so people did have an opportunity to put something together.
I'm sure that some of the newbies will have ideas for fun events for upcoming MOTDs.
Last year events were listed on the event planner, and had the number of registered people for those events, and a checkmark if you registered, the rally, the Cherahola Skyway Drive etc.
This year events such as the Dillsboro trip, Brew Swap etc, while listed did not show that you were registered with a checkmark. Those event numbers were in the individual threads, with tallies kept by the individual organizers.
It would be nice if all those things were listed in ones event planner.
Edge, if you want i can start to put together the best suggestions in one post to make it a little easier for you guys to go through for next year if you want??
Keep a simple record, yes... but I wouldn't suggest putting it in a single post yet. This thread is serving the general purpose of posts & discussion.
Did you read my long reply to your points? You need to factor in "cost" when you start talking about "cool" stuff. I fought hard to ensure that basic attendees got a printed registration badge this year - $5 is not a lot to work with... and you also need to keep in mind that some of that $5 goes to processing fees just to handle the money in the first place.
Keep a simple record, yes... but I wouldn't suggest putting it in a single post yet. This thread is serving the general purpose of posts & discussion.
Did you read my long reply to your points? You need to factor in "cost" when you start talking about "cool" stuff. I fought hard to ensure that basic attendees got a printed registration badge this year - $5 is not a lot to work with... and you also need to keep in mind that some of that $5 goes to processing fees just to handle the money in the first place.
No problem...
Yes i read through your reply. Very well put and great info. As i said i know that alot of the stuff that came full reg took up alot of its cost. It was great stuff and i'll definitely be using it. Insurance i know takes a huge cut as i used to help plan my local AutoX events. Hopefully later i'll have more time to go through most of your points.
Thanx for your participation! We're here to help, not bash.
Along the lines of being a "newbie" at the dragon, yes it was hard to know what was going on where. It may be a good idea next year to have a schedule placed in our goodie bag, as well as announcements over the radio of what is going on that day? Kind of like a news bulliten in the morning? Not too sure. Or at least before events start, announce them?
I really dig the idea of somehow labeling the cars. I recognized some of them, but it would be great to be able to put them with screen names as well.
things can only get better. It is so hard to organize an event for this many people from far away. I was only sorta involved at the end of it with DCMM since I was only able to join in at the last minute. But, I garuntee, JustJAY and I are in it for next year! But Kudos for all the hard work for EVERYONE!
Along the lines of being a "newbie" at the dragon, yes it was hard to know what was going on where. It may be a good idea next year to have a schedule placed in our goodie bag, as well as announcements over the radio of what is going on that day? Kind of like a news bulliten in the morning? Not too sure. Or at least before events start, announce them?
I really dig the idea of somehow labeling the cars. I recognized some of them, but it would be great to be able to put them with screen names as well.
things can only get better. It is so hard to organize an event for this many people from far away. I was only sorta involved at the end of it with DCMM since I was only able to join in at the last minute. But, I garuntee, JustJAY and I are in it for next year! But Kudos for all the hard work for EVERYONE!
Well there was a schedule in the goodie bag, but by that time i had pretty much made my own schedule of things i had seen in the forum here and there. Stuff like the Scenic drive, the hike (got cancelled), and others. There were things that i saw for the first time on the schedule i got in my goodie bag and it was too late to change my plans. This is where a master thread in the MOTD 07 forum can help with planning.
Ohh here's another suggestions but probably a bit for another group.
Can the Midnight on the Dragon be moved to Friday night?? I wanted to do the Midnight run but since i had to leave Sunday morning i just couldn't stay up till probably 3 am doing the Midnight on the Dragon Run. Seems like alot of people have long drives ahead of them on Sunday so they can be back to work on Monday(11 hrs for me).
Friday night would be perfect since people will have a bit of time to sleep in a little bit on Saturday but still get to do alot.
I think group photos would be good. I know some clubs organized it for their clubs, but I mean real pro photos for the groups. My camera can't do justice.
I would love to have had a pic of all the EBers together, as well as all the DCMMers. I know this would take a LOT of time and planning, but it would be kind of cool to do.
I know there is already chatter about plans for stuff for next year already. I know the women are planning a run/lunch benefit for next year. I would love to see more benefit stuff. It was great to see it starting this year...Well it may have started before, but this was my first year. but I gladly donated!
I would love to see more vendors, but I understand that room is a problem. I wonder if there is a better covered area for them. Maybe see if Fontanna can get one of those BIG tents? that way it would be more water proof? My poor install from AC...I felt so sorry for Mike trying to install all the vinyl in the rain, especially mine. (I sure do hope you come back next year!) I love it!
Classes would be great! Yes I have mods, but I don't really know exactally what they all do. I am reading ALOT about them, but I want to learn more! and I would love to see more what other people have done. that is one of the greatest things about all of us. NONE of us have the same car!
Ohh here's another suggestions but probably a bit for another group.
Can the Midnight on the Dragon be moved to Friday night?? I wanted to do the Midnight run but since i had to leave Sunday morning i just couldn't stay up till probably 3 am doing the Midnight on the Dragon Run. Seems like alot of people have long drives ahead of them on Sunday so they can be back to work on Monday(11 hrs for me).
Friday night would be perfect since people will have a bit of time to sleep in a little bit on Saturday but still get to do alot.
Nope...don't think that will be changing. It has always been on Saturday night, and that will continue to be the tradition. koolmini and YuccaPatrol are its founders and will be organizing it, as usual. sndwave and I always stay at Deal's Gap as information and safety monitors, and the earliest folks returning on the Midnight Run were back to Deal's Gap early enough that we returned to our cabin at Fontana by 1 - 1:15 AM.
I really like the idea of a huge car gathering/car show. Those of us who have modded our cars a lot could take some time to make up little info sheets listing our mods. It would be cool to be able to look at them all at once by just walking up and down the rows.
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Nope...don't think that will be changing. It has always been on Saturday night, and it will continue to be. koolmini and YuccaPatrol are its founders and will be organizing it, as usual.
One item I would recommend for Midnight on the Dragon... someone came up to me on Saturday afternoon and asked if it was the pace of the parade, or a lot faster. I told them that it was a stable pace, similar to the parade (based upon my experience last year). I was wrong... anyone near the front was definitely driving much faster than most people's comfort level. I was OK with it... but passenger nausea did become an issue.
I would simply suggest that the Midnight be run either be split into smaller groups of "fast", "medium" and "slow", or barring that, to have a general recommendation to allow faster cars to go first, and hang back near the tail end if you want to drive it at a more leisurely pace in the dark.
Please note I'm speaking just as a fellow attendee, not as a DCMM Dragon committee member.
Nope...don't think that will be changing. It has always been on Saturday night, and that will continue to be the tradition. koolmini and YuccaPatrol are its founders and will be organizing it, as usual. sndwave and I always stay at Deal's Gap as information and safety monitors, and the earliest folks returning on the Midnight Run were back to Deal's Gap early enough that we returned to our cabin at Fontana by 1 - 1:15 AM.
Damn, so i may never make Midnight on the Dragon then..... Even 1am is late....
Since i wasn't going to be able to make it i did do a late night drive on Friday night around 9pm. Wow was that scary, suddenly hitting blinding pockets of cloud which hit the side of the mountain was just crazy!
First off, my hat is off to all involved in the 2006 planning, and the following are ideas thru my little mind and not critisim.
First I saw alot of stressed out DC mini people. Maybe the rest of us can give more help to allow them to enjoy themselves a little more.
I like the Idea of removable lettering on the bumper (front or rear) with our screen name. My window is usually down(being a obedient cabrio owner that I am) and the cling wasn't helping me.
The tags that hang around you neck, as already stated, need to be more readable.
I love my badge with my Mini, but the grey backround blends alot with my grey car.
Drive-in idea: how bout the original movie.
Prize giveaways: I think DC and Atlanta Minis would both be open to suggestions to make this smoother or shorter. I know this might add to the time, but I thougt it would have been nice to annouce the screen name of the winner, to help put the screen name and face together.
Registration: Marc can we get a Mini count on there along with the number of people?
I noticed that it's just as dark at 10:00 as Midnight (OK, don't tar and feather me for that one)
How bout if we can mail out some stuff prior to dragon. I found a lot of maps and info in my registration package when I got home (I know thats my fault), but I would be nice if we could mail out maps and maybe get Graham county to mail out there welcome magazine (it even has mini's on the dragon on the cover with lots of great area info in it) Maybe some coperate sponsership could help defray the cost?
Vendors; I'm not a modder, but I love my trinkits. Can we get some T-shirts, decals type stuff. Empire nine makes some great shirts with mini stuff, but do we have to worry about big brother on this?
I myself will definitely host something next year again. I enjoy my run this year and got to met alot of people because of it. Maybe we could post a list of ideas of runs with details and look for leader, to help get more going.
Example:
Dillsboro Run
Tusckalegge Cavern Run
Waterfall Run
Cades Cove Run
I would be more than happy to put some stuff together and maybe make it easier for some on the fence to lead a run of some kind.
I'm more than willing to do the leg work on any of these ideas or anyone else's ideas if you all think there are worthy.
And last, but not least, do I have to wait a whole year for the next Dragon
Good we got the flow going. Those with conflicting event times last year note with more and more people attending it is likely that events will be conflicting all over the place. Not a bad thing per say as well if you miss the waterfall run for something this year it gives you something to look forward to next year.
It does strike me that perhaps we ought to make note of the overlapping events and possibly keep SOME of them consistent like drives to various places so one year it is waterfalls, one it is skyway, where others are sure not to overlap like chili and drive in. I do not know why I chose those 2 specificly, but my thought on the non overlapping of some comes from not wanting to have someone involved with say the Chili thing to always miss the movie every year, where drives are drives are drives.
Oh and yes, how many times do I have to avoid "The Italian Job" in EITHER VERSION. ATTENTION MINI and Mini people THERE ARE OTHER MOVIES WORTH WATCHING. I mean get a movie with a Mini scene like "The Bourne Identity". Just a thought. Good call doing "TIJ" once, no complaints at all, but I have been laughing at the classic clubs already for the old "TIJ" movie EVERY TIME A MOVIE IS SHOWN and would not like to fall into that trap.
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One item I would recommend for Midnight on the Dragon... someone came up to me on Saturday afternoon and asked if it was the pace of the parade, or a lot faster. I told them that it was a stable pace, similar to the parade (based upon my experience last year). I was wrong... anyone near the front was definitely driving much faster than most people's comfort level. I was OK with it... but passenger nausea did become an issue.
I would simply suggest that the Midnight be run either be split into smaller groups of "fast", "medium" and "slow", or barring that, to have a general recommendation to allow faster cars to go first, and hang back near the tail end if you want to drive it at a more leisurely pace in the dark.
Please note I'm speaking just as a fellow attendee, not as a DCMM Dragon committee member.
It's pace is different every year, Haemish, depending on how many folks show up. Because there are so many MINIs, it's actually more visible than if you ran it alone at night, since all the MINIs light it up!
kool and Yucca have a good handle on it and the main instruction is for folks to stay in their lane and not drive beyond their comfort level.
). Then they could have given out ride alongs or even test drives. They could have maybe brought the last Traveler concept to show off. Maybe some classic concepts. There is ALOT they can do which would come out REALLY kool. Hell maybe even give away one car every year in some kind of contest.
oops. i guess there was a schedule but mine got chewed up by the dragon! It flew out my window on my first run! LOL
