I wonder what the critical mass is going to be for this event. There's no reason 2,500 people can't register, but where are they going to stay?

 

There is absolutely no need for the little "newb" & "stolen" quips, they were pretty "preschool" & unnecessary IMHO

No actually anyone who owns a "successful" business might disagree. With good customer service comes success. I think if Fontana has their deposit money 361 days in advance of the rental they should be safe.

 

That's a good question blalor. There's only so many rooms in the vicinity, what's next, people driving in from Cleveland and Knoxville

 

I think this year was already close to critical mass. I mean there are only so many places to stay, the dragon is too crowded to drive, Fontana is not a large enough venue to support larger events & dinners. I think once it gets too big & loses it's grass roots appeal many will quit going (on the 1st weekend of May) & the numbers will level off

 

Honestly I don't think this is grassroots anymore nor should it be with the amount of people involved. There was still plenty of lodging in the region. I called many places not too long before MOTD for someone and found lots of places. So I don't think critical mass has been reached.

Fontana is doing what it can expansion wise. I agree with all of you that the lodging staff is each using a different reservation policy and that has caused way too many problems.

We can work all of this out over the next few months.

 

Two MOTD's. One a Motoring event and the other a Money event.

 

I think the event has just about reached critical mass this time. Unlike years prior, this was a mostly commercial event, with priorities given to vendors as far as outdoor space goes. Fontana cannot handle much more in the way of dinners, events and vendor space indoors, unless they create more in the construction areas. As far as (convenient) parking for 400+ cars for events? Fugheddaboutit, unless the ball field goes up for grabs. This is unlikely, because if used for general parking, all the movement will rip up the field. For events like the drive-in where everyone parks, stays then leaves, it works.

Fontana is slowly but surely upgrading their facilities and adding more living space. Several of the run-down original housing has been demolished, and new cabins are taking their place. A whole strip of more than a dozen cabins is still missing, but should hopefully be there in upcoming years.

Also, unlike last year, quite a few cabins sat totally unused the entire weekend. These were renovated cabins, not the remaining few run-down ones that people ran practically screaming from (one such cabin was across the road from mine). Some snafu prevented their use, or these were 'owned' (actually timeshare) cabins booked and vacant. Fontana contained less resident Minis than last year for some reason, causing the increased number of people to stay well off site this time.

Fontana is changing, as is MOTD. I think they both are victims of their own successes. This is not necessarily bad, but it certainly means more crowds.

 

No offence but other than running out of places to stay the area could easily take triple the traffic. I stayed at the Microtel in Robbinsville and you could barely tell there was a MINI event going on at all. You would expect by how people speak about the area being bombarded with large groups that the center of town would be flooded with MINI's, but it wasn't. Middle of the day driving through town i would see 3-4 MINI's maybe.

I also drove up to Deals Gap from every direction possible and all roads leading up to the Dragon was far from "crowded". Again I would barely see about 3-4 MINI's on the way up maybe 1-2 groups every once in a while. I only ended up running the Dragon about 10 times throughout Thur-Sat but most of my runs were completely clean (Short of the parade of course).

The only place in the entire area that seemed anywhere near "crowded" was Fontana of course, but what do you expect its the event HQ.

 

I had dinner at the lodge with a group of MINI friends on Sun. eve & was shocked to learn that ALL of them had their cabins & rooms STOLEN for next year. WTF?

The mantra for the weekend: "I'll be back, but I won't be giving NAM another dime!" While there's no real need to register for anything, I think it's appropriate to tip Mark F. $5 if you use his website to coordinate your activities.

Tapoco does take reservations for next year if you're a guest this year. I've been staying at Tapoco ever since the Atlanta club hosted the awesome Phil Wicks/Farewell Dinner a few years ago.

 

interestingly enough, I reserved the same cabin at checkout LAST YEAR but did not get it when my reservation was confirmed in Jan, with no explanation ever given.

While I was in the lodge using WiFi, I overheard someone make reservations for 08, so I figured I'd better do it too! I requested the past cabin # as well

 

I think the vendor area should be setup on the ballfield. It certainly would make it less stressful for the poor Fontana guy who was constantly driving the golf-cart through the vendor area asking the vendors about the various MINIs parked in that area. It would also eliminate people short-cutting since there isn't anywhere to go on the ballfield. Perhaps the vendors could be setup in such a way that they are near the back of the ballfield near the hill so that when it's time for the drive-in movie, there's still room for parking.

 

Was a good time, thanks to the BrewSwap and the Casino night. I found the dinners ridiculously overpriced for what they were, but the Grill had good food at great prices. And i haven't seen anyone alse mention it, so I will, Was there a last minute change in the event bags? The original list seemed to be a bit more substantial, with flashlights and such? Other than the T-shirt, the rest were freebies. What justification for $45 dollars??? Like tsukiji, I heard MANY people with the same comments, yet no-one posts about it. However, I disagree about tipping Mark $5 if we use the website. The advertisers pay for it, they do get my business, and they did a great job at the event.

 

What happens when it rains all day like it did saturday? The field would be completely torn up by all the traffic and everyone and their cars would be muddy. I also don't think too many vendors will want to put a car on Jackstands or work on a car on anything less than asphalt/concrete.

If anything, they need to be in the top half of the parking lot in front of the grill leaving the lower half for thru traffic, or down by the general store.

 

I found no inconvenience with how the vendor area was setup. We walked down from our cabin all the time. The only time I drove our MINI was to a ride or the car wash.

 

This is kind of off-topic for this thread. If there isn't one already, a new thread urging Mark to request feedback in a less-public manner (meaning an individual survey rather than a thread which would inevitably turn into a gripe-fest) would be a great idea, I think.

Fontana was *packed*. I can't see them being able handle many more of us. Parking looked pretty hairy (I was fortunate to be in a cabin near the center of the action so I didn't personally have to deal with that).

Regarding reservations, I've heard repeatedly over the past couple of years that Fontana doesn't guarantee a specific cabin or room, and that you'll find out where you're staying "when you get there". Maybe Mark F. or some other reasonable individual can work with Fontana to clarify their policies?

 

The guy driving the golf cart policing the vendor parking area is part of NAM, not Fontana Village.

 

MOTD brings a unique set of circumstances to the area. For the vendors offering installations. there needs to be a flat, level, paved area to do so. Frankly, very few such areas exist at Fontana. There were some unutilized 'service' lots behind the adventure center/grill building that could have been used (I used it at MOTD04 for the exhaust shoot-out). When construction wraps up near the general store, that will return a healthy chunk of space (depending on what gets built there, of course). But there needs to be a driveable road in front of the Adventure Center to alleviate the traffic blockage that was happening there most of the time.

 

What about the huge parking lot at the old registration building

 

I still think all vendors need to be at the store lot

 

2 cents time...

First, anyone getting mad at NAM for the reservations issue must know something I don't. The sudden change in their reservations policy has nothing to do with NAM that I am aware of. Since Mark F. is heavily involved with Fontana for the event then I agree that now that the problem is known something needs to be done about it. Let's set a policy now and stick with it every year.

Second, Grover, the dinners this year were cheaper than last year and had better food. Personally I don't think they were overpriced. Any banquet style dinner I have been to has cost about the same. Can you get dinner cheaper elsewhere? Of course. It isn't just about the food, it's about the socializing, which of course can also be done elsewhere at MOTD for cheaper. But please don't expect Fontana to offer cheap banquets. They are a business and they need to make money to stay profitable.

Third, the Casino Night, Welcome Dinner, Brew Swap and NAM organizers all met on Sunday morning before we checked out to discuss the positive things and negative things that went on this year. Some of the very things mentioned in this thread were discussed. And solutions to them are being investigated. There seems to be this conspiracy theory that NAM is running MOTD with an Iron Fist and is pocketing reams of cash and not caring about anything that goes wrong. I'm not a NAM apologist and I didn't like everything about this year. But without a central backbone this event would be a helter skelter mess that wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable.

Last year, to me, felt very unorganized and I didn't have nearly as much fun as I had this year. That's not a reflection upon DCMM. They did an admirable job last year and were it not for them I think last year would have sucked. But it had gotten too big at that point for a single club to organize. No one says you have to buy the $45 registration pack. And I'm sorry, bitching about $5 is just ridiculous.

There will be an effort to improve the things that did not work out this year. Does NAM have the majority interest in how things will go down next year? Yes. Does that mean they aren't going to listen to you, the masses, or the event organizers? No. Speak your mind in a respectable manner and your gripes should be taken into account. Go off on the anti-NAM/grassroots rants and you'll probably be ignored.

MOTD is a HUGE amount of work to pull off. I started planning the Brew Swap last November and it kept me busy until the event. Casino Night was a ton of work to pull off. The Welcome Dinner took a ton of Barry & Bill's time and they even spent some of their own money to pull it off. The people who act like these things are easy to do, easy to pull off, don't cost any money, just **** me off to no end. If you think things can be done better then step up to the plate and offer your services.

Back ON TOPIC, let's all ask Mark F. to investigate what happened and what can be done to fix the reservations SNAFU.

 

If you can't get a cabin or room, come out and camp with us! I make pretty good pancakes.....

 

While the lot MAY be big enough to accomodate them they'd lose the visibility of being within the Village. I agree that the road being cut off was a huge inconvenience. But we all have legs and the village isn't THAT big.

 

I'm with you...the way this whole affair was arranged this year has left me and others with a very bad taste...to add insult to injuries, this cabin thing happens......We're going to have diffenrent plans next year...

On the bright side, it was still well worth the experience to meet all of you once again...

 

Sorry, but "history shmistory" (just my n00b opinion of course).

This was my first Dragon and I think that I ended up doing a LOT more than some of the "veterans". I ran a free clinic with no "official" vendor support, Kamo helped with the Little Dragons events (even going so far as to spend quite a bit of our own hard-earned money to support the effort), etc. Does this give me special preference above and beyond the other guy? I'd say no... after all, I VOLUNTEERED to do all this stuff, and overall I'm glad that I did. We tried to get a cabin the day before the event ended and was told that they were already booked - oh well, so we have to stay in the Lodge again, no biggie.

That being the case, I don't see how anyone can claim "squatter's rights" to a cabin, and isn't the whole point to bring new motoring enthusiasts into the fold via these events? Do we do that by relegating virgins to a "n00b's ghetto" 45 minutes away?

 

Well..... this is still going?? Vender's.. I thought that it would be better down by the store!! "Build it and they will come!!" The golf cart guy was from the NAM as stated, think he liked being the "Police" ??

It will only get better!! Cabins and rooms.. gotta be "First come , First served!! " If Fontana will let you reserve for the next year event, when you check in.. that is cool!! or YOU, Like everyone else, can experience the different wonderfully locations in the Village.

Venders... want MONEY, of course !! However moving them down to the open paved space in front of the store would allow good parking/ modding/ ice cream eating... yes??

I can feel for those and the parking.. or the driving to or around the venders... but , maybe that IS why we bought this car anyway... to Motor !! Short... long...right side of the double lines... come on, lets not show our lazy, inconvenient, Gotta play my way or I'll go home attitudes... The Village Rocked!! Mark rocked ( did you know there were only 5 people showed up to help the Pre-set up?? not the 10 asked for??) with his help ( that he got !! Thanks all) Cost?? Cheese and rice..!! It is an event!! Go to the Gator nationals, Or Disney, Or France... of course you will pay more .. I felt all was way cool!! Why not complain about the tire wear?? or the Rain?? or the loud Mufflers way into the nite and early in the morning?? THAT is why I went!! Thanks to the guys that busted their butts!!

See ya next year....

Just me................................................ ...

Thumper