yep...and h20 and waterfest....all really different events from MOTD and each other actually. I still prefer MINI events and absolutely nothing can compare to being able to run the dragon with a ton of other MINIs.

 

All in all a great time for our first trip MOTD (will not be our last.)

Obviously running the dragon itself will have to be the highlight for me (absolutely a must do for anyone who enjoys really driving.) That said, the best thing about the weekend was the reception we got with our classic. I know the boy's got an endless kick out of the reception that our little car got. (Spencer did inform me latter that people should stop saying that our car is "cute." He said that it is "neat" but not cute.)

Also want to say a big "Thank You!" to whoever left the large stuffed dragon on our door Saturday night. It has become the boy's prized souvenir from the trip. Very unexpected and very cool!

My only downsides were due to my own lack of planning ahead but that is my own fault. Maybe a bit better directions for those that have not been before but that's a small thing.

I will say one thing which was annoying. When we were walking the kids down to the tent for the "Dragon Egg" hunt somebody was standing there next to their blue rather modified MCS and made a comment to the effect of "Keep the kids away from the cars!" Not sure if anyone else heard it but I did and I would kindly suggest that the person remember that it is the kid in all of us that brings us to these events and you should spend a little more time helping the kid's enthusiasm for our hobby and less time worrying about a fingerprint or two on you're precious paint job.
Rant over

Really looking forward to next year!

 

I heard that comment as well... Both my wife and I were like "puh-LEEZE! These are all MINI kids and know not to climb on someone's car dude!". If your car is such a treasure, please leave it at home under its pressurized glass dome (along with your crappy attitude). I've frowned more than once at the behavior of the "cool kids" (smoking and cursing in front of the kids, generall ***-hattery, etc.) but generally subscribe to a "live and let live" philosophy, but that WAS more than a little annoying.

 

Oh, one small peeve of mine from the event....we were listening to the last tech talk event in the tent and it was hard enough to hear Chet with all the going-ons but then I heard kids screaming all around us. I don't have an issue with the kids but due to lack of respect or poor planning or both, we were trying to listen to him and ask questions with kids running around (I guess the egg hunt) us and the adults talking loudly behind us in the middle of this presentation.

I'm guessing the tech talks were not a big deal to most attendees but we were there to learn something, get some great tech advice, etc. Again, just poor planning and oversight on someone's part.

 

I loved the tent and the return of 'Ego Alley'. For me socializing with and meeting new folks is the best part of MOTD and I thought having the adventure center parking lot back was great. Biggest single thing that I appreciated this year. With so much decentralized parking otherwise it is the one social center for hanging out WITH the cars. I went there at least once a day and always found just a couple spaces empty.

I'd agree we could probably make more use of it, but I bet most like me didn't realize how big it was! Movies in there would be cool. The drive in was neat but given the choice between that or the tent this would be one emphatic vote for the tent... The drive in made good use of the field for a couple hours. The tent made good use of the field for several days... (In my opinion)

Appreciated the sched on the back of the name badges again this year. Very helpful, and I liked the icons on the front for dinners. Saved me having to keep track of tickets and streamlind entry to dinner... I found it handy.



I think a lot of people missed the guide book email. Maybe need to be more prominently explained. Quite a few came to the info table asking questions about functions that were in the book, but when I asked they missed that it (the book) had been sent for them to print or said they didn't get it.

 

My favorite parts were the Monte Carlo Night, Geocaching, the Car Show, shopping for neat stuff with all the vendors there, and the fact that we could drive and park near the Adventure Center this time. If the tent needs to be there to keep this area open and keep the dinners from interfering with the party events, then I am all for the tent.

The Parade is one of my favorite parts as well, but I overslept this time. I guess my least favorite part was how worn out I was Saturday evening, didn't feel like doing anything until Sunday morning once I'd had a chance to rest. By then most people had gone, but it was a good time to drive the Dragon.

 

As I'm reading all this and thinking back I'm remembering other ideas. The little light/audio show was pretty cool so maybe a designated time after the welcome dinner for hanging out and showing off the lights on the cars would be better recieved than an indoor social event.

I didn't get to see any of the events for the kids, and this may go better around the time of the beerolympics, but that hill just screamed slip 'n slide to me. I don't know how that would go over with Fontana's lawyers though.

 

I'd certainly participate in such an event and would run another clinic during it, if it were held. Several people approached me about the lighting clinic during the show and I wished I'd had more time to get it together this year. If something like this ends up on the schedule definitely drop me a PM early on so I can help out!

 

This was my favorite part...but from the original 8! You know who you are! Here is the video... Thanks Tüls!! I am so glad I had my camera with me... I am still hurting

 

Our first MOTD was not a disappointment and we'll be back next year, without a doubt.

Too many favorite things to list them and I can't really pick out one thing. We enjoyed the entire event, and we didn't mind a few snags and miscommunications along the way. They're to be expected when you try to pull off a huge event like this one.

As far as the tent goes, I can't compare to previous MOTDs without the tent, but I liked it. If the alternative is to have the vendors up in the Adventure Center parking lot.... NO !!! I liked having "Ego Alley" up there for us to walk around and check many of the MINIs in one central place.

I just wish there were MORE vendors. More vendors = more shopping choices = more fun !

 

The best part, as always, is meeting MINIacs! I hate to complain about anything, but we talked about a lot of stuff while sitting around the cabin at night and didn't fill out any surveys, so here are a few thoughts...

-The print-at-home MOTD guide was good, but would've been better with a route sheet for the runs in case you miss the lead group, get lost, or want to do the same run at a different time.

-Charge only as much for registration as is needed to put on the event and just skip swag bags. This goes for pretty much all events. Cheaper and simpler is usually better.

-People sure made a stink about the Vendor Village last year, and now they're still making a stink. Vendor Village really wasn't so bad.

-Open the windows at the farewell dinner. The food was decent, and fewer giveaways kept it from getting too long/boring. Of course cheaper would be better, but that's probably not possible.

-Have the midnight run on Friday (or earlier on Sat, like 10PM) so everyone can party if they want to on Saturday night, or go to bed early.

 

Favorite Part(s): Meeting new people (at the Beer Run and Geocaching event), spending time with old friends, and scones. Oh, and racing for titles on Sunday just South of Franklin- long story...ask Way.

Least Favorite Part: Discovering that my Classic still doesn't like the rain on the way home from the Midnight Run (thank you Lucas, Prince of Darkness). I felt sorry for the vendors in the tent, it seemed that the times that we were there it was empty. If there was a way to keep the vendors (both install and non-install) closer it would be nice. I had no problem with "Ego Alley" but next year you may want to make it one way. This being my second Dragon I missed having Cooper Flags and the Drive-In. Maybe by separating the vendors it seemed like there weren't as many (optical illusion?).

I was worried when we registered that I would feel some regret from not signing up for a number of events or any meals. As I sit here at home reflecting on MOTD6 and reading the comments I think (for my wife and me) I made the right choice.

 

One-way traffic on the Ego Strip seems like a good idea! There ARE two parallel roads there - might as well take advantage of it and make each one a One-Way route running in oposit directions. I only had one occurrance where I had to be really careful about passing another vehicle, but if that can be avoided, why not?

 

Thanks for mentioning the flooding. I had forgotten about that and now that you mention it, I remember.

 

I had lots of fun at this years MOTD As one of the original MOTD founders/attendees back in 2003, I've seen lots of things tried over the years, and I found this years reduced attendance and less formal atmosphere a great throwback to the good-ole-days when it was just a hangout and good time for all.

As I read through the comments here, I'm not at all surprised to hear people dissatisfied with the food; it's been a downhill spiral ever since 2004 [more money for crappier and less food]. One idea I had was to simplify things a bit, break 'em down into smaller concepts so that there isn't the impersonal atmosphere of a monstrous "chow hall". There could be a group that goes on a drive to Sweetwater Inn, a group that wines-n-dines up at the Mountainview Bistro, and a more relaxed atmosphere on the ball field with some burgers and 'dogs on grills. Not everyone wants to have the mass dinner, and providing some smaller, more sociable settings can certainly help bring back the cozy feeling.

I didn't sign up for the "event" at all this year. This is the first time I've done so since NAM got on board with this event. My reason was simple: there was no reason for me to sign up for anything. I found no added value in registering. A $40 registration for a bag to stuff in the bottom of my closet and some vendor stickers is not what this event is about; it's about meeting people, chatting it up, going on nice drives, and seeing the great sights in the area. There need to be some ideas for things that will bring NAM's value as a coordinator back to MOTD. There could be some useful events that gives people the chance to actually meet others beyond their clique and talk about what is mutually interesting.

*The Vendor area is not only useful as a technological and product showcase but also perfect for picking the brains of the Vendors, and meeting customers that have real-world experience with those Vendors' products.

*Ego Alley is perfect for the modder crowd [or those interested in modding] that wants to bench-race and check out fellow modders rides. If feel this is kind of an all-weekend Car Show in itself. I understand how some MINIacs are into drivetrain mods or suspension tweaks or aesthetic enhancements, and there should be a venue or location to show off those peoples pride-n-joy throughout the weekend, not just for a short time.

*Clearer organization: Even if I did register, I had no idea where Registration was! I also had to ask others what official events were going on [even though there was security blocking entrance fiercely, which is really a turn off for me to want to register next year too, it's just a MINI event, not the NSA HQ]. There were no posted signs for any events, and I really didn't feel a great sense of "the group" other than with the MichiganMINI people, which seemed to account for a huge percentage of the crowd! I also didn't really like how most people didn't seem to be there for the main weekend; lots of people I talked to got there the week before and left early. By the time Sunday morning came around, Fontana was a ghost town.

*Bring back the Drive-in Movie! Just make sure that the Fontana Public Safety doesn't crash into cars again!

--->dchautin; the lack of connectedness with civilization was one of the driving reasons behind starting MOTD. I understand how nobody can get actual time off work anymore without checking email every 15 minutes or checking the weather online, but the real point of MOTD is to completely unplug from civilization; sit on the porch, soak up the olde-world feeling of just you and nature. Having a wi-fi hotpoint, Starbucks, and Panera Bread at every one of the 318 curves on the Dragon would completely ruin the whole appeal of the area, don't you think?


To quickly blurt out my Best/Worst of this years' MOTD:

*Best: beautiful scenery, walking on the Fontana Dam at night in utter silence, brisk Cherohala Skyway cruise, Mountainview Bistro WOW-awesome dinner, chatting with good friends, the Canadian-Cabin parties [LOL]

*Worst: having lots of people back out from attending, or not attending during the event weekend, no drive-in movie to enjoy with MINIacs.



Cheers,
Ryan

 

Having no connection is great for those who prefer it. But having internet/phone/cable would give everyone the personal option to use the technology or not use it.

I agree with dchautin, it did suck. But it wasn't the end of the world. At least I could get a newspaper at the General Store to catch up on the news/sports/weather.

 

Hi, I am one of the coordinators for Little Dragons. Sorry about the noise during the tech-talk. We had no idea there was an issue. I wish someone would have come over to say something. We thought there was plenty of distance between the two events.

The Dragon Egg hunt was originally planned to be held in the field behind the trailer (where it usually is) - the rain made that impossible. We had a back-up plan for rain, which was to hold the hunt in the Recreation Center, however, since the Farewell Dinner was moved from it's original location in the tent to the Recreation Center, we weren't able to do that. Since the portion of the tent used for dinners was unoccupied, we moved the the hunt there instead of cancelling it and disappointing all the kids.

In this case, there wasn't poor planning or an oversight - actually it was just a combination of the rain and coming up with a creative solution. Unfortunately, even though it was a very large tent, unbeknownst to us, there was an impact on the tech-talk. Since the Dragon Egg hunt only took a few minutes, I hope the person speaking adapted and filled you in on the information after we were gone. I apologize for the inconvenience. I can tell you that it wasn't for not, it made 26 small children very, very happy. They look forward to the event all year long.

Pamala

 

As a senior systems administrator that manages many servers and network connections on both the east and west coast, I found being un-plugged NICE. It took me a a week to get things in place where I could do that but boy was it nice!

 

Favorite: seeing old friends and making new
least favorite: forest fire

 

Amen. I sit at a computer all day at work and watch TV all night and have to put up with my girlfriends cell phone going off all the time. It was nice to sit on the porch for hours and chat over a beer... or 5...

 

I also wish there were more vendors. I was also bored at Monte Carlo night. I guess if I could have actually sat at a table and played (it was hard to find an open one) or if they actually had slot machines that you could win the dollars for tickets it would have been nice. I also felt the drawings at the end of the night took a little longer than they needed to. I dont believe I would attend Monte Carlo night again. That being said I am sure those who were able to get a seat at a table had a blast.

ok enough of the negative stuff....

Cabriopilot your awesome. Chad at DT I can't say enough about. I mean it was his Birthday and his honeymoon and here he is working til 8pm+ on my car. Nothing but respect for him and his bride. Also the Mini people are a great crowd. I am sure next year will be better and hopefully my wife will be a little more happy as we will be bringing our dog with us =)

 

Hate to say it, but it just matters where you stayed... we may not have had phone, but Internet was up and running at Blue Waters- not to mention scones.

 

Ah...I didn't know it was planned for another area entirely. Goes to show just how useful the tent was in the end during the bad weather! It's true that the distraction wasn't a big deal and didn't last very long, which is why I didn't bother to say anything. Also...I didn't want to ruin the kiddies' fun (they did seem to be having a blast). I just figured I'd say something now for future reference and planning for the next MOTDs.

 

exactly....how refreshing to not have internet/crackberry connection at all. we were lucky to have one person with cell phone reception (verizon) at our cabin in Almond but made sure to tell anyone we gave the number to that it was for EMERGENCIES ONLY! I also enjoyed telling my office that I would be away and not have any access to email, internet or cell phone at all! muahahaa!

 

Sky and myself enjoyed this years event dispite the lack of our understanding how things were going/where to be. We met fellow miniacs from all over, and had a blast doing so! We ended up staying in Robbinsville, because we did not know where everything was taking place, and motored to and from on a daily basis enjoying both the drive and the scenery. It was a beautiful drive and we took different routes almost everytime!
I am not going to sit here and try to find fault in any event nor try to believe that I have the solution to any of these faults. I do agree with Ryephile that all food gatherings should not be a MASS gathering into one localized area but dispersed into small gatherings for all to be able to attend. I believe the whole idea of MOTD is to be able to get away from the daily hum-drum of reality, meet new/old friends, enjoy your surroundings/areas, motor in the best car you have ever had the pleasure to motor in, and just relaxing so you can enjoy the one life that you have to live!
To all our new friends we say "Hi from us" and to all that we missed we say "Sorry we missed you!" Hopefully we will be able to see/meet you next time!