I got an invitation to the First Ever Downtown MINI Rally.
"The rally starts at Mead Gardens in Winter Park and ends at Downtown MINI where there will be prizes, a barbeque, a fashion show of new MINI gear and a service tech session."

It's also a relaxed scavenger hunt! Registration is limited to the first 125 cars that have to RSVP by May 12th.

Should be fun! :smile:

 

Was that an email or regular mail invitation?

I haven't gotten the invitation yet, but I just called and RSVPed and gave them my T-shirt size. It will indeed begin at Mead Gardens.

Looking forward to meeting many of you there.

James

 

The invite came in the mail. Yours will probably come soon.

The invite also said each car requires a Driver and Navigator. And we get t-shirts too :smile:

I forgot to mention the time:
Cars need to be at Meed Gardens by 9am.
Drivers/Navigators meeting at 9:30am
First car out at 9:45
The rally is approximately one and a half our in length

 

You’re invited to the
First Ever Downtown MINI Rally
Sunday, May 18, 2003

Registration is limited to the first 125 cars that RSVP to
Downtown MINI by May 12th (407-835-2727).
Each car will require a Driver and a Navigator.
Also, please indicate you and your navigators shirt size.

The rally starts at Mead Gardens in Winter Park and ends at Downtown MINI where there will be prizes, a barbecue, a fashion show of new MINI gear and a service tech session.

Cars need to be at Mead Gardens by 9am.
Drivers/Navigators meeting at 9:30am
First car out will be 9:45.
The rally is approximately one hour and a half in length.

Directions to Mead Gardens are as follows:
From I-4 take the Fairbanks exit
Head east on Fairbanks (toward downtown Winter Park)
Turn right on Denning Drive, cross Orange Avenue
Turn left into Mead Gardens, sign in and get your number

This is a relaxed scavenger hunt type rally. No synchronizing of watches, no time distance calculations. But, it will be challenging!

Please direct your RSVP’s, shirt sizes and any questions to Joyce.

We are looking forward to seeing you and having a lot of fun.

Let’s Motor!

The Gang at Downtown MINI

 

Never received anything via email or snail mail. Doesn't matter as I am navigatorless, and also will probably be in Miami that weekend.
I was at the dealership today and nobody mentioned anything...

~Joe

 

Joe...maybe Adam is free that weekend? He's an awesome navigator...when he's awake.

I was able to switch some days at work, so I will be there...

 

This sounds like it would be fun...Too bad nobody down here heard about it. Anyway we will be getting our pulleys that weekend so I guess it doesn't matter anyway. Maybe next time. June for sure.

 

Bruce...she didn't mail the invitations until like Tuesday... she has your address. I think it kind of snuck up on them, and they had to rush to get the invitations out. I just got mine today.

Hehe...I'm gonna have to haul butt from WPB to get back up to Orlando...lol.

 

When I check my mail tomorrow I'll see if I got sent an invitation. Tomorrow is the last day to RSVP. If they did send me one, I'll see if zero wants to go along. Otherwise, I think going to Miami might still be on, so we'll see!!!

~Joe

 

I feel sure, if you did not get one, then you could still respond via the telephone number on the above post.

The more the merrier, we need a good showing.

 

With the invites going out late, I would think they would need to extend the RSVP date. I can't wait to meet you all there :smile:

 

I have still not received an invitation, but I was able to RSVP anyway. I went to Downtown MINI on Saturday and spoke to Joyce. They had about 25 cars signed up then. I'm not sure they will extend the deadline very long, they seemed to prefer less cars than the 125 limit.

Joyce also said they will be doing something for "The Italian Job", but she didn't have any details for me. They also said they want to have an event "every three months or so".

My CVT position display showed EP yesterday, which indicates some problem even though the car drove fine. I hope it won't keep me from participating the in rally.

James

 

Well, my shift-swapping fell through. So unless my begging and pleading works, I won't make it up the rally.

 

I never got an invite but didn't expect one either, oh well. I'll just have to wait until June for my MINI group fix.

 

Invite never came. If they can't get organised ahead of time, they should expect a low turnout.

See you guys in Daytona on the 21st!

~Joe

 

damn! i just found out! i've been on another planet!

i called and RSVP'ed and i'm in but i need a navigator!!!!

 

If you did not get an invite, why can't you call the RSVP number anyway.?

 

Can I just say that I am PISSED OFF at the lack of notice on Downtown's part? I've been computerless or out of town since last Friday and I got a paper invite TODAY, my first day back in town. They finally do something to get us together but given the disorganization and the limit on headcount...or MINIcount rather, they don't seem to really want us there.

I'm going to scramble for a navigator and call tomorrow to see if I can get in, but I'm mad.

Been looking forward to a Downtown event for a while now and the result is so far disappointing. Hope the actual event is better than the setup.

 

Synch, at least you got an invite!!! I'm kinda pissed about it too! Considering they're so proud to be rated #1 MINI dealer in the country, you'd think they'd at least try to make their customers feel welcome! Oh well... I'm not going to beg them to let me go... I'll see you guys at the Daytona Meet!!!

BTW, if any of you guys want to drop a few hints to them about their level of disorganization, go for it! They might be getting an e-mail from this end too...

~Joe

 

Worry not Joe, but I intend to do it in person. I want to see the results of their lack of organization and leverage it.

 

i'm still navigator-less unless my GPS NAV counts... any takers?

 

I agree they dropped the ball on the invitations. I never did get one. But I called Downtown MINI to RSVP and they were happy to add my car to the list. They did remind me about the rally when I went in there last week. Just call and RSVP, they won't turn you down unless they have reached their quota, which I doubt they have.

You buy a car and they are required to service it. These events are just extras. I wish they were better organized too. But it's like getting a free dinner and complaining about the dessert. Hopefully we'll be doing our own events soon and not relying on Downtown MINI for events (although I hope they continue to have them).

James

 

>>I agree they dropped the ball on the invitations. I never did get one. But I called Downtown MINI to RSVP and they were happy to add my car to the list. They did remind me about the rally when I went in there last week. Just call and RSVP, they won't turn you down unless they have reached their quota, which I doubt they have.
>>
>>You buy a car and they are required to service it. These events are just extras. I wish they were better organized too. But it's like getting a free dinner and complaining about the dessert. Hopefully we'll be doing our own events soon and not relying on Downtown MINI for events (although I hope they continue to have them).
>>
>>James


You have a point james but your last sentence kind of sums up WHY i'm so aggravated. I was depending on this to help drum up Orlando area membership for this site so that we DON'T have to depend on the dealer to do something more regularly on a "local" level.

The bigger meets that some folks have taken the time to organize are awesome and allow for others around the state to come, and I can't begin to express my appreciation for their efforts, but wouldn't it be cool to have a monthly (weekly??) gathering that didn't require extended preparation or hotel stays?

I'm going to the rally on Sunday, I registered with Joyce this afternoon. I'll be bringing some of those flyers I talked about a while back, in bright colors, to distribute.

 

Well I got a phone call from Downtown apologizing for the screw up. Apparently something went wrong in the mail and my invite was returned to them...

Good thing I'd already counted on not going!

 

>>i'm still navigator-less unless my GPS NAV counts... any takers?


Gleep;
I have a taker, do you still need a navigator? She's a friend of my mine and would like to go to the rally too. My MINI already has 2 people. Email me at remiasm@bellsouth.net if you're still interested :smile: