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Post by Gary S. former treas. on Jul 30, 2004 15:35:10 GMT -5
We need to rethink our annual car show... The current location is nice but there is no draw... nothing for the general public to do... nothing else to see...weather at this time of the year is too iffy at best... Too much work involved for the small return... Car show by itself does not work... There, I've said it and now let's hear everyone else's opinions, it's the only way to improve what we've got.
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scott
Junior Member
Posts: 25
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Post by scott on Aug 1, 2004 10:32:46 GMT -5
I for one tend to agree. I am sure the weather killed a lot of plans for some to come. I do think having it with some other draw is a plus. I was not with the club when it was at the other location but having the festival bringing people out is a plus. Was the field such a bad place? Plus our date was the same as Monmouth park's car show that could have lessened attendance.
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Post by StagHunter on Aug 4, 2004 15:47:31 GMT -5
Yeah, the field was terrible. Everyone hated it. It was a sandy field with too tall grass (or weeds, actually) and you wondered about setting it on fire. Some people with really nice cars (or trailer queens) came, saw, and never came back because of the sand. There was no access over the curb and we needed ramps to get the cars up. The field was awful. I have a problem with the July date because it typically falls very close to VTR and this makes it hard for me sometimes to do both, but I can live with it. I was going to suggest we give it one more year at Georgian Court but this time settle on a date right away and begin promoting it. Make sure all the car mags, local clubs and web sites have it on their calendars, and if the attendance disappoints again, think about another location and/or time. I don't think this year's show is a fair indication of the place's potential. It had both the weather and the fact that it was virtually unpromoted working against it. We drew no one from outside of New Jersey. I think Lavallette would be good if we could get the same deal as on Lavallette day. If we could arrange to have the road closed or one of the parking areas reserved for us so we could park on pavement, it would be fine. Any other suggestions for time or place?
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Post by Sixer on Aug 5, 2004 7:31:53 GMT -5
Excuse me for jumping in. I used to be a member of PEDC quite a few years ago, but for reasons I don't remember, never renewed. I am a member of a group called the Friends of Island Beach State Park. Each September we hold a festival in the park and were thinking of adding an auto show to the event. The festival is scheduled for 9/12 this year, info is at the link below. If the club has any interest for next years festival, drop me an email at griz@backpacker.com And stop by this years festival to scope it out, I can show you around. All parking is on asphalt, there would be a separate parking area for show contestants, no park admission is charged the day of the festival and there are food vendors, crafters displays, park activities and live entertainment. Sorry if this was out of place. www.friendsofislandbeach.com/fund01.htm
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Post by StagHunter on Aug 5, 2004 13:12:47 GMT -5
Sixer, It's not out of place at all, and if it didn't conflict with our established practice of of doing a post Labor Day affair with Lavallette, I'm sure a lot of people would be interested. I'll bet a lot of people would be interested anyway. We'll bring it up at at the next meeting. And needless to say, if you ever decide you want to hang out with British car nuts again, we're still here.
On the original note, I took a ride past the old show grounds at Lavallette today and noticed a parking area at Lavallette beach, right across the road from the rescue squad building, that looked like it could hold at least 75 cars. Should we ask about this, just for the heck of it?
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Post by Gary S. former treas. on Aug 6, 2004 21:01:12 GMT -5
I like the idea of the Island Beach State Park festival...and the date is more conducive to better weather (maybe). More out in the open for general public to see and more to do for car owners. Personally I don't think the general public will go out of their way just to see some British cars but if the cars are included in a fair or festival of some sort they will gladly come and take a look. I find car shows boring after a few hours if there isn't something else to do. How about a show at the Ocean County Fair like they have at the Monmouth County Fair? I like all the feedback we're getting... keep it up!!!
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Post by StagHunter on Aug 8, 2004 0:40:56 GMT -5
I'm not sure we should care whether the general public is drawn to our show or not. I think we care whether the british car crowd is drawn to it enough to bring their cars. I wouldn't consider a show with 10 cars and 10000 spectators a success. A show with 100 cars and 150 participants and spectators, on the other hand, is successful.
I do agree that having our show in combination with another event, such as the Lavallette Heritage Day Festival (summer) or this Island Beach festival (fall) might bring more cars because there's more to do once they arrive. Let's face it, most siginificant others of car heads aren't car heads themselves. Having a craft fair, or some other non auto related festival of some kind, will help convince the spouse to come along, making it easier for the car head to come.
One thing I do want to emphasize is this discussion is not a swipe against those who run our show or those who found the venue. They worked hard to locate Georgian Court and make it work with the administration there, and they've done great. I don't think we've worked hard enough to publicize our event.
I think we need to agree as soon as possible on plans for next year's show. We need to set a date, time and place and get that information on as many car club, magazine and vendor calendars as we can as soon as we can. We need to get our web page updated with pictures, etc. from this year's show and convince people it was worth attending.
Finally, we need to establish a mechanism where we can inform people in real time whether the event will go off as scheduled. I bet more than a few people were put off by the weather and didn't come because they thought it would be called. This forum could serve that purpose.
And in the event that despite all our efforts in 2005, the Georgian Court location disappoints us again, we need to start looking for alternatives even as we prepare to go back to Lakewood next year.
Should be an interesting meeting.
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