OK So I screwed up

[RodsCars]

I play with a lot of cars-- Attend and judge many shows--- Belong to many old car groups.. Each one has a way of keeping track of members and letting them know when where and what they may want to participate in. Months ago, I THOUGHT I had signed up for the AACA Western tour-- OUT here we just don't have all the COOL EVENTS you have in the east. So our events are scarce and when they pop up, I would LIKE to participate if I can.. Heck I am an AACA member, contribute to the forums-- try to do my part to make the hobby enjoyable. I CLEARED my calendar so I could participate this year--- THOUGHT I was set to go-- But had no clue for SURE what car or CARS I registered.. Made contact to ask what I did and got a phone call message call reply: "ROD, you are not registered we are full and can not accommodate you." -------  OK, so I thought I was in, but guess not...

 

Not sure how I missed that one important detail -- REGISTRATION--- So, OK-- well, I do have PLENTY of work here in the shop getting customer cars ready for OTHER events. So not much time for me to go do something with MY car/s so it is OK----- NOT-- I thought well, I am an AACA member and there are many members I would like to visit with, I'll ask if I can join ANY of the TOURS---- I don't need to be fed, don't need a room ( I live REAL close to at least one of the tour destinations) -- So I sent another message-- "Can I join a tour?" REPLY: "ROD NO YOU CAN NOT! You are not registered and you would NOT be covered by AACA insurance"  ----- In other words, I am not welcome to participate with other AACA members in any part of the event.

 

OK-- my toes were stepped on-- I screwed up thinking I was set to go.. I know that some of the events I go to don't send out any confirmation-- I pick up my packet at the door/gate, so I had NO reason to think otherwise. I really did think I was good to go-- Just not sure if I was taking Cindy's Rambler American convertible, My 53 Willys Aero, The 58 Cadillac, or the Chevelle convert, or the 64 Cad, the Trabant, Packard, Eldorado, Mustang or one of the other cars sitting here. Guess that NONE will see the road in that direction this week.

[ted sweet]

and your point?

[RodsCars]

Point is--- Getting owners of old cars to participate in EVENTS is getting more difficult all the time. MANY CLUBS and EVENT Welcome arrivals at any time they show up. The WELCOME MAT is OUT-- PLEASE COME -- Bring your car-- Invite a person that MAY be on the fence about buying an old car and participating. Never-- EVER tell a club member that wants to participate

"YOU ARE NOT INVITED"

[Grimy]

ALL of us AACA members were invited. Just visit the website identified (several times, several venues), download and print the form, fill it out, add your check and mail.  Whether it's a tour or a judged show, there is a drop-dead date for each.  There are many elements calling for limits on registrants, including printing of tour materials, contracts with sites visited, etc. I speak from considerable experience administering local tours, single-marque clubs' annual meets, and regional concours.

 

I'd like to compliment the Redwood Empire Region folks administering this tour for their professionalism and quick response to my questions.  Yes, I'm signed up and looking forward to it.

 

Rod, I'm sorry you can't be accommodated but it's not the failing of anyone else.

[DaveBerg]

Why not ask the tour organizers for a copy of the tour book. Buy it if need be. Then you can do the tour on your own or with friends somewhere down the road. While its not the same as being with the larger group it can still be a world of fun.

[Mark Shaw]

Better yet, ask if someone has a back seat available or see if there is an opportunity to fill-in for a cancellation.

[huptoy]

I recently missed going to my 55th high school reunion banquet by missing the 5 week cut off date by 3 weeks.  Well, I will not miss the next one in 5 years.

 

Actually, the AACA tour organizers always want as many attendees as possible.  The organizers are limited by the ability to handle large crowds.  Hotel rooms, restaurant availability, restrooms, banquet availability, and locations to visit parking lot size are limiting factors.  If you over tax the ability to handle the touring members, it becomes a bad tour.

 

Setting the cut off date always seems long before the tour starts.  The catering service always want a count in advance giving time to provide the best price and service. 

 

Just setting up the tour book with routes can be a real problem.  Several years ago we set up a tour for about 75 cars coming in from over 200 miles.  Not a big problem but we had an extensive amount of rain the previous week and a couple of roads were under 8 feet of water.  Just for giggles, a county engineer decided to close a road for construction 4 days before the event.  So much for planning ahead. 

 

It's no fun when we miss a tour and I fell your frustration.  Unfortunately, no one has figured a better solution for signing up.

[Paul Dobbin]

RodsCars,

Sorry you missed out this time, but you'll pay closer attention next time.

Laying out a tour is a giant task and the key to making it work is knowing how many cars, passengers, parking spaces, hotel rooms, banquet plates, tour books, shirts, dash plaques, donuts,  coffee, goody bags, and admission tickets to buy.

Often the places the tour plans to visit cannot accommodate all our cars, or the eating places can't feed that many people.  All these things go into laying out the tour and planning for success instead of traffic jams.  Once the number that can be accommodated, the tour committee has to work backwards to share the costs among the final number of participants, while keeping it affordable.

Look at the Hershey Car Show, registration is determined by the number of parking spots in the show field, football games are limited to the number of seats in the stadium and it doesn't matter how big a fan you are, if you forget to buy a ticket, no seat.

Participation is encouraged, but without planning & pre-registration, it won't work.