Charlotte SouthEastern National Meet Survey

[61polara]

At the Charlotte Meet, the show format was different from most National Meets. The show cars were released at 3:00pm and the awards were given at 4:00 in a large tent adjacent to the show field, followed by a dinner for those who registed in the same tent at 5:00 pm. Our AACA President, Herb Oakes, asked for feed back on this format. Let us know what you thought. Should this be the case for other National Meets?

[progoofoff]

The awards presentation at 4:00 was the best thing since sliced bread.

Bob

[real61ss]

The Awards presentation at Charlotte worked out great but I believe it put an extra burden of the judges adminstration people. This show had about 300 cars and adminstration guys did a great job but they were not ready to present the awards at 4 PM. If it were a one of the larger shows it would be very difficult to have the awards ready in the alloted time.

I think the date change created several problems that the Hornets Nest had to deal with and they did a wonderful job of doing so. As for the pro's and con's......I was really glad to see the number of cars up some over past years but I missed seeing the AACA crowd at the host hotel on Friday night. I think the date change had people scattered about in different hotels. The Embassy Suites which is normally the host hotel had a few of us AACA guys but mostly was full of Rotary Club people as they were having some sort of get together.

All in all, it was another great meet but I'd vote for doing the awards the old way but I understand why they did it this way and again, the Hornets Nest group did a wonderful job and they are to be commended.

[Guest Art Griffin]

Both approaches have their pluses and minuses, but overall I would vote for our old way of doing this. Without pushing the Judges Administration folks to rush to meet a 4 PM award ceremony, the old plan gives folks time after the meet to put vehicles away in their trailers, get cleaned up, and have some time for socializing with other owners and other AACA folks before sitting down to a delicious meal in a relaxing environment. Most folks wouldn't hit the road home until the next morning anyway, unless they lived close to the Meet site. There are undoubtedly some owners who just want to grab their trophies and leave, but I think that's too much rush when you want to enjoy the people involved in the hobby.

There are clearly situations that make one plan or the other preferable, and not all locations have a good banquet facility close by.

The bottom line is that a Region or Chapter should have the option within AACA to use the plan that works best for them. Although I have a preference for the old plan, I am not stuck one way or the other.

Art Griffin

[38Buick 80C]

I liked judging school at the Media Center instead of the hotel. I can't personally comment on the banquet as I was not in attendance, but I heard positive things from those who did.

[Restorer32]

My personal opinion is that presenting awards on the field trivializes the meet but then in general I don't like AACA shows to be in conjunction with larger commercial events either, and for the same reason. I prefer the AACA meet to be the main event, not an afterthought.

[Shop Rat]

I liked judging school at the Media Center instead of the hotel. .....

Us too. We were able to go to class and then back out into the flea market area rather than have to walk out to the campground and then get in the car and go to the hotel and lose that whole afternoon. That was great!!