What happened to the Thread?

[old-tank]

What happened to the Thread about the 2009 national??

[The Old Guy]

It probably was removed because it was getting "silly" People talking about having national meets , and putting them on in areas where ther is no chapter, and thinking it can be done like the old Mickey Rooney movies.

Mickey and Judy woud say " lets put on a show" and they immediately ended up with a building that would seat the whole town and the costumes just appeared!

Our chapter has been instrumental in puttin on 3 nationals ,numerous regionals , and helped on others, and believe me when I say " It is not as simple as this thread would make you believe.

[Guest Tom]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It probably was removed because it was getting "silly" People talking about having national meets , and putting them on in areas where ther is no chapter, and thinking it can be done like the old Mickey Rooney movies.

Mickey and Judy woud say " lets put on a show" and they immediately ended up with a building that would seat the whole town and the costumes just appeared!

Our chapter has been instrumental in puttin on 3 nationals ,numerous regionals , and helped on others, and believe me when I say " It is not as simple as this thread would make you believe. </div></div>

Having been involved with the 2006 meet in Rochester, I totally agree with The Old Guy.

[Guest imported_Thriller]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Our chapter has been instrumental in puttin on 3 nationals ,numerous regionals , and helped on others, and believe me when I say " It is not as simple as this thread would make you believe. </div></div>

I don't think anyone was trying to over-simplify anything. If I was incorrect in my thoughts or made assumptions that weren't right, please correct me. Granted it is more difficult to host a meet where there isn't a large local chapter, but I don't think it would be impossible. More difficult than in other locations, certainly, but not impossible. It depends somewhat on who is involved as well as how many (the old quality vs. quantity issue). I had thought that perhaps getting the regions more involved might at least improve the body quantity, if not the quality numbers as well.

Without poring over the roster, many members don't know how many folks are in a particular chapter. So, I don't think there is harm in asking whether it might be possible to hold a meet in location X.

So, perhaps some more summarized demographic information about the membership would be useful as well. Depending on the format of the membership database, maybe sending it out on CD/DVD to those who request it might even save on shipping costs (I don't know, just a thought).

Ah, who are we kidding? The thread was probably nuked because I was blathering on too much.

[Guest BJM]

There have been a lot more negative posts then that post that have been left alone. It was all a positive discussion about the issue of the 2009 BCA National meet in particular, and National Meet issues in general. The person who removed the thread did not say why, nor take responsibility. If topics like asking about a national meet progress are censored, then what is next?

There was not one negative post or comment in that entire run regarding BCA or chapter handling of the issue. The deletion of the post anonymously sent a stronger message then anything contained in that topic.

[The Old Guy]

Derek

You are right , "nothing is impossible" but some things are much more difficult than others. Have you ever tried to ski through a revolving door?? It might not be impossible , but it would be as easy as what you are proposing

[Guest gecco]

I am curious "Old Guy" and others that can speak from experience on this. How many people typically make up the core of a site committee for a BCA national? and how many volunteers does take beyond the committee to actually facilitate the show?

[NTX5467]

The size of the "site selection committee" can be variable. It can also depend upon how well operatives intimately know about what's available in their particular area. It can also depend upon research and networking activities with other local car clubs who have hosted national meets of the size and magnitude of a BCA National Meet in their particular area.

When we stated getting our big together for the 1996 national meet, we were luck enough to have an individual with unlimited time and funding, who volunteered to go out and see what he could find. Myself and Pete Phillips kind of pointed him in various directions and he reported back to us at the next monthly chapter meeting. This started a full two years before the propsal was put together! We didn't know what was out there, although we had some ideas, but no specifics. He went to local visitors and convention bureaus, Chamber of Commerce operatives, and also did some research on his own. Then, we had representatives from the top five contenders give us their pitch and the chapter voted on the best one.

When we fast-tracked the site selection process for 2004, we already had a good idea of what was in the area, but also knew there was some newer stuff too. That made it easier. One person checked one area, another checked another area, and so on. Then, they made their presentations at a chapter meeting and we all voted on it. IF the chapter as a whole is going to be involved, then the whole group needs to be involved in the final site decision. Other car club chapters might desire to appoint a search committee and go with their recommendations and decision, though--highly variable.

Then you'll need to plan your activities and then determine how many of your chapter people will be needed on each one, with plenty of people involved so no one is "cooked" in doing it all. Not to mention allowing them time off to also enjoy the meet as a spectator.

I don't know that there are any "set in stone" numbers for these things as each meet is different and no two meets typically draw the same numbers of participants/attendees who would avail themselves of the various meet activities. What you have to do is look at each activity as a separate staffing situation and go from there. It definitely takes people to make things happen, both chapter/regional operatives and paid attendees.

You might get some ideas from reading the link on the front page on National Meet Planning Guidelines. Also, attending BCA National Meets to observe what is good, what is marginal, and what could be done better is a great way to determine how you might want to do things at your meet. It was discussion of what other BCA National Meets "did" or did not do well (operationally and financially) that helped our chapter form our collective knowledge base of how we wanted our first BCA National Meet (1996) to be run and operated.

Just some thoughts,

Willis Bell 20811

Director, North TX Chapter

[The Old Guy]

The Buicktown chapter has 165 member families . The group that put on the 2003 national had 1 person as direct laison the Buick Motor Division 7-8 chair people to handle the different activities ( registration,swap meet, site preparation, hospitatility,security, tours, shuttle service, etc) Each of these had a cadre of people to do the job. All told probably 80-90 people worked on the show. We also had the advantage of the college and cultural area which was available because of the space needed. The Flint tourist and convention bureau also was a tremendous help.

Finding this much assistance in an area that has no large chapter will be an almost impossible task. As the BCA continues to grow , the job will become even more difficult as there will be very few areas that can accomodate us. I would also like to see meets in different areas. I have driven a Buick to every National meet since 1971, and enjoyed them all!

Danny Meyer ,the Buick laison started talking to BMD 10 years before the meet to make sure that we were all on the same page, and there were still some last minute glitches which required attention.