Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

bowtie · Secretary

Automania ideas

bowtie · Secretary

I'll start:

1-I liked lots of different cars we normally don't see.

2-The trophy winners will only get one-I don't think there should be multiple wins per car/truck.

3-We needed more food and product vendors.

Here's some of my wants this year:
swap meet area (pending additional space), a specific photo area using Friendly's new front facade in the background, clear the building's front area and have the cars come in there which would also be the registration area.

Oh yeah, no spectator fencing. Spectators will be free.

What can you add?

SShink · 3K+ Club

1. I liked how the members pitched in the night before for moving cars and setting up. It went fast and having dinner afterwards was fun too!

2. We need a better way to park and line the cars up. I was part of the issue when directing traffic. We need a better plan and maybe put up a few cones in a line so that we have a reference point?

3. Maybe add better things to the goodie bags? Will require more hitting the streets for goodies.

Lost in the 60s · President

Restricting vehicles to one trophy will be next to impossible when there are multiple voting bodies. The 2 clubs and dealership could compare votes and avoid the same choices but there's no way to control the participant or spectator votes unless they are "manipulated" to eliminate repetition.

Cones to define the rows would good and parking the vehicles in rows as they come in would be more organized than letting the drivers pick where they want to be. That is too hard to control.

Another food vendor may be good. The Camaro Club has contracted with a Choo-Choo vendor the last 2 years and they will pay a small fee to the club too.

I'm not concerned about more goodies. I've never gotten a goodie bag from any other show I attended. Anything is better than nothing and I think the participants were OK with what they got.

Bringing the vehicles in from the front will work, as long as the line keeps moving and doesn't back up out onto Hwy 65.

No fence and free spectators will be less member work AND more people on the ground !!

Chris R · 2K+ Club

How many award catagorys were there given?

Try again to get the Caprice cop car and the monster truck or dragster.

The club parking area should have an area within the club parking area for CHEVELLES ONLY, no offence to the non Chevelles in the club but purely for the purpose of taking photos of the cars without brand X model being in there.

John D · 2K+ Club

I've been wracking my brain, and digging into my old Scouting/Pinewood judging "stuff" for a few hours here:
I think I've come up with a way to eliminate the possibility of multiple trophies - except for the possibility of "People's Choice"
Here Goes: (See the attached forms)

I would classify the "Friendly Chev Choice" trophy to be the cherry on top. Once this car is chosen it is eliminated from all other awards. Then (in order)
"Sponsor XYZ"
"Club A Choice"
"Club B Choice"
"Best ???" awards
- The only way a car could get more than one trophy would be if it was selected for "People's Choice", and another award.

(Edit - There isn't really any reason that "People's Choice" couldn't be inserted into the 2nd slot after "Friendly Chev Choice", then a "2b" added below. Then no-one would get two awards... JD)

Each Sponsor would get a ballot with 3 entry spaces for their award, in a 1st, 2nd & 3rd choice format.
Each Club would get a ballot with 3 entry spaces for their "Club Choice" and 5 spaces for each "Best ???" category. The choices would be made in a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., place manner. (Each award would then have backups if an entry earned a higher award.)

Tallying:
The coordinators have a Master List, with entry spots for each "Sponsor XYZ" contender, the two "Club Choice" contenders, and all "Best ???" contenders.
1 - The ballot sheets are submitted, and the entry numbers for everything except “Friendly Chev Choice” are transferred to the Master List for each category.

2 - Friendly Chev votes a car.
- This entry number is then crossed off of all other fields on the Master List. (Edit 2B - The same procedure for "People's Choice" if wanted.)

3 - Sponsor choices.
Edit - All Sponsor names are thrown in a hat, and pulled. This determines the order of sorting below.

- The #1 entries for each Sponsor are checked for duplicates. If there are no duplicates the job is done.
- If a duplicate #1 is found it is crossed out
- Then the #2's are checked, again duplicates crossed off.
- Then the #3's. Eventually there will be one winner for each sponsor.
- The winning entry numbers for each sponsor category is then crossed off of all other award categories.
(Since the entry is being judged by a Sponsor, and not for a particular "facet" of construction, does it really matter? They're getting a bigger trophy)

4 - Club Choices.
- These are checked for duplicates. Again, if a duplicate #1 is found, it's crossed off and #2 gets the award.
- If a #1 car is eliminated, considerations should be made as to which #1 is cut, so the more appropriate type of car is chosen/awarded by the particular Club.

5 - Best ??? Awards.
These should be somewhat self eliminating, as a particular facet of construction is being judged. Odds are that if a car is truly the "Best of" in a category, it would show up on each Clubs ballot, in one position or another. (Each Club has made a 1st, 2nd, 3rd... choice in each category.)

- If there is only one matching entry between ballots, that entry wins. (Both Clubs considered it a contender, regardless of place)
- If there are two or more matches, add the "place" numbers of each matching entry between the two Club ballots. The entry with the lowest total gets it.
- If there is no match between ballots, the two voting bodies revisit each #1 contender and make a choice.

(The possibility of having more than 2 matches with the same "place" value is slim - if it happens there'll have to be a visit and re-vote)
As before, as a winner is chosen in each "Best ???" category, the winning entry number is crossed off of all remaining trophy categories.

Tallying votes would be a bit time consuming, but easy... as working from the top award down, the cars in contention are systematically eliminated further down the list.

- As before, the Club Officers would choose the “Club Choice” award, with consideration given to Member input.
- Each Club could easily break down the “Best ???” award choices into Member teams to speed the process.

-- Edited by John D on Sunday 19th of February 2012 07:11:56 AM

-- Edited by John D on Sunday 19th of February 2012 08:09:29 AM

bowtie · Secretary

Thanks for the input, keep it coming.

Good point on the trophies Mitch-yes, the 3 main trophies would have to be compared to not duplicate. The choice ones would be separate and I think should be presented by those sponsors (some weren't present last year.)

Yes, there's already a better plan for parking-better lined up and more spots in the same area but I am still going to try for more of the lot to use.

USA-1 was sold, plus the "donation" to him was beyond manageable. I will be trying again for something spectacle-like again. We'll see. The new Caprice should be more doable, I just can't get a for sure since they can't schedule something like that formally.

Our club did have separate parking, but I see how it could be a little confusing since some of our members were entered in the show, so even though they were parked at the end by our tent it was in the first-come spaces. I'm still trying to work out a deal for some "Chevelle Row" signs to be made for us too......

John D · 2K+ Club

I'd resist to use the term "human manipulation", as it implies an emotional decision. Granted, the initial choices in each category have human/emotional input, but after this is done, working the judging process in the manner I described above merely becomes process of elimination.

I agree - there would have to be some information given out:

Sponsors: Due to the nature of vote tallying your #1 choice may be eliminated, due to that entry being selected by another sponsor earlier in the tallying process. Selection order of Sponsor trophies is done by a simple "name in a hat" drawing at the beginning of the vote tallying process.

Entrants: Only one (1) trophy will be awarded per entry, except for the possibility of earning "People's Choice" in addition to another award. Our judging process will award you with the highest tier of trophy that your entry was nominated for in the Club, Sponsor or Best classifications - even if you were nominated for multiple classifications.

dashboard · 2K+ Club

If the trophy issue is such a big deal, eliminate them; there, problem solved; the lot will still be full. Or, start awarding trophies at 1000, then award one class, group, club, sponsor, category or whatever every hour till the show ends, once someone wins their out of the running with the exception of people’s choice at the end of the show.

Let’s not let the trophy’s take all the fun out of our small show.

Is it just me or does anyone else think we could use a little more support from the ‘other’ club. I recall a lot of NCC body’s there the night before but not to many others.

-- Edited by dashboard on Sunday 19th of February 2012 10:08:40 AM

Lost in the 60s · President

dashboard wrote:
If the trophy issue is such a big deal, eliminate them; there, problem solved; the lot will still be full. Or, start awarding trophies at 1000, then award one class, group, club, sponsor, category or whatever every hour till the show ends, once someone wins their out of the running with the exception of people’s choice at the end of the show.

Let’s not let the trophy’s take all the fun out of our small show.

Is it just me or does anyone else think we could use a little more support from the ‘other’ club. I recall a lot of NCC body’s there the night before but not to many others.

-- Edited by dashboard on Sunday 19th of February 2012 10:08:40 AM
The trophies really aren't that big of a deal. We're just throwing ideas around to get them spread out so more participants get something for their time. Once we get a good foundation to build on, it will be repetitive for the future and predictable. This is just part of the process of expanding into the "show" circuit.
I noticed the same level of co-operative volunteerism but it should show our members that we can run a show on our own. I think the first one was a big success and we can build on that and fly independantly in the future.
As far as "Staff" shirts, that is a good idea but an XXL on me looks like a dress... We would need to have more than one size and YELLOW. I don't look good in Lime Green...

-- Edited by Lost in the 60s on Sunday 19th of February 2012 11:30:26 AM

Lost in the 60s · President

That could work, John. Again, it comes back to human manipulation to control the outcome. It's certainly within the "right" of the show sponsors to do that but my concern would be the rule of one trophy per entrant may need to be on the fliers and posted on the registration table so everyone knows how the judging works. We handed out multiple trophies the first time and people may expect that again. Nipping it in the budd now will be better than after a few more "annual" shows and future participants will know what to expect. You, or Tom, could whip up a relatively simple tally program to do this on a lap top to speed up the process. The Camaro Club has one similar and Tom could get access to that to use as a base or model. He could get a copy of the voting sheets they use too, which is very similar to what you described. Participants and spectators get 5 choices each. May as well look at existing programs to start with rather than re-inventing the wheel.

John D · 2K+ Club

Other ideas:

DJ/Music - I wasn't very impressed with our DJ last year. He made several moderate/serious gaffes in regard to our Host and Sponsoring Club names, etc., and his equipment was marginal.
Qualifications:
- Enough speakers/amplification to provide coverage of the grounds without having it painfully loud within 100' of a speaker.
** Mandatory ** - Wireless mic gear with enough range to work from the judging/awards area, or better yet - anywhere on the grounds (roving reporter in mind).

Event Staff:
Buy a case of obnoxiously LOUD yellow or lime green XXL T-shirts or construction "Visi-Vests". We could have them silk-screened "Event Staff" or something pretty inexpensively. If you're "working the floor" you wear a shirt/vest. At the end of the event they'd be collected and washed by a volunteer, and stored by the Quartermaster.

Club Banner(s):
We need to get busy on replacing our current Club banner!!
- We purchase two, 2-sided banners - same size as existing.
- Use the trademarked Club logo (with the '64 to '87 text).
- If they offer a poles/stanchion kit, get them as well.

Awards:
Any "artists" out there??
- Someone weld up a cool trophy made of engine parts/doodads for our "Club Choice"?

Celebrities:
- Anyone know Ray Eric or Brian Zepp c/o KQRS?? They're "car-guys". (The promotion fees may be prohibitive)

Local PD / Fire or National Guard:
- Kids of all ages like looking at cop cars, fire trucks, or Mil-Spec trucks or equipment.
- Offer our public servants free chow/amenities in exchange for an appearance.
- Offer the National Guard a vendor (recruiting) space in exchange for having "stuff" there.

Vendor Contact Ideas:
- The Snap-On, MAC, Matco guys that serve Friendly Chevrolet
- DIY Garage (rent-a-lift & tools place)
- 4-post or "Quik-lift" equipment suppliers
- "Ultimate Garage" type vendors/suppliers/designers
- Chanhassen Motor-Plex
- Floor Coating contractors
- Metro-Moulded
- QA-1
- Powder Coating (Extreme, then others)
- Dakota Digital (they're not too far away)

Chris R · 2K+ Club

Im pretty sure you can buy event staff vests somewhere fairly cheaply. I could swear they already make vests with the lettering right on it since they are fairly common.

Regarding the trophies. Johns post is pretty diplomatic and leaves no stone unturned. I suppose we as a club could get aside and put the votes on what car we think as a club should be a pick. Say there is an Impala and a GTO that are great and its a hard choice to make, we can gather aside and we can have our own vote between the two cars. If the other club picks the same cars, we just split the votes between the two. If we have 10 cars selected then we get together and discuss and narrow it down the one car the club likes.

Mitch nailed exactly what I was thinking. After this year, the ball should be rolling on working on having our own show independently.

Merchandise. The one mandatory thing all members should at least wear is a club shirt. Im not sure where we stand as far as whats left in stock for club shirts but I know we have been planning to come up with some new shirts. Some members still dont have any as some sizes were out of stock. It would also be nice to have some to sell to participants.

I totally forgot about the club banner that needs to be updated with a new one. Brad Wilder had that one made for us by I believe, Fast Signs. They already have our artwork so no fee to format our logo to thier software and could probably get it made the same day. I could get in touch with Brad and find out the details if you want.

Jon H · 1K+ Club

I agree on the DJ, he was a liability and not an asset to the event. We need new blood.

69chvldrvr · Member

Why not just do a top (fill in the number) trophies that could have the sponsors names on all of them. Then you don't have to worry about vehicles winning multiple trophies. You could also have the best of show chosen by a panel of club members.

Derek69SS · Founding Member

On the DJ thing, can we maybe update a little bit to "classic rock" instead of "oldies" doo-wop stuff?

I've been going to car-shows for 20 years, and the music hasn't changed - ever. Even the "musclecar" shows are dominated by music that pre-dates the cars by a decade.

SShink · 3K+ Club

69chvldrvr wrote:
Why not just do a top (fill in the number) trophies that could have the sponsors names on all of them. Then you don't have to worry about vehicles winning multiple trophies. You could also have the best of show chosen by a panel of club members.

That's not a bad idea Jeff. I've gone to a few 'Top 21' shows, and that's how they did it.

Bryan, maybe we could do a 'Top 10' or 'Top 15' format instead? Seems much easier and less chance for duplicates.

I echo the many statements on the DJ. Especially regarding the range of his wireless mic system. I'm sure it was hard on you Bryan trying to yell out the winners when hardly anyone could hear. Is it too late to change DJ's since I think it's already on the flyer?

Chris R · 2K+ Club

I like the idea of just top awards given out. Was the cost of having these awards done split up with the other club last year? I know making awards isnt cheap.

I missed last year so I cant comment on the DJ, but if he wasnt able to give us what we are looking for, then I also feel its certainly in our right to make a change. Especially this early before the show. Have we made any commitment towards the same DJ if he is on the flyer?

bowtie · Secretary

Let's keep it coming, I'm meeting with Mike this saturday and we're going to get the ball rolling and start getting some things lined up. I'm sure I will have a list of needs from the club members coming up.

Let's hear your wants for a car show this year. Aside fromt he trophies, DJ, and food, what other ideas??? Nows the time before it's too late to start coordinating things.

Lost in the 60s · President

Bikini or wet T-shirt contest ......

John D · 2K+ Club

Due to our "Family Friendly" policies, we'd have to host something like this:

AutoMania Wet T.jpg

Lost in the 60s · President

I was wondering what someone would come up with as a reply...

bowtie · Secretary

I like some of the ideas on the trophy awarding, we'll look into it.

All the trophies were split by both clubs, as was the hundred of fliers, postage, and other expenses. We paid a little under %400 to them all. The vendors we had all sponsored a trophy, but out of the hundred or so contacts only 6 stepped up to that level.

I've met just about every one of our club members, and none of the guys would place in a wet t-shirt contest, even if it were only the guys who entered. Now, the wices are another thing but that's not for on our forums here