[urq] UPG 2008

[QSHIPQ at aol.com]

Ed:
To a very seasoned choir you vainly attempt to preach,  my old friend!  I put 
on a Steamboat Ice Event in your state every  year for 6 years now, been 
going for 15, straight thru drive, and in the worst  quattro weather possible.   
That doesn't include the  events I saw you at, that you mention of 10 years 
ago!  I  can't think of a better reason for a migration from the west coast than 
25 years  of the urq being stateside.
 
In asking folks for that commitment, 'what else can we do' is the  *value* 
(excuse) of gathering these cars in one place.  I don't have to ask  Justin 
Riley if he's going to Steamboat again this year from Orlando (2000 miles  with 
the family 1 way), I just need to give him the dates.  I don't have to  ask him 
if he'd make it to an ur-qfest in 2008, only when and where.  I say  you lose 
half or more of your participants anywhere USA if you give an  ur-qfest the 
impression that the only point is to gather these cars in one  place.  
 
Sell the value of the what and how, the value of the where will  increase.  I 
advocate Indy because what else is available to car enthusiast  groups can't 
have a better host city.  And, the value in the other  activities is that we 
don't have to originate logistics, venues and activities,  only 
edit/copy/edit/paste other successful events there.
 
I am happy to volunteer being Eventmaster at an Indy venue, after Gruppe-q  
Steamboat 2008.  Jim, I didn't think twice about going to Monterey in 99,  
because it was 100 years of quattro.  25 years of urq, I'd do it  tomorrow.   I 
say use a proven friendly car group venue  where help is a host city is 
constable tolerant, and the city amenities  seasoned and enthusiastic to the cause.  
IMO, that limits your  choices more than preconceived participant value.
 
Cheers 
 
Scott Justusson
 
 
 
In a message dated 10/23/2007 12:05:37 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
ekellock at gmail.com writes:

I don't  see Indianapolis as even remotely "centrally located".    Hell,
it's damn-near a 2-day drive from Denver.  That pretty much  excludes
the west coasters.

I really feel like far too much emphasis  is being placed on "what else
we can do there".  The point is to  gather these cars in one place.

I'm pretty well located for just about  any venue that is truly
centrally located so I am only advocating locations  that seem to have
the best possiblity of drawing the most cars from all of  North
America.  It will be more of a hike for some, no matter where we  go.

Ten years ago when we did the 2 Audifests, I lived in SC.  It  was 2
long days driving for me each way.  We managed to have  various
meet-ups along the way to the even which made the overall  experience
that much better.   For the 1st one in '97 I had just  started a new
job and could not take vacation.  Back then they still  ran the race on
July 4th and it fell midweek so I had a long weekend.   I was only in
Colorado for about 36 hours before I had to bail back to  SC.  So I
know what is on store for someone who's far away.

It  is what it is.  If you value the primary objective, it needs to  be
central, whether that's convenient or not.  Moab, Indy,  Yellowstone
just don't cut it.  Very cool places to go, but they'll  likely cut
coastal attendance by half or more.

Just my 2 cents  worth.

Ed


 



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