Hosted a MARC meet

Mike V, Florida : "Will someone PM me . . . "

Mike, would you please educate me. I now have seen several posters referring to "PM' me. What does 'PM' mean ?
 
PM = Private message click on the name of the person you wish to contact by private message. Click on "Send a private message to ....."

To see if you have a message look at the top of the forum and look for "Welcome, DougVieyra" Under that you will see "Private Messages: Unread ###, Total ###."

It will be red if you have a message. Click to open.
 
Sending Mike V a "Tour Package" of ten bottles of Advil, three extra cell phones, six clip boards, a box, no two boxes of pens, fourteen folding chairs ,six folding tables, one hundred two maps of South Florida, three Epson 3540 Ink Jet Printers, ten cases of paper and one bottle of Valium.
 
I spearheaded the Michigan Roundup in 2005. It was very enjoyable, but probably 10% of the work involved in a national. Pitfalls involved (1) A hotel that didn't seem to acknowledge the financial windfall of selling all the rooms they had for three days, (2) A dozen little details that turned up the day the event began...they all worked out. (3) me not not leaning on fellow club members more. (4) Our local chamber of commerce for saying they would do everything to help, and then doing nothing.
As the credit card commercial says; the weekend of the event was priceless. Would I do it again? Yes. Tackle a National event? With our little club of twenty couples, probably not. That being said, I hope you dive in.
 
Mike V. Florida said:
How does Ft Lauderdale, Miami area in the spring sound for an membership meet? :rolleyes:
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Personally, I think it will go over as well as having a National Meet in San Diego, California, ....which BTW was about the worst attended meet ever! The hosts gave us a phenomenal meet to attend however evidently the distance was too great for most to attend. Personally I think most people would want to be within 350-400 miles away from the meet destination, ...and if I recall, it is like that distance from the Florida state line down to Miami alone.

If you are adamant about still hosting in Florida, might I suggest you find a location where Allegiant Air offers those $49 flights from major areas like Chicago, Detroit, Charlotte, Houston, etc. where attendees can fly in to attend. Granted you won't get much participations with touring or swap meets, but it might be an option.
 
I can see Brent’s point, however I attended the last Florida MARC meet in St. Augustine Fl. (2 hour drive) and it was well attended, many from the North Carolina Region and others. I don't think you'll get away from people only attending if it’s somewhat local no matter where in the country you are. As long as we bounce the location around the country fairly it should give equal opportunity.
So on that note: Mike I say it sounds great. I'd look forwards to it.
 
From my perspective, it is a GREAT idea!

Greatness is fueled by optimism, not pessimism!

Eagles never fly without making the decision to 'take off'.

It is all about perceived value, and I can help.
 
One more item to add to my thoughts, ...make the meet a 'hands-on' event such as what the old Fordbarn Workshops were bring a project to work on), and maybe your attendance would be better??

I definitely do not want to come across as a 'Pessimist' however I am a businessman that looks at things like this. My wife and kids hosted a similar event so I do know what is involved. Someone needs to be sure they have deep enough pockets in place to absorb costs if there is not enough attendees. Maybe MARC would like to be available to underwrite a portion of the costs to ensure the hosts do not lose any money? This sure would take away some of the fear where everyone could be optimistic.
 
I am of the opinion that fear is little more than the lack of knowledge, and/or the ability to do simple math.

For what it is worth, after the most recent BOD meeting, and reviewing returned financial sheets, I can tell you that, disregarding the event in San Diego, that is NOT a concern. (I am going to leave it at that!)

Additionally, we have enlisted the help of the largest hotel booking company in the world that has put forth a program that GREATLY minimizes the attendant time and effort to make the host hotel arrangements, and they can do it at NO cost and NO contract to the host committee. (I know your next question, and I have handled it already). This company has already been utilized in the upcoming Membership Meeting in St. Louis, and the meet chairman has been glowing in his reports to me.

Advertising can be started up to two years in advance in both the Model A News and the MARC website.

We are also minimizing the effort for the attending insurance applications, and I have instituted, and agreed to host, a 2-hour round table discussion seminar to be held at each Membership and National meet for the sole purpose of connecting the past event hosts with the folks that have already signed an event as well as anyone even thinking about hosting an event. EVERY past event host that I have contacted (12) has agreed to attend, also starting in St. Louis. They have expressed a willingness to share their efforts because they have seen how that would help in advance of their conversations regarding hosting an event.

I was on the host committee for the most recent Membership Meet in Charlotte, NC last year, and there are some of us in that club that have had discussions about doing it again in maybe 4-5 years, now that we see what actually is required.

Many of you here have heard me say before, that the only difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is the fact the successful people are just willing to do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. When you make ANY sort of a commitment to get involved in this hobby your success is guaranteed because by merely making the commitment you have separated your self from the unsuccessful people.

As always, just a thought!
 
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I would plan to have the meet early in the spring before the "snowbirds" and "half backs" head north for the summer for maximum participation. If you do this, I think it will be well attended. Just my thoughts.
 
While I'm waiting for the packet to come in. I've been told that the membership meet is an annual meeting type of thing. Normally no judging or Model a activities but that has changed a little in past years with things for the A owners with cars to do.

Membership meets are usually smaller then national meets (I did not realize there were differences either).

As this would be during spring break I need to check on prices to see if they are through the roof (When living in NY we always came down during off season) If the pricing is too high the whole thing may be a bust.

As a membership meet this could be just the thing for families, a few seminars for those that want to attend, beach, golf, the everglades, etc for those that don't. We are about 3 hours from Disney so a week long Vacation flying into one location and out another with a car rental in between is doable. Like I said I'm still in the VERY EARLY stages of this.

While I don't care if a dime is made, there is just no way we can afford to loose money.

Have a lot to think about. Thanks for the input.
 
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