Feedback from the community, for the community...

I'm posting this in light of some recent attempts by myself, and others who have tried to resurrect the "large meet/event" and the dismal failure of these events to attract any more than just a few people, and consequently, not enough to support the event taking place. The encouragement and, more notably, discouragement from members when I sought help and advice.

UMW meets are shrinking in size and frequency, peppered here an there with last minute meets designed for those close in proximity to the OP. And there is nothing wrong with the micro meets. But it leaves a lot of people out in the cold. And the more of these we have in relation to the number of larger more major meets is not healthy for the community as a whole.

I see a lot of regulars signing up to other meets, and I must give them credit for keeping this place going, as I think it may have failed a while ago without them.

I think it may help the UMW community for its members to speak out on what they see and expect in an event or meet. This has been covered in another thread to a small degree, but not specifically. Camaraderie was listed as a major aspect, however if that was the only thing, then we'd have 30 car meets all the time. I also understand that many of us have lives to live outside of S2Ki, and these lives are far more important.

What can UMW do to bring all those who attend micro-meets to a macro-meet? What can UMW do to put together a macro-meet? Is a macro-meet even WANTED by UMW members?

What attracts YOU to a meet/event?
What do YOU feel would be a good change to future meets to attract more members new and old, near and far?
How can we correct the problems we face with regard to meets?

I know we have a very large and oddly shaped swath of land with a big pond separating a part of us with the wide open nothingness between the center of the UMW universe (Chicago) and those on the outer fringes of UMW territory save the Madison Atoll. And that certainly has an effect.

Other factors that seem to impact meet/event size: I'd say Host/organizer is numbero uno on the list. The more well known/popular the host, and the past popularity/success of his/her event will attract past attendees, and the large numbers may attract new members.

I'd almost go so far as to say people no longer care, but that doesn't seem to be the issue. Or we have broken up into smaller sub-groups that no longer bother with the rest of UMW as a whole. Is it too late for UMW? Or is there some saving grace that has not shown itself yet?

Please, comment. Debate. We need a healthy discussion. Camaraderie is a great thing this community has. But it doesn't go any good if there aren't any meets for people to experience it at. Information gained here may help others plan, organize and be successful in future meets.

 

I'll chime in for my .02.

I am ashamed of myself for not investing more time and some money into my S.
It has seen a couple winters and is showing a little rust on my rear quarters. This in turn hurts my pride extremely, especially when i see that i may be the only one with said issue at an event.
Not that I have been neglecting my S, I just have high expectations of myself and my cars image. That little eye sore would be bugging the sht out of me the whole time.

I would feel more comfortable with repairing and upgrading some things before I make an appearance.
As you can see in my sig, im not too far off from paying it off.
I don't work for my car, I work too keep a rainy day fund and pay bills. The sooner i pay it off, the more i'll invest into my S.

That in turn, you would see at least one extra person and car at an event.

Unless i can rock out my 86 pickup lol

 

As far as large meets go, it seems that we are some what spread out and like you said, its hard for some to be able to make it, cant please everyone on a location. You will always have more meets and people where its not too far of a drive from most, especially on a weekday. It seems like I see the same people at all the meets I have gone to, because most everyone is local. If we do make a big meet I think it needs to involve a lot of interaction between members so we can get to know each other and feel more comfortable coming to later meets. I remember going to my first meet here a few years ago, I was visiting from california. I saw the meet posted up and contacted someone on the board to get more info. He told me where to go and when i showed up I asked for him and when i met him he didnt introduce me to anyone and left me and my gf at the time just standing there. I didnt go to another meet the whole month I was here because of that. We just need to have more interaction. Honestly the people I talk to on here the most are the ones that talked to me when i showed up to my first few meets. now I'm always down for a meet anywhere as long as I'm free

 

You really shouldnt let that stop you from coming to a meet, have you seen my hood or my missing oem side skirt thing or my torn top or my big ass dent on my passenger side door lol. Come for the people not the cars, I rarely look at the cars anymore lol I just like hanging with the crew so if you feel bad about your car, just park it next to mine, I'll save you a spot

 

While it's the cars that initially bring us together, it's the people that make me love this community and want to do everything in my power to keep current members active and allow new members to feel welcome. This is why I still made an effort to come to as many meets as possible when I didn't even own an S2000, and I encourage all past / current / future owners to come out to all future events, regardless of the make, model, or condition of the vehicle you bring.

Large meets are nice, but any single given event will always conflict with at least several people's schedules, and the likelihood of that happening is even greater if more people have to drive further for said meet. As much as I'd love to see a successful large meet, there's no guarantee that after it, things would be just as "quiet" as before.

Personally, I'd like to see more frequent, smaller meets in various locations all around the UMW. It's obviously not realistic to expect everyone from all the corners of our region to drive out to a single location just to grab a bite to eat on a given day / night, but perhaps there could be some sort of regular gathering in several of the more major areas (WI / MKE, Indiana, Michigan in addition to Chicagoland). This would help keep more members active by frequently hanging out, possibly generating more interest for a single, larger event. Plus, let's say you know there's always going to be a meet every other week (just for an example), it's not a big deal if you can't make it to one, because everyone has things come up.

Unfortunately with the season starting to "end" for most, people may not be as interested in coming out to meets. Regardless, Andy and I will try to still have some "beater meets" during this time of year (I've got a couple in the works at the moment) and I encourage other people to post up meets or ideas for meets if they feel so inclined.

Just to sum up my thought on this topic again, I don't see large meets as a bad thing by any means, but I feel having smaller, frequent meets throughout the region (even if they overlap or nearly overlap, as our area is so large) will help stir up activity the most. Once the activity is there, then I feel a large meet is more feasible. Besides, sometimes "small" meets end up snowballing into something rather large anyway.

 

This is what I was thinking to, having a weekly or bi-weekly set meet where ppl could count on to meet. When I lived in San Diego we had a weekly meet at a cafe and the turn outs were always great, thursdays at 7pm. If we could incorporate something like that here, I think it would encourage more people to stay involved in a way. you may miss one week but make it the next and know where it will be. I know we enjoy trying new places to meet and eat, but people dont always check the boards to see where we are meeting this week or next. Having a set place, you can be assured a gathering be it small or large. In cali a lot of our chapters have these, up north and down south and they seems to work pretty well, so each region can have their own, then from time to time we could all get together for like a little competition, such as softball or bowling or something lol. Now that winter is on its way it will be harder for people to come out but like Garrison said, we can do beater meets and just enjoy hanging out.

 

Paul i understand what youre saying and appreciate the post to get some ideas out in the open.

I know that in the past few years i had the time to autocross often, attend meets large and small and be able to attend some of the 1 day notice meet ups.

2010 was a busy year for me. While i was able to attend WTD, my attendance elsewhere was pretty remiss. My work schedule was pretty much 7 days a week and still continues to be 7 days a week. My time i get off of work is spent with my other hobbies. eating, working out, and sleeping lol. Heck, i only attended one autox this season, and left after my first session due to rain.

I did attend keiths BAB this year, and what an event that was. Hopefully he holds the meet again in the future and i am able to attend. There was also a nice meet in St Charles this year/mayble last year that was fairly large and also a good time.

I agree with Garrison that once the micro meets pick up in frequency and attendance, the door will open for larger meets.

as with any group of people, cliques will form. It should not be for the community to discourage it, but rather embrace them and attempt to get them together IE: Large meets.

i do like drkphnx idea of competitions too. Infact, lets set up a bowling meet. paging garrison and andy.

 

You can park next to me too if you want.

One of the first meets I hosted, a new member came and told me he had bought a theft recovery. It didn't run and he was tempted to bring it on a flatbed trailer. I told him he should have done it, and that it would have been great if he did! Last I saw the car was running as he came to another meet elsewhere, in the rain, with a gaping hole in the top. And it was great to see him there with his car.

I also like the idea of friendly competition. Nothing needs to be taken seriously. Perhaps have some kind of goofy prize for winning or something. Losers buy a round of drinks for the winners, give away a little plushy stuffed animal, or whatever. Something cheap.

About the Thursday meets, or the weekly/bi-weekly meets, I seem to recall these going on close to the WI/IL border when I first started coming here, but have since stopped. I know Buffalo Wild Wings, Hooters, Tilted Kilt, Brickhouse seem to be popular places. I do like the idea of having a specific location/time to meet at that people can count on, rather than pick new/different/rotating places and times. That way, once people know these are going on, its something they can count on if they feel like going without even having to check the boards. Obviously, still post them up.

Great stuff coming in, lets keep it going!

 

i think i shoewd up in the worse condition (exterior) S ever to some meets.

some people belived it when i told them it was attacked by a bear. not because they were gullibale, but because it was in that terrible of a condition.

 

Nope. I've seen worse. And I am not even referring to Andy's car.



Seriously, and back on topic:

I love the idea of a bigger meet. I would encourage anyone to set one up. My only warning is that it is a logistically nightmare. So be prepared to spend a LOT of time organizing it, and risk people being dissapointed and upset with you when it's over.

My advice for a large meet is this:

1. Don't try to charge a registration fee to cover parts of the event. For some reason, it turns into a point of contention and resentment. I've seen it happen at virtually EVERY large event. It's not worth the hassle, so just make everyone pay their own way throughout the event. As much as I like t-shirts, magnets, group banquets, etc. It's NOT worth it in the long run.

2. Pick a date. At least 6 mos out, and then stick to it. People will come to a large event if it is planned for well ahead of time.

3. Be definative. If you are the planner, then plan out the activities, locations, timing, ect. When you ask for ideas in the thread it creates a LOT of uncertainty and makes people think the event isn't fully baked yet and they are less likely to commit to it. If you have it locked down, it encourages participants to lock-in their desire to go. You can always make changes for next-year's version.

4. People flake out. It happens. It may be weather, distance, work, or maybe they are just flaky. Don't let it bother you, proceed for the majority of the group that DIDN'T flake out.

Bonus tip: Keep it simple. Start with something easy, like a weekend group drive. Adding in more and more aspects, compounds the complexity. If the event is successful, then next year do it again and add in something else.