Like I said, this region is a victim of its own immense popularity, and
the overriding tone about trying to figure out ways around the challenges
has been fear, misunderstaning, or paranoia.
I wasnt trying to say that our small club had more fun racing than
writing about itself in Pylon..just that it worked for
us and nobody has had anything to say but negatives, or conjecture based
on "size"..wow, debates about how mine is bigger than yours just dont go
far when youre trying to solve a problem.
It is worthwhile to offer free registration to people who wish to man
these types of positions? Just an idea. In the heart of the Tech
Universe here, and two technical brains cant be rubbed together to solve a
data entry issue. Wow.
When we started doing HPDE events with NASA (why doesnt SCCA do these?) it
started to stress some under its growth curve, but when official worker
training became a possibilty to cover entry fees, my wife and I quickly
did all we could to help. We haul all the registration materials, charge
the radios and other hardware, cook and manage the BBQ for 200-300 people
every event, and run the odd-job duties as needed as well as the regional
mailing list of 2800 users. (Please, no NASA -vs- SCCA battlebot wars,
just noting what made us active contributors instead of acquiescent
players, also the on-site day-care was a Godsend as well..it's worth
paying for if they asked. A couple volounteers and $100 to cover the
inflatable jumping thingie and a 3yr old is -gone- for the day *smile*)
If we had time to keep up with AutoX in this region, and registration fees
in payment for a full-time duty were offered, we'd probly take it too, but
our travel schedule keeps us from participating much..if at all. (but
we'll always remain members coz we love the sport)
I dunno, im not management material, but perhaps its time to actually
annoy lots of people who dont work, dont play nice, show up late and
expect to be whisked thru tech..etc..etc, and clamp down on it.
When a business is young, you'll cater to anyone willing to give you $$,
but once established you can afford to turn away business that causes more
hassle than what it actually pays.
For the record..i was a DNW once, but since nobody was willing to watch my
14mo old, I had little choice..and actually did feel bad after-the-fact.
And ya..im sure you have some people challenges as well, and youre always
doing what you can to work thru em. Regardless of the outcome, you do try
to do the best you can...and thats commendable.
What can be offered to help make participants feel a part of the event,
instead of just having them feel like they have to work.
FWIW, Katie's thoughts on actually defining when, who, and where tech will
happen and when it WILL close is a helluva idea...not just concrete a plan
to punish DNW scofflaws to the point of 'no pay, no play' and that'll be
another step in the right direction. You cant please everyone, so define
the types you wanna please and want to see back next time. The rest can
think about it and return with a better work ethic, or go annoy some other
region/club with thier lack of participation.
Cheers John, and hope to make an AutoX this winter since its the only
time..we have "time". :^)
On Mon, 5 Nov 2001, John F. Kelly Jr. wrote:
>
>
> -------------------- Begin Original Message --------------------
>
> Message text written by Geoff Mohler
>
> "
> Thats was we did in NeOkla region, registration involved stopping by the
> dude on the PC to sign you in."
> -------------------- End Original Message --------------------
>
> And how large a field did you have to deal with in NeOkla?
> How many events did you stage every year?
> I missed seeing any stories about NeOkla events in Pylon? <G> Can you help
> us out?
>
> The National average is 63. Our smallest event this year was about 170 with
> 203 this past Sunday.
>
> How many computer operators did you use during the day? We use eight
> different people to operate the timer and not all can handle that
> "hands-off" chore.
>
> I won't bore you with some of the other people problems we have
> encountered along the way.
>
> --John Kelly
>
> --John Kelly
>
---
Geoff Mohler
|