I believe attendance is under control. The only event(s) that got out of
hand in 02, so far, were the first with a short daylight, and the one that
drew 341--and we still got done before the sun set. Some drivers don't like
the frenetic pace of these large events, and go to more distant events, like
in Marina, Sacramento, or Atwater (Fresno) for the smaller entry levels.
Others make the choice between convenience, or proximity over the large
numbers of entries. And, perhaps, more pleasant weather than the heat of the
Central Valley. Fall and Spring are fine there, but the summer can put you
out of commission.
--Pat Kelly
----------
>From: "Jerry Mouton" <jerry@moutons.org>
>To: "John F. Kelly Jr." <76067.1750@compuserve.com>, <Larrybsp@aol.com>,
"Richard Urschel" <osp13@mybluelight.com>
>Cc: <ba-autox@autox.team.net>
>Subject: Re: What's drawing new members?
>Date: Sat, Aug 10, 2002, 3:25 PM
>
> Hmmm, that's all true.
>
> Maybe it means that we need to run more events now in
> the central valey to get attendance back under control?
>
> Jerry Mouton "Laissez les bons temps rouler!"
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John F. Kelly Jr." <76067.1750@compuserve.com>
> To: <Larrybsp@aol.com>; "Richard Urschel" <osp13@mybluelight.com>
> Cc: <ba-autox@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2002 10:31 AM
> Subject: Re: What's drawing new members?
>
>
>> -------------------- Begin Original Message --------------------
>>
>> Message text written by "Richard Urschel"
>>
>> "
>> Growth in new members is due to the location
>> of the sites being used, and was limited
>> by requiring membership."
>> -------------------- End Original Message --------------------
>>
>> I'm so glad you noticed. When we had most of our events in the Central
>> Valley, several things happpened.
>> 1) We were losing money despite the cheap rent.
>> 2) Attendance was dropping off, hence the creation of the Rookie
>> (now Novice) classes as a means of bringing in return business, thus not
>> requiriung a hefty price increase.
>> 3) We did increase the entry fee because we were losing money.
>> 4) We made so much money for our non-profit that first year we
>> bought the motorhome.
>> 5) By bringing events into the Bay Area our non-member attendance
>> ZOOMED, making events difficult to administrate.
>> 6) Thus we made membership mandatory and made people plan ahead.
>> Thus we limited events to people who REALLY wanted to be there, i.e. the
>> instant gratification joy rider wouldn't pay the price in time. (For joy
>> riders, money is, apparently, not a problem.)
>>
>> I just hope we can keep as many events as possible in the Bay Area as the
>> situation benefits the program in a lot of different ways.
>>
>> --John Kelly
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