Joe & all,
Late fees are something that particularly chap my ass for a couple of
reasons...
For those that struggle to make the race from a financial standpoint, they
may or may not know until last minute whether that can afford to go.
For those that do their own work on there cars, whether for pleasure or for
financial reasons, often (again) they can't afford to pay for racecar
preparation...thet may be working until the last minute to be race ready.
In either case, they certainly are not in a position to send the $200-$300
in advance to the club.
Why does the club charge a late fee? Oh, I've heard the spin that in fact
that we offer an early entry discount. My ass. Its represented as a late
entry penalty.
What are the costs to the club? Does it cost more to process these late
entries? I can't imagine that it does. Sure, at some point, a late entry
misses the point where there name can be included in the program. But, I
can't believe that its a matter of trying to finalize race groups... because
the numbers in a race group is always a completely fluid number... changes
greatly with either mechanical attrition, or weather conditions.
Are late entries inconvenient in some way? Well, I'm sure it means someone
must do some late data entry, and fire some things off to the laser printer,
but the costs per entrant would seem to be the same no matter when the entry
is received..
Would the club ever not have the event because of entries arriving too late?
It's my understanding that we're in a finacial position to run the club's
events for a year without subsidy of race entry fees.
Pardon my ignorance...but are the "books" of every event made public?
Anybody getting appreance fees, comp'd rooms, or travel subsidy? What are
our track, insurance, support staff costs at every event? Are race directors
given a budget?
Track time is a whole other source of irritation. As our entry fees have
risen, our track time continues to shrink. All seem to be affected... but
ELVF seemed to be the worst of all.
I am completely against race groups that reserve track time for 5-10 yr old
Nascar stuff. Those folks need to get their own race organization.
I am completely against the $100 entry fee for USRRC. I've heard that we
essentially subsidize Pam Shatraw's travel costs, and it guarantees us
coverage for our events. Again I say... My ass. We should have low cost 1
hour enduros at every event.
In my humble opinion... VSCDA is a great club. With a few notable
exceptions, the asshole quotient is relatively low compared to most other
vintage race organizations. The quality of the driving is superior to most
organizations. I do believe, however, that our costs, as a non-profit
organization, are getting way out of line.
It's interesting the way the Team Thicko prescence and philosophy has begun
to creep into the fabric of VSCDA. We, in fact, carry a big stick just based
on our sheer numbers, and the amount of fun we provide for those that choose
to join us. We've changed the face of many events of this club. There is
however, definately a group of people that believe the club is their
personal property. There are still far too many "old boy's club" deals and
secret handshakes. (Anyone count how many events last year's Enthusiast of
the Year has been to?)
It's my hope that as a Thicko mentality (a frightening concept, huh?) will
begin to alter the way board meetings are taking place as more Thickos are
on the board, or in highly visible positions.
Flounder
----- Original Message -----
From: <N197TR4@cs.com>
To: <UnknownSender@UnknownDomain.miller-burns.com>; <vinttr4@geneseo.net>;
<team-thicko@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2001 12:14 PM
Subject: Re: Hallett
> Addendum to Jack's Remarks and Response to WST:
>
> User Friendly Clubs vs. The Best Run Club in North America.
>
> This would have been my third trip to CVAR. When I had to cancel, for
> unavoidable reasons, my entire entry fee was refunded (in two days)
>
> Neither Midwest Council, nor CVAR have late fees. With Mid-West Council,
you
> can register the day of the event....must be a headache for them, but I
have
> never heard a complaint) I have attended a couple of RMVR events and find
> them to be run this way as well.
>
> Clear provisions are made for SECOND DRIVERS with VARAC, CVAR, and RMVR.
This
> has been a source of real heartburn for those people who have other family
> members or significant others who might get some seat time and cant do it
> legally, with VSCDA.
>
> Being retired makes it a bit easier to travel the longer distances, and it
> has been a personal objective to run other significant venues. In any
case,
> it surely has been made a pleasure by the people we associate with at
these
> venues.
>
> I hope to run an event or two with RMVR next year, also. Sure worth
thinking
> about.
>
> Sometimes size does matter. Smaller can be very good. Good to have
choices.
>
> Joe
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