Simonster

iTrader: (2)

not everyone has money, and times are rough for some peeps...wouldnt go as far to call em cheap asses.

oh an by the way..has anyone thrown out helyer park? right off 101 and close to hammy if we wanna drive

JourdanWithaU

iTrader: (39)

We thought about that last year...

one word... insurance...

We don't have enough hookups to take over a race track... yet

Overbear

Hey crazy idea but...what about holister and turn the meet into a overnighter? With enough people we could reserve all of camping section 5, and have some fun to boot in the hills both on road and off.

Roo

iTrader: (3)

People won't show up if it costs $10 to get in, how could you possibly get people to show up if it costs $1xx dollars? Wouldn't EVER happen.

04caliwrx

iTrader: (6)

what about a place like Hollister Hills?

bluwrxwgn

iTrader: (3)

Novato is hella far for the majority of the people. Definitely not centrally located for such a large meet. It's an hour and a half for the Central Valley people and at least that if not 2 hours for the santa cruz/gilroy/salinas folks.

Roo

iTrader: (3)

And for us North Bay folks who've been faithfully driving 2+ hours EVERY YEAR for the last 8 years?? Hmm, nah, don't worry about us.

tamko

iTrader: (1)

Roo...I'm driving down from fremont to fresno every month to visit my in-law, once a year is no big deal...hahaha

alan'09

A.V.E.

iTrader: (24)

for the last meet at hammy us uckk folks met up and went through niles canyon and we ran into the mustang crew, pretty much as much subies to mustangs. that was pretty cool.


i have house music if you guys want some house

tecnica tech

iTrader: (1)

so far from what ive seen i have to vote for the Novato it looks to be the best choice right now

brucelee

iTrader: (6)

Nail on the head.


We've explored the idea of doing this event at a race track, or some place like the Alameda naval base, yes, the same place they film "mythbusters" for when they execute their experiments and such.

I talked with the guy that runs the base and he told me that other car clubs do events there and set up their own auto-x course to their own drag racing strip... They weren't run of the mill car clubs, they were Porsche to Ferrari clubs so they were able to afford the insane rental and insurance rates. There is NO way that we'd be able to pull it off, ESPECIALLY right now... People don't have jobs and/or are struggling with bills and such.

People have tried stepping in and making this meet into something that its not (like that guy "ipozessedu" or whatever his s/n is)... People have even gotten mad and called our meet a "circle jerk", etc because they don't get their way in changing this meet into something its not.

I'd love to have a track day, auto-x, drag racing event that all of us could attend, it would be AMAZING to have everyone show up to a meet like that, but the truth of the matter is that its impossible, simple as that. Our current meet costs people around $10 which covers rental fees and food. $10 is very fair and is something everyone can afford.

Ever since July 12th, 2000, this meet has been a gathering of everyone around the bay, basically a meet that links all smaller meets together into one giant one so that everyone can meet people they normally wouldn't get a chance to... Every year we have encouraged members to bring family/significant others and even pets so that you can show your significant other/family what i-club is all about since they probably know that you spend a lot of time online posting there, now they can see for themselves what i-club is all about. Never was this meet about racing or competing in an auto event... Thats what track days are for. By making this meet into what it is and charging $10 it allows EVERYONE to participate and bring their friends/family/etc... If this was a track day or something similar our turnout wouldn't be anywhere NEAR what it is now... People simply can't afford the kind of money involved in throwing that sort of an event... Not only that, but not everyone wants to track their cars... I know we have a lot of folks here that are addicted to track days and such, but some folks aren't... So making the annual event into something everyone can enjoy is why we do it the way we do.

Every year someone suggests doing things differently then the way we do it, which is fine, I welcome suggestions, but not when they want to change the event into something that it is not, like a track day, etc.

Things that make this event so great are:

- Caravans that happen before the meet. There's just something so damn cool about cruising along 30+ cars deep, turning heads and rumbling along...

- The sheer number of cars that turn out to this event. I know last year we only had 120ish or so cars which was still really cool because thats a lot of cars, but 2 years before that we had 320! Now THAT was bad *** and a GREAT sight to see

- The number of PEOPLE that show up is great! You finally get to meet the folks you talk to online almost every day in real life... It's great to put a face to the screen name. I've made a lot of friends during this meet... I hate to even call it a meet because it isn't just a meet, it's a festival... Meets are where you gather in a parking lot somewhere and shoot the ish with folks... Def something that the annual is not.

- Music. Every year (except last) we have either a DJ or some kind of setup to keep people entertained during our festival. Music is def essential and makes it so much more entertaining and causes people to gather in a general area in which the music is playing and keeps folks entertained in general. Without music things would be pretty boring and spread people out which sucks

- Events! I know we've been lacking in terms of events the last two years, but that is all going to change this year and we'll be reverting back to how it was 3 years ago when we had the jousting and giant slip and slide! I don't think we're going to duplicate the events but there will def be some fun things to do.

- Contesting... We'll have the car show/contest again and a really kick *** raffle where you can win some REALLY kick *** prizes all thanks to our vendors. There will be some other contests as well but I can't disclose what we're doing exactly at this point in time

- Food. Everyone loves food! We'll do the standard pre-pay/pay at door type of system like we've had in the past. Last year was very different compared to how we normally do it so I know there was some confusion. This year we're going to revert back to a system similar to how we've done it in the past. I have no idea as to what kind of food or anything of that nature so don't ask, I don't have an answer. But it will be some good stuff as always with snacks and drinks all included.


I'm sure there is more to it, thats just from the top of my head. This year is going to be really great!

Spoolin415

iTrader: (4)

When someone *****es about a $5-$10 entry fee, yeah, that makes them a cheap ***.

brucelee

iTrader: (6)

Yeah, whining about the $10 entrance fee especially when it includes all you can drink sodas and bottled water, not to mention food and snacks pretty much makes you a cheap ***. I mean, if you go to McDonalds you can easily spend $10 on yourself considering that a 20p chicken nuggets is $7 + drink and tax.

Damn, I never thought about it that way... Thats totally being a cheap ***!

Spoolin415

iTrader: (4)

Yup, these are the people who think nothing of going to some crappy club and dropping 3 times that on drinks for a night they won't even remember.

I'm grumpy and think a lot of peoples priorities are skewed. I mean they'll **** and moan about an entry fee that gets them something, complain about the length of a drive to said event, and then **** and moan some more when there is just a bunch of cars with no music, food, anything.

My advice, don't pander to the factions. Just do what you think will make the meet the most fun for all, maybe explore getting involved with some other car clubs, and let the crybabies sit at home and save money for parts to put on the car they don't drive.

slugrx

iTrader: (12)

10 bucks is not that much...if you cant afford ten bucks for one day out then you should be driving a car with cheaper insurance..

ill be at this meet regardless where it is..