SouthEastern HHR Nationals Idea
01-10-2013, 11:14 PM
#1
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Join Date: 06-19-2012
Location: Fort Lauderdale
Posts: 145
SouthEastern HHR Nationals Idea
Rob and I have been throwing around the idea of organizing an event down in the southern part of the states. Before we go through the whole organizing fun. We decided to post this to see what kind of turnout we would get
01-11-2013, 06:51 PM
#6
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Join Date: 09-05-2009
Location: New England
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If you are planning a southeastern "nationals", then a southern Florida location would be a very poor choice of venue, if you want a good turnout. If you are setting up a national event, you need to make it at a location that is best for the masses, not just best for you.
If you want a decent turnout for a "national" event, you best bet would be to have your event as much in the north and central section of the southeast as possible. Just for people to get to your current area, it's going to take them almost 7 hours to get there, JUST FROM WHEN THEY HIT FLORIDA. Most nationals are much more centrally located to major population centers in all directions
I set up big events every year and I live in a major metropolitan area, but to get better turnouts, I usually set them up anywhere from 3 to 5 hours aways from where I live, because I live on the coast. If I set them up here, people would only be able to come from the north, south and west. By doing it the way I do, I am able to draw people from all four directions and everyone has a more balanced drive.
As an example,I'll use 5 hours as a base number. Instead of just drawing people from 5 hours in 3 directions. I can draw people from a diameter of 10 hours and they would still only have a 5 hour drive from anywhere. Just think how many more people that can attract, instead of some people having to drive 10 hours while others would just have to drive for under an hour?
Just trying to give you something to think about, that you might have never realized otherwise
If you want a decent turnout for a "national" event, you best bet would be to have your event as much in the north and central section of the southeast as possible. Just for people to get to your current area, it's going to take them almost 7 hours to get there, JUST FROM WHEN THEY HIT FLORIDA. Most nationals are much more centrally located to major population centers in all directions
I set up big events every year and I live in a major metropolitan area, but to get better turnouts, I usually set them up anywhere from 3 to 5 hours aways from where I live, because I live on the coast. If I set them up here, people would only be able to come from the north, south and west. By doing it the way I do, I am able to draw people from all four directions and everyone has a more balanced drive.
As an example,I'll use 5 hours as a base number. Instead of just drawing people from 5 hours in 3 directions. I can draw people from a diameter of 10 hours and they would still only have a 5 hour drive from anywhere. Just think how many more people that can attract, instead of some people having to drive 10 hours while others would just have to drive for under an hour?
Just trying to give you something to think about, that you might have never realized otherwise
01-11-2013, 07:41 PM
#7
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Join Date: 06-19-2012
Location: Fort Lauderdale
Posts: 145
Your correct "Rod Run" that is why I am trying to see where everyone is coming from to then pick a location.This the first show that I am trying to organize so please work with me. I did post it as a Southeastern Show for the southeastern states. I just came up with an idea of central or south Florida since there is alot of things to do besides the show in case people were bringing their families. I also thought of St.Augustine or Daytona as a better location. Unfortunitely Rob and I live in So.Florida and we are not doing it in So.Flo to make it convenient for us because there is not a big HHR following down here so we know we would have to drive atleast 3.5 hrs to get to central Florida.If you have any ideas feel free to shoot them over to me anytime
01-11-2013, 08:30 PM
#8
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Join Date: 09-05-2009
Location: New England
Posts: 452
I wish you the best of luck. It's always difficult setting up an event that draws people from all over. Setting up lodging is always a big job for me. That part has gotten easier over the years, because I now know what a safe number of rooms is good for a minimum block. Once you get some serious interest (not just tire kickers), then you have to start preparing everything using just a lot of faith and a little luck. If you do it wrong the first time, it can be over before it starts
You might want to start with just trying to arrange a couple of get-togethers and see how those work out for you. If those don't go over well, then you know you'll be over your head with something bigger.
Sometimes things like this take a couple of years to plan out properly, the first time. If you jump in to fast, you'll regret it. Don't try to be to aggressive your first time out, because there will always be things that will throw you curve balls, no matter how hard to try to avoid them. You can get a lot of help from asking advice from others with more experience, but the one thing about that, is someone might forget to tell you something that you needed to know. It wouldn't be intentional, but some people that have been doing these things for a while, take some things for granted, as no big deal, because they've been doing it so long, so they forget to include those details, whereas for a first-timer it could be something that they really needed to know
I've been doing my thing for 6 years now. What started out as a small thing with a few people from just 4 states, has now turned into an event that brings in people from at least 8 states and 2 countries, every year.
I honestly start with light preparations for the following year's event, even before the current year's event begins, although my situation is a little more involved than what you'd have to worry about. My event is a multi-day cruise through multiple state, so instead of just finding one location, I need to find multiple locations, hotels, points of interest, food and gas stops. Along with that I have to map out routes, while keeping an eye out for road construction updates thoughout the year, right up until the time we leave. I have to figure out traffic patterns and volumes during out driving times and also plan extra time for possible breakdowns, in case someone does have problems, that way we can always have time to fix the cars and get to our hotels before nightfall. Nothing worse than trying to fix a car, on the side of a highway, at night, with a flashlight, using only whatever tools people have in their trunks... unless it's raining.. then that's much worse
Good luck with your planning and take it slow.
You might want to start with just trying to arrange a couple of get-togethers and see how those work out for you. If those don't go over well, then you know you'll be over your head with something bigger.
Sometimes things like this take a couple of years to plan out properly, the first time. If you jump in to fast, you'll regret it. Don't try to be to aggressive your first time out, because there will always be things that will throw you curve balls, no matter how hard to try to avoid them. You can get a lot of help from asking advice from others with more experience, but the one thing about that, is someone might forget to tell you something that you needed to know. It wouldn't be intentional, but some people that have been doing these things for a while, take some things for granted, as no big deal, because they've been doing it so long, so they forget to include those details, whereas for a first-timer it could be something that they really needed to know
I've been doing my thing for 6 years now. What started out as a small thing with a few people from just 4 states, has now turned into an event that brings in people from at least 8 states and 2 countries, every year.
I honestly start with light preparations for the following year's event, even before the current year's event begins, although my situation is a little more involved than what you'd have to worry about. My event is a multi-day cruise through multiple state, so instead of just finding one location, I need to find multiple locations, hotels, points of interest, food and gas stops. Along with that I have to map out routes, while keeping an eye out for road construction updates thoughout the year, right up until the time we leave. I have to figure out traffic patterns and volumes during out driving times and also plan extra time for possible breakdowns, in case someone does have problems, that way we can always have time to fix the cars and get to our hotels before nightfall. Nothing worse than trying to fix a car, on the side of a highway, at night, with a flashlight, using only whatever tools people have in their trunks... unless it's raining.. then that's much worse
Good luck with your planning and take it slow.
01-11-2013, 08:44 PM
#9
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Join Date: 09-05-2009
Location: New England
Posts: 452
One other thing. If you plan to have a certain location or set up lodging in a certain area, you need to be mindful of what is going on in that area at the same time. If you wait to long, you might be out of luck. This is another reason why I do things a year out. It usually affords me the ability to lock in certain things that I wouldn't have been able to, if I just tried doing it a few months in advance