Event Pre-Reg... what to do?

[Gerry]

Just tell people to register earlier or find another event to go to.

I like this. Everyone wins with this! We keep the current FAST recipe. Nothing changes, so we keep the same atmosphere.

What we should do is try to coordinate with other autocross organizations (PCA, BMW, Corvette) and organize "spill-over" registration. In other words, FAST should officially endorse a nearby (geographically and temporally) event after our registration is full. So, for example, let's say our registration is full for the 15th, we can actually help out the BMW guys by kindly referring everyone that would otherwise be interested in our event.

Not that people can't already do this to begin with, I'm just saying that we can encourage it and even help people. This way, we still fill out our capacity, other groups can recoup their costs, and the drivers still get their autocross fix. Not everyone is computer savvy or even have a clue where to look for alternatives, or even have the drive to do so. I'm willing to bet that if we said "sorry, we can't take you this month, but our buddies at <insert club name here> have an event next weekend that will work for you," many people would appreciate it.

As for pre-reg throttling, I don't really have a solution. I acknowledge the problem, but any solution I come up with easily has it's downsides. I say just leave it.

[twistedwankel]

Dear Avis bubble,

People who drive Porsches, BMWs and Corvettes put "US" in "Other cars" so do you think they are hurting for cash?

Do you really think they care if we show up and beat their times?

You are young Avis but you will learn

[Loren]

We've already resolved the issue at hand, but if you want to discuss other clubs...

Doug is sort of right in that "in general" they like to have us there to round out their budget, but they try not to "rely" on us. PCA groups us all into an "other" class (though they do offer the BMW guys a "class" of their own), BMW club splits "other" into different groups based on engine type, so there's at least a couple different classes. But, both of those clubs have 8-12 different classes for their own marque to compete in, so it's clear that "other cars" are not their target. And that's fine.

BUT, they sometimes DO need some "others" to make ends meet. Without sponsorship of some sort, it takes a minimum of $800 to put on an event at Brooksville (that includes site rental, insurance, lunch, equipment transport and other random expenses... and assumes that their insurance is CHEAPER than ours, which it probably is due to having the support of a national club). With $30 being the going rate for entries around here, that means they need at least 26 entries just to break even. Take note of how many BMW's you see at a BMWCCA event, or Porsches at a PCA event, or Corvettes at a CCA event. It might be in that ballpark, but without "others", they're not going to survive for long.

I happen to know that the last BMW autocross was cancelled... due to not enough entries.

I have mixed feelings about the idea of us actively telling people "there's another event you should go to", at least not BEFORE our registration fills. We could effectively shoot ourselves in the foot with that. (though I suspect that we have enough dedicated regulars who would always choose the FAST event)

That said, I've toyed with the idea of perhaps "hosting" a proper calendar app on the FAST website (separate from the FAST schedule, and certainly not "played up" on our own website) to list all areas autocrosses, similar to what Jeremy has been maintaining on Tampa Racing. It's something that has little (no) value to our club, but would be a nice "service" to provide to the community.

[impalanut]

Just put a link to the calendar on Tamparacing

[Native]

^^^ This. And stop pointing that gun at my foot...

[Loren]

The good deed is done:
http://drivefast.org/event-info/calendar/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[anachostic]

As promised, we now have a provision to subscribe to email reminders to notify you when event registration opens.

You'll find it on the right side of the home page: http://drivefast.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Registered by holding my nose and using IE.

[Loren]

As promised, we now have a provision to subscribe to email reminders to notify you when event registration opens.

You'll find it on the right side of the home page: http://drivefast.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Registered by holding my nose and using IE.

Oh well, it's a VERY simple free WordPress plug-in. My apologies to you and the other 2.3% of the population that uses Opera.