Not that y'all care, or need to worry about it much, but... difficulty of setting up and running FAST events from pain-in-the-ass to cake-walk:
Novice School - WOW, what a hassle
Duel - Really fun, but... yeah, it's a pain
Gymkhana - Not a huge pain, but it takes some thought
Endurocross - Gotta crack the whip on event day to keep things moving, but pretty easy overall
FAST Open - Flows pretty easily as long as there are enough people, we've got the system down
FAST Classic - Aaaaah
So, you're not likely to see the first three more than once in a year... if that. We try to do the Duel annually, but it's hard to justify because it often doesn't sell out. But, it's really fun, as many of you know very well, and we like it, so we do it. Gymkhana doesn't have a good following, so we might do one every few years. Novice school... aside from being the most difficult events to organize, when we're already selling out Open events, we don't need to bring in a bunch more noobs who want to become regulars. We accomplish much of the same function of a Novice school with the novice instruction we provide at an Open event, anyway.
Endurocross, we could do more than once per year. But, we really don't want to do it quarterly. As others have noted, to maintain its "special" status, it needs to come but once per year. If we do another "Endurocross" event, it won't be a carbon copy of the original. The true Endurocross (tm) will be no more than annual. But, maybe we'll do a lesser multi-lap format? Rather than 2 runs of 5 laps and 3-4 minute runs... we could do 3 runs of 3 laps and 90-second runs? Sort of like the Enduro, but not quite.
There are other fun Special Event ideas that we're itching to try, as well. Not to mention some that we've done rarely, and might want to do again. We'll always find ways to keep things fresh and intersting. For our sake, as well as yours!
Note that Steve and I didn't start this poll. We appreciate the feedback... but, the above should give you some insight as to where we're likely to head in the near future. We like our competitive FAST Open series. We like our Classic events. Those will, of course, continue to happen. But, we also like a little variety. And, folks vote with their wallets. (Endurocross has sold out for at least the past 3 years, 'nuff said) We know what people like.
