Just back from Vancouver

[Tacoma Bob]

Our car ran well and all in all it was a good time. Canada is not for the timid as far as money. Spendy place for sure. For a first time attempt the host club did a pretty good job. Lots of politics but they did the best with the hand that was delt to them. The welcome banquet was held in three different dining rooms which was wierd. At one point 13 people were stuck in the elevator for some 35 minutes till the fire department came to the rescue. A real dissapointment was the awards banquet. With so many in attendance the dinner was held several miles away at a Sheraton hotel. The social hour was held in a hallway of all places and get this..............several hundred people were transported in a forty passanger bus........ONE BUS! god only knows how many trips that lonely bus had to make. The swap meet was several city blocks away and I'm unclear as to just where the car judging took place. I felt sorry for the FAST guys as the local cops put an end to the event in short order. A word to the wise...............make sure you have enough experienced manpower to put one of these events on.

[Steve Plucker]

Nice to see you are back TB...How was the "Pizza Burn"?

Pluck

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by Tacoma Bob

A word to the wise...............make sure you have enough experienced manpower to put one of these events on.

How does one get experience unles one tries?

[Tacoma Bob]

Originally Posted by Steve Plucker

Nice to see you are back TB...How was the "Pizza Burn"?

Pluck

Hi Pluck, It went well. We piled into the cars and drove maybe two miles to a rather swank pizza parlour. Miss Wilma had ravioli a Greek salad and a coke. Yours truly had a 13" pizza, one finger of scotch and a bill for 68 bucks not including tip. Beyond that was seeing good friends and meeting new ones. Although there were glitches all in all it was a good experience. I think John LaVoy has a sound idea. Instead of having different chapters host these things it would be better to have a professional organization do the work.

[Mitch//pa]

bob how did you make out with your belt noise you posted just before you left.

[Pete]

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Originally Posted by forever4

Some people prefer to first learn from the experiences of others, so their own first efforts are a successful experience.
Other people prefer to gain experience by making their own mistakes first.

For any activity, I try to follow the first path as much as I am able.
Study requirements, benchmarks, and lessons-learned, then plan carefully, then execute the plan.

It is a lot of work.
Sometimes it is easier (lazier) for me to just jump in and 'do'.

Vince is right...There have been enough VERY sucessful national meets across the country that a wealth of organizational knowledge is available just for the researching. The national organization is not above reproach either. They too have screwed up a few.
I like the suggestion of a pro group organizing it.
They could have a "trial" meet first just for fun..No points involved to work the kinks out.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Tacoma Bob

...............make sure you have enough experienced manpower to put one of these events on.

Just a little FYI, the same lady that was head chair person for the world meet in 2008 in Dallas, was the one who came in and chaired for This meet. From what i understand, the meet would have been a lot more dissorganized if she hadnt stepped in, midway through the planning period, and fixed everything. Yes the bus ride probably wasnt fun, and standing in a hallway wasnt close to perfect conditions. But you have to remember how many people were there, and how many people didnt have their own cars there. Its not easy finding a dining hall big enough to fit what was it like 500-600 people atleast? If you didnt like the bus ride, why didnt you drive? you also have to remember, these meets budgets are set up by how many registrations they get in. so not everythings going to be satisfactory for everyone, and thats ok. im not trying to get under anyones skin, just pointing out facts. I personally dont care if im talking to model a people in a hallway, or out in the parking lot in a 110 degrees. Its about the experiences and meeting new people. And comparing travel stories. I like all meets i go to, roughly 20 or so now, and theres always something i would have like to change, but im not going to get up there and spend the 2 years it takes to plan one. I dont have that much time or patients. So take this all with a grain of salt, and just think about all the intresting people you got the chance to meet.

[Model A Man]

was the new model A motor on display? and if so how was it? Thanks

[hardtimes]

Originally Posted by Tacoma Bob

Our car ran well and all in all it was a good time. Canada is not for the timid as far as money. Spendy place for sure. For a first time attempt the host club did a pretty good job. Lots of politics but they did the best with the hand that was delt to them. The welcome banquet was held in three different dining rooms which was wierd. At one point 13 people were stuck in the elevator for some 35 minutes till the fire department came to the rescue. A real dissapointment was the awards banquet. With so many in attendance the dinner was held several miles away at a Sheraton hotel. The social hour was held in a hallway of all places and get this..............several hundred people were transported in a forty passanger bus........ONE BUS! god only knows how many trips that lonely bus had to make. The swap meet was several city blocks away and I'm unclear as to just where the car judging took place. I felt sorry for the FAST guys as the local cops put an end to the event in short order. A word to the wise...............make sure you have enough experienced manpower to put one of these events on.

Bob,
If the event was held/or attempted to be held in Vancouver city, I could see where there could/would be possible problems. Especially with such a large event with people from all over the world wanting to participate.
Having vacationed in city of Vancouver several times, including Expo '87(no more tho) , I was amazed/dismayed at the CONFINED restricted crowded areas of that city,i.e.-narrow almost one way sized streets, no parking, crowded rv camping! No wonder only one bus..no room on roadways for more. Could you please give a brief explanation of how/why cops 'put an end to the event'? thanks.

[Tacoma Bob]

Can't speak directly about why but I did heard from quite a few folks that the police made a point of not having "permits". Apparently five cop cars showed up to shut it down. Also mentioned was something about some bicycle riders complaining.

[Tacoma Bob]

yes at least the raw castings were there. Shame on me as I toured with John LaVoy who brought them up for Terry and didn't get a chance to check it out.

[peters180a/170b]

The group who put on the FRENCH LICK meet should write a book on putting on National Meets. They found the perfect spot as far as [everything needed] in one spot.