[DeTomaso] How About Vegas Covention in March?

Thu Apr 3 12:18:43 EDT 2008

I really had no plans to get involved in this discussion but I thought a  
little history might give some perspective as to why the POCA Las Vegas Fun  
Rally is held over (either) the last weekend in April or the first weekend in  May.

When Sandi and I along with Eric and Linda Cooper started the Fun Rally in  
1982, POCA was, in fact, a Los Angeles based club with the majority of its plus 
 or minus 300 members in the Southern California area. 

The BIG events that we held were the Newporter Concourse D' Elegance in  
June, and the annual trip to Monterey for the Pebble Beach Concourse and the  
vintage auto races at Laguna Seca.  Some then stayed over Monday to run  with the 
Ferrari Club who rented Laguna Seca for their club, and  invited POCA to run 
with them.  As an aside, we stopped being invited  when we kept beating the 
Ferrari's in the races.

Anyway, those were the two big events that POCA did for the year.  The  
calendar was fleshed out by 10 other events, each Board Member was responsible  for 
one event a month; twelve board members, twelve events.

The first fun Rally was held in March 1982, and there was rain on the way  
back, and the folks who drove from Colorado and points east, complained  about 
the ice and snow conditions they faced on the way to and from the  event.  
Thus, we moved the event to the last weekend in April  timeframe.  This way, we 
didn't compete with the Concourse and the folks  driving (usually) had better 
conditions.

As time passed, more clubs/chapters started major events, Pocono, the Reno  
Tahoe Fun Rally, and states began open road events, Silver State,  etc., etc., 
etc.

Now the calendar is filled with major events, the cost of everything  has 
gone way up, and there is greater competition for your dollar, which doesn't  go 
far, and discretionary income shrinks as necessities take up more and more of  
the available income. 

To move the Fun Rally from its usual timeframe would mean that whoever  plans 
the event would have to make sure there are no (or very few) conflicts  with 
other events, not over a major holiday, i.e., Mothers day, not conflict  with 
school, if possible, and too many other factors to list here.  Well,  just a 
few, hotel availability, prices, other event (not Pantera related)  conflicts, 
etc.

This is not to say that the dates can't be moved, just that it is not as  
easy as some would think.

My two cents worth.

Kent Snyder

In a message dated 4/2/2008 8:51:23 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
cuvee at sbcglobal.net writes:

Put  something together and they may come?

michael frazier  <red3644 at hotmail.com> wrote:  
Why does it have to move 6  months? How about a smaller time shift to 
accomodate school, ORR events  etc.
It's always too close to the Big Bend event that some of the TEXAS  people 
like to attend...everything seems to
be Kalifornia-centric. :) A  smile for those surely offended.
Michael
Gruppo Rompiculi Corsa  Y'all

> From: jtaphorn at kingwoodcable.com> To:  artstephens at charter.net; 
detomaso at realbig.com> Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2008  20:53:07 -0500> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] How 
About Vegas Covention in  March?> > Hey Art.> > I appreciate your thoughts on 
this and  encouragement to get others to offer > their opinion.> > I have been 
 eager to consider alternative dates for other reasons.> > I would like  to 
see the event held at a Venue where we could show the cars > in a  Ballroom. I 
would love to see the Vendors display their latest >  restorations. 
Additionally, I would enjoy establishing a Chapter Car Show >  Competition where each 
Chapter selects one car from their membership to be  > displayed in th ballroom 
and a team of judges awards a winner. I don't  know > what the criteia for the 
show would be and perhaps a car may only be  shown > once every "X" number of 
years. My aim would be to get the Pantera  Vendors > talents showcased and 
create some teamwork amoung the Chapter  members to > work together
in prepping a member's car. Those who have  attended the Plaza > know that 
there is a genuine advantage to looking at  cars in an indoor > environment with 
your favorite beverage in hand. This  is an element of the > Fun Rally that 
could help keep it fresh year to  year.> > That said, the challenge faced with 
the current dates for the  Fun Rally is > that it is Las Vegas peak season and 
it is therefore  difficult to afford the > Resort Hotels that could 
accommodate the display  of cars indoors. If we > were in Vegas during the off-season, 
the  opportunity would be different.> > As I have written before in the POCA  
Newsletter, the nicer hotels, that > could accommodate cars indoors, would  
force us to guarantee a certain number > of room reservations to provide us  the 
Ballrooms at an affordable price. > During peak season those rooms  would 
almost be 2X the cost of the Orleans. > If we tried host the Fun  Rally at that 
time of year, I fear many would stay > at less expensive  venues
and commute to the Host hotel. As a consequence, > we would not  mee!
t out ro
om target and break the POCA financial bank.> > I  also believe that younger 
owners with families find it difficult to attend  > Vegas in late April/May. 
The obstacle is that their children are in  school > and parents are reluctant 
to take them out. I am in this boat and  > appreciate the issue. If the Rally 
was scheduled during school break,  that > would help. This conundrum is 
unfortunate as younger families  represent an > expanding demographic of DeTomaso 
owners.> > If we  held the Fun Rally in the summer, we could get superior 
pricing and >  families would be available. Although as you point out, it would be 
to hot  > for the track event and the California owners, I am told, generally 
do  not > have working AC.> > Another issue to keep in mind is the  
availability of the organizers. The > Event is orchestrated by very few  people. I know 
at least one of them would > gladly step back if someone  else would step up. 
It is fine and dandy to say > lets have it in March;  however, Bob
Reid is digging through tax returns and > couldn't be a  resource? Who will 
step up? This is not to say the Fun Rally > Committee is  not open to change; 
rather to make you more sensitive to the > issues  involved. The committe has 
made many changes over the last four > years to  accommodate the will of the 
majority. We want to create a > compelling  reason for people to attend, make 
new friends and have fun> > JT> Fun  Rally Co-Chair > > >  
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