[DeTomaso] How About Vegas Covention in March?

Mad Dog Antenucci teampantera at yahoo.com
Thu Apr 3 13:56:18 EDT 2008


Sgt. Major (aka Kent Snyder)
   
  You mean Bob can't accomadate the 3% of us who want the event moved? ;-]>
   
  You, Bob and JT and the rest of the Fun Rally gang do a great service to all. But you guys are waaaaaaaaaay to oversenstive about this subject. the fact
   is everyone have always had the opportunity to start a new venue if anyone wanted to step up and organize it and run it.
   
  Every year the 'volunteers' to start a new event on a new date and location are numerous...what is not numerous are the few like you and Bob and others who put the event on year after year.
   
  Thanks for the decades of support.
   
  Dawg
   
  

RallyFanatic at aol.com wrote:
  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 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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Mad Dawg Antenucci 
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