Expo 11 - Possible Event Location

[00TypeR1071]

Lets just do it in Mid-Ohio or Gingerman and be done with it.

[KOALA YUMMIES]

[coolhandluke]

The potential for a west coast event is there. The biggest problem that i see is a lack of support from the community itself....

I completely understand that there are great tracks all around the country that we would all like to drive. but Lets not forget that it was the committee that first brought the idea of a west coast event. Every time a california track is mentioned it is immediately insulted and disregarded by everyone.
Clearly everyone has their pre set judgments about california and how much we all suck. you all obviously dont want to come here...

I say let the committee do its job and find a location that best suits the community as a whole. But please keep the bashing to a minimum...

its funny if you go back to the first few pages and read all the positive things everyone had to say about a west coast expo. Now that they have had time to think about how much time, money and effort goes into a cross country road trip and track event the views have changed.
and people still wonder why there isn't a strong west coast presence.

CHEEZTHIS,
You still have my contact information and if there is anything else i can do to help i'm more that willing.

-Jared

It is also important to note that this particular forum has primarily an east coast base. NWP4Life has more of to west coast member base. As a result, each of the individual forums has (as a whole) opinions catering towards their member base's individual market. I'm sure most would admit there is a different rift between the two communities. Some of it is purely based on likes/dislikes in particular tastes in styles, application (car shows, tracking, etc), and overall distance. I don't feel any of these differences are hostile. Individuals from either side may be hostile online, but they do not reflect the community as a whole.

It is important to note that many expressing views against a west Expo have consistently attended previously Expo's. That carries weight in my eyes, but that is just me. There is also a generalized stigma from west coast members that expo is always on the east coast. Autobahn Country Club and Mid-America are two examples of ITR Expo's that were not on the East Coast. Again though, each side has their own stigma and bias associated with their perspective-I'l be the first to admit that.

I also feel it is good to always keep this an open discussion, regardless of the forum. As long as opinions, arguments, or discussions are presented in a mature manner I don't see any reason to limit user's comments. I don't intend to put weight behind any one side, but I feel that is the best way to approach this process year by year.

[coolhandluke]

....if Cali people wanted a big annual track day, they could easily host a event and have enough "cars" to make it an event....

FYI this notion has been mentioned yearly for the last several years. Specifically on NWP4Life last year. That was pre-forum move so that content has been lost or I would reference the quote.

[JReyes]

It is also important to note that this particular forum has primarily an east coast base. NWP4Life has more of to west coast member base. As a result, each of the individual forums has (as a whole) opinions catering towards their member base's individual market. I'm sure most would admit there is a different rift between the two communities. Some of it is purely based on likes/dislikes in particular tastes in styles, application (car shows, tracking, etc), and overall distance. I don't feel any of these differences are hostile. Individuals from either side may be hostile online, but they do not reflect the community as a whole.

It is important to note that many expressing views against a west Expo have consistently attended previously Expo's. That carries weight in my eyes, but that is just me. There is also a generalized stigma from west coast members that expo is always on the east coast. Autobahn Country Club and Mid-America are two examples of ITR Expo's that were not on the East Coast. Again though, each side has their own stigma and bias associated with their perspective-I'l be the first to admit that.

I also feel it is good to always keep this an open discussion, regardless of the forum. As long as opinions, arguments, or discussions are presented in a mature manner I don't see any reason to limit user's comments. I don't intend to put weight behind any one side, but I feel that is the best way to approach this process year by year.

I absolutely agree that this board is made up mostly of mid-west and east coast guys. and I know we (west coast) are out numbered and i'm really not complaining or asking for special treatment here.
i agree with you that the large number of people who have attended previous expo's should have a say so in where the next one should be held.
I guess my argument is that if the same people attend these event and they are normally held at tracks in a certain area of the country. Then why bother bringing up the possibility of an event on the west coast?

Maybe i see thing differently but when i think of a west coast expo I see the potential to bring in a new crowd of enthusiast, the potential for more sponsorship. more publicity etc. (since most of the industry is here) YES its a roll of the dice for the committee and its a choice they must make..For 90% of west coast guys expo is something that they only know about, this could be a chance to help them experience it and if it went well then i think it could really help Expo grown as a whole...

Regardless of its location. if time and money allow then i will be there.

[coolhandluke]

I absolutely agree that this board is made up mostly of mid-west and east coast guys. I know we (west coast) are out numbered and i'm really not complaining or asking for special treatment here.

I don't see it as being an issue with out numbered. I only mentioned the base to point out the differences in opinions between sites. The committee is spread out from West to Mid to East Coast so it isn't even an issue with them.

i agree with you that the large number of people who have attended previous expo's should have a say so in where the next one should be held.
I guess my argument is that if the same people attend these event and they are normally held at tracks in a certain area of the country. Then why bother bringing up the possibility of an event on the west coast?

Again, please note, that the committee (West, Mid, and East coasters) brought up the the like of a West Coast ITR Expo. Everyone should be able to voice their opinion, and not everyone will agree, but I simply do not understand the last sentence. It does not reflect this situation properly. This sentence comes out regularly from various members and seems to always steer this conversation off topic.

Maybe i see thing differently but when i think of a west coast expo I see the potential to bring in a new crowd of enthusiast, the potential for more sponsorship. more publicity etc.

I believe everyone agrees on this notion.

(since most of the industry is here) YES its a roll of the dice for the committee and its a choice they must make..For 90% of west coast guys expo is something that they only know about, this could be a chance to help them experience it and if it went well then i think it could really help Expo grown as a whole...

Again, I feel everyone agrees here.

Regardless of its location, if time and money allow, then I will be there.

[/quote]

Many here (including myself) feel the same way. Prior to my home purchase, PTO pending, I was all four dropping the 1K in gas, $400 in track fees, and ~$200 for food/hotel to make the drive from SC to California. That home purchase has limited my options, but I will still attend (co-drive) regardless of location.

[cheezthis]

Nothing has been set yet, neither West nor East.

As for why we asked about the West Coast event?

- We are serious about it and wanted to see what the community thought. Without the people that attend, this event would have died many years ago. Although a few of us take time out of busy lives to put this annual event together for free, we do it for the good of everyone.

- The West Coast event has a lot of pros and cons. There are different mentalities, some are generalizations, between the south, north, northeast, midwest, and west. Trying to make them all work together presents a very difficult task. One bad year of the event can really kill the momentum for future years.

I asked about other alternatives because our Plan B of Mid-Ohio is probably out already due to lack of good dates available there. Maybe we can leverage it a bit more, but at this point, Mid-Ohio is probably not going to happen. That track has very few dates available, and those are not desirable.

There are huge advantages to the west coast event including some extra involvement from Acura and HPD as well as bringing new people into the event. My hope is that many new faces meet old faces, and continue to meet up each year regardless of the location. That means if the event goes central or east in 2011, that many west coasters will make the trek to it. Not everyone can make it, but there a few that have made the drive from one coast to the other (or in some cases, one continent to another).

I hope that clears things up.

It's too bad we don't have the funds to fly to Japan for an event.

[itrsteez]

You know you can't bring up Mid Ohio without getting everybody all excited. I'm sure you don't want to get into detail on available dates but what classifies as undesirable dates? Just crappy months or weekday? I'm fairly confident that you would get overwhelming support with that course. We were going to try to get together a group again this year just because how amazing it is and easily accessible it is for many, last time we had guys from MA, NY, OH, NC, WV, MI and SC and that wasn't even marketed with the strength that you could do it with ITR Expo itself.

I know a lot of people aren't speaking up for whatever reason (I would assume to stay out of the east/west bickering thread) but the general consensus I get from the people that I regularly interface with is that they've wrote off E11 as a loss. Obviously support is mere speculation till registration opens up.

[cheezthis]

If Wes wants to chime in with the specific options for Mid-Ohio, I will leave that to him. However, the dates would classify as both weekday and in months that are less marketable.

I'd love to run a Mid-Ohio event someday, seriously. I haven't been there since '04 and have been dying to get back there. However, a weekday event during a month where many are tied up with school puts us at a risk just like a west coast event.

[cheezthis]

And unrelated, because I'm a dork and enjoy BeaveRun, even without it's badly needed South Course, I've been tempted to help setup an ITRCA event there for 2011. Not an expo by any means, but at least an event that we have control over. We'll see what happens, but I'd like to rock around that track again, especially that blind turn around the tree and the kink.

[itrsteez]

Fair enough, doing an alternate low-scale event would also be uber awesome

[Fatchance187]

Oh man I'm keeping my eyes open for a beaver run event that's not that far from me

[JReyes]

Again, please note, that the committee (West, Mid, and East coasters) brought up the the like of a West Coast ITR Expo. Everyone should be able to voice their opinion, and not everyone will agree, but I simply do not understand the last sentence. It does not reflect this situation properly. This sentence comes out regularly from various members and seems to always steer this conversation off topic.

i apologize for the last comment. i was on my way out of the door and should have proof read a little better.

i would also like to point out that i'm really not trying to debate and bicker with anyone. It is just hard to have a constructive
conversation when there only seems to be 2 of us on the west coast that are speaking up....

As far as the smaller regional events i think its a great idea. I personally will be working to organize more of these with our local HPDE organizer throughout 2011.

[cheezthis]

i apologize for the last comment. i was on my way out of the door and should have proof read a little better.

i would also like to point out that i'm really not trying to debate and bicker with anyone. It is just hard to have a constructive
conversation when there only seems to be 2 of us on the west coast that are speaking up....

As far as the smaller regional events i think its a great idea. I personally will be working to organize more of these with our local HPDE organizer throughout 2011.

Just curious, with organizing some local hpde events, are you...

- working with an existing hpde organization/group and working along with them?
- running the whole thing from your own end without another group?
- buying time from another group?

I see all 3 of those on a regular basis. In fact, a lot of the we-todd events are a combo 1/3 I think. Andy can clarify, but I thought he was working out a discount via other groups.

[JReyes]

I'm working with an existing organization. next to NASA these are the next biggest guys in southern california.
http://www.speedventures.com/

I work grid and timing in exchange for seat time. I am also setting up a new front wheel drive challenge that will be hosted by these guys. you can see on there site that they currently have S2K, Miata and corvette challenges. the classes are being broken down to encourage people to come out and have some fun.

They havent finalized their 2011 schedule yet but my plan is to coordinate 1-2 ITR events that fall onto the same weekends as the the FF-challenge.

[cheezthis]

Say hi to Charlie/Top Setup for me I'm bummed he left Chicago but am happy to see him doing well out there.

[smiko0124]

Well I am new here and am fairly new to the ITR community (steve black db8-r). Expo 10 was my first expo and I hope to continue the trend. I just spent the last however many hours reading each and everything post and page and can see a reason to have an expo at any location throughout the US. I was greatly impressed with my first expo and my first track event ever and couldnt be happier with the people that put this together.

I had the opportunity to meet and become friends with tons of people at the event and believe that is was expo is all about. I dont have a particular opinion as to where expo 11 is held but would think for the benefit of the community as a whole it would be most beneficial to take place at a location where there would be a substantial turn out of ITR owners as that is what the expo is about.

I personally like the idea that many have mention of meeting smack dab in the middle of the country. You could then test both East and West coast participants to travel for the event. Based on all the information gathered in my hours of reading, the California individuals wont leave their state for an event regardless if it is on the East Coast or Midwest or even a places like Millers Motorsports Park (Utah), Mid America Motorplex (Iowa), Autobahn Country Club (IL), or any of the other non-East Coast suitable locations.

Why would a completely California Expo even be a consideration if these particular individuals not even considering all west coast (west of the mississippi) individuals be willing to travel to a location outside of the state of CA. I had the pleasure to meet Mel and the rest of the west coast people that drove to expo 10 and got to sit and laugh my ass off next to them at Pizza Friday night last year. These are the west coasters we need to consider when determining a location for expo.

I will try to make it to expo 11 no matter where it is but money will play the largest part in my ability to attend. I finish up my degree Friday Dec 17th and will continue my job hunt and plan for an expo no matter what it takes. Getting time off when starting a new job will be difficult in my first year but will do whatever I can.

I agree the core group of individuals who have been to expo year after year and have proven their dedication to drive whether it be from the W to the E, the E to the W, the W to the MW, the E to the MW need to be taken into consideration. As the committee has continually said throughout this thread it is the people who make this event possible. Well with that all said and whether any of it makes any sense or just needs to be deleted my eyes hurt. I wish the committee the best of luck creating another top notch event like expo 10! I cant wait to join in on the next! EXPO 11 or bust!!

I need a beer. Hoegaarden anyone?

[KOALA YUMMIES]

Say hi to Charlie/Top Setup for me I'm bummed he left Chicago but am happy to see him doing well out there.

Charlie didn't miss a beat! Came to Cali, boom he's at the track!



And turning some damn impressive lap times.

[96ls]

And unrelated, because I'm a dork and enjoy BeaveRun, even without it's badly needed South Course, I've been tempted to help setup an ITRCA event there for 2011. Not an expo by any means, but at least an event that we have control over. We'll see what happens, but I'd like to rock around that track again, especially that blind turn around the tree and the kink.

I'm with you! I haven't made it there yet and it is in my back yard practically. I'm about 30 mins from there. I hope to spend alot of my summer there this coming year!

[Bowdwn]

And unrelated, because I'm a dork and enjoy BeaveRun, even without it's badly needed South Course, I've been tempted to help setup an ITRCA event there for 2011. Not an expo by any means, but at least an event that we have control over. We'll see what happens, but I'd like to rock around that track again, especially that blind turn around the tree and the kink.

I'm with you! I haven't made it there yet and it is in my back yard practically. I'm about 30 mins from there. I hope to spend alot of my summer there this coming year!

BeaveRun hmmm my first expo site you lemme know when ur going Mikey ill make it out cus i dont think ill be able to afford going to West Coast plus get the time off....

[itrsteez]

The beaver run idea I think would be an instant success. And may be a great statistic gathering event.

[itr #1334]

The beaver run idea I think would be an instant success. And may be a great statistic gathering event.

East or West still gonna be 20+ drive for me. Eh oh well.

[itrsteez]

The beaver run idea I think would be an instant success. And may be a great statistic gathering event.

East or West still gonna be 20+ drive for me. Eh oh well.

If both events were to happen I could put money on which one you'd go to.

[itr #1334]

The beaver run idea I think would be an instant success. And may be a great statistic gathering event.

East or West still gonna be 20+ drive for me. Eh oh well.

If both events were to happen I could put money on which one you'd go to.

Now that is a safe bet.

[cheezthis]

Heh, that's my fear of putting together an ITRCA track day too. The fear of losing people to the big event for the smaller one.