I don't think there would be any problem finding a reasonably priced hotel in the Denver area. Off the top of my head I can think of three Marriotts that have good parking availability and would work well.
There are a number of hotels that have good parking facilities and the Labor Day weekend isn't a big deal there. Better still, it's a quiet period in Vail and environs: it would be great to have a Fest in Vail or Aspen. Hotels in Aspen are dirt cheap (relatively) in Sept/Oct.
Or we could head down to Colorado Springs. Some good places there, too.
Wow, if you think hotels in Denver, Aspen, Vail or Colorado Springs are dirt cheap we need to trade bank accounts, 'cuz your definition of dirt cheap is WAY different than mine! I did a quick Expedia.com search in Chattanooga, Denver, Colorado Springs, Vail and Aspen for Labor day weekend 2013 Checking in October 29th and Checking out September 2nd.
Here are the average prices shown by Expedia:
Chattanooga: $100/night
Denver: $141/night (that is a 41% increase over Chattanooga and $200 extra for 5 nights)
Colorado Springs: $119/night (only 19% higher but still almost $100 more for 5 nights)
Vail: $221/night
(A whopping 121% higher and $600 more for 5 nights!!!)
Aspen: $241/night (WOW 141% higher and $700 more for 5 nights!!! That ain't dirt cheap, my friend. At least not in my book!)
FYI, to compare to the last two and the current TDIFest, the average hotel per the same Expedia search method in Lexington, KY is $99/night, Ypsilanti, MI is $130, while the hand calculated average for the 4 hotels shown that have rooms available in Bethel, ME is $133.25.
These were only averages listed when I searched the areas for those dates and obviously rates would be negotiated, but if those are the averages the negotiated rate would be based on that and probably a similar relation to each other. If TDIClub members want a Fest in Colorado, I'm sure it will be killer, but it will be out of reach for me...
In addition to the VW plant, reasonable hotels and a local 1/8-mile drag strip Chattanooga also has scenic places with the River, aquarium and downtown areas nice as well as Lookout Mountain with Rock City, Ruby Falls and the Incline Railway only about 10 minutes from downtown.
http://www.lookoutmountain.com/
http://www.tennis.org/Home.aspx
I think this location could be a real winner for any VW related event!!!
I would keep an open mind to it because I have friends in TN. and VA I could visit on the same trip. I am really stoked about going to Maine as I haven't been there since I left in 07. At the same time as I work contract gigs in preservation carpentry, any trip I make is spontanious.
With regard to these TDIFEST's I'm at a loss to understand why local VW dealerships don't show up with product and/or VWUSA does not have a presence.
Please correct me if my sense of that topic is incorrect. At Bike events big or small the first thing you do is contact the dealerships in the area to show up with product.
Florida NY is less about ten miles from Wallkill. Thanks to my TDI I do plan to do a lot of flyfishing trips because it will be uber economical again. Running up to the Roscoe NY area was killing me in gas ... in a 8cyc Toyota Tundra
We were just in Wallkill dropping off our son the weekend before last... We got stuck in the snow/ice storm Monday night. We went into Pine Bush for dinner at the Chinese food place and it was barely snowing when we went in and there was 3 inches on the ground when we came out. Our little Jetta with its well worn All-Season Goodyear Eagle tires did not like the unplowed roads and we had to stay the night in town. We were not able to get him back to work until Tuesday morning when the roads were plowed. Then we got out of there in the early afternoon between two cells and drove back home. I think we've made the trip up there around 5 or 6 times now. The area is actually very similar to our part of Tennessee but with colder winters and more snow!!!
And that's why you still have much to learn. You need to learn that it isn't necessary to settle for one or the other, fuel economy or performance. When you figure it out you get both.
52 mpg AND cut a perfect light (1/4 mile drag event) at the 2002 Grand Rapids TDI Fest.
Very cool Lug Nut! But I bet you didn't get the 52 MPG while at the track...
I do know first hand that driven responsibly when you increase performance you generally increase economy/efficiency I have seen it on the dyno and in the real world. It seems to me though that most of the extreme mileage guys (the ones that refuse to drive over 50-something MPH and route trips on back roads taking extra days to cross the country rather than driving with the flow of traffic on the Interstate Freeways) would not want to drive their cars on the track or dyno as they will return low MPG in those WOT situations. I know that I am happy with the efficiency of my '06, and I also know that I get better MPGs at slower speeds on the Freeway, but when we visit our son it is not worth an extra 5 or even 10 MPGs to add an extra 3 or more hours to our 13 hour drive up to NY. We would rather pay the extra $ and get there quicker and spend more time with him than get there slower and save a few bucks.
My worst mileage ever on a trip was something like 38 or 39 MPG and that trip included a 3-4 hour drive each way, a lot of idling, 3 dyno pulls, and several passes down the 1/8-mile drag strip. I was very happy with my results. Even with my 7,200-pound lifted Chevy 2500 HD that has the aerodynamics of a brick (especially with the front bumper removed and the full long-travel suspension and 37-inch front tires exposed) I am very pleased that the 540 HP 1,000 lbs/ft of torque Duramax engine yields over 17 MPG on the Freeway averaging 70-75 MPH! Technically I would say that makes it more effecient relatively than my TDI as it has around 4X the HP and TQ and probably weighs twice as much or more and has way worse aero, but is only about 40% worse on MPG... Now thats an odd thought!!!
Having worked for a Fortune 100 company at one time (and had run a Company-wide conference once), I can suggest what may be in store for one who goes to the VW plant to try to set up an event like this on their property and possibly use their interior facilities.
1. They will recommend we contact "corporate" for guidance,
2. They will mention their liability coverage may not stretch that far,
3. In the event they actually allow some kind of event with unknown persons with cars participating, they would want to review everything that is planned and modify the plan to suit what PR thinks is appropriate.
4. There would be more strings and limitations attached to this that it would probably render the event being run by them (VW), of which they wouldn't want to do in the first place
(I could just visualize an HPFP blowing up in their parking lot)
I really don't think VW would warm up to this, but I may be wrong.
Being a member of the media, I would start with my corporate VW media contacts and seeing that VW participated at least in some fashion in the past I think it is doable. But I will not contact them until we decide to do something and try to pursue Chattanooga as an event location or not. I would also solicit other corporate sponsors. Having coverage lined up in a nationwide enthusiast magazine helps to grease a lot of wheels to get stuff done...
If the corporate media people are behind us the plant managers will be very accommodating. When I shot and wrote a feature on the VW Dakar Race Touregs I went through the media department and I had full access to the race team and cars while they were in Mexico to compete in the Baja 500. The only restriction I was given was that I could not take detailed photos of the engine, but even with the body work removed the engine was so buried in those cars that I couldn't take detail shots if I wanted to. We had to put an arrow in the shot to show the front of the engine as the rest of it was stuffed under the cowl and windshield!!! I was able to speak with Mark Miller and Gineil DeViliers (sp?) and shot one of the cars with the body off to show of the chassis and suspension and the other one had the body on when I shot it. It was a very cool experience!!!
We do get dealership participation (demo cars, parts/swag sales, donations, sponsored events including a pig roast in Lexington) and we had very good participation from VWoA in 2009 when we were down the street from their headquarters in Herndon, VA.
The Pig roast was great!!! I would expect that the Chattanooga VW dealer (I think it is called Village VW) would probably participate in a local TDIFest too! I don't see any reason why they would not want to be involved in some way.
I really do think Chattanooga would be a great location for the Fest and will help in any way I can if a decision is made to pursue the location for an event venue. I'm not sure what else I need to do or say at this point.