TDIFest 2009

VW Derf

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 3, 1996
Location
Richmond, BC, Canada
TDI
2010 Blue Graphite Pearl Golf Variant
No it's not too early to think about it. I'm posting this note about TDIFest 2009 a little earlier this year so that people have a little extra time to work out the logistics and give those interested parties attending this years TDIFest an opportunity to take notes.

Here are the requirements:

Parties interested in hosting TDIFest 2009, please get a bid in by October 24, 2008. A decision will be made by November 1, 2008
Here are some requirements and info that should be figured out before a proposal is submitted by that date.
1) Find a core group of people (5 or more) to work with you on the planning and implementation. This will help divide up the work, and keep problems from arising should 1 or 2 move away (this does happen).
2) Figure out who will be the leader and second in charge will be. Also who will be in charge of the finance.

3) Get a estimate of costs, event places, etc. Talk to the hotels to get room approximate rates/requirements, etc
4) Submit a email to me with details on the people involved and what your plans and cost estimates are. Be sure to include some information on distances between suggested events. Also any relevant experience individuals in the group may have with planning larger events.


The data has traditionally been the Labour Day (or Labor Day for those in the US) weekend. This could be moved if there is a good enough reason, but remember, no date is ever perfect for everyone. Also remember these plans don't have to be set in stone. If you have something planned for Saturday morning and it has to be Sunday afternoon, that is fine. Things will change. Feel free to post questions here or email me.
Please post any questions you may have as we have all learned a lot from past fests on how to make these things better than ever.

Shallon (TDIFest 2007) has summarized some great info below:

First step: Organize a group of people in your area.
You need a group of people who are dedicated to pulling off this organization, as it is a lot of hard work. People who are willing to give up a few of their weekends to run around and get venues, scope out the area, have frequent meetings.
Next, you need to set up formal meeting times when you can sit down to discuss the fest. This means setting up SEVERAL meetings between the end of the previous fest and the deadline for submitting the proposal (the end of October - giving your 2 months to organize yourself, unless you start earlier than that! ;) )
Once you have everyone collected you'll need to discuss the city/town/area that you are proposing for the fest and organize what information you'll need for the proposal. this is where it gets tricky, as everyone will have idea's as to what they want to DO at the fest. This is not the time for this discussion. Try to keep on track and discuss hotels, parks, other venues where the fest can be held. Then distribute the research work evenly among the group members.

Things you'll need to know about your proposed Fest area:
VENUE!
(can't have a fest without a Venue).
- Cost of the venue - if it's a hotel, what are the room rates, food/menu rates, meeting/conference space costs, etc.
if it's in an outdoor space other than a hotel: area rental costs, place to hold the banquet, outdoor wrenching restrictions (environmental laws?)
Things to do around the area: Parks, malls, tourist attractions, places to eat,etc.
- International considerations - passports required, taxes, Currency exchanges, vendor issues (if the fest is going to be over a border other than the US - i.e. Canada, or wherever else).

Basic Agenda:
- What are you planning on doing with several hundred people for 3 days
- Friday - registrations, evening meet-n-greet usually - what will be your
menu, activity of choice, etc.
- Saturday all day - registrations, activities (tech sessions, vendors, area activities, etc), food (breakfast, lunch, OR dinner... pick one), activity Saturday night?
- Sunday - food (usually the banquet Sunday night), Show n shine, other activities, banquet, wrenching, etc.

What are the qualifications of your group members:
WHO ARE THEY?!?! who exactly is going to be in your group. If you have group members that are planning a fest from one location that is different than the actual fest location - Do you have Area Volunteers!?!? :confused: Who are they?
Who has experience organizing large scale events? does their career choice allow them to volunteer for such a dedicated process? In other words, they have the drive, but do they have the time?
Who will be your group "leader" or primary contact/liaison?

This is just some information that folks will need to know if they are planning on organizing a fest proposal. Once you submit a proposal, in an organized, informative format - the work gets more abundant from there. But with the right crew of volunteers, and everyone pitching in to help, it can go VERY smoothly!

To previous fest organizers, please feel free to pitch in other information. If you have your previous proposal and would like to link it on the page, I'm sure it would be a great help to future fest organizers, to see what others have done. We need to learn from one another! Maybe this will encourage others to volunteer, rather than compete or stand aside for someone else to do it! Let's help to make Fests in future years easier and more fun for everyone! :)
 
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Hintertux

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2001
Location
Fort Walton Beach, FL
TDI
2013 Beetle TDI DSG Candy White
Some where in the south East for 2009, Beaches in Florida are nice.

I would love to run it but I have not been able to attend one yet.
 

tomo366

TDI Lifer, Member #68
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Location
Kensington, Maryland USA
TDI
2015 Jetta SEL TDI
This will be the 10 year anniversary of TDI Fest!
And VW has moved there Headquarters to the Washington DC Area.........
A group is being set up to explore the DC Fest idea.

Hintertux said:
Some where in the south East for 2009, Beaches in Florida are nice.

I would love to run it but I have not been able to attend one yet.
 

bhtooefr

TDIClub Enthusiast, ToofTek Inventor
Joined
Oct 16, 2005
Location
Newark, OH
TDI
None
There's a lot of people on here that have absolutely no interest in tracking their cars, though.
 

RUSHtheBUS

Veteran Member
Joined
May 1, 2008
Location
Long Island
TDI
2009 sedan. #13,500
You don't have to. Look at the site, there's pleanty of things to do. This past year, there was a German racing history event during Labor day. Owners of German cars were given VIP treatment, special parking to show off their cars, etc. There's suits to view races, a cart area to race their cars, meeting areas.
 

Hamsterdiesel

TDIClub Enthusiast , Veteran Member & HO5G CoFound
Joined
Jul 30, 2002
Location
NH
TDI
1999 Golf IV, Black and now 2015 Reflex Silver Passat SE
If you're happy with the venue, then move to the next step(s)... You'll still need a hotel AND the group of people to pull it off. Get working! :)
 

Hintertux

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2001
Location
Fort Walton Beach, FL
TDI
2013 Beetle TDI DSG Candy White
tomo366 said:
Wilmington NC:D
NC would be nice, we could double by shopping for furniture. My wife would actually want to go.

tomo366 said:
This will be the 10 year anniversary of TDI Fest!
And VW has moved there Headquarters to the Washington DC Area.........
A group is being set up to explore the DC Fest idea.
DC would be cool too, but I would end up driving all the way to NJ as my wife would make me visit her family.
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
FYI, I am putting together a proposal for the 2009 TDI Fest to be in the Washington, DC area. Right now I'm scoping out hotels in the Dulles area, close to the airport and VWoA's new headquarters.

I already have a few people who are interested in being on the planning committee... stay tuned.
 

RUSHtheBUS

Veteran Member
Joined
May 1, 2008
Location
Long Island
TDI
2009 sedan. #13,500
Hamsterdiesel said:
If you're happy with the venue, then move to the next step(s)... You'll still need a hotel AND the group of people to pull it off. Get working! :)
Good deal. Just would like to get a couple of volunteers first before putting all the work together with out the group of 5.

DC sounds nice too!
 

jasonTDI

TDI GURU Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Location
Oregon, WI
TDI
20' RAM 3500 CCLB dually HO/Aisan. 2019 Cherokee 2.0T
Remember if you track it you need insurance.....that's not cheap.
 

Radman

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 13, 2001
Location
Montreal
TDI
2014 Audi A6 TDI, 2014 Touareg TDI
Do not take for granted that you have almost a year to plan. There is alot of planning involved. Make sure you have dedicated members assisting you. It takes time but is worth the rewards in the end.
 

paramedick

TDIClub Enthusiast, Vendor
Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Location
Versailles, Kentucky
TDI
2015 Audi Q5 TDI
Yup, hotel needs to be booked by January 1. Lots of groups plan conventions far in advance. For example, the wedding was booked when we got there to look at the hotel the first time. They were competitors with us for rooms.

Anything you expect from the hotel, get in writing. If they promise to honor the rate after your room release date, definitely in writing.

In our case, the convention coordinator we worked with left for a job with a nicer hotel. All his promises were moot at that point.
 

Sweeps

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2005
Location
Orillia, Ontario, Canada
TDI
None currently. MK4/5/6 Jetta's in the past.
bhtooefr said:
There's a lot of people on here that have absolutely no interest in tracking their cars, though.
But you could have a...Most number of laps on a Gallon...challenge :)
 

VW Derf

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 3, 1996
Location
Richmond, BC, Canada
TDI
2010 Blue Graphite Pearl Golf Variant
Those rates sound like a location catering to business people which (I would think) would make securing rooms easier. If a chain is used, perhaps we can check in with previous hotels about recommending a location/ some extra background info.
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
The Hyatt is definitely targeted towards business people and conferences. I think that's exactly what we're looking for, based on the three Fests that I've attended so far.
 

goTDIcandy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2007
Location
Steeds, NC
TDI
white 05 Golf
DC or NJ sound good to this TDI near Philadelphia! I'd volunteer to help with xeroxing-mailing, phone calls, etc. Driving out of my area is not good, because of work.
Kristina
 

paramedick

TDIClub Enthusiast, Vendor
Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Location
Versailles, Kentucky
TDI
2015 Audi Q5 TDI
When you negotiate with the Hyatt, discuss with them internet access in the rooms. They typically charge $10-$12/day for access. Make it part of the package for the rooms, i.e. free.

Just say no to "losers in the lobby".
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
paramedick said:
When you negotiate with the Hyatt, discuss with them internet access in the rooms. They typically charge $10-$12/day for access. Make it part of the package for the rooms, i.e. free.

Just say no to "losers in the lobby".
Bruce, I'll be sure to talk to them about this. We all know that our membership can't live without the internet. ;)
 

valvecrusher

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Location
DosCirclos
TDI
'96 Passat, '00 Jetta
Hintertux said:
NC would be nice, we could double by shopping for furniture. My wife would actually want to go.


DC would be cool too, but I would end up driving all the way to NJ as my wife would make me visit her family.
NC

Asheville:cool:

+1
 

tdireader

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2004
Location
USA
TDI
TDI
paramedick said:
When you negotiate with the Hyatt, discuss with them internet access in the rooms. They typically charge $10-$12/day for access. Make it part of the package for the rooms, i.e. free.

Just say no to "losers in the lobby".
Other considerations:
  • parking (how many spaces / garage clearence / in out fees?)
  • requirements for pets in room + pooping areas
  • traffic / travel time in area (how long to restuarants/target/walmart/beer)
  • Will they throw in free facilities (banquet rooms / meeting rooms / etc)
  • VA sells beer in the supermarkets / MG county MD does not
  • smoking rules for those that care
  • Attitude of hotel staff (Will they wine about a little noise)
  • Will the hotel get touchy w/ too many RVs / Car trailers etc
Some of the extended stay places in the area are nice and you might be able to book up the whole place and avoid drama w/ non tdi guests (noise etc).
 
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