Ideas for the next Fest

[BrentRN]

I know from planning events the last thing you want to do is think about the next one. However, it is a good time to start planning as the ideas are fresh.

I would like to hear from those who attended what suggestions they have for next year.

1. Was there something you wanted that was not there?

2. What things do you want to see again?

I'll start with a suggestion for a breakout session grouped by type of TDI. This would make it easier to get the questions answered for the unique issues of each TDI type.

I would love to see VOA come back if possible. The wisdom of Oilhammer and Chris is always welcome. The demos of maintenance tasks was very helpful.

What do you all think?

 

[oilhammer]

Was VOA even there? I mean seriously, they did bring a couple cars, but the people they sent? Really? Did anyone even talk to them? My little sister knows more about Volkswagens than those people did. And they had virtually NO information, NO knowledge, NO feedback, etc. They were just stewards of the cars and the little tent thingy. If I was from VOA, I would be ashamed of that. Especially since their HQ was so close.

And Audi, who is pushing TDIs here now, basically was a no-show... again very sad. This is, after all, TDI club, not Volkswagen TDI club.... They did provide the excellent video, however. But a TDI Q7 or A3 would have been nice to drool over. If Audi USA does not have a 'PR' department for that sort of thing, I am offering myself for hire.

I think it is time we had a swap meet... these cars have been around long enough and lots of us have accumulated TONS of used parts, for whatever reasons, and a swap meet would be an excellent way to sell and buy such wares. I literally have a basement FULL of Volkswagen parts. Since I do not mess much with the air-cooled crowd any more, I don't get to swap meets as much as I'd like to.

This fest was very good though, I had a great time.

 

[BrentRN]

Was VOA even there?

You're right about VOA. I got the impression they send those clueless kids out so they don't reveal any "secrets". Even though most of us there could find or even describe the upcoming model details, they seemed afraid to say anything.

It seemed like they thought they would be held accountable for any piece of trivia they said. I asked one when the Golf would be available and she looked scared to even answer her nonanswer.

So yeah, they weren't very helpful but I did like the chance to see the Golf weeks/months before it is in the dealership.

 

[airwolf]

Being an organizer of this years fest here is my input for what it is worth:

Fest is planned and ran strictly by volunteers, many of them work late into the night starting a couple months before fest to make sure everything is worked out. Suggestions are always welcome, but need to be presented early enough. I think this thread is a good idea for that reason, getting ideas out their earlier. Some of the suggestions also depend on where the event is hosted.

Some things that would have been nice:

1. Dyno on site?
2. Tint guy on site?
3. More involvement from local dealers (test drives).
4. More on-site vendors

I think it would have been good to have more on-site vendors and having 'common' items for sale. Not necessarily for 'pick-up' at fest, but maybe offer free shipping if the item was bought at fest.

Regarding some of the suggestions:

We purposely asked for VW not to send any engineer type people. The club is trying to build a relationship with VWoA, that will mutually benefit both parties, and that takes time. If VW would have supplied an engineer he/she would have been overwhelmed with complaints regarding DSGs, Balance Shafts, PD Cam's, and everything else that they would have been put off and we would have taken a step backwards in the VWoA support department. Having a set of grumpy people complaining at an engineer or someone with some knowledge for two days straight is not the way to do that.

It is true that Audi currently does not have a 'promotions' department like VWoA does for 'local' events. Heck, VW just set up their department for this.

It is hard to do break out session that are tailored to individual cars, you never know what kind of turn out you are going to get for each car, and if the people are interested. The tech sessions are meant to spark interest not teach you everything you need to know about the items being discussed.

So far all great ideas keep them coming!

 

[Torque_Delight]

Like I told Fred about it. I had an idea for next show'n'shine parking lot organization.

Instead organizing the parking lot Sunday when the parking is full of... let say "Foreign Vehicules" and when we don't exactly know who need to go where and how much of each cars are in, we should prepare in advance a reserved parking lot with the registration number (Car number) of each participating car.
So each car has his number identified in a closed section of the parking lot and just after they had their registration made, they could put their car where it belongs. It will setup smoothly by it own. Only minor changes might have to be made at the end...

Knowing, by the registration, who is in and which it is, it will be easy to setup the car cars by model, year, color... whatever and have a nice, easy and well organized show'n'shine parking lot.

 

[Growler]

I would like to see the Auction earlier in the weekend.

by Sunday evening, numbers are down, and money has been spent.. but if the auction was on Saturday night, say before the movie or trivia, with the Raffle after the Sunday Show & Shine like it has been that might be a way to get more bodies into the auction, more bids on items, and more money for the club.

 

[airwolf]

I would like to see the Auction earlier in the weekend.

by Sunday evening, numbers are down, and money has been spent.. but if the auction was on Saturday night, say before the movie or trivia, with the Raffle after the Sunday Show & Shine like it has been that might be a way to get more bodies into the auction, more bids on items, and more money for the club.

That was discussed briefly this year, having things at different times. One other suggestion is doing a 'silent' auction with some of the auction items that opens with registration.

All good stuff, keep the suggestions coming, the sooner this stuff is brought up the more time there is to 'plan' for it.

 

[Torque_Delight]

One other suggestion is doing a 'silent' auction with some of the auction items that opens with registration.

I like the way it goes now... It was so much fun to see Hamsterdiesel and Diezelhamster fighting for some little hamsters !!!
I also think about the XXXXL shirt that the girlz made a show with and tomo finally bought

Doing a silent auction would reduce the amount of priceless memories like that !

 

[airwolf]

I like the way it goes now... It was so much fun to see Hamsterdiesel and Diezelhamster fighting for some little hamsters !!!
I also think about the XXXXL shirt that tomo bought

Doing a silent auction would reduce the amount of priceless memories like that !

Oh there would still be the traditional auction, there would just be a silent auction with SOME of the items for people that cannot attend the banquet or have to leave early.

 

[owr084]

I think it is time we had a swap meet... these cars have been around long enough and lots of us have accumulated TONS of used parts, for whatever reasons, and a swap meet would be an excellent way to sell and buy such wares. I literally have a basement FULL of Volkswagen parts. Since I do not mess much with the air-cooled crowd any more, I don't get to swap meets as much as I'd like to.

This fest was very good though, I had a great time.

I hear you have a bunch of used Passat balance module assemblies. You know those things are worth at least $200 a piece in good condition

 

[Lex4TDI4Life]

VW hired a marketing firm to send those folks out to the fest. They were very amiable and the one fellow I spoke to was convinced by us to go out and get a TDI

They were not particularly knowledgeable about TDIs, but they were a welcome addition. The mere fact that we got the Cup cars and the golf out there was a big thing.

You're right about VOA. I got the impression they send those clueless kids out so they don't reveal any "secrets". Even though most of us there could find or even describe the upcoming model details, they seemed afraid to say anything.

It seemed like they thought they would be held accountable for any piece of trivia they said. I asked one when the Golf would be available and she looked scared to even answer her nonanswer.

So yeah, they weren't very helpful but I did like the chance to see the Golf weeks/months before it is in the dealership.

 

[oilhammer]

I understand the VOA 'no engineer' clause, and that is fine. However, having people that perhaps KNOW the product from a simple sales standpoint. You ask those people a simple question like "how much horsepower does the T'reg make" and you get a blank stare. They may as well not even sent ANYONE and just had a spec sheet printed up.

In other words, Volkswagen, be it a local dealer or the VOA organization itself, could have embraced this event to push the product and get the word out... and they totally tooefed that opportunity. Which is sad, considering the most die-hard TDI fans were there (I was! ).

They could have also had a "suggestion box" that they could have set up and get some real-world feedback from real-world TDI owners and drivers about what they like and dislike, and what they would like to see in future offerings. Not the lame Moonraker fiasco that was useless.

If I was running a local dealer, or heaven forbid VOA, I would have had half the lot FULL of stuff and had all sorts of things for people to see and do... like an auto show booth.

 

[Lex4TDI4Life]

... like an auto show booth.

And we could have had one of our own draped over the Cup car in a bikini

 

[oilhammer]

And we could have had one of our own draped over the Cup car in a bikini

I think tomo would volunteer for that. Not sure how many cars you'd be selling though.

 

[Lug_Nut]

Tomo draped over the Cup car in a bikini? Sure! Why not?
But Tomo in a bikini? and then draped over the Cup car?

 

[oilhammer]

But enough of my senseless ranting about VOA's shortcomings, I second the idea of a tint person. The Dent Wizard guy was a big hit.

 

[Lex4TDI4Life]

The real question is: Who has started to put proposals together for next year?

 

[oilhammer]

The real question is: Who has started to put proposals together for next year?

There was some talk about Kansas City, not sure if anything became of that yet.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Tint Guy:
I tried to get a tint person to the 2008 Fest. No tint guy is going to tint a car outside in the wind and dust and then have dissatisfied customers complaining about bubbles in their tint and wanting it redone for free.

VWoA:
Volkswagen is stepping up their participation every year... first, we got an engineer and a commonrail TDI in Montreal... last year, we got 3 2009s as test drivers... this year, we got several cars to look at, climb around in, and play with, including a race car (the second was supplied by hyperfuels), a race car driver, and two cars that are one-of-a-kind in the USA right now. If you keep supporting the VWoA/TDIClub relationship, it will grow. If you complain about it and essentially say "they never do enough for us," they will get put off and reduce their participation. VWoA also donated 200 bandanas and 200 goodie bags this year, as well as some items for the auction and raffle.

Local Dealers:
The local dealers are key... this was our first year really trying to reach out to them for participation. We were a bit hesitant this year, because we didn't know what VWoA's reaction was going to be until about two weeks before fest (leaving us with very little time to contact local dealers). By the time we did contact them, some of them had already made other commitments. Remember that TDIFest wasn't the only thing going on around here on Labor Day Weekend. In the future, knowing what we know now, we can contact the local dealers well in advance to ensure some sort of participation.

Silent Auction:
I'm all about doing a silent auction in addition to the regular auction. We had so many donations this year that the raffle took a long time, and the auction did, too... if we could have taken a few of those items and put them into a silent auction, everything could have run a bit smoother, and there would have been one more activity for people to participate in.

Next Year?
Contrary to what the past would dictate, I'm ready to go again. Stay tuned...

Also, thanks for all of the suggestions and ideas. I like getting feedback on what worked, what didn't, and what can be improved on.

 

[oilhammer]

Yeah, good point about the window tint thing..

... this year, we got several cars to look at, climb around in, and play with, rub your weiner on.....

 

[Jetter_Sprinta]

I have always thought I would like to see a photo gallery. There are many events across the land where many people take pictures. My excuse is it's a bit of a pain to post them all on the site, so I'd like to see an easy way to load them up and let them roll throughout the Fest.

I even think a "juried" photo show of some of the choicest photos on display--like real art--in the registration room area.

 

[SnowWife]

That was discussed briefly this year, having things at different times. One other suggestion is doing a 'silent' auction with some of the auction items that opens with registration.

All good stuff, keep the suggestions coming, the sooner this stuff is brought up the more time there is to 'plan' for it.

So of you know already, but I like the idea of both a silent auction ending on Saturday night or Sunday morning as well as the Sunday night auction. I think it would be great for people who have to leave early to be able to bud on stuff. We can offer to ship items (depending on size for a fee). Plus if the winner can't be reached we can work our way down the list.

 

[canast]

Thoughts and suggestions

I have only been to 3 fests so far.
This idea of putting ideas up ahead is a great one.

If a fest was ever in the area with one nearby, having a Movie night at an actual Drive in theatre.
Has anyone seen these blowup outdoor movie screens are they any good?

Have a meet at a Drive-in restraunt for lunch, dinner or late evening snack.(Lake Mills had something like that for the meet and greet.)

Has anyone ever done a scavenger hunt, but maybe instead of collecting items, you get pictures of situations or items. We ran into a group of gals who were doing one in DC on bicycles.

Couple of ideas from family reunions I have been to are Bean bag toss(aka Cornhole) or a Wii Tournament.

Keep the ideas coming.

 

[tomo366]

ROTFLMFAO..............No prob draping over a CUP Car in a thong!!

 

[SUNRG]

from the show & shine thread: here's an idea to amplify the fun and participation of the show & shine.

give all show&shine participants a 2010 TDI Fest Commemorative PINT GLASS

that'd get the participant numbers up and get more people in on the fun!

charge $5 to enter the Show & Shine (more than break even on the cost of the pint glasses) and charge $15 for the pint glasses to anyone else that wants one - as a fundraiser for TDIclub.

also, you could give a 2010 TDI Fest Commemorative Pint Glass to everyone that registers for the banquet. build the cost of the pint glass (~$4) into the price and more people would come to it too. show&shine + banquet participants would get 2! ... sweet

 

[VeeDubTDI]

A Wii tournament would be pretty cool... we set up a LAN in my room at the 2008 Fest and had a bunch of people playing TrackMania.

 

[oilhammer]

What about a 'highest mileage' award, based on how many numbers your odometer is showing? Some of these cars are getting some pretty impressive numbers. Also maybe the 'oldest' car?

 

[thebigarniedog]

What about a 'highest mileage' award, based on how many numbers your odometer is showing? Some of these cars are getting some pretty impressive numbers. Also maybe the 'oldest' car?

Wouldn't you have to excuse the Floridians then? My bad, theirs are all turned back .

 

[VeeDubTDI]

I like the high mileage award. I think I would have won that this year... I didn't see anyone else with over 420,000 miles.

 

[Stealth TDI]

I can't go with "how many numbers are showing" on the odometer. Mine reset to zero at 300,000 miles. I'm >< close to finally getting the "1" in the 10,000 column filled (I have 309,770 miles). But a high mileage contest is cool. I doubt I'd ever win it, though. There are a lot of TDIs driven more than mine!