My view of the fest

[bhtooefr]

MayorDJQ: But, people who worked on past fests, and people from outside the area also help with the organizing.

Anyway, another suggestion gathered from the TrackMania LAN party - check to see if all the guest buildings have WiFi.

The room I was in had a WAP literally on the wall outside of the room, but not all the rooms were that lucky - I know at least building J had to have a yagi antenna bolted to a chair and pointed at the main building, with a switch hooked up to a router, to have internet access in the room.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

If you guys want Fest on the west coast, PLAN IT.

I want the 2009 Fest to be in DC. Therefore, I am planning it, and several of the local members are helping.

 

[paramedick]

check to see if all the guest buildings have WiFi.

Toof, the wireless internet issue was clearly stated up front with the hotel registration thread. All our folks were to be put in the main section (with WiFi) if they registered before the deadline. Late reservations took whatever rooms were left.

For those folks that had "issues" with the hotel, please contact me by PM. I have some info for you.

Bruce

 

[VeeDubTDI]

The WiFi issue wasn't a big deal for us. We came prepared with a huge antenna, a switch, and a bunch of network cables. LAN Party in the hotel room!!

 

[Hamsterdiesel]

[/color]

Maybe I don't quite understand how the Fests work...does the same group of people organize and run each year's Fest? I thought that people from the CinciTDI hosted, organized, planned this year's. People from Montreal organized last year's, etc.

Nope! That would be ideal, though, to be from the area if you are planning an event. Many of Montreal's folks were actually New Englanders, CinciTDI had help from Paramedik (Kentucky) and both groups benefited from Fred, myself and PeterV helping out.

 

[bhtooefr]

Toof, the wireless internet issue was clearly stated up front with the hotel registration thread. All our folks were to be put in the main section (with WiFi) if they registered before the deadline. Late reservations took whatever rooms were left.

For those folks that had "issues" with the hotel, please contact me by PM. I have some info for you.

Bruce

OK, I hadn't read that thread, as I was just staying with Growler, and I was in the main section anyway. Fair enough.

 

[RichC]

Ah ... finally a moment to check in on the forum and read a few constructive comments. First, I was surprise at just how much work it takes to plan an acceptable TDIFest ... and how many things can get overlooked, don't go as planned (ie. accommodations, wifi connections) and THANKFULLY how many thing went right. (the lack of cross-training of volunteers, no computer hiccups and the amount of experience shared onsite by past fest volunteers AND Fred)

In hindsight, we did a poor job of consolidating TDIFest OH8 information prior to people arriving at the fest. Yes we noticed this early on, yet somehow were not able to solidify details soon enough to gather it all together in one place. I particularly feel bad that there was a misunderstanding about the Road Rally, and that some may have thought that the 45-50 minute winding drive was a 5 hour drive. It was my fault that more people didn't know about the free barbecue and air show at Red Stewart Airfield after the drive; again ... not communicated well, thinking that it would be a well received surprise if we didn't disclose the details. Note to others -- don't plan any surprises.

Nevertheless, as my first TDIFest, I enjoyed meeting the people behind the many TDIClub screennames that I've seen for years; it was great to put a face to a name. The entire planning 'adventure' has me really looking forward to attending the next TDIFest -- now how to get out of my EAA Fly-In weekend obligations.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Rich, the air show was an awesome surprise. I'm always one for road rallies, and the air show and barbeque at the end were just fantastic. The food line was already 3 hours long unless you high-tailed it to the tent right when they announced it, so another 50 people probably would have been a bad thing.

 

[petea4]

I was surprised to see the last few road rally guys pulling out of the lot as i was arriving just after 2pm. I did a double take to the schedule i had on me, and yes, it was to be 3-3:30pm. It was only 12hrs old. Missed out on that. Thought i would make it in time, having left right after working the graveyard shift at 6:30am.

May i suggest for future fests, that organizers give full disclosure for the events. I'm sure most of the people hanging around the lot would have gone on the rally had they known what was up.

Pete

 

[jasonTDI]

Yep, I would have liked the air show for sure.

 

[paramedick]

I was surprised to see the last few road rally guys pulling out of the lot as i was arriving just after 2pm. I did a double take to the schedule i had on me, and yes, it was to be 3-3:30pm. Pete

That's odd. I helped set up the starting area. We didn't send the first car off until 2:30 PM local time. Cars were spaced 3 minutes apart.

We did start them 30 minutes early to ensure arrival of the last car prior to 5:00PM. The airshow scheduled for 5 PM couldn't start if there were moving cars on the airfield.

 

[RichC]

According to my daughter's tally sheet, the last car arrived at the airfield at 18:45:53. Corn and barbecue was served at 4 PM and airshow was to start at 5 PM. (it was a few minutes late as the food line was long)

Here's a thread with the finish times for those interested in who won the 'timed drive' Road Rally. All who drove it seemed to enjoy it ... oh, and thanks Fred (TeDeEye1) for posting the in car video from the Road Rally, great stuff!

 

[VeeDubTDI]

I was the first car, and I definitely did not leave the starting gate at 2:30... we started leaving at 3PM. Moot point though.

I thought the road rally attendance was pretty good. There was a nice long line of TDIs along the air field.

 

[RichC]

I thought the road rally attendance was pretty good. There was a nice long line of TDIs along the air field.

Yup ...

 

[blubry2]

We had a good time at the FEST. The hotel was ok, not good. I thought there was a funny smell in the hallway of building G. No internet in building G, but I used my phone for the service to get on the net. The A/C in our room was like a freezer which was excellent!!!! I did some exploring on Saturday around town. My cousin lives in Loveland, OH so we visited her Saturday. I heard there was a fireworks show on Sunday somewhere, but we did not go to it. I got to see Carmen Electra at Kings Island which was right across the street. All I can say is NICE!!!

 

[rotarykid]

Who's 90-92 Green , Teal Jetta is that ??? I have a 91 Jetta D that is a copy of that one .

 

[rocketeer928]

I got a chance to read through all of these postings. It seems to me that TDI Fest '08 was a lot of fun. I would have really liked the road rally and airshow.

Unfortunately, I couldn't attend. My wife and I already had a big trip planned for later in Sept, so I couldn't justify two big trips in one month. If TDI Fest is in DC next year then I will persuade my wife for us to be there. It would be nice to meet the faces behind the postings, and learn some more stuff-ola about my TDI.

Until then...

 

[Growler]

Who's 90-92 Green , Teal Jetta is that ??? I have a 91 Jetta D that is a copy of that one .

That would be Compu_85s EcoDiesel

he sold it to VeeDubTDI at the fest.

he got it off the forums for a great price about 2 years ago. it was a mess then, its MUCH MUCH better now.

 

[Lug_Nut]

I can't rank this year's fest as one of my favorites, but i now recognize that that is due to my own damn fault.
I conciously spent the weekend preparing for the Sunday show. As a result I passed on participating in the trivia, the rally, the air show, most of the other activities. That choice I made to concentrate only on the show was a mistake.
Perhaps next year, when the novelty of a new-to-me car has faded, I'll be more sociable and enjoy the 'fest more than I did.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Who's 90-92 Green , Teal Jetta is that ??? I have a 91 Jetta D that is a copy of that one .