TDI fest 2019-2020

[Rrusse11]

I'll be there.

 

[srt-kapp]

hey guys i would be interested in a tdi fest coming to the greater Cincinnati area. I went to Ypsilanti in 2012 and had a great time. I still have my 2003 Jetta with the ALH 297k miles and counting

 

[T.W.]

That sounds like a GREAT idea; made the last in 2016 - would like to see the group again!

 

[rhinorear]

Maybe just a little further west?


Your consideration in this matter is greatly appreciated

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

If you read back a few posts there are plans in the works for a Fest in Ypsilanti MI around the time of the Detroit Auto Show in early June, 2020. Not far from Cinci.

 

[alext91]

New England area TDI Fest anyone?!

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Come to Ho5G (House of 5 Garages) in E. Hempstead NH on New Year's Day. If there isn't a thread up about it yet there will be soon.

 

[alext91]

Come to Ho5G (House of 5 Garages) in E. Hempstead NH on New Year's Day. If there isn't a thread up about it yet there will be soon.

Awesome! I was not aware of this but I will keep my eyes peeled! East Hampstead is quite close to me!

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[GTDI4]

I guess there isn't going to be anymore TDIFests anytime soon

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

I'm going to see a few people at the West MI GTG this weekend. I'll see if we can brainstorm a few ideas.

Considering the time and work it takes to organize a full on TDIFest, and that the same people who did all the work year after year got burned out, I was thinking on how to avoid that. What I have in mind is a scaled down TDIFest, a TDIFest-light so to speak. This would be more of an informal weekend GTG, with a national invite instead of local. Events would have to be scalable depending on attendance. This means that instead of vendors bringing lots of inventory and have booths, they might just offer fest weekend discount codes and only take online orders. No formal banquet. Car show? Sure, but it would be more of a 'cars & coffee' type event. No formal judging or trophies and expect to put some money in a donation jar.

Because TDIFest is a fundraiser, there would be active solicitations and the expectation that attendees would make donations in some amount. The details of that would have to be worked out. Maybe a simple admission fee would be work.

All input is welcome. I'll have a much better idea of how this 'TDIFest-light' might work after this weekend after I talk to some long time fest organizers.

As I mentioned above, folks are thinking about hosting this in Ypsilanti, MI, the first weekend of the 2020 Detroit Auto Show, which I believe would be June 13/14. So there's hope.

 

[Nutsnbolts]

I would make this trip!!!

 

[tomo366]

I guess there isn't going to be anymore TDIFests anytime soon

Last one was Labor Day 2016.......Diesel Gate was bad.....

 

[turbocharged798]

I am surprised Fred has enough money to keep the site going without the TDIfest fundraiser.

 

[zekthebassist]

With the TDI facebook groups would it be of benefit to use them as a platform to attract people to a TDIfest

 

[rhinorear]

Shocking but not all use face plant, and I would go

 

[ITSPREZ]

Finding members to make the trip is not the hard part, the hard part is finding members who can and will organize the event. There is a lot to planning a successful event that typically takes several months of planning and coordination.

 

[turbocharged798]

Finding members to make the trip is not the hard part, the hard part is finding members who can and will organize the event. There is a lot to planning a successful event that typically takes several months of planning and coordination.

Pretty much like holiday family get-togethers, seems everybody wants to show up to a party but nobody wants to actually do it.

 

[tomo366]

Not many folks noticed, but it was the same guys last 5-6 years and they pretty much burned out.......they are into EV’s now.....

 

[1854sailor]

There are those of us who actually donate to the site to help keep it going...

I am surprised Fred has enough money to keep the site going without the TDIfest fundraiser.

 

[Uno’15TDi]

I actually think the member numbers and activity here is on the rise as people buy the dieselgate cars. And we're seeing significant sales increases on parts for '09 and later TDIs. However, I also think the time for get togethers and TDIFests may have passed: I don't think there's the core of enthusiast owners that there was 10-15 years ago.

VW still has a lot of leftover diesels to sell. I drove by our local storage lot yesterday and it doesn't look significantly different than it did a year ago. I suspect that's true all over the country. VW will continue to feed TDIs to dealers, prices will get more favorable, and these cars will probably stick around as good economical transportation for a lot of people. But when they're gone, who knows.

I agree with indigo... I’m a DIY newbie on this forum. I just bought my first VW TDI(2015 Golf SEL).
I’ve previously owned three W123 Mercedes Turbo Diesels and a ‘76 W115 240D...
I’ve actively been watching sales on the Golf SEL TDI in particular.
In the last three weeks 24 have been sold around the US. I understand that it will take a year to update and auction the balance of the storage cars... it will be another ‘baby boom’ of TDI’s on the market

And while I’m on my soapbox, my Golf is amazing. It’s one of my favorite cars to date. The automatic DSG is a treat, the speed of the car and tightness of the suspension is lovely. What a fun car to drive!




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[Nash_TDI]

Much easier said than done.....NOTHING like being in a full Banquet room and bidding against a bunch of folks......I know I usually dropped 2-300 at the Auction! And there were guys that spent a lot more than me

I was just discussing some old auction items I had won and it brought me back here.

 

[BKmetz]

Here are my ideas how TDI fest can move forward.

First, why did TDIFest stop happening? Because the same core group of volunteers did all the work year, after year, after year. And they burned out. There are always enough interested potential attendees to support a TDIFest. Typically TDIFest needs an attendance of around 100 on the low end to make it successful.

For TDIClub to successfully bring back TDIFest, it needs new volunteers to plan it. #1 criteria for fest planners is integrity, you will stick with the commitments you make/made. Next, organizations and communication skills. You're going to be dealing with a lot of entities, hotels, venues, locations, and schedules. It never all works together without a LOT of effort. And last and just as important as everything else, TIME! Organizers have to commit to the needed time to pull it off, not the amount of time you think it will take. How much time does it take to plan a TDIFest? The closest thing I can think of is probably planning a huge expensive destination wedding when you have well over a hundred guests and their families you want to attend. If you have the skills to pull that off, are willing to put in that much time, and start around ~18 months in advance to get it all right, then I say go for it!

Biggest problem is getting a competent team in place. Remember, you're all volunteers and everyone's integrity is on the line. There should be a team leader. I cannot stress enough that the team leader is not a boss, no big egos or type A micromanagers. This is instant buzzkill for the team and guarantees failure. It's not about you, it's about TDIClub. The team is expected to hold each other responsible and not fall on one member. It's never someone else's problem, you are on the team so it's your problem. Members should willingly volunteer and accept assignments. If things have to be delegated to a team member, they might not be team material. Everyone should willingly be part of the process, that's why they volunteered in the first place. Once assignments are sorted out (venue, vendors, donations, venue insurance, etc), no one should have to be reminded of deadlines. This goes back to team integrity.

A good team should be at least 10, but 15 people is better. Why? Everyone starts off with a lot of enthusiasm and energy. As months go by enthusiasm starts to wane, the time needed starts to take it toll, and team members will drop off. Lets say the team has 12 months until fest day (that's doable but a very accelerated pace), The first 6 months are the easiest, lot of emails, maybe some conference calls, a budget has been set, the venue should have been locked down with the first month, deposits should be in place to hold the venue. At 6 months the pace picks up, a lot. Time to design t-shirts, pins, ask for donations assorted vendors, beg for swag for give-aways. A lot more time is spent checking on everything and making sure there are alternatives for everything in case something falls apart or someone bails on you.

At 3 months and counting down, things can get stressful. Here is where you find out what your team is really made of. Who can follow through and meet deadlines, who is behind or just not participating any more. At 3 months to go, you can expect 3 to 5 members to not really be in the loop anymore for various reasons, personal issues (work, family), too much time, or 'I had no idea it was this much work, I'm overwhelmed, and I'm walking away, sorry!'

This phase is also stressful because people always RSVP at the last minute, so your attendance numbers are a floating goal at this point. You need firm minimum numbers for room-nights and food costs. TDIFest is a fundraiser for the TDIClub. Breaking even is basically failure, and losing money... OUCH! More attendees is more money for the club, and gives that cushion on expenses. Here is where good negotiation skills should have paid off, you have your costs in the zone of what members are willing to pay.

Fest week! The team should all be there two days before the fest for set-up and plan to stay one day after for clean up. The team decides who is bringing what, what is to be shipped, and who is taking stuff back. There are usually attendees that will step up and help with lots of little mundane chores like helping with check-ins, set up of displays, etc. For fest team, TDIFest is a working weekend, no time off from your duties.

Post fest euphoria, the team pulled it off, everyone is releaved, and a good bender is in order.

continued...

 

[BKmetz]

So planning a fest takes how long? 18 months minimum. Fist six months is sorting out costs, contacting venues, putting together a budget. The big things should be locked down at 12 months, venue, member costs, etc. People need a year to request time off and plan vacations. In a perfect world, next years fest location would be announced at this years fest. I think that actually did happen a few times.

I want a fest in my area. This is the most common request. Congratulations! You're the fest planner and team leader! It's up to you to make it happen. Will I get help? A very guarded yes. There is no list of volunteers ready to go for you. You will be in contact with Fred on what his expectations are and you'll get general advice but the day-to-day operations are all on you.

Do fest organizers have to be locals? No. With the power of the internet anyone can plan a fest for anywhere. A dedicated group of volunteers, all from somewhere in the US, organized the 2009 Montreal Fest. It was a very successful fest. They simply put in the needed time to pull it off.

I'll add to this as I think of more things to add.

 

[BKmetz]

So how do we have a TDIFest, and not go through all this process? Here are my thoughts on this. TDIFest lite (for lack of a better term): It's just a bunch of people showing up somewhere and hang out. No formal banquet, breakfast, car show, vendors, swag, etc. We have had GTGs in this format for years. We've done it for several years in January at the Detroit Auto Show. There is no reason why it can't be scaled up a bit. We already have a good business relationship with a very good hotel in Ypsilanti, MI.https://www.marriott.com/hotels/tra...st/?scid=bb1a189a-fec3-4d19-a255-54ba596febe2

This year, 2020, is the first year Detroit Auto Show will be in June.
https://naias.com/

So we extend a club-wide invitation and see how many people show up. About the only thing that needs to be done is someone negotiates a room-night rate for attendees. As we would be in Ypsi at a slow time, this should work to our benefit. The only thing against us is we're down to just less than 6 months.

Our format in the past is the early birds show up Friday eve. We hang out in the lobby and have snacks and drinks. Then we go out for dinner. Ann Arbor/Ypsi has a lot of dining options. Saturday morning we meet somewhere for breakfast and then head into Detroit to attend the show.

Most of us have seen everything we wanted to see by mid-afternoon so we head out and meet for pizza somewhere. In the past we have done go-carts and pizza but that's always an option. Saturday eve were back at the hotel bar hanging out. Member parties in their rooms is a common thing. These can get quite silly and are great fun.

Sunday morning is breakfast where ever the groups decides (depends on the size of the group). And if we can get the hotel to section off part of its parking lot, we have an informal 'Cars & Coffee' type meet. totally informal, no judging, no trophies. Just us hanging out visiting, reminiscing, checking out each others cars, and just having fun. Bring your own chairs, food, drinks, and what ever you need to hang out.

For those who don't want to hang out, there is plenty to do in the area. Golfers will love the golf course at the hotel. Ford Lake is beautiful and one can go hiking around parts of it. Ypsi has a lot of quaint shops and firefighter museum.

Since this is a fundraiser for TDIClub, a donation is expected. To attend the car show, a fee would be collected. If someone wanted to take the time, and if any vendor wanted to donate some swag, a raffle could be organized. All proceeds go to TDIClub.

Vendors, if they want to participate, could simply have fest weekend discount codes for online sales. No need for renting tents, tables, and elaborate displays.

Tentative dates are, weekend of June 13th, first day the show is open to the public, or weekend of June 20, the last day of the show. So we have some flexibility.

All input is welcome.

 

[aja8888]

Hi Brian:

I like the idea you have and would support it by attending, even though I don't have a TDI anymore. I still occasionally converse with several members here and would look forward to seeing some of those folks at this kind of Fest. I used to live in Michigan and would like a return trip to go to the Detroit Auto Show. I might even find another TDI to buy again!

 

[BKmetz]

Hi Brian:

I like the idea you have and would support it by attending, even though I don't have a TDI anymore. I still occasionally converse with several members here and would look forward to seeing some of those folks at this kind of Fest. I used to live in Michigan and would like a return trip to go to the Detroit Auto Show. I might even find another TDI to buy again!

Owning a TDI, or even any car for that matter, has never been a requirement to hangout at TDIClub. Fred founded precursor to TDIClub in 1996. He didn't buy his first TDI until 2004 or so if I recall.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

So how do we have a TDIFest, and not go through all this process? Here are my thoughts on this. TDIFest lite (for lack of a better term): It's just a bunch of people showing up somewhere and hang out. No formal banquet, breakfast, car show, vendors, swag, etc. We have had GTGs in this format for years. We've done it for several years in January at the Detroit Auto Show. There is no reason why it can't be scaled up a bit. We already have a good business relationship with a very good hotel in Ypsilanti, MI.https://www.marriott.com/hotels/tra...st/?scid=bb1a189a-fec3-4d19-a255-54ba596febe2

This year, 2020, is the first year Detroit Auto Show will be in June.
https://naias.com/

So we extend a club-wide invitation and see how many people show up. About the only thing that needs to be done is someone negotiates a room-night rate for attendees. As we would be in Ypsi at a slow time, this should work to our benefit. The only thing against us is we're down to just less than 6 months.

Our format in the past is the early birds show up Friday eve. We hang out in the lobby and have snacks and drinks. Then we go out for dinner. Ann Arbor/Ypsi has a lot of dining options. Saturday morning we meet somewhere for breakfast and then head into Detroit to attend the show.

Most of us have seen everything we wanted to see by mid-afternoon so we head out and meet for pizza somewhere. In the past we have done go-carts and pizza but that's always an option. Saturday eve were back at the hotel bar hanging out. Member parties in their rooms is a common thing. These can get quite silly and are great fun.

Sunday morning is breakfast where ever the groups decides (depends on the size of the group). And if we can get the hotel to section off part of its parking lot, we have an informal 'Cars & Coffee' type meet. totally informal, no judging, no trophies. Just us hanging out visiting, reminiscing, checking out each others cars, and just having fun. Bring your own chairs, food, drinks, and what ever you need to hang out.

For those who don't want to hang out, there is plenty to do in the area. Golfers will love the golf course at the hotel. Ford Lake is beautiful and one can go hiking around parts of it. Ypsi has a lot of quaint shops and firefighter museum.

Since this is a fundraiser for TDIClub, a donation is expected. To attend the car show, a fee would be collected. If someone wanted to take the time, and if any vendor wanted to donate some swag, a raffle could be organized. All proceeds go to TDIClub.

Vendors, if they want to participate, could simply have fest weekend discount codes for online sales. No need for renting tents, tables, and elaborate displays.

Tentative dates are, weekend of June 13th, first day the show is open to the public, or weekend of June 20, the last day of the show. So we have some flexibility.

All input is welcome.

Hey Brian,

I like where you're going with this. I'm super busy with several road trips planned between now and June (Austin, TX later this month; Custer, South Dakota in May), but I'll try to set some time aside to attend this if it ends up moving forward.

I'm also happy to reach out to the hotel and negotiate a group room rate. In order to do that, I need a pretty good idea of how many people are interested in spending two nights at the hotel. To get a decent group rate, we need 10+ rooms booked for two or more nights.

Anyone interested in this, please post. A new thread might be a good idea.

 

[aja8888]

I'm in for 6/13 thru 6/20 (any days in there chosen) to tie this in with family visits in the Detroit/western Michigan area.

 

[Lug_Nut]

Not many folks noticed, but ......they are into EV’s now.....

Only because I can't run B100 in the current diesels and the older ones are rusting.

.... You need firm minimum numbers for room-nights and food costs.

Count me for One, wherever and whenever.

... I need a pretty good idea of how many people are interested in spending two nights at the hotel. To get a decent group rate, we need 10+ rooms booked for two or more nights.

One down, Nine to go...

 

[tomo366]

Only because I can't run B100 in the current diesels and the older ones are rusting.


Count me for One, wherever and whenever.



One down, Nine to go...

Bought this last week....2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Eco Diesel
Now my entire fleet is Diesel