X CARS

[Sawfish]

Mark I think thats a cool Idea

[Carl Scragg]

Mark, We have printed business cards for just that purpose. Angela Avitt has the supply and if we run low, we'll order more. I encourage everyone to lend a hand and help us grow the membership. Thanks, Carl

[Dan Chambers]

Any car over the 130 will be wait listed thru motorsport reg.
Soo register early to avoid any problems

Hmm. Interesting.

What about someone who wake's up the morning of the event and decides to AX last-minute? In other words, what about the "walk-ons"?

I wonder how a member in good standing for 10.5 years, who has volunteered in numerous positions, sat on the Board, and received the EOTY will respond when he goes down last minute to an ax and gets turned away while numerous non-members in non-Porsches are driving the event... and he can't.

I wonder how welcomed he'll feel at that event. I wonder how he's gonna feel about paying annual dues for a club that focuses on Porsche ... and see non-Porsches and non-members being placed ahead of him... a paying member with a National PCA card and number.

If I were him, I think I'd be pretty P****d off.

Just an opinion. That's what this forum is about, eh?

[gulf911]

Ok , I'll bite....

Someone with that experience and tenure knows very well they can register ahead of time and will not be charged if they dont attend. So no excuse to walk on from you...

but, and any board member can chime in here , if you or any other in good standing PCA SDR member were the 131st car to show up as a walk on , other than Joel , who would turn you away?? Sorry Joel j/k, had to throw you under the bus...

[Dan Chambers]

Ok , I'll bite....

Someone with that experience and tenure knows very well they can register ahead of time and will not be charged if they dont attend. So no excuse to walk on from you...

While that may be true, times have changed for me, and having the luxury of pre-registering is gone. If I happen to be fortunate enough to find myself with a free day on the day that an AX is happening, I will run down .. last minute ... to the Q and drive the event( ... IN MY PORSCHE ... thank you very much). I won't know if my schedule allows for an AX until the day of ... and I'll have to pay the $$ for being late. That's the new reality for yours truly. And yes, it sucks.

... but, and any board member can chime in here , if you or any other in good standing PCA SDR member were the 131st car to show up as a walk on , other than Joel , who would turn you away?? Sorry Joel j/k, had to throw you under the bus...

Good question. Who would, indeed, enforce policy? If you're setting a limit, what's the sense of limit policy of it's not enforced? Laws are only as effective as the ability to enforce them. If you're going to set policy with the intent on breaking them, why set them? So, based on Gerry's post, I'd be sent home. That's policy, strictly enforced. The way policy should be. Right?

I'm still wondering why we insist on competing with other clubs and other venues for the same drivers by putting on soooo many events, and scrambling to fill quota? Saturated markets call for innovation, price reduction, better product and service, and creativity in delivering a better product and service.

We currently have more events than drivers to fill them between SDR, GPX, OCR, GGR, CCCR, and Zone 8 TT's. Force-feeding the customer only chokes the customer. Raising prices in a depressed and saturated market doesn't fix the problem of lower sales, it exaserbates the problem. Lower the number of events per year, lower the price, and and be creative in delivering a quality product through great tracks, on-time scheduling, a welcome and sympathetic teams of Chairs running the event, and a fun post-event Trailer-loading/Awards ceremony. You'll have enough Porsches that X-cars become a mute point.That's my opinion.

Finally, seed the A-X's with the most productive method of new drivers the SDR has ever known: The Performance Driving School. Encourage AX participation through teaching the basics at the PDS, and grow the seeds of enthusiasm for AX's through a system of increasing skills in the driver's experience, starting with PDS, and graduating up through Time Trialing. It's a proven method, IMHO ... and according to history. That's my opinion.

As for being a "walk-on" I guess I'll take my chances. There's always surfing.

[Carl Scragg]

Dan, The Board made a conscious decision to allow the AX chairs to manage the events using their most current information and their collective knowledge. For example, they might want to limit it to 120 cars in January and yet permit 140 cars in June when the days are longer. Our chairs have shown that they are reasonable and responsible and we chose not to micro-manage their decisions, just to provide them with a guideline. As Mark said, the AX chairs will monitor the preregistration process and when the numbers start getting too high, priority will be given first to members driving Porsches, then members driving x-cars, and lastly to non-members. They don't want to send anyone home on the morning of the event, so one option is to cut-off pre-registration at some point while still allowing for an expected number of walk-ups. I think the possibility of the scenario you describe is quite remote -- no one wants a p***ed-off Dano.

[ttweed]

While that may be true, times have changed for me, and having the luxury of pre-registering is gone. If I happen to be fortunate enough to find myself with a free day on the day that an AX is happening, I will run down .. last minute ... to the Q and drive the event( ... IN MY PORSCHE ... thank you very much). I won't know if my schedule allows for an AX until the day of ... and I'll have to pay the $$ for being late. That's the new reality for yours truly. And yes, it sucks.

I can see where a tight schedule might keep you from running, Dan, but there's no excuse for not pre-registering still, just in case, like DA said. It's not really a "luxury." It takes 3 minutes to do on the computer, and if you don't show up, you aren't charged for the event. There are usually at least 5-7 of these "no-shows" at every AX, it seems, and that should be enough to cover the "walk-on" entries. I don't foresee anyone getting turned away in the immediate future because of a 130 entry limit.

There's always surfing.

Can't argue with that!

TT

[jenniferreinhardt]

Good question. Who would, indeed, enforce policy? If you're setting a limit, what's the sense of limit policy of it's not enforced? Laws are only as effective as the ability to enforce them. If you're going to set policy with the intent on breaking them, why set them? So, based on Gerry's post, I'd be sent home. That's policy, strictly enforced. The way policy should be. Right?

I'm still wondering why we insist on competing with other clubs and other venues for the same drivers by putting on soooo many events, and scrambling to fill quota? Saturated markets call for innovation, price reduction, better product and service, and creativity in delivering a better product and service.

Agreed Dan, I believe we have 2 AXs less in 2011 and 2010 than in 2009. It was also putting a strain on our volunteers. It is unlikely we will have to have an overall attendance cap, I just would prefer one for non-member X-Cars - but we are still testing the waters. The Board didn't want to make any decisions that would be hard to change in the future. At the meeting, Greg proposed an idea to have a set limit of non-member X Cars based on attendance numbers, but no decisions were made. This is fair because everyone would know in advance of their chance to drive. The AX Chairs wouldn’t have to take any heat by denying entry to a non-member the day of the event - because it would be a policy.

I have spoken with several other members who feel that although we are open to some non-member X Cars, if there are too many, and it doesn’t feel like a club anymore – we will be frustrated. This could possibly affect other volunteer positions and club events that Drivers attend.

But we're working on figuring it all out.