Next Year

I am glad that the convention was successful.

I can tell you that the thought of driving across the US to a convention in the middle of the summer is not something those of us on the West Coast want to do.

I think that the issue of loosing people to a September event vs. gaining people to a September event is an open question.

I suggest that a proper survey be sent out to the membership, a page in an upcoming issue of the club magazine, which specifically ask the membership questions like what months of the year would they be more inclined to attend a convention.

On the issue of joint conventions, in Reno the place was large enough that another marque had a very large convention and it did not seem to impact out convention at all. In fact several of us liked seeing the other cars --- a couple of hundred of them. The issue of joint conventions is the size of the city they are hosted in, not the joint convention in and of itself.

Since I have in my professional bag of tricks managed a large scale survey research project...If the Board wants to do a survey, I would be glad to work up the survey itself and do the number crunching.

Best, James

PS. There is a lot to doing a survey and not introduce question bias. Often you get what you want if not very careful on how you structure and ask the questions.

One of the trends that I've noticed regarding car shows is that fewer people are bringing their cars (for whatever reason). For me, one of the 'draws' to this show was the joint convention, as the 'synergy' created when two clubs have a joint meet is enough for people to pull their vintage vehicles out of the garage and bring them to the convention. I was looking forward to a good turnout and I was not disappointed.

All convention organizers face unexpected 'challenges' that they need to overcome. It comes with the territory.

Ron

On a side note, I have to disagree with a comment made by Les. He said, "We had more DeSotos at this show than other Mopars combined." Counting up my photos, I have 54 De Sotos that were at this show - that includes the two on the WPC side of the field, two that were in the parking lot and not in the show, and the '42 that was up on the trailer (that won Diamond in the Rough). I also counted 67 non-De Sotos Mopars that were in the WPC portion of this show. So there were more non-De Sotos present than De Sotos - unfortunately.

I stand corrected. I was confusing the car count with something Alan said about the number of people attending. At my age being confused on occasion is normal and I am blaming it on a senior moment.

I think the main reason for people not coming to a
Convention is the cost of fuel I spent $750.00 dollars
in fuel to bring my 29 to the meet.If I would have driven
my Mini Van it would have been $200.00

James,

What happened at Reno was NOT a joint convention. What happened at Reno was two separate clubs having two separate conventions in the same town. We had different host hotels, different events, different show fields, and even different show days. Our joint convention last week in St. Paul with the WPC Club had two clubs at the same place, same hotel, same banquet facilities, same tours, same show field and same show day - that's a joint convention. At the same time that we were in St. Paul, the Car Craft Summer Nationals was going on over at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. That was a much larger show and, as far as I know, had no impact on our convention.

As for taking a survey to see when the NDC members want to have a convention, the Trustees discussed this. We are planning on doing a survey but, since the vast majority of our members NEVER attend an NDC Convention, we are planning on doing this survey only with those members who have attended one of our conventions in the recent past.

Bill

I think the main reason for people not coming to a
Convention is the cost of fuel I spent $750.00 dollars
in fuel to bring my 29 to the meet.If I would have driven
my Mini Van it would have been $200.00

Good point, Rick. Add to that the likelihood that many (most?) of our NDC members are retired and on fixed incomes, and the cost of fuel becomes even more of an issue. Even we spent over $300.00 on gas and we drove a "modern" car (it was well worth it, I hasten to add ).

BTW, while I'm on the subject, I'd like to thank everyone who did take the time, and who went to the trouble and expense of bringing their old car to Minnesota so that they could share their vehicle with all who attended. Everyone who attended the show was lucky indeed to be given the chance to see these wonderful cars, which were so lovingly presented by their owners for all to enjoy.

A few of us who attended the convention were discussing the choices of how an old car owner might get their vehicle to a show these days. I'm sure we all have thoughts on this matter. IMHO, I'm grateful to anyone who generously brings their treasured, old car out to a show/meet/convention these days, no matter how they get it there. Drive it, trailer it, tow it, or drop it from a helicopter for all I care; I'm just happy that the owner and their car made it to the event so that we could all have the opportunity to see what is quickly becoming a rare sight these days, a collection of fine, old automobiles.

I really enjoy driving my DeSoto, and I haven't trailered it (yet), but I can fully understand why the owner of an old car would rather trailer or tow their car to an event considering:
- the increasing cost of gas for a vehicle that was never designed to be fuel-efficient
- the wear and tear on ever-aging mechanical components which are becoming even more difficult to replace as time goes by
- the rising costs of car restoration, maintenance and insurance
- the apparent lack of driving skills exhibited by many drivers of the modern cars sharing the roads these days
- the risk of breaking down on the way to an event and not being able to find parts, let alone a modern mechanic who actually knows how to fix an old car
- and the inevitable effects of aging on the average old car owner.
On any given day, I'd rather not see an old car owner damage their car, or themselves for that matter, in an attempt to drive a car to an event instead of having it trailered or towed.

It's really very impressive to see an old car being driven to any event these days, but dare I say, that to me it's a tad old fashioned to deride or penalise those who choose, or who must choose, another method of getting their beloved and much treasured old car to an event for the rest of us to enjoy, which is something for which we should be evermore grateful as the years go by.

We spent about $325 in fuel driving the '52 from MI. About 1400 miles total. It gets about 17 mpg average so the difference in the cost of fuel compared to our modern driver that gets about 23 mpg. isn't a big deal.
Our concern is breaking down and not being able to get parts or finding someone who knows how to work on it. We carry spare parts and I can do some repairs myself. So far we haven't had a major problem on the several trips we have made in the car. In fact, I have been able to fix any minor problems we have had and have not been stranded or had to find someone to work on it. I feel much more comfortable if we have someone traveling with us in case we do have a problem.
Another concern is that we have been spoiled and now think air conditioning in summer is a must. We got stuck in rush hour traffic in St. Paul on the day temps were in the mid 90's and it was miserable. Last year we changed our plans to drive the Desoto to Chattanooga because temps were in the high 90's just before we left and predictions were for hot weather on the trip. If the trip is a reasonable distance and the weather predictions are that it is not going to be to hot we will continue to drive the '52 to conventions.

Cost is a big factor. I really wanted to go this year. I grew up 5 miles from Lake Elmo and have friends and family near there. My Spring sales were really poor this year and I'm on a shoestring budget yet again. So other things took priority.

If you don't consider the opinions of those who have yet to attend the convention, they probably never will. In fact, they might find a better car club to spend their money on.

Have a nice day
Steve

?????????????????

Hola All

Last year Ralph & Alina ( September/ October 2012 ) drove a 1950 Suburban
from Denver to Colo Spgs to La Juanta and then into Kansas and kept on going
and going until they made it back to Maine. They did this with a De Soto that
had not been with Licenses Plates since The TV Show Dallas was being
aired - not one that is cared for such as some of ours.

http://desoto.org/phpbbforum/viewto ... f=1&t=4346

Sure they had some maintenance problems - but it was with a vehicle that had
not been on "a road trip" in decades.

Do a population number count of The Minn Region and of The Fort Wayne Region
and there should be "loads of car's there with signs of Being Driven There".

Rodger & Gabby
COS

James,

What happened at Reno was NOT a joint convention. What happened at Reno was two separate clubs having two separate conventions in the same town. We had different host hotels, different events, different show fields, and even different show days. Our joint convention last week in St. Paul with the WPC Club had two clubs at the same place, same hotel, same banquet facilities, same tours, same show field and same show day - that's a joint convention. At the same time that we were in St. Paul, the Car Craft Summer Nationals was going on over at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. That was a much larger show and, as far as I know, had no impact on our convention.

As for taking a survey to see when the NDC members want to have a convention, the Trustees discussed this. We are planning on doing a survey but, since the vast majority of our members NEVER attend an NDC Convention, we are planning on doing this survey only with those members who have attended one of our conventions in the recent past.

Bill

Bill,

I am aware that Reno was not a joint convention. I was there. It was however a happy coincidence. In my post I did not say it was a joint convention. I just talked about the concept joint conventions and the issue of city size.

On the subject of just surveying people who have attended a convention, that is just silly. We should want to find out what people are interested in and have to say about conventions that have not attended a convention just as much and in many ways more so than attendees. Marketing 101.

James

Sorry about my misunderstanding your statement about Reno being a joint convention. Since you started with, "On the issue of joint conventions, in Reno...." I thought that you were saying that we had had a joint convention in Reno.

As for the survey, we did do a survey of all NDC members regarding our conventions back in 2011, and we got only 20 responses. To determine which month we hold our conventions, I'd prefer to hear from members who are actually going to be there. Those members who are not going to attend are certainly entitled to their opinions (and I'll fight for their right to express them). But if they know that they're never going to attend any of our conventions, then I don't really care when they think we should be having our conventions. (Note - the opinion above is mine only and does not reflect the opinion of the other NDC Trustees nor the club.)

Bill

Hola All

So, what part of Fort Wayne are all going to be headed for ?

The North Part ???

The West Part ???

The South Part ???

The East Part ???

Or ~ ???

Rodger & Gabby
COS