Interesting reads from everyone. I've been accumulating my own ideas for a couple years so here goes.
Here's my .02.
1. Get it out of Phelps and into someplace else. Geneva, C-town, hell even Newark would be better for exposure. Aside from the SK festival there is nothing in Phelps to draw them in, no place to stay, no place to shop. I live in the village so it's not a big deal to me but if I lived more than 30 min away I'd probably skip and I know people who do. Not everyone is as dedicated as some of the people on this site are. You've got to sit down and try and figure out how much the S-Kraut festival really helps the show. How many people really walk from there to the CC to see the rally? Better yet how many people even know it's going on? Even better what does it do for the show? Are they buying from Vendors or visiting sponsor booths? If your deadset on keeping it in Phelps, there are a couple completely vacant businesses on 96 by Z-Axis aren't there? With big parking lots. Why not contact the owner and see if they are up to renting it for the show. As of right now all they are doing is paying property taxes. Of course you'd have to figure out how the insurance is going to work.
2. Promote the vendors and sponsors more heavily. Every half an hour take a vendor or sponsor, read a little blurb about them on the PA in between songs. The sponsors are paying a lot of money, you don't want them to feel like they spent it on nothing. Get them to include things in the grab bag. Press the issue to them and make firm deadlines. I know a lot of car dealerships are contacted but I know quite a few people from the '11 show that got a little upset with the people from Friendly Ford as they were berating residents when they sat in front of the cars that were parked at the entrance of the CC for the parade. That's the type of thing you don't want. Unless the dealership is going to pony up money (no idea if they do already) they shouldn't be treating residents like that. Find the speed shops. They are all fighting with one another for business and would probably love to get their names out there at a car show. Get the Internet vendors. JEGS, Summit, and mustang specific shop like Lethal Performance, American Muscle...most will give you free stuff for the show.
3. Promote the show on local radio stations and in local newspapers. Push them and most of the time they will give you some exposure for free, especially if it is a charitable event. Even better get the charities that get some money from the Rally involved to promote. They have a lot of pull in the community most of the time. Massive flyer campaigns work. Hand out flyers at other car shows like Cruise in Night in G-town, the log cabin show, Newarkfest, Canaltown days...etc. Making foot patrols at other car shows gets the information into the hands of the people that you want it to....car people. Most car shows are dominated by car people and not the casual onlooker. Contact local sports teams like the Red Wings, Rhinos, Razorsharks, Amerks etc. See if they would be willing to loan some players for meet and greets. Relying on the Internet to promote things can be dangerous. I have experience trying to promote a business with Internet marketing. The ROI is so insignificant it almost isn't worth it. Luckily this site is really one of the few local club sites that seems to have a very active member base. Find some local racing teams that would be willing to showcase their cars at a center stage type of area. Dirt track, circle track, drag racers. Stoking people's egos is a powerful tool.
4. There are quite a few people that get agitated by the judging for the show. Of course that's going to happen, everyone thinks their car is the winner, but I feel like the classes need to be adjusted. I know some people are going to take this personally but I can't get excited about a bone stock or nearly bone stock Fox, New Edge, S197, Coyote, Roush or Saleen. I can look at Roush's all day in Geneva and even test drive one. I'm not saying they aren't an awesome car, they are, but to see a mostly stock car win at a car show has a lot of people scratching their heads. Break the classes up so that the specialty cars like Roush and Saleen have their own class. Have a stock class that doesn't allow any modifications outside of a certain criteria. Then have a class that has all the modified vehicles, turbo, blower, motor swap, etc. And you can break them up by year. This might be something that can't happen until the number of cars increase, but it's something to keep in mind. If people feel like they have 0 chance of winning a trophy, then they won't come. And let's be honest, a lot of people show up because they want to add to their trophy collection or be rewarded for their hard work. When a guy who wrenched on his car for years, busted every knuckle on his hand changing out those headers, rear end or exhaust, has more oil stained shirts than clean ones and learned how to build his own engine loses to the dude who bought his car the day of the show at the local Ford dealership, you've got an issue.
5. This one is a little more serious. Has anyone thought about what happens if, during the show or the parade, someone is injured or killed? Or if someones car is damaged or vandalized? Is there any insurance that is carried on this show? Does the CC or the village carry some kind of a waiver? If not I can tell you right now that every committee member and every person that is even remotely associated with the rally is going to find themselves served with a lawsuit that is going to cost tens of thousands of dollars to defend and possibly a judgement in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range. I'm not a lawyer, but I think one needs to be consulted about this. I'm guessing that incorporating the rally, either an LLC, or even a non-profit organization would be sufficient to protect everyone involved. Definitely something to find out about. a 501.c3 non profit may even open doors for the rally that no one ever thought was possible.
I know this was lengthy but I'm just bringing to light some suggestions/concerns that others have had but didn't want to get involved. I've felt all along that this show has potential but if people don't get involved with throwing out ideas, and the ideas being considered I think that the show is never going to break the 200 car mark.
A side note, how about some kind of track night for those of us who rip the 1/4 mile? NYIRP has test and tunes on Friday nights and if scheduling was right it would even be a MOMs night.
