Gaydon 05--Comments Invited |
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sharon....
Really Senior Member I Joined: 03-May-2005 Location: walsall Status: Offline Points: 396 |
Topic: Gaydon 05--Comments Invited Posted: 12-September-2005 at 16:23 |
i think walsall is a good place to have it
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look....cut the cr4p and show us ya willy
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Nigel
Moderator Group Joined: 09-November-2002 Status: Offline Points: 6941 |
Posted: 12-September-2005 at 06:36 |
Its hard to imagine huddersfield as being the center of anyones universe , but thanks for the response, the weather comments were something I hadn't considered.
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Best Wishes
Nigel |
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Howard
Moderator Group Did I say thaaaat? Joined: 14-October-2002 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 735 |
Posted: 11-September-2005 at 17:36 |
[QUOTE=Nigel]
IF the committee are looking at any other venues, may I suggest something a little better placed for everyone in general, perhaps in the North West/East ? One thing that has to be available at any venue is somewhere to go if it rains. Over the years we have been very lucky in this respect, but it would only take one good downpour to ruin the event if there were no 'insides' Whilst it seems logical to hold the event in the Centre of the country as a whole (Huddersfield in my case) we have also to look at the geographical number split. If you look at Gaydon I would say that around 60% of the membership live to the South of, or around it. I was not at the event this year for the first time for a while. Even the few who grumble without giving a constructive criticism seem to agree that despite their comments, it was a Great Day. Now I know that many members think that because they have to pay to get in, they don't have to do anything. I agree. But it would be nice if instead of grumbling, they rang the office and asked if they could help out. That way they would get in for free but would then see how difficult and hard the organising members have to work. The job of planning the next event starts almost straight away. Today for instance, this post was studied, discussed in detail, and notes made of all comments so that problems could be reduced next time. Many comments have been taken on board, the helpful, the moans, and even some that were at first glance, quite outrageous. So if the festival is at Gaydon next year, I hope that you will all have an even better time than most of you did this year. |
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Nigel
Moderator Group Joined: 09-November-2002 Status: Offline Points: 6941 |
Posted: 08-September-2005 at 06:45 |
IF the committee are looking at any other venues, may I suggest something a little better placed for everyone in general, perhaps in the North West/East ? Sheffield is about Central Great Britain, and as this is the main club event, it would seem a little fairer to all members. I say this as someone who is very nicely placed for Gaydon, but we have a large and very active Scottish mob, and Northern England too. Just a thought. |
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Best Wishes
Nigel |
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Fushion Julz
Bavarian-Board Contributor Joined: 27-May-2005 Status: Offline Points: 400 |
Posted: 08-September-2005 at 06:11 |
@ Andrew Dale: Good comments/explanation and the point about the trade
stalls pricing is well put...Personally, I reckon anyone complaining
about £75 isn't a proper trader in any case! I did feel, though, that
the one thing sorely lacking was a selection/variety in the food and
drinks dept...Resulting in long queues at the (one) burger bar...Didn't
affect us, too much, cos we brought a picnic! But trying to get a
coffee, even if the price was good, meant a 15min wait! Also the
selection on offer wasn't great...Veggies had chips or chips to choose
from.
It certainly didn't *look* like BMWUK were in evidence...a few dealers and a random single seater on a static display isn't representative of the might of BMW as a company...It is their problem, obviously, but I would (as a first time visitor/participant) have expected a bigger presence with some/all of the new range on display or available for a spin on the test track... If I were BMWs' marketing dept I would have considered that an opportunity missed! The prizes were (obviously) well appreciated, but who won? Surely a bit of publicity for both the donating dealers and the winners wouldn't go amiss! I, for one, had no idea who had donated the prizes as I bought my tickets! Personally, regarding the helping, I would be interested in doing something, but not being a traffic warden! As for venues...There must be a case for moving, if the issues of space can't be sorted out. Plenty of venues, not necessarily motor industry based, that I can think of...Beaulieu, Longleat, or one of the racing circuits (Oulton Park, perhaps?). @ E46ACS (c'mon the gooners!) well we arrived around the same time as you...No queue, exactly, but we were directed to a gravel car park...Now my car isn't concours, and I am happy to drive it (almost) anywhere...but I can see why someone who has spent hours prepping their car for a competition might feel miffed about being asked to park on a dusty surface with the potential for stone chips... Furthermore, when the arena did open, the wait to get in was compounded by (as previously mentioned) by the queue from the road being allowed in before the queue from the car park....Didn't bother me, too much, but it wasn't exactly the height of good planning! |
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1987 E30 M3
1996 E36 328i SE 4dr (Manual) 1992 E34 525iX Touring...SOLD |
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E46ACS
Really Senior Member II Joined: 16-April-2005 Location: Durham Status: Offline Points: 683 |
Posted: 08-September-2005 at 05:25 |
As the organiser for the North East stand, and my first trip to Gaydon, it was a bit "made it up as I went along"!! I have read all of the above comments with interest, and I have to say that it was a great day. Yes there where queues, but I was on site at 0815 and there was no queue then! The test track did have an element of "Wacky Races" to it, but that just made all the more interesting! We could of done with more space for our stand, but again, we where all limited by the total space available. I learnt a lot form this year and am looking forward to next already. The guys (& Girl) in the office, special mention for Gerry, where a great help. I did expect more trade stands, and did expect BMW to have a stand there, but in hindsight, that would have meant less space for the rest of us. Thanks to all the guys that came. The Scottish guys for keeping us entertained (as always). And to the organisers as a whole. It might have been a bit dis-jointed at times, but it was a great day enjoyed by all! |
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My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with a girl who saw Ferris pass-out at 31 Flavours last night. I guess it's pretty serious.
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Grahame_Vincent
Really Senior Member II Joined: 12-August-2004 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne Status: Offline Points: 535 |
Posted: 06-September-2005 at 05:16 |
We had a great day, some fantastic cars and seemed really well organised. Hopefully next year I can make it down earlier with the rest of the North East guys.... Thanks to all the organisers |
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Grahame
2004 E46 325Ci Sport Coupe, Silver Grey with Black Leather and M Sports Pack II. Used to own:- 1995 E38 730i V8, Black, 18" Fox RS3's, Custom Tint Glass, with Silver Leather 1985 E30 316 Black http://www.villagephotos.com/pubgallery.asp?id_=1066854 |
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Andrew Dale
Newbie Joined: 26-January-2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 3 |
Posted: 06-September-2005 at 05:12 |
I have read all the posting so far with great interest and all comments
will be taken on board but I feel it worthwhile to make a few factual
comments:
Traders: when I started with the club 5 years ago there were about 15 stands. Last year there were 38 and this year 43. Stands are priced at £75 + VAT which is extremely low compared with many similar events which charge £400 or even more. There are always a few traders who do not do as well as they had hoped but at the club office we have had a fantastic feedback with phrases such as "the best show I do" and "took more money than anywhere else I have been" Cars on display: Everyone wants to have their cars in the centre of what is going on but this is just not possible. My own car was on display and I would have been disappointed if my car had not been in the main arena. Other venues might solve this or...... other suggestions welcome. Queuing: We have become victims of our own success in many ways. 5 years ago the show attracted about 500 people - this year about 2,000. About 400 cars turned up 5 years ago - this year about 1,500. The size of the show last year took Gaydon (and us) somewhat by surpise and this year they closed driving on site to all but our guys. Even with an extra "holding" car park we still ended up with queues. We/Gaydon need to get a better arrangement for next year. Support from BMW: BMW UK loaned us the Formula BMW car and also the M1 for the M Display. There were three BMW dealers there - Damon Hill BMW who sponsored the event by paying for the marquee that the club used on the day, Godfrey Hall BMW who donated a £600 BMW mountain bike as a prize and also Blue Bell BMW who had a huge range of spares etc for sale. In general, BMW UK give us HUGE support inlcuding a substantial annual donation which ensures that our annual membership costs are kept low. Arrangements/Marshalling on the day: The show overall, attraction of traders, preparation of programme etc etc is arranged by just two people at the club office in addition to everything else that is done. This has meant 6 am starts at the office for many weeks and working at the weekend. The tombola was a huge success with £600 mountain bike as top prize as well as £500 of stainless steel exhaust etc etc - these prizes all need to be secured. On the day there is a real need for helpers and marshals to ensure that everything goes smoothly. This year was better than last but it usually gets left to a very few to help out. I would ask of those who complained about marshalling arrangements at the main entrance "what did you do to help?" - it is YOUR club! Andrew Dale Club Secretary/Director |
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Bigian
Really Senior Member II Joined: 25-May-2005 Location: Stonehaven Status: Offline Points: 2167 |
Posted: 06-September-2005 at 04:51 |
as a member of the Scottish clan i had a great weekend i personally travelled from Stonehaven in east coast Scotland to gaydon all the people who i met up with on the way down were very welcoming towards me. for it being my first gaydon i enjoyed it immensely and will be coming back again especially to see if Penny Malory will be bending over johns car like she was. even for the distance travelled approx 1000 mile round trip for me. i had a damm good weekend apart from the homeward journey when wee were about to cross the boarder it started raining and but that still did not put the dampers on. |
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If you can't be good don't get caught
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Howard
Moderator Group Did I say thaaaat? Joined: 14-October-2002 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 735 |
Posted: 06-September-2005 at 04:00 |
Go to the club web site and see the regional page. There is a map there showing the country as a whole. Hover your mouse over a region and the extent of the region is shown. I agree - some club official do not know just where regions start and stop. Geography is not a required qualification for a club official. Edited by Howard |
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Richard von Bat
Groupie Joined: 30-October-2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 95 |
Posted: 05-September-2005 at 15:11 |
I thought the Gaydon event was very good, met plenty of people and what better weather could have been ordered? The specific comments concerning M power made me smile/wince if only because do some people never read their journals? I'll excuse any new members of the last six months but for virtually a whole year we have been asking for particular models to be volunteered for the 'M display' last year it was for the 'E30's display. So to say there are M car commoners and elite class or words to that effect is rather sad! The display was to show pretty much in year order each M car produced and to enable such a complete display to be formed (bar an E39 M5 which failed to turn up) just shows the capacity of the Club. I thought we had some great cars there in a good range of colours. But due to the room this display took up we had less room (than we have taken in the past) for the 'non display' M cars. Some cars were routed to the main museum entrance but as I mentioned to the few people who came to talk to me about it, there we're still some spaces next to the circular display so find one and bring your car down. The track stories fill me with angst for this is just the situation that causes silly things to happen - why not come along to one of the Clubs properly organised track days and drive in a far safer environment? and better value too if you consider the cost per lap....... The comments concerning no's of people allowed to ride in the car usually relate to the number of doors. So you could find 4 up in a four door saloon but only two in a two door so that it is easier to pull people out in the eventuality of a crashed vehicle. Richard Baxter
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richard
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bmw2002
Really Senior Member I Joined: 04-March-2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 314 |
Posted: 01-September-2005 at 11:53 |
Yes leaky old Beemers are a danger to the Public. ;o)
Fixed it yet? Check out Oct's Performance BMW pages 88/89, also you got a plug in Total of course. |
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www.bmw2002.co.uk
o==00==o |
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Sohlman
Really Senior Member II Coupe Chairman Joined: 19-August-2003 Location: Surrey Status: Offline Points: 1259 |
Posted: 31-August-2005 at 11:20 |
I didn't have to pay for my ticket and i don't think any helpers had to, but i have to say that certainly in my area which was a funny shape if no one was parking and organising the cars then cars would have been parked everywhere and far fewer cars would have been catered for and no one would be able to move when they wanted to. My thoughts for next year with regards to the coupe area would be to have a more organised area where cars where parked by model type. This would cause other problems as cars would have to arrive at an earlier time, but would look a lot better. The problem is certainly with the coupes is that very few people In my exsperience let you know that they will be comming to an event making it difficult to plan for numbers. E.G. You plan for ten e24's and five turn up or conversely you plan for 10 E31's and twenty turn up. I suspect this is the case with most regions and areas. In some ways it's a lot easier organising a smaller selection of cars. For example i could organise a smashing line up of different sixes and another could line up a smashing selection of CS coupes folowed by another person getting a line up of E31's and so on. I think if more people got involved and worked together this would run smoother and actually everyone would have less work to do on the day. Please take these coments as positive. I am a bit of a perfectionist and always want to strive to take things a little further. |
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Sunday 10th July Brooklands Sharkfest and Big Coupe Day. Coupe Events
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Fushion Julz
Bavarian-Board Contributor Joined: 27-May-2005 Status: Offline Points: 400 |
Posted: 31-August-2005 at 10:29 |
@ BMW 1066: re Wessex region...Metinks that if they (the club
officials) are deciding that Reading is part of Wessex region rather
than SE or South or even London, then you are doomed to failure as
there is too much "spread" of members.
Does anyone know where the boundaries of regions are drawn? @ Sohlman: I sympathise with your dilemma...However, it is one reason why I didn't offer any help. a) If I pay for a ticket..which I did...then I don't expect to have to work...b) If there was a chance of doing something exciting and not just car-park attending I would be keener to volounteer. After all, people can only get onto the dispaly area with a pass and then they should know which area to park in! |
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1987 E30 M3
1996 E36 328i SE 4dr (Manual) 1992 E34 525iX Touring...SOLD |
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Sohlman
Really Senior Member II Coupe Chairman Joined: 19-August-2003 Location: Surrey Status: Offline Points: 1259 |
Posted: 31-August-2005 at 08:58 |
Was my first visit to Gaydon with the BMWCC. I ran the coupe stand which effectiverly made me a glorified parking attendant. On the whole it was a good day although a couple of people swore at me for not allowing them to park next to their friends which left a sour tast in my mouth as i gave up my whole day to marshall. I ended up spending about 30 mins seeing the other cars and visited about 2 traders. Saying this i did enjoy myself. Went on the test track and agree with the comment above. Could not go in my car and had to get towed home due to a petrol leak. Test track was brilliant, but dangerous if you stayed with the pack. We hung back and allowed everybody to go off and then had the track to our selves. A convoy following a sedate racing line would have been better. More helpers would have made my life easier as i parked 75 cars in a small area, had to keep acess routes clear and told cars where to go for the whole day.
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Sunday 10th July Brooklands Sharkfest and Big Coupe Day. Coupe Events
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bmw1066
Really Senior Member II GOOD OLD E23 Joined: 16-January-2005 Location: West Sussex Nr Brighton Status: Offline Points: 1095 |
Posted: 27-August-2005 at 16:47 |
That was one off the thinks for me how do you get a pass to park my make ie for me the 7's,in that area. had tickets but no car pass Yes the Wessex region is pretty poor but we are trying to beef it up a bit me and some others but as you said it is more Hants/Dorset. So I am Hoping to hold a reg Sussex pub/meet NR Hicstead to try and beef things up and for thoses more SE side off things. but it is finding the time as I am shoer you all know |
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Mark 735 se 1982
RED BARON A E23 is for life not just for x-mas BMW e34 530 v8 Sport kit Spelling always Bad |
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jezza
Groupie Joined: 16-October-2004 Status: Offline Points: 58 |
Posted: 26-August-2005 at 12:32 |
Hmmmm well I know that you rely on volunteers and so on but I don't think that excuses some of the poor service offered to members. You mention ordering passes/tickets in advance to save time on the gates, well I ordered mine a month in advance as I expected there to be delays in despatching them going by earlier experiences. Not surprisingly they hadn't turned up the week before the show and the only way the office would send me the tickets was be charging me a second time on the basis that they couldn't possibly check through the credit card receipts to confirm that they had already charged me (which they had). Even then they didn't send me the stand pass, and now I have to claim a refund for the duplicate charging. There seems to be lots of room for improvement with current procedures.
Edited by jezza |
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My toys:
E39 ALPINA B10 V8 2000 - Silver/Red Leather E39 540i 2000 (Sold) E34 535i Sport 1989 (Sold) E21 323i (Sold) |
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325i Ron
Really Senior Member I Joined: 26-February-2003 Location: Bristol Status: Offline Points: 286 |
Posted: 26-August-2005 at 12:11 |
One of the difficlties is getting help on the day, as you all know this a car club run by volunters. So remember for next year the more volunters the better. It means that the person the gate is there for less time say 1/2 each. As for as not getting until 8.30 that part is run by Gaydon staff. Again to help speed things up if you book in advance get your pass for you area or register this will speed your entry. As far as the rolling they just did not turn so not a lot we could do. |
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Ron Parish
(E30 Register Chairman) |
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Fushion Julz
Bavarian-Board Contributor Joined: 27-May-2005 Status: Offline Points: 400 |
Posted: 26-August-2005 at 06:42 |
Come to think of it, No Rolling Road was a dissapointment as I was
going to take the opportunity to get a power run done on my M3...
Re section stands: I concur that the M power thing was a bit of a disappointment, but fortunately the E30 register were happy to have my car (E30 M3) in the display! Perhaps the M power section has an elite and a commoners section? More interesting is why there was no Wessex section...I was automatically put in the Wessex section on joining...However, it seems to be centered on Hants/Dorset area whereas in Reading I am closer to SE region events, most of the time... Looking here, on this forum, the Wessex section must be one of the least contributed to sections of all the regionals...And then no stand at the national show/event, either... Kinda begs the question as to why? (or why not?) |
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1987 E30 M3
1996 E36 328i SE 4dr (Manual) 1992 E34 525iX Touring...SOLD |
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m3tiko
Really Senior Member II Joined: 29-May-2005 Location: Braveheart Country..aka Pai Status: Offline Points: 1483 |
Posted: 26-August-2005 at 04:02 |
All round good day... and my first time to gaydon.however i have to agree with most of the comments made here. First of all, the test track setup was a total farce there was no mention at all of not allowing anymore than 2 people per car and anyone under the age of 16. Steve535d made a good point, as it was totally unsafe and to be honest i think i paid more attention to my rear mirror than what was in front of me. I would have paid a lot more money if they even had cut the number of cars hence opening the track up bit more.
Secondly, im not saying M's should be given preferential treatment but i felt a bit let down that when we join up in the club we state our model etc i thought it be only fair that m owners would be put on the M display. unless that is they choose not to. Lastly, upset at no rolling road...in the magazine it was mentioned, nowehere to be seen |
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