SW-FOG areas for improvement

phroenips · Jul 26, 2012

Hey guys,

As you all probably know, this was my first year as rallymaster for SW-FOG. As such, there were some areas which I recognized that could be improved. I'd also like to solicit "youz guys" opinions on some constructive criticism to make next year better. Don't go blowing smoke up my ass!

Include cell phone number(s) in online registration form (so that I can call people to make sure they're ok, late from a ride, etc)
Prepaid group meals (so I have a much more firm number of people coming and so the restaurant doesn't get screwed if I say 50 people are coming and 30 show up)
Formal group photo on the itinerary…and don't change the time *cough*

What else?

beemerdons · Jul 26, 2012

Scott all of your raised points are excellent ones, you may also consider giving HotRodZilla (Bungie Junior!) a "Orienteering and Map Reading 101" tutorial and give him a Boy Scout compass too. jes' sayin' and nuff' said!

"Prepaid group meals (so I have a much more firm number of people coming and so the restaurant doesn't get screwed if I say 50 people are coming and 30 show up)" This is the most important item of all, Big-D and I learned from "Badcat" Burk to not let yourself or the restaurant get stung by no shows; have the group meal attendees pay the restaurant directly, they can secure their prepaid dinner with their credit cards or mail them a check in advance!

phroenips · Jul 26, 2012

beemerdons said:
Scott all of your raised points are excellent ones, you may also consider giving HotRodZilla (Bungie Junior!) a "Orienteering and Map Reading 101" tutorial and give him a Boy Scout compass too. jes' sayin' and nuff' said!

"Prepaid group meals (so I have a much more firm number of people coming and so the restaurant doesn't get screwed if I say 50 people are coming and 30 show up)" This is the most important item of all, Big-D and I learned from "Badcat" Burk to not let yourself or the restaurant get stung by no shows; have the group meal attendees pay the restaurant directly, they can secure their prepaid dinner with their credit cards or mail them a check in advance!

I'll probably collect the money via PayPal in my newly created [email protected] account (started for the Joe and Cec fund), collect it via the website and fancy PayPal payment buttons, and simply say no refunds will be allowed XX days before the rally (probably two weeks or so).

I'll certainly not be putting down any kind of deposits or anything with my personal funds. I may look it, but I'm not *that* dumb!

BwanaDik · Jul 26, 2012

Possibly a recon (Scott, you live around there, good excuse for a ride?) of the potential motel(s) to maximise the possible resturants in a minimum (walking)distance from the motel. And possibly a pool? I know it can snow in CO in August but you never know.

I definitely like the CO tradition of having a liquor store in virtually every little hamlet so that won't be a problem.

Is Salida a foregone conclusion? Montrose, Durango or Ouray? Salida was fine but CO has lots of possibilities.

phroenips · Jul 26, 2012

BwanaDik said:
Possibly a recon (Scott, you live around there, good excuse for a ride?) of the potential motel(s) to maximise the possible resturants in a minimum (walking)distance from the motel. And possibly a pool? I know it can snow in CO in August but you never know.

I definitely like the CO tradition of having a liquor store in virtually every little hamlet so that won't be a problem.

Is Salida a foregone conclusion? Montrose, Durango or Ouray? Salida was fine but CO has lots of possibilities.

For Salida specifically, I did recon the two potential motels, and neither of them had a huge selection of restaurants nearby unfortunately

The other Salida motel did have a pool, and is across the street from the Aquatic Center (and is close to the Country Bounty restaurant...but that's about the only food option). Assuming we want to do Salida again, I wouldn't have any issues going to this other motel...it was a really difficult decision, and I think the only reason I originally chose the Gateway was due to more rooms/capacity. The other place (Silver Ridge Lodge) only had about 40? rooms total, and I wasn't sure if they'd be able to accommodate all of us. There is a Super 8 right next door, so worst case, we could overflow there.

Salida a foregone conclusion? Not necessarily...although Salida makes my job a whole lot easier

. I'd love to have something a bit further west and/or south in the state, there's lots of good roads around there too. From a purely selfish standpoint, I could see doing Salida in 2013, and then maybe Montrose or Durango in 2014 (Ouray might be a little small, I'd have to look into it some more). I know Durango is really proud of their motel rooms, no matter what time of year. Montrose might be a little better. Any of those places would serve as a better "home base" to do some of the other great roads out there that are a bit out of reach from Salida: Grand Mesa, Million Dollar Highway, Mesa Verde NP, etc

...that's all assuming we don't overload on Colorado

...after all, I am a bit biased. I love this state! :yahoo:

Recreate · Jul 26, 2012

phroenips said:
As you all probably know, this was my first year as rallymaster for SW-FOG. As such, there were some areas which I recognized that could be improved. I'd also like to solicit "youz guys" opinions on some constructive criticism to make next year better. Don't go blowing smoke up my ass!

Include cell phone number(s) in online registration form (so that I can call people to make sure they're ok, late from a ride, etc)

Prepaid group meals (so I have a much more firm number of people coming and so the restaurant doesn't get screwed if I say 50 people are coming and 30 show up)

Formal group photo on the itinerary…and don't change the time *cough*

All three points that you brought up make sense to me.

beemerdons · Jul 26, 2012

Recreate said:
phroenips said:

As you all probably know, this was my first year as rallymaster for SW-FOG. As such, there were some areas which I recognized that could be improved. I'd also like to solicit "youz guys" opinions on some constructive criticism to make next year better. Don't go blowing smoke up my ass!

Include cell phone number(s) in online registration form (so that I can call people to make sure they're ok, late from a ride, etc)

Prepaid group meals (so I have a much more firm number of people coming and so the restaurant doesn't get screwed if I say 50 people are coming and 30 show up)

Formal group photo on the itinerary…and don't change the time *cough*

Click to expand...

All three points that you brought up make sense to me.

Brother Steven you are among friends here and please comment any way you wish, if you wish to state HotRodZilla couldn't find his ass with both hands then just go for it! jes' sayin' and nuff' said!

BwanaDik · Jul 26, 2012

beemerdons said:
Recreate said:

phroenips said:

As you all probably know, this was my first year as rallymaster for SW-FOG. As such, there were some areas which I recognized that could be improved. I'd also like to solicit "youz guys" opinions on some constructive criticism to make next year better. Don't go blowing smoke up my ass!

Include cell phone number(s) in online registration form (so that I can call people to make sure they're ok, late from a ride, etc)

Prepaid group meals (so I have a much more firm number of people coming and so the restaurant doesn't get screwed if I say 50 people are coming and 30 show up)

Formal group photo on the itinerary…and don't change the time *cough*

Click to expand...

All three points that you brought up make sense to me.

Click to expand...

Brother Steven you are among friends here and please comment any way you wish, if you wish to state HotRodZilla couldn't find his ass with both hands then just go for it! jes' sayin' and nuff' said!

Come on Don, you're slipping. Where's the usual fcuked up illerate broken Spanish and German as a close?

beemerdons · Jul 26, 2012

BwanaDik said:
beemerdons said:

Recreate said:

phroenips said:

As you all probably know, this was my first year as rallymaster for SW-FOG. As such, there were some areas which I recognized that could be improved. I'd also like to solicit "youz guys" opinions on some constructive criticism to make next year better. Don't go blowing smoke up my ass!

Include cell phone number(s) in online registration form (so that I can call people to make sure they're ok, late from a ride, etc)

Prepaid group meals (so I have a much more firm number of people coming and so the restaurant doesn't get screwed if I say 50 people are coming and 30 show up)

Formal group photo on the itinerary…and don't change the time *cough*

Click to expand...

All three points that you brought up make sense to me.

Click to expand...

Brother Steven you are among friends here and please comment any way you wish, if you wish to state HotRodZilla couldn't find his ass with both hands then just go for it! jes' sayin' and nuff' said!

Click to expand...

Come on Don, you're slipping. Where's the usual ****** up illiterate broken Spanish and German as a close?

I received a P.M. I was becoming as big of a PRICK as RadioHowie, SkooterG and Bustanut joker, so I am cleaning up my ******* act! However, I did correct your terrible spelling!

BwanaDik · Jul 26, 2012

Well done and good move! I understand. We'd all hate to lump you into THAT group!

beemerdons · Jul 26, 2012

BwanaDik said:
Well done and good move! I understand. We'd all hate to lump you into THAT group!

BwanaDik, I even went out and got a real short haircut today; one of the anonymous PM's said I was starting to look like RadioHowie, that is truly the meanest thing anyone has ever said to me!

HotRodZilla · Jul 26, 2012

beemerdons said:
BwanaDik said:

Well done and good move! I understand. We'd all hate to lump you into THAT group!

Click to expand...

BwanaDik, I even went out and got a real short haircut today; one of the anonymous PM's said I was starting to look like RadioHowie, that is truly the meanest thing anyone has ever said to me!

So long as you don't smell like Howie, you can still be saved. Just remember that If you end up looking too much like Howie, you're gonna have to break all the mirrors in your house.

phroenips · Jul 26, 2012

I'm shocked....Beemerdons has derailed a thread. That NEVER happens!!!!

HotRodZilla · Jul 26, 2012

Naaaaaaa, its not derailed. I think you hit the major topics we talked about. C was one that wanted a pool, but with the lack of use the pool in Taos saw, I would rather pay less, have a better free breakfast, and have a hotel that is conducive to us hanging out than a pool that may only get used by one or two people.

That central patio thing at the Gateway was perfect for hanging out, and the "quad" style building set up contributed to the good times we had. Ending up in a hotel that spreads us out tends to end up having smaller cliques instead of the all inclusive chair gathering debacle we had every night. That was one of my favorite parts.

The Mexican restaurant right next door had great food, down town was waking distance, and that liquor store across the street saw a healthy up tik in business.

I would vote for the itinerary and the supplied phone numbers being printed on the front and back of a plain 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper and handed to participants at check in. Maybe with the rally master, ride leaders, and the T-shirt guy being bolder just for ease of use.

The name tags you made up were awesome, and there is really nothing to complain about. We could do some things a little better or different, but you and Shaun definitely didn't do anything wrong.

We had a lot of fun, and the rally fee was just right. Thanks for your hard work!!

fljab · Jul 26, 2012

Get'r dialed in; I'll be back next yr hopefully. Just couldn't do it this yr!

TripperMike · Jul 26, 2012

Kinda tough for me to critique it Scott, it being my first FJR regional gathering and all. But lemme say this, it was worth the few extra miles I had to put on to "find" Colorado. Was a great experience and enjoyed the heck out of meeting "all ya'll". Joy said she'd love to go back again next yr. Honestly I'd like to see it in Salida again. You had so many routes lined up for this year that next year I'd still be able to ride unridden (by me) routes. But I would most likely want to go to Aspen again for lunch, it's not everyday I get to do that. A pleasant experience is always a joy to revisit. And as 'Zilla said, the central patio was ideal for hanging out afterwards. I doubt they'd allow us in the aquatic center with our "adult beverages".

However, and you did touch on this already, the group photo could have been done better (hindsight is 20-20). Maybe next time the bikes could be lined up in the center of the parking lot, closer to one of the balconies, so the picture is taken from a higher vantage point.

BTW, after getting back home, I could hardly wait to show my buds some newly acquired riding skills .... U-turns. :lol:

Mike

yamafitter · Jul 26, 2012

HotRodZilla said:
The Mexican restaurant right next door had great food, ...

According to some folks this is impossible. I has told that a Mexican restaurant has to be in Kali. Anything else is just a poser.

Bustanut joker · Jul 26, 2012

Feck!! My attendance to NERDS is in serious jeopardy at this point..

My back issue is far worse than I thought :blink:

beemerdons · Jul 27, 2012

Dos Centavos from We Stanley Boys:

1) I feel that Salida, Colorado made a perfect SW-FOG destination and Seth/Papa would return there in a New Mexico minute to attend another FJR Forum Event.

2) We really enjoyed the warm vibrations and comfortable amenities of the Gateway Inn, they truly seemed glad that we were there and made our stay memorable.

3) While a swimming pool would be nice, Seth and Daddy Don did use the hot tub each day and enjoyed it. The best feature was the central courtyard for partying!

When Big-D and I decided on Taos (or Toas as HRZ spells it!) we were concerned about overdoing one location. However, everyone complimented us on returning there.

Dan and Chuy also wondered about once again returning to the BW Kachina Lodge for SW-FOG. But the staff there were so glad to have us, and it showed in hospitality!

SW-FOG areas for improvement

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