Getting Started

[Mark Menard (Vita Rara)]

Sylva and I have already started on researching locations for the UnRally and done some emails back and forth with Jamie and Leslie, and picked David's brain a little.

 

At the moment I see the to do list at the moment as follows and will be recruiting volunteers to form a committee to handle these as time goes on.

 

1: Secure location:

1.1: Find campground and hotel within walking distance of each other in an area that has good roads, and sufficient services to handle our group.

1.2: Have someone, or myself, scout the campground and hotel.

1.3: Repeat until a site is found.

1.4: Determine dates based on campground availability and hotel availability within reason so we don't conflict with other rallys, or large events.

1.5: Reserve hotel and campground.

 

2: Setup catering

2.1: Figure out meal schedule.

2.2: Get proposals from vendors.

2.3: Decide on proposals and do deposts, etc.

 

3: Get someone started on ride plans.

 

4: Start website.

 

5: Figure out how registration will work.

5.1: Determine registration fee.

5.2: Figure out how finances will be handled. Is there a BMWST account?

5.3: Setup registration page.

 

Additionally Sylva and I will be putting together a PR calendar. This way we'll know when announcements are going to be made, what they need to contain, etc.

 

That's it for the moment we're going for a ride.

 

Later,

 

Mark

[Les is more]

Ooh! you are so organized!

 

After you decide on a site you'll want to add T shirts/stickers to your list, if they're to be part of the experience. Naming the Un will fall under your PR umbrella.

[Mark Menard (Vita Rara)]

6: Give Aways

6.1: What are we giving away?

6.1.1: T-Shirts?

6.1.2: Coozies(sp?)?

 

7: Naming the Un

[EffBee]

Mark, some suggestions:

 

Meal schedules. . .Breakfast: This may depend on what the local hotel/motels offer, but if it's minimal (toast & coffee), and if camping/hotel are near each other, you might want to consider danish/coffee/OJ at the campground for the mornings. We did it three days in a row at the first Un for about $150 total and we had sponsors who got to put up their banners. Such commercialism (the banners) is not in the spirit of the Un any more, but I'm sure you could get some sposors. I (MotoEquip) would kick in the same $50 I did at the first Un and I'll bet you could get Big Mak and Cee Bailey to do so silently, simply for the business they get from this board. Taking it a step further, if you are only budgeted for two dinners, you could minimize one dinner (pizza only) and use that money for a catered breakfast (i.e. eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, cereal, etc) at a selected location (campground or otherwise) on, say, the second morning. Breakfasting together also seemed to help unify the group each morning. We've had some discussion about this among the mods and it's not unanimous, so please consider this ONLY a suggestion. No offense taken if you decide otherwise.

 

As a subsection to the planning required for 1:4, when deciding dates take into account regional weather/temperature history as well as vacation/school schedules. We have some members with children still at home, others whose kids may be coming home from college in the first weeks of summer. These affect their ability to participate. Advance notice, of course, helps mitigate these conflicts. But we don't want to pull the trigger on the dates too soon. It's a fine line to walk. Just do your research, make your calculations, and try to figure out what works best for the most people, as well as for the campground and hotel/motel rates.

 

In the end, after you've exhausted every possible scenario, it comes down to the Field of Dreams line. . .If you build it, they will come.

 

Thanks to both you and Sylva for taking this on.