Stoneleigh 2018 feedback and ideas

[Andy Banks]

Fantastic effort as ever, thank you Team. I only spent a little time there this year (but I understand suitable bored you all at the AGM in any case) so I will l have missed the busiest day on Sunday but a few initial thoughts...

• Marquee was missing a couple more cars perhaps?
• Hall 2 layout was not good and needs to be changed
  • We thought we'd give it one more go and decide what to do for 2019
  • I will be having a word with Roger of Grosvenor Shows about the huge GBS backdrop blocking all views of SS stand!
• A couple of processes to tighten up on
• No write up the the show guide??
  • We could have advertised bonnets off, etc.
• Everything else was great from what I could see and hear
• Otherwise as I say, a great effort and the stand out club presence of the show AGAIN  

[Kit Car Electronics]

3 hours ago, Trevturtle said:

I hope this will explain the badges this year?

• We only printed badges before the show for volunteers this year. In past years we printed badges for all members and 75% were thrown away (people didn't attend the show), and we needed a cottage industry to sort through 1100 name badges.
• This years volunteer badges had the forum name printed, if it was provided by the member when they emailed their volunteer information to the Stoneleigh organisation team. If members didn't send a name it was either blank or stated (son, daughter etc.)

We provided badges to non volunteers who requested them on the day..

Unfortunately:-

• it isn't a viable option to print all the names badges for all the members (we have  tried it, it time consuming, difficult to manage and there is a lost of waste) 
• we can only work with the information people provide when they send their volunteer information.

It's a time consuming activity over a number of weeks to create the volunteer lists (camping, tintop site entry, volunteer rotas).  chasing up missing forum names that people forgot to send isn't information have time to chase.

 

I hope this helps?

 

Perhaps people could print their own badge at home if they are coming, and collect a badge holder on arrival? It might at least catch the regular forum users that like to put a face to a name

[Andy_R]

This was my second time attending the show and yet again the WSCC was by far the most organised and interesting club there.

Everyone who helped deserve a huge pat on the back.

Bonnets off was a great idea and the auto jumble outside made it easier to browse. Everyone was really friendly and it was very easy to spot all the helpers with those blue t-shirts.

Only worry I had was to do with the drones. I thought there were rules as to how far you could use them with people nearby? I'd have been worried about one loosing signal and hitting a member of the public or one of our vehicles. As a marketer I can certainly see the benefits of such a unique vantage point ... but is the potential risk worth the reward?

[BenD]

28 minutes ago, Kit Car Electronics said:

Perhaps people could print their own badge at home if they are coming, and collect a badge holder on arrival? It might at least catch the regular forum users that like to put a face to a name

or keep the badge from the year before i still have two from previous years.

[Andy Malone - Editor]

Hi,

I don't feel massively qualified as it was my first visit but here is a few newbie 2 pences to throw into the mix...

The Good

• Presentation and scale wise WSCC was the standout at the show, by a fair margin
• Banners looked good and I had no problem finding it (unlike other clubs)
• I liked the marquee, it felt like a hub without being too crazy, the covered seated area probably helped with that so people could still get out of the sun now and again without cluttering up the space
• The t-shirts made it really clear who is organising
• The hospitality/facilities for members was great once I knew what was what (more on that later)
  e.g. the drop-off, snack shop, seating area, BBQ, etc...
• The autojumble had more decent stuff in than I was expecting (and in fact it turns out something I really wanted that I unfortunately missed as I didn't see it  ) - I've run one with a previous car club and the bits that got brought along that time really weren't worth selling mostly, this was much better! I just need to be more confident rooting around next time.
• There were loads of cars! I think I did three or four laps of them all picking up ideas, taking photos, etc... 
• The plot was well organised, car were parked well. In general it felt like a slick place to be compared to the others
• The volunteers were all really friendly, helpful and hard working - great work! 

 

The not so good (I'm not going to say bad as it really wasn't)

• As a very new club member (only having my car a week) and first time visitor I was a bit unsure what the process/procedure was and knew literally nobody. I kind of mooched around the marquee for a bit looking slightly awkward and eventually spoke to Mark at the membership desk and had a good chat (we live near each other). As part of that he said about getting a name badge and what the deal was with the drop-off, BBQ, etc... and suddenly it felt very relaxed and easy. 
• Maybe it's just me but I really felt better having a printed name badge on as it made breaking ice conversations easier. I agree about not mass printing 1000s of labels, but printing on demand worked well and I just think it needed sign posting a bit more (e.g. "WSCC Member Sign-In/Badges here" type of thing) so I could have known to go straight over (apologies if there was and I missed it). Also a member show benefits/itinerary type board near the entrance might be good to let new people know where to go/who to speak to/who is allowed some BBQ'd meat   Just a thought - I know a lot of this was probably covered on the forum but it was hot and I forgot things
• I unfortunately missed the 'bonnets off' due to getting wrapped up in an ultimately pointless chat on a trade stand. As such I didn't really get to speak to any owners about their specific cars which would have been great. I wonder if doing a morning and afternoon 'bonnets off' would be good to allow people to track car owners down a bit easier for a chat/sit? Generally some way of being able to find the owner of 'car A' to discuss 'modification B' would have been great but I know people can't be hanging around on the off chance.
• Hall 2... visited and the stand itself was fine but very out of the way at the back and screened by GBS, not great. I also think it felt like something that should maybe be on the club stand. I think in my head it would be better if the club stand was where most of the things were located, and then the hall stand is more a general WSCC promotions booth so it advertises the club, sell merchandise, directs people to come outside to the club area, etc... rather than being a club/speed series split.
• Generally across the show I felt the "trade" places were not what I was expecting at all (and as has been mentioned some of the halls felt very sparse). In my head I expected to be coming home with boxes and bags full of bits and bobs, and at least a couple of expensive impromptu purchases I would have to try and explain to the wife. As is happened I only picked up a couple of bits that I had arranged pre-show (as it was better than posting) and then spent nearly 2 hours online when I got home ordering things I couldn't find (e.g. I couldn't even get a set of harness eye bolts on the day which really surprised me!). If the show itself isn't supporting that sort of stand, then maybe there would be milage in inviting some of the Westfield friendly sellers to setup on our plot? (I'm thinking Soft Bits and some of the carbon guys maybe?)

 

All in all though I really enjoyed my first Stoneleigh and will come back again next year with a volunteers t-shirt on and a tent to lend a hand.

Thanks,
Andy

 

P.S. Just realised that it looks like I have more bad than good above, I really don't, I've just waffled on to provide a detailed comment on the couple of things  

[Howsafe Workwear and Safety Equipment]

I thought the marquee really needed more cars as it was sparse in comparison to last year - obviousley it was a lot busier last year within the tent due to the poor weather

So my thoughts are if the weather is good get more motors/owners into the marquee to bring people in! If the weather is crap like it was last year free up more space for people to mill around.

I thoughts Scotts engine upgrade last year added lots of interest and camaraderie to the event - perhaps something similar could be done next year? Some sort of car upgrade during the show - maybe that could be done within the marquee? Maybe a member supplies the parts and then a group of volunteers help with the upgrade?

Other than that I thought it was a fantastic effort as always - the drinks and snacks were greatly appreciated as was the burger at lunch, as was the banter and all around good spirits!

Oh - and bring more baseball caps  

[Robin Parker (Red Spider) - Yorkshire AO]

20 minutes ago, Howsafe Workwear and Safety Equipment said:

 

Oh - and bring more baseball caps  

I got the last one. 

[Kevin Pullen]

Bad I didn’t see any caps and I was there early on the Sunday, lack of decent trade stands 

Good the weather, fantastic turnout on the Sunday, friendly people, the hog roast 

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Just so we don’t waste time on certain avenues; my understanding is, we cannot have any kind of trade stand outside in the marquee, those areas of Stoneleigh are strictly for clubs. We have an exemption for Clark, purely because he is selling Club Merchandice, whisch is acceptable.

Part of the package some of our key sponsors are traditionally offered includes an area to put up a stand at Stoneleigh.

Hence when you put those two points together,  we’ve had the extra area in Hall 2. So any decisions on Hall 2 need to be made with that in mind.

End of public information broadcast...

 

[tolf]

Sorry if this point has already been made re name badges, can they not be printed on site when required?

i accept it is too timely and costly to print all of the members names in advance. 

[Captain Colonial]

Hiya Tolf

The problem with printing them out one at a time is that the blank name cards come about 10-12 per sheet, and printing them one at a time means it would try to print the one in the upper left every time.

Maybe printing out sheets of name badges with just the club logo, then members can write their own details on the card when they arrive?

[Kevin (Mr T)]

6 hours ago, Howsafe Workwear and Safety Equipment said:

I thoughts Scotts engine upgrade last year added lots of interest and camaraderie to the event - perhaps something similar could be done next year? Some sort of car upgrade during the show - maybe that could be done within the marquee? Maybe a member supplies the parts and then a group of volunteers help with the upgrade?

Happy to bring my car next year, plus the Sigma engine, bellhousing, bike carbs, exhaust, manifolds plus other sundries and watch the transformation?

[TableLeg]

6 minutes ago, Captain Colonial said:

Maybe printing out sheets of bpname badges with just the club logo, then members can write their own details on the card when they arrive?

That is the by far the easiest solution I'd think and would be easier on the printing too. 

[Trevor Little (Trevturtle) - Treasurer]

1 hour ago, Ian Tolfree (tolf) - North London AO said:

Sorry if this point has already been made re name badges, can they not be printed on site when required?

i accept it is too timely and costly to print all of the members names in advance. 

We used my label printer for badges this year. Sticky badge WSCC logo, name etc.

We pre printed all the volunteer badges before the event, but didn't want to print badges on request until we'd tested the process......small steps, no big leaps as there was enough to 'juggle' over the weekend 

The few badges we did print worked ok (Thanks Anna  @a15cro) .. so we may extend this next year

As part of the testing process we tried updating forums names on certain members  badges because of unfortunate events over the weekend..( where's my map? ). That worked very well, caused a chuckle and I had to run away 

[stephenh]

I thought it was an excellent showing by the Club and its members, as good as ever (my attendance was restricted to Sunday). The turnout of club members in their cars was very impressive. No doubt helped by the weather.

I was a bit disappointed with the Speed Series display in hall 2. John was doing his best, but with hardly any support from any of the Speed Series regulars. In the past there have been several sprint cars on display, including one or two fairly extreme (ie high powered) sprint cars, which adds interest. Not helped I guess by 2 rounds of the Speed Series on the same weekend. As an ex-Speed Series competitor it saddens me that we have this clash of dates, not only with Stoneleigh but also the 21st celebrations at Shelsley. I hope I'm wrong, but the impression I get is that it isn't going to help the cause of encouraging new entrants to the Speed Series, which is a great shame as anyone who hasn't tried it cannot imagine the camaraderie and excitement of competing against similar cars is so fantastic, and is to be encouraged. 

Not helped by being obscured by the huge display boards in front of the stand.