2006 Group Pic?

[tliss]

OK, so Ima thinking this would be something that I could start thinking about. You guys up for another pic some time in the spring or summer? Any idears on venue? Do you want to do another pic at TMS or somewhere else? Just starting to think about this. :tu:

Thanks,
Tom

[StormShadow]

Is there a dam we could line up on with the lake in the background? Maybe in a field or something. By the mustangs in Las Colinas using them as a background etc ....Something with some color. Just some ideas.

[Sandman]

Line'em up in front of Big Tex.

[my2002lightning]

IMO, TMS would be an excellent venue again if we could get the photo-shoot scheduled earlier in the day (with the sun overhead, rather than behind the TALON masses).:tu:

Too, if the Uncle Rock's photographers' scissor-lift is/was positioned further back to get a better shot of even MORE Ls than the '05 shoot, that would be even better.

Either way, I'm sure it will be yet-another memorable TALON event.:bows

Ronald

[03LightningRocks]

Actually Ronald, the problem really wasn't how far the scissor lift was from the trucks. Although even if it where the problem, further away wasn't an option. The problem was the trucks where not parked close enough together. We ran out of time so there was no way of getting the problem fixed. If you had seen some of the shots taken of the entire group, you would have noticed that the trucks looked like little hot wheel cars. Further back would have made it even worse. With so many vehicles and only two rows, the width of the shot presents some challenges.

If we do it at the same place, we will need folks to park within inches of each others trucks and stay in the vehicles this time.



Rocks:beer:

[Lyfisin]

If we do it at the same place, we will need folks to park within inches of each others trucks and stay in the vehicles this time.

I like the idea of having the trucks close together to make them look bigger, but no way I'm staying in the truck. It was way too hot. :evil

[98Cobra]

Rocks is right on - we cant go further back. We will need the trucks closer together.

[tiffo60]

if we do it at TMS again i think it would be cool to try one on the first turn like we planned to do at the last one, just have to alot for more time to set up

[True Blue Aggie]

http://www.texasmotorplex.com/news1.php?news_id=238

News just posted that the site is open for rental.......we could tie in the 2006 photo shoot with the Talon (Summer, Fall, or Winter) classic.... Not everyone has to race, but its a damn good reason to make a day out of the photo shoot / race.

[98Cobra]

The earlier in the season we do it, the better, as we will have more daylight...

[03LightningRocks]

http://www.texasmotorplex.com/news1.php?news_id=238

News just posted that the site is open for rental.......we could tie in the 2006 photo shoot with the Talon (Summer, Fall, or Winter) classic.... Not everyone has to race, but its a damn good reason to make a day out of the photo shoot / race.

Damn nice find Michael. I am in if we can make this work. Imagine a TFC at Ennis....then a photo shoot to top it off. It would be the best TFC to date.

I wonder what the rental would cost? Maybe they would be willing to keep the cost down if we volunteered to do some of the track duties ourselves. Then they wouldn't have to do a full staff.

Something we should look into at the least.


Rocksknana

[Silver_2000]

Sending an email now
We should consider doing a joint venture with another club to keep the costs down
Doug

[Silver_2000]

Its $3600 for the track for 5 hours including Ambulance, Police and Lights

No lights makes it $3000

Or we can do an "Incentive " Event - we would need to guarantee 100+ paid Tech cards. The pricing changes on that event

Let the discussion begin

[tliss]

With the elevation on the tower at the Motorplex we could get a pretty decent shot. It would be a good event, but we would have to do it earlier in the year (late summer early fall) to get the most out of it.

$3000 is a lot of cabbage, though. $600 an hour is kinda outrageous... I'm guessing track prep is going to be extra as well. We'll never be able to come up with that unless we get sponsored. And we would definitely have to combine with another club, but the more cars you get out there the less likely we'll be able to run a full event in 5 hours...it'll take an hour or more just for the pic!

Tom

[Silver_2000]

Since we couldnt get 100 paid lightning entries to save our lives we should consider going in with another club or 2 to do the incentive plan - I will need to talk with the site to get more details - I think the way it works is they get the $$ from the tech cards ... Need to confirm that

Dwight has contacted the Motorplex - not sure why he didnt go with them

CLUB will be billed for all expenses including, but not limited to:

Its $2500 for the track plus hourly fees for Ambulance, Police, and Lights

10 hours of daylight would be $3500

Doug

[03LightningRocks]

3500.00 is alot, but it isn't alot if we can get the car count up. 60 cars and it puts the cost at around 50 bucks each. How many where in the last picture? Not everyone wants to race. Which may take some consideration.

If the event is promoted as a race event primarily, with the pic as part of it, I bet we could get participation from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Austin areas. Maybe include the Harley truck fellows also.

I may be off on this thought, but it may be easier to come up with 3500 bucks than it is to come up with 100 participants.

We have plenty of time to give notice on a date. Most folks don't have plans for October and November just yet, so they will be able to make a commitment if they know about this soon enough.

You mentioned 10 hours of daylight. Does this mean it would be less if we cut back the hours some?

Another thought. Most everything is negotiable. Maybe they would charge less in a less busy time of year. Like say for instance October or November.

Just some thoughts....


Rocks

[tliss]

3500.00 is alot, but it isn't alot if we can get the car count up. 60 cars and it puts the cost at around 50 bucks each. How many where in the last picture? Not everyone wants to race. Which may take some consideration.

If the event is promoted as a race event primarily, with the pic as part of it, I bet we could get participation from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Austin areas. Maybe include the Harley truck fellows also.

I may be off on this thought, but it may be easier to come up with 3500 bucks than it is to come up with 100 participants.

We have plenty of time to give notice on a date. Most folks don't have plans for October and November just yet, so they will be able to make a commitment if they know about this soon enough.

You mentioned 10 hours of daylight. Does this mean it would be less if we cut back the hours some?

Another thought. Most everything is negotiable. Maybe they would charge less in a less busy time of year. Like say for instance October or November.

Just some thoughts....


Rocks

Follow up thoughts...

It may be easy to come up with people who are willing to put up the money...until it comes time to pay. Everybody will show their support for the event until the money comes due. In order for this event to even be considered we need to have cash in hand. I'm sure if we choose to pay the $3000, the track will need it up front. Someone will have to front the cost or we will have to collect ahead of time. Say we go the route of option 3 (guaranteeing a certain # of vehicles buy tech cards)....what if people who say they were coming don't (that never happens, I know :rolleyes: )? Somehow, some way the track will get it's $$ if we don't come up with enough vehicles, and I don't want that responsibility to drop an any one individually...but it will. Bottom line there is a lot of risk here and that risk will be assumed indivually...not by the club. I am of the opinion that we need to front all $$ before considering an event like this. The only way I think that'll happen is if someone (or a group of someones) takes the initial hit to start it rolling and everyone pays them...I know I don't have an extra 3 grand lying around...(I do know of one guy that does....Tex!! :D )

It would be nice to get it done, and I would love to get involved in a prime quality event at the Motorplex like this, but I just don't see us bankrolling it. Sorry about being the eternal pessimist, but that's how it goes.

Tom

[Silver_2000]

To hold a club event at the Texas Motorplex, CLUB will be required to have a minimum participation of 100 tech card entries. The CLUB agrees to pay a penalty of $200 for every 5 entries below 100.



An invoice will be provided 60 days in advance of rental. A 100% deposit for the base rental fee will be required by 60 days in advance of rental.

Yes this will be a cash in advance issue ....

Im with Tom - We have organized too many things that had great interest on the forums and the cash never materialzed for at least 40 % of the people who posted interest. Shirts to races to stickers to food to whatever.

Simply it needs to be cash in advance

[03LightningRocks]

Yes this will be a cash in advance issue ....

Im with Tom - We have organized too many things that had great interest on the forums and the cash never materialzed for at least 40 % of the people who posted interest. Shirts to races to stickers to food to whatever.

Simply it needs to be cash in advance

We could get the money collected from folks in advance, before we give a dime to the track. Before even collecting in advance, we could start getting a list of who is in. Once we get enough commitments, we have all who commited pay pal the funds to one account.

Tom.... my recipe for success is believing that I can accomplish anything I set out to accomplish. If failure is my primary goal...failure will be achieved.

Maybe we should see just what kind of interest there is before scrapping the idea....;)


Rocks.....:beer:

[Silver_2000]

We could get the money collected from folks in advance, before we give a dime to the track. Before even collecting in advance, we could start getting a list of who is in. Once we get enough commitments, we have all who commited pay pal the funds to one account.

Tom.... my recipe for success is believing that I can accomplish anything I set out to accomplish. If failure is my primary goal...failure will be achieved.

Maybe we should see just what kind of interest there is before scrapping the idea....;)
Rocks.....:beer:

I think its a great idea and we should try to get it done - Tom and I are just setting expectations that we wont be moving forward with it till we solve the cash problem.

[03LightningRocks]

I think its a great idea and we should try to get it done - Tom and I are just setting expectations that we wont be moving forward with it till we solve the cash problem.


Not moving forward without the cash is reasonable. I think it can happen. If you remember the last TFC, just the suggestion of a track rental had several commitments within a few days. With several months before the event, we may just come up with the numbers. If we don't then so be it, at least we gave it a shot.


Rocks:beer:

[True Blue Aggie]

Just got home from work, and had plenty to think about....

Lets assume that we can split the costs for 10 hours of track rental time. Assuming that the event is in October, we would need to start the event at 8:00am. 8:00am to 6:00pm for everything. Pictures, racing for both groups, down time for lunch, etc....

Cost of the track....$3,500 split half/half is $1,750. Assume that you have 50 trucks (based on the last turnout for the Photo Shoot count of 68). 50 trucks at $1750 is $35 per person to be a part of the event. Any entry fees taken past 50 trucks goes into a prize pool for 1st place, runner up, and both semi-finalists. We could also have a best in show truck price for the best Gen 1 truck, and the best Gen 2 truck. This could gain the interest of the folks who would like to come out but maybe not race because the truck is a garage queen.

1st place - $150
runner up - $75
semi's - $35
best gen 1 - $150
best gen 2 - $150
2nd, 3rd, semifinalist....trophies
Total - $595 dollars paid out.....assuming we bank on 50 trucks and get 68 again (this is an example, please do not laugh at the moment and this does not count the cost of the trophies......Scott step in here anytime and volunteer)

Who to split this event with.....
Thats tricky. You want to keep it a Ford event, if at all possible. SVTClub of Dallas is my first though. They would easily have enough members to clear the 50 cars needed for the other half. The other group I thought of was the Harley trucks. I am not sure of their local numbers, but they could maybe pick up 25 trucks (best case) with SVT Club also picking up 25. We could label it the......

1st Ever Lighting / Mustang / Harley Truck Shootout hosted by Texas Area Lighting Owners North. Or the underlined space could be for a sponsor if one could be found......

Time to throw the event....
The month of September is completely out. Just based on the fact that FFW Ennis is on Sept. 15-17, and then LightningFest is Sept. 22-24. I would assume that no one will have the money or time to front the cash for all three of these events, as a racer or spectator, in September.
We could also be limited on the time available from Texas Motorplex. They might say that we have to fit this event in before the close of the track in October (if I remember correctly, that is when they have their last events of the season...just checked. Last event for NHRA region is Oct.14-16). The national event at Ennis is the same weekend as LightningFest, so that is not an issue at this time.

I am going to either say this event has to happen in October before daylight savings (2006 is on Oct. 29th for reference) or here's a wildcard....in May. I have several reasons to support this, but I'll wait to hear what everyone else starts to bitch about....

I also have a fallback that I guarantee will allow us to combine the photo shoot and the race, but I want to get opinions on what I have stated above first....:tu:

[tliss]

We could try to get a Lightning and Ram SRT-10/Hemi thing started and settle all of the BS once and for all. I'm not sure how much interest it'll get in Texas, but we could possibly pull John Hennessey into it from a Ram SRT-10 perspective. Would make an interesting idea, but I don't know what kind of interest we could get from the Dodge community. If this sounds like a reasonable option I'll post up on the SRT-10 board and see what kind of interest we could grab. Could possibly get Hennessey to bankroll it.

Tom

[dboat]

I am interested but cant do LFest (which I was planning on) and this.. but I would prob bypass LFest for this..

[sonicbluetommy]

My couple of pennys worth:

1)Cash up front starting now. I think we could easily get 25-40 cash commitments up front....I would be willing to put up $50 now even if I couldn't attend...this club has been that good to me just as resource of info, not counting the friends, good times, and Terry.

2)Great idea about combining the drag race with photo shoot with a truck show.....it would definitely help get people out that wouldn't normally come to just a drag race or photo shoot.
2a)If we do combine...think it has to be a spring thing, Lfest and our fall classic will put too much drain on available ppl, trucks, and cashola.

3)If we chose to split with another club....I seriously doubt you will get enough SRT-10 guys to come out with enough force to make a difference. I do think we could get the SVT club very interested and they have enough members to pick up half the tab, plus it would be fun to race and talk mustangs, most of us have either owned a mustang or like them. Also think we should def invite the Harley guys.

4)If we do have this at Ennis I think it would draw a lot bigger crowd including guys from farther away helping the vehicle count.

[03LightningRocks]

We might not want to get too far off the theme of our club event. Going to the Sh!tRunningTruck guys is not a great idea. Let's at least keep the event a Ford Truck event. If we need to get another type of vehicle club, let's at least keep it Ford and talk to the SVT club or other Mustang clubs.



Rocks:nono:

[Chris94L]

Correct me if I am wrong. But... (there is always a but)... They are wanting a garanteed number of tech cards sold (otherwise they wouldnt penalize the club renting $200 additional for every 5 under 100 cards). So it would be the club cost, which everyone is wanting to donate to (~$35 person was mentioned), then more cost at the gate for a tech card?

[03LightningRocks]

Correct me if I am wrong. But... (there is always a but)... They are wanting a garanteed number of tech cards sold (otherwise they wouldnt penalize the club renting $200 additional for every 5 under 100 cards). So it would be the club cost, which everyone is wanting to donate to (~$35 person was mentioned), then more cost at the gate for a tech card?


If we rent the track...that is that...no additional charges at the gate or otherwise. We just have to come up with between 3000 and 3500 bucks.

The other option is us making a garantee that we will have 100 vehicles. In this situation....you pay at the gate and buy a tech card. I am not sure of the amounts in this situation. The second choice probably shouldn't have even been brought up since there is no way in hell we can promise 100 vehicles.


Rocks

[Chris94L]

ahh ok, so its an either/or situation. got it

[GGus]

Speaking for the SVT Club of NT, we would certainly be interested. I will bring it up at our board meeting next week with the proposed dates and costs. I will also talk to a few possible sponsors that might underright some of the costs for both of us.

We also have a few events coming up that might interest you guys. One being a track day at MSR this Spring.

If someone wants to contact me with additional details about the Ennis day...shoot me an email at the address below.

GGus (Guy)
guy@svttexas.com

[True Blue Aggie]

GGus,

Keep us in the loop on the spring events :tu:

Michael

[Tex Arcana]

Some excellent ideas being tossed around, folks, and I like how things are shaping up.

GGus, would you mind posting up the MSR info when it comes available?

[Silver_2000]

here is an example of an event that is similar

105 spots prepaid via paypal
http://www.tamparacing.com/forums/tampa-racing-news/281697-track-event-14-sunday-february-26th-12-00-6-00-a.html

Interesting orgnizahtion ideas...