Thread: Discuss the future of the national convention.

I never thought I'd say this, but its starting to make sense why the Serca organizers walked away from the Conventions.

Just to be clear, Rob, Mark and I make the Final Decision on how and whats done with the SR20 National Convention, We proven ourselves and had the right formula to host two very successful conventions which brought life and interest back into the community. We picked up the pieces from 2011 and made it to what it is today. Obviously we would like to continue to host year after year, but realistically isn't going to be the case. Like Rob said, we went to Joe and Mark in 2011 for permission to host 2012. Madtec was the only individual to step up to the plate and asked for our blessing during 2014.

(Similar to Serca) My goal in 2012 was to start a roadcourse fund and build it as the years went on so one day we can have a pot of money for a down payment on future road course events (if needed), I didn't just take all the money we earned from raffles, t-shirt sales and donations, and put it in my pocket or cover hotel expenses (hmmm :???. It actually ended up being used to cover start up cost for 2013, 2014, and 2015 plus cover cost for 2012(4 conventions). So we must of done something right to pull a profit because if you host a convention and barely end up breaking even its hard to say it was a success. So for future organizers, when hosting don't forget about the following year which is something we made clear to the current organizer so we need everyone to participate it order for this to continue.

It amazes me how folks who hardly attend conventions & were no where to be found want to give their 2 cents in this thread about how things should be done. Most don't even know the facts on what really happened and want to point fingers . But I'm not gonna disrespect anyone or go into details about who, what and why.

A few posted "i spent x amount of dollars for this, or I had to put a down payment for that. Thats part of being an organizer plain and simple. I had to put $5000 on my personal credit card to secure the go-karting for last year. Didn't bitch about it, and keep in mind this wasn't no coney island style go karting event. It was a national level go-kart course that ended up coming out to be more expensive then if we did Nelson Ledges as a last minute solution. I can go on and on, don't tempt me.

I prefer road racing over drag racing, but embrace both activities. We hit it out the park drag racing in 2012 when pretty much every attendee participated in the drag racing event plus had 10 sec Mazworx Gtir & for 2014 some of us got the chance to see a 10sec full interior street/show car coming out of hibernation after 10 years. This is why drag racing was added to the course of events at conventions. Plus its more entertaining for spectators and easier on the wallet. In 2013 I remember a bunch of people leaving the picnic acting like they had better things to do then attend the drag racing (yep you know who you are) and frankly we can do without that crowd. Also a few guys just came for the roadcourse event only and took off after it was over.

Guys, I'm not happy either about whats going on with Summit Point, and had no idea this was going to be the case when we handed the torch, but I do think some of you are not happy about not being included in the decision making which why the negatively is showing it's true colors in this thread. I believe if everything was on track with no hiccups or issues, your post wouldn't exist and probably have an excuse or be to busy to attend . I also do understand the frustrations with how things have been communicated.

I don't want to see the SR20 conventions burn to the ground, I think many of us put alot of hard work and time to make it what is today, but the way this thread has gone, who knows at this point. Either way 2015 is going to happen with or without you. Hopefully some of you who are upset about the track day will attend the 2015 WCC since you didn't last year.

One more thing, enough with the Community is dead talk. This is not the case at all, since 2012 there's been a revival. The group is gonna change, we'll have new members and some will leave, because things are not going perfectly don't mean its the end.

At the end of the day, most of us love these cars and share similar interests. Lets use this as a learning experience and move forward. See you Virginia and in Cali.

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That was covered by Mark many posts ago. Some people make travel plans MONTHS in advance and can not change them. Some need to put requests in before new years to get approval.

I think a lot of the posts in this thread are coming from a place of frustration. And justifiably so. Lots of rehashing of things that have been discussed for the last 4-5 years with regards to the road course issue and getting no where...yada yada. I see a lot of ideas that address the symptom of the real issue. Someone mentioned the Porsche Club of 'Merica. As a member of both the PCA and the BMWCCA, it got me thinking. If you look at the organizational model of both of those clubs and then you see how successful they are with regard to their DE events, it becomes clear what our real issue is. It isn't money, it's the fact we don't have an real organization! We use to. And for a while it worked.

Perhaps it's time someone starts the "SR20 Club of America" or something to that effect? Membership fees, fund raisers, social events, a newsletter, elected officers, membership meetings....etc etc. I realize we don't have the numbers these other clubs have, and some may say, it will never work... but what's the alternative?

I do know this. If you continue to use the same model, the issue isn't going to get solved. Anyone in the know, is well aware, money is needed upfront, months in advance, to do anything on a road course. That includes the piggyback method, as well. If you start with that fact and work your way back from that, it becomes clear we need a organization that can raise funds a head of time. To expect an organizer to front money is a recipe for failure. I see membership dues and fund raisers from the prior year, as a viable method to fund the deposit money needed for an event. As nice as the whole, "Give us your tired, your poor..." mantra was, it doesn't pay the bills. And yes, paying to be in a club may be a turnoff for some. The way I see it, though, is those folks aren't really that serious, anyways.

I'm really sorry that some people here are feeling frustrated. I think we all need to get passed it and solve the issue. After it's all said and done, we all still have a connection and something in common with SR cars. I think a real organization celebrating that connection, may be the solution to our long term issues.

Who's gonna have #1 on their membership card? Where should I send my membership dues?

My 2cents, for what it's worth.

@hammerin hank AMEN!!

@hammerin hank; Somebody get this man a damn beer!

Glad somebody apart from Joe (and in addition, Ben) said it!

I am willing to pony up if it allows this place to survive!

The "leadership" keep saying "it's about the people", but if you keep ignoring the "people" and thier plees and concerns, is it really about the people??

you didnt mention it cause you like the drama

There was a group like this called SERCA. It was started when these cars were still in production, and the community was bigger than it is now. I don't remember what the costs were, but it was not expensive, but we still had trouble getting people to join. There were club officers, news letters, events local, regional, and national. The biggest issue was "what am I getting for my money?" BMWCCA and PCA are successful because they talk to a wider group. For the most part you have just Sentra guys in here, not too many 240, Z, or whatever. Each car has it's own group, and there is not much interaction between them. BMW and Porsche encompass all of the cars so you have everything from a track day only GT3 to a DD 1 series. The other issue is, for the most part, Sentra guys are cheap. The cars are and were cheap cars. There are some people who drop some serious money into their cars, but when a good portion of the cars look like they were thrown together over a lunch break, those guys are not going to join a club if there is not a return on their dollar.

Eric: that is bullshit about having trouble getting people to join. I tried joining for years along with the prob 75 people I was affiliated with. We got a big slap in the face: "we aren't accepting applications at this time" . It was a clique type atmosphere and we were trying to spend $$$ to keep it going. Nothing against the people organizing on a personal level but from a club type membership side of things it was fucked up. Shit I was involved in these cars for longer than most of the founding members of SERCA, still got the shaft. Thankfully I met some great people that were in that club and have life long friends as of today because of it without being instated in that organization.

You must have tried to join when the club was in decline and it was easier to not add new members then fold right after. This was done so it would not look like your money was taken with nothing in return. I can't say this for everyone, but I never saw anything resembling the "clique type atmosphere". I'm sure it was nothing against you personally, it just happened to be the wrong time to try to join. I remember meetings where we were trying to find ways to add value to the club to keep existing members, and also add new ones as well. At the time, nothing seemed to work and the people who had built up the club got burned out, or moved on and no one wanted to step up and lead it, so it folded.