FJ Cruisers of Northern California

All-NorCal Meet?

OK gangaroo...so I've been hinting and mentioning the possibility of an All-NorCal Meet for several months now (or has it been over a year?) and have obviously (check the time stamp) been losing sleep over it.

So here are some possibilities. Please feel free to chime in with your thoughts.

ALL-NORCAL MEET

Purpose
To provide an event celebrating the Northern California FJ Cruiser Community and the great outdoors.

Events
Trail runs: The location will have a network of trails suitable to accommodate all levels of drivers.
Recovery clinics: Group and one-on-one recovery clinics will be held.
On-Trail driving clinics: Clinics given during trail runs will include reading trails (driving and spotting) and driving skills (e.g. left-foot braking, gearing, etc.)
FJC 101: Getting to know your FJ Cruiser clinic. Will include layout of the vehicle, part locations, parts susceptible to failure on the trails, ATRAC/locker usage and more.
Vendor booths & Swap Meet: Local vendors can show their latest designs, parts and modifications. Attendees can buy/sell/trade parts and accessories.

Location
The location of the meet will include plenty of trails, camping and nearby hotels/lodges. Location may alternate between three locations yearly (tentatively: Hollister Hills SVRA, Lakes Basin Area and Bear Valley Area).

Time of year
Late spring or early fall. Thinking of avoiding summer due to various fire restrictions that will most likely be in place in a couple of the alternate locations. No campfires = bummer.

Length of event
The All-NorCal Meet would take place over the course of 3.5 days (Thursday - Sunday). Thursday would serve primarily as set-up and early registration. Friday would include newbie and skill enhancement clinics and late afternoon trail runs. Saturday would be filled with trail runs. Sunday would include a morning trail run and departure.

I am also thinking about entertainment such as a live band and perhaps fun activities for kids. However, when you start venturing into entertainment, hosted meals, etc., you begin to talk about more $$$.

So, since this will be a community event, I'd like to ask for community feedback based on the information above. I've said enough and would like to open this discussion to you, the members. Would you be interested in this type of event? Would you want more activities and events planned?

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Permalink Reply by Boss73 on May 13, 2009 at 6:33am

WOW Tater you have no idea the hell you are about to unleash upon yourself !!!! hehehehehehehe

As most people know I have been involed with planning the Mud n yer Eye Frolic over the past couple of years. Its a LOT of planning and a whole bunch of work. And Know you realize the $$ that it will take. One thing on my mind is Toilets?? Xtra wil be needed for Area 5 and I am not sure about the other places.

I would like to shoot for early Fall. Just seems to be a better time. Also CAl 4 wheel and MTA both hold their event in early spring so we may not have a great choice of weekends (if we have it at Hollister). There are also many other event that the park gets rented out for..

Live band would be great.. Not sure what type of music would be good for our crowd but it seemsm to work out welll at other events. For some reason I have a feeling that a DJ might work out beter. Simply because we may have a wider range of music fans other than county or rock..

Also will this be a paid event ?? If it is we wil need insurance. If not than we can treat it like Surf n Turf.
Will there be any kind of raffle ??
What about kids ??

I would love to be involved with the planning on this. If we do end up having it at Hollister I also have meny hook-ups there as well.

Boss is ready to do some kind of cool event......

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Permalink Reply by potatomutato on May 13, 2009 at 11:51am

yes, well aware of what goes into planning, executing and funding such an event hence the gauging of interest. if we have lack of interest, i am spared the planning of it! :-)

i am looking to do something more like Surf N Turf at this point. however, if we have an overwhelming response and folks want to "do it up" then i am willing to go the extra mile to research insurance, etc. insurance is a difficult one and sometimes it is best to be with a club or affiliated with a larger organization that already organizes similar events (which is an option depending on how interested people are here).

thanks for stepping up to assist...you know you will be getting a call. heheheh

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Permalink Reply by CA Annie on May 13, 2009 at 10:02am

We know a couple of bands. Once we firm up a date or even the month, I can start asking if one would be interested. One does mostly Covers, so they are very popular will all types of crowds. I got them to play at a friends 40th birthday party, went real well. They were free a few years ago, but now they play Vegas and Reno a lot, so I'd have to check their scheduled and if they'd charge me. "Music for Adults" is their motto. Fun guys.

If we bring several PETT toilets, can we avoid having to rent portable toilets?

I like the idea of avoiding Summer. Too hot & dry.

BOSS, about how much $ are you thinking for something like this?

I agree, catering at a camp site isn't always the best option. Gets expensive and the food can be bland/old/unevenly heated. We could roast a PIG and come up with some coleslaw/potato salad, or just a big BBQ on our own. I've always wanted to roast a pig while camping! That would probably be cheaper than a caterer, but we should check to be sure. So the big dinner would be one night only, everyone is on their own for all other meals? Or, if this gets cumbersome, we can skip it, have everyone do their own meals, and just have a communal 'Cocktail Night' both nights after dinner.

Love the idea of skills clinics. I missed the one last year. Both driving skills, trail repair skills (using the jack, changing tires, maybe replacing an axle in the field?) and rescue/recovery skills. I'd like to learn to Spot, maybe a Spotters Clinic?

One thing I'd like to do, I was thinking about for next years ALL Cal meet: Ladies Drive! The Portland group is having a Ladies day this month, men are riding shotgun. Have a comprehensive beginners intro, maybe an hour, then head out for one of the medium trails? I'd like to be apart of this, along with a more experienced driver. (I have NOT done a lot of recovery or spotting).

I like the idea, Steve! I'll help anyway I can.

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Permalink Reply by Boss73 on May 13, 2009 at 10:41am

Are you talking total costs ?? Hmm I will have to see what the final # was for the club event... I will get back to ya on that...

Boss

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Permalink Reply by CA Annie on May 13, 2009 at 11:16am

Yeah, just so we have an idea of the cost...

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Permalink Reply by potatomutato on May 13, 2009 at 12:05pm

all good ideas!

depending on the response, we may either get it catered or we'll all "BYOF&B" which we have done for all the previous trail runs. we could conduct "mini-group buys" on food to save dough. we've done it before...this will just be on a bigger scale.

we'll see what the response is like.

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Permalink Reply by manoweb on May 13, 2009 at 12:01pm

Hi great idea, my recommendation would be to use more of the Sunday, because many people may not be able to attend Thursday and Friday.

I would gladly pay $$$ for the clinics, recovery, engine maintenance, transmission etc; it would be great to gather spare parts (a differential, for example) and take it apart to see how it is made inside etc

On the other hand, I am personally not interested in paying for music, can't we just sit around the camp fire with a guy playing guitar like we did at Slickrock last year? That was so great