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Ft Myers Observations - and some Ideas

To: autox@autox.team.net
Subject: Ft Myers Observations - and some Ideas
From: dg50@daimlerchrysler.com
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 09:29:33 -0500
Those of you that missed the Ft. Myers Pro, you may now take a few seconds to
beat your heads against the nearest solid object. You missed a fantastic event.
The weather was great, the beach was great, the site was great, the beach was
great, the Gulf Coast Autrocrossers did a fine job of hosting (take a bow folks)
the beach was great, the course... wasn't bad (~35-36 seconds, and a little
tight for my tastes) the beach was great, and the new Pro classes debuted.

Did I mention the beach was great?

Hey, I'm a Canadian. Running around on a warm-water beach wearing practically
nothing in early March is a bit of a novelty. Back home, my people are still
stalking seals and polar bears for supper. ;)

The new Pro classes seemed to work out well, although I feel for Kurt Spitzner.
Getting Solo people to do anything in any sort of cohesive manner seems to be a
lot like herding cats.

It would help a lot though Kurt - and I know you're out there - if the SCCA
presented a more organized package, especially with regards to the car graphics.
>From everthing we'd been shown last year, I'd been expecting the "protected
space" door strip to consist of a one-piece graphic, quite possibly a monochrome
number-color-over-body-color cutout like the class designator box was (which
would look really sharp) Instead, we got the same old "bumper stickers" like we
always do, and they weren't even all the same width. And what was up with
re-using the Racing Electronics oddball stickers from last year in the protected
space?

The message that sent to me was "we didn't know what we wanted to put in that
protected space, or what was supposed to go there wasn't ready, so we cobbled
something together at the last minute"

The best way to lead is by example. The more professional and slick the SCCA
part of the operation is, the easier it will be to get the participants to act
professional and slick. That means, incidently, that something has to be done to
speed up registration....

Anyway, the actual conduct of the event was beyond reproach, and the staff - as
always - adapted to the little emergencies as professionally as they always do.
Things like Kim Fine putting her Z3 under a chain link fence. (Driver was
shaken, but unharmed. Car was scratched up, and a rearview mirror was broken -
thank [deity of your choice] that she missed the poles).

We had a great time, and will be back again next year. I WASN'T DFL! :)

Special thanks to Roger The Famous, who took the time out to help us shuttle
tires from the hotel when our tow vehicle broke down, and who let us store our
crap in his trailer. Thanks Roger, and I'm going to overlook your attempts to
steal my crew chief away from me. :) :)

Incidently, I invited a bunch of guys from the Talon List to come to Ft. Myers
to see what ProSolo was all about, and one of them took me up on the idea,
driving down from Tampa to check things out. He arrived shortly before my first
heat runs, got to see me spin the car, and went home happy shortly thereafter.

Things he liked were how accessable the drivers and cars were, and he actually
thought the racing part was pretty interesting. What he didn't like was that the
heats were so spaced out in time - if you want to watch a single class at the
event, you pretty well have to commit to the whole weekend to get the whole
story.

This started me thinking...

ProSolo, if it is ever going to reach the level of commercial success required,
is going to have to become more and more about The Show. However, it cannot do
so by sacrificing the participant's experience. It's OK if Dale Earnheart
doesn't have fun at an event, that million-dollar contract he's got kinda makes
up for it. For us mere mortals though, if it's not enjoyable, why do it?

So the line that has to be walked is to make ProSolo more TV and spectator
friendly, while keeping things fun for the participants.

The recent discussion about TV is telling. The money part of it I don't see as
an obstacle. Yes, it's a whole lotta cash, but raising money is just a matter of
making the right pitch to the right people. If Pro Lawnmower racing can raise
the 100k to get on TV, so can we.

However, the part about the TV production needs interfering with the actual
operation of the event is a much more salient point. When the cameras are on,
the TV producer is the boss. It tough enough to keep a Pro running smoothly as
it is without being subject to the demands of a TV crew.

What is needed is a way to compress all the "interesting" stuff together in
time, and reduce the amount of the event exposed to the cameras.

So I had this as an idea: What if we keep the 12 run format, but run 2 heats of
6, instead of 3 heats of 4. Run the NationalSeries classes in their entirity on
Saturday, and run the Pro series heats on Sunday morning, with the Challenges in
the afternoon as always. Sunday thus becomes TV/Spectator Day.

- Spectators no longer need a full weekend, and The Show plays out in a big
block of time in front of them (assuming the Spectaors are there to watch the
Pros, which seems a reasonable assumption)

- The Pro Classes are smaller, and more experienced, and so are probably better
able to adapt to TV-driven changes or delays.

- Qualifying for the NationalSeries challenge means you get to be part of the
Pro Show - a selling point for the NationalSeries participants. Do well on
Saturday, get some fame on Sunday.

Comments?

DG
P2 #70



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