dg50@daimlerchrysler.com wrote, in what I can only assume is a serious
proposal:
> which included a little bit of a suprise on their
> part when they discovered that they were required to work a shift chasing
>cones.
Welcome to amateur activities. My wife and I have to help out with our
children's soccer teams, too. Nothing's free.
> There was no resistance, just a little suprise - especially on the part of
> family members who had come along to spectate, had seen their guy run, and who
> wanted to go home.
So maybe there was a failure on the part of the organizing region - or
an overly enthusiastic individual promoting the activity - to fully
communicate what's required at a Solo II event.
> One of my newbies is from Japan, and he observed that Japanese Gymkhana events
> provided staff workers to do the cone chasing.
WHAT HAVE WE BEEN THINKING?!!!! We've been doing this ourselves all
along, when all we had to do was hire some professional Solo II course
workers.
> He also noted that the entry fees
> were MUCH higher - on the order of $60-$70 per event.
Which is pretty much on a par with the cost of other leisure-time
activities there.
> Now I've heard from other people (not these guys) the expressed opinion that
> "autocross sucks because they make you stand around in the sun for two hours
> chasing cones and it eats your whole day to get 2 min of seat time".
Now, THERE'S a group of guys we really need to be recruiting. The
"lazyass whiner" market. Dennis, why haven't you told us about this
before? We've been wasting all this time looking for, like, motivated
folks who didn't mind helping put on events, when all along what we
really needed is a bunch of slackers. And then, just PAY some other guys
who didn't have anything ELSE to do on a Sunday to do all the work. I'm
gonna bring this up at our next Solo Committee meeting, fer sure.
> Those of us
> who have been around a little longer (or are perhaps made of stronger stuff)
> understand that by working, we keep costs down,
Or, more accurately, make it possible to actually put on local-level
Solo II events.
> But yet, it also seems unreasonable to ask for volenteers to work an entire
> event while everybody else runs.
Hell, SCCA's been doing that for years. It's called "road racing."
> So then, in order to have dedicated "pro" cone chasers, it follows that they
> have to be compensated somehow.
You mean getting to hang out with real autocrossers and look at some
really cool cars isn't enough?
> There is precident in other sports - I used to
> work, back in my tender years, as a "pro" soccer ref. The local Soccer
> Association maintained a pool of trained refs and linesmen (almost to the man
> high school students) who were paid to run the games.
It takes exactly three of these paid guys to ref. an under-10 soccer
game, which lasts about an hour. And, if the ref falls down, the worst
that can happen to him(her) is a few cleat marks.
<snip various forms of self-gratification>
> That would mean a labour bill of $750.
Uhh, even IF that were a good number (it ain't), that's a pretty hefty
chunk.
> Now I co-chaired an event last year that drew 180 cars, and we made much more
> than that in profit.
And, of course, that "profit" (you really mean "excess revenue" in a
non-profit organization) includes equipment maintenance, capital
depreciation, annual cone purchases, etc., etc., etc., right?
<snip even more stuff - Dennis, why don't you get a manager and stop
handling yourself? ;<) >
> And there's another benefit - by providing employment to teenagers and such,
You become (surprise) AN EMPLOYER! And there's these guys - some call
themselves OSHA, others go by EEOC, and there's EPA and God knows how
many other TLAs and FLAs - that you've gotta make happy. Remember the
"loud car" thread? Ever hear of a "hearing conservation program?" Or a
dosimeter? How about "blood-borne pathogen" training? Yeah, we're really
missing out on a lot in our short-sighted attempts to remain only a club
engaged in amateur activities.
> I can see a university (for example) more willing to provide
> access to great big honking parking lots if they know that the event is
>putting
> money into their student's pockets.
Can I get the name of your physician? I think I could use some of that
prescription you've obviously been taking. =8<)>
> The only problem I see is a little increased overhead on the part of the
>region
> to recruit, train, and organize the labour pool.
See above. I have no idea where you get a figure like $5/hr. Assuming
you want to attract breathing humanoids, you'd have to go 8.50-9.00
around here, and that won't guarantee that they'll stay awake for the
whole time.
> I don't see a loser here
Uhh, well, how about "everybody who now autocrosses?"
Jay "other than that, I think it's fine" Mitchell
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