I'd be delighted to help with a "beginners booth" although as a "casual"
autocrosser could not be there to staff the majority of events. Heck, I could
only make 6 of the 14 conveniently located SFR 2005 Championship events ;^).
On another note, http://www.baautox.com has a friendly forum dedicated to new
autocrossers. Perhaps we can leverage this asset to welcome and encourage
folks too?
Barry - http://www.4d-sport.com/pages/758675/index.htm
PAUL TIBBALS <pault151@comcast.net> wrote:
Pat,
Excellent comments.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pat Kelly"
> My question: what is it that 'hooks' a driver to come back; or, why
doesn't
> a driver return for more on a regular basis?
> In answer to the first question: Some of it is social. Was the new
> person welcomed, or ignored? Most folks only go where they felt they were
> welcomed. If they get the 'cold shoulder' they most likely won't return.
There have been multiple comments at various times regarding the welcome
that a newbie gets at our events. The ones that I remember stated that it
was a little forbidding for someone who wasn't accompanying their sponsor
minute to minute. The waiver position is too demanding a job during rush
periods to be talkative with folks.
Would we benefit in the long run by creating yet another work position, a
"beginner's booth"? Sort of a first step prior to Alan's excellent course
walk program. Just an idea. The necessary information is available on the
excellent Website, but we have no idea whether newbies have read through
that. And it would take some people skills, tougher than just signing up
for Station 7 to shag cones.
...> Then, again, it all comes down to the budget, and time. Those with
> larger wallets and time can afford whole weekends on a regular basis;
those
> who are more careful with their dollars choose to stay at one-day events.
> In a sense, the choices are for the 'haves' and 'have-nots.'
Certainly. I am not really likely to do an AAS full weekend unless I were
to commit to that series. My weekend time seems ever more precious, and
losing the full 36 hours from early Saturday to late Sunday or more is a big
commitment of it. The Tour and Divisional races were special occasions,
once or twice a year things for me worth the weekend.
>.......... SFR depends on its
> members to supply the labor, and welcomes anyone to design a course, chair
> an event, sort of spread the wealth, whereas both AAS and Sac Chapter are
> run by a 'hard core' which everyone knows will supply the event; all they
> have to do is show up and do their heat work chore.
> But, since SFR has trained them all so well, they will step up to the
> plate and volunteer if needed.
> In other words, SFR is the spawning ground for real autocrossers; if
it
> didn't exist, the other groups might suffer, imo.
A group like this only survives as long as they have a long-term core of
workers or have a successful recruitment strategy for shorter-timers.
The stories of AAS I've heard have agreed with your comments. OTOH from
what I have seen Sac Chapter competitors have a pretty limited overlap with
SFR, so we can't take credit for training the current bulk of competitors
there. Paul T.
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