[Healeys] Autumn Classic Trends

[Editorgary at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/19/10 6:19:50 AM, healeys-request at autox.team.net 
writes:


> > I just returned form the Autumn Classic in Morgan Hill, CA, an all 
> British
> > event. ( it rained constantly but we all had a good time. The ride home 
> was
> > 5
> > hours of heavy rain). We were informed this was to be the last one after 
> 18
> > years. The numbers of attendees was 25% from what was needed to break 
> even.
> 
it may be worth noting that, like the erstwhile Palo Alto British Car Show, 
the Autumn Classic was the work of one (count him, one) individual who did 
all the organization, planning, publicity, announcing, award-giving, and 
credit-taking. No slight on that -- all the rest of us benefited from it for as 
long as that individual was willing to invest the time and effort for 
whatever return he personally got. 
HOWEVER, as someone once said, in triumph is sown the seeds of defeat. When 
one person runs the show, no one else is prepared to step up to the mark, 
and there's no continuity. Furthermore, when that person has decided what the 
CORRECT format is for that show, it never changes and eventually it does 
stagnate. My experience with both of the local shows is that the organizer was 
never receptive to new ideas, and tended to push people away who wanted to 
make any changes.
By contrast, continuing successes like Portland, Vancouver, and Maryland, 
have been run by rotating committees for many years, bringing fresh 
enthusiasm to the party each year, as well as new ideas that add something innovative 
each year. That's the recipe that works.
So, from among all the clubs that did participate in the Morgan Hill show, 
surely each club could delegate two people to a committee (the model that 
Portland uses) that could begin right now to lock in the venue -- it is a nice 
show in a nice area, with nice driving roads nearby -- and make plans for 
something that preserves the good stuff and adds some new stuff. 
There's no reason the show needs to die just because the organizer has 
finally burned out and the show is starting to show signs of too many years with 
the same format.
Gary