Santa pod - The analysis

[beemerbird]

The problem with not recognising people will plague us as there's just too many of us! It's taken me a while so far to work out the regulars and what they look like. Most people won't want to wear a name badge and rightly so, i'd feel like a total plank! (more so than usual). Strangely, i had LOADS of people say hello to me by name, i guess the pics from the zone roam have something to do with that....

Agree with all of this; would never want to wander round a BMW show with 'beemerbird' on my lapel but did say hello to Gareth (by name) as I recognized him from pictures

[d6dph]

Right, I'll try to answer some of your questions now.

Sign & Banners

The zone does have one medium sized banner and two small banners. I believe these were on display during the day but towards the back of the stand?

We also had to smallish flags there but it's my fault they were not displayed, I was on the gate first thing then got side tracked cleaning my car and chatting. Sorry

I have strong connections in the sign industry so we will make use of those for next years shows. The other slight issue is where/who keeps the items.

Membership charges

The team have spoken in depth about this before and felt it was the wrong way to go. Maybe more donations would help?

Finding the zone stand

This is something that Santa pod do and it is never very good. We could make more signs and try to place them somewhere but again it's a time factor. I got up at 7am after a nights drinking and they were letting cars in at 7.35 rather than 8am as they should. It does become a mad dash tbh.

Camping

The camping was pretty bad this year if I am honest. Ground was hard and there was very little grass to set up on.

Reggiebabe (James & Bev), Dave318 & myself were the first zoners there from what I saw and we chose a place that would be easy to get out of in the morning due to me having to be ready early.

As for not much interaction between the sections, Well I came over and chatted to most people and personally I think it's as much everyones fault for not mingling.

(Ezagood, Where did you set up camp?)

Zoner identification

This is always an issue, As has been said I don't want to wear a badge with my name on it!

I can make number plates, Or I can supply stickers if people want to get some perspex cut numberplate sizes. I am also looking into heat transfer vinyl to go onto t-shirts so you can have a personalised zone t-shirt.

I will push on with this over the next week, It's my holiday from work so can't promise when.

Merchandise

It was decided that we wouldn't have a merchandise stand at the show this year as it means someone has to constantly be on hand. It comes back to the issue that we pay the same price as you to go so we don't want to work all day.

Trade stands & Autojumble

I have always thought this was a let down but it's solely in Santa pods hands.



In closing, I have been talking to Iain about next year and there are a few things we are thinking of.

1. No cars in the gazebos, These will be used as a hospitality area out of the sun with a table and camp stove so people can have a cuppa and a chat. Maybe we could incorporate the guest book into that?

2. Large flags and a couple of big banners. We need better advertising but these things are not cheap!

3. Show passes to be posted out before the event so it allows the team to focus on the stand. A small charge (£2 per pass) would be charged to cover admin costs and to buy tea bags and snacks for the gazebo.

4. A change of position for the zone stand? We have a large number of cars there and I personally think we have a good case for getting a better area, Maybe the bit the other side of the fire up lane. I will be discussing it with Santa pod and airing my views that if we get 150 passes then give us space for them and also we have a fair few cars going out to run so placing us in an area where we have to drive through the catering is plain daft!

Lastly I'd like to say thanks to all of you who attended, I had a brilliant weekend and it has reaffirmed my passion for my E30 and this forum.

My biggest thanks goes to Dan325isport who took loads of pictures at the gate and helped me get the car looking reasonable after that hideous dust/rain combo over night.

[essexgirlracer]

Nice one dave......... ......... Nice to see you have listened and taken on board comments that have been made.......... If you do need any help next year then me and my other half would be more than happy to pitch in..........X x x x x x

[djk]

All great ideas Dave - sorry I didn't wander over for a chat through the day, my limp wave when I left was about as chatty as I got with a thumping headache in the hot sun! Especially the idea for having the gazebos clear of cars and as a sort of meeting point - I reckon I'd have got a lot more involved if that had been the case this year. I'm still a n00b when it comes to car shows really, so it does take some gathering of gumption to walk over and chat to folk who despite communication on the forum, still feel like strangers really. An inviting set-up would be really helpful in this respect, and would likely pull more shy zoners out of the woodwork.

[town325i]

tbh the only problem i had with the day was driving past the food vans it was a pain in the arse as there are people everywhere and its not very safe(also it was making me hungry). but apart from that it was a very good day i didnt realy speak to many people but then again all moring i was getting as many runs in as possible before it got busy

[BadDave]

Right, I'll try to answer some of your questions now.

Sign & Banners

The zone does have one medium sized banner and two small banners. I believe these were on display during the day but towards the back of the stand?

I can also make the Scottish banner available(although it does differ from the current colour scheme)

Finding the zone stand

This is something that Santa pod do and it is never very good. We could make more signs and try to place them somewhere but again it's a time factor. I got up at 7am after a nights drinking and they were letting cars in at 7.35 rather than 8am as they should. It does become a mad dash tbh.

We could possibly strategically place one of the team members near the Pod officials directing traffic, to direct the masses to the stand area.

Camping

The camping was pretty bad this year if I am honest. Ground was hard and there was very little grass to set up on.

Reggiebabe (James & Bev), Dave318 & myself were the first zoners there from what I saw and we chose a place that would be easy to get out of in the morning due to me having to be ready early.

As for not much interaction between the sections, Well I came over and chatted to most people and personally I think it's as much everyones fault for not mingling.

I will admit, I parked up/pitched up beside zoner's I'd previously met and could identify with(Ziggy,beemerlad,Jon-Bmw,Gareth , and members of the Belgian contingent who attended last year )although i did venture over to the D6dph camp and also interacted with some of the E36 crowd camped beside us.

Also,as we are one of the larger,if not largest Forum/club attending, it'probably wouldn't sit well with all the other clubs represented if we were just to turn up and claim a large camping area for our members.

Merchandise

It was decided that we wouldn't have a merchandise stand at the show this year as it means someone has to constantly be on hand. It comes back to the issue that we pay the same price as you to go so we don't want to work all day.

There are plenty of opportunities to acquire merchandise alll year round.Current stock is available online via the Zone shop

Trade stands & Autojumble

I have always thought this was a let down but it's solely in Santa pods hands.

As stated, WE have no control over this at all.
At the end of the day, traders may not be willing to fork out whatever Santa Pod charges them to be there for the day/weekend for a one Marque show,moreso when there's no guarantee of recouping stand fees'

[HartgeH27]

Fully support Dave and Foreign Daves comments.

We will talk to Santa Pod crew again and do our collective best to get a larger area next year. We spoke to them on the Weds prior to the show and they ensured us we would have the full space which we requested, so you can picture our faces when we pitched up on the morning !

Better signage is a defo. A pair of full sized flag poles either side of the hospitality gazebo plus a good zone hoarding board at the entrance will be considered a minimum for next year. Gazebo with hospitality (basic but still good) plus flyers on the history of the Zone, brews, chairs, music all a definite must !

Name tags have been tried before and really dont work, some peeps dont like them, just get amongst the crowd and talk more !

Probably going back to trophies for best of show, best runs in various classes etc.

As mentioned, show passes in advance only coupled with a very small zone donation of £2 would really assist to getting things running smoothly, no one would be needed on the gate which would be great !

Keep the comments coming !

[gareth]

if there's a need for funds to buy banners etc, how about posting up a budget and setting up a paypal account for donations. i guess most of us wouldn't mind throwing a few pounds in and it should be a one-off expense.

I have a friend who runs a small t-shirt printing business, would it be worth asking for a price for getting a batch of simple shirts made up? maybe with a discreet username on them? Sad and nerdy but would definately help on the meet and greet front.

regarding having our own marshalls to direct people in, could we maybe set up some form of rota to cover 7:30 til lunchtime. say 30 mins each. not necessarily the admin crew but maybe some of the more regular and longstanding members (like me ) who don't usually have any direct involvment in the running of the zone but are keen to assist. i'd happily do a stint on it. I get a lot of use / help / enjoyment from this madhouse and feel 30 mins of my time would be the least i could to to show my support. this would also be a good way to break the ice and meet new folks as once people are away from their cars it's hard to tell who's a zoner and who's from another club or just a visitor.

regarding the area, it's madness on santa pods part. we must have the largest percentage of folks on the strip out of the clubs there, as we like driving the cars hard, not polishing (most of us anyway!). it would make more sense for a more 'classic' oriented club to be there and for us to be the other side of the entry lane. i think the health and safety aspect of us lot going on and off the strip past the catering area would be a useful bargaining tool. If this fails, maybe ask for all cars that will be on the strip to try and be on one side, and the others on the far side. that would make life easier getting in and out. I wasn't really planning on running this year but whe i returned from pulling the tent down i was blocked in pretty well. not a problem but it could have been irritating.

[gaszman]

i am i full support of what ian and dave have said ( sorry my car was in the gazebo ) will give a little time to help no prob next time ( will not camp ) 3.30 gb##bed time no no no .
as for t shirt with a user name under neath zone logo good idea no to big and should be an extra cost .

next big show ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????? you know where

[pebisit]

First time for me at that show, but I've been to others before with the BMW Car Club.
Personally, not knowing anyone, I wouldn't have realised you guys were there. I only worked it out because I recognised a couple of cars from the forum.I also belong to a fishing forum and they always get t shirts made up with a small name on them which helps alot to break the ice.
Also the idea of big flags, etc will bring the people in. Maybe a marque selling T Shirts, etc.
It all depnds how much people want to do, I guess
I think the Pod should definately give you a bigger area as you seemed to have far more cars than most.
As for the camping, missed that bit but me and my friend thought it would be great to do it next year. Would be good if you had a Zone area

[Jon_Bmw]

My one suggestion was to have a section that is for cars that are running up and down the strip as they will be in and out all day long. I didn't get blocked in once thankfully and I was careful not to block anyone with a number on the car(strip runner) but I had no choice but to park infront of some cars during the day.

Going through the burger van bottle neck was frustrating, with a quiet exhaust no one hears you in the queues. You can't use the horn and revving the engine makes you look a prat, but it was the only thing I could do. I am just talking a 1500rpm blip not a 6500 bang bang bang btw.

Both points are all to do with Santa pods layout, it is nothing the zone could prepare for.

[TPS]

Thanks again for a great day, I've never been to Santa Pod before & I was very Impressed, I thought the turn out & stand location were excellent, apart from the toilets seemed to be a bit of a trek(I don't think Santa Pod are going to re-locate them on my behalf!!!), Zoner Indentification & signage to the stand were my only real gripes, I did put my name on the pink slip of paper, but unless you stand next to the car you can't see it.

[town325i]

i will be honest now even if nothing does improve i will still be going how much fun it was its as simple as that

[d6dph]

Cheers Iain and Dave for having your input, I was hoping someone would chip in

[beemerbird]

I think we need a secret zone handshake

I know I've posted on this thread a couple of times, and have totally forgotten to say that I had a great time, incidentally. Met some Zoners I was looking forward to having a chin - wag with etc etc. I did arrive horrendously late, so didn't get to do the meet and greet parking fiasco which sounds like a true zone bonding moment, but all in all it was a fine day.

Anyway, cheers wee Dave and all the rest of you

[oakey]

I had a good time and can't think of much that would improve it noticeably tbh.
A few suggestions though
- If someone could arrange the cars in some kind of sections that would be good imo. Ie- m3s, tourings, sports all in groups etc etc.
-The actual e30zone stand really didn't stand out this year, due to how the cars were parked it seemed a bit out the way. More e30zone signs would be good too.

I also understand that due to the amount of e30's that turned up any type of organisation is a massive challenge

[ezagood]

the idea for having the gazebos clear of cars and as a sort of meeting point - I reckon I'd have got a lot more involved if that had been the case this year. I'm still a n00b when it comes to car shows really, so it does take some gathering of gumption to walk over and chat to folk who despite communication on the forum, still feel like strangers really. An inviting set-up would be really helpful in this respect, and would likely pull more shy zoners out of the woodwork.

+1.

d6dph, i was about 10 foot away. blue e30. i was with my wife.

[Dan320is]

I thoroughly enjoyed the show this year, in fact I rarely left the zone area due to the cars and characters that attended.

The only thing that tarnished the zones stand/area was santa pods management. Why they put us in that location with such a small area I don't know. Iain had even spoken to them a few days prior to the event making sure that there was enough space

The best layout we had was a few years ago when we were on the other side of the firing strip with plenty of room.

Roll on 2010 and our attendance at other shows.

Thank you to the zone team, especially Iain and Dave.

[ah]

First time to the pod for me,I had a great day well done to all the mods for all there hard work.I haven't got anything to compare this year with,I couldn't agree more with zoners who were wandering around looking at cars without being able to put a face to the owner(zoner).The problem is we nearly all have banners or avatars of our cars but not ourselves,so I found myself wanting to talk to other zoners but not knowing who was on the zone and who was not.I spoke to Josh with 318i tech2 lookalike,I saw him and the car in TBMW.Hope you found a use for the wheel Josh.There was a guy cleaning a gorgeous modified silver E30 (REG-TES-858)yes the guy was from Belgium-snooka,but again I didn't realize he was on the zone I would have had a chat with him,would have be great to speak to European zoner as well.I think selling merchandise on the day would be brilliant,I'm sure the zone would sell loads because lots of people hate waiting for things to come throw the post and want it there and then,and you can see exactly what your buying,but as the mods said and fare play to them,one or more of them are tied down to the stand all day and its as much there show as ours.As for directions to the zone area,what about posting a map on the zone to where we will be situated in the Santa pod info thread (only an idea).

[Rav335uk]

problem is we nearly all have banners or avatars of our cars but not ourselves,so I found myself wanting to talk to other zoners but not knowing who was on the zone and who was not

Mine has always featured me in it,I even wore the same outfit too so other zoners would know who I was.

[d6dph]

Please keep the chat off of this thread! This is the second cleanup now

[dano0]

just had an idea about fund raising what about a e30 zone auto jumble where every one donates parts and then the mods can decide on prices and put the profits to wards running the zone
this could be done at most events and would see people contribute to the zone with out spending money
i no this means some one has to stay at the stand but im sure with over 100 members at pod we could all do a stint and this might even help people get to no each other
just an idea

[ah]

Not a bad idea.

[d6dph]

No can do, Pod will charge us far more than we will make.

[Cook318IS]

Haven't read the whole thread but why not use the auto jumble idea at beaulieu motor show? I went to the beaulieu motor show at the beginning at the month and it was huge with alot of visitors! Only found some brochures, a set of 14" bbs's and some centre caps for e30s! surely that would be a cheaper option should you decide to do that?

[dano0]

what about just sending you guys stuff to sell on here and ebay
every owes this site somthing

[Rav335uk]

beaulieu motor show

Wher's that held, never heard of that one?

[sweep]

I had a good time and also met some fellow zoners,i think i will be attending some more shows/meets but hopefull in my 325 next time.

[Cook318IS]

in beaulieu , its in southampton

[Rav335uk]

in beaulieu , its in southampton

I bet it was "Adit" in disguise who sold u the goods then

[SLIMADI]

Well i was disappointed with camping i was expecting more of a party atmosphere to be honest,why cant we next year have a small gazebo and barbecue with a camping zone banner up that way zoners can come over meet and greet each other have a beer and a bite to eat, im sure that there would be zoners that would chip in with the food,or even make a small charge for burgers etc and what profit is made can be put back into the Zone? As for the zone stand on sunday i think all cars should be facing one and and in a straight line as possibly and all cars going up the strip to be put over to one side and made to put hazards on when going out or even have a few zoners guiding cars out safely im sure there would be volunteers for this including myself that way hopefully the rest of the zone area will be safer,as said before a meet and greet stand would be good to for the day tripers on sunday to meet other zoners to

[BadDave]

Well i was disappointed with camping i was expecting more of a party atmosphere to be honest,why cant we next year have a small gazebo and barbecue with a camping zone banner up that way zoners can come over meet and greet each other have a beer and a bite to eat, im sure that there would be zoners that would chip in with the food,or even make a small charge for burgers etc and what profit is made can be put back into the Zone?

Unless everyone pitches at round about the same time(early Saturday morning) then there's no guarantee that there will be a sufficiently sized space for everyone to pitch there tents and park there cars, as it's currently a, whoever turns up 1st get to please themselves as to where they pitch up.Everyone else then has to make do with whatever area's left.

As for the zone stand on sunday i think all cars should be facing one and and in a straight line as possibly

We can only make best use of the size and shape of the area that the Pod provide us with

all cars going up the strip to be put over to one side

See reply above

[SLIMADI]

^^I was meant to say in lines not just one line,just a thought tho

[BadDave]

^^I was meant to say in lines not just one line,just a thought tho

Duly noted

[d6dph]

I agree with the one gazebo in the camping area bit, think that would be good but there are a couple of issues that I can see.

1. A single bbq would mean people are either fighting for space to cook on or eating at random times

2. Who packs the gazebo away in the morning? I know that the team has plenty to do and I wouldn't have had time to do that this year, I'm not getting up any bloody earlier either lol.

If we can get a quick fold one (£££) before next year then it's cool because it can be folded down in about 5 minutes.