• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Embarrassing closing ceremony

We need to recognize deserving people and prize donors should get something in return, however, is doing this exclusively on stage, live, at the end of the rally, the only option?

How about utilizing a small amount of time on the main stage each night? Or, utilize this web forum and our high quality ON magazine. These two mediums would reach even more than the 6000 or so at the closing ceremony. Just a thought...
 
I don't think you can reach anyone unless they want to be reached. And I'm usually one of those people who doesn't want to be reached. Unless I want to be reached.
I'm glad to see this thread.
And I'd like to see it keep going.
It reminds me why I have never gone to any motorcycle rally, BMW or otherwise, and why I never will.
It reminds me why I have not gone to Sturgis for the rally and never will.
You could put the gun to my head and say "you are going to Sturgis for the rally" and I would not be there.
Here in Los Angeles they use the term cattle. As in cattle call. Or cattle boat.
dc
 
We need to recognize deserving people and prize donors should get something in return, however, is doing this exclusively on stage, live, at the end of the rally, the only option?

How about utilizing a small amount of time on the main stage each night? Or, utilize this web forum and our high quality ON magazine. These two mediums would reach even more than the 6000 or so at the closing ceremony. Just a thought...

"Just a thought.....?"

I would say, an excellent thought! :thumb
 
...It reminds me why I have never gone to any motorcycle rally, BMW or otherwise, and why I never will.
It reminds me why I have not gone to Sturgis for the rally and never will.
You could put the gun to my head and say "you are going to Sturgis for the rally" and I would not be there.
Here in Los Angeles they use the term cattle. As in cattle call. Or cattle boat.
dc

It's funny that you can be so uncomplimentary about people you've never met, and so certain there's no value in an event you've never attended. :stick
 
I don't think you can reach anyone unless they want to be reached. And I'm usually one of those people who doesn't want to be reached. Unless I want to be reached.
I'm glad to see this thread.
And I'd like to see it keep going.
It reminds me why I have never gone to any motorcycle rally, BMW or otherwise, and why I never will.
It reminds me why I have not gone to Sturgis for the rally and never will.
You could put the gun to my head and say "you are going to Sturgis for the rally" and I would not be there.
Here in Los Angeles they use the term cattle. As in cattle call. Or cattle boat.
dc

Must be hard to live in an isolated world.
 
Dan
All compliments aside, there are quite a few people in this world that I don't ever want to meet.
Nothing personal mind you.
It's called taste. Discrimination. We all do it. We all have it. Only some of us are willing to admit it.
I have not attended every traffic jam in this town. I'm sure there may be great benefit from attending some of them. I'll skip it.
I really doubt much benefit can come from standing in long lines.
But who knows.
There may be another way to put it. "Don't knock it, if you haven't tried it."
Does that go for murder, suicide, guzzling 6 gallons of beer, and riding a custom Harley?
It doesn't go for me. I'll skip it.
Osbie
It ain't hard at all. It's rather delightful, actually. Part of it is known as peace and quiet.
Some guys like to wander off and live in isolation in the mountains, like an old man. I'm seriously looking at that type of thing myself.
One does not have to spend much time in Los Angeles til it becomes pure delight to go to the mountains, or the desert, and wake up in the morning, and look out and see, for miles, nothing but nature. No humans whatsoever. At one with nature.
Then reality sets in.
dc
 
I don't think you can reach anyone unless they want to be reached. And I'm usually one of those people who doesn't want to be reached. Unless I want to be reached.
I'm glad to see this thread.
And I'd like to see it keep going.
It reminds me why I have never gone to any motorcycle rally, BMW or otherwise, and why I never will.
It reminds me why I have not gone to Sturgis for the rally and never will.
You could put the gun to my head and say "you are going to Sturgis for the rally" and I would not be there.
Here in Los Angeles they use the term cattle. As in cattle call. Or cattle boat.
dc

Hmmm.....I wonder if all the forum members who volunteer to work long hours in the
heat, humidity and rain to make these rallies successful appreciate being called "CATTLE".

Ya think ????
 
If ya think, you will realize that the term cattle has to do with the people standing in the long lines. And crowding onto the boat.
Not the people taking the tickets.
dc
 
Each year about 1/5 of the members, give or take a little, attend the big rally. Over time, about half or a bit more than half find a rally close enough, nice enough, cheap enough, convenient enough or some other enough to attend one.

And for a whole variety of reasons; family, finances, vacation, other things to do, don't feel comfortable in crowds, or whatever; in any given year maybe 80% of the members don't attend the rally, and maybe half the members never will attend a rally.

Same thing with class reunions too, by the way.

It would take a whole slew of psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, psychiatrists, economists, phrenologists, and some other ...ists to attempt to decide whether the attendees shouldn't be, or the no-shows should go. And then the various disciplines and factions within the disciplines would have to have a 122 year slugfest till one side tired of it and moved on to a more interesting subject.

Which is to say if rallies are one of your things, good - have fun. And if for whatever reason rallies are not your thing, good - you wouldn't have fun.

But if it is or if it isn't may be right for an individual, but that totally fails to mean it is right for another individual. It is a hobby, not a religion.
 
Osbie
It ain't hard at all. It's rather delightful, actually. Part of it is known as peace and quiet.
Some guys like to wander off and live in isolation in the mountains, like an old man. I'm seriously looking at that type of thing myself.
One does not have to spend much time in Los Angeles til it becomes pure delight to go to the mountains, or the desert, and wake up in the morning, and look out and see, for miles, nothing but nature. No humans whatsoever. At one with nature.
Then reality sets in.
dc

I guess you isolate yourself while in a big city while I live in the mountains with no neighbors within earshot. When I find myself in a line of more than 4 people, I go elsewhere in a huff. I enjoy going to rallies so I can meet folks. The MOA has 10,000 more members than live in my county and 50% more people typically attend the MOA rally than live in the town nearest to me.
 
1st Rally

This Was my First Rally... I Volunteered at the table where you put you tickets into the barrel thing.

The whole experience was GREAT... It Was Great to Meet the people I Camped with... I never thought about... I Skipped the Closing event...To Hot for Me...But I do agree things could be a bit more dynamic. By the way.. it is the 21st century, and relatively easy to let people know they won something...Maybe MOA should think about a better way to enroll folks or automate the Who Won with an email to the winner or post on the forum ...
 
Just a thought...

I feel that while the vendors who supply the prizes are certainly entiltled to their stage time the whole "must be present to win" scenario needs to be dumped. If you don't need to be present to win the Grand Prize then why change the ground rules for the remainder. Please consider the hard-working volunteers out there who are excluded from winning under this strange rule, simply because they are busy volunteering somewhere else on site to provide the masses with First Aid cover, Security, BEER !!!! etc.
If the prize donors insist that the winner be present then a proxy should be allowed to claim any prize won by a volunteer who is working at that time.
The positioning of an easily-accessible and "highly visible "Go to" person at the front of the grandstand would also alleviate a lot of problems. All they would need would be a big sign saying "Claim your prize here" coupled with radio communication with those on stage to inform them that the winner was indeed present, instead of having to wait while some poor soul has to walk 1/4 mile around a chain link fence to get to the stage, perhaps to be told "Oh! You're too late, we didn't think you were here so redrew the ticket!!!!"
It's not "all about the prizes" but I feel anyone who makes the effort to attend the event should have an equal chance at reaping the rewards.
Hopefully someone with a bit of influence will read this and at least consider it as an option next time round.
Ride Safely,
Ian.
 
I feel that while the vendors who supply the prizes are certainly entiltled to their stage time the whole "must be present to win" scenario needs to be dumped.

Ian,
The Club is in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if you don't position with respect to the "have to be there" rule. All MOA prizes do not require you to be present - we consider your eligibility for those as a part of your rally fee. However, the vendors who *donate* expensive prizes (min. $1,500 value) have the right to set the conditions. They want to meet the recipient and have a photo opp for their promotional activities. If *I* were a vendor, I'd want it that way, too.

But, the real issue from the Club's perspective is that for everyone like you who says a person should *not* have to be present, we hear from someone who believes you should have to be present to get a prize. To them, attendance at the closing ceremonies is a qualifier to be eligible. As is, some prizes (ours) should make people with your view happy, and the vendor prizes should make the other camp happy, but in practice, it seems both groups are unhappy because not all prizes are handled they way they would like. :banghead


If you don't need to be present to win the Grand Prize then why change the ground rules for the remainder. Please consider the hard-working volunteers out there who are excluded from winning under this strange rule, simply because they are busy volunteering somewhere else on site to provide the masses with First Aid cover, Security, BEER !!!! etc.
If the prize donors insist that the winner be present then a proxy should be allowed to claim any prize won by a volunteer who is working at that time.

This is a very interesting idea - I just don't know if all of the vendors would agree to this.


The positioning of an easily-accessible and "highly visible "Go to" person at the front of the grandstand would also alleviate a lot of problems. All they would need would be a big sign saying "Claim your prize here" coupled with radio communication with those on stage to inform them that the winner was indeed present, instead of having to wait while some poor soul has to walk 1/4 mile around a chain link fence to get to the stage, perhaps to be told "Oh! You're too late, we didn't think you were here so redrew the ticket!!!!"

Another interesting idea.


It's not "all about the prizes" but I feel anyone who makes the effort to attend the event should have an equal chance at reaping the rewards.
Hopefully someone with a bit of influence will read this and at least consider it as an option next time round.
Ride Safely,
Ian.

We are reviewing the entire rally process, and have been since August. One area getting a lot of scrutiny is the closing ceremonies. They need to do four things: recognize volunteers (without whom we'd not have a club or a rally), recognize riding awards (long distance, oldest, etc.), recognize special awards (Friend of the Marque, and Knocklein Award), and give away prizes.

Ours is a big rally and we have a lot of people to thank, recognize, and prizes to give away, and it's going to take an hour to an hour and a half. In Bloomsburg we had about 15 Grand Prizes. That is unusually large number - we were very lucky to have such generous vendors - but even at just 3 minutes each to give away, that's 45 minutes! Assuming we can do all the other things in 30 to 40 minutes, that puts us at an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half minimum. So, do we limit the number of door prizes? Seems silly to turn down gifts - especial when someone reading this message might be a winner if we accept all we can.

The rally in Sedalia will have a re-worked closing ceremonies. Although this event is a reflection on the club and a chance to make sure everyone leaves with a positive experience, the rally chair(s) also can put their spin in it, as they do with the rest of the rally. I think you'll see something that while still addressing all the required goals, will be more entertaining and move faster. NO ONE - least of all the rally chair(s) and your Board want a disappointing experience.
 
Greg,
Thank you for your response, I'm fully aware that as a group we'll never be able to please everyone. I've always felt that trying to suggest positive improvements to a situation helps more than negativity.
I can now sit back comfortably knowing that you took the time to read my suggestions and also had the decency to reply- even if no changes are forthcoming I made my opinion know. You can't fix problems if you don't know they exist and a polite approach is always more accepted than just ranting and raving.
Look forward to catching up with you next time.
Ian.
 
I made my opinion know. You can't fix problems if you don't know they exist and a polite approach is always more accepted than just ranting and raving.
Look forward to catching up with you next time.
Ian.

++++1 on that. It just works so much better if we all start the conversation with respect for the other person. I don't have the time to troll the forum as much as I would like to, so I really appreciate it when I can engage in a productive conversation rather than dodge shoes. :laugh
 
Next year

I might make a donation to place the person who made the decision to bring the flame cars to the rally in a dunking booth filled with ice water.

That had to be surpassed by the person who then decided to have the cars make repeated runs despite the disapproval of the audience.
 
I might make a donation to place the person who made the decision to bring the flame cars to the rally in a dunking booth filled with ice water.

That had to be surpassed by the person who then decided to have the cars make repeated runs despite the disapproval of the audience.

You know - on a cool summer evening with a pleasant breeze, those 'flaming cars' might have proven to be curiously entertaining.

Just the wrong option at the wrong time, given short tempers and evaporated patience. Still doesn't excuse the rude behavior that became infectious.

I'm confident that for Sedalia, much criticism has been digested and efforts will be made to operate an outstanding Rally.

That seems to be the nature of this MOA venue - identify 'glitches' (NOT mistakes - just 'glitches') and keep the process evolving to produce a wonderful gathering of BMW owners.

See you in Sedalia! :german
 
I might make a donation to place the person who made the decision to bring the flame cars to the rally in a dunking booth filled with ice water.

That had to be surpassed by the person who then decided to have the cars make repeated runs despite the disapproval of the audience.

Believe me when I say that if there were one thing we could retroactively change about the Bloomsburg rally - that would be it. And no one would like to do that more than the guy behind those cars. :(
 
I might make a donation to place the person who made the decision to bring the flame cars to the rally in a dunking booth filled with ice water.

That had to be surpassed by the person who then decided to have the cars make repeated runs despite the disapproval of the audience.

I'm sure the flame cars were contracted based on normal weather. If the weather had been normal, the flame cars would have been nice.

Being a tightwad, I can also understand why someone would decide to let them continue to complete their contracted runs. When I purchase something to eat that is less tasty I expected, I sometimes eat it anyway because I don't want to waste it and throw it away. I suspect someone didn't want to be accused of paying for something that was not delivered.

Nobody did anything they didn't think was in the best interests of the membership.
 
Back
Top