• 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?

  • Beginning April 1st, and running through April 30th, there is a new 2024 BMW MOA Election discussion area within The Club section of the forum. Within this forum area is also a sticky post that provides the ground rules for participating in the Election forum area. Also, the candidates statements are provided. Please read before joining the conversation, because the rules are very specific to maintain civility.

    The Election forum is here: Election Forum

Rally Program Comments

montana

New member
However...

Okay, I just put that to start, because I know you can peek into the topics and see how they start.

Thanks for everything, it was great (don't listen to the whiners) but as I've seen on more and more printed material, a few basics were overlooked in the program. These are suggestions; I'd never whine. My bike whines. Not me.

1. There is no MOA info in the program! Or else I just can't spot it. I had non-member guests and would love to find a membership tear sheet in the program. Something that could be filled out and sent in later, after they get home and realize what a great time was had.

2. I know printing more pages costs more money, but do you see any contact info for 'MOA? I couldn't even be sure I gave them the correct web address.

3. Sure would be nice to see the board members listed, especially since the rally is where we say goodbye to the old and hello to the new.

4. A list of vendors either on site or providing goodies, with a single piece of contact info. You saw them, you saw their stuff, you couldn't pay for it then, didn't make the decision, or didn't have the room to haul it. Unless they also advertised in the program, how do you get hold of them now?

5. We need to apologize to Canada, at least, to Quebec. I told my Quebec friends, you just don't know it, but apparently Ontario is even now massing at the border for an invasion. Their new slogan: We take over Quebec in 2006, the rest of the provinces in 2007!
 
I missed having a vendor list in the program - probably some (many?) showed up at the last minute and couldn't be listed but it would still be nice if contact info would be listed.

As a guy in printing, I was VERY impressed with the book. Thanks for making it small enough to fit in a tank bag :thumb. I was also impressed with the front and back cover - expensive paper but less expensive than having it laminated to protect it. I always wanted to use that paper for something!
 
Field events

I loved the program, but could not find any mention of the field events, except for the place and time.

On the plus side: loved the quality, the size, the binding, the layout, and the blank space in the back for notes.

Well done!
 
gsmetal said:
I missed having a vendor list in the program - probably some (many?) showed up at the last minute and couldn't be listed but it would still be nice if contact info would be listed.

They did have a list on the website of a majority of the vendors. A location list would have been nice because I don't know how many times I was asked, "do you know where soandso is?" ..

I do know first hand there were issues about the vendor spots not being organized like at other rally's. By that I mean no markings/numberings so that when they got there they could just be pointed to what area they had been assigned. Setting up was chaos and there were a LOT of cranky people in the vendor sign-in booth.

The overall map REALLY helped me out for the seminars.

FWIW, I know many of the businesses in the area were swamped for the weekend. Maybe in the future, local businesses could be solicited for some advertising donations to place ads in a section of the book. Not tacky ad's, more like coupon ads in a special "Local Businesses" section giving the rallygoers $ or % off purchases :thumb ..
 
Love the format

I was pleased to see the spiral-bound notebook style program introduced at Spokane was repeated this year. It makes the program much more useable and a nicer souvenir of the rally.
 
IndyGT said:
I was pleased to see the spiral-bound notebook style program introduced at Spokane was repeated this year. It makes the program much more useable and a nicer souvenir of the rally.

Another Sandy Cohen creation.

John
 
Vendors list

Working in the hospitality booth this year, I can't begin to count the number of people asking us where or even if a certain vendor was there. At future rallies a list should be at hospitality and information. We were able to answer most questions but not those. Local buisness managers were advised by Convention & Visitors Bureau about increased buisness but certainly didn't pass it on to their employees. And there were articles in the local papers as well as on TV news spots. But nobody was prepared for the overwhelming number of Attendees.
 
This was our first motorcycle rally. I thought the program was just super. Loved the heavy front and back cover, and the size. Vendor locations might not be assigned in time for printing, but the list of names and contact info would have been good. A map of vendor locations, maybe posted by the hospitality booth, would have helped us to find the specific vendors we needed. Nonetheless, I was really impressed with the program, the volunteers and the attendees.

:clap :wave :clap
 
The suggestions at the beginning of this thread are excellent, and I am sure that the 2006 rally chair (Rob Nye) has already added this to his notes.

A couple of logistical notes, though, for your information.

The printing deadline for the rally program is May 1rst.
The vendors, on the other hand, are given until June 1rst to get their information in to the vendor chairman, before spaces are assigned.

(Do you see where I am going here?) :)

Next year, we have asked if the deadline could be snugged up, so there is only a 30-day lead time for the program. Hopefully, that will fix a couple of the isues raised here.

Also - I agree that we should have and could have had a "map" of where all of the vendors were, even if it is posted on the side of the building. Maybe the chairman next year can do that. Great idea!
 
John Brase said:
Another Sandy Cohen creation.

John

really,
she created the concept of spiral bound notebooks? amazing, I've been using them since graphic arts in high school and wonderred who created them.
 
Credit where credit is due

John Brase said:
Another Sandy Cohen creation.

John

Actually it was Jackie Hughes, 2004 Rally Chair, who came up with the concept of a spiral bound rally program that would fit in your tankbag.

Best,

Rob Nye
Secretary, BMW MOA
 
Sue Rihn-Manke said:
The printing deadline for the rally program is May 1rst.
The vendors, on the other hand, are given until June 1rst to get their information in to the vendor chairman, before spaces are assigned.

A map on the side of one of the buildings is a good idea, but an insert that you can put in the rally book would work too. Just a small piece of paper that you slip in the cover at the last minute, and we all have maps if we want one.
 
einnar said:
A map on the side of one of the buildings is a good idea, but an insert that you can put in the rally book would work too. Just a small piece of paper that you slip in the cover at the last minute, and we all have maps if we want one.

Actually, we used to do that but have stopped.

What we learned from the days when we used to do that was that people still lose those; they create a lot of litter on the rally grounds; and it is labor intensive. We have a "daily newsletter" posted around the rally site for this purpose.
 
Rob Nye said:
Actually it was Jackie Hughes, 2004 Rally Chair, who came up with the concept of a spiral bound rally program that would fit in your tankbag.

I stand corrected. I was informed, I thought reliably, that it was Sandy's work. Perhaps my "informant" meant that she did the layout and I took that to include the overall design.

John
Been wrong before...
 
i got home and my girlfriend was looking at the rally program and said the cover was a very expensive brand of paper that her company produces. she works as a marketing person for a paper and design company and said the book overall was very high quality. i personally thought the layout was great and the book was very well organized, good job to the designers!
 
Back
Top