THE 2021 Montana MOA Re-Schedule (previous 2020 Great Falls Thread)

[lee]

How did the Drive Through registration work?
If you were preregistered did you need to have your printout or phone ready when you pulled up?

How did it work if you didn't preregister?
I picture a line of bikes at the busy time sitting in your gear out in the heat.
Seems like it would be clumsy to have the rally packet handed to you while sitting on the bike.

I didn't see any complaints so I'm guessing it worked.
Will they do the same Drive Through next year at Springfield?

 

[powwow]

How did the Drive Through registration work?
If you were preregistered did you need to have your printout or phone ready when you pulled up?

How did it work if you didn't preregister?
I picture a line of bikes at the busy time sitting in your gear out in the heat.
Seems like it would be clumsy to have the rally packet handed to you while sitting on the bike.

I didn't see any complaints so I'm guessing it worked.
Will they do the same Drive Through next year at Springfield?

I worked the drive through pre-registration on Thursday morning and it seemed to work well. We had registration software loaded on our smart phones and we used those to confirm registration, which we could do either with the QR code if they had the registration information or by last name. We gave each person their ticket for the drawings, then directed them to the building for completion of their registration. At times we would have lines, but we were able to process them pretty quickly. I don't think anyone was in line for longer than 5 minutes or so.

I can't speak to how that helped with the efficiency of the registration process as this is the first time I worked registration.

 

[lee]

I worked the drive through pre-registration on Thursday morning and it seemed to work well. We had registration software loaded on our smart phones and we used those to confirm registration, which we could do either with the QR code if they had the registration information or by last name. We gave each person their ticket for the drawings, then directed them to the building for completion of their registration. At times we would have lines, but we were able to process them pretty quickly. I don't think anyone was in line for longer than 5 minutes or so.

I can't speak to how that helped with the efficiency of the registration process as this is the first time I worked registration.

I like the idea of using the last name so the rider did not have to dig for paperwork.
How did you handle people who didn't preregister, or was the drive through only for those preregistered?

 

[bigjohnsd]

How did the Drive Through registration work?
If you were preregistered did you need to have your printout or phone ready when you pulled up?

How did it work if you didn't preregister?
I picture a line of bikes at the busy time sitting in your gear out in the heat.
Seems like it would be clumsy to have the rally packet handed to you while sitting on the bike.

I didn't see any complaints so I'm guessing it worked.
Will they do the same Drive Through next year at Springfield?

The "Drive Through" portion of registration went very smooth, the long lines inside the building sucked.
The line extended outside the door on Thursday morning, All of the stuff could have been handed out at drive through and the onus to deposit the ticket into the drawing container sometime later could have been placed on the recipient.
Seems like the two stop process could easily have been streamlined into one stop.

 

[powwow]

I like the idea of using the last name so the rider did not have to dig for paperwork.
How did you handle people who didn't preregister, or was the drive through only for those preregistered?

Only pre-registered participants could utilize the drive through. In the rare case (I think I only had 2 during my 4 hour shift) where someone was not registered, they were sent to a tent next door with staff that could handle their registration.

 

[ebell]

It all went very smoothly for me, pre-registered, arrived on Thursday afternoon.

I thought instructions were clear and easy, the volunteers were great. That said, perhaps next year expectations could be managed by having an article written (with simple tank bag sized map) in the ON about what to expect upon arrival.

 

[lee]

Only pre-registered participants could utilize the drive through. In the rare case (I think I only had 2 during my 4 hour shift) where someone was not registered, they were sent to a tent next door with staff that could handle their registration.

Debbie and I worked registration Thursday afternoon at Lebanon and it seemed to work without lines the 5 or 6 hours we worked.
Debbie and I were outside by the tent and catch people as they got close. If they were preregistered we directed them inside and if they were not registered we showed them where the forms and pens were under the tent.
We also helped with questions. The preregistration building was very small but people seem to get in and out fast and not line up.
When our shift ended they wanted all of the next shift inside. Debbie and I stayed a hour or two extra working outside because it seem to help having someone outside directing traffic and answering questions.

Des Moines had a very large building for registration and it looked like it went well having everyone go inside when they arrived.

 

[flyhi2cfar]

In the two videos the camping did not look as crowded as some mentioned.

Where we camped at Des Moines it was tighter.

There were contributing factor(s) to this accurate statement of camping.

(1) We had a ton of folks that did not want to park the bike, and take a walkabout in search of the available camping.

(2) That was important, because we lacked sufficient nearby parking for the available camping.
Folks riding around sensed the venue was packed... because the street was totally full of parked motorcycles.
I informed quite a few who were stopped and looking through sunglasses into well shaded camping areas,
"there's space for the tent, but the bike may not be parked nearby"

(3) The "ride through" registration process seemed to be a big player in the "ride around and look for camping" component.
Since the majority of riders did not get off of their bike, and avoided shedding gear that would have allowed a walk and look around...
they simply rode away in search of where to camp.

Des Moines seemed to offer a roadway layout that provided the idea ratio of good parking to the camping availability.
Great Falls... not so much!

 

[powwow]

There were contributing factor(s) to this accurate statement of camping.

(1) We had a ton of folks that did not want to park the bike, and take a walkabout in search of the available camping.

(2) That was important, because we lacked sufficient nearby parking for the available camping.
Folks riding around sensed the placed was packed because the street was totally full of parked motorcycles.
I informed quite a few who were stopped and looking through sunglasses into well shaded camping areas,
"there's space for the tent, but the bike won't be anywhere nearby"

(3) The "ride through" registration process seemed to be a player in the "ride around and look for camping" component.
Since riders did not get off a parked bike and shed gear, thus allowing a walk and look around... they simply rode away in search of.

Des Moines seemed to offer a roadway layout that provided the idea ratio of good parking to the camping availability.
Great Falls... not so much!

Working the drive through registration area, we probably contributed to people riding around and looking for camping. If we noticed people had camping gear, we encouraged them to look for a spot before they got in line to finish their registration.

 

[flyhi2cfar]

Working the drive through registration area, we probably contributed to people riding around and looking for camping. If we noticed people had camping gear, we encouraged them to look for a spot before they got in line to finish their registration.

Even without encouragement, that was simply the result of the registration process.
Why stop and park at a building's vast parking lot, when you can logically ride into the camping area, park and un-gear yourself...
then walk back over with a beverage.

A number of the same loaded up riders passed me a few times each, in search of parking & camping.

 

[gsinnc]

Speaking about the registration process .... just wondering what the thinking was having the drive thru portion open at 8:00 AM yet the inside portion not open until 9:00 AM? I am sure there was some logic to that timing difference but it sure seemed to crate a bottleneck.

 

[flyhi2cfar]

Speaking about the registration process .... just wondering what the thinking was having the drive thru portion open at 8:00 AM yet the inside portion not open until 9:00 AM? I am sure there was some logic to that timing difference but it sure seemed to crate a bottleneck.

There has ALWAYS been a jam of folks at every site registration at the morning openings. Thursday, Friday and even Saturday.

Your question has it's own answer within it. Attempt to "space out" the movement.

Plenty of riders arrived at 8-9a and went to Morning Coffee, breakfast, camp set-up, ect.

Then over to complete registration.

Why more do not, is beyond me... I think they like to assemble and look at each other!

 

[gsinnc]

There has ALWAYS been a jam of folks at every site registration at the morning openings. Thursday, Friday and even Saturday.

Your question has it's own answer within it. Attempt to "space out" the movement.

Plenty of riders arrived at 8-9a and went to Morning Coffee, breakfast, camp set-up, ect.

Then over to complete registration.

Why more do not, is beyond me... I think they like to assemble and look at each other!

Thanks and that makes very logical sense and was exactly what I did. Went for coffee and then checked out the outside and inside vendors. However, a suggestion would be that folks at the drive thru portion of the registration alert participants of just that ... that part 2 is not open for an hour so we suggest you grab coffee and browse and let the line shrink. I was not aware that I could enter for coffee and vendors before getting my wrist band. Please don't get me wrong I think this process is good for sure but some of us who have not experienced the 2 part process may just not be aware of the options for the hour gap.

Oh ... and the $8 breakfast was killer !! Have to day the food vendors were really good this year!

 

[lee]

There has ALWAYS been a jam of folks at every site registration at the morning openings. Thursday, Friday and even Saturday.

Your question has it's own answer within it. Attempt to "space out" the movement.

Plenty of riders arrived at 8-9a and went to Morning Coffee, breakfast, camp set-up, ect.

Then over to complete registration.

Why more do not, is beyond me... I think they like to assemble and look at each other!

I figured the organizers wanted you to have a wrist ban before you started to visit all the vendors and activities.
What's to stop a day visitor from parking near registration and spending the day on the grounds without paying.
If someone stopped them and asked why they didn't have a wristband they could say registration was busy and instructed to return later.

 

[pglaves]

We always pull into the parking area. Voni begins and continues to talk to lots of folks. I usually go in, get registered, find a campsite, set up the tent, and go back and find Voni in the registration line. Occasionally I find her back at her bike, talking to somebody, registered, but waiting for me to show her where the tent is.

 

[gsinnc]

I figured the organizers wanted you to have a wrist ban before you started to visit all the vendors and activities.
What's to stop a day visitor from parking near registration and spending the day on the grounds without paying.
If someone stopped them and asked why they didn't have a wristband they could say registration was busy and instructed to return later.

That's pretty much what I thought ...BUT after I got coffee and strolled the outside vendors near the coffee area I went back and got in line to get my wristband and it was a LONG line. While in line the volunteers suggested we walk around the inside vendors and come back when the lines were down. That is exactly what I did. It worked for me. I guess I assumed you had to get through the "drive-thru" part in order to get into the next line area. But seems that was not he case.

 

[rich]

We always pull into the parking area. Voni begins and continues to talk to lots of folks. I usually go in, get registered, find a campsite, set up the tent, and go back and find Voni in the registration line. Occasionally I find her back at her bike, talking to somebody, registered, but waiting for me to show her where the tent is.

You sure didn't train her very well.

Or perhaps, she sure trained YOU well.

 

[pglaves]

You sure didn't train her very well.

Or perhaps, she sure trained YOU well.

Yes!

 

[flyhi2cfar]

We always pull into the parking area. Voni begins and continues to talk to lots of folks. I usually go in, get registered, find a campsite, set up the tent, and go back and find Voni in the registration line. Occasionally I find her back at her bike, talking to somebody, registered, but waiting for me to show her where the tent is.

As long as she's happy with your site selection... your good!

Daring you to "trick set-up" at a horrible location next year (temporarily)... just for giggles.
That could make for an interesting video as she rides up!

I actually thought some folks were temporary this year, they set up on a median strip along the large parking lot
and the feeder roadway back to the primary camp area.

They could see if there was a line at the shower trailers. Somewhat handy.