moving the rally to the spring or fall

lagator said:

So if the weather--heat, humidity, and rain are not a problem for the majority, how come there has not been a rally in the deep south? There has never been an MOA National in Arkansa, Louisiana, Missisippi, Alabama, or Georgia. Our weather is just as good as anyone else's But it would be a lot nicer in Spring or late Fall.
Just sayin'

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Even more than the weather, this is why I'd like the rally to be moved to fall. July means there are parts of the country that are simply off limits. Personally, I'd love to see a rally along the Gulf Coast or the Big Bend area. But not in July.

nytrashman said:

a question for Sue or anyone one else who can answer this:

what if there is another poll in, say, 2013 and the majority of the member polled, voted to move the dates the rally was held. what would happen next, would the MOA act on these results and aggressively look to move the rally or would they take another survey? how would the board proceed given the findings of the new poll?

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You don't think that if the '09 survey had shown that, that the MOA wouldn't already be making plans?

nytrashman said:

a question for Sue or anyone one else who can answer this:

what if there is another poll in, say, 2013 and the majority of the member polled, voted to move the dates the rally was held. what would happen next, would the MOA act on these results and aggressively look to move the rally or would they take another survey? how would the board proceed given the findings of the new poll?

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Keep in mind rally sites are booked or in negotiation 3-4 years in advance. It's not like we are looking for the 2012 site now. Probably more like the 14/15 site.

Nice blog

Gail,

Nice blog. Thanks for your efforts.

Another aspect to planning a rally during the "school year" is the availability of college dorm housing. That was available in Bloomsburg and previously in Charleston. How many other rallies have leveraged this potential stock of inexpensive housing? During the school year this is unlikely to be unavailable.

Personally, I would prefer late fall rally in an area unlikely to get snow. (I'm OK with winter camping but freak at the thought of riding on icy pavement.) I don't expect the MOA rally to accommodate that because the majority prefer it in July. I also don't think it is feasible to rotate the rally through different seasons. There would be too many conflicts with other events, both motorcycle related as well as all of the other things our members like to do. Keep the time frame stable and people at least have a chance to work around that.

I do like the fact that the location rotates around the US. It's sad that crossing the border to Canada has become difficult enough to preclude a future rally there. I like the idea of choosing a location at higher altitudes to avoid heat, but that adds yet one more constraint on site selection. (I would dearly love to attend a rally in Flagstaff and I wonder if the previous site can accommodate the expected draw.)

khill said:

Lame?..You drive a vehicle with no roof, windows and very little weather protection and you complain about the weather? And as for those servicemen, It is because of them that you have the freedom to whine about the weather!!

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+1000

tommcgee said:

What I find interesting is the number of forum members with low post counts who've checked in to this thread.

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What does that have to do with the price of eggs in china??

nplenzick said:

So whats to discuss? They get about 1100 attendees and it's considered a success? Many who attend the RA are dual members, so where were all of the MOA members at? Heck, you don't have to be a member of anything so where was everyone? The vendors that I talked too are no longer willing to travel a great distance to support the RA and I include myself with that.

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Hey great now there will be more camping spots open.

brewmeister said:

What does that have to do with the price of eggs in china??

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I would never eat Chinese eggs. I think they're sold at WalMart.

You know,there is so many GREAT local rallys throughout the country that I find the site -date- time of year issue a non-issue. We all have such a wide variety of rally venue's .Messing with the national should be left alone. Heck I know I was'nt missed at any rally unless you like homebrew!

tommcgee said:

That's it, Pete. I couldn't figure out why he felt stepped on.

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Tom
After getting sleep and some food and drink for a few days.
I went back and looked at your post and you are so right with
the low post count I never looked at them .
New members are making use of the forum GOOD.
You did not step on me at all . I don, t know what I was
thinking . MY BAD .
Ernest

The facts don't matter?

According to Wunderground, temperature the week before the rally and the forcast the week after is :
-----------------Before------------After
Thursday-----------84--------------83
Friday--------------84--------------90
Saturday-----------84--------------88
Sunday-------------88--------------88

Sometimes you hit the right week and sometimes you don't. It was still better than a lot of rain.

Sue said:

nytrashman...

I posted what I thought was a brief, but concise explanation of why we currently select dates in July for our rally. The "BOARD" does not make this decision - - - the decision is made by the general membership through the Membership Survey which is conducted every 4 or 5 years.

The last unbiased survey we conducted in 2009 of the membership
indicated that overall, most members still prefer the rally in July,
and on a weekend.

The 2009 survey I am talking about had several facets: One facet
included telephone calls to members who were asked if they had 20
minutes for this survey. Another facet happened at the rally in
Johnson City (July 2009), where we conducted three Focus Group sessions
comprised of randomly selected rally-goers, with some of the questions
specifically centered on the National Rally. These telephones calls &
focus groups were managed by a research company who is not affiliated
with the BMW MOA. It was our goal to gather unbiased information where
people could speak freely.

The results indicated that our members still prefer July weekends. You
might be interested to know that the board recently decided that rally
sites would be considered "earlier in the summer" if the dates were the
only variable stopping us from considering a site.

As an alternative, we have started hosting Regional Events in the
spring and fall, in attempt to accommodate those members who would
prefer different months for their yearly gatherings. Maybe one of
these would work better for you? This year we have a gathering in
Cedar City, Utah in late September, and one in Tomah, Wisconsin on the
last weekend of September.

Other considerations that we must take into account would be that we do
not want to conflict with our Chartered Club rallies, and that our
volunteer workforce may not be available during alternative dates.

Thank you again. I hope this helps to explain how and why we remain in July.
Just because the answer is not what you want it to be, does not mean that the board isn't listening.

> > > No More Happy Faces from me in this thread. < < <

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This is very strange as you mentioned there was a survey done in Johnston City and I did not know anything about it to where I could participate.... why is a person attending a rally wasn't approached or known of a given survey to where "they" or "I" could have participated to give my feedback?

SheRidesABeemer said:

Keep in mind rally sites are booked or in negotiation 3-4 years in advance. It's not like we are looking for the 2012 site now. Probably more like the 14/15 site.

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If these locations are already booked, why aren't these locations already announced?

bmwgsrider said:

If these locations are already booked, why aren't these locations already announced?

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"in negotiation"

Would everyone be happy with North Dakota in March? How about Death Valley any time of year? Vermont , New Hampshire, Maine in October are lovely. New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Somewhere in Canada, September. Colorodo, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana in April. Alaska in June (actually that aint so bad). My point is, you can't please everyone.

Of course everyone who puts on a rally spends a lot of time and devotion where a rally turns out good. Thanks to all those who put this years rally on.

I was planning on arriving early on Sunday to help volunteer as well as hopefully be able to have some extra days to be able to enjoy the area and do a lot of sight seeing. This did not happen due to the weather. I got sick from the heat on my ride to the rally which I arrived later than I planned. I did not get to do anything as I wanted due to the heat because I wasn't feeling good. I did not get to do any riding around the area either because it was so hot. The rally was a good rally but I do have some ideas to pass on to improve the rally hopefully in the future. The heat did not make it too enjoyable.

I did not talk to board members... but I did talk to a couple committee members. I was specifically told by these two committee members that the rally is held on these dates and will always be held on these dates because of school teachers, professor, and children. I was also told that it is "easier" to monitor "heat" on a person. I just don't see how someone can monitor a person from getting dehydrated and heat exhaustion? I think if the rally was held during a season where the weather is nicer... the rally would be more enjoyable... and there would be more attendance. This year, the attendance was really low. Why was it low? Weather! I heard that there were a lot of people going to the first aide tent and going to the hospital because of the heat.... and I am told heat is easily being monitored? How? I was also told that the national is only in July because of traveling... if it is held either later or earlier in the year... you would be traveling through snow. I can understand mountain passes having snow but there are always other routes to take even though it maybe a longer distance to take other routes to go around snow. I think this is more favorable than having it in a hot condition to where you are having many people taken to the hospital due to dehydration and heat exhaustion isn't it? I have not found on the website but I was also told too all the specifics that are looked for when picking a rally location which I understand the specifics that are looked into on a location for a rally but still changing date to where the weather is more favorable has nothing to do with finding a location for a rally.

I have been hearing talk at the rally this year that the dates are for teachers, college professors, and kids. Does anyone think about the rest of the MOA members who have to take off of work to be able to attend and as well as how many people who may not be able to take off because of the dates? Is that ever being considered... there are peak and non peak times to where folks maybe able or may not be able to take off from work. Why is it all about kids, college professor, and teachers only? I don't comprehend this statement as well as other states that was given to me by a committee member I spoke with. I know people pull their kids out of school for other occasions so why can't kids be pulled out of school to attend a BMW MOA National? Why can't teachers take off or college professors from school? They take off to attend seminars and etc. throughout the school year so why not for a BMW MOA National? I don't see where this is a problem.

I also am comparing the nationals back to when I was a kid. I think there were more kids attending the national at that time and there was no Camp Gears versus the kids that are attending the national now as parents/people don't take their kids to nationals like they did perhaps back when I was a kid. There were events for the kids back than without having Camp Gears. There were other events that were held that are not even being held today such as field events. Times and things changes... not sure if for the better or for the worse.

There is talk about a poll being done every so many X amount of years... I have not yet seen a poll such as the mentioned poll that was held at Johnston City, TN as I even attended that rally... so where are these polls and why have I not be involved because I know I would be happy to participate in a poll. Why not mail the poll out to each and every member to where they can fill out a poll or put the poll in everyone's membership packet with the door prizes to everyone attending the rally? I bet there would be better turn out.

This is a good thread that was started and I feel that there needs to be a change... and I feel that the dates for the national should be changed to where the weather is more favorable and stop all this talk about its only dates for teachers, professors, and for the kids as I am sure there is still a way for these folks to attend just like the rest of us who are not a school teacher, a professor, or a kid. It is able to be done. I see more people are either trailer their bikes, coming in cars, coming by airplanes, and/or RV's so the issue of weather as in "snow" should not be an issue either as different routes can be taken. When I was a kid, you did not see people trailering, coming in cars, airplanes, and/or RV's like you are today. I am not also saying to hold an event in freezing temperatures either but I am totally against the comment of heat in a person is much better controlled than cooler temperatures... that is so unbelievable statement... I am still in shock to hear that statement.

One mentioned why not become a board member, I would love to.

I am sure there would not be a problem with Vendors holding the rally at a different... perhaps there would be more vendor attendance as well as it may not be a peak time for them if the rally can be held during a non peak time. There is also talk about other rallies that people attend and also host... I am sure this issue can also be worked around just like everything else on picking out a good time frame.

Why can't the dates be changed to where the weather is more favorable to where one could have a nicer time and enjoy the rally better and so forth?

I think the main problem here is that people don't like change.... change maybe good!

Mika said:

"in negotiation"

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Than how can you say locations are "booked" years in advance if still "in negotiation?"

Years ago, next years rally location was never announced until the closing ceremony of the national. At the West Bend Wisconsin rally, I was told by an Ambassador that the rallys were always announced a head of time (before closing ceremonies)and that is not correct. The last couple/few years the next year rally has been announced early before the national was held.

Than how can you say locations are "booked" years in advance if still "in negotiation?"

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i think she has got a good point

bmwgsrider said:

Than how can you say locations are "booked" years in advance if still "in negotiation?"

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I did not include the "or". The association recently has released the coming year rally site location early on the website. I suspect it is by popular demand.

Future sites are in negotiation and these have never been discussed. This continues to be the case.

Not a committee member or officer just a member.