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Why do you no longer attend the national?

Why do you no longer attend the national?

  • I don't do rallies at all.

    Votes: 2 13.3%
  • I prefer local rallies.

    Votes: 2 13.3%
  • They got too big.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The locations are not inviting.

    Votes: 4 26.7%
  • Family or financial constraints.

    Votes: 4 26.7%
  • Other

    Votes: 3 20.0%

  • Total voters
    15

MarkF

New member
This is a Poll for those who went to one national rally and never again or those that used to go but no longer do. I wonder why? I'm putting some options up but please feel free to comment as well. Thanks.
 
I cant vote cause I am going again. Lima has some primo camping, and awesome facilities for the rally. If I want to ride I will ride on my own time. I am going to the rally to look at all the stuff, meet old friends, make new ones and drink mass quantities of beer.
 
I'd never live it down, I'm 3 hours by truck+trailer (taking both handbuilts). As for activities, maybe I should find lorazepam. C-U-dere.... <<<)))
 
National Non attendance

Hello Mark,

I tried to get a series of questions asking for this very information on the last member survey the MOA did this past year. We already pretty much know WHY people attend the International Rally, BUT only about less than 20% of the members attend in any one year. A fairly small percentage of the club membership have attended three or more International Rallies. What can we do to make the experience more attractive to a larger percentage each year. And, perhaps more importantly, what can we add to the experience to attract those MOA members who have NEVER attended an International Rally for whatever reason or reasons.

Having co-chaired two previous Internationals and presently working on a third (06 in Essex Jct, VT), I obviously have a vested interest in trying to obtain some information from our membership as to what we can do to entice those "never evers" to attend our club's premier yearly event.

Friedle
 
For me, as a relatively new member, Canada, S. Carolina, and Washington were too far away considering my limited vacation time, my ancient bikes, and my ancient carcass having to ride them.
 
We did Midland - roads were a PIA (how do you say FLAT), but we did it. Trenton was way cool - Don was a class act, the Kiltmeister did a fantastic job there were good roads to the north of Trenton and both slab and fun routes up and back.

Charleston - great roads, but the urban setup with the split campus just didn't work, spent a day/night looking for folks that we knew were there and never found, had to compare notes afterward via email :cry

Lima will probably be cool, but I'm not giving up a week of riding time for that part of the country, BTDT. We will probably save up our vacation time to hit the RA rally because of the later date and the the location (roads and country side).

The one big rally (I know, not as big as the MOA) that really impressed me was the RA rally last year. Picking a resort area/ski area for a bike rally is perfect. All the facilities are there and generally a ski area also means good roads, mountain biking, restaurants and other kinds of summer fun as well as lodging. As bad as the weather was with the hurricane, having the facilities at Canaan made it all worth while, it was great - definitely something to consider for the future (hint, hint, nudge, nudge conjugal grin) :nod
 
I can't vote cause I am still attending nationals. But I have a hunch that the forum is the wrong place to ask as most of us are pretty involved in riding and rallying and would go. My guess though is the distance issue. Not everyone can get the time off to go to the rally.

Having said that, I like the idea of having it move around the six(?) zones of the country so that it becomes close enough that people can go.
 
BradfordBenn said:
I can't vote cause I am still attending nationals. But I have a hunch that the forum is the wrong place to ask as most of us are pretty involved in riding and rallying and would go. My guess though is the distance issue. Not everyone can get the time off to go to the rally.

Having said that, I like the idea of having it move around the six(?) zones of the country so that it becomes close enough that people can go.

My bad - I missed the part about never again. I intend to go to many more, I'm not that old yet.
 
Michael Friedle said:
Hello Mark,

I tried to get a series of questions asking for this very information on the last member survey the MOA did this past year. We already pretty much know WHY people attend the International Rally, BUT only about less than 20% of the members attend in any one year. A fairly small percentage of the club membership have attended three or more International Rallies.

Did the survey find why some don't come back? For me, I go when the venue is a "can't stay away" location, like VT next year or Trenton. Otherwise, I prefer to use my vac time to attend local rallies. Besides, July is not a good month for me to use vac time.
 
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When rally attendence has been discussed before, one issue was whether the rally was a party or a conference. The origins of the rally are party-ness, and any perceived movement toward conference was seen as bad.

My preference is more toward the conference side. I believe the planners try to balance the two ideas of party and conference.

I haven't been to a national MOA rally, so I don't fit the profile to vote on the original question.

Noel
 
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naddy100 said:
When rally attendence has been discussed before, one issue was whether the rally was a party or a conference. The origins of the rally are party-ness, and any perceived movement toward conference was seen as bad.

My preference is more toward the conference side. I believe the planners try to balance the two ideas of party and conference.

I haven't been to a national MOA rally, so I don't fit the profile to vote on the original question.

Noel

IMHO, the rally is whatever you want it to be. I go to professional conferences more regularly than I'd like and they usually have "tracks" you follow. Business track, practice track, MCLE track, etc.

The national has "ride", "party" and "conference" tracks along with the "buy stuff" track. :ha
 
For me it depends on the location. If it's within a day or so ride -we are going but locations where it's a 3 or 4 days ride, it simply ain't gonna happen due to limited vacation time.

I'm not much of a long distance rider.

Anywhere in the Midwest is great.

I'll see you in Lima.
 
I can't vote since I have yet to attend one, and distance/time is my main issue. I'll be in Lima, and the distance is just enough that I may as well take off that whole week (half my year's vacation time), plus I think it would be wise to allow myself the following Monday as well- so there's 60% of my time off. The upside is that means that I can do most of the fun riding/sightseeing in the region before arriving in Lima, and maybe still get there early enough to help with setup or whatever.
Choices for future Internationals will be made based mostly on time required. I do also wonder if adjusting the scheduling of the rally to allow for southern locations would be a good idea (although I can see where that could be a real hassle too).
 
woodnsteel said:
For me, as a relatively new member, Canada, S. Carolina, and Washington were too far away considering my limited vacation time, my ancient bikes, and my ancient carcass having to ride them.

Werd.

That, and family priorities. I coach my kids, and we always have tournaments during the BMW National. My kids take priority over motorcycling and rally attendance.

My personal goal is to attend more of the local club rallies that I can easily get to within a day's ride. Last year, Hiawatha, this year Wisconsin Dells and maybe the Fort Ransom, NoDak, rally.

Hats off to those that choose the national rally location, but Lima, Ohio, is still pretty much "east", and it would take a very long 1 day ride for me to get there and a very long 1 day ride for me to get home. Maybe as my priorities shift in a few years I'll just take a couple weeks off and hit the road. That time hasn't come yet for me.
 
I would have to agree that attending the national usually comes down to available vacation time, and distance to the Rally. Other family obligations also play a role.

I see where some folks are ripping Lima for it's lack of fun roads within 100 miles, but they are missing part of the equation. Anyone who is coming from the east should be able to have a great ride to and from the Rally.

Instead of arriving on Thursday, take a day and ride in WV or SE Ohio, or western PA. If I were in the DC area, I would be licking my chops at the chance to spend a bunch of time on US 250, or US 33, etc.. on the trips through WV.
 
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The weekend in the middle of vaccation time!

I have been very fortunate to have attended 18 of the last 19 Nationals so wanting to go has never been an issuse with me. What is an issue is the time or weekend the National is on. Most of the people I know work for the Automotive Industry and thay have the first two weeks of July off. Putting the Rally in the middle works the best for me or I have to book additional weeks off which I might or might not get.

Darryl
 
Rally

This is my first BMW rally, so I can't vote.
What I can say though, is that most people that discontinue riding to rallies is mainly scheduling problems or the crowds have gotten too big.
Daytona and Sturgis are a good exsample.
 
Interesting replies. I've been averaging a rally every other year, since my first in Midland. And it's about location and timing. Spokane was very appealing because it was clear accross the country and I'd never done that. I look at the rally for what it is for me - a vacation. Do I want to spend my vacation in Lima, OH? Uh, no. There will be no one answer to make us all happy. But I do agree that moving the site around the country can eventually satisfy most of us. I think VT will be terrific, because for those of you not from New England, it's a must ride location.
 
Location, location..

Ditto..a very interesting question and interesting replies. I am always anxious to attend a National, but it depends upon the location. If the distance is a full day of travel or less, we're there. Otherwise the vacation time away and competing time demands tend to eliminate the rally from our schedule. Moving the location is best for all of the members and the new plan to announce the location over a year ahead of time is excellent. It will be interesting to see if the additional trip planning time increases attendance.
 
I've been to the last 3 rallys and had a great time. Only gripe is he month of July. It's so damn hot!
 
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