Quick thoughts on Billings rally

sagerat · Jul 30, 2015

Just a few quick observations after attending the rally in Billings.

The volunteers were all very helpful. Billings was a great location and the venue of the rally, the fairgrounds, was a superb site. I camped in the grassy infield of the track and it was a nice and level with only a few bare spots. Really, just a great camping site with plenty of porta potties nearby that were kept spotless. OK, no shade, but they don't call Montana the Big Sky country for nothing.

The worst thing about the rally was the lack of shower trailers. The sprinkling of showerheads (sorry for the pun) of three shower stalls here, three more over there, a shower tree in another location was just not enough given the demand. I finally just started showering at offbeat hours to avoid the lines.

Similarly, the few food vendors ensured constant and long lines for the what, roughly four food carts that were there. By contrast, the Salem and Redmond rallies had lots of food vendors.

But enough kvetching. The bands were awesome, the vendors were endless, the motorcycle and sidecar watching was first rate, and the riders themselves were almost always friendly and I made lots of new pals.

I'd give the Billings rally a solid B+ and kudos to all those involved in putting it on.

bikenut595 · Jul 30, 2015

I will also chime in on the rally. Great geographic location, access to the Beartooth, Chief Joseph, and the surrounding areas could not be beat. The MOA, and all the volunteers did their best to see that everyone had a good time. The seminars were plentiful and varied. The infield grass was green and soft. The entertainment was as good as in St. Paul. (We ran into MSB in Wall, SD, Sunday night!). The weather even cooperated.

I will second the comments on the showers and the food vendors.

In a hot, dry, dusty location Like Billings, lots of folks are going to want to rinse off after a day of riding, walking, exploring, buying, etc. An additional shower trailer or two would have made a big difference.

Food vendors are businesses, I'm surprised there weren't more local resturant businesses that would want to serve a hungry crowd of 5800 people. I'm sure the MOA had little or no control over this, but it may need stressing to the local visitors agencies in the future.

Lastly, some of the facilities seemed a little run down and shabby, I would have thought the Metrapark folks could have been more on top of the maintenance and getting the park cleaned up and ready for a large group.

Would I go back, you bet, we still had a good time.

motodan · Jul 30, 2015

It has been reported there were as many showers available as last year's venue...38. You folks must have been extra stinky and doubling up on the facilities...LOL!

akbeemer · Jul 30, 2015

I would walk past the showers near where the outside venders were located and see 15-20 men standing in line to shower. I did this while on my way to the showers on the side of the Expo Bldg. At those showers there was never a line and always an available shower head; they were gang showers so privacy was not an option. I showered in the 6-8 am timeframe. Once, I stopped in the busy shower facility and told the people in line about the facility I used. Two or three guys left the line.

Sue · Jul 30, 2015

How did we come to the decision about not getting a shower trailer? It was not an easy decision.

The biggest deciding factor was that a shower trailer would have cost $25,000. This elevated fee is due in part to the cost of hauling these across the great plains for our event.
It would have furnished 8 shower heads and would have required a $10/person bump in rally fees.

The number of shower heads at St Paul and in Billings was 38. (St Paul had less, and the shower trailers brought it up to 38)

After careful consideration, we assumed our attendance would probably be about the same as St Paul, maybe even a little less.
We added a map to the rally program detailing the locations of the showers and toilets, hoping to avoid the problems for attendees finding them.

We even assigned an extra locker-room shower to the men, so the numbers were 15 shower heads for women, and 23 shower heads for men.

The Food Vendors? Yeah - that was bad. I can't tell you how many times during the planning process we told them to be ready for people to eat all of their meals there.

Some things were really out of my control.

Rharrod · Jul 30, 2015

Wow, and the Yellowstone river was not far. :wave

lee · Jul 30, 2015

Sue said:
The biggest deciding factor was that a shower trailer would have cost $25,000. This elevated fee is due in part to the cost of hauling these across the great plains for our event.

Are you saying no companies rented shower trailer in the western states?

motodan · Jul 30, 2015

Lee said:
Are you saying no companies rented shower trailer in the western states?

http://www.mesawasteservices.com/porta-potty-rentals/mt/

http://www.mesawasteservices.com/porta-potty-rentals/mt/billings.html

hexst · Jul 30, 2015

My only input was the lack of a BMW dealer to sell BMW gear I guess the closest dealers didn't think it would be worth thei time to showcase their wares at the International Rally. A friend had gift certificates for hundreds of dollars in BMW parts and clothes and couldn't use them so he spent his money on Klim and Tourtech.

Sue · Jul 31, 2015

Motodan said:
http://www.mesawasteservices.com/porta-potty-rentals/mt/

http://www.mesawasteservices.com/porta-potty-rentals/mt/billings.html

Prices and availability were factors for all companies we tried to work with. The lowest prices we could get was $25K. I don't remember which company gave us that quote.

rich · Jul 31, 2015

I thought the rally was awesome too. But regarding the showering facilities, not everyone likes the idea of gang showers. If it takes another $10/head to get decent showers, charge it. I would gladly pay it.

But the rally WAS great, thanks for the time and efforts on everyone's part to put it all together.

gtlloyd · Jul 31, 2015

After standing in line the first night for a half hour for an open shower I went on the great shower hunt. Found plenty of them in the expo and arena buildings. Granted some of them were hidden behind storerooms or black curtains but there was never a wait and they all worked well. The lack of food vendors was definitely a problem and I hope becomes more of a requirement in the selection process. Seems like that is just as important as how many hotel rooms are in the area. Other than that it was a good rally. I thought the facilities were fine, as was how organized everything was. I worked registration on Wednesday and I don't think anyone waited in line to register more than a few minutes. Looking forward to next year.

cruisincruzan · Jul 31, 2015

My wife and I always hotel events so showers and such don't matter. If I was camping shower facilities would be important and I would want to know that some thought went into setting up that service. Reading Sue's response indicates to me that they evaluated the options and made reasonable choices. Sometimes reasonable choices work out the way you want them to and sometimes not. The food situation was the least impressive of any of the rallies I have attended. Perhaps there is a way to improve upon that in the contract for upcoming rallies, as it appears that the vendors in Billings were made aware of the potential demand on their services.

For us the "off bike" things we look forward to at events were somewhat lacking in Billings, but we knew that ahead of time. We also looked forward to some amazing riding and we were not disappointed. The bottom line for us is that we met some a bunch of very nice fellow riders/rally goers. Had a ton of interesting and enjoyable conversations, listened to good music and were reminded of the size and variety of our landscape.

To all those who participated in getting this rally together, thanks for your hard work, dedication to your fellow riders and we look forward to next year which is almost in our back yard.

lee · Jul 31, 2015

Out of curiosity was the MOA setup this year to scan membership cards at registration?

bikenut595 · Jul 31, 2015

The food situation was the least impressive of any of the rallies I have attended. Perhaps there is a way to improve upon that in the contract for upcoming rallies, as it appears that the vendors in Billings were made aware of the potential demand on their services.

The taco truck offered a lot of food for the buck, Subway was typical Subway, but the $9.00 brats at the BBQ trailer were a bit much, even with the included bag of chips.

Click to expand...

k12lts · Jul 31, 2015

I'll echo the above thoughts. The rally location and venue were nice. I used the showers in the arena and never had a wait, $25,000 for a shower trailer would have been a waste of money.

The food vendors were the only downfall to an otherwise nice rally. Poor selection and long lines.

Camping was a good as can be for a event this size.

Good job by the rally organizers!

jkersh1 · Jul 31, 2015

A Curmudgeon’s MOA Rally review: hoping for better at Hamburg.

‘Lucas’ WiFi had three settings: off, slow and intermittent. Vendors and ‘guests’ all suffered. To add insult to it, the App kept telling you ‘there’s no wifi connectivity to complete this task.’ Face it, today virtually everybody has a smartphone and is on the web for business or pleasure.

Precious little shaded camping. I had one BOD member (who was hoteling) tell me there was no reason to arrive early as there was plenty of space on the infield. Right. 95 degrees, no shade, and swirling afternoon dust storms.

Inadequate shuttles, and too many ‘personal’ golf carts. It was a long walk from any camping to vendors or seminars especially on a hot day. The few shuttle golf carts appeared at random and could only hold, in some cases, one passenger. Yet there was no shortage of carts reserved for VIPs sitting idle. Reallocate budgets from personal carts to scheduled shuttles. Frequent shuttles would benefit all, including those too important to walk. Hamburg looks to be ideal for a shuttle between the fairgrounds and downtown.

Water stations were kept stocked with cold water until being retrieved on Saturday afternoon just when the mercury hit the day’s high.

Poorly spaced j-johns. Down by the triangle camping area there were 4 j-johns for I’d estimate 1000 campers. Meanwhile up at the northern extreme of the parking lot there were a dozen or more despite having few campers nearby, and relatively close proximity to indoor facilities.

Inadequate and poorly located showers. There were three showers for all the campers south of the grandstands. True, one could walk to the grandstand, the broom closet in the vendor building, or the exhibit hall, but walk back and you needed another shower.

Too few food vendors on site. Not too much MOA can do if vendors don’t come, but shuttle to Main Street and its restaurants, stores and groceries would have been welcome. The BOD, Chamber of Commerce, or local businesses could have arranged some shuttle buses to circulate the area. Although we are all ATGATT, I saw many, and did myself, ride up to grab a bite, or groceries with only a helmet. A shuttle would have made for a safer, more enjoyable time. Again, Hamburg looks to be ideal for a shuttle between the fairgrounds and downtown, and downtown merchants should see the benefit of having 6000 customers delivered to their doors.

Most, if not all of these, could be solved by the simple mandate that all Rally organizers, committee chairs, and BOD members camp on the Rally grounds. A couple of sunny treks to meetings would result in a vast improvement in shuttle transportation, sanitary shower facilities, and communications. The question that should be asked is “are these facilities good enough for me to do my job.” Not “where can I get a hotel to be out of this ****hole.” Have organizers get up at 5:30 a.m. and wait in line behind 12 others before your turn, and see how fast more showers appear.

It’s a shame that despite being proclaimed as an “international” rally, there was not even a nod given to the many attendees from Canada, and Mexico as well, during the closing ceremonies. The close proximity to Alberta and BC contributed greatly to the number of attendees.

sagerat · Jul 31, 2015

Sue - Thank you for the additional information. In my day job I'm a planner, so I can appreciate logistics and the challenges of putting on such a large event. The map in the brochure did help in the Great Shower Hunt, so thank you for that.

The food vendors, yeah, you can only do so much proddding. You'd think a semi-captive audience of 5,800 mouths needing to be feed several times a day would have attracted more food carts. The Asian bistro guy had good stuff, the Cowboy BBQ was so-so and the taco vendor must've been good given how long the line always was for him. I talked to the Subway gal and she said they were caught flat-footed on Day One and made sure they brought waaaay more food on subsequent days.

My poor buddy from Saskatoon, Sakatchewan, had the ultimate indignity: Fuddrucker's ran out of hamburgers right as he reached the front of the line. Luckily, the beer garden solves many problems... :buds

Again, appreciate all the efforts to put on the rally. Nothing like creating and running a small city over four or five days.

clowry · Jul 31, 2015

We enjoyed the rally. After checking in with registration around 1 pm Thursday, we did a couple of laps of the grounds looking for our friends. Not finding them, and realizing that camping spots seemed to be filling up quickly, we settled on a spot near the back edge of the infield. It was fine, except that in the dry heat, the track was very dusty. There were a few inconsiderate people who thought nothing of running around the track at a brisk enough pace to kick up dust clouds over the area - thanks.

Showers a little closer to where we were camped might have been nice, but it wasn't a deal-breaker. We used the ones near the outdoor vendors in the late afternoon. I was able to walk straight in all 3 days and my husband had 2 men in front of him on one of the 3 days. We found the map with shower locations wasn't all that helpful. Many of the buildings weren't clearly marked, so there wasn't a point of reference to use to help find the showers.

More food vendors would have been good, but we braved the lines and had all but one meal through them. The Fat Taco truck had great food, a decent variety and really good value for the money. We ate from there three times!

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the closing ceremonies. The emcee was great - very entertaining - and kept things moving along nicely. It helped keep things short that the 'award' recipients were awarded earlier and their photos were shown rather than calling them up during the closing. Prize draws were well handled, and I doubt anyone begrudged the donors their short video presentations before the draws. And it was all in an indoor, air conditioned venue with beer and snacks available for purchase. All in all, I think it was about an hour and five minutes start to finish; just about perfect!

After the closing, the band came on. Unfortunately, the venue emptied out considerably after the final prize draw, resulting in the music being over amplified. It was really loud without all those soft bodies to help absorb the sound, and we ended up leaving early.

That said, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was great to spend time with friends from far away and the riding in the area was fabulous! Well done, Rally Team!

akbeemer · Jul 31, 2015

jkersh1 said:
‘Lucas’ WiFi had three settings: off, slow and intermittent. Vendors and ‘guests’ all suffered. To add insult to it, the App kept telling you ‘there’s no wifi connectivity to complete this task.’ Face it, today virtually everybody has a smartphone and is on the web for business or pleasure.

Precious little shaded camping. I had one BOD member (who was hoteling) tell me there was no reason to arrive early as there was plenty of space on the infield. Right. 95 degrees, no shade, and swirling afternoon dust storms.

Inadequate shuttles, and too many ‘personal’ golf carts. It was a long walk from any camping to vendors or seminars especially on a hot day. The few shuttle golf carts appeared at random and could only hold, in some cases, one passenger. Yet there was no shortage of carts reserved for VIPs sitting idle. Reallocate budgets from personal carts to scheduled shuttles. Frequent shuttles would benefit all, including those too important to walk. Hamburg looks to be ideal for a shuttle between the fairgrounds and downtown.

Water stations were kept stocked with cold water until being retrieved on Saturday afternoon just when the mercury hit the day’s high.

Poorly spaced j-johns. Down by the triangle camping area there were 4 j-johns for I’d estimate 1000 campers. Meanwhile up at the northern extreme of the parking lot there were a dozen or more despite having few campers nearby, and relatively close proximity to indoor facilities.

Inadequate and poorly located showers. There were three showers for all the campers south of the grandstands. True, one could walk to the grandstand, the broom closet in the vendor building, or the exhibit hall, but walk back and you needed another shower.

Too few food vendors on site. Not too much MOA can do if vendors don’t come, but shuttle to Main Street and its restaurants, stores and groceries would have been welcome. The BOD, Chamber of Commerce, or local businesses could have arranged some shuttle buses to circulate the area. Although we are all ATGATT, I saw many, and did myself, ride up to grab a bite, or groceries with only a helmet. A shuttle would have made for a safer, more enjoyable time. Again, Hamburg looks to be ideal for a shuttle between the fairgrounds and downtown, and downtown merchants should see the benefit of having 6000 customers delivered to their doors.

Most, if not all of these, could be solved by the simple mandate that all Rally organizers, committee chairs, and BOD members camp on the Rally grounds. A couple of sunny treks to meetings would result in a vast improvement in shuttle transportation, sanitary shower facilities, and communications. The question that should be asked is “are these facilities good enough for me to do my job.” Not “where can I get a hotel to be out of this ****hole.” Have organizers get up at 5:30 a.m. and wait in line behind 12 others before your turn, and see how fast more showers appear.

It’s a shame that despite being proclaimed as an “international” rally, there was not even a nod given to the many attendees from Canada, and Mexico as well, during the closing ceremonies. The close proximity to Alberta and BC contributed greatly to the number of attendees.

I suspect you would be near impossible to please judging by your comments. I noted the MOA President and his wife were camping onsite along with some other past presidents; they all looked like they were bathing regularly to me. Perhaps there are those on the board who do not camp due to health and mobility issues. No event that is on the scope of our rally is going to be issue free, but this rally was a good time for Annie and me. We saw many old friends, learned some things and were entertained. The secret is to know what is a reasonable complaint and what is whining.

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