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The worst part of the rally.....

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I left on Saturday also. First BMW rally. I will keep a better eye on weather predictions before I go to another one. Too Hot, No shade, AC could not keep up in buildings. I could not sleep at night because of heat. Enjoyed Paul Glaves sessions but that was hot also. No one could have foreseen that heat. Did not have much fun. But could see that it would be fun with cooler temps.
 
I was disappointed with the on-site Farmer's Market. And the fault lies squarely on my shoulders since I brought them in. I should have asked for specifics from the organizer instead of leaving it at "fruits, vegetables and baked goods".

To give the folks credit, they only sold items that were grown / produced on their farms. But the authenticity meant that their offerings were limited and they could only be on-site for a limited amount of time during Thursday and Friday. Saturday was reserved for their downtown location since they didn't have staffing to run two markets at once.

I'm thinking that MOA members would rather see a full produce stand selling everything from bananas to kiwi fruit instead of limited local items. Feel free to PM or e-mail me with comments so I can pass them onto next year's Food Chair.

That's how we make these events better - listening to constructive criticism and using it for the next rally.
 
Another great Rally!!! Thanks to everyone who helped make it a success. I was able to hook up with many old friends and make a few new ones. My only complaints (other than flame throwing cars) is that the area set aside for members with special needs was too far from the restrooms and in direct sunlight (not shaded) I know its hard to think of everything, but if we know in advance about the lack of shade, we can bring our own along.
 
Closing Ceremony

I felt booing down speakers (by the audience) was in poor taste and a bad example and precident to set for future ralley attendees. However the host accelerating the speeches and posting the information on the web was great.

Having been in Iraq, I'm nervous around crowds anyway. I kind of felt the etching of mob mentality and I chose to go down to the exit and wait for the finish there. This way if anything erupted I could move safely into the bleachers where no one was at.

I think passing out water bottles was a good idea, but I think the smarter move would have been to have each attendee grab a water bottle on the way into the bleachers. In the future find a stage that is not going to have the attendees facing the sun but to have the sun to our backs.

Looking at it from a sponsors point of view, it is important to be recognized for their donation of one of the grand prizes. Maybe they could have a grand ceremony hopper where all of the "must be present to win" prizes would be entered a day prior to the grand ceremony. This way if someone knows they aren't going to stay for the ceremony, they don't have to enter their ticket into that hopper and wait for names to be called of persons that are not there.

The other way to do sponsor messages would be to incorporate them into the Revzilla event video. This way there is a timeline adhereed to and you don't have to do so many exchanges of the intercom/microphone. I think the real event turner was when they had the kids event cordinator speak. Some of the audience knew he was a slow talker that goes on and on... if he had pre-recorded a quick message, and that message was tied back to the GS-Giant message things would have went smoother. The next would be for the drawing. Post a picture of what is being drawn on the screens. this way advertising is concurent to the actual ticket draw.

Some of the ralley statistics could have been posted on the video-screen in a sort of powerpoint scroll while attendees were finding seats. those stats are entertaining and fun. And didn't need to take up time during the closing ceremony.

Or to do a pre-event awards. One of the jesters in the crowd was saying something like stop giving yourself awards and lets get on with why we're all here. So the bleachers started filling up about an hour prior. maybe that is the time to do the awards for within the MOA. Not everyone will be there, but it will at least be a growing crowd for the acknowledgement.

Having someones arm in the ticket barrel as an element of suspense was irritating. Unfortunately several ticket pullers were guilty of that.

I've cross posted something similar on my local club boards.



STATMATT
 
My 12 year old son and his YB friend went to the volunteer table Friday afternoon and signed up with the ice detail. The signup sheets were there and I certainly don't blame them, who could? The nice lady staffing the volunteer table thanked them for stepping up to pitch in and help and instructed them on where to go. When they got to the ice table, they were told that no help was needed, the person there apparently thinking that they were just trying to get into the freezer to cool off. He was also apparently unaware that they had in fact gone to the volunteer table first to sign up.

They ended up going back to the Yankee Beemers tent and helping out with the 123 details for a couple of hours.

I'm glad that the person running Ice was satisfied with his level of volunteer staff but perhaps some better coordination between the volunteer table and the various chairpersons would help in the future?
 
Another great Rally!!! Thanks to everyone who helped make it a success. I was able to hook up with many old friends and make a few new ones. My only complaints (other than flame throwing cars) is that the area set aside for members with special needs was too far from the restrooms and in direct sunlight (not shaded) I know its hard to think of everything, but if we know in advance about the lack of shade, we can bring our own along.

After putting on so many rallies of a national magnitude and a wealth of knowledge from hundreds if not thousands of regional rallies the MOA should be able to think of everything. Think of it has having a HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Point) manual for rallies. A Quality Assurance system of sorts.
 
Hats off to the MOA and the all that made the RALLY happen. Yes it was hot and I didn't sleep and thought I was going to die but man they stepped up. Free water, water stations everywhere, warnings etc. I believe everyone went out of their way to make what they could out of a really tough situation. I am one of the wimps who left Saturday morning and I'm 46 and in perfect health. Still took it's toll on me Thursday and Friday but again. Thanks to all who kept it together.
 
I thought it was a very well run rally and thanks for volunteers in carts handing out water and encouraging hydration.

I was surprised and dissapointed that there were no hand washing stations outside of the porta-pottties. A pretty major oversight in my opinion... I realized that some of the potties had sinks in them but they were generally non-funcitonal and "hit or miss".

I may have overlooked it but a listing of the area restaurants with a bit of a discription would have been good and possibly a minor revenu generator by allowing them to place descriptive ads in the rally booklet.

Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds were great along with Paul Thorn and the Highway 101/Hi-power jam session. Was a bit dissapointed with Shooter Jennings in comparison with the others.
 
My 25 Cents

We really can't due much about mother-nature regarding the heat accept use common sense and stay cool as possible in those conditions. Having said that, my only issue with this year's rally was, the lack of vendors for people who do more road riding as a pose to off-road riding. It seemed to me that the major of vendors were catering to the GS crowd and there's nothing wrong with that, I just would have like to see more of the vendors for my type of riding. I know the after-market is just getting started for the GT & GTL so hurry up already!:dance
 
Here's something I neglected in my first post. While I knew there was a river running along the town's main drag I did not know, until Saturday evening, that if you took the right "Y" as you entered the fair grounds it would take to you some prime swimming holes. That would have been priceless information to have and pass on to folks as I was working registration Friday evening (along with passing it on to my son and his friend!) Apparently some knew of the location but it was not wide-spread enough.
 
Whatever happened to drinking fountains? Seems like in olden days these were almost everywhere you went. The water wasn't always cold, but it sure was wet.

Perhaps tap water is unhealthy or not trendy enough for some, but paying $8.00 per gallon at the vendors seems a bit much.

I was happy to see that the leadership of the MOA stepped up to the unexpected heat situation by providing bottled water to all. Perhaps a water booth or two would be a thought for future rallies.

I just didn't "get" the flame cars, not for our crowd and the added heat was adding insult to injury. The lady with the T-shirt bazooka & her strong armed rammer & shirt tosser were much more to my liking.

I do think that as has been suggested, honoring various members as everyone arrives would be a practical idea. Tempers and patience get short pretty quick at these ceremonies.
 
The worst part of the Rally....BMWNA having their own party while Paul Thorn was on stage....beer cups considerably smaller than the one I got in Johnson City.....no rally sticker to put on the back of my bags. :dunno
 
Wow! Three pages of what was wrong with the rally and not nearly the number of posts about the best part of the rally.

Come on, folks....surely there was more good than bad. 7000+ people can't be wrong.

Overall, I had a blast and can't wait to do it again! Thanks to all who made it happen!
 
heat stop complaining

I thought about complaining how hot it is... then I realized that: 1.) it isn't 109 degrees; 2.) I'm not 5,700 miles from home; 3.) I'm not dressed in a full BDU uniform and helmet and carrying 70+ lbs.; and 4.) there is very little chance that anyone will shoot at me or that I might drive over a bomb in the road today! Thank you to all who serve.
 
#1 The Heat:
I have live in the area since 1969 and it has never been this hot and there is no way to plan for it. It was Lopez a 101 on saturday afternoon. We were fixing a flat rear tire (that gt pipe sure is hot.) Lopez is the Ice Box of Pennsylvania and we were melting. It was hot. Saturday evening I was ready to stroke out and the flame cars only made it worse. I had to leave. Has the locals at Chippewana Falls said "It wasn't this hot until you got here"
#2 Draft Beer:
Draft beer is a problem because if one would like a nice cool beer while setting up the tent one needs to get canned or bottled beer. My site was five hunderd yards away and carrying back four draft beers was just impactical. I would like to carry a cooler to the beer tent and buy a six pack and a bag of ice from the MOA (sell canned beer) and return to my tent instead of riding into town after a hot afternoon at the added risk. I must confess I did drive home for my homebrews. (Wish you were here Scottie)
#3 Flame Cars:
What was the entertainment value of the flame cars?
I could smell singed hair. I had a long hard day of riding and tire repair work and the last thing that I needed was to be flame broiled while setting in a solar array at peak solar minute of angle. I do not understand why flaming cars are entertaining.
#4 Showers:
They did not drain fast enough. Twice I checked and there was 3 inch of water laying. No telling what lie in that water. It could be that BMW rider are just shedding a lot of hair. :) I went to the creek or home for a shower and a homebrew.
#5 Paul Thorn:
Banned Topics
Over the years (and many winters) weÔÇÖve pretty much been able to identify some things that inevitably start flame wars, breed ill will, and just in general make people act in ways theyÔÇÖd never have believed themselves capable (and yes, that is meant in the bad way.) Below are a few of these topics:
Religion
Abortion
Politics
Firearms
Why is what is banned in the forum allowed center stage at the rally or is this a banned topic?
#6 Camp sites:
We showed up on Tuesday to volunteers a where told where we could not pitch a tent only later to see others take the spots we would have used. One couple pitched their tent twice and were told to move by the same person, only to see those sites used by other campers (their last rally). If some one volunteers they should have first rights to a site.
Tony
 
Different time of year

Would it not make more sense to move the time of the Rally to a cooler month say May or September. I think it would make it far more enjoyable and doable for most members. July with crowded roads and heat is not conducive to enjoyable riding or rallying.
 
Draft Beer

Hi Motocamper;
This is Jim, one of the beer garden chairs.
We are using kegs for many reasons. Labor is far less, for restocking, for securing product at day's end and then getting those 500 loose cans out in the AM. Also the cost of ice,and keg beer is cheaper, and trash volume is far less, making for a better beer garden environment. Plus the demands on our volunteers to handle that trash. We NEVER could have kept up with the stocking demands, and we would have chewed through FAR more ice if we had had cans.
Hope that this helps.
Jim Faucher, beer co-chair:drink
 
#1 The Heat:
I have live in the area since 1969 and it has never been this hot and there is no way to plan for it. It was Lopez a 101 on saturday afternoon. We were fixing a flat rear tire (that gt pipe sure is hot.) Lopez is the Ice Box of Pennsylvania and we were melting. It was hot. Saturday evening I was ready to stroke out and the flame cars only made it worse. I had to leave. Has the locals at Chippewana Falls said "It wasn't this hot until you got here"
#2 Draft Beer:
Draft beer is a problem because if one would like a nice cool beer while setting up the tent one needs to get canned or bottled beer. My site was five hunderd yards away and carrying back four draft beers was just impactical. I would like to carry a cooler to the beer tent and buy a six pack and a bag of ice from the MOA (sell canned beer) and return to my tent instead of riding into town after a hot afternoon at the added risk. I must confess I did drive home for my homebrews. (Wish you were here Scottie)
#3 Flame Cars:
What was the entertainment value of the flame cars?
I could smell singed hair. I had a long hard day of riding and tire repair work and the last thing that I needed was to be flame broiled while setting in a solar array at peak solar minute of angle. I do not understand why flaming cars are entertaining.
#4 Showers:
They did not drain fast enough. Twice I checked and there was 3 inch of water laying. No telling what lie in that water. It could be that BMW rider are just shedding a lot of hair. :) I went to the creek or home for a shower and a homebrew.
#5 Paul Thorn:

Why is what is banned in the forum allowed center stage at the rally or is this a banned topic?
#6 Camp sites:
We showed up on Tuesday to volunteers a where told where we could not pitch a tent only later to see others take the spots we would have used. One couple pitched their tent twice and were told to move by the same person, only to see those sites used by other campers (their last rally). If some one volunteers they should have first rights to a site.
Tony

Care to elaborate on #5?
 
I would change the date to September or October. Also, keep the closing ceremony to one hour. It just went on and on.
 
My only negatives are directed more at BMW Corporate than the MOA whom I thought did a great job at this rally.

2. Why did BMW schedule thier event opposite one of the main music events, Paul Thorn? He is a crittically acclaimed national touring act and deserved better. There were several local "cover" bands that could have been scheduled opposite and no one would have cared. But Paul is a top draw, which is why he has been asked to perform for us 3 years in a row now. I did hear that German party band early on as I was camped on the other side of the fence and they sure sounded like fun, but they are a party band for folks to party to. OTOH, Paul is a serious artist with a top notch band and deserved to have his portion of the entertainment schedule to himself. Everyone seemed to agree with Paul when he made that above statement!

Otherwise a GREAT rally!

Rick G

To be honest the German Band is a top draw in Germany / EU. Plus it was BMWs GIG not the MOA's, so BMW can. It sure saved me a few grand to see them here. :thumb

I totally agree with what Paul said. Sadly,( for obvious reasons ) it'll probably be the last time he performs at a MOA rally!

Mike, did Paul say that ? BTW, I never heard of Paul Thorn till this rally nor any of the other billings, sadly I am not a big music fan of any one type. I could listen to Paul for a song or two then on to something else. The music industry would be singing the blues for my dime. Personally I'd rather listen to new and old friends than have music at a rally. :scratch I know we have to have music for others.
 
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