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#941
05-27-2012, 03:25 AM
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We get regular visits from cars that are worth eight figures out at E@RTC. It's amazing what's out there. As for final count, we had a hard count of 255 cars before we had to start turning cars away. We estimate that we turned away at least ten cars before we let a few in after some left, but we don't know how many exactly so I'd guess that in total about 270 showed up, give or take one or two. We recounted several times just to make sure.
RTCs estimated total attendance at the mall during E@RTC's presence was approximately 2,500 people. It was an extraordinary turnout, and a new record. When you consider the small group of volunteers, it speaks volumes about our amazing Northwest car culture that can come together and do something like this with no reported problems and a terrific response. Someone came up to me and asked if I noticed that everywhere you looked there were smiles. Thank you to everyone who attended, and a giant thanks to RTC, the volunteers, Bugatti and Lexus. Yes, this is a new record for us. We saw a lot of amazing cars, and many were first time attendees. So once again, we managed to get something interesting for everyone. All of us volunteers were very humbled by the growth of E@RTC and the extraordinary enthusiasm for the event. |
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#942
05-27-2012, 03:57 AM
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Chateau Ste. Michelle asked us to participate in a weekend event last year. The event was a huge success and the benefit was largely to Chateau Ste. Michelle. They asked us to do it again this year, but the reality is that E@RTC is largely paid for out of my pocket personally so in the case of last year, there was a big expense that went out and nothing came in. Redmond Town Center now kicks in some hard cost items, tables, chairs, advertising, etc., but still, E@RTC's organization is about 90% out of my pocket, with the other volunteers also pitching in picking up various expenses.
We decided that this may be a way to help raise money to offset some of the expenses of E@RTC and so we put this together, given the time it takes. There is no way to charge the public who just shows up at the winery and so we decided to do something that we thought could work for everyone, especially wine drinkers. You're seriously going to gripe about the difference between a $17.00 bottle of wine and $25.00? $8.00? Do I have it right that $8.00 is the difference between you coming out? A huge amount of time goes into putting together these events, all via volunteers, and I don't think most people understand just how many hours are spent putting on E@RTC each and every decent Saturday, and something like the Ste. Michelle event, something we only have the time to pull off once a year. I can tell you that just in the past two weeks alone this is a full time, unpaid job for a few of us and you're griping about $8.00? BTW, we're doing this event mostly the concert grounds of the winery. ALL concert profits from the concert series, (and this event kicks off that series) goes to charity, so even in the case of the Winery, their only repayment for their side of things is in wine sales. Oh, and if you're wondering if E@RTC will make a profit, not a chance. At best, if we did as well as we did at RTC on Saturday, we cover about 1/5 of our expenses for the year, the balance still comes out of our pockets. Let me put it to you a different way, a bunch of us volunteers put hours of our time into E@RTC every week and it costs us money out of our pockets EVERY time we put on E@RTC and a heck of a lot more than eight bucks, and you've never once heard us gripe about it because at the end of the day, we do it because it's fun and we love seeing the smiles on people's faces when they attend. That's why we do it. So if this is too much trouble, or two expensive for you to part with that $25.00, then yes, you can just walk in free, admire the others cars that did participate and not contribute to anything if you feel so wronged. Either way, us volunteers are still going to have a great time making others smile. |
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#943
05-27-2012, 07:17 AM
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Quote:
Unfortunately my son becomes the anti-christ after 2 hours of being in one place so 9-4pm is just a no go for me and for anyone around him :-) Is there a way for us to donate without particpating today? I will definitely show up for a short while. |
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#944
05-27-2012, 07:38 AM
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I forgot to make one very important point, (writing in the middle of the night does that sometimes) and this is important. Ferrari of Seattle is buying the wine you receive so that more net funds flow to E@RTC. They recognized the value of what we do and made us the generous offer so that we'd have more operating funds to work with. They really get the spirit of E@RTC and are terrific supporters and quickly realized that there had to be a cost somewhere to our organization and so they asked. What I love most about the folks at FoS is at the end of the day, they are serious car guys and love to participate as car guys, in the spirit of what we're doing.
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#945
05-27-2012, 07:48 AM
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Quote:
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#946
05-27-2012, 08:47 AM
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Nice job to all the volunteers! Thanks to the owners of all the great cars for sharing too. That was a fun event yesterday. Here are my photos: http://www.apexrally.com/2012/05/bug...-comes-to.html . Have a good one.
Last edited by Kristian; 05-27-2012 at 10:18 AM. |
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#948
05-27-2012, 09:14 PM
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I felt the same about the $25, assuming that it was going to San Michelle.
If it had been explained where the $25 was going, I don't think anyone would have had an issue. Sorry that I couldn't be there today. I enjoyed the show last year. |
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#949
05-27-2012, 09:43 PM
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A huge thank you to all the volunteers who made today's Ste. Michelle event a super success.
Great party! —Vic |
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#950
05-28-2012, 12:19 AM
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I had a fantastic time. Thanks the E@RTC folks - you're the best. Thanks to the Ste. Michelle folks too - what a venue for the event: Beautiful grounds for some beautiful cars. Also thanks to Ferrari of Seattle - Got a chance to talk to some of you and continue to educate myself. You guys are all right.
 Overall very classy event - one I will definiately attend again. A toast to everyone involved! |
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#951
05-28-2012, 12:29 AM
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This is on my work and phone calendar, and stuck to the front of my fridge so there's no question where I'll be on this particular morning.
And to those concerned: There's no fee  . Even if there was one, I'd pay it to support the local enthusiast scene. |
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#952
05-28-2012, 01:20 AM
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Here are some of my phone pics from early in the day. This was a great event and the turnout was massive.
Thanks to everyone who helped put on this event!
__________________
It's a Ferrari, what could go wrong? |
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#953
05-28-2012, 05:03 AM
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Yea, I'll get some crowd shots up. We had about 2,500 people attend last year and this year I think we beat it by 500-1,000 people. The limiting factor was spectator parking. It lined the streets in all directions. What an event! In total E@RTC had over 6,000 spectators this weekend between the two days. That's a lot of smiles.
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#954
05-28-2012, 05:25 AM
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A Giant thanks to Ferrari of Seattle, Ste. Michelle Winery, Redmond Town Center, and the incredible Parking Thugs and volunteers of E@RTC. These four groups helped us moved a lot of people through these two events over the past two days. None of the volunteers got much sleep over the past three days and I could not be more impressed or proud to work with my fellow thugs.
With just ten guys, on Saturday alone we managed to sort and park over 255 cars in less than an hour, manage both events, and deal with thousands of spectators, all without a single incident and only one complaint that's just too stupid to even write about here. (Some people.) Given that this post is on FChat, if you get the chance, please thank Ferrari of Seattle for their generous support of the very spirit of E@RTC. |
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#955
05-28-2012, 07:18 PM
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It was a fantastic show and there sure was a HUGE turnout of spectators.
Thank you E@RTC crew and FoS!!! We had a really great time. Here's a video that I threw together of the featured car. |
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#956
05-28-2012, 10:02 PM
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Gary, we just got some new numbers from Ste. Michelle. We had over 4,000 spectators at that event alone and with the 2,500 at RTC, it was a lot of spectators enjoying the cars. In all our years of doing this, with all the thousands of cars, and tens of thousands of total spectators now, we've never had a single incident of someone coming up to us and complaining about baby strollers scratching cars or for that matter a single report of damage and we've never once had to put up a velvet rope to make it happen. Sure, now and then people will touch or a kid will put his hands on a car, but it's nothing compared to the enjoyment we all get from these events. Thanks for being a part of it from the very beginning Gary!
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#960
05-29-2012, 04:26 PM
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E@RTC is and always has been free. The *Only* time we've ever charged a fee is for special offsite events, such as the Lamborghini brunch at Salish, SSC unveiling at Boeing Field, or the Carz release party. Outside of Ste. Michelle, we've not done another paid event because the fees we charge never come close to covering the full cost. Special events are very expensive so we limit them. Not only that, things like Ste. Michelle are a huge time burner for the volunteers.
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