New!!--Exotics At Redmond Town Center

**Apple Sauce** · #1 02-06-2009, 07:50 PM

New!!--Exotics At Redmond Town Center
Hello F-chatters!!

We have some very exciting news today! TommyJames and I were able to secure a new venue for displaying our cars, drinking coffee, etc. This is our version of Cars and Coffee, which we've started loosely calling Exotics at Redmond Town Center (RTC) located in beautiful downtown Redmond, Washington.

As many of your know that have been attending the saturday morning Exotics on Main, parking and safety are an issue, not to mention the noise we contribute to the neighborhood. There really is no room to grow there on Old Main Street, Bellevue.

Tommy and I researched for the best locations to meet; the criteria for the location are COFFEE!, food, a garage just in case of rain or wind, and a location that was far enough away from homes so to not bother anyone. And finally a parking lot that would allow us to grow, and a property management team that would allow us on their property without hassle.

The management at RTC has given us their blessing, and are welcoming us to use their parking lot, as intended. RTC will also be as supportive as possible, encourage car events when available, and just be all around good guys. They are willing to even put out the word about our cars to the press! How cool is that?

In return, RTC is expecting adult behavior from us, so please,—no burn outs until you get at least outside of the center. We also don't want attract the Redmond Police Dept. for the wrong reasons, now do we?
I want to make special note regarding the Marriott Hotel located on the property, to keep noise away from the hotel we should avoid driving down 164th, and suggest using Bear Creek road. This is the road that runs around the periphery of the property.

Weather permitting, the first weekend for Exotics at RTC is February 14.

We want to start showing up at RTC around 8:30am and hang around for an hour or two. There are a few of us that may begin the morning at the old place—EoM to get a pastry at 8am and then cruise or caravan down to RTC for the 8:30 meet.The nice part about the center is that you can decide to eat breakfast at Ruby's diner, a fifties style diner. For those folks that prefer Tully's over Starbucks, you can buy the coffee of your choice.

I would appreciate your helpful suggestions. This is an experiment for all of us, and by the way, we hope that we can draw other people from around the Puget Sound to attend. We know that RTC is not centrally located for everyone, but do hope you can at least make one of the weekends.
As with EoM, we'll post here to see if the meet is a go with the weather.

See you there!!!!!

Apple Sauce aka
Vic in Seattle

Kristian · #2 02-06-2009, 08:26 PM

this sounds great! it seems like a good location and a place that allows for growth too

**TommyJames** · #3 02-06-2009, 08:32 PM

Well done Vic! I don't know if any of you followed what happened at Cars and Coffee in Irvine but they have now limited access to the event. This is because everyone would show up with just about anything with wheels and they decided they had to draw the line. We want this to grow and not get out of hand so we're encouraging exotics, discouraging tuners. As someone put it, this is not for cars you could count in any average parking lot, but for it to catch on, it will need your support.

What makes RTC a really nice spot is because all the coffee shops, including Ruby's, are open early! This means you don't have to stand around in the cold if you get there too early. It's also an ideal location to do some drives up to the falls, etc., without too many lights on our way out of town. When we considered every option we could think of, this looked like the best spot and we have RTC's support.

**roytoy2003** · #4 02-06-2009, 09:05 PM

Good Job GUYS!!

Will be there..

ST&A · #5 02-06-2009, 09:10 PM

WAY TO GO...............THAT IS AWESOME

can not wait to show up.

ST&A · #6 02-06-2009, 09:12 PM

Vic and Tom are you going in the morning to EOM?

I plan on being there, i even washed my car while it was raining. LOL

**Apple Sauce** · #7 02-06-2009, 09:42 PM

Hi Sid,

Tom and I plan on going to EoM tomorrow.
I hope the weather clears up though.

I'll see you there!

Vic

**rushdriven** · #8 02-06-2009, 09:43 PM

Great job Vic and Tom! Thanks for taking the time to make it happen. I look forward to meeting everyone there.

**Apple Sauce** · #9 02-06-2009, 09:52 PM

Thanks to everyone for the great words of encouragement.

BTW, I posted the same Exotics@RTC announcement over on the 6speedonline, northwest regional page.
Please let me know if we should be posting the announcement somewhere else on another board, let's get the word out to the other specialty and exotic car enthusiasts!

Vic

prohydro · #10 02-06-2009, 11:15 PM

Excellent! RTC will be a great venue, and I think you guys can grow it well. Plus it's close to home :-)

I would post on the two Lamborghini boards as well. You also might see if the NW Ferrari club would run it in an online newsletter (talk to the Porsche and Lotus clubs as well).

Would it be worth having a small website promoting it? Also a place some of the photos that are taken could be uploaded by an admin to show off the gear that shows up each week. Create the "brand" for up here and get people excited.

Also, a small flyer that could be downloaded and printed out would be great for the Microsoft guys--there's a few exotics in my building's parking garage and in the garage I visit on a regular basis. I wouldn't mind leaving a note or a flyer on their windows for the upcoming week in case they miss it on one of the forums.

**Apple Sauce** · #11 02-06-2009, 11:28 PM

Hi Chris,

All very good suggestions, I will work on getting the word out on these sites.
I appreciate your effort to go the xtra mile and make your co-workers aware of the venue.

Website: We might be able to join the Cars and Coffee franchise if we ask them.
C&C already have a website, it's basically a chat forum with focus on the event.
No idea who is really in charge of it.

This should be fun!

Vic

**TommyJames** · #12 02-07-2009, 12:37 AM

We have to proceed with caution. While we're not as big as LA, look at the giant mess they now have at Cars and Coffee in Irvine. Nobody can decide who can and can't get in and what kind of car should be a part of the show and the rare cars are now getting turned away. They are now trying to generally use the rule that if you drive it every day it probably shouldn't be in the show after a bit uproar over using a 30 year rule. We need to figure out how to grow this so that rare and exotics show up and not every car with a new set of wheels and a boom box.

prohydro · #13 02-07-2009, 02:29 AM

Tom makes a good point--I think if it's promoted and driven as a higher-end image gathering from the beginning, and made to look like that, then you'll have an easier time than if you have to make that correction down the road. That balance is going to be key though--what's the cutoff line? Is it Foreign only, or is the guy with the rare Yenko Camaro going to be welcome? I understand wanting to keep the event pristine, however you also need to hit a critical mass in terms of numbers. Not an easy task I know.

I would be happy to help on the web front, and I'm sure we could get Tom's old neighbor to contribute some design work on it. I was out with MG tonight in fact, at RTC. I don't mind contacting the Cars & Coffee website owner to talk about a "franchise" or at least put them in touch with you and Tom. I can find out who runs it, or we can do our own.

~Chris

**TommyJames** · #14 02-07-2009, 06:52 AM

At first I thought becoming a part of C&C would be a good thing, but they don't have an identity yet and everyone is now fighting over the right to show up. Lets keep calling it "Exotics at Redmond Town Center" for a while. I think if we keep the criteria rare cars, non daily drivers, I think that will work well enough and "rare" only in the general sense. We also don't want to chase out the classics like Bernie and his cars, but I don't see this as the right venue for the Lexus club. That being said, it's really going to depend on how this grows and how we manage it. I'm really sorry to see Cars and Coffee become such a disaster because of their own success, and everyone seems to have a different opinion about who should get in that show because they never defined the show in the first place. It's a real shame.

Kristian · #15 02-07-2009, 09:10 AM

I can post something on my site too (apexrally.com) if you'd like. I've done web development in the past too if you need help with setting up a site. have a good one.

Kevinwi · #16 02-07-2009, 12:38 PM

I'll be there on dry sunny days.

But, I want to see if you can prevent Roy and others from making their patented grand entrances and exits. :-)

prohydro · #17 02-07-2009, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TommyJames

At first I thought becoming a part of C&C would be a good thing, but they don't have an identity yet and everyone is now fighting over the right to show up.

I would agree, I poked around their site last night for quite awhile and I'm not impressed with how they are promoting it.

**Jdubbya** · #18 02-07-2009, 07:37 PM

How about keeping it simple, section off an area for a designated number of cars and it's first come first served. I know they ran into problems with Crystal Cove doing this because people were lining up on the side of the road to be there in time to get their car in. Would that be a problem here though? Just a thought.

**BritBlaster** · #19 02-07-2009, 08:34 PM

Nice work Vic -- it's great to have the management of RTC on-board.

I would suggest the upper-deck of the parking structure next to REI.
There are TONS of spaces there (even during busy hours) and lots of room for expansion. The parking lot next to Desert Fire is extremely busy, small spaces and only accomodates a few cars.

CrazyRuskie · #20 02-07-2009, 08:35 PM

Does this mean that people with something like my Infiniti G37 aren't welcome anymore?