COTA USGP Survey?

Absolutely, I agree, though I'm not sure they do. I actually suffered through one of the merch lines to find out they only had a small fraction of what was displayed. We were approached multiple times and told we could order the merch online the following Monday. Talk about exasperating.

 

tell them how terrible the food is... they are my competition - Sodexo, who has the contract... they WAY, WAY over bid for the business. best of luck to them.

 

I didn't give any feedback, from my Volunteer position..

I did order some COTA F1 items after the race, have yet to receive them.

Tom, saw MAJOR SNAFUs in the VIP area catering, looked like the Keystone cops...if that's any consolation. They did have some local great vendors, like The Salt Lick, but public pricing was pretty bad.

 

***** ***** *****. The race was a spectacular success from any perspective, outstanding for a first time event on a brand new circuit. My best visit to a racetrack ever, and I have been attending for more than 40 years in USA and Europe.

 

Thanks!

I was pretty proud in the final laps of the race.....VIP Suite, T2 #14........

 

I gave them feedback simply stating they need to either (a) have a LOT more food vendors or (b) allow outside food; simple as that. Anything else and they will likely shed massive attendees.
Other than that I gave them good props for the most part. I was very impressed by all the volunteers and how friendly/helpful everybody was... except for a few surely/whiny bus drivers who, many of which, were visitors themselves.

 

I gave the volunteers a 10!

Big Tex, I tried to find you at Turn 1 on Saturday after qualifying but missed you in the crowd. It's probably for the best -- I wanted to say Hi, but was so out of breath after walking up that hill that I'm not sure that I could have said anything.

 

quitter. I waited an hour before giving up. I hear the merch was awful anyway!

 

They didn't ask you?

I'd have thought feedback from you guys would be even more valuable than that from the punters; Bottlenecks, ideas for improvement etc etc.

I'd have thought a meeting with all the volunteers would be incredibly useful. Or at least an online survey - You have your own site already, right?

Cheers,
Ian

 

ROTFLMAO!

It WAS quite the Hill!
I would have bought you an adult beverage, to recover....

I partnered with the Guest Services folks, in the white tent, north of the Restroom/Food Court.
My feet let me know it, after day 1 Friday. Covering the whole track as guides for guests.

In the tent we had a table to set up for Track maps distribution, (with CHAIRS!!, and a roof!) and the Guides were working the actual Gate 1 Entry, to the east of the building.

We had a few items to give to the crowd, but ran out of earplugs on Day 2, sunscreen on Day 3. The First Aid tent and the Medics got them all after that.

I did have Kotex, and Free Entry Passes to the Landing Strip topless club, until the very end.
If you want to fight a war, you need some bullets!!!

I did receive a survey...but truthfully, I saw SO many little situations play out over the three days, it would be a novel! They'll figure it out on their own.....I really appreciate all the comments on the public interaction with the Volunteers. I think most of them, like me, were really trying to do it for all the right reasons, to show 'the World' how we are, in Texas.

But there were a few, as there always are, that were really poorly equipped skill set wise, as people Managers, abused the people assigned to them, and caused some problems that hopefully, not many guests noticed. Oddly, all of these were above the level of Volunteer, they were being paid. They had to turn in their uniforms back to COTA, for a pay check.

I thought that was an interesting study in human behavior dynamics....call them "The Housewives of Westlake Hills"

The service vehicle that broke the water main into Red McCombs VIP Suite (Texas governor, President of Mexico, too) in the night before Race Day was a laugh riot too.......you have never SEEN plumbers move SO fast!!

I told them they could land a chopper, with supplies and repair parts, if they needed to.......

I had a great time.

 

Yes, on Facebook.

Here's the thing...because I had the working construction drawings of the Track, because I had the City of Austin Traffic Plan, because of all the info we had shared here in the past two years....

I was maybe 'too informed'??

They picked up on it in my FB posts, I'm sure...(the COTA people I dealt with directly were all WONDERFUL. I'd give them Five Stars!)

Mario, of course, is Mario!!!

I was trying to just "do my role" as I saw it, but often I was WAY better informed than the people that were actual COTA employees, (in the field, deployed alongside me) so I made a real effort to "fade back" and let them earn their money.

There was one point where I really angered a stressed out member of VIP Catering, without meaning to. and there were Temporary Restrooms locked up that I had no key to....wheelchair access was not good (I personally took a Vet down the hill into GA, with the help of his family, front row placement and then shook his hand firmly and thanked him.)....but I would return, panting, from a mission like that, to find Susie Homemaker with a 15 channel radio on her shapely azz, socializing with her coworkers (on the clock) about "nothing at all"!!!

So, there's some issues like that, that I won't share....it would just cause problems.
I'd chat about it with Red McCombs, if he's buying!!!

If you dig beneath the veneer of the event, to how they dealt with Tavo, and also now Kevin Swantz (a Houston Texas guy) it gets muddy real quick...

 

I got two Credential Holders out the side window, it took two minutes and you needed to deal cash....must have been the shirt.....

 

Politics! Who'd have thunk it!?.....

In all seriousness, do you know how Tavo was "treated"? I recall him saying he'd be there for sure, but don't recall any coverage/interviews of him?

Sort of "swept under the rug" like an ugly sibling?

Cheers,
Ian

 

You must have missed the Fletcher's Corny Dog Stand behind Turn 12. It's a State Fair of Texas tradition for 50+ years, and still tastes as good as you remember.

We got in line for Ferrari merchandise around 11am Sunday morning in the Grand Pavilion area and got our stuff in 15 minutes.

I imagine vendors will be lining up to be there next year.

 

For such a major event, the first time, it sounds "normal" that there were issues. After another year and hosting the other events at the track, it should be easier for the COTA folks to have things running much smoother for F1 in 2013.

 

typically what happens is COTA sells the rights to a master vendor - Sodexo in this case, who then contracts out to local vendors for sites at the track.

Sodexo has the contract for all food service at the track, catering etc... I know from first had experience they will have to provide a significant amount of catering for the Paddock Club and FOM - for free. they will also have to carry FOM's sponsor products as well, and give back any rebates they get to ... FOM.

 

I got a really bad case of food poisoning from one of the vendors on race day behind turn 11W, it caught up to be about 4am Monday morning & made for a very uncomfortable drive back to Fort Worth. Not sure if it was the breakfast tacos or the hamburger I had for lunch. I should have known to pack a lunch, defiantly eat track food at your own risk.

 

Ew. Nothing worse than a gastrointestinal witches-brew fermenting on the highway making every tremor in the road of Richter Scale magnitude. Massive Impossible.

Grand Prix meat is rolling the dice...Safer bringin' hard-boiled eggs and a can of cashews from home.

 

Hello,

I've never quite understood the need to eat at sporting events. Granted, I've never been to a F1 race, but have attended numerous other sporting events.

You have a 90 minuite race. Factor in 90 minuites each pre/post race and you are looking at four, five hours tops. Why not have a nice brunch before you head out and a great dinner an hour or so after you leave?

IMHO

Joe

 

A banana or two would do it.

 

That is a valid point and that is what I did on raceday.
However, on friday we left for the shuttle at 730AM and didn't get back until 7 or 8. We didn't pack snacks since we were not allowed (they didn't check) so we had to eat at the track. Saturday was a bit shorter but we had to get lunch since we were there for a long time. By sunday, we were sure they didn't check anything and took food in our backpacks and pockets. Saved a ton of money and time

You can skip eating at baseball/basketball/football/etc games, but there is a lot of other things going on at the races and its a long and tiresome day.

Based on my experience, they need more food vendors!!!

 

No, actually he WAS there with F1 operations, and there were some cool billboards that (rumor had it) Bernie had paid for, I wanted my pic in front of one...thanking Tavo.