1st National FerrariChat Meet?

SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA, ERNIE

LETS HAVE IT IN NJ..........MY VOTE.........

 

central NJ at that!

 

today seems to be the day of the idea for big meetings
see here in the european section: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2000

trevi

 

Not a Ferrari owner, but have some advice for you...

To let you know, I am the founder and organizer of the 3000GT/Stealth National Gathering. We got 180 cars our first year, 178 the 2nd, and this year we're pretty sure we'll break 200 cars. They are coming from all over the USA... first year to South Bend Indiana, last year St Louis, and in 2004, Indianapolis.

Anyway, you have to run it like a business (ie. ONE person in charge with a committee and then a couple key helpers). It's not hard to plan, surprisingly... you have to find a hotel and negotiate rooms... find a caterer to negotiate meals for each day, and find a track to accomodate your racing events, and find sponsors to offset the costs. Oh, and of course you have to spring for liability insurance.

Our event easily surpasses $35,000 in budget for the tracks, insurance, food, merchandise, trophies, and misc. We bring in about $10k in sponsorship money and $25k in participant fees. as organizers we don't make any profit (by design) and use any excess money to fund the following year's event.

You'll want to have the event in a "population center" of the US... somewhere within an 8 hour drive from 2 of cities that have the most Ferrarichat members. For our event, most owners are from the east coast, Detriot, and Chicago so we keep our event in the midwest. Costs are also more reasonable in this area.

Anyway I have a ton of advice if anyone decides to head up the event for you. All it takes is someone with around 200 hours of extra time to spend in planning (yeah, 200 hours, maybe more).

The website for our event is www.3snationalgathering.com if you want to check it out for ideas.

Let me know if I can give some sort of advice.

 

This event needs to take place in the central part of the US so people can make it from all three coasts... how about Dallas!

 

NJ, TX, ... That's just ridiculous, it has to be in Hawaii

 

How about London??

 

no way, you are driving on the wrong side of the road

 

My vote is Bruces house in NJ or Bobs house in Dallas!

 

Either way I'm in. But what would be stopping us from blocking out a good chunk of hotel rooms and having a get together in lets say Chicago??

 

JIM AND ROB...MY HOUSE WOULD BE FINE, BUT PLEASE BRING THE PORTO-JOHNS AS IM ON SEPTIC AND THE SYSTEM WOULD HAVE A MELTDOWN


HI PAT

 

May I humbly suggest Nashville, TN, May 28-30, 2004. Eurofest Nashville ( see results of the 2003 meet at http://eurofestnashville.com ) is a wonderful event being held Memorial Day weekend in nearby Franklin, TN.

Over 250 european cars and motorcycles were at the 2003 event. In 2004, 400-450 entrants are expected. This will also be the National Event for the Jensen car club as well as a major regional event for the Porche Club of America. There is a party Friday, the show Saturday, and a road rally or autocross on Sunday (take your choice). Something for everyone.

We had several Ferraris in 2003 and are looking to make a major presence in 2004 as part of the FCA southeast. This would be the perfect event for a National Ferrarichat meet.

 

In all fairness, NJ does have the most residents per square mile of any state in the union. I'm all for having it at Bruce and Andreanna's! Plus, you can all meet their amazing dog Cleo with her unbelievable fire breath.

 

Geographic Center of United States
http://www.urbanhipster.com/photos/ks/center.html

Roads are flat, too.

 

July? I wish. Its in August. Latter half of August, in fact.
Making logistics with school age kids a bit of a challenge.

But, yes, a FerrariChat get together at the FCA National
meet is a must. I hope me, my wife, and my Fcar are there!

 

The Indy dinner this year was great. for all of you planning on going to Barrett Jackson Car auction in Scottsdale in Jan 04 we are planning a little F-Chat get together that weekend. Anyone interested PM myself and i will keep everyone posted as the time draws near.

Rob Guess "The Other Rob"

 

I'm all for that! Maybe a drive around the better roads in the valley too?

 

Patrick;

Send me a pm or e-mail and i will put you on the list.

Rob Guess "The Other Rob"

 

A ferrarichat meeting would be great. We could even have a combat cage for all the grudges made over the years,HA! HA! i know there are a few i would like to talk to,then all have a drink after it,could raise money for charity doing it if thats ya bag.

 

Perfect date? What about the Indy 500 as a gathering place? OK, why not USGP in Indy? OK, like August, how about Brickyard 400 at Indy? How about Auburn IN auction day? We can all chip in and buy a classic.

I agree with Rob, leave it as is. Most times our grand aspirations are left on the computer. Big meeting at Lime Rock was a joke. If the 360 Challenge, USGP, etc, won't get Tifosi off their duffs, nothing will.

 

I say we make it somewhere that most of us will be anyway: Barret Jackson, Monterey, Indy are three good choices. Why can't we have three meets? They are spread out well both geographically and chronologically so I think that it would work.