WESTOC evaluation

[nm6r]

I have to hand it to the folks that put this non-profit event together. Each year it's essentially a year in the planning and that's consuming a lot of time and effort from many people. I can only hope they have a good feeling of accomplishment at the end of the event as I know a lot of people appeciate their efforts.

Last year there was a discussion or two that I feel made for a better event this year. I'm not looking to stir anything up but maybe we can evaluate some of the things we liked better from this year or previous years. I have limited experience having only attended the last two WeSToc events but sure have enjoyed them. I start this thread knowing this event has culminated from 11 years of ideas and experience and continues to do so.

Banquet - Last year the big topic of discussion was the banquet. This year I think it was probably one of the highlights. OMG, the food was incredible. A very nice variety and all very good at a reasonable hotel banquet price. It seemed there was plenty of food and the staff was on top of the service.

Riders meeting - It might be a good idea to have a riders meeting on Tuesday evening because not everyone was there on Monday evening. Also it would give the opportunity to let riders know about any possible problems or highlights of particular rides. Also $20 park passes are good for several days.

Group photo - We have a lot of bikes and people showing up so it's really hard to get a group picture although not impossible. I think it would be a really cool sight to see.

People - It was very cool to see people we haven't seen for a while and just as cool to meet people for the first time. I met many people from the forums but I can't correlate all of them. Maybe we could add screen names to the name badges, maybe instead of last names?

Hotel - The price was much better this year. The rooms were spectacular last year and there was an indoor meeting area. This year everyone congregated outdoors with the bikes. Each has their advantages.

Pizza dinner - Hope and I put together a pizza and beer dinner Tuesday evening at the pool area sort of at the last minute. We had a couple dozen people attend and it was a really cool, casual, affordable gathering. It was a wonderful opportunity for people with green ribbons to join the group. I wonder how many more people would be interested in such a thing?

Mad Maps - I think these made for a valuable tool. They gave a good description of each ride, were easy to read and put all the rides into perspective.

Vendors - I wasn't interested in a new windshield but many were. It was really cool that a windshield vendor was there and fitting new screens. The same thing goes for Motorcycle Larry and his products. I was fortunate enough to win a gift certificate from MotoGear Outlet (http://www.motogearoutlet.com). I spoke to them on the phone to place an order. They were at another motorcycle event this year but said next year would be a possibility since it will be in August even though it will be in WA. They would like to hear from the coordinators. I wonder how many other vendors would like to show up?

New ideas? - Anyone have a new idea?

Once again, my appreciation goes out to the people that make these events happen. :beer3: Here's to an even better WeSToc XII with another record breaking attendance.

What's your thoughts?

Ray
http://www.frontiernet.net/~st1300rider/smile04Bikerwheelie.gif

[Mellow]

I was just thinking of posting something about how well the event went.

Great coordination, great food.

The organizers did an incredible job and it was great to see the ST-Owners.com site liSTed on the new Banner!

Everytime I looked around, Larry was installing some Hwy pegs on someone's bike. And, some were lucky enough to get some for free via the give aways. Bravo!..

A great event!..

Thanks goes out to all that were part of it.

[Medicine Bear]

This was my first WeSTOC so I don't have another one to compare it to. If this one is any indication of the level of commitment from the organizers (and I believe it is), it won't be my last.

Ray makes many good points and I second the screen name on the name tag suggestion. There were only a handful of people there that I'd already met in person and I found myself continually saying, "Oh yeah, now I know who you are" when given the screen name.

I wonder if there's a more formal way tp put together group rides. I'm not so sure the way we all sort of fell together is a bad way to do it but wonder if there's a better way. Perhaps riders could sign up for a certain ride at a certain departure time.

I would have liked to see an official group photo given that we set a record this year. It could be uploadedd to the board and any who wanted to could print their own copy in the size of their choice.

I had a fantastic time but it's going to take me until the next WeSTOC to figure out how to swing the distance/time without (gulp!) trailering the bike.

Fred :03biker:

[clmixon]

Ditto on a great location and great food.

I think that adding a check in check out board to the meeting room would be a good idea. Let's you see who is out, if they came back and what ride folks are doing.

The madmaps are really good, made it a lot easier to figure out what the GPS was doing.:p:

Had a great time and looking forward to next year in Redmond.

Chris :06biker:

[dond]

Bring a Sharpie pen and write your alias on your name tag.

Sounds like this WS was another major success. Helmet's off to the dis-organizers.

[msnyder755]

Being my first as well I really don't have anything to compare it too but I will tell you this.....I had a great time and will attend all future events that I possibly can. I met way too many people to remember but over time I know this becomes easier. My hat is off to the folks who brought this event together. The venue was absolutely perfect. I feel the price of the room and the banquet were perfect I guess if I had to make an observation it would be the following:

1. The door prize portion drug on too long. I know there were alot of donated prizes and I am thankful to those who donated but I think alot of people ended up getting a little bored after a while.

2. Would like to see more vendors with ST specific items....but how to entice vendors to such an event?

3. Group photo would have been cool for those who wanted one.

My hat goes off to those who are involved in putting these events together....its not an easy task and at least for myself the effort is appreciated. Great time with great people in a great atmosphere...what else can be said.

Looking forward to Redmond!

[AZST]

I like drinking beer in the parking lot. :yes:

That is all.

--Bryan
04ST1300A
:04biker:

[Putt]

I like drinking beer in the parking lot. :yes:

That is all.

--Bryan
04ST1300A
:04biker:

I agree with Bryan..

Putt...

[Kevin Powers]

When drinking beer and checking out bikes in the parking lot it would be cool if there were name tags on the bikes. Then, you could track someone down if you had a question about a mod.

Kudos to the folks who put the event together!

[sherob]

I like drinking beer in the parking lot. :yes:

That is all.

--Bryan
04ST1300A
:04biker:

HOT TUB! :D Drinkin brew in the lot was cool... not getting thumped was cooler :p:

[adamk]

When drinking beer and checking out bikes in the parking lot it would be cool if there were name tags on the bikes. Then, you could track someone down if you had a question about a mod.


We're already working on this for next year. Maybe static film labels? Anyone know where we can get these?

[George]

We're already working on this for next year. Maybe static film labels? Anyone know where we can get these?

Some suggested grease pencil on the wind screen. I wouldn't have a problem with that, but then my bike ain't as pristine as some. ;^)

As to sig. names on the tag, all youse ST-Owners folks gotta remember that this all happened originally thru the liST, and no fake names are allowed there. If ya want yur sig. on yur tag, add it. Simple enuf.

Food this year was outstanding. I was disappointed last year.

I have no suggestions for improvements. The dis-organizers did an outstanding job at all levels. Since Adam K. was deeply involved this year, I'm sure next year will follow apace. Looking forward to it.

Gotta point out that NATSTOC was great, too, after a total Man Hour outlay of .15. Thanks, Joe. ;^)

George
NOT in Kingman, Arizona

[Mark]

I like drinking beer in the parking lot. :yes:

That is all.

--Bryan
04ST1300A
:04biker:

??? That is all you liked? who would have thought that!!! :-)

Mark

[Mark]

When drinking beer and checking out bikes in the parking lot it would be cool if there were name tags on the bikes. Then, you could track someone down if you had a question about a mod.

Kudos to the folks who put the event together!

This would be easy to do with a white board marker... and it comes right off.
I use it to write my routes (when I'm not following) for trips.
It works really well on the moving ST1300's shield... a little harder on the ST1100's.

But it would work very well in a parking lot.

Cheaper than Static Clings (which would probably be gone on the next ride anyway).

Mark

[Don-STOC237]

I have to hand it to the folks that put this non-profit event together. Each year it's essentially a year in the planning and that's consuming a lot of time and effort from many people. I can only hope they have a good feeling of accomplishment at the end of the event as I know a lot of people appeciate their efforts.

Thanks for your kind comments. The WEC and the WDT's work very hard to make this the premier STOC event of the year. Many hours go into planning, negotiating, discussing and putting on this event each year.

Last year there was a discussion or two that I feel made for a better event this year. I'm not looking to stir anything up but maybe we can evaluate some of the things we liked better from this year or previous years. I have limited experience having only attended the last two WeSToc events but sure have enjoyed them. I start this thread knowing this event has culminated from 11 years of ideas and experience and continues to do so.

You're correct in the statement that the cumulative experience of the disorganizers, embodied in the WEC, is what keeps the events first-class. We created the WEC so that former disorganizers could (and do) contribute to the decisions made for each year's event.

Banquet - Last year the big topic of discussion was the banquet. This year I think it was probably one of the highlights. OMG, the food was incredible. A very nice variety and all very good at a reasonable hotel banquet price. It seemed there was plenty of food and the staff was on top of the service.

The quality of the banquet food is purely a function of the quality of the kitchen in the property where the event is held. When booking the banquet, we are given a choice of banquet offerings at various price-points and we select from those offerings. At some properties, like Minden, we are given a choice of 6 or 7 main entrees from which to choose 3. At other properties, like SLO, we were given just a choice of meals at various prices. We try to keep the prices down for attendees, so we typically choose a minimum priced banquet offering. Additionally, food prices vary from city to city, depending on local wage rates, food prices, etc.

The good news is that WeSTOC XII is being held again in a Marriott property so the banquet food is likely to be of very high quality again. The bad news is that it's likely to be more expensive next year due to the west coast location.

Riders meeting - It might be a good idea to have a riders meeting on Tuesday evening because not everyone was there on Monday evening. Also it would give the opportunity to let riders know about any possible problems or highlights of particular rides. Also $20 park passes are good for several days.

The riders meeting is always held the opening night of the event, and is our kickoff event. We like to stress safety at these meetings and it also serves as our welcome event where people can get together and locate each other. I don't see that a change to accomodate late-comers to the rally would be of benefit.

[Group photo - We have a lot of bikes and people showing up so it's really hard to get a group picture although not impossible. I think it would be a really cool sight to see.

Organizing a group photo has been problematic the last couple of years, due to the lack of a facility large enough to accomodate that many bikes. We used to do them, the last ones done were in Moscow in 2003 and Kimberly in 2001. They are really quite difficult to organize, and a photo that large requires a place that the camera can get high overhead and far enough back.
The last one attempted, at Moscow, didn't work very well even though we had a ladder for the camera person. Also, getting all the riders and bikes parked and posed is like herding cats, very difficult.

People - It was very cool to see people we haven't seen for a while and just as cool to meet people for the first time. I met many people from the forums but I can't correlate all of them. Maybe we could add screen names to the name badges, maybe instead of last names?

This has been discussed the last several years, however, we feel that it would lead to cliquishness (is that a word?) as several of the STOC communication outlets don't use screen names. If you really must, we'll try to supply sharpies next year so you can write them in.

Hotel - The price was much better this year. The rooms were spectacular last year and there was an indoor meeting area. This year everyone congregated outdoors with the bikes. Each has their advantages.

This is again a function of location and negotiation. Some areas and cities, most notably the west coast, are much more expensive than others and more popular with business travellers, etc. One of the reasons WeSTOC XII is being held on a weekend next year is that the area is very popular with business travellers, so the negotiated hotel rates can be lower on the weekend. In many places, such as Minden and Golden, the opposite is true.

Pizza dinner - Hope and I put together a pizza and beer dinner Tuesday evening at the pool area sort of at the last minute. We had a couple dozen people attend and it was a really cool, casual, affordable gathering. It was a wonderful opportunity for people with green ribbons to join the group. I wonder how many more people would be interested in such a thing?

At a couple of WeSTOCs, we did a pizza night on the second night of the event. We negotiated with a pizza joint to take over their entire establishment at a flat per-person rate, and it was very popular. The catch is, if you don't have a pizza joint within walking distance, this becomes difficult to implement. Additionally, the dis-organizers are limited as to what they can do due to their contracts with the hotels, who don't like you bringing in mass quantities of food to their properties (they'd rather sell it to you themselves.) Any on-site pizza parties in the future will necessarily have to be like yours was, small, informal and under the radar of the hotel. However, we'll continue to see if a second-night party is feasible off-site. This will obviously depend on what's around the location and what's available on a Friday night next year.

Mad Maps - I think these made for a valuable tool. They gave a good description of each ride, were easy to read and put all the rides into perspective.


The madmaps were indeed a great find, and we'll be contacting them again to see if they supply anything similar for the location of WeSTOC XII.

Vendors - I wasn't interested in a new windshield but many were. It was really cool that a windshield vendor was there and fitting new screens. The same thing goes for Motorcycle Larry and his products. I was fortunate enough to win a gift certificate from MotoGear Outlet (http://www.motogearoutlet.com). I spoke to them on the phone to place an order. They were at another motorcycle event this year but said next year would be a possibility since it will be in August even though it will be in WA. They would like to hear from the coordinators. I wonder how many other vendors would like to show up?

The vendors we've had in the past have mostly been local-area vendors. Clearview is located near Golden, so they came to the event this year. MCL is a rider so he showed up also.

Vendors generally aren't interested in showing up at a small gathering like WeSTOC if it costs them a lot of money to get there. It has never been the intention of WeSTOC to be a large vendor-oriented event, so in future, you'll probably see vendors, or not, at about the same level as in previous years.

Thanks again for your comments and suggestions. The WEC and WDT is willing to listen to all of them, bearing in mind that implementation of any
of them are subject to a lot of factors that may not always be obvious.

Don Feyma
WEC Site Selection Chairman
WDT Member 2006, 2005, 2004 (Lead DO), 2003, 2002, 2000

[Keith R.]

How about someone posting the results of the awards Banquet for those who didn't attend this year. Maybe its already been posted somewhwere?

Thanks,