how did Speedorama go?

[Dave]

I was there for a few hours on Sunday but I didn't get a sense of how many promising visitors we got at the Solo Ontario booth. So how'd it go, boys and girls?

[Nissan Racer]

Overall I think it went well, lots of pamphlets are out there now.
I think the show was much smaller and less busy than past years, and it might have helped to be closer to someone like WTZ or PRN...but you take what you can get.
Next show though, I think we need a draw...something like a couple of game systems with GT-3 or similar and have a time trial challenge...something to get people to the booth. Crispy's car helped, but with so many stereos and such on other cars where we were...I think you need something flashy

[John P]

I was there all day Friday. I talked to about 15 people that were interested, and took all the literature. A number of these were very interested in the school. Only time will tell if we ever see any of them again.

[Anamaria]

You'll see me for sure !

[gatherer]

it was steady busy on saturday ... sunday for the morning when I was there it was kinda dead.. (but I think sunday morning the whole show was kinda dead

[philip_240sx]

It seemed like the booth was partly buried between the cars, the pounding stereos, and the females on the nearby stage. :D

The show was O.K. I can appreciate the difficulty in getting/paying for a good location.

[ADAM]

after doing about 10 years of industrial shows...maybe 30 in total a few comments....(though this is a consumer show some things still apply)

1=booth location..(ok if we are getting it for free beggars can't be choosy) if we are paying this is crucial

2=booth neighbors..who is around you? always look in to this and plan booth location accordingly

3=professional booth staff( we are non profit and volenteers so this is hard to do) but booth volenteers MUST be proactive and aggressive..they cannot be passive drape huggers, and must talk it up...they should be near or in the aisles even drawing/talking people into the booth... half the battle is getting people to look at the literature...they may even want to do solo 1 /2 ...but must be shown the path to glory :)

THE WORST THEY CAN SAY IS "NO"..AND NO IS JUST A TEMPORARY DELAY TO THEM SAYING "YES"

4=the booth itself.. MUST be attention grabbing.....graphics....bright....flashy..

that means have a car there that is flashy (no offence to krispy) something eye grabbing....some flashing lights..maybe a smoke machine?i mean we have a pretty big pool of cars to pull from...no? how bout a z06? that neat tvr? a lotus super 7, ect...

the idea of an X-box with big screen TV would be a good one...

6=some giveaways..maybe a 20$ off coupon for walkins to solo 1? maybe a DRAW to fill in some card..where after we can do a mailing to them..so instead of us giving all that crap away at the end of the year...we can use that money at these shows to promote solo 1 ..thru draws and signups?

basically you have to beat and attack the people at these shows until they bleed "yes" yes..otherwise a passive approach will get you 99% "no i am not interested" and people just walking by..when in reality thay may in fact want to do solo 1..they just don't know it at that point in time...

some ideas off the top of my head anyway.... dealing with direct consumers is always going to be a pain and uphill battle..

[John P]

I think we got more value (free) and exposure than many of the booths that paid substantial $K just to be there. That supercharged NSX was good to pull people near our booth. The TV action helped generate interest, and then it was up to us to start talking and generating more interest. When I tried sitting behind the table, I found it much more difficult to generate interest, than if I was in front of the table and start to talk to people.

[CobraStang]

Adam, remember this is an automotive show...you forgot something:

7=a sexy, scantily clad woman handing out anything! :)

[ADAM]

:) damn..damn..damn

how could i have forgotten that one...

yes...lots of solo 1 girls...dancing girls...cheerleaders..... :)

to many years at boring electronics trade shows i guess

:)

[Taylor]

My observations as someone who saw the booth but didn't work it this year...

- A bad wood grain fold out table with folded white paper and 3 overlapping (and old) banners is not enough. Put a skirt on that table or something. Then you can hide shit under it. I mean two years ago a skirted table was some pittance like $30 to rent.

- The car was on the wrong side. Though seeing as it was hidden by that other vehicle's open trunk it didn't help.. but neither did putting the table out to the edge help because that also helped bury the car.

- The boxes, and pack packs and jackets and all that is very unprofessional. (including my gear on Sunday, my apologies.. adding seemed better than creating). Most people usually put that stuff in the car.. but with Chris' car being a hatchback it didn't work too well...

- The TV was too low and at the edge of the booth which meant you more or less had to be walking directly towards the face of the TV to notice it. Even just angling the TV out towards the entrance would have went a long way.

I walked into that area, and I'm sure I stood right next to or in front of the Solo booth and totally missed it. I couldnt' see Chris' car (covered on 3 sides) and I didn't see the TV on the high cart I remember it being on.

Even just putting some pylons on it or near it would helped.

- There's no photos of what we do to draw people in. The banners with a bunch of sponsor logos are great exposure for our sponsors but it does nothing to promote the sport (actually where WAS the sponsor stuff? There was no sponsor literature?)

- Marshalls tape was a problem, because while the video on it should have been shown as it was, it would result in only 1 discipline being shown for extended periods of time. And frankly it's not the side of Solo that needs the most competitors. The other tape showed a relative equal amount of Solo 1 and Solo 2 (until the Track videos, which is an oversight on my part when I made the videos and subsequently the tape because it would have been good to show whole AutoX runs like I show whole Track runs).

- Most definately a video driving game would help, mind you I wouldn't be lending my system out.. though I suppsoe if the worst we do is replace a couple controllers every show it's not that bad.

I would suggest a game that has an AutoX mode in it. I think NFS: Porsche Unlimited did, but I dunno if that was released on a console or not.

The booth location was definately better than we've had in previous years so that's cool. Unfortunately the show was much more "domestic" than I remember it being a couple years ago. So while the crowd is always questionable as to whether they're our demographic, it was even more so with so much muscle there. I mean the import stuff was MOSTLY what was in that hall the Solo stuff was in.

In the end, that truck with the lifted trunk probably hurt the booth the most, then the mess, then the cosmetics.

I don't think that guy knows how to organize a floorplan though. All the show cars just sitting there in the back like they were.. you need to mix it up when it's just a car sitting in a 10'x10' square. Looked like a parking lot. Not very attractive and you feel you get a good idea of what's over in that direction with a glance. If it was busy looking (like the other hall) you'd walk around.

[Marsh]

Why do you guys get a booth? In London, we just enter 2 or 3 cars, then arrange them together such that we have a little extra floor space. TV goes on top of one of the cars. BTW we do a mix video, and I assumed that's what would be done for CASC-OR, but somebody has to put the thing together. I'd do it, but I can't even get people to send my Solo-2 footage let alone, solo-1, road or ice racing.

[Nissan Racer]

Originally posted by ADAM
4=the booth itself.. MUST be attention grabbing.....graphics....bright....flashy..

that means have a car there that is flashy (no offence to krispy) something eye grabbing....some flashing lights..maybe a smoke machine?i mean we have a pretty big pool of cars to pull from...no? how bout a z06? that neat tvr? a lotus super 7, ect...



In fairness I think Crispy's car was ideal, most of the people that stopped by the booth said either they had one or knew of someone that had one, great lead in for "Well this one won the Championship!" As well, you want visitors to believe that the car in their driveway can be competitive, a stripped car with a roll cage and race engine might look cool, but leads to the impression that "I can't afford this" Idealy, maybe a fully prepped car AND a stock appearing car would be nice...but I think the booth should draw them but the car should say "You can play too, but without spending a fortune"

[Taylor]

Indeed.. a stock car (or stock looking car, or an older stock looking car) is ideal to attract new blood. It literally says "you can do this with anything".

[haniforama]

I guess i should plan to show my "championship winning" EG next year :D

[Dave]

oooooo, Hanif's talkin' a little smack! Nice!

[RacerRick]

I think the mullet coul dbe there next year :) There was absolutely nothing in the show like it! But the stock appearing car on the other side. That way everything is covered - domestic, import, late model, musclecar, stock, modified.

And when the mullet is sitting there with the championship trophy, it will look all the much better!

Buy a couple of controllers and you can borrow my PS2. I can probally get skirted tables and such for nothing.

[philip_240sx]

Originally posted by RacerRick
[B]I think the mullet could be there next year :)

Already confident the Mullet will be taking a championship eh?

If that's the case, maybe we need a Nissan there instead? ;)

hehehe... it's all good fun!

[RacerRick]

I think I have a better shot for the "most improved car" award because there is going to be lots of sorting out of that car this year.

[ADAM]

also...car with most bolts replaced :)

[RacerRick]

All the new ones are stainless steel. No more "chemical lightening" of structural chassis components.

Is there a "most spectacular failure" award?

[ADAM]

there will be this year..when parts of your car fall off under racing stress :)

oops..was that my right rear 1/4 panel

:)

[ITMN]

Originally posted by Nissan Racer
Overall I think it went well, lots of pamphlets are out there now.
I think the show was much smaller and less busy than past years, and it might have helped to be closer to someone like WTZ or PRN...but you take what you can get.
Next show though, I think we need a draw...something like a couple of game systems with GT-3 or similar and have a time trial challenge...something to get people to the booth. Crispy's car helped, but with so many stereos and such on other cars where we were...I think you need something flashy

I guess I'm a little bias, but why would you want to be near PRN? I can't recall ever seeing and Solo 1 coverage in there.;)

[Nissan Racer]

Sorry no offence, just that they had a big tent there

[ITMN]

Just kidding, we were there with our Sport Compact magazine, so you would not have seen Inside Track there. thanks

[Dave]

IT and SCN have definitely been solid supporters of Solo 1 and Solo 2! Good to see you guys at the show on Sunday and it was fun seeing so many issues of the current issue with the picture I took on the cover :) I'm famous I tellz ya! Famous! ;)