jimpastorius wrote:
Any one ever run a NASA AX? No trailer, no display, no PA, no tent, no computer. They have a pickup, jumper cables, cones, timer, radios, scorecards and pens. For $30, you get 6-8 runs at VMP.
Sure. Ever run SCCA Solo2 Nationals? They have the nicest timing trailer in the land, great equipment, and the best processes around for running a silky smooth event. For $100, you get 6 runs.
So what's the difference? It's simpler than you might think. IMO, it's 2 things: the number of entrants, and caring about quality. At Nationals, they pump 1100+ people through the system; it takes them a week to do it, but people come anyway because it's the best competition in the country. A win there
means something, and because of that, they feel the need to step up themselves. Not only can you be sure that the results will be
right, but that they'll be timely, even if a rainstorm comes through.
How many folks were at the NASA event? 20? 30? So you had fun, and probably won by a mile. The win didn't mean anything, but that's OK 'cuz you weren't there for the competition. But if 50 folks showed up, I bet their tailgate timing crew couldn't handle it. 120 drivers? Forget it. Would they care enough about getting the results right to sort out all the errors and stick with it, calling up drivers after the event to track down times (since they all left early)? Maybe. And maybe you wouldn't care. But would you if it was
your club and you were running for a season championship?
If you want to make a motion to cap our events at 50 drivers, we could probably handle moving back to a paper-based scoring system. It may or may not be more work for the T&S crew, but you can be sure that we'll get the results right. Oh, but the entry fee is going to have to double. Fixed expenses, you know.
Our systems, our "complexity", evolved out of necessity. Not
your necessity as a driver, Jim, but of those who make the event run and have been consistently pressed to handle larger numbers of people and changing site requirements. IMO, the fact that on top of all that, we also choose to deliver a higher level of service (accuracy/timeliness), gets right to who we are as a club.
Of course some changes in process require a big change in infrastructure. As soon as we started using a computer, for example, we developed a concurrent need to keep that computer out of the rain and dust. We've proven that an EZ-up won't do it, so we needed something like a bus. But I submit there aren't too many "complexities" whose origins can't be traced back to a need to handle current event volumes or site requirements.
Now yes, most of our stuff is a lot
nicer than is strictly needed to fulfill the minimum requirements. But I think you can trace that back to a membership full of people who make the extra effort to do the job right, because that's who they are.
There are some inconsistencies and impracticalities in your vision of a bare-bones event, Jim, though they would not be visible to you from a competitor viewpoint. I hope those who've faced these issues already will be chiming in here, as I've already taken well more than my share of the space in trying to provide the context.
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). I had a great time.
This was before we were worried about liability.
