Carl Fausett

It worked for us, but I was already in North Carolina this week, so the loop from NC to Atlanta was just a little further.

I thought it went well for a year-one event. If it wasn't for Mitch, there would not have been an event at all. This was one guy doing the whole thing, not an organisation like the PCA or something.

Seeing 330 cars on the race track at one time we also wondered when the accidents would start. Some were taking the low lines and coasting, a few were high near the walls and trying to get some hot laps in. That was very foolish for them.

I left our race car in the garage and did not participate in track laps. Without a positive pressure oil system (dry sump) there was no way at these slow speeds that you could keep your oil pickup submerged. If you could get the speed up in the corners, it would be OK, but that was not going to be reasonable with so many joy-riders on the course.

Anyway - here are some photos.

blown 87

I enjoyed seeing my Porsche friends, and meeting new ones, that is true.

I was expecting at least what I was told there would be and what I paid for, as it seems many others were.

Where were the corrals for the groups of cars that some paid 40 bucks for?
Why did some of us get only two laps and a partial?

If you think that event was well ran, then not much I can say about that except you need to go to more events.

What difference does it make if it was a first time event or not?
Other than I am willing to bet it was a one time event.

There was no drivers meeting, the sign up was a mess, not enough people, nobody knew what the hell was going on, if any one knew what was going on.
Why were we held up for so long to get on the track and into the infield?
(that was poor planning to have the Nascar guys using the track the same day as this event was held on IMHO)
The drivers meeting that was not held, was supposed to be at 9 AM, so we should have been ready to get started soon after that.

It was the worst run event I have ever been to, bar none, and it does not matter if it was the first time or not.

This is the first time I have ever said that any event was poorly ran, but the facts are that is was a clusterfu$k from the start.

No signage to tell folks where to go, no public address system, just a guy with a bull horn, and they did not deliver what they said they would or what people paid for.

They had ONE guy doing the registration, what would have happened if they would have had the 1400 cars show up like the guy was talking about Friday when I registered?
How can that all be over looked?

I have went to first time motor events (tractor pulls) out in the woods run by half drunken rednecks that were ran better than this one, with more people there.

I have posted a lot of pics over in the 928 forum, as I had lots of time to stand around and take pictures while we waited for hours to be told what we were going to do and where to go park, etc, which never did come BTW.

I wish it had been a great success, but the fact of the matter is that pretty much every one was pissed, every where I walked you could hear folks bitching about the way it was ran.
The vast majority of people will not return for a second one if it is held.
I will not and I live right down the road from it.

blown 87

A couple of things Carl, it was foolish of Mitch to think he could do this by himself, and as far as the cars out on the track being foolish, who's fault was that, there was no driver meeting, no tech, "no nuthing".
There were cars out on the track that I would not have test driven in the state they were in.
And that is solely at the feet of the person that put this event on IMHO.

do not get me wrong, this has nothing to do with the money for pretty much all of us, like I told some one after the event, Helen and I would have spent more money just going to see a movie, but that was not the point.

He simply was not prepared for this, and it showed.

Carl Fausett

I didn't say I thought it was well run. I heard the complaints too.

I'm just appreciative of the size of the task, what he was trying to do, and how little help he had with it. No doubt, that was all within his scope of responsibility. If he needed more help (and he did, no question) he should have recruited it. But, I also did see his posts asking for volunteers many many times.

Just a little less quick to "hang him high" as some others are.

PS: among things that are foolish, I find it foolish to think that people thought they were going to get "hot laps" without helmets, proper equipment, a driver's meeting, and with 330 cars on the track. I'm glad a race DIDN'T break out, otherwise the only record he would have set would have been "the most expensive crash in history"

blown 87

I agree 100 percent, and you did not know me when I introduced myself, I had to go console myself with women and alcohol.

I just do not think he understood what it was going to take to do this, no way one guy could have done this by himself on the actual day of the event.

roco16

Hi guys,

I headed up the photography (Renn-Photo) at the Mille this past weekend and I hear your comments loud and clear. I certainly concur with most of what's been said and we were disappointed to see everyone leave immediately after the parade was over. We captured some killer photos that we were able to showcase around 3:30pm to a relatively empty audience.

As for finding the photos online, we are still in post-processing and they will be posted by tomorrow at midnight (Nov 8). We captured some 17,000 photos throughout the event, and you will be able to find the photos of your car at this website (www.renn-photo.com) using either your registration number or the p-car type and color of your car (ex red 911).

Let me know if there is any way I can help. I hope the mods don't mind this post.

Cheers,
Robert

Renn-photo.com
404-374-3259

blown 87

Sounds Great Robert.

Also, I am willing to give this another chance, but they need to do some better planing and have more than one person to help run this.
Maybe Road Atlanta?

4re308

Hey everyone, sorry it took me a minute to write back. A lot of folks had a great time and many of you did not. I sincerly apologize for the issues. Some of the problems came from AMS dropping the ball on us several times. The NASCAR school was not supposed to be there at all on saturday. I am terribly sorry about upsetting some folks and some vendors. I never intended on ticking anyone off. I lost a tremendous amount of money, so please I hope anyone does not think otherwise. I did not make a cent. It was a first time event, we all knew it would have some issues. I took a big risk in trying to give the Porsche community something different and low cost to do. We still had 300+ Porsches on a race track, it really was a cool sight to see. For those who did have a bad time, Please don't hold it against me. Thanks from the heart to everyone who came out, I really appreciate you guys trying something new.

Porsche Ober

I for one have never had a bad time when Porsche's and their devoted drivers get together for some fellowship. I drove from Charlotte, NC to get there with my wife. We had a great time. I wish some things could have been a little better organized, but would I come back again...yessir! Nice to meet all of you!

Tim-C.

Guys,

I'm sorry so many seem vocally unsatisfied with the event. I was unfortunately unable to go to the event because I recently relocated to New Jersey for work. However, I was working at PCNA this spring, and tried to get Mitch hooked up with the organization there. Thus, I can make a few comments on the event from a semi insider perspective.

1) No-one has more passion and enthusiasm for getting car guys together around their cars to just have a fun day out than Mitch, the event organizer. I was surprised, to put it mildly, that someone without a clear financial motive would want to take on planning and organizing an event of this scope. Mitch is a rare bird, and for all this event's flaws, you're lucky to have people like him in the Porsche community. That we are even able to discuss shortfalls of an event like this is a luxury that most brand enthusiasts lack.

2) Until you are behind an event like this, until you are a show director or a race team manager, or event planner, you have no earthly idea how much work goes into it. I'm sure Mitch didn't fully appreciate that either. Should he have had an army of volunteers like PCA would? Sure, but can't do that without the club infrastructure behind you. Or how about a small team of FTEs and a six figure vendor contract? Well, that would mean significantly higher event costs, and as a result, probably far fewer attendees.

3) Don't hold him accountable for AMS putting other cars on track. I saw the contract in the early stages, it was supposed to be an exclusive event. I have also looked at AMS for other events, and can see why they would prioritize a NASCAR opportunity as the track recently lost a race there--big part of their existence.

4) There are no events with 100% satisfaction. None. I too have been to tons of PCA events, and heard complaints. I've been to tons of PCNA events and heard complaints. I personally took brand new Porsches to tracks and gave people free hot laps with pro drivers and heard complaints. You cannot satisfy everyone.

5) No matter what, something will pretty much always go wrong at an event. The picture below is from Quail Motorsports Gathering in Monterey, 2010. The blue car pictured is on the podium after winning best in show. Bear in mind that there are dozens of million dollar cars on display, that attendees pay over $200 for tickets to this one day car show, that this event is held at the same location year in year out, and that it's run by professionals with massive support, budgets, etc. And you still have stuff like this happening.

I guess what I'm saying is that despite the flaws pointed out above, that the Mille happened is better than it not happening. You know what I did last Saturday? I raked leaves. I'd have much rather been at AMS passing by a disorganized corral lost on my way to a bathroom wondering about the laps on a NASCAR track I was supposed to get.

By no means should anyone get a free pass. If mistakes were made, those responsible deserve to be told. But given that events like these are for the community, in a way they belong to the community. And we stand a better chance of getting more out of the next one if we can make concrete, constructive suggestions on how to make the next event better rather than general complaints like 'the event was poorly organized', etc. Anyone? Specific problems and suggested solutions?

--Tim

whalebird

Thanks for chiming in Mitch. My wife and I had a great time and will return again if you so desire to make this happen again. I can understand the multitude of unforseen issues such an event presents, but now you know and your vision of this event can be a reality if you start now and look forward to next year. I think now would be a good time to collect everyone that attended while the event is fresh on everyone's mind and gain some momentum going forward. I would be able to help in any way as I know many others would also. Right now you have everyones attention and regardless of the pitfalls this year, you have a captive audience that I think will respond positivly. THANK YOU for the great time we had.

AtlJimK

I'll chime in here.

1. Promotion was very limited/poor. If RL'ers have not heard of it until Wednesday the week of, you will not get a good turnout. Hit the borads here and other places for "free" promotion, bump the posts also. Place on PCA websites, contact region directors for inclusion in newsletters. If you want 2000+ cars you need a great campaign started maybe 6+ months in advance, at PCA eventes, ALMS, races, Cars and Coffee's, etc... Get the word out.

2. Registration, a fiasco. It would have been better to have it all staged inside on the infield. Register inside, away from the wind and cold, restrooms, where the vendors were, offer coffee and bagels. Have 4 people registering arrivals (3 for new, 1 for pre-reg). Plot out the schedule and route on a big board(s) and have near registration.

3. Initial parking; get everyone lined up according to Laps, Concours, Regular as they arrive, better for routing them later (need 4-5 High schoolers who like cool cars, pay them with a ride in the GT3).

4. Driver's meeting, never happened. Imperative. Have it on time and inside where people could hear. Describe the route and process clearly and maybe more than once. Like the stop for the photos, "we will be driving X cars wide, stay in your lane, no burnouts, no rubberbanding", pay attention to the grid workers, etc... (Like the IMSA guy for the ALMS race Parade Laps).

5. Stage immediately after driver's meeting. Again use the registration staff + parking staff to line the cars up and get them on the track in an efficient manner, paid lap cars in front (different sticker), everyone else after.

6. Drive the lap out of the infield and around the track then back inside and on to the track for the single parade lap and park on the front stretch for the photos. When coming back into the track it would be good to have some grid-experienced workers (PCA, NASA, SCCA), maybe two, at pitout stage the cars into three wide.

7. Once complete get all of the non-paid laps cars off the track and back into their staged parking areas. Concurrently have the lap drivers huddle for another brief driver's meeting. Clearly explain the rules, no passing, single file, etc.. Consider a tech check if you plan on getting to any real kind of speeds (100+) and possibly hemets required. Tech check could be on arrival.

8. "Spitited Laps". Paced in groups of say 15-20 cars, three laps, one out, one good one and then one cool down. Use two pace vehicles and have the next group staged so that there can be overlap for effective use of the track.

Overall you need the promoter, vendor liasion, 4 registration staff, 4-5 parkers, 2 grid workers. Other ideas; offer hot laps to paying attendees in the race cars/tuners. Consider getting the parade through downtown or on some of the nice side roads instead of just the track parking lanes.

I regularly race my bikes and have watched husband/wife promoters stage, run, time and award fields of 200+ with multiple categories with maybe 4 staff total. It can be done. I appreciate Mitch's big idea. Just needs help.

kr3678

I was at the event as well. I can relate to the frustrations that others have voiced here, but I also ended up having a very good time. It was poorly run and the logistics of the events and layout did not come together very well. The laps on track were fun, but some of my fellow drivers out there truly scared me with what they were doing.

There is definitely room for improvement, but I can also tell you that if another is scheduled, I will do my best to attend.

911 Crazy

I wasn't even at the event but after reading all these posts I felt I was. I hope they get it better organized next year so that I can have a better time!