PLEASE...

I keep getting emails from Belgrade show organizers and Sanford show organizers, and they all talk about how it's all about the money they make. They all say that we should be content that we are helping their cause, and that nothing else is really important.

So let me be clear:

1) Your "cause" may be a good one, but that is not why most car folks go to your show. If we were only concerned with your cause, we would "give at the office". In fact, I doubt if more than a handful of the folks who attended your show even know what your cause was! Your cause was NOT the reason they came.

2) If you want money from us, then you need to treat us like any other customer or patron - with care, fairness and respect. If you only see us as some sort of "cash cow" to be milked, then we will quickly lose interest in attending your show, and you won't make ANY money for your cause. The better you treat us, the more cars you will get, and the more money you will make. Don't you understand that simple economic concept? If your "judges" are not judging correctly, that IS a problem, and it needs to be addressed. Otherwise, we don't care WHAT your "cause" is. There are a million other worthy causes that want our money, too, so we can do without yours, if we find little reason to support you.

Simple rule of business: if customers want a RED widget, you had darned well better be stocking RED widgets, and not BLUE ones just because YOU like the blue ones. It is not about what you want - it is about what the patrons want. They are providing the $$$, so you MUST make them happy. Do that, and you will prosper. Fail to do that, and you will just be another has-been (or a "never was").

If you do not treat your spouse with care, respect and thoughtfulness, how long would your marriage last? And would it still be all it could be?

If you treat your boss, or employee, or associate with a lack of caring and respect, how well will your career do?

If you do not give your customers what they want, how often do you think they will come back?

Look, you want success, and you want money. Fine. But the ONLY way to get the most of both is to make the patrons happy. Anything less will result in failure, or at the very least, a less-than-best showing. Whether a business, a marriage, a friendship or anything else, success depends upon making the spouse, customer or friend happy.

3) Don't waste your time or my webspace with more emails of the same - if you haven't "got it" by now, you never will.