The Show At Madison

Well now, there are shows, and then there are shows. To say the least, the Madison show was a true experience. I would have to think long and hard before driving 2.5 hours one way to do it again.

First, I gotta say that the folks running this show were excellent hosts, very friendly and right there willing to assist. Great folks! And in spite of threats, there was no rain - in fact, it was quite sunny and warm all day. And the organizers put a lot of effort into marking classes and having things ready. They get an "A" for effort, and another "A" for enthusiam. And an "A+" for congeniality.

OK, so now we get to the dark side. You knew I would.

One of the more minor problems was in the classes, themselves. For the most part they were straightforward enough, but a bit lopsided - one vehicle in one class, while another class had about ten. A class for Mustangs, but no class for Camaros. Things like that. But they had 4 classes for cycles, and there was only one cycle in each of two classes - the other two classes had none. So, I would recommend a little work to improve the classes.

Another problem - from what the participants were telling me, the turnout was much smaller this year because of the voting system used, and because there were only two trophies per class last year. So, many folks did not return. Note that in the Madison area, to get a good showing requires a lot of traveling for most participants, and they don't like to travel THAT far just to be subject to a complex ballot system and reduced chances of winning. And in spite of word that there would be three per class this year, there were only two, again. A lot of folks were disappointed.

And that brings us to the BIG ONE - the major problem that I certainly hope they will consider changing next year. The balloting system.

I will attempt to describe it, so you can understand.

Everyone gets a bucket to put in front of or on their car. And everyone gets a bag full of tags, each with a class number marked on it, and a list of the classes.

Participants must carry the list and the tags around as they vote, and when they choose their favorite in a class, they drop the tag with that number into that vehicles bucket. If you do NOT bring the list along, you will not know what class a vehicle is in.

At counting time, the organizers go from vehicle to vehicle, open the bucket and count the tags that each vehicle received, and put it on their tally sheet.

Now, if that is not complex enough, there are other issues that make this system untenable:

1) Every time a breeze came up, buckets went flying all over the lot. Whose is whose? were tags lost in the wind?

2) A lot of folks object to putting anything, even buckets, on their vehicles. And if you put it on the ground, the 50% of voters who are seniors are simply NOT going to bend over to ground level just to put the tag in the slot of your bucket

3) Everyone could see who voted for whom. Contrary to what some folks in D.C. may think, voting should always be a private thing, to avoid hard feelings and/or intimidation

On the bright side, the fine folks who put on this show already knew it had shortcomings, and actually requested that folks let them know what they could do to make it better next year. And that, my friends, is a sign of better shows to come. One of the organizers said he would obtain a copy of "The Complete Car Show". If he does, I am reasonably confident the show will be improved next year, and worthy of the trip. With any luck, they will keep me abreast of changes they will be making so that I, in turn, can pass that info on to all of you.

Oh, one more minor point - except for my car CD player, there was no music. Robert Sanborn volunteered to sing, but that idea was quickly stifled. Personally, I like music at car shows. Even more now, since running my player all day left me with a dead battery. Good thing I finally thought about bringing my battery booster pack along...

If anyone who went to this, or any other car show would like to comment on the shows, simply use the COMMENT button below my posts, or send me an email at ptwoodycrew@aol.com. A number of organizers have already commented that they are beginning to rely on the feedback you folks provide through HotKarz. So don't be afraid to tell 'em what you think. Just make sure that profanity in absent, and personal attacks are not included.

Bill

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