Grasping the Concept

While most folks understand how business works, some are still having difficulty understanding it. And anything that is designed to make a profit is a business. That includes a car show. As such, if organizers want to make the most money they can, they need to put on a show that attracts the most cars. And that means putting on a good show.

It does not - I repeat, does NOT matter - what the "good cause" is. Every show benefits a good cause. And while the "cause" may be the reason the organizers have a show, they cannot expect the "cause", alone, to be a driving factor in getting folks to attend. Because good causes abound. They are everywhere, and each is trying to get money from the folks. And frankly, the folks simply cannot afford to give to every cause. So, they tend to give to those causes that provide them with the most benefit.

But first, understand this - the definition and purpose of any show is a competition, whether a dog show, art show or car show. Most of the people who attend will do so for the competition. Take pro golf - they have tours to benefit charities. But do you really think they would attract Tiger Woods if they did not have a $100,000 purse? Not a chance. And if they can't attract Tiger and the rest, what kind of tour would it be? How much would they make for charity? Not much!

The competition is what attracts the players and the customers. And that is where the money is made. Take away the competition and you no longer attract the players or spectators, and you make nothing. A car show is no different. You can SAY trophies don't matter, but trophies or not, the competition most certainly does matter.

If the only thing the organizers are interested in is their good cause and they fail to provide a good product, they will not make anywhere near what they could have. People are competitive by nature - even earliest Man had to compete for food, shelter and mating priviledges. Competition is the key to survival. It is a good thing, not a bad thing.

But the competition must be fair if it is to attract the players - regardless of what your "good cause" is. Otherwise, you may just as well go door-to-door asking for donations.

Let us look at what we would have without the competition. Cars come, and the driver pays for the "priviledge" of hanging out all day with friends (something they could do for free at home). There are no classes; no awards. No competition. So, what do you have? A show? No - you only have a day long cruise-in. And there are FREE cruise-ins every day of the week.

If you want to host a cruise-in, then call it that. But if you want to host a show, then make it a SHOW. And a show is a fair competition, or it simply is not a show. It's just a "gimme money for my cause and to heck with you."

So, you want to host a car show to make money. Fine. But to make money in ANY venture you must offer the paying customer something of value. That comes FIRST, not LAST, because if you do not offer value, you will not get the customer. Just like any other business.

If you don't believe it, ask yourself: if you have a choice between two shows, and one is a great show and the other is crappy, which one would you attend? And just how much do the "good causes" they raise funds for play a part in your decision?

If you said "The cause is the deciding factor", then I will expect to see you at the Standish show instead of Old Orchard. Old Orchard raises money for themselves. Standish Kiwanis raises money for college scholarships for deserving students.

The point is, the first consideration for any show organizer should be "How do I attract the most cars to make the most money for our good cause?" If that is not the first consideration, then you have no business running a car show. And if that is your first consideration, it will lead you to the things that attract car buffs - awards, adequate & fair classes, adequate space, availability of food and drink, entertainment, and perhaps other interesting events.

If you short the players on the above, you can expect to come up short in your fundraising - and deservedly so. If you want to make the most money for a cause, forget about the money and concentrate on that which PRODUCES the money - the SHOW. Put on a good show and you will make good money.

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Raymond

Tomorrow we plan on going to the show in Raymond. However, I am not too entusiastic about some things.

The history of cars goes back roughly 120 years. The Raymond show is putting more than half of all cars ever manufactured into one class - Earliest through '50's. Therefore, antiques, street rods, '50's etc. will all be in one class, which is unheard of - and terribly unfair to those with vehicles pre-1960. Especially with only two awards per class.

Because of this, I suspect a lot of pre-'60 vehicles will not be showing up. I could be wrong, but history indicates many folks will not attend if there is virtually no chance for them to be competitive and have a chance to win.

Meanwhile, with the exception of '90-Present, all other classes only include one decade. While that sounds fair, consider that a stock vehicle will be competing with customs and muscle cars from the same decade.

Now, the reason I am writing this in advance is for the purpose of defusing the many complaints that might come from this classing system. You now know, up front, what to expect. If you find other things worthy of criticism, fine - let me know and I will publish it. But I have no desire to publish 100 complaints about the classing.

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