<VV> Convention in the summer, location, and other stuff. LONG

[tim mahler]

Ned,  I would settle for some notes,  email, letters, etc to the current 
board members with suggestions, although having more candidates for the 
board, with more ideas, would be welcomed.

The by-laws state that an annual convention be held, and that the convention 
be rotated amongst the the three regions -- so it is "close" to each region 
at least once every three years.  The Convention Policy, as written many 
many years ago  state that "the convention is to be held in the vacation 
season with preference for the last week of July or first week of August"

I was reading a Chicagoland Corvair Enthusiast newsletter recently and noted 
an article from one of the original CORSA board members.  It stated then 
that the CORSA was a family oriented organization and the convention should 
be in the summer to accomodate that thought.  Having it rotate amongst the 
regions was a goal of that same board.  So everyone could attend a 
convention that was "close"

Location:
On another forum,  a question was asked why the convention always seemed to 
be so far away -- Ventura was on the west coast, Jacksonville on the easy 
coast,  neither is close to Kansas or Illinois .
Close is relative.  California and Texas are BIG states.  It takes a while 
to travel from one end to the other.  Miami to Jacksonville is a trip too. . 
Having the conventions in various areas of the country, hopefully gets one 
close to you at some point.   If not;  talk your local chapter in submitting 
a proposal to host the next convention.

weather:
The western convention have been "cooler" the last 3 that I have attended. 
The last 5 conventions have been nice, for me.  But I am from central 
Illinois where summers get into the 90s regularly and the humidity is as 
high as the south many days.  I've baled hay, the old square bales, in this 
weather.
CORSA is a classic car club -- meaning we want , need?,  Corvairs at the 
convention.  Holding the convention in December through March means snow in 
the northern half of the USA and most of Canada.  Traveling in those 
conditions is not fun with just a car,  towing a trailer is next to 
impossible.  So regardless of where the convention is held,  those months 
need to be excluded.
November and April are iffy months.  Illinois has had ice storms during 
these months,  ice is worse then snow.  can't see it, no traction, and on 
bridges,  it tends to sneak up on you.  Been there, done that,  dang scary 
experience. .  toss those 2 months out if you want good attendance; 
especially Corvair attendace.

Down to May through October.
May is still fairly rainy with frequent thunderstorms.  Lightening is 
dangerous.  Temperatures are OK, most of the time,  may be a bit chilly in 
the morning.  October is dryer,  but it is crisp in the evening and morning 
in the upper half of the NA continent,  snowing in some places.  If we 
limited the conventions to the "southern states"   may be OK.  The other 
consideration is the amount of sunshine, or rather the lack thereof.  Here 
in Illinois, in mid October,  it is (pitch) dark at 6:30pm.  Not much fun 
for the parking lot crowd.

The weather, and limited sunshine,  mostly eliminates October through May.

Ok  What about September?
September is not part of the vacation season, but otherwise is nice weather, 
sometimes cooler but not always.  But the families (I've seen grandkids 
attend with their grandparents as well as children and their parents) , 
college students, teachers, and farmers would not be able to attend. Or the 
spouse would have to stay home with the kids... yeah right (I know some 
fathers are lucky and get to do just that but....)   The recent CORSA survey 
indicated 21.7% of CORSA members have children in school. Another 1.1% 
indicated that they themselves were in school.  That may be a minority,  but 
a sizable minority that, in my mind,  makes September a non ideal convention 
month.

That leaves June, July,  and  August.   Which just happens to be the usual 
definition of the vacation season that most convention occur.

Is it warm?  yes, in most areas.  Humid?  anywhere east of the Rockies, yes. 
But it makes it more fun to sit in the parking lot talking to all your (new) 
Corvair friends who quickly become old friends.

If you can tell me when to hold a convention at another time that doesn't 
exclude a large portion of the CORSA community -- I'm all ears -- SEND ME A 
NOTE OFF LIST  <please drop VV from the subject line or I may miss it, 
filters>  -- if a discussion is started on the Chapters List,  I will pay 
more attention -- that is a good place for this discussion as well.

Do we need to try different things?  yes. Lon,  we do.    The convention 
started as a (long)  Weekend  event. Most recently we have been trying the 
M-F format to allow week-end travel time before and after the convention. 
We MAY need to consider reducing the length of the convention back to a 
weekend. That may allow May, September and October to be considered.  I 
don't see , at the moment,  how a November to April could work unless we can 
inexpensively transport our cars to the convention site without risk of snow 
and ice.  <Kansas never sees snow does it? >

The youngster gather around the autocross?  hmmmm........we may need to 
bring back the gymkhana --
-- maybe with go-karts; maybe with tri-cycles?   maybe  just on foot ? for 
kids of all ages......(hate to exclude Rick)

tim mahler
CORSA board member,  Central division
current CORSA president.




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "The Robbins" <therobbins82 at gmail.com>
To: "'Virtual Vairs'" <VirtualVairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 5:24 PM
Subject: Re: <VV> Convention in the summer


> With all of these expert opinions, maybe there will be a load of 
> candidates
> running for the BOD next year to change things to whatever, or something
> like that..... gg
>
> Joe Robbins
>
> BBRT Current BOD
> CORSA Former BOD
>