<VV> Convention Scheduling (was: Iowa Convention Schedule)

[airvair at earthlink.net]

Bob,

I don't mean to sound like I disagree with your logic, but in truth, you
have NO concept of what concours participants are like. I hate to say it,
but some really DO act like spoiled brats. Many a Concours person can get
easily offended or upset, short-tempered, egotistical, and self-important.
Yet they are otherwise wonderful, nice people. It all goes back to how
wrapped up in their own cars some people can get. And if you haven't
PERSONALLY witnessed it, you really can't imagine the degree to which they
get into pampering "their baby". It really IS unbelievable. I've seen it,
up close and personal. Sure, it's "just" a car. But it's THEIR car. Their
baby. And nothing's too good for "their baby". Thus they spend like drunken
sailors to pamper it. And nothing says love like a huge stack of well-spent
cash. So why shouldn't they be a little testy when they have that much
money wrapped up in it?

At this point you're probably asking why we should cater to such a small
portion of Corvair people? Because without them, you wouldn't have a
concours. Seriously. Often, it's the half-crazed egotists that tend to
create the best show cars. And it's that drive for perfection that makes
them egotists. Like it or not, you have to bow to them in order to have a
show worth having. And it's not all that much of a bow, IMHO. Putting the
concours as the first major event of the convention isn't, or shouldn't be,
much of an "inconvenience" to anyone. Look at it as "it just is" the way we
do things.

-Mark

> [Original Message]
> From: Vairtec Corporation <Vairtec at optonline.net>
> Subject: <VV> Convention Scheduling (was: Iowa  Convention Schedule)
>
> (I have revised the subject line so that those put off by discussion of 
> CORSA matters can tune out.)
>
> Harry Jensen, wrote:
> > Hi--
> >
> > Well, the convention is a CORSA convention. It's main function is to 
> > serve the membership of the club and the participants in particular.
> >
> > Yes, there was one year when the concours was held after a moving
event. 
> > And the participants, mainly the Cole competitors, complainted that it 
> > put them at a disadvantage compared with the other concours competitors.
> >
> > You assert that the best interests of the club as a whole are not being 
> > served. Care to go into more specifics?
> >   
>
> Bob Marlow now replies:
>
> To judge by what I have observed in recent years, and to judge by the 
> responses thus far, the principal consideration driving the makeup of 
> convention schedules is not only the assertion that the "concours has to 
> be the first event," but also that the concours has to be the first 
> event for the benefit of the Cole competitors -- a group that represents 
> a small subset of convention attendees and an equally small if not 
> smaller subset of CORSA membership as whole.
>
> Scheduling should be based on the broadest cross-section, not one of the 
> narrowest.
>
> The concours should be placed on the schedule where it best fits the 
> interests of ALL who may wish to enter, all who may wish to view, and 
> all whose interests lie in other areas of the hobby.  Depending on many 
> factors, sometimes this may mean early in the convention schedule and 
> sometimes it may mean late in the convention schedule.  But it should 
> never mean "concours has to be the first event."
>
> --B
>