I would like to answer all questions properly, however as I am at work I can’t.
As an example only, this is what is trying to be achieved.
Whilst i love motorsport, some people don’t, and after looking round trade stands, competition cars and a marquee, they usually find some entertainment and shelter (it will be mid September) in a stately home or museum, I suspect the vast majority members only choose to go to a motorsport maybe once year at if at all, at this National they will have to pay £30 and may be quite uninterested in the noisy backdrop. I am just concerned if it is popular enough to base a National rally at?
I am trying to play devils advocate here but why not run a poll to see what the membership think? should we have a point of interest of a slightly different vein? should the event remain completely free, should it be a lower price or are most happy to spend £30 for this type of event (like I am)?
Good luck with it guys and count me in whatever [:D]
I like the idea of Mallory park, Silverstone would have been better, but it seems the club may now have two great events instead of just one. I don’t know if I’ll be over there next year at that time, but if I am count me in. However I do believe that entry to an event like this should be free to club members on production of an OC membership card. Think about it, the OC member alrady pays a fee to be a member of the club, yet he turns up at the gate to Mallory and pays the same as the guy in the camper van in front…MMmmm should be free to members!!! all IMHO 
i go to Mallory meetings a lot every year & entrance fee is usually £10-£15 per person depending on the event.
thats £30 for 2 bods in a five for 1 day & this 15/20 offer is for 2 days, not bad so far.
will general public non member visitors get charged the same on the day?
discount for early booking sounds good.
there will need to be pin sharp organisation for the grand parade of 5’s because i for one will get bored & not bother to drive on the track if there is a big queue. i dont do queues.
its in my diary for a definite.
dont forget that the lakeside diner does the BEST breakfast of any track at any price (& its cheap)
I’ll tell Val - she runs the catering at Mallory and lives nextdoor-but-one to us - she’ll be pleased you’ve mentioned it!
I do hope that there will be some concession on the entrance cost for OC members… [:^)]
A parade on the track sounds interesting - but the access is very limited, so it will take quite a while… but here’s hoping!
I think £30 is a bargain. I nearly got thrown off Miata net for suggesting that $300 (£200 in the current climate) per person was a bit excessive! Thats on top of hotel costs (too hot to camp in May) and the cost of fuel for people to travel across America and Canada to get there.
This is appearing on our regions site. If true, that makes the pricing a lot more acceptable and should have been made clear from the outset. If not true it need rescinding right away.
EDIT.It has been pointed out to me, correctly, that the proposed entrance fee is not clear. £30 would be for two occupants and the car for the weekend. Numbers are still being crunched at the moment, but it would be reasonable to expect early booking discounts and reductions for one day attendance and for drivers only.
OK, it’s true.
Going straight to the end of the thread doesn’t always pay off, as the original post has been amended with this self same message.
Now just needs clarifying what the charge covers - entry only, or some or all of the attractions. :-)
well theres a shock
£30 entrance fee is far too much
yeah £15 a head if theres 2 in the car
but how many cars will have only one person in
then theres track time, instructors fees, food camping etc etc so looking to be a VERY expensive weekend
dont get me wrong love what is planned, (de ja vue) but the costings are far too high
to me it seems more of a case of the club trying to break even on the event or at least not spend more than it has to rather than provide something for the members , this is one of those times when the club needs to dip into its coffers and stumps up a bit extra cash, i mean the clubs quite happy to pay for the planning meetings and 15/20 committee expenses for this and yes has increased the budget for the event, but it needs to look at supporting its members and spending money in the right places,
im sorry but i think you may well price yourself out of the event at this price, and find a lot of members will not attend
o yeah is it £30 for a day or the weekend and if not £30 is even more expensive for one day for those that can not attend the whole weekend
personally i think a £10 cost for the weekend more suitable or £6 per day, considring all the extras will also have to be paid for
some will know my initial input to 15/20 and although i am happy to see what is being planned, i do hope it all comes off as planned but the price NEEDS to come down
as for inviting other cars and clubs, love the idea, lets invite clubs to come from all over europe, then charge them camping fees and entrance, i hope some ones thought of that, oh and dont forget the saturday night entertainment which will also have to be paid for ontop of the entrance fee, and that will also have to be free to invited clubs
you invite someone, you have to accept they make the effort to attend and travel, so you CAN NOT charge them entrance fees and for food to evening events, which makes the £30 plus food even more outragous to members
someone needs to take a step back and rethink this out once more re the pricing
yeah but how many millions did the film cost to make and how much did the cinema cost to build and run
we only hireing the venue not buying it
NickD something to bare in mind that has occured to me if you’re charging per car (I have read the bit about discounts for driver only), singles may decide to car share to share the cost therefore bringing the car count down.
edited to add… actually, would it really make that much difference to numbers?
I don’t believe I have the deeds to the cinema either.
the point i am trying to make is you pay £15 to see a film because your in a multi million pound purpose built complex with staff and facilities watching a film that cost many millions to make all of which have to be recouped and make a profit as its a buisiness, not a club event
therefore your £15 is well spent
What if your club was considering spending a very substantial amount of money, significant enough that it actually needed to recoup money to make it viable?
My point being that a motor race circuit has many staff, in fact more than my local cinema and a week end event hires all of those staff for a lot more than the two hours I was at the cinema. And it’s up keep and rental cost, because it is a business also, are hardly trivial, including the buildings, rent and services and therefore may be the clubs pockets are not deep enough to cover what it is considering spending without some form of income. This event is not intended to be a tent in a field where people can come and moan that the club never does anything.
Again, I am not trying to be difficult here, definitely not, but what I am trying to do is disseminate information. I have listened for 3 or 4 years now to the hard work of people like Gerry Nichols be rubbished as a poor show, “well I expected there to be more.” is a usual comment. As I am sure you know, the traders that have attended in the past have come at a cost.
So what I am trying to get information from here is yes, the club is quite prepared to hire yet another Stately Field with a big old building and a bunch of static cars and probably even a fire work display and pay for a free dinner. As far as I can see the club is not trying to be tight of grow the bank balance in any way.
However, from what I hear, people want to do more that that. They want things to see and do and be involved. They want Mazda to officially attend, they want to see the concept cars and watch something, in short they want an event.
Now lots of these posts are saying great, good plan but I don’t expect to have to pay anything for it, which is a fine comment and what I am trying to do on behalf of the club is find out just what is wanted and how much people would expect the club to spend on the members behalf?
Would this race meeting go ahead regardless of whether the MX5OC attends or not?
What is the normal entry fee and what does that cover?
If the vendors are attending anyway, as are the race teams what is being laid on in addition, specifically for the 15-20, that our attendance is funding, given that you could expect 5-600 UK cars plus guests from other clubs/Countries?
Just thinking, if no special arrangements were laid on and the Club just said ‘everyone turn up at this event’ how much would THAT cost and what would be missing.
See where I’m going? If normal attendance is £10 per day per car, regardless of occupancy (so if I went in the Polo we could get in for £2.50 each) and it’s costing £15 per day, we’re effectively only paying £5 per car more for…whatever extra is laid on. However, if that’s available to all and sundry and is at additional cost…don’t know where I’m going with this myself now but the amendment to the announcement that the £30 was the max. charge for 2 days and 2 people made things sound better than the original thought that it was £30 per day per person per car.
Even so, if our group went I’m sure we’d be doubling up so same number of people - fewer cars.
I’m sorry this is getting so much flak but I think it’s mainly people trying to determine what is being put on specifically FOR US and at what cost. The speculative nature of the original ‘How does that grab you’ announcement has raised more questions than it’s answered.
At the moment it seems we’re going to an already arranged event that is open to the general public and that the advantage that club members attending are getting is difficult to grasp. No doubt advanced booking discounts will also be available to Joe Public. Where’s the ‘value add’ for Club members?
Not being awkward - trying to understand. Can you please define them. Track time in the passenger seat of a Max5 racer - only open to club members, at what cost? Etc.
I think if it’s made clear that we’re paying the same as, or less than, the general public and getting these exclusives, some free and some at additional cost, which I don’t think is an unreasonable thing to expect, people would be happier.
Some ‘time out’ is needed to give a reasoned response. At the moment it just seems to be attack/defend, attack/defend around an unspecified deliverable.
what is the cost to hire Mallory?
Normal entrance fee to Mallory is (was?) £10 for adults, with children under 16 free - cheap day out for me and a bus full of kids!
As yet the 2009 Mallory calender has not been filled in, so can’t answer the question whether there is a meeting on the 1th/13th Sept weekend. (It would be very unususal if there wasn’t a meeting - look back in the 2008 events and you’ll see Mallory is very busy!
Cost to hire the circuit? - my guess would bearound £20,000 for the weekend (based on 600+ MX5 cars over 2 days [;)]).
to give you an idea rockingham, which is a LOT more expensive with a lot more facilities was £12,000 plus vat a day plus extras so about£25k plus vat for a weekend
i would say mallory should be no more than about £12,000 plus vat for a weekend
other costs would be , track insurance, first aid for track, instructors, recovery, marques trophies etc etc
a normal national cost the club around £8000 of which the venus is maybe £300 to £3000 of that
your still missing the point
this is a club event, not a business
the club should not even be considering making money out of this or even trying to recoup funds
your holding an event for members that pay a subscription, part of which is for the national rally but you expect them to in some cases pay an extra £30 to attend
lets just say the event pulls in 500 paying members, camping, track time, passenger drives , and what ever else is planned
thats a potential £20,000 income to an event
now i cant see any way this event should cost the club more than £25,000
so the club loses £5000
now as a budget of £15,000 was set for this event , that looks to me like the club is trying to make money , or is this event costing in the region of £35,000
and i wont mention the fact that the club is paying for the 15/20 committee to hold its meetings at kegworth all expenses paid, whats that costing the club or is that now coming out of the event budget
i think the 15/20 committee is starting to lose the plot here, you all know me and my views i held a lot of faith in several of the 15/20 committee members getting this right for the members, but this is starting to be of concern