January, 2012
Northeast Divisional Solo News and Notes
We are currently working on a Divisional Championship event that would take place midsummer 2012. Although the Divisional program has become somewhat less supported by the National Office, I was contacted by a region interested in hosting the event. This is proceeding and I should have some more information in the next few weeks.
Last year’s Divisional at Seneca Army Depot was very successful. We had 131 entries and the event made a little money. Kathy Barnes and Tina Reeves, along with a long list of volunteers from many regions, made this a great event. Unfortunately we will not be running at Seneca anytime soon as the people that oversee the site have put everything on hold for the near future.
The National Office has a program for helping every region acquire new sites and if you contact me I would be happy to put you in touch with them. It can be tricky getting the owners of large properties to allow us to use their facility and there are lots of ideas on things that have worked in the past to get in the front door of these places.
We had a Divisional Solo Stewards conference call this past week and a lot of time was spent on how to grow the participation numbers at our regional events. The weekend membership seems to be a stumbling block as it raises the price to such a level that you can’t retain the newbies. Some of the ideas that were discussed included encouraging these new participants to sign up for a full membership at the first event. Explain how much they can save by joining instead of paying the extra per event fee. The regions could take it even further by offering a free entry or two if the join the club for a year. So $90 to join for a year, you get to run today for free. Next time its $30 instead of $45. In three events they have joined and run twice for the same dollars as two weekend memberships. Something along those lines not only gets new members but increases the chance they will return for future events. This makes a lot of sense and hopefully the new member will be with us for a long time. Any ideas that the regions have for this I’d love to hear what’s working so I can share it with the other regions.
I’d like to thank Perry Aidelbaum who owns and operates this website. He has been great to work with and this site has been supporting the Northeast Solo community for a long time. I’m sure Perry would love to hear from any regions in the Northeast that would like their schedule posted or any events they’d like to promote. autox4u@gmail.com
Thanks Perry!
If anyone ever has any questions or suggestion about anything National or NeDiv solo, please email me at dn59@verizon.net
Have great 2012,
Dave Newman
Northeast Divisional Solo Steward
I almost forgot. I would like to encourage all the regions to promote the SCCA National Tour taking place at MetLife Stadium in Northern New Jersey (The Meadowlands)on May 18-20. This event is for all competitors from all regions, not just the more experienced or skilled drivers. Bring everyone. I know NNJR SCCA will have a few events at the site in the spring so come on out and get some practice before the Tour.
30 Jan
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