warmpancakes
New member
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
"MOIST" Michigan Ohio Indiana sy tys?
Re: Nats location for 2012
"MOIST" Michigan Ohio Indiana sy tys?
Nats location for 2013
- Thread starter T-Bone
- Start date
Baythan
SY2TY2SY2TY
warmpancakes
New member
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
its been my little joke for years , would make awesome shirts :rotf:
Re: Nats location for 2012
its been my little joke for years , would make awesome shirts :rotf:
TNPhoon
1of28
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
We have been throwing around the idea in chat for Nashville for the next Nats, but wanted to wait until 2011 was over with to bring it up or throw the idea out there.
The good thing about Nashville is it's central location for this side of the US - there should be a ton of members within an 8 hour drive either direction.
The main issue that we may have with Nashville though is a 1/8 mile track vs a 1/4 mile track. There are 1/4 mile tracks, but not within a stones throw from downtown. Although, the Nashville Super Speedway is closing and there is talks that someone is going to buy it from Dover Motorsports and put in a 1/4 mile strip.
I know they also have a bunch of events out there for like autocross and whatnot.
Re: Nats location for 2012
We have been throwing around the idea in chat for Nashville for the next Nats, but wanted to wait until 2011 was over with to bring it up or throw the idea out there.
The good thing about Nashville is it's central location for this side of the US - there should be a ton of members within an 8 hour drive either direction.
The main issue that we may have with Nashville though is a 1/8 mile track vs a 1/4 mile track. There are 1/4 mile tracks, but not within a stones throw from downtown. Although, the Nashville Super Speedway is closing and there is talks that someone is going to buy it from Dover Motorsports and put in a 1/4 mile strip.
I know they also have a bunch of events out there for like autocross and whatnot.
phoonTy
Truckless. For now.
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
Nadine and I are still decompressing from Nats and will have some thoughts to share... but for now I will share this:
Over the course of the year, SyTyNats.com will be your calendar resource. Threads here often get buried or forgotten periodically. Please post stuff here, but if you have an event going on in your area, please let me know. I will be adding an Event Calendar to SyTyNats.com and will be glad to post up the details of your event. We hope to create a centralized source for SyTy events and a way for people to get the info without needing to dig the thread up here. If you have friends who want to attend, you can point them to sytynats.com and they can get all of the info if they aren't syty.net savvy. :tup:
Re: Nats location for 2012
Nadine and I are still decompressing from Nats and will have some thoughts to share... but for now I will share this:
Over the course of the year, SyTyNats.com will be your calendar resource. Threads here often get buried or forgotten periodically. Please post stuff here, but if you have an event going on in your area, please let me know. I will be adding an Event Calendar to SyTyNats.com and will be glad to post up the details of your event. We hope to create a centralized source for SyTy events and a way for people to get the info without needing to dig the thread up here. If you have friends who want to attend, you can point them to sytynats.com and they can get all of the info if they aren't syty.net savvy. :tup:
ziembic
Donating Member
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
The tough sell for midwest is families. I know every are can boast something for the family to do, but nothing beats a beach.
Like someone else said in a different thread, people will always find a reason why it should be close to them, and I am no different. As Jeff was saying, voting during regional events is a good way to pick since people attending regional events are more likely to attend a national event. I may be completely off base, since I usually only pay attention in the northeast forum, but it seems like us and the southeast guys have the most attendance at our regional events (GO US) so my thoughts are somewhere on the east coast like Myrtle Beach. I like the idea of Hershey PA, cause it is nice, but I don't know if any tracks are around. Indianapolis is a cool idea too.
In the end, I think that 10 hours or less from NY-PHL area is reasonable. It is 12 to 13 hours for me to get to Bowling Green/Nashville, and this is about the max that I would do driving wise for a three day event.
Re: Nats location for 2012
The tough sell for midwest is families. I know every are can boast something for the family to do, but nothing beats a beach.
Like someone else said in a different thread, people will always find a reason why it should be close to them, and I am no different. As Jeff was saying, voting during regional events is a good way to pick since people attending regional events are more likely to attend a national event. I may be completely off base, since I usually only pay attention in the northeast forum, but it seems like us and the southeast guys have the most attendance at our regional events (GO US) so my thoughts are somewhere on the east coast like Myrtle Beach. I like the idea of Hershey PA, cause it is nice, but I don't know if any tracks are around. Indianapolis is a cool idea too.
In the end, I think that 10 hours or less from NY-PHL area is reasonable. It is 12 to 13 hours for me to get to Bowling Green/Nashville, and this is about the max that I would do driving wise for a three day event.
warmpancakes
New member
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
Events need to be where the active owners are so , the east coast guys need to be included they show up to events
Re: Nats location for 2012
Events need to be where the active owners are so , the east coast guys need to be included they show up to events
phoonTy
Truckless. For now.
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
Areas where there aren't active owners are need events too. It's how you get active owners. We had the Cali crew drive 22 hours straight to be a part of Nationals. You can't overlook that.
The other thing you have to consider is distance. You people east of the Mississippi are way closer to each other than we are out here in the west. There's a lot more ground to cover between major cities out here.
Again, that's why there is a difference between Nationals, and regional events, and the time delay in-between Nats. :tup:
Re: Nats location for 2012
Areas where there aren't active owners are need events too. It's how you get active owners. We had the Cali crew drive 22 hours straight to be a part of Nationals. You can't overlook that.
The other thing you have to consider is distance. You people east of the Mississippi are way closer to each other than we are out here in the west. There's a lot more ground to cover between major cities out here.
Again, that's why there is a difference between Nationals, and regional events, and the time delay in-between Nats. :tup:
REVEREND HARMON
Party in a box!
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
If there are so many active members up there who SHOW up to events.....how come they didnt SHOW up to nats?? Dont give me the lame excuses it was to far to drive..blah blah blah...most expensive plane ticket i saw 5 months in advance was $225....im sure that would be simple to save over a 2 year time period...Thats one heck of a heads up.
Why are people so quick to shoot off WHERE they want it but not quick enough to support where its at?
Im seeing lots of people throw there hat in the mix for opinions...but we have been through this before last nats. And looking back on the old threads pretty much the same people spewing out non-sense right now are the same ones before......BUT, amazingly---those people did NOT go to NATS denver. If your going to give your opinion on location maybe you should at-least attend a nats to see how things work.
Its NOT about how many trucks show up...Its about the quality of people. SyTy nats could be completely truckles and it would still be a awesome event
Re: Nats location for 2012
If there are so many active members up there who SHOW up to events.....how come they didnt SHOW up to nats?? Dont give me the lame excuses it was to far to drive..blah blah blah...most expensive plane ticket i saw 5 months in advance was $225....im sure that would be simple to save over a 2 year time period...Thats one heck of a heads up.
Why are people so quick to shoot off WHERE they want it but not quick enough to support where its at?
Im seeing lots of people throw there hat in the mix for opinions...but we have been through this before last nats. And looking back on the old threads pretty much the same people spewing out non-sense right now are the same ones before......BUT, amazingly---those people did NOT go to NATS denver. If your going to give your opinion on location maybe you should at-least attend a nats to see how things work.
Its NOT about how many trucks show up...Its about the quality of people. SyTy nats could be completely truckles and it would still be a awesome event
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
i'm not picking on sportmachines post....just had the most pertinent information that i'd like to address from my point of view.
Moving the nationals event around allows people a better chance to get to it. Even this years "western" NATS was still a 22+ hr drive for the Cali folks. With the same people making an effort to get there, as you mentioned, at least they'll get to see new faces/trucks since it would be in a new spot, more accessible to different people.
When i was chairing NATS that ended up in BG...i knew when and where i wanted to have the event. I'd done a lot of planning and took as much input into consideration when figuring out what i thought would be the most ideal time and location to hold NATS. Then i held some polls on syty.net for regions that people would attend, and dates that would best work for everyone. In no surprise to me, the poll spoke directly to when and where i'd intended on plopping down NATS. So NATS became the event of the people since everyone got to vote on it, plus it appeased the most people from the get go. After this, it was just hype and marketting and getting the word out to attract everyone to the event. It was easy to get a big turnout due to all of this.
Denver this year was a different animal, and i'm sure some will look down at the # trucks in attendance - but they have no right to. Denver didn't have the luxury of #s vs locale and had a great turnout for where it was held. I'm still jealous of red rocks and having missed it. Not every event will be, or needs to be, a record breaking event. It's just not possible. And given the fact that some of the people are NATS regulars...do you really think they'll want to drive the same 10+ hrs to attend the same event with the same things to do and the same other people/trucks going to be there? This is what crushed NATS in years passed and interest fizzled as nothing new and exciting was being marketted to get people interested in coming. It was just relying on the love of syty to draw in the #s...which face it - we don't have the same population of trucks/people/economy anymore. It's a different syty world now, gas prices are horrendous, everyone in general has less expendable income, owners are younger (how many ~20yr olds are really willing to spend $500-$1k on a weekend driving trip rather than spend that $ on the truck itself). There's just a lot of things to fight to make a national car event popular.
Chicago NATS was 10 years ago. I'd be willing to bet another chitown nats wouldn't draw 100 trucks. Chicago was infested with trucks that year, and it was a great nats. Might as well have called that one gNATS. but 10yrs and many more broken trucks and much younger owners (affordability) later...we make do with what we have.
I look at sytynats like its a conference. Big conferences are in a new big city every year to make things not seem like the same old thing. That alone entices more people to want to go back to the same thing they've attended many times in previous years. "Ooh...i've never been to chicago before" "Ooh, i've always wanted a reason to go to the corvette museum" Chicago and BG had very big advantages - easy to get to, lots of trucks within a 10hr perimeter, attractive location even for the non-syty-purists.
Another thing to take into consideration is the NATS virgins. BG had good numbers, but how many of them were first timers. How many of them made it to Denver. How many of the Denver attendees were first timers. Theres a lot more to this than counting trucks and people. It's not as straightforward as people tend to make it seem.
The big NASTE hooters meets that have the large turnouts....a lot of those trucks/people don't make it to NATS. There just happens to be a ton of active trucks in the NJ area. Also, when a regional even does draw a good turnout time after time (Homecoming, shindig, naste...) there is less desire/need to go to the nationals since how many syty events does the normal person attend in a given year. Why drive 20hrs when my local event has plenty of trucks for me to see? Further reason why NATS needs to be the new/unique event time after time - people need a reason to be drawn to it.
I'm enjoying reading insights and opinions about NATS and what to do with it. I hope this thread lives for a couple weeks so we can get a lot more feedback from everyone on how to grow the event and make it something that as many people as possible will try to attend.
i'm done rambling on...i can talk this subject forever becuase i know we can do a lot of great things as a group to keep NATS alive as a great national event.
Re: Nats location for 2012
i'm not picking on sportmachines post....just had the most pertinent information that i'd like to address from my point of view.
It did have consistency for a long time. Numbers fall as an event becomes repetitive with nothing new to look forward to.
This is where i really disagree. Regional events are for consistency - same general people, same general meet. Less of a car show, more of a friend hangout...since you all know each other's trucks and have seen them a million times.
Moving the nationals event around allows people a better chance to get to it. Even this years "western" NATS was still a 22+ hr drive for the Cali folks. With the same people making an effort to get there, as you mentioned, at least they'll get to see new faces/trucks since it would be in a new spot, more accessible to different people.
When i was chairing NATS that ended up in BG...i knew when and where i wanted to have the event. I'd done a lot of planning and took as much input into consideration when figuring out what i thought would be the most ideal time and location to hold NATS. Then i held some polls on syty.net for regions that people would attend, and dates that would best work for everyone. In no surprise to me, the poll spoke directly to when and where i'd intended on plopping down NATS. So NATS became the event of the people since everyone got to vote on it, plus it appeased the most people from the get go. After this, it was just hype and marketting and getting the word out to attract everyone to the event. It was easy to get a big turnout due to all of this.
Denver this year was a different animal, and i'm sure some will look down at the # trucks in attendance - but they have no right to. Denver didn't have the luxury of #s vs locale and had a great turnout for where it was held. I'm still jealous of red rocks and having missed it. Not every event will be, or needs to be, a record breaking event. It's just not possible. And given the fact that some of the people are NATS regulars...do you really think they'll want to drive the same 10+ hrs to attend the same event with the same things to do and the same other people/trucks going to be there? This is what crushed NATS in years passed and interest fizzled as nothing new and exciting was being marketted to get people interested in coming. It was just relying on the love of syty to draw in the #s...which face it - we don't have the same population of trucks/people/economy anymore. It's a different syty world now, gas prices are horrendous, everyone in general has less expendable income, owners are younger (how many ~20yr olds are really willing to spend $500-$1k on a weekend driving trip rather than spend that $ on the truck itself). There's just a lot of things to fight to make a national car event popular.
We aren't a major car club. There simply aren't enough trucks to be a major club. Changing up the date was also an attempt to appease to the greatest number of people being able to attend. A lot more thought is put into these things than people realize. The committee isn't being selfish about things and plopping them in their backyards so its convenient for them. This year, TJ stepped up to lead it becuase it was going to be in his neck of the woods. He doesn't even own a syty anymore and did a TON of work to make it happen this year.
Chicago NATS was 10 years ago. I'd be willing to bet another chitown nats wouldn't draw 100 trucks. Chicago was infested with trucks that year, and it was a great nats. Might as well have called that one gNATS. but 10yrs and many more broken trucks and much younger owners (affordability) later...we make do with what we have.
I look at sytynats like its a conference. Big conferences are in a new big city every year to make things not seem like the same old thing. That alone entices more people to want to go back to the same thing they've attended many times in previous years. "Ooh...i've never been to chicago before" "Ooh, i've always wanted a reason to go to the corvette museum" Chicago and BG had very big advantages - easy to get to, lots of trucks within a 10hr perimeter, attractive location even for the non-syty-purists.
Another thing to take into consideration is the NATS virgins. BG had good numbers, but how many of them were first timers. How many of them made it to Denver. How many of the Denver attendees were first timers. Theres a lot more to this than counting trucks and people. It's not as straightforward as people tend to make it seem.
The big NASTE hooters meets that have the large turnouts....a lot of those trucks/people don't make it to NATS. There just happens to be a ton of active trucks in the NJ area. Also, when a regional even does draw a good turnout time after time (Homecoming, shindig, naste...) there is less desire/need to go to the nationals since how many syty events does the normal person attend in a given year. Why drive 20hrs when my local event has plenty of trucks for me to see? Further reason why NATS needs to be the new/unique event time after time - people need a reason to be drawn to it.
I'm enjoying reading insights and opinions about NATS and what to do with it. I hope this thread lives for a couple weeks so we can get a lot more feedback from everyone on how to grow the event and make it something that as many people as possible will try to attend.
i'm done rambling on...i can talk this subject forever becuase i know we can do a lot of great things as a group to keep NATS alive as a great national event.
92TYPHOON937
Active member
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
I would be with t bone. Pidgeon forge is anwsome area I have been there n wouldn't hesitate towing my sytys there
Re: Nats location for 2012
I would be with t bone. Pidgeon forge is anwsome area I have been there n wouldn't hesitate towing my sytys there
SEL777
One of 101
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
As usual, well written Mike. Very good points, and ones coming from a person who's spent time planning this stuff. This is the first year since I've had my truck I missed the annual show Nats of HC. To be a part of the group shot in Co. made me wish I made it.
Re: Nats location for 2012
As usual, well written Mike. Very good points, and ones coming from a person who's spent time planning this stuff. This is the first year since I've had my truck I missed the annual show Nats of HC. To be a part of the group shot in Co. made me wish I made it.
warmpancakes
New member
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
I think one thirg to consider would be to piggy back Nats along with a major car show to gain some public attention. Like T bone suggested Pigeon forge , tag along at one of the big truck shows. Public attention means interest , that brings buyers and new blood and $$$$$.
As far as new locations you go where your market is, You dont build a dairy queen in a town full of Diabetics you build it in a town of fat people. If you bring the product to the people you will be successful you dont make the customer come to you its business 101, and Like it or not events like this are a business,
Re: Nats location for 2012
I think one thirg to consider would be to piggy back Nats along with a major car show to gain some public attention. Like T bone suggested Pigeon forge , tag along at one of the big truck shows. Public attention means interest , that brings buyers and new blood and $$$$$.
As far as new locations you go where your market is, You dont build a dairy queen in a town full of Diabetics you build it in a town of fat people. If you bring the product to the people you will be successful you dont make the customer come to you its business 101, and Like it or not events like this are a business,
phoonTy
Truckless. For now.
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
It can also be a double edged sword. More parking lot mishaps, damage to trucks, rowdy hotel hijinks/police involvement, unwanted parking lot attendees... etc. Pick who you team up with very carefully.
My hats off to the Nats attendees this year. No police response needed, no complaints from other hotel guests, no management involvement in the parking lot, and we had guys help keep the parking lot clean.
Of course, getting drunker faster at 5280' probably helped. Can't get in trouble if you're passed out. :lol: :lol:
Re: Nats location for 2012
It can also be a double edged sword. More parking lot mishaps, damage to trucks, rowdy hotel hijinks/police involvement, unwanted parking lot attendees... etc. Pick who you team up with very carefully.
My hats off to the Nats attendees this year. No police response needed, no complaints from other hotel guests, no management involvement in the parking lot, and we had guys help keep the parking lot clean.
Of course, getting drunker faster at 5280' probably helped. Can't get in trouble if you're passed out. :lol: :lol:
warmpancakes
New member
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
valid point
Re: Nats location for 2012
valid point
T-Bone
Active member
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
ALL: I was simply trying to deduce IF consideration has been given towards the next Nats location. I was involved in planning committees for 14 of my 20+ years in the Army, some of which required planning for 850-1000 attendees. I know first hand the logistical challenges planners face and also the uncertanties (stress) associated with it. Yet, data supports the fact that the sooner advanced well-thought planning occurs, the better the quality of the event.
Should the powers that be decide to seriously consider Pigeon Forge, I will be standing by to assist in any way I can. Same with Nashville or Bowling Green. Even a location 8-10 hours away from here to attend a 3 day event is fine with me but driving 46 hours to attend a 72 hour event doesn't motivate me much. Nats certainly doesn't evolve around me.....just volunteering to help if it comes close by in 2013.
The idea that was tabled suggesting having the Nats in conjunction with another BIG auto event (like the Rod Run in Pigeon Forge) was a good one. Car enthusiasts flood this event and having 40-50 SyTySgt's grouped together would likely raise significant interest/awareness in these trucks. The temps are cool (low 80's) and the leaves sometimes are beginning to change color.
If the goal is to have SyTySgt owners gather, get drunk and attract the law, anywhere will suffice. If the goal is to reunite SyTySgt enthusiasts and enjoy the comraderie of each other, taking into consideration their families desires as well, with the intent to have loads of fun while making memories, Pigeon Forge would rock. May not surpass the scenary of the Red Rocks but the Smokies would come very close!!
Re: Nats location for 2012
ALL: I was simply trying to deduce IF consideration has been given towards the next Nats location. I was involved in planning committees for 14 of my 20+ years in the Army, some of which required planning for 850-1000 attendees. I know first hand the logistical challenges planners face and also the uncertanties (stress) associated with it. Yet, data supports the fact that the sooner advanced well-thought planning occurs, the better the quality of the event.
Should the powers that be decide to seriously consider Pigeon Forge, I will be standing by to assist in any way I can. Same with Nashville or Bowling Green. Even a location 8-10 hours away from here to attend a 3 day event is fine with me but driving 46 hours to attend a 72 hour event doesn't motivate me much. Nats certainly doesn't evolve around me.....just volunteering to help if it comes close by in 2013.
The idea that was tabled suggesting having the Nats in conjunction with another BIG auto event (like the Rod Run in Pigeon Forge) was a good one. Car enthusiasts flood this event and having 40-50 SyTySgt's grouped together would likely raise significant interest/awareness in these trucks. The temps are cool (low 80's) and the leaves sometimes are beginning to change color.
If the goal is to have SyTySgt owners gather, get drunk and attract the law, anywhere will suffice. If the goal is to reunite SyTySgt enthusiasts and enjoy the comraderie of each other, taking into consideration their families desires as well, with the intent to have loads of fun while making memories, Pigeon Forge would rock. May not surpass the scenary of the Red Rocks but the Smokies would come very close!!
Blazerspeed
New member
Re: Nats location for 2012
Re: Nats location for 2012
I love the idea of Tennessee, having everyone drive through the Smokeys (especially Clingman's Dome Road) would be absolutely awesome.
My only word of warning is this - Pigeon Forge is utter hell if you get caught in traffic. The whiff and I drove through there on our way to Gatlinburg last October and sat on a 10(ish) mile section of US-441 for 3+ hours because traffic did not move.
Also, Pigeon Forge is a dry town, Sevierville and Gatlinburg are not. not a major issue, just an FYI.
Re: Nats location for 2012
I love the idea of Tennessee, having everyone drive through the Smokeys (especially Clingman's Dome Road) would be absolutely awesome.
My only word of warning is this - Pigeon Forge is utter hell if you get caught in traffic. The whiff and I drove through there on our way to Gatlinburg last October and sat on a 10(ish) mile section of US-441 for 3+ hours because traffic did not move.
Also, Pigeon Forge is a dry town, Sevierville and Gatlinburg are not. not a major issue, just an FYI.