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UNCC_99XJ

Twisted Up
NAXJA Member
Location
Harrisburg, NC
As most of you know, this is our (mine, Stump's and Nick's) second time running the crawl. We had a much better grip on it than last year, but still didn't know what to expect given it was the 15th anniversary event as well. What are your thoughts? What did you like? What would you change? Constructive criticism please.

A couple of thoughts to start off...

For those who ordered SEC shirts and got all crawl shirts, that was a result of a glitch in the order form. When I got your completed form, it showed only the size and that it was a shirt. It didn't distinguish between the two, so I took them as all crawl shirts. I believe it only messed up three people's orders, and I believe we talked in person during the event, however once again I apologize for not catching that beforehand.

Food. We told Norma that we were expecting around 100 people. I called her on Thursday to confirm everything once more and explained that we were right at the 100 person mark, and I was told she would be providing extra food. In addition, we later remembered that two years ago, Norma took care of serving us (controlling portions), where this year she did not. I think it was a combination of both that lead to us almost running out of food. Lesson learned if we do it again next year like that.
 
You guys did a great job of organizing the event, but I liked the banquet/raffle better when it was at the campground. After a long day on the mountain it was nice to come off the trails and have everything right there (like in past years).
 
Cost. The cost was a big factor for us not attending the meal. For the cost of the extra meal ticket for a guest or significant other (which most of us have) we bought steak tenderloin and cooked it at camp. To pay for all of us and register mine and nicks jeep plus tshirts was well over 100 dollars, thats why we kept the cost down by not getting shirts for sam and i or meals for us. I know the kind of work that goes into planning these events and ill be the first one to pitch in and pay registration, but on my thin budget it pushed it pretty hard. I would hate to see it as a barrier to some people attending.

I will say that this was by far the best cherokee crawl yet, ive never had more fun at a naxja event before. Props to everyone involved behind the scenes for putting on a killer weekend
 
I personally liked that it was at Harlan center because I can actually get up and move around on a flat level surface. If he gets the pavilion done by next year that could be considered but we've been waiting years for that. It was a great event IMO and I'm sure there is room for improvement in a few areas as with most everything.
 
Cost.

I spent $89 on registration, 2 shirts and an extra meal ticket. The club supplemented the excessive registration cost by giving out coffee mugs and key chains. There needs to be a better budget planned than that.

The awards need to be decided on by the people running the event prior to the banquet. Nominating and voting on them just turns it into a popularity contest.

There's no way that Norma brought food for 100 people. Nobody was gorging themselves and the food still ran out. That was a case of the caterer maximizing profit. 100 x $18 is $1800. That wasn't an $1800 meal. There was more food at the potluck. I know Harlan is a small place, but there has to be a better option.

I appreciated the relative quickness of the raffle, but you bundled a lot of stuff that you could have given out separately and given a lot more people a chance to take something home. A quick look at the table prior to starting the raffle to determine how it would go would help. Try and mix in the big prizes so it doesn't feel like everyone wins small stuff and then 3 people win big stuff at the end.
 
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we were talking about the food as well. there is no way that amount of food was proportional to how much was paid. i know she has to make a profit, but i think she took everyone for a ride. i didnt see anyone with a huge mountain of food on their plates either. i almost think having the potluck on saturday would have been better/cheaper (not saying the food was bad).

also agree with Josh on the awards portion. i think there should be a committee of x amount of people that decides, not a whole room of people.

more expensive raffle tickets. i know this has been talked about in the past. the odds of winning stay the same but you have less tickets to deal with.

i liked the dinner/raffle at the harlan center. yes it was a really nice weather weekend so having it outside would have been nice and convenient, but you cant anticipate that.
 
Agree with all the comments above. Had a great time but had to budget on other items to make sure we had enough to cover cost of registration and meal. Would rather everything be back at camp.

If the pavilion isn't done for next year, we can rent a big circus tent. (30x40 or so) for shade for the meal and raffle.

Overall, had a great time except for my baby girl who didn't enjoy the signing at 1AM. Voice lessons are in order... lol.
 
One thing that someone said to me was draw for the big prizes first and put the winning ticket in an envelope to be opened at the end so everyone at least has a chance at the big prizes. For example the way it was done if they bought $5 in tickets and they got drawn for a smaller prize they have less of a chance at the big stuff.
 
Interesting thoughts on the food. I thought I had heard that some people were getting big portions at the dinner. Maybe I heard wrong. I was too busy running around trying to make sure everything was going somewhat as planned.

Understood about the costs. The main reason why they were higher this year was to cover the expenses of the Harlan Center, in an attempt to do something really nice for the 15th anniversary. The SEC does have a big canopy now (the one that we were under for the potluck), and if Stephen is able to get the pavilion done in time for next year I could easily see the dinner/raffle being back outside even if the weather is nasty. The downpour from last year was another factor in trying out the Harlan Center this year. Who knew it was going to be fall-like weather....:dunno:

Live and learn I suppose. Thanks for the feedback everyone, and keep it coming!
 
  • Regarding the raffle: Perhaps when we have some big prizes next year - like the winch and the axles and the light bar and the roof slider - we categorize them. So, we publicize early what the big prizes will be and charge $5 or $10 a ticket to win them in a separate drawing from the $1 tickets for the smaller prizes.
  • I was one of the few that I heard verbalize, when Stump asked, a preference in individual drawings instead of grouping. Sure, it would have drug out the drawing longer, but more people would have won, and everything up there was worth well more than a dollar.
  • I am somewhat reluctant to admit that I felt the catered dinner was a bust with food since I am the one that secured the catering and selected the menu for the banquet, but I think next year we need to do a menu that is portionable rather than self-served. I was disappointed in Norma's organization. Perhaps that is what flies in Harlan Co, but having done A LOT of catered dinners in the past, I was expecting something more professional and better quality. I didn't think her food was good.
  • Regarding the awards, I agree it needs to be decided by committee. I didn't vote on half the stuff because I had no idea what any Jeep looked like, or what kind of camp set up they had. I would keep the awards to something quantifiable - or get rid of them altogether.
  • I'm terrible with names, so perhaps this is my issue, but I bet I didn't know 2/3 of the people that I rode with. I wish there was some sort of "name badge" system we could employ on the trail - short of introducing yourself to everyone during a trail repair stop and hoping you remember their names.
  • Perhaps this year was an anomaly with the number of rigs in attendance. I was in the Easy Group and each day we had 16 or better rigs. It would be easy to set up camp departures leaving in 15 minute increments so that the trail up the mountain doesn't get clogged. Perhaps we need to do something where, on arrival, there is a board posted with daily rides and people sign up when they arrive. Or if we do online trail sign ups, print them and post them and stick to them.
 
A trail schedule would be very nice. The leaders should be able to plan for a 0900 departure, a 1500 return with a lunch in the middle just using the map. That should happen before the event starts. That way you have time for recoveries and for instances where your group breaks off to run something optional.

There should be a limit to those groups as well. It's cool seeing 17 jeeps together, but it sucks balls on the trail.
 
Cost. The cost was a big factor for us not attending the meal. For the cost of the extra meal ticket for a guest or significant other (which most of us have) we bought steak tenderloin and cooked it at camp.

I will say that this was by far the best cherokee crawl yet, ive never had more fun at a naxja event before. Props to everyone involved behind the scenes for putting on a killer weekend

doug summed up my thoughts as well.

I had a wife and guest, so there was 60 bucks gone to meal tickets.

Other than that, I enjoyed myself, and you guys did a great job running the actual event.
 
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