ZR-1/ZR1 Gathering

[XfireZ51]

I know I have kicked this can a few times, but its become pretty clear that the enjoyment we get at The Gathering comes from who's there and not where it is. I'd like to think we can avoid the "smokestackers" next year by scheduling a different date. Rather than confounding our event w other C4s, why not have a Gathering of everything ZR1? Let's make this multi-generational by celebrating the mark "ZR 1" as the ultimate Corvette of it respective generations.
Thoughts?

[Kevin]

i'm not sure how many non zr-1s show up any more but I can't see the ncm making room for another event for just zr-1/zr1's since they're already covered by the c4 and c6 gatherings. unless you're talking about moving the event from the ncm, I think there was another thread about this. I'm not sure how I feel about moving it but I do think there should be some discussion on the idea. long as there's an airport near by I don't really care.

[Daniel_Mc]

The NCM didn't really support us this year so I wouldn't bank on them doing so in the future. I was thinking of heading in the other direction entirely with The Gathering this event has been going on the longest of all the NCM events and I do not want to see it die. It is a ZR-1 event just as much as it is a C4 event. I feel if we do not embrace it as a C4 event numbers will continue to drop and it will die just as Shark Fest did (anyone remember that one?). We will inevitably break into our smaller factions (GS, ZR-1, Callaway, etc.) while at the event. However if we want this event to continue to survive we need to embrace the C4 as a whole not just the ZR-1. We (ZR-1 net registry) needs to reach out to the other C4 specific groups and work with them on this event. We have got to keep the numbers up in the C4 community. The C4 community is a great FAMILY of people with a wealth of knowledge and we need to stick together. The key is to keep it interesting and fun. We need the road tours, places of interest, racing (drag and autocross), seminars, displays, judged show, and anything else we can think of that people will enjoy. We have to give them something to do each and every day. Someone that is new will not know people and the activities and cars are what will most likely be the drawing point; however Thursday this year I wanted to attend several seminars and didn’t because I was occupied talking to everyone. I wouldn’t change this for anything but I am just attempting to make a point that a newcomer will not know people and be able to do this (unless he is super active on the forum or other activity but I’m sure you get the gist of what I am attempting to convey). With that said we need to plan a ZR-1 event as well, not at the NCM, our own unique event. The Grand Sport Registry and Pace Car Registry do this with great success. Maybe a track day, maybe a meeting (cruising the coast, Woodward Dream Cruise, Petit Le Mans, etc.) maybe all just meet in the Keys or Vegas for a few days I don’t know but something. We could move it to a different venue each year to keep it fresh and make it more accessible at times to different ZR-1 owners. Carlisle is a great event as well and I am not attempting to take away any momentum from that event but this again is a ALL corvette event not C4, not ZR-1. So why not do the C4 event at the NCM, Carlisle (because it is awesome), and have our own ZR-1 event? This would give the ZR-1 owners/enthusiasts several opportunities and venues throughout the year to come out and enjoy the Brotherhood. The more events and opportunities we have to do things together the closer the community will become. Doug Johnson said it best “It’s not about the car, it’s about the people…” and I firmly believe that.

Daniel

[scottfab]

I'd rather see the Gathering go to a once every 4yrs than to not have it at the NCM. Even with no support from the NCM... it's still home to the car
But then I'm a bit different.
I think it's the car first....
that then leads to great friends.

[Paul in SC]

I agree with both Dan and Scott. We need to keep the Gathering going and if it means camping with the C4 and GS guys, so be it. We are all C4s.

I think we have enough regional events going on that should suffice as additional ZR-1 "gatherings" including Bloomington, Carlisle, tag along on Aaron's SGC event, Texas gathering, MidAmerican could be another venue, etc., etc. I for one am excited to be back in the ZR-1 family and really appreciated all the work that was pulled together for NCM this year. We may have had fewer people attend than I remember from the late 90s and early 2000s events, but the excitement and interest by those that attended was just as great.

[QB93Z]

Thanks for the discussion and comments. I think that some good points are being made.

I would like to clear up one major misconception. The NCM did support the ZR-1 Gathering. We used the NCM website do do all of the event registration. The NCM produced all of the badges and credentials. The NCM provided us FREE use of the theater for three full days. The NCM provided free event parking for all our cars and in beautiful surroundings. The NCM provided the Reception Center for the banquet and served the meal for a very reasonable price. The NCM allows us to set up a display area with any and all of the cars we want on the Boulevard of Dreams. The NCM allows us to set up our hospitality tables in the Museum lobby and to sell our shirts and merchandise directly in front of the NCM store.

We will continue to have an annual ZR-1 Gathering at the NCM. To get the get equivalent event facilities at a commercial location would be very expensive.

I agree that we need to have more cruises and tours at the Gathering.

I agree with Daniel. There were times that I missed a lecture because I was enjoying talking to other people.

Racing at the Gathering is problematic. We are not a big enough group to be able to rent a track for a weekend or a full day of exclusive use. We will continue to try to find a way to schedule race events at the Gathering.

I reject the idea that we shouldn't have a Gathering at the NCM because we should have an event on the west coast. The events are not mutually exclusive. We should be able to have The Gathering AND have events in every region of the country.

Jim

[Kevin]

we had some zr1's with us at carlise this year. was nice

[hiperf406]

I would like to see a western ZR1 event as I believe a lot of people including me don't go because of the location. Flying in & not having a car at the event is just foolish, pretty soon it will be a bunch of guys sitting around talking about their ZR1's & not a ZR1 around. Majority of people who don't want to move live within a relatively close distance & of course they will fight it. Carlisle is just as bad for anyone but the easterners, so I guess I'll just read about it every year until I loose interest in The Gathering & I'll bet I'm not in the minority, I could be wrong.

[QB93Z]

Originally Posted by hiperf406

I would like to see a western ZR1 event as I believe a lot of people including me don't go because of the location. Flying in & not having a car at the event is just foolish, pretty soon it will be a bunch of guys sitting around talking about their ZR1's & not a ZR1 around. Majority of people who don't want to move live within a relatively close distance & of course they will fight it. Carlisle is just as bad for anyone but the easterners, so I guess I'll just read about it every year until I loose interest in The Gathering & I'll bet I'm not in the minority, I could be wrong.

I agree with you 100% that I would like to see ZR-1 Events in the western part of the country. I hope that soon there will be an event that gets ZR-1 owners together in Las Vegas. There was a ZR-1 event in the Pacific Northwest just a few weeks ago. I hope that some ZR-1 owners will get together and make a piggyback ZR-1 event during the Corvettes on the Rockies show.

There has to be dozens of ZR-1 owners in southern California. My recommendation is for Registry members in the area go to car shows and Cars and Coffee events and make contact with ZR-1 owners who are not in the Registry now or don't visit the Forums. Get their name and email adddress and start a campaign to get together in small groups. This is the way that I started what is now WAZOO. We started with just a couple of owners and 3 years later there are 42 ZR-1 owners identified in Baltimore-Washington area. Some come to our local events and some don't, but we all have a way to meet other owners face to face, exchange ideas and have fun.

If any member in a region needs help with an Email list, I will host your list on my Constant Contact account. If you need help from the Forum, we can make a special section for any regional group.

Corvettes at Carlisle is not a ZR-1 Net Registry Event. It is a Corvette event at which the ZR-1 Net Registry has established a strong presence. What we did was create a location and a tent where ZR-1 owners can hang out and meet other owners. Now that we have been successful, we cook some hamburgers and hold a raffle to offset expenses. All of the adminitrative burden of setting up and operating the event are done by someone else. We just show up and have fun.

Jim

[zr1mom]

I think a lot of people forget there is a great gathering of ZR-1's every year in TX. I'm sure that could be expanded upon.

You did have another event that was growing in Vegas that could be given life again pretty quickly.

Remember events start with ideas and then people willing to put in the countless hours to make it happen.

Mom