73 replies to this topic

[bob]

Hey guys
Is there a meet this month?

[Captn_Awesome]

Not if this rain holds up - there wont be anywhere to meet!

[blanketman]

anyone want to meet up 1 thurday of the month

[SQXPRT]

I'm booked this week unfortunately

[infiltrator]

so whats the go for tonight?
as i just work 1min away from the meet point ill be there.
anyone else?

[Lunchbox.inc]

yeah no go for me either, far too broke from buying the Datsun...

[bob]

I was super keen for tonight, as there was meant to be a few old school members going. Looks like this month is a no go

[Marc ♫]

I won't be organising any more monthly meets.

After many many years, watching less and less people come - combined with crappy weather for the next few months, and a fizz out with organising any interest in a social committee, unless someone else wants to organise these from now on I think it probably won't happen anymore.

[Lunchbox.inc]

i have no doubt "someone" will step up...

[HERTZ-1]

We're looking at YOU Steve!

Posted from my portable device.

[Lunchbox.inc]

We're looking at YOU Steve!

i would happily look at stepping up to do so, but we need to remember it's a 2 way street, with numbers dwindling at each meet, and just the same few making the trip out each time it gets boring for everyone

we need to spark the interest again with everyone...

[HERTZ-1]

Idea....
Let's just make a time and place.

Some will come, some won't. If no one does, we'll just go for a beer at the nearest pub!

Seriously though, I am a little surprised - after considering the number of at least semi-active members on this forum - that there is not more interest in a monthly meet.

I'm relatively new to the MEA forums, and I've been loving the help that is available and I've really enjoyed the social aspect of every meet I've been to. Every time i attend a Competition i leave just wanting more and more. It would be nice to meet up in a more relaxed and friendly environment for a change though, especially for the judges and officials and especially Marc. Everyone could just chill instead of having to worry about setting up marquees, how many cars they have left to judge, when they have to warm up their system, or running around swapping the mic from one car to the next.

I'm more than happy to give some help to whoever would like to organise some gatherings. Let's spark that interest!!!

[Captn_Awesome]

Forget about them over winter - its too cold etc. If you want to do something. Organise a proper social on say a sunday afternoon or something. The combination of the cold, dwindling carpark space and the fact its night time doesnt help motivating people to get down to point park unless they are already in the area.
During the warmer months totally different kettle of fish IMO.

I reckon its high time for a gokarting day though lunchy

[SQXPRT]

Anywhere warm with reasonably priced food and plenty of chairs/tables and good parking will be fine.

[HERTZ-1]

Seamus o'toole Irish pub at knox Simon? $13.90 Parma and pot!

Posted from my portable device.

[Lunchbox.inc]

ideally you want somewhere central to everyone... to me the melbourne area is fairly local to most...

but it MAY be worth having a bit of variation month to month...?

i DO think during the winter months it gets hard, and perhaps having a couple of "bigger" meeets or activities instead of monthly meet ups could be a good way to go about it...?


thoughts...?

[SQXPRT]

Irish pot and parma - might be a go for an ad-hoc evening

[~Spyne~]

This was suggested several times over the past couple of years - have the monthly meets (Point Park or wherever) during the warmer months (say Sep-Mar) and then during the colder months have less regular, but 'larger' events like cinemas, ten-pin bowling, go karts, cruise to a nice country pub, etc.
The only problem came with not everyone agreeing on what should be done for the larger meets - some people simply aren't into cruising, a large group of people can almost never agree on what movie to see, go-karting and laser-tag cost too much for some people.
I think one of the best social events we had was ten-pin bowling a few years ago. it was relatively central, cheap and there's no skill required for bowling, if you suck, get bumpers of use the ramp.

[SHANE G !!]

living soo far away..and being new to the scene makes it hard for me to voice any opinion but I would think as long as it's a get together where you can chat have a laugh,has got to be key and what i'd think it's all about...afterall it's the people not the place .

[RAD]

I said it many moons ago, the same old faces turn up to these meets, and its a little intimidating for a new face to try and be a part of it all. It could be a blessing in disguise, in a way.

Another thing to consider, with events becoming fairly frequent for Bass Battle, MEASQ and dBdrag, by the time one is finished, it's only another couple weeks til the next one where you can catch up with everyone.

Should it only be a meet aswell? The social side of things are fine, but surely adding a test and tune element to it would draw out a few lurkers from the wood work? 99% of people on MEA are likely just reading to find questions to their own answers, maybe it might be tempting for people to get a face-to-face answer for their queries?

Lastly, could the scope of the meets go outside of MEA? I'm sure there would be interest from people on other forums like Eurocca, Ozhonda, JustCommodores etc.

Just spitballing.

[Marc ♫]

Great feedback. From my point of view however, I am not in a position to give up any more time to test and tunes etc. As it is it is unpaid "work" and I have 3 events in 3 weeks later this month.
I am not opposed to anyone organising test and tunes however, and MEA doesn't have to be involved in organising those. There are enough Termlabs around amongst members to do it.

Someone step up and organise a social / test 'n tune. I am sure a few of our sponsors would be more than happy to host it at their stores event if you just ask. I know Phatt or SSV Keilor Park would gladly say yes.

[SHANE G !!]

does it need to be a full on test n tune couldn't it just be a simple get together and play your tunes and just demo your new ideas for fellow enthusiasts,possibly then passers by may stop to look and not assume it's a big event they aren't welcome to ?!

[Captn_Awesome]

^can do that at any social meet. People are always happy to jump in your car for a listen and give you hint tips advice.

In all honesty I think there is more than enough opportunities for test and tunes etc with the meet and greets we've been having.
Theres 7 events throughout the first 1/2 of the year - works out to an even every 4-5 weeks. Thats not including opportunities to compete at non-MEA soundoff held by JB, Autobarn etc. How many opportunities to "test N tune" do you want?

I think drive ins nights work well. We've always averaged 10+ cars and reality thats a reasonable turn out. Cinemas dont work. people are more flexible with drive ins than traditional cinemas as if the movie isnt to your liking you can always get out your car and chat to others.

Bowling is always a good one with any group. Many bowling alleys have a bar you can start reasonably early in the day for those with kids and set up bumpers and the ramps. Then people that want to kick on can have a few drinks and most places have pool tables also. Works well all round.

Cruises are a hard one. Were a car audio group not a marque or make based group and we're generally speaking more orientated to the "audio" than the "cars". We have had some successful cruises but in recent years there has been less interest. That said the cruise we did 18 months ago to mirboo north got a better than expected turn out of cars.
Ideally I'd love to see some over nighters but you dont want to interfere with the MEASQ/DB side of things and clash with dates which really closes up your opportunities.

Laser tag etc arent expencive. Last one I organised I think was $40 per head for a 7 hour lock in. You can do 3 games of laser tag at Crown M9 Laser skirmish for $26. That whole its too expencive doesnt cut it with me. If you cant raise $26 bucks with say 4 weeks notice of an event you really need to re-evaluate your budgetting skills.

Ive said dozens of times you only need 3-4 "social" events worked out then every year replay them. A drive ins night, a laser skirmish event, a cruise / BBQ etc. Nearly every car club im a member of (no not other forums - actual car clubs with monthly meetings, minutes, agendas etc) has a fairly set calendar. You just move things around to suit the weekends. Its not rocket science but you need people to organise and you need members to show commitment to actually attending.

I stopped organising things with MEA/CAA because either we'd have 30 people saying "yeah we're coming" and you'd have 5 people show on the day or your have 5 people say their coming so you didnt make a booking and you'd end up with 30+ people coming and we often had issues because a booking hadn't been made (this happened to us at gokarting and we had to move the venue from south melbourne to moorabbin). The other issue is many things need a deposit for group bookings and you tight arse pricks wont stick your hands in your pockets to cough up a deposit. I ended up out of pocket several hundered dollars at one event after people that said they were coming bailed last minute and I hadn't got their deposit that they'd promised to pay at the prior SQ comp but "forgot the money".

So its all god an well for people to say lets do things but you have to stand up and help organise things or at very least support those that do stand up and try to organise things. Confirm if your coming - maybes mean crap. you might as well say nothing as "maybe". If a deposit is requested put your hand in your pocket. Usually deposits are only minimal any way $5-10. Its a bit of security for the organise to know that his or her balls arent on the line if you do a no show.

The other thing is you need to actually SHOW interest. If a poll is put up in a regional forum - respond to it. Dont come 4 weeks later when the poll has only had 3 votes and bitch that nothing social ever happens.

Any way im getting way off topic here and ranting.
So
/end rant

[SHANE G !!]

Seems like a pressured issue...I think K.I.S.S needs to be remembered find a car park let ppl know when where..go from there.no cost no hassle....my 1 cent anyways...good luck with whatever happens and the events calendar is always great anyway

[Lunchbox.inc]

Seems like a pressured issue...I think K.I.S.S needs to be remembered find a car park let ppl know when where..go from there.no cost no hassle....my 1 cent anyways...good luck with whatever happens and the events calendar is always great anyway

as it stands thats sort of how it has been already... everyone meets up at point park, and depending on weather, we either have a BBQ, or make our way to patony's pizza, it has always been a good setup IMO, but participation seems to be dwindling, especially over the winter months...

[RAD]

Captn_Awesome, I know there's plenty of opportunities to "test n tune" with all the comps on. I'm saying, to do a test and tune, plus a social side of it. Movies/bowling/tenpin etc is great if you know the guys, but for outsiders, no-one wants to really do these things with strangers, or people you know simply by a forum username.

Similar story for comps, yes you can test/tune there, but how many avoid going to comps altogether based on their thinking of "well, i won't win with what i have so why go?".

I'm with sostok in keeping it simple, and open for people to turn up, check things out, and get some help/tuning.

A store would be great, especially if the store actively promoted it to their customers in the following days/weeks leading up. But i think Phatt is probably tired from all the events over the years (phatt appreciation night? ), and i don't see Rodney from SSV being interested in it.

[Marc ♫]

But i think Phatt is probably tired from all the events over the years (phatt appreciation night? ), and i don't see Rodney from SSV being interested in it.

I wouldn't have suggested this if I didn't believe they would do it.
Also, Keilor Park SSV - Not Rodney (Thomastown).

Anyway, I'm staying out of this.I've done my share over the years and as far as I am concerned have given my best.
Its time for the members to step up and make something happen if they truly want it to.

[SHANE G !!]

Just to add...for me meeting and getting tips and advice from guys such as yourselves is a big thing and held in high regard and for others to be able to see the depth of knowledge that is possessed is something that should be shared , it's always going to be a growth moment for the "sport" to get new ppl seeing it as it happens in a fun environment on open ground....

ok thats all ..lol
thanks shane

Edited by sostok, 30 April 2012 - 01:59 PM.

[Captn_Awesome]

Movies/bowling/tenpin etc is great if you know the guys, but for outsiders, no-one wants to really do these things with strangers, or people you know simply by a forum username.

Frog crap. We were all "noobs" once. My first meet was Go Karting in 2005 @ go kart sport moorabbin organised by Fudd. I EFT'd him my $20 deposit 4 weeks in advance and I'd not met any one from the forums at that stage.
I did meet blanket the week before the event as I'd arranged that he would make me a fiberglass sub box. Other than that I'd not met a single sole.

When I got the go kart sports I didnt know who to look for or anything. I saw another guy, Steve (forum name I forget), who was also sitting around looking how I felt - a bit lost and not knowing who to look for. We started chatting after I asked if he was here with the CAA guys then after about 5 minutes a bunch of people including madtrav, fuddbutter, damo95, cheater, tiger_vts, blanket, grddwlr etc came through the door. Being a group (and the fact that blanket was with them) we realised that this was the group and we went and introduced ourselves. 7 years later I regard madtrav, blanket and fudd as some of my very best mates. You've got to put yourself out there to meet people occasionally. I did and I'm glad I did cause I wouldnt have the mates I've got today if it wasnt for CAA / MEA.

We went karting, we found out Fudds a dirty vego, we went for pizza, we listened to a couple of cars, we watched blanket snort a mint and his eyes frothed up. It was social. Those of us that were "noobs" (there were 3 of us in the end) had an opportunity to listen to "high profile" members cars and they returned the favor and offered hints and tips.
From that day on I got to know the guys. We had regular BBQs together. I used to crash at fudds place heaps and we'd get on the turps a bit together.

You don't become a member of a car club by sitting on the side lines and joining an internet forum.
The forums are here to share knowledge, show off rides etc. The "club" happens in real life. Get out there, get amoungst it, meet top people and live life! Get off the computer and actually interact with people.
No one is going to leave you on the outter. New members are always welcome. We were all "the new guy/girl" at one stage so we know what it feels like.

[BIGW]

Marc, what do you think was a driving factor to have such a large turn out at meets circa 2002-4? Under the Bolte etc.