From:Tom (Rollo) Hardy e-mail:tomhardy51-A-cox.net
Subject:RE: RE: RE: HIGHLANDS CHAPTER ANNUAL ROAD RUN Date:Wed Apr 2 19:06:14 2014
Response to:821
All,
I agree that we need to plan this earlier to help avoid this kind of mess. I have been saying that for years now. This is one reason that in previous years the RR committee gave date and venue options that were then voted on by the members to help accomodate the most members. I still believe this is the preferable method so that we can work around members schedules and yet still get the most people accomdated so we have a strong showing.
This is one of our signature events as a chapter and as such should be a well planned and executed event. I have been involved since we stared doing these up here and can tell you it takes a lot of work and coordination. We need more folks to step up and do some work. The burden shouldn't just fall to a few.

The schedule/ planning committee works hard to fill out a full schedule of events for the membership and avoid conflicts as much as possible but more input is needed and more consistent attendance at the monthly meetings to bring up potential conflicts so that we can accomodate as many as possible.

I do have some ideas of areas/venues that I think might serve us in the future plus we have some that we have used in the past that can form the basis of a RR rotation schedule so as to not let things get to stale. Again more input and ideas are welcomed for discussion.

We used to have 20-30 folks show up and when you include wives or significant others we had a substantile showing. Just look at the photo on our home page to see what we used to have. Now we look like it will barely even break a half dozen.

I want this to be on our agenda at the April meeting for future RR's as well as the Open Roads show. The questions for the Open Roads deal is who is going to head it up and what dates. I came up with the idea and the first and subsequent contacts but someone else needs to take over the logistics for this. I have already done a ton of work for the chapter regarding RR's, event planning, the Patriot show, membership growth and other areas. Others have helped as well but we have a lot who haven't. Time for some folks to step in and help share the load. We really don't ask too much of members but it's not fair for a samll few to do all the work and bear all the burden. If that is going to be the case why even have a chapter?

I'm through my rant but I hope to see a lot more folks at the 10 am April 13th meeting at the Pan Am Restaurant than were at the Wegmans meeting in March.
The Pan Am is next to the CVS in the Pan Am Shopping Center at the intx. of Lee Hwy and Nutley St.

Rollo


----- ORIGINAL MESSAGE FOLLOWS -----
Rollo,

Sorry you won't be able to make it. Planning this has been a real nightmare. The calendar committee originally planned Aug 21-23, but that got changed to Sep 25-27 at the last meeting. I called Graves the next day, and Sarah, the group coordinator, said we could book Sep 25-27, but she strongly suggested we pick a different week.

I suspect the reason for her "strong suggestion" was that they were expecting additional guests from the two wedding parties, and they would give preference to them since they were already working with them. I got the feeling that the day we arrived, we would find that some of us had been shifted off to rooms in the other lodges - wherever they could stick us. Being split up would not have made anyone happy.


I posted a message about it on Mar 19 asking people to contact me. Nobody did. So I called the people who were at the meeting about picking either Aug 28-30 or Sept 11-13 instead. Nobody liked Aug 28-30. I left a voicemail message for Mike, and was waiting to hear back from him.

Meanwhile, Mike had called Graves, and spoke to someone other than Sarah. That person did agree to reserve the rooms for Sept 25-27.

Sarah called me this past Saturday, March 29, and told me the rooms in the Poplar Motel were now double-booked - the person to whom Mike had spoken should not have reserved the rooms without consulting her. We could not have them.

The only two dates left available were Aug 28-30, which no one liked, and Sept 11-13. So I picked Sept 11-13.


I'm sorry this has been so confusing. We run into the same trouble every year, since we wait until the last minute to try and plan. Let's pick a date and place for next year's Road Run, and get our plans finalized, and reservations made, no later than this September. If you have ideas about different places to go next year, now is the time to explore them.