A group of us are looking to start a small to medium sized annual car show starting in September of this year. We are a group of like minded business owners fortunate enough to have a great location for a show here in Traverse City. We're located in old industrial area reinventing itself into what's known as the Warehouse district in our town with a brewery, modern art gallery, small live music venue, and coffee shop. We currently run a bi-weekly cruise night thru the summer and fall. We have Hagerty insurance headquartered here and they are interested in helping out as well. We're looking at a 100 to 200 car show with live music, vendors, hot rod movies and art. Please send me any suggestions and or experiences you may have so we don't reinvent the wheel. Thanks
Start planning EARLY! Get a good band. Get some good flyers. Just think about the coolest things you liked at other shows and be sure your show has them too (or better) Friend of mine put on his own show by himself for 22 years! it took a lot out of him but I miss that show now, it was the MUST go to show for me for nearly all of them years.
With a very full calendar of car shows out there review show listings and try to set a date that doesn't conflict with other popular shows. Too many car show now are getting very greedy and charging unbelievable prices, I would say entry shouldn't except $35.. There's a show here on the west coast that's charging $70.00 twice as much as a national show. They give you a t-shirt, two lunches, and a dash plaque. I only want to enter the car show, I don't want a t-shirt and would rather eat at one of the local restaurants. Don't try to be everything to everyone, start show and keep the price fair. CRUISER
Don't let a bunch of sketchy looking rock-a-billy girls scratch up peoples' paint jobs so they can get their pictures taken...
Work with Hagerty cuz they've got all kinds of connections give them a big part to play and it will pay in dividends! PM me about a personal contact of mine inside Hagerty with good Car Show experience.
i hear ya on that!! a show here in wisconsin called drop fest.. mostly import crap, lower and jacked up cars.. ya know what i mean.. something like $60 entry and that gets you and one other person in the show for the weekend!! and its like $15 to spectate, i like the fathers day show here held by the evening optimus club, $5 regisration, which gets you in the show, and registerd, and you get a free raffle ticket, and spectators are a optional 'donation' of any amount, along with good food all cooked on site, soda, water, beer, and resonably priced, live dj only playing 1955-1965 rock n roll
No, but out here in California it's a regular thing... you've never seen pictures of chicks crawling all over peoples cars at car shows? Not all of 'em ask permission. I vaguely remember at least one fair-sized thread on here covering this phenomenon... The term "Orca-billy" kept coming up, but I didn't wanna go there. -ns
There was a similar post on this a couple of years ago. Some good advise and some talked about making sure you own the name and rights to the car show. Somebody like haggerty could just push you out next year if it's a sucess for them if you get the drift to what I am saying.
>Your awards, if judged by the people putting on the show, (not spectators choosing) should say the word "pick" or "choice" NEVER say use the word "best". eg "choice convertible" not Best Convertible. By doing this you avoid a participant asking why was another vehicle chosen over theirs, because it is'nt as nice. >Aways have a "choice unfinished"award for those projects in progress. Spectators & participants really like to see vehicles in different stages of completion. >Lots of door prizes, most participants are just as happy happy to bring home a can of wax or a case of oil as bringing home another dust collector (trophy) Good Luck!
Don't try to make up ton's of classes for different cars. Just do a 'Top 10 or 20 or ----' If they want to get that picky then they will go to a brand specific show.
FYI: Sept 11th-13th NSRA Kzoo Sept 11th-13th Frankenmuth Autofest Sept 18th-20th Goodguys, Joliet, IL Sept 25th-27th James Dean and Ducktail Runs, Fairmount and Gas City, IN Sept 26, Nostalgia Drags Milan Dragway Sept 27, Traditional Hot Rod and Custom Car Show, Gilmore Car Museum
food, cars, beer, music, dj, low entry fee and advertise, advertise, advertise. get sponsors, for $25 you get, $50, $100, $250(their name on front of brochure) and dj mentions them during show. worked for us for 20 yrs.
Last year I went to a car show here in Central Texas (think HOT) ..the organizers had BoyScouts giving out cold bottled water and the GirlScouts were drawing pictures of some of the Entries. I thought that was a unique twist on it all and it sure brought the youth interest. just sumpin' different.
NO bicycles! I also saw a lady twist her ankle, fell, and her camera was thrown into the side of a NICE pickup. Everyone was more concerned about the truck than her dumb-ass.
One of the neatest shows around here is put on by one of the churches . They have the cars plus they had people bring in some cool old tractors and some big rigs. Last year they even had a blackhawk helicopter fly in. They had alot of local businesses donate alot of free stuff for spectaters and car participants. the sheriff department brought their swat team truck in with demo gear for little and big kids to play with. for the kids also got some small wooden cars to color with markers. they were free. it made it nice for the whole family to keep busy. Or you could even get some pics for the kids to color. just need a table with a couple of chairs one or two boxes of crayolas. I know my 7 year old daughter loves to vote on her fav car maybe even do a kids choice.
There are a LOT of shows to compete with May-Sept (and the Pileup in October since you're so close to us geographically), so keep that in mind. Think about what you can do to make your show stand out and draw people. If it's the same old show, there's always one closer. If you want to have criteria, state it clearly up front and enforce it. Sponsors will be a HUGE help to you getting the show off the grounds. Use the money to cover insurance, flyers, etc. All your upfront costs. But, you have to think about what they get in return. Business info on a shirt, website, free vendor booth at the show. etc. Food vendors are necessary and they will pay you to be there. This will also help offset your costs. Make SURE you have restrooms or portapotties available. Make sure you have municipal approval, and let the police know what you're up to. Bands are neat, but remember, you have to pay them, and you might have to rent a PA, soundboard, and someone to run it, unless the bands can bring their own. Bicycles and pets are a liability, especially if kids are around. Keep that in mind. NOt everyone's pets are well-behaved. State it clearly somewhere that you are NOT reliable for damages, theft, etc. Your insurance carrier can help you with this.
Some of the classy shows I go to, every member of the club thanks people for coming, club members all wear matching T-shirts so if anyone has any questions you know who the hosts are. At the end, club members line the exits, thanking people who come, and watch for trouble makers. I have run a few shows, sponsors are how to make them profitable. If you can start the day of the show in the black instead of in the red, you are ahead of the game. A business can sponsor the dash plaques for promotional purposes, same with awards. If you can find a "sugar daddy", to sponsor the entire event, you will have it made. This becomes possible if the show is to benefit a charity or cause. One show I ran, each class has a different sponsor, we charge $40 per class, for 3 awards. each class we are a few bucks ahead in costs and that goes towards printing and advertising. I always like to take people who win a Best of show, or other special award, out of class competition to spread the awards out more. If I have any classes with only one or no entries, the left over awards go into classes that have a lot of entries. Most of the awards I hand out are "Outstanding in class", or simply "Outstanding", so they are not "class specific". If you are doing awards, look for something unique or different. Some clubs around here spend a year making awards for the following years events. Cut down pistons, rods, or other car parts. You can go crazy sandblasting and painting junk parts and gluing them on a plaque. And people love them! One T-Bird event I did, I purchased these inexpensive small diecast T-Birds $5-$6 each and made door labels on my printer using clear address labels. The "Best" cars won 1/18th diecast Birds with the labels. We also do an "engine blow" at one of my shows. Draw up a grid with 15 second intervals starting at one minute. Sell squares for $1 each. Get a boneyard to donate a car. drain the oil and water, or not. and put a brick on the gas pedal and wait for it to blow. Sometimes it simply slows down and seizes, sometimes it catches on fire, sometimes it makes a lot of smoke and steam, and sometimes it throws a rod and makes a loud bang! The show I do this at is at a fire hall, so there are plenty of safety personnel standing by.
Our show is on its second year and we learned alot from the first year. I agree that sponsors make a huge difference in how things go at a show. We used alot of barter system for some of the sponsors, like one sponsor is supplying the porta-potties, another is making signs for the different classes of cars, another is making custom trophies for one of the classes, etc, etc. See what I am saying, they do not always have to fork over money to be a sponsor, just something that will get thier name there and it will help you as well. We also have magnetic calendars make up that have all the sponsors names and contact info and they are put in the goody bags for the participants of the show and the sponsors are thanked with an add in the local paper for thier generosity! Also don't be afraid to talk to bigger companies to sponsor as well, think auto companies, i.e. Summit, Jegs, etc. You would be surprised, even if it is just stickers or bags or something like that. It all adds to the show. Hope this helps and good luck!
you better hurry,August is here next week. Don't be dissappointed if you don't have 100-200 cars first time out you gotta crawl before you walk. don't have classes just let your sponsors pick what they like but don't double pick(2 trophies 1 car). You really need more time thanmonth and half or two months, you can tell you ain't done this before.
I agree with Loburban. If it was my event, I would have no awards unless they are the homemade variety. Awards just cause hard feelings. As far as entry fees, most car people feel offended if they have to pay to get into a show only to have the Joe Public enter free to paw all over your hard work. Cars bring people, people bring cars! If it is for a charity, car people are generous. If it for the business involved, people who attend spend money. The cruise night scene seems to be my favorites because of the low key approach and the time just to hang with friends and meet new ones. The show cars don't seem to attend these in fear of weather or the dreaded rock chip (merit badge) on the way. Just real people with real cars. Raffles and door prizes are ok and we all can use another hat or can of car wax. Just my 2 cents. There I’ve said it and sticking to it! <o></o>
I agree. They are soft. kids are way worse This is the link to our show. Its called third annual but it never got big the first couple years, the original organizer left, and nothing is the same. http://www.maltbymotormeet.blogspot.com
I think you should let the cars in for free and charge the spectators. I hate having to pay to put my car in a show so the folks putting on the show can make money off of me and the spectators. Without the cars, there would be no spectators.
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