Back to the 50s Registration Parking Pirates

So what did you BTT 50s attenders think of the "10.00 event" charge at the
previously free business park lot? The should raise a skull and cross bones flag.

 

Theres a local cruise in here. It starts at like 5 but you have to pay the parking meters till 6. They go around and give tickets.

 

The lot looked empty when I was there we all had a great walk to get to registration.
I hope they loose there greedy buts paying all of those people to set there and watch people walk by.
It is probably time to look for a new host motel.

 

Fill me in. I'm about to head that way. Isn't registartion still in the same hotel as it's been? Can't you park in their lot?

 

If you can get the Hotel lot you are ok. It is the lot on the other side of the street that the owners started charging $10 to park there so you can walk across the street to register.
During the day the Hotel lot is one big car show and is near impossible to get in.

 

Greed

 

Opportunity.

 

It would be nice to move the host hotel around a bit. But that one gives MSRA space for board meetings and such. Hard to get them to fix what isn't broke in their eyes. Not sure what would be better. Possibly something near Mall of America, but the rush hour traffic out there is a bitch!

 

I was there at 6:00 tonight. Plenty of places to park across the street from the hotel. I didn't see anybody paying/collecting to park. I parked free.

 

Greed!,...that's what's wrong with our whole country.

 

think about what you just said.....................the concept of driving to the host hotel to pick up a bag of worthless shit is ridiculous !!!!! so you propose we fight traffic with rare old iron among locals that HATE us hot rodders,,, to the mall of america?????? how many of you have been put off the loop because a sniffer went off??? off the road!! they don't care where you go...I've been in neighborhoods where i wasn't welcome. if you know what i mean. the host hotel was told they would sell out if they would put up with the rodders, 20 years a go. well FYI the metro area is sold out!!!

PRE REGESTER, GET YOUR ENVELOPE OF WORTHLESS SHIT IN THE MAIL. OR GET YOUR PACKET OF WORTHLESS SHIT WHERE YOU GET YOUR CHEAPASS MUG... get it worked out and the btt50's will again be the greatest, ever, anywhere!!

 

Got a little more scoop on this. The business that's there gives it's employees the 2 days off during the event to keep them from having to deal with all the hastle. They have let the people use the lot for free for all the years the registration was going on there. They got tired of all the participants/spectators leaving all their trash behind, plus loosing 2 days of their employees time due to this event. DO YOU THINK THEY ARE TRYING TO SEND MSRA A MESSAGE by charging for the parking??!?!?!?
Or maybe it was a quick thinking person who made a few quick bucks and is laughing all the way home?

 

I think having the registration in close proximity to the Fairgrounds only makes sense. Late arrivals can easily register on the day of the show and most participants are staying in hotels near the fairgrounds. Making people drive to Bloomington and back to register would be a bad move. At the wrong time of day it could easily be a 2 hour round trip...

 

Sounds like a kick-back to me!The MSRA could afford to rent space for meetings.

As far as the parking, I heard plenty of complaints about $10 event parking. I got there about 3:00 and the west bound exit was backed up as far as you could see on 694. They could only get one or two cars thru each light change. More then a few overheated street rods and owners.

JUST ANOTHER REASON TO MAIL OUT REGISTRATIONS!!!

 

As ratty of a hotel as it was the Hilton that used to be the HQ hotel for registation was a hellova lot easier to get too.. MSRA needs to find something thats more accessable for 10,000 registrants, either that or start mailing out the registration packets.

 

Stop the bastards that use the registration hotel parking lot as a car show.Some get there at 6 in the morning,park their car and it sits there all day.Put a time limit on using the host hotel lot and enforce it.The only reason it's a pain in the ass is that some people wont stop in,get their stuff and move on.

 

never did understand the whole concept of having to go somewhere to do something that can be done through the mail/on-line, or at the event itself..........just exactly what is it that can only be done at this registration.......besides take up participant's time, add another day of hotel stay, burn more $4 gal. gas, oh.. I just answered my own question, it's about free enterprise...........

 

I spoke to one guy about that. Apparently some younger guys are trying to drag the MSRA into the 20th century kicking and screaming the whole way. One idea was to offer online registration and it went over like a lead balloon from what I was told. All that paper has to be a logistics nightmare.

 

Hey , that hotel dont give any body any thing, we pay blood for those meetings and every thing else .....get those letters to the l/c if yer unhappy with the h/q hotel but do not post miss info on our hamb!!!! till ya got yur facts in order

 

FACT, chasing all over the 2cities is BS!were from out of town, 5 hour drive. Then put up with all the out dated sign up... I yelled and screamed about the 5 o'clock dead line at the hotel and that got changed THAANK YOU!!!!! It was suggested that if i didn't like it,,STAY HOME!!! well we have not been to the '50s in 5 years. my friends come home bitchen about the same old shit, and i smile and say told you

 

I'm not a MSRA board member, but their likely reasons for not mailing packets aren't too hard to figure out!!

#1 Reason not to mail materials: With today's modern scanners and printers, All it takes is one guy from a car club to register. He gets HIS materials, then scans and copies the window sticker on that years designated color paper. Then asks his buddies "who wants to get into the 50's on me? How many people will have now gotten in FREE because one guy registered and got his materials VIA MAIL and screw MSRA by making copies. Not to mention all the buttons they made on their button maker and handed out to their friends, neighbors and co-workers!

#2 reason: "I know I mailed my check, but never recieved my packet!!!! MSRA must have screwed up and not sent it, because I never recieved it."
This would happen more than once at the main entrance gate in the middle of 11,000 cars all scrambling to get in and park in their favorite spot.

#3 reason: "Oh Shit, I forgot my packet at home on the counter...really! Can't you just look it up my info here in the middle of the main gate entrance line at 6am!"
Again, this would happen SEVERAL times!

Do GG or NSRA send you your materials early? Not last time I went to one of their events!!!

Do GG + NSRA FILL TO CAPACITY the grounds so there is really no where to set up a registration area for the whiners? GG does on site at Des Moines, but only has @1/3 the cars, and nearly as big of fairgrounds.
NSRA does it close, but still off site.

The only VIABLE mailing solution would be a giant, permanate "Decal" participant sticker like they use for Hot Rod power tour, or the Car Craft Nats....Imagine the bitching about having one of those big ugly stickers on your traditional car!
Instead of buttons, they could go with the "non-removeable until the event is over" type wrist bands that every body loves to hate.

Still wonder why MSRA doesn't change?
It's just like in school, a few bad apples can ruin things for the whole class!!!

As far as the registration hotel.....

I was asked on the way in if I was JUST PICKING UP MY PACKET of if I was going to hang out. They had a specific location set aside for those who were going to just pick up and go.

The pay lot....It is a private parking lot, so really, they can do as they please. Maybe the participants should have picked up their trash, and not pissed off the owners of that lot!!

Location is about as close as you can get to the fairgrounds AND HAVE ENOUGH PARKING!!! Most hotels have just enough for their guests!!


My suggestion to the board members I know was after the big deal they made out of the 30th, they should have stopped making it such a big deal, stop advertising it nationally, and bring it back to being a smaller club oriented event like it was for the first 20 years! All the out of towners that weren't MSRA members could just stay home then, and not have to worry about all the hassle! I don't think that most of those who bitch realize THE EVENT IS STRICTLY RUN BY VOLUNTEERS!!!!!!!!! No one is gettting paid to put this event on! Step up and help at the event, or better yet, RUN FOR THE BOARD! You'll see how much time these people give for YOUR enjoyment at the event, because they spend the entire 4 plus day WORKING!!!! Not sitting on a lawn chair bitching about how it should be run.

I say THANK YOU for all your hard work!

Whew! that was my rant! I think people should just ENJOY THE EVENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Bring your crying baby doll and get in FREE! FK BTTF....................grow up and RoundUp!

 

I hate the hotel crap too. But this year we waited and registered on friday. Man that was a breeze in and out very fast.

 

So, why not start it at 6?

 

i don't mind picking it up in person , me and my friends sort of make a day of it. maybe i'm the problem?

but i agree it's a pain in the ass getting in and out of that hotel. maybe they could have an alternate pickup site that you could choose when you preregister? like along I-35 to the south in Lakeville

 

I'll pitch in: the folk's who need to park close (disable, older, ect) get pinched 10 and that is a crime. Shameful capitalist scurvy need to walk the plank.

 

I agree that Mall of America is not a good location, just that there are a lot of hotels out that way. Last time NSRA was here the motel was further than MOA.
Doesn't really matter to me where registration is. Current hotel is on the way home from work. I wouldn't mind if it was at the fairgrounds as it's only 1/2 mile from home.

Sending in the mail would be nice, but how many will get lost etc...

Just like war in the middle east, you are never going to solve this one.

 

been thinking this over
have a few local spots north, east, west ,south for all Minn or close locals to go get yer stuff starting mon-tues before
....seems that huge parkin lots of the DALES are sitting pretty empty all around town
...way out of towners go to the midway at the fair grounds cattle barn ? or midway stadium for drive thru pick up only ..would this be half ?

any body farther tha 350 miles its mailed
your zip code decides your pick up point have it computerized enuf so once its picked up your off the system no duplicates

a dozen laptops at each station should handle it
have best buy or dell sponser the use or donate em to schools every year

a hallograph (?)on each window sticker like any current concert ticket can not be duplicated... and once applied it is destroyed when removed

the problem is 12 grand of neat cars is so fun that every minute of it is the best thing ever ..
quit serving food at registration
actually the 10 bucks for spectators non paticipants is cheap

 

I dont think they nessescarily have to Mail out the Registrations, but they need to find a better location that has easier access. The Maze that it is to get in and out of that place is a real traffic nightmare....