Normal turnout?

[MarylandSpeed]

I see most complaints about Saturday being slow, which it slightly was. I think the issue is that it was like 97 degrees with 90% humidity Friday...which wore people out, and killed track times. Then pretty much everyone went back to to the hotel and took part in the free bar till late in the night. My suspicion is that a lot of people stayed at the hotel and chilled there rather than come to the track in the heat for a second day. Then all the people who were only coming in for Saturday saw the low turn out.

I still think it would be better if the track was a one day thing. Do one day for free meet and greet type stuff at the hotel on Friday (while the vendors set up at the track)..then do a track day/vendor alley Saturday. Would keep the cost down, and so forth.

In reference to a few other things...

My thought is Camaro5fest is not bloomington gold, or anything like that. It is essentially a forum meet and greet with some track stuff added. For what it is, it is huge. Not many forums can get over 1000 people attend an event.

Lastly, the thread below shows why from a performance parts perspective, you will not see a lot on display. I know over half the vendor midway was companies who sold or manufactured exhaust or intakes. Places with trailors full of the stuff. Yet the thread shows that people were more interested in lighting, appearance stuff, and shirts than performance. Now the hope is people call you and buy after the show..but that is difficult to quantify. If you start to see a change more towards less vendors showing up, or when they do show up, bringing less stuff, this is why.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=241807

[SM0KE]

Heres my .02...

Having just 1 day for track?
And what if it rains that 1 day?
CFEST is a bust.

AAC did preorders this year.
I was 1 of the few that actually took advantage of this.
The benefits of preordering are obvious from a vendor standpoint.
AAC pulled me aside and asked me about their preordering process and how their service could have been better this year.
I gave them plenty of feedback that hopefully will make the next fest even better.

AAC is different since their product is not big and bulky.
Few people want to carry an exhaust system home in the trunk with them.
As a customer, I was looking for free installs this year.
There were things I would have bought had install been available.
Since a certain vendor was not doing any installs this year, I didnt even bother going to their booth.
The whole "free shipping" thing means nothing to me.
What I did want to buy this year, no vendor had.

I realize some vendors have products that are mostly high dollar items.
Why not have low ticket items to help your sales though?
Just because someone doesnt want to buy a new set of wheels does not mean they wont buy a tshirt from you.

We had some awesome sponsors this year but if you dont have the products or services that we are looking for, then its not going to be a profitable weekend.
Per my feedback, AAC is thinking of installing Halos at next years fest.
Dont hold me to that but I told her thats what we (or me in this case) want.

Find out what kind of items we are looking for and I believe the vendors would have a more profitable experience.

Like I said, my .02...

[Apex Motorsports]

As another vendor in attendance I completely agree with Maryland Speed's comments above. There are many variables and logistical considerations besides just bringing a lot of staff and inventory and making a lot of money. Initially we did not plan on bringing inventory at all but in the last few days before we left we received so many phone calls and emails asking about specific items that we decided to bring what we could. We ended up having pretty strong sales (thanks in part to actually having inventory and the manufacturers in attendance sending customers to us for their purchases) but not enough that the profit covered all of our expenses. We never expected that because, like Maryland Speed mentioned, that isn't a completely realistic expectation and not really the reason you go to these things.

On Friday the traffic at our booth came in big waves starting about 30 minutes after the gates opened. We would be slammed for 10 or 20 minutes and then dead for 10 or 20. Went on all day like that. Saturday morning was DEAD. We figured that after the heat on Friday, the hard partying that night in the hotel parking lot, and the car show starting later in the day that a lot of folks were just taking their time getting out. That turned out to be pretty accurate from our perspective. About half way through the morning things picked up and we stayed covered up until the storms rolled in that afternoon. Sales were very strong on Saturday. We even had people buying things as we were trying to load them on the truck.

There are a few critiques I would offer to the organizers but nothing huge. We had fun, got to see a lot of our customers again and meet many of them for the first time, and got to spend some good face-to-face time with the manufacturers we represent. All in all we are pretty happy.

[CamaroKid300]

Originally Posted by SM0KE

Heres my .02...

Having just 1 day for track?
And what if it rains that 1 day?
CFEST is a bust.

AAC did preorders this year.
I was 1 of the few that actually took advantage of this.
The benefits of preordering are obvious from a vendor standpoint.
AAC pulled me aside and asked me about their preordering process and how their service could have been better this year.
I gave them plenty of feedback that hopefully will make the next fest even better.

AAC is different since their product is not big and bulky.
Few people want to carry an exhaust system home in the trunk with them.
As a customer, I was looking for free installs this year.
There were things I would have bought had install been available.
Since a certain vendor was not doing any installs this year, I didnt even bother going to their booth.
The whole "free shipping" thing means nothing to me.
What I did want to buy this year, no vendor had.

I realize some vendors have products that are mostly high dollar items.
Why not have low ticket items to help your sales though?
Just because someone doesnt want to buy a new set of wheels does not mean they wont buy a tshirt from you.

We had some awesome sponsors this year but if you dont have the products or services that we are looking for, then its not going to be a profitable weekend.
Per my feedback, AAC is thinking of installing Halos at next years fest.
Dont hold me to that but I told her thats what we (or me in this case) want.

Find out what kind of items we are looking for and I believe the vendors would have a more profitable experience.

Like I said, my .02...

I completely agree.

While I had a great time this year, I was really in the market for a Short Throw shifter and the only company that appealed to me was Barton.

I would have bought one from them AND paid for them to install it if they were offering that.

I was disappointed in that regard.

On the other hand, I'm sure AAC was very pleased....I'd be really interested to know how much money they pulled in those two days....

[accountantrr]

Our first Fest...and my wife and I loved every minute of it. The people, the racing, the vendors (spent 700.00), evenings out at the hotel parking lot. Rodgers Chevrolet paid for Pizza Thursday night...how nice was that! Camaro5 folks did a great job. Very organized!! I go to a lot of shows and this was one of the best.

I hope CFestIV is close to Michigan!!!

[SilverIceman]

I didn't go this year with the intent to buy any bolt ons or upgrades. I did want to talk to the companies about their products so I could make better decisions later. Took a good look at DSS's offerings. Talked to Janetty about their rear end gear setups. If GForce were there I would of stopped there too. It's great when you get to talk to the dealers in person after seeing so many of their posts online. It's also great that they bring parts and mechanics with them as I did end up buying an axle after breaking one on the track Friday.

Thanks again to Ted, Tony and crew at Janetty. I might be calling you for that 3.91 gear setup and drivetrain upgrade.

Thank Apex for bringing Amanda. Good to see you guys again. I should have picked up one of those line locks while I was there. soon

Thanks to LPE for their clinic and willingness to give advice all weekend when I had questions. Also thanks for picking my name to ride along with Danny.

Thanks to Adams for all their demos and advice. Of course I left with a box full of products.

Thought all the vendors did a good job.

[Macrackie]

I had fun at the track and enjoyed meeting various vendors but...I think the hotel parking lot offered me just as much info, as you could talk with the final end user in the parking lot, touch (with permision) and see the parts. And they are all great people and wanted to tell their story about the products. I will certainly try to go to another C5F

[K1SSRSS]

IMO I just don't understand the reasoning behind showing up as a vendor and not having products that customers can buy and walk away with.

I also noticed that vendors doing installs of their products seemed to be busy. I understand that it may not be feasible to install many of the performance parts offered, but most people attending Camaro Fest drive their camaros to the event. As you all know, there is not much room in the car to haul bulky parts home.

[PQ]

Originally Posted by linc400

Good thing I bought the detailer or it would have been "I went to Camarofest, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt"

Ok, now that shit was funny right there.

Thing about the fest is that it's just as much getting to hang with fellow members as anything else. Including the racing. We need the vendors to 'pay the bills' so to speak. Get the track and such. Heck, I for one hope it never really becomes any more commercial than it absolutely has to be.

As for seeing the cars. It's free to just go to the host hotel and walk around the lot. It's like a super big car show out there.

I do see your point. And it's kinda funny. I ended up with T-Shirts and an Adams porter cable disk.

I planned to do one of those billet door handles but 300.00 was WAY to high right now.

[Merc]

Originally Posted by PQ

Ok, now that shit was funny right there.

Thing about the fest is that it's just as much getting to hang with fellow members as anything else. Including the racing. We need the vendors to 'pay the bills' so to speak. Get the track and such. Heck, I for one hope it never really becomes any more commercial than it absolutely has to be.

As for seeing the cars. It's free to just go to the host hotel and walk around the lot. It's like a super big car show out there.

I do see your point. And it's kinda funny. I ended up with T-Shirts and an Adams porter cable disk.

I planned to do one of those billet door handles but 300.00 was WAY to high right now.

Hotel parking lot party is 51% of the whole deal.

[Zeus95]

Originally Posted by John Deere Boy

I was pretty impressed by the vendor turnout...and Chevrolet's display was fantastic!

+ 1 Great Time !! Tons of Camaro's !! Vendors were all Great !!

[Hwystr]

To be honest, if the fest wasn't so close I probably wouldn't have attended. That being said I think the vendors did a great job, Pfadt, Lingenfelter, Roto-Fab, Apex just to name a few. I talked for a bit with the Pfadt guys and even though I have their stuff on my car already, I wouldn't hesitate to give them repeat business (through Apex of course). I did wish they had some of the supercharger manufactures there like KB and Whipple, but overall I had a good time.

[flht99b]

Indy was my 2nd Fest, I also attended the first in Valdosta GA. in 2010. Didn't attend Phoenix as it was further than I was willing to travel. I have no empirical data to back this up but I honestly feel there were more cars, people, foot traffic in vendor area and more track time in Valdosta than Indy. The hotel parking lots in Valdosta seemed to have more "action" going on in the evening than Indy. I stayed at the host hotel for both events so I was in the middle of it all. The current format of basically a C5 member event appears to have matured quickly. Local advertisement, inviting dealerships and local car clubs within X miles radius of the event, radio and maybe even local TV advertisement most likely would have brought in more folks which I'm sure the vendors would have liked. Unless you were a C5 member, you really had no way of knowing about the event. Not everyone driving a 5th gen is a C5 member so we lost out on their participation. As important the location for the 4th event is, looking at the direction the event should take needs be looked at also. From the vendor and coordinators standpoint the event has to be run as a business with a reasonable expectation for at least a break even for the vendors otherwise I fear they may have to rethink their participation or at least level of participation in the future. I enjoyed both Fest's I attended but felt Indy left a lot on the table. Just my opinion.
Ed M.

[2010CamaroRS]

i gotta say...driving 14 hours to and 14 hours from Indiana...the part that made the trip worth it...was meeting the people who made our cars possible...what an incredibly humble bunch of people with 6 figure paychecks....u wouldnt know it by the conversations....if i would change anything...it would be the autocross....that needs to be put on by the local SCCA where its being held...i only go to SCCA autocross here back home...and its tremendously more organized and runs much smoother...not to mention its cheaper :-P

the vendors were very nice...i really wish Phastek was there though since they carry pretty much every part imaginable for our cars....surprised GM Performance didnt have a booth too....i think Oracle was the place to be...they must have made a killing....too bad they didnt have their firewall length LED strip or they woulda got more green from my pocket lol