Normal turnout?

[HDRDTD]

This was my 1st fest but sure won't be my last.

I did not go just to browse the vendors or to buy things, I went to enjoy the entire experiance, from the hotel parking lot(s), to all the wonderrful cars at the raceway (especially the AWD Camaro and GM cars), the drag racing (didn't have a chance to watch the autocross), etc, etc, etc.

One big attraction I thought was that some of the vendors were not just selling their products, but they were also offering to install them for you sometimes at no cost.

I wouldn't care if they charged for the installation. The conveniance of being able to buy the product and having it installed right then and there was wonderful.

We had one club member that grenaded her rear end (the cars) Thursday, and people and vendors (THANK YOU RPM) stepped right up to help out and ended up installing a used rear end in her car so she would be able to drive home. When I asked how much we owed them for all the help, all they asked for was a very minimum amount to cover their time, they were just helping out another racer.

Perhaps the Fest wasn't what everyone was hoping for, and that'll happen no matter what.

I'm here to tell you that it was awesome for me, and I can't wait for next year.

[GTAHVIT]

Originally Posted by Run4two

A question for those who've been to all of them: Is the fest getting larger, smaller, or about the same?

Fest I was a surprise hit. we really had no idea how good it was going to be until they had a hundreds of camaros trying to get in...

But based on the numbers I've been given by the guys, it looks like the attendance was about the same for Fest II and III. Which is more than twice as many as Fest I.

So we may be able to reliably predict about 1000 cars and 1500 or so people when you include vendors and attendees.

Originally Posted by MarylandSpeed

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

to echo what maryland speed is saying.

The track rental is a part of the fest and it is meant to be informal. give people a chance to race show and talk to the guys on the leading edge of camaro products.

We want to give the attendees the opportunity to do as many of these things as possible in one location.

We don't expect to ever be as big as Camaro's at Carlisle or the camaro nationals or Super Chevy.

We are a forum show that really is an opportunity for our members to meet once a year and have some fun.

We try and keep the cost down in order to encourage as many vendors as possible to attend for the reasons they all mention. I'd guess that even as much business as AAC did, they may have broke even considering the travel expenses for all their people...

The idea is to have a social gathering as much as an opportunity to race and see some of the baddest camaro's on the planet put on a show.

Originally Posted by Apex Chase

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.

Chase, I'm sorry I wasn't able to attend. You were on my hit list of first time sponsors I wanted to meet.

I'd like to hear your ideas on how to improve the vendor experience. Thanks for commenting in this thread.


If people expect the fest to be run like a NASCAR event with information booths and Assistants standing around to help, we just can't do that.

We hope that the attendees will be patient as we do our best to coordinate all the moving parts. We expect to have some breakdowns and some frustrations. Please know that we are truly concerned with the experience for everyone in attendance. And we pour over the criticism to try and fix what we can. Hopefully we don't make the same mistake twice.

[So Cal Camaro]

Originally Posted by GTAHVIT

Fest I was a surprise hit. we really had no idea how good it was going to be until they had a hundreds of camaros trying to get in...

But based on the numbers I've been given by the guys, it looks like the attendance was about the same for Fest II and III. Which is more than twice as many as Fest I.

So we may be able to reliably predict about 1000 cars and 1500 or so people when you include vendors and attendees.

Interesting to me to hear that the numbers for Fest II and III were not significantly different, since having the Fest in the MidWest where so many more people reside was anticipated to be much bigger than the one in AZ.

[MarylandSpeed]

One last bit...

In terms of the aftermarket..April is our busiest time of the year..so it is great to do a show like this then. Customers are looking for their mods in the spring, and are just getting their tax returns or whatever. Because of that, paying for the trip, and buying mods this time of year is easier.

When you move it to August, that creates several issues. August is the hottest time of the year in most areas. Valdosta was comfortable in April. It was unseasonably hot in Phoenix during April last year, but manageable because of the dry heat. In Indy, it seemed to be mid 90's with humidity neaer 100%...which is uncomfortable and kills these cars at the track. Also, most customers plan their normal vacations around this time already, and are also starting to save money for back to school stuff, or whatever. Aftermarket wise, sales tail off starting in August/September because people have less money for discretionary stuff.

Long and short, I would REALLY like to see it moved back to April.

[rolnslo]

Originally Posted by So Cal Camaro

Interesting to me to hear that the numbers for Fest II and III were not significantly different, since having the Fest in the MidWest where so many more people reside was anticipated to be much bigger than the one in AZ.

This doesn't surprise me at all. By volume, TX and CA lead. Here is an incomplete distribution chart by state for 2011 top, 2010 bottom. In AZ, Fest II pulled a large contingency from both of those states. Moving it out to the mid-west likely left a lot of people from CA sitting at home this time around. US population distribution does not equal 5th Gen owners distribution....

[So Cal Camaro]

rolnslo,it's more all the chatter from the east/midwest about how much larger the Camaro5Fest would be out there versus the West or Texas, so to hear that it was similar attendance closer to a greater population density of many states, negates the argument that superior numbers would show there...And yes they lost the majority of California Camaros, everyone went to local events instead...middle of the country sounds like the best choice, so Texas next year?

[rolnslo]

Originally Posted by So Cal Camaro

...middle of the country sounds like the best choice, so Texas next year?

I can only hope.

[PQ]

Time to pick a spot and leave it.

Most of the problems will be negated if we do. We'll know where to go for info. We'll know in advance how it's set up.

We'll ALL be familiar with it.

We can all be on the same sheet of music.

Surely there is a good location.

[ShnOmac]

Originally Posted by PQ

Time to pick a spot and leave it.

I was thinking pick two spots and rotate them..... One spot would be a lot easier though.

[nmcajeff]

Just a little input from a person that has been in event promotions for a long time. The vendor participation for this event was AWESOME bigger than most NHRA National events even the one held here and it's the biggest in the world. The only events that would have more are the events at Carlile PA. or the NMCA/NMRA Super Bowl event in Joliet IL every year. Trust me you guys were blessed with a great vendor midway.

[GbrilliantQ]

Originally Posted by PQ

Time to pick a spot and leave it.

Most of the problems will be negated if we do. We'll know where to go for info. We'll know in advance how it's set up.

We'll ALL be familiar with it.

We can all be on the same sheet of music.

Surely there is a good location.

I heard from someone that was autographing my car that he heard there are talks of having it in Indy again and maybe from now on....

Sent from my Galaxy Note

[DevilsReject97]

Originally Posted by So Cal Camaro

rolnslo,it's more all the chatter from the east/midwest about how much larger the Camaro5Fest would be out there versus the West or Texas, so to hear that it was similar attendance closer to a greater population density of many states, negates the argument that superior numbers would show there...And yes they lost the majority of California Camaros, everyone went to local events instead...middle of the country sounds like the best choice, so Texas next year?

Not to be a dick, but when people bail because it's not in their backyard, it screws up everything else. I could understand if someone said Fest was going to be in Washington every year, but sweet hell man.....

Also, Fest this year was also later than the past 2, which I'm sure screwed with people's vacations, schools, etc.... Lastly, TX and CA are the two largest states by population anyhow....doesn't surprise me that there would be more cars there, but that doesn't mean you'll get more cars there....

Fest was in Indiana this year, and I can tell you for a fact that the state itself represented close to about 60 or so cars...most from the Central Indiana Camaro Club and Ind5thGen...

My .02 - Put it in the Kansas area, which was nominated for the 3rd Fest, has a great track, and it's centrally located in the middle of the US....

[chriSStine]

Originally Posted by Xedes

Question: Why not attempt to turn this into something bigger like Bloomington. It's great to see all of the cars and vendors from this site but WHAT IF it turned into a multiple forum festival? Heck, why not multi-generation camaro meeting. Can you imagine the action at the dragstrip and autocross track then? Hey, get the SPEED channel to help sponser it and film PINKS there on the final day. (stop me if I'm getting carried away).

You are getting carried away, unless you plan to actively participate in making it happen.

[DevilsReject97]

Originally Posted by nmcajeff

Just a little input from a person that has been in event promotions for a long time. The vendor participation for this event was AWESOME bigger than most NHRA National events even the one held here and it's the biggest in the world. The only events that would have more are the events at Carlile PA. or the NMCA/NMRA Super Bowl event in Joliet IL every year. Trust me you guys were blessed with a great vendor midway.

Vendor turn out was better for Fest than last year's NMCA LSX Shoot Out, which was a great event too!