What do people want in a Lotus Elan Event?

[theelanman]

and this is where the problem is I think.......
like Steve many have gone for local events and the fact that Donington was too far for the guys from down south,
(there were also those who came further from the blue and white bit at the top of the map.......hence ClanElan..........)
people dont want to travel.....I think this is the crux.......
everyone fancies beer and a tootle out...maybe a curry etc.......as long as it only take them an hour to get there......fair enough.....
but to make it work some people will have to travel.......
no easy 'middle'......altho thats what many thought Donington was

I get the feeling from most of the responses here thus far that their own 'local' event is the one they like.......and thats about it.......with the odd exception of events they have done once...enjoyed....and might go back to.......
safely to say not an Elan event.........

[clemo]

Donington worked for those who wanted to travel from afar as there was accommodation available and over a full weekend . Was a great weekend for both me and the Mrs as other Elan widows took came along .

The lakes run was a camping event in the arse end of nowhere but was a great convoy run . Even though it was a fair way down from Torquay , the drive was superb.

Much the same as Castle combe could work with a bit of help pointing people in the right direction .I thought it was a great start to the year and was great to meet up with so many people . The weather was good , camping or hotel was available , curry club was in full swing as usual . Our focal point was good . over 22 elans where present . With a bit of effort I'm sure we could organise a back row of parking together . When we get our cars parked together we look good . The visual impact of a row of elans is a beautiful thing to behold .

[Rambo]

I totally agree Clemo.

CC was a 1st for me and I could immediately the the potential of a mini Donington. Meeting for beers on the Friday, on track racing on Sat, an LEC tent with tea on the go, trade and 2nd hand stalls, lots of tyre kicking and technical sessions including how to change a CAS oil seal, diagnosis of an HES failure etc....lots of M100s present (I haven't seen so many together since the heady days of Donington) curry and beers on Sat evening etc..... Almost like the old days

Even better when I discovered a 3 day beer, cider, banger and burger festival in Malmesbury and a decent campsite less than half a km away. What wasn't there to like

Most people left on Sunday but I stayed over and enjoyed some driving on fine Wiltshire country lanes with the added bonus of a Whit Monday race meet at CC

Could this be improved ? Undoubtedly ! We could have a BBQ and beers in the LEC tent on Sat, a run out somewhere on the Sunday etc, etc. The curry venue was good because it could easily accommodate 3 times the numbers we had. And there is plenty of accomodation in the area for people who don't like roughing it

So, don't despair Gareth. Get yourself down to CC next year. CC is the new Donny and LEC is still alive and kicking

[theelanman]

Clemo
I preaching to the converted with you and many others of the 'old' days......
I think you'll get the same response for Castle Combe in that those who go...will still go...and those from a 'distance' will not....
you have a good number of folk quite near to CC so Id expect that elan 'scene' to carry on....
its still not a national or even international meet where every elan owner wants to go like Donington seemed to get to in status....the weekends I've tried to organise have been to include everyone and try to get a Donington weekend feel to it....ie beer and curry Friday might .....run out Saturday.......beer and slap up dinner Saturday night........
I tried to cover all the bases in there were load of hotels and b&b from £25 to £300 per night....there was camping at about £8 for the weekend....
interest was erm....limited......nice to JohnW last year tho' as he came down.....also Tuga and PeteT......
other than that what can you do?.......the answer...nothing........I tried to sort meals, accommodation...other meal....a route map for the trip out round the peak district........but people seemed to say it was too far to come (except those who came)......so again where do you put one....?......the answer you cant.......
think we just accept that people dont want to travel so think we need to stick with local gatherings......
ah well....

[clemo]

I totally agree Clemo.

CC was a 1st for me and I could immediately the the potential of a mini Donington. Meeting for beers on the Friday, on track racing on Sat, an LEC tent with tea on the go, trade and 2nd hand stalls, lots of tyre kicking and technical sessions including how to change a CAS oil seal, diagnosis of an HES failure etc....lots of M100s present (I haven't seen so many together since the heady days of Donington) curry and beers on Sat evening etc..... Almost like the old days

Even better when I discovered a 3 day beer, cider, banger and burger festival in Malmesbury and a decent campsite less than half a km away. What wasn't there to like

Most people left on Sunday but I stayed over and enjoyed some driving on fine Wiltshire country lanes with the added bonus of a Whit Monday race meet at CC

Could this be improved ? Undoubtedly ! We could have a BBQ and beers in the LEC tent on Sat, a run out somewhere on the Sunday etc, etc. The curry venue was good because it could easily accommodate 3 times the numbers we had. And there is plenty of accomodation in the area for people who don't like roughing it

So, don't despair Gareth. Get yourself down to CC next year. CC is the new Donny and LEC is still alive and kicking

Gareth / Theelanman.

I understand you have put loads of effort into making things work ... and it becomes soul destroying when not a lot actually happens ,
Regarding making it work ( and you are best placed more so than any ) BUT a yearly meet / kick off - could and should become a FIXED part of the calendar .

Lets give it one last push ...

[dapinky]

Maybe the issue is the wide ownership profile that we now have - there are people with really nice cars, people with sheds, many in between.....

..... people who have them to drive, those who want to only go short distances (either to preserve the car, or in case it falls apart!)...

If you think about it, "back in the day" all of the cars were in a middle bracket of being 15 years old - many still in a financial position of depreciation, but not really needing too much to keep them going - so poeple were happy to drive them. As such, travelling to an event was part of the fun (after all, they are far better being driven than being polished!!).

Finding 50 - 100 people was relatively easy (for a great focal event)...... but I wouldn't expect 'us' to be able to find that number of cars ever again.... they have moved into either a restoration or preservation stage, which keeps many off the road.

I think that the number we saw at CC this year is the largest M100 gathering i have seen since Hethel (I'm not counting the last Donny as it wasn't an event I particularly wish to remember - not as a result of anything we did, but the cr@p organisation - and probably no fault of CL who were not given all the information in time to do anything meaningful)... as such, 30 elans seemed like a lot.

Due to a really cr@p LEC events co-ordinator this year (Geoff was busy recovering from a heart-attack, Pete - the local guru - is now living in Cyprus, and I only did the bare minimum, expecting it to be 'just' another local event that i would attend for the day) it wasn't until the last minute that we tried to get something together.

TBH, the highlight for me was the realisation that Mark (Rambo) was prepared to travel down from Scottishland, and Nick & Kim were incorporating it into their caravan holiday route..... this was the catalyst needed to pull it into a 'big' event...... and please don't think I'm making light of the locals who have supported the day for a long time - everyone played a part in making the day work.

As it was left until the last minute, our camping was fragmented - tents at the Malmsbury site, with the cheapskates pitching at the circuit (For Free ) - but on a BH weekend, it wasn't easy to find pitches for Nicks caravan & my campervan.

Jim failed to make the grade as the expected winner of 'Travelling furthest to sleep in a tiny tent' award as Mark had stated his intent to turn up, and Phil also made the trip across from the right-hand side of England at the last minute, thus pushing Jim into a hotly-contested 3rd place (depending if Nick counts or not for having no elan with him, and if Clemo's drive from Torquay was further, half of which was in a borrowed elan).

A bit more thought would have co-ordinated the Friday evening a bit better, but traffic delays dictate a variety of 'lateness' excuses were made - but we still managed a BBQ at the circuit, whilst the others went to the above-mentioned pub.

Again, the Saturday curry was really a bit 'ad-hoc', and with a tad more planning would have attracted those who had prior committments that evening.

We were returning home on the Sunday, but could have stayed an extra night at CC if we'd wanted to do something on that day.....

.... BUT - the underlying thought is that whilst i really enjoyed the weekend, I only actually met about 3 or 4 elan owners who I didn't know (3 of whom are/were not active LEC members, but were aware of the forum) - many of the rest were the same faces who have bothered to reply to this thread, and would turn up for the grand opening of a tin of beans if they could justify the time.

It would be great if we could do an event which would attract the (many) 'newer' owners - but I don't know what the answer is (and I'm NOT saying that everyone is apathetic, just that different life priorities are pulling in opposite directions).

[Bern]

It's been mentioned a few times that travelling may be something that people don't want to do.

Personally, I'd say that time is more the issue, as Elan owners I'm sure we all enjoy travelling, and even better if there's some nice B-roads that may take longer than the major routes but are a lot more fun.

Sadly I just don't have the time to drive across the country for a weekend away!

If there were a reasonably local meet one evening once a month I would probably make that.

[theelanman]

I just don't have the time to drive across the country for a weekend away!
If there's a local meet once a month I would probably make that.

I think thats about the whole thing summed up ..........

[Bern]

Haha, indeed!

What I meant was "make that more often than not".

But you are correct, maybe that's not even enough?

A few years ago I read that a Triumph club (I think) was stopping it's monthly meets because it's members were communicating online so had no need to meet up.

At the time I thought that was quite sad, as the point of car club meeting is partly an excuse to drive your car and then look at others cars?

Yet here I am sitting at my PC writing on a forum rather than actually getting out in my car!

Though in my defence I am working right now, I work form home - which is great as I've just spent my lunch hour cutting some rust out of the Mini

[Tuga2112]

Bern,

would there be something that could convince you to do a 300-400 mile round trip for a gathering over a weekend ?

if so, what would you be expecting to see to consider such trip ?

i think someone in your position is exactly the kind of person that Gareth wants to hear from. as most of the people posting have meet already in some of the events mentioned before.

although i have been to both BH TLF international meetup and last year's LEC internaltional meetup, I do consider these carefully, as the costs stack up very quickly, and the risk of a RAC call increases with longer journeys, (touch wood) luckily i have not had the need to call them in the past 2 years.

[chris.t]

How about camping in the IoW. We have a member that has a campsite over there. Only problem is the car ferry though and it's right darn sarf. But hey it is 'abroad' and warmer.

[Bern]

would there be something that could convince you to do a 300-400 mile round trip for a gathering over a weekend ?

In short, at the moment it simply is down to a lack of time!