Organising the Stand - Volunteer(s) Required

[Nige]

The stand donated to LEC by JimP and used at Stoneleigh is in my garage along with all of the display materiel I did for Stoneleigh. This is of course all available for Donington. The stand requires a van to move it as even unassembled its too big for an estate car and too heavy for roof bars (I would have thought). I'm willing to help with the stand but if I run it as at Stoneleigh I end up driving a van and not being able to take my car so the question is who else would be willing to take the lead on the stand for Donington 2006. All ideas gratefully received.

Waits expectantly for a rush of volunteers

[Sy V]

I've promised the family a self-indulgent Lotus-equipped Donington this time round. I'm happy to do a stint on the stand and advise as much as I can ref POCs etc, but this coming year I'd like to keep that as the fullest extent of my involvement.
I will (with the LEC pot ~ £210) fund the van hire and (if poss) the stand charge.

[Stef]

I'm willing to offer myself. For helping on the stand that is.

On reflection I think the GBoR event will be at Doningtomn 2007 so will want good publicity for that there. Hope to get ideas and things in place soon.

[stevo]

i'll do a stint too. will there be cars on the stand this year?

[Sy V]

Well, it's now 2 months since anything's been added to this thread and only 6 odd weeks before the show.
I think we can safely say that there won't be an LEC stall presence this year.

Oh well.

[Costas]

Is this a final decision or is there something that can be done to have a Lec Stall? Count me and my "Brave" co-passenger in helping or donating for what is needed.

Costas

[ailwyn]

Sy,

Perhaps it's fear of the unknown...

What's involved? How long is a stint?

I don't know about everyone else by I don't mind standing around for half an hour looking pretty but if I would be there on my own and anyone asked about the cars then 99 times out of 100 the answer would probably be "dunno".

So I will be willing to buddy up with someone who can answer the questions for about half an hour or so (any more than that and the beloved will get restless) and man the stand.

At most it would take around 32 or so people to do half hour a day (if they're there for the 2 days) to man the stall.

Anyone else willing to throw their hat in and spare 30 mins?

Ailwyn

[Sy V]

The way I see it is:

We'll not be short of volunteers to man the stall. I know everybody will muck in with that.

However, nobody's come forward to head it up. Nobody's contacted CL and booked a position. Nobody's discussed (let alone planned) what a stall would comprise. Nobody's asked for hardware donations. Nobody's addressed the logistical side of things...etc...etc.

I have no right to make a decision, so I won't. I'm just pointing out the facts (albeit that they're all rather painful).

If a stall is wanted then someone in the UK is going to have to grab the bull by the horns and run with it, PDQ.

[ailwyn]

First question:

How do we get the stand to the show?

Nige, having carried the torch at Stoneleigh no one would expect you to do it again for Donington.

Does anyone else live in the Dorset(?) area? Even if you are wanting to take your Elan then is anyone else travelling with you who could drive a van?

I would offer to do it (even though it's an additional 6 hour drive) but my wife is not insured for the elan and she would not drive the van that (or probably any) distance.

If we can't get the stall to the venue then there is no point in persuing this further.

Ailwyn

[TStevens]

I have the friday off work, and Me & Liz will be driving up to Donington.

So we will be available to help put together the stall and set things out.

However I'm not in a position to head things up, or transport the stand to Donington, and theres no way Liz can drive anything (lack of licence for a start).

And as Sy mentioned I doubt we will be stuck for volunteers on the day. But if its cold and wet out we could do with a base point inside the exhibition hall to congregate around!

Nige done a wonderful job last time, but i'm sure this time he would like to bring his Elan.

[chris.t]

The stand needs to be stored at a location which is between Stoneleigh and Donington or alternatively only exhibit at one of the shows with the stand stored close to the venue. This would enable us to have 12 months to organise it as well. Dorset isn't the best place for it at the moment

Could we pay for some storage space up near Donny for instance, don't know how much this would cost. I've got a mate who owns a storage facility at Leicester (a little way down but on the M1) who i might be able to get a good rate from???

[Sy V]

Leicester would be pretty damn good for both venues.

[ailwyn]

Are we assuming then that there will be no stall at Donington '06, but the aim is to get the kit stored centrally before stoneleigh and use that ongoing?

Ailwyn

[chris.t]

Storing the kit centrally would be obviously best unless we agree that Donington or Stoneleigh would be our yearly stand outing not both. Really depends on peeps enthusiasm.

[dans]

Just saw this..

if someone can get the stand up nearer to me (Gloucestershire, just off the M4 North of Swindon) I can probably find somewhere to store it til Donington (couldn't promise anything permanent yet)

I might then be able to arrange to get it to Donington, either the day before or get some friends to bring up on the Saturday morning? I don't know how big it is but would it be ok on the roof of a Range Rover? Or fit in your average mini-van?

Maybe organise some sort of Stand Relay from Dorset to the Cirencester?!?!?

Dan

[TStevens]

Dans,

That sounds like a good offer/start to getting this show a LEC Stall.

The stand itself is quite large, and filled the van that Nige hired for Stoneleigh, I'm not sure that it would go on the roof of a range rover, but Nige can probably tell you better.


Unfortunatley your offer will be rather moot if no-one is willing to head up the LEC Stall and organise whats going on it and getting it in the show (this also includes booking a spot with club lotus). Of course this wouldnt be of financial burden to the person doing so as the LEC users are generally more than happy to donate a few pounds/dollars toward the event. Myself and Liz have already said we will be around Friday evening to help putting the stand together and getting it setup, I however dont have the time nor means to fully organise the LEC stall. Hopefully someone will be our saviour... hint hint all those reading

[Nige]

I agree that storing the stand centrally is the best option. I have no problem with storing it at the moment but fully accept that Dorset is not the best location. There are a couple of options here for a more central location, lets hope something turns up. However, regardless of storage location and transportation issues we don't get a stand unless someone is willing to take the lead in making it happen. Sy did this for Donington last year and I did it for Stoneleigh, it's not difficult, just time consuming, and Donington in particular requires the committment of a whole weekend. This alone is the main reason why I'm unwilling to organise for Donington this year, although I don't rule out future years, I have too many other things going on and whilst I have every intention of being at Donington, I will not be there for the whole weekend. As I see it an LEC stand at Donington this year is still possible if on a reduced scale (no table of goodies and no moving pictures). But it needs someone to agree to get the stand to and from Donington and take charge of proceedings over the whole weekend. The stand Jim has donated is great but requires a full size van to move it (mini Van probably too short as you need about 8 ft of flatbed and I think the whole stand would be an excessive load for the roof bars on a Discovery) if anyone has access to a lighter collapsible arrangement that could be loaned then that might also offer options. I'm willing to speak with Club Lotus about space if we can sort out transport (particularly if we go for a reduced option) but it needs others to step up to the mark to take this forward.

[Darren]

The issue as I see it is that no one is prepaired to give up their 'wheels' to transport the current stand. So if that is the case, why don't we all chip in and buy a smaller more mobile stand/table etc.

Between us, we should be able to come up with a compact solution that could easily fit in a series of Elan boots/passenger seats etc.

There'll be a few people around on Friday night, so transportation shouldn't be an issues if the above are nice and modular. Then it would be a simply task to strip it down and distribute it around the 'trustees' on Sunday evening.

Then we'd have a fair amount of time to meet up/overlap to get the items ready for the next meeting.

Just my 2p worth.
Darren.

[muley]

Good postings above.

Is this the sort of thing we have in mind?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Portable-Exhibiti ... dZViewItem

Cheers

Jim

Sy, hows the kitty?

[Darren]

Judging the height against the door & radiator (in the decription picture), these SHOULD fit nicely behind the two seats in an Elan :-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NOBO-SHOWBOARDS-E ... dZViewItem

Darren.