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So what really happened at the 50th? MCA quarterly already met...

There's an old saying that goes something like this: Don't attribute mistakes to deliberate malfeasance rather than a lack of competence.

My intuition is that the MCA Board of Directors gets an opportunity to do an anniversary about once every 5 years; most of their shows are run by local clubs. The National Shows (run by local clubs) have something like 200-400 cars; the anniversaries have 800+. The Birthday celebrations (two separate events) were to have 1500+ each. With that size of a show and little experience, problems were bound to appear.

Of course, I may well be wrong...just my intuition.
 
I can tell you, but it would come back to bite me. The warning was given at the Board meeting this weekend.
 
"Laurie S." said:
I can tell you, but it would come back to bite me. The warning was given at the Board meeting this weekend.
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I didn't go to the show, but I see no need for a warning. From my perspective....

My gut feeling is that the good old boy syndrome is alive and well and came back to bite them. Maybe for future events the MCA should allow clubs and people that have experience with event planning do the job that they are good at.

I also wonder if the economy played a bit into it as well.

Just my perspective looking in from the outside, may be totally wrong, so if I am off base I apologize in advance.

Mel
 
"Laurie S." said:
I can tell you, but it would come back to bite me. The warning was given at the Board meeting this weekend.
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I admit that I know very little about MCA, but the hush hush attitude makes it sound like Mel is right on point. Good to know that my $300 spent for the Vegas show went to such a group. Most likely the last dollars they will ever get from me. I will keep my mind open to hear their side.....but I doubt that will ever come to pass.

Laurie - this is not aimed at you as I fully understand the position they put you in.
 
There are quite a few of us on the Board who are aware of the problems. I can't speak on this on a public forum, but feel free to e-mail me. Even PMs aren't secure.
 
A friend of mine did go to Charlotte but came back with a bitter taste in his mouth.
I think he spent around $ 2000 for a couple of days , flights , car , hotel ect. :guns :guns
 
Perhaps I'm out of touch with how these shindigs are supposed to go but I found the Charlotte show to work quite well for us and the 150 we spent for Glenn and I and Vince's 'vert to be pretty reasonable. Disclaimer: I've never been a MCA member nor participate in any of their judged shows. I'm merely a racer who happened to race Mustangs during that time in my life and still drive them. To my racer's eye there were a lot of folks out there on the Charlotte track having a pretty good time and it was double fun checking out the cars in the infield and talking with folks while the other cars were buzzing around us. Perhaps I'm easy to please.


The politics part is well above my pay grade. I never get involved in that stuff.
 
The Las Vegas Speedway is set up differently. All of the cars were outside the track, and all the vendors were inside. There is no true infield because it's all built up. That alone meant about a half mile walk to get in and see the vendors. And, for reasons not understood by many, no access was given to the grandstands by the Speedway, so space was very limited to watch the cars running on the track. It made it rather boring to only be able to catch a glimpse of a car as it ran.
 
Once again I'd like to thank the volunteers who manned the lines and did the work at the 50th. I appreciated your work and I know others did too.

To the MCA "leadership" whether local or national, "gag orders" never get you what you want. :cens It will all be out there soon enough and not putting out a "we screwed up" message will just make it look like you're hiding (you are).

I know you made money on the event (one of your internal goals). Spend it wisely for the 55th. Unfortunately there are thousands of overseas enthusiasts that will have been soured on ever doing it again.

I had fun, but I can name 15 events I've been to in the last 20 years that were better. It could have been so much more.

Any how, it's over now. Just curious.
 
Yep, I agree. MCA members, vote your displeasure in the elections later this year.
 
Yep, not a member since my nice encounter in Ashville when their "CIC" told me I should have read the registration rules in the flyer that WAS NOT there (guess I needed ESP). The MCA simply needs an enema, plane and simple. It needs to be back like when it was fun and everyone had a good time "ie" catering to the membership insted of the few at the top. Why join the MCA? What do they have to offer? What's in it for me? Why should I pay ughhhhhhhhhh "questionable" travel expenses for those at the top? Maybe when these issues are resolved I will rejoin, maybe. Someone needs to ughhhhhh grow a set of balls and take a close look, it ain't gonna be pretty but it really needs to be done. There are lots of good/honest members with good intentions and I know they out number the crud 1000 to 1, but it always seems the crud manages to make it's way to the top. Sad at best. :jerk
 
It is a frickin' car club....our national defense is not in. jeopardy ....so secretive.....glad I am not in it.
 
"AzPete" said:
It is a frickin' car club....our national defense is not in. jeopardy ....so secretive.....glad I am not in it.
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Proof read before clicking "post" please.
 
"msell66" said:
"AzPete" said:
It is a frickin' car club....our national defense is not in. jeopardy ....so secretive.....glad I am not in it.
Click to expand...

Proof read before clicking "post" please.
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Don't mind him Pete... it must be that time of the month. :dun
 
Yeah, we wouldn't want anyone to post semi-coherently now would we? But, far be it from me to want to understand what's in someone's brain. If text lingo typing is to be the norm, just say so and I'll join in.

Talk about a touchy subject...sheesh.
 
"msell66" said:
Yeah, we wouldn't want anyone to post semi-coherently now would we? But, far be it from me to want to understand what's in someone's brain. If text lingo typing is to be the norm, just say so and I'll join in.

Talk about a touchy subject...sheesh.
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See...I told ya'.
 
It seems like car stuff has gotten really commercial and serious in my absence and some of the chewin' the fat over a few brews and what happens, happens has slipped away. If so, sorry to see that. To me, enjoying vintage and antique cars should be fun. After all, it's a hobby. Sure, some folks make a living selling to hobbyists and that's OK but the peer/peer interactions are what concern me.

To be perfectly honest, I felt right at home in the infield talking to the hobbyists. In the vendor midway, when interacting with vendors and 'rare cars' tent, interacting with the 'rare cars' guys and gals, not so much. Something for everyone, I guess.
 
"camachinist" said:
It seems like car stuff has gotten really commercial and serious in my absence and some of the chewin' the fat over a few brews and what happens, happens has slipped away. If so, sorry to see that. To me, enjoying vintage and antique cars should be fun. After all, it's a hobby. Sure, some folks make a living selling to hobbyists and that's OK but the peer/peer interactions are what concern me.

To be perfectly honest, I felt right at home in the infield talking to the hobbyists. In the vendor midway, when interacting with vendors and 'rare cars' tent, interacting with the 'rare cars' guys and gals, not so much. Something for everyone, I guess.
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I had refrained from posting my comments (which would be more correctly be labeled a rant!), especially after the response I received after stating I was holding back my comments! For the most part I will continue to do so under a "what's done is done" mindset. One thing that has brought a comment to mind though is Pat's last comment. I agree totally with the first paragraph. I met some really wonderful folks at the MORE area and the infield.

The one thing I had different experience with was the vendor area. I met Rick Schmidt at the NPD tent. He was fantastic to chat with! The folks over at the Rainex tent saw my wife was looking a little bored as I was speaking with someone and called her over, giving her a Rainex umbrella (which turned out quit useful the next day!). JonK67's wife then got a t-shirt from them. The t-shirt was a really nice looking shirt for the anniversary celebration. When we returned Sat in the rain, they noticed I was carrying (using) the umbrella and were ribbing me about it. When we mentioned we got the umbrella and Jon's wife got the t-shirt, they then offered t-shirts to both of as well! (Sorry about that Jon!). They also informed us the shirts were a limited edition and that only 1000 were made. When we went into the vendor area inside the garage we met a SUPER older gentleman who did restorations. His '67 GT350 was on display (the dark blue one for those that saw it). He was a treasure trove of information and a joy to talk to.

The only vendor I had issue with was Kevin Marti. I walked up to his display to purchase several of his books (which I had procrastinated on buying for a number of years!). He was speaking with someone and his wife handled the sale. She then asked if I'd like Kevin to sign them. Honestly it didn't make a hill of beans to me one way or the other, but I said "sure". Once Kevin had finished his conversation she asked him if he'd sign them for me and I stepped around to his side of the table. As he was signing I asked him some questions about his reproduction tags. As I was in the middle of my inquiry a guy walked up, calling him by name (and from Kevin's response, someone he knew well). He then completely ignored me and began chit chatting with this guy. It's been a long time since someone has treated me that rudely as a customer! If his books weren't such an interest to me I would have told him to keep them! BTW, I too noticed that the Rare Cars display crowd seemed very cliquish and elitist. That's okay though, one of my best friends has a rare car, 1 of 43 Ford ever made. I can just go hang out with him, he's a down to earth beer drinker! LOL

There were many things that the MCA did (or didn't do) for the 50th celebration that left a VERY sour taste. As with every event or show I've ever attended though, it's always the wonderful folks I meet that really make it a great time...regardless of how badly the event or venue was managed.
 
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