how was your gathering?

[mk2cossie]

Aug 20, 2012 21:06:07 GMT mdh said:

Aug 20, 2012 19:04:35 GMT slammed 66 said:

I find it hard making conversation with people, believe it or not I'm actually really shy. This is my biggest downfall, so not knowing anyone and not having the courage to strike up conversation means I generally ruin it for myself.

I did enjoy the show though, just not as much as if I'd camped over and got talking to people.

Prescott is a bit meh for me. I prefer circuits like the old mallory do, but I think the main buzz of the event is the camping.

Next year I must try harder.

Ross

We should have a RR shy persons club!! ;D

I suggest siting at the bar until everyone is too pished to be shy anymore!

Just one request Hotwire - next year can we have pit babes and grid girls like F1 does?

no!!
thats what is wrong with the modified car shows at Santa Pod
the show itself was fine, it just lacked stands, eateries, and maybe an autojumble/swap meet area ;D
do anything to change it, but don't have pit girls, its a car show to go and see cars at

[toreno]

i cant understand some people moaning this for me was the best car show i have ever been too i love this group for one reason everyone is welcome young and old, concours cars too wrecks on wheels (i count mine in the second category) welcomed and apreciated equally only here could you have a boy racer in a hoody and a bodykit wearing nova parked next to a guy in a flat cap polishing his mint austin a35 its brilliant and long may it continue so to all the i don't get it or i didnt enjoy it crowd i say maybee you need a new hobby cos as far as i am concerned it doesnt get any better than this

[Dez]

well for me, it was far better than expected. id never been to prescott before, and seriously had my doubts about it as a venue. now ive been I TOTALLY get it. by far and way the best motorsport venue ive been to- drag racing at the pod or shakey is boring as wibblepoo in comparison. I love how posh it is!

ive been to mallory before and yeah its a good venue, but the best thing about prescott is its literally 20 seconds between cars going past, and you get a stream of 30 of them, not a load of cars going past in a pack and nothing for two minutes like with circuit racing. plus if you choose your viewing location carefully, you can see almost all of the hill or at least 3 or 4 exciting bits, unlike a flat circuit where you can usually one see a bend and a straight. there is literally no time to get bored.

yeah its a pain in the ass to get to (especially in a low car, the a40 is rough as f-k and the roads around cheltenham are dire, i destroyed a pair of tyres there and back! and we got very, very lost following a twatnav too). but once youre there its worth it.


my one downside is the amount of track time just isnt enough, especially if its wasted by people taking slow, boring, stock cars up the hill.

the only two complaints I heard all weekend were from people turning up in serious machinery and not getting to take it up the hill, and some of the demo cars being really quite boring, as they pootled up the hill rather than giving it some beans like the privateer public were!
i would think they would quite easily fill two whole days with people wanting to run- the morning session sold out in approximately 4 mins!

what is the limiting factor there david? does it just cost too much for them to open the track for two days, or is there other factors? there was easily enough people who wanted to run in the campsite alone, let alone those who only turned up for the day (who had zero chance of getting on track, not very good if youre trying to sell it as a one day show after camping has sold out), so saturday could be for weekend ticket holders and sunday (or at least the afternoon) for the one dayers.

[speedy88]

I was a bit nervous that the gathering 2012 would turn out a bit bland compared to 2011 but I was wrong! It ended up being even better in my eyes and I'd like to thank the staff and organizers for making THE weekend of the year better than I was hoping it could be!

The only complaint I have is about the rubbish on Sunday evening. Most of you were great and had the right attitude but I think for the second year running me and a few others ended up picking up piles of other camp's rubbish. I mean, the bin is on the way out... c'mon guys. Other than that, it, the weather and everyone was great and I'll be putting money aside for next year

[The Doctor]

Aug 19, 2012 20:32:27 GMT jrevillug said:

and chatting cars with Thomas (The Doctor) at midnight on the campsite all stand out.

Chatting cars in a field with a beer in your hand is always a highlight!

Roll on 2013!

[luckyseven]

Thought I'd add my 2p's worth as a Gathering virgin... I thought it was an excellent show, well worth the trip. I only came for the Sunday, would love to have camped and had a few gins but it just wasn't possible (work ) so I did basically a 400 mile round trip on the day (left at 5:00 a.m) and I didn't feel short-changed.

I've been to a lot of car shows in different environments and this one one of the most pleasant I can think of: lovely location; excellent organisation; really chilled and informal; never been in amongst such a knowledgeable crowd, everyone seemed to know exactly what each car was rather than the "normal" errrr what's that then mindset at many shows. Even our rotary engine display didn't confuse too many people lol. True enthusiasts day out, excellent ;D. Plus, it had a ****** Bentley with a ******* aeroplane engine in it, days out don't get better than that.


....my only real problem was self inflicted. Forgot when I offered a friend a lift to the show that I'd previously arranged to collect a front bumper for my Rex from another club member at the Gathering. It might have actually fitted in the car were it just me... oh well, at least it was a lovely hot day and 200 miles in an RX-7 with a loud exhaust, with the liftgate wide open and a bumper hanging a foot out the back doesn't seem so bad when you say it quickly

[EmDee]

The entire event was near perfect.

Please don't change too much, I've just had the best weekend since... well since a year ago.

The weather on the friday evening could use a bit of work - but please leave saturday open and try not to commercialise the event too much.

For those of you who want more food stands, pit girls and a bunch more stalls selling curse word I encourage you to visit santa pod next time instead.


edited to say thanks to everyone who has put in the hard graft to make it what it is, by far my favourite car show ever. cheers

[kevfromwales]

mine was absolutely excellent! way too many positives to list, but just 2 negs from me - 1 possibly fixable, 1 I'll have to live with!

* campsite opening times - I know I got there late this year (again!) but if it could be opened up for thursday night that would be amazing!

* campsite bumpiness I seem to have actually twisted my oil cooler by it dragging 1 of the pipe elbows on the floor - but hey, if it isn't scraping...

fantastic work as always guys! - don't change a thing!! (apart from more camping time )

- kfw

[rob0r]

I don't get the lack of food stand complaints, you either brought your own or went over to the club house, or a combination of the two. On the show day I was very impressed with the proper Prescott catering, much nicer than ordering off the back of a trailer...

RRG crew you did a great job, don't change a thing IMO.

[ShaunOfCalder]

Aug 20, 2012 20:18:27 GMT MonzaPhil said:

Just out of interest, it sounded like someone was having an exorcism or some sort of torture in the (very) small hours of Sunday morning. Who's the over indulging guilty party?

Um.... not sure, my snoring maybe!?

[skinnylew]

I think (almost reticent to say it) but it's almost becoming a victim of it's own success maybe? Almost too popular judging by the queues for track time and how busy it was. If it grows at this rate next year will be bursting I reckon!
Castle Combe would be an interesting option but it doesn't lend itself to a show setup particularly imo. Track is awesome though
As for the roads being bumpy and rough, and sat navs getting you lost I planned it on a map before hand and went up to the A44 and then the A40/M40 and it seemed a really nice surface in places, little rough but better than A40 we came in on!

[Fennec]

Aug 20, 2012 22:05:45 GMT Dez said:

my one downside is the amount of track time just isnt enough, especially if its wasted by people taking slow, boring, stock cars up the hill.

So there should be a judging panel to say whether your car is 'worthy' to go up the hill? FFS!

[Keefy]

Thanks for all your feedback guys, and most of all thanks for coming! You guys really make it what is is!

Just to answer a few questions to stop people repeating the same kinda question which will always have the same answer ...

1) Prescott Hill Climb is a driveway for 3 houses. The agreement is that is can be used for twenty-something DAYS a year. When you take out race weekends there isn't a lot left. We are exceptionally lucky to have one day there!
2) We don't want it to be a weekend. We like it as a day show and that sure isn't going to chance anytime soon. By all means say you wish it was but please be aware it isnt go to be so!
3) RRG13 is at Prescott Hill Climb Sunday 18th August 2013. Feel free to say "i think it would be better at somewhere like ...." but be aware we won't be changing venue anytime soon.

Thanks again guys, and please keep the comments (both good and bad!) coming!

Cheers

[Lawsy]

We were supposed t be going for the whole weekend but a series of events meant we had to drop to a day ticket..

the advantages for this for me meant Wendy was happier about it, there are issues there and those that know why understand..

We made the drive up early on sunday in the 92 passat, went to public parking, and the only downside was the parking field, the passat is low, I was moaned at for not driving up the tracks, but had to go wheel on the grass and wheel on the centre of the tracks so not to ground out - I was then told to drive across a very bumpy field, this wasnt going to happen, so I had to explain that I was too low and park next to the track

Ok my fault for having a low daily I guess and thinking it was too new to be on the club stand, beetle was supposed to be there.. But the A52 guys said don't be silly, so I went to fetch it and put it on the stand.. All was good

The public parking field would be my only negative from the entire day..

The rest was great, the venue is amazing, we had a great time, nice and chilled and relaxed, and again because of Wendy's current issues we didnt seek out to chat, we spent a lot of the day just us, with a few stops for chats here n there..

The only point I would suggest/ask if possible, would be the track use - I heard and read quite a few people saying, if only I could do one run up, or I'd love to drive up there etc

how about instead of 2 sessions, is it do-able for say, pay for 3 runs up? Or does that then become an organisational nightmare? (probably does)

Or a hour of, no racing, but pay a sum amount for just a steady drive up in a convoy just so you can say you did it..

I will finish off saying the same as I do every year - next year i'll camp and do the whole weekend..

Big thanks to all the organisers and much respect for sorting it so well..

Holiday request goes into work today for the same weekend off next year

[compass]

Aug 21, 2012 5:33:06 GMT Keefy said:

Thanks for all your feedback guys, and most of all thanks for coming! You guys really make it what is is!

Just to answer a few questions to stop people repeating the same kinda question which will always have the same answer ...

1) Prescott Hill Climb is a driveway for 3 houses. The agreement is that is can be used for twenty-something DAYS a year. When you take out race weekends there isn't a lot left. We are exceptionally lucky to have one day there!
2) We don't want it to be a weekend. We like it as a day show and that sure isn't going to chance anytime soon. By all means say you wish it was but please be aware it isnt go to be so!
3) RRG13 is at Prescott Hill Climb Sunday 18th August 2013. Feel free to say "i think it would be better at somewhere like ...." but be aware we won't be changing venue anytime soon.

Thanks again guys, and please keep the comments (both good and bad!) coming!

Cheers

It sounds like you're saying people can have an opinion, but it'll make no difference because we will do what we want anyway. That's a shame, because the whole point in feedback is to get a broad range of opinion and improve where possible.

[MiataMark]

Aug 21, 2012 6:30:00 GMT compass said:

Aug 21, 2012 5:33:06 GMT Keefy said:

Thanks for all your feedback guys, and most of all thanks for coming! You guys really make it what is is!

Just to answer a few questions to stop people repeating the same kinda question which will always have the same answer ...

1) Prescott Hill Climb is a driveway for 3 houses. The agreement is that is can be used for twenty-something DAYS a year. When you take out race weekends there isn't a lot left. We are exceptionally lucky to have one day there!
2) We don't want it to be a weekend. We like it as a day show and that sure isn't going to chance anytime soon. By all means say you wish it was but please be aware it isnt go to be so!
3) RRG13 is at Prescott Hill Climb Sunday 18th August 2013. Feel free to say "i think it would be better at somewhere like ...." but be aware we won't be changing venue anytime soon.

Thanks again guys, and please keep the comments (both good and bad!) coming!

Cheers

It sounds like you're saying people can have an opinion, but it'll make no difference because we will do what we want anyway. That's a shame, because the whole point in feedback is to get a broad range of opinion and improve where possible.

That's not how I read it. It looks like decisions have been made re 2013 and due to other factors (one listed) they won't change and that comments are welcome but the duration and location for 2013 won't/can't change.

[purplevanman]

I was really not looking forward to this years show as 1, I didn't have a car to go in due to rubbish circumstances and 2, personal life problems.

But I plucked up enough enthusiasm to get there later saturday eve and I am glad I did
had a chat and a laugh, drank a bit, looked at cars, looked at daft people, and generally had a good evening, exept the idiots with he fire :/
Sunday was made by the Napier
marred by the Quattro though :/
Format is pretty good in my eyes, cool cars, cool people, cool racing and not much commercialism trying to steal your money..
I am looking forward to next year now so life sorting starts now ....

[HoTWire]

No, what he is saying is that people can give us feedback, but something like venue change won't be happening before next year as we are booked in already. Also we as organisers are very happy with the venue, both in terms of lay out and dealing with the venue owners, which if you ask anyone that organises shows is the hardest part of it all.


We collect all the feedback (what worked, what didn't) go through it and see if we can improve things, we also have our own list of things that went wrong (which already included things like public parking etc.).

The guest car feedback is interesting.

The trade stand/swap meet feedback is frustrating, we try really hard each year to get more traders and we've experimented with swap meet style things before at the show, it seems like we get no where, so if you see a trader at a show and you think they would do well at RR Gathering PLEASE tell them to contact us. We'll take trade booking from now until the show next year!

The modern car in club stand bit is a bit skewed by us having to move the low stuff from public parking into club field because of the car park. I don't accept that the Alfa155 stand didn't belong, because it was straight up awesome.

In terms of more 'suitable' cars going up the track, it is a RWYB, the idea is to get people that don't usually spend time on track out and on the track, so you'll get a range of machinery, we hope that it is 95% retro at least due to only letting stuff from club stands and retro parking on the track. If it isn't all fast, then that is what it is, same is true for Pod RWYB.

The track is a victim of its own success, it gets over subscribed very quickly. The session sizes are what they are, we're all trying to think of ways to keep everyone happy on that score. Using it on the Saturday isn't the answer for us, not just because of the limited number of days it can be used (although that is a pretty hard thing to change!), but also because of the fact we don't want to kill ourselves trying to do a two day show. We are considering (if we can find a suitable venue, or another date at Prescott) running another track session of some sort at a different point in the year.

For food stuff the Clubhouse is/was open all weekend and served food from morning until night... it is good food, well made, reasonably priced, and a nice place to be. We can put on more food vans in the show field, but last year we had too many.

For those that say camping makes the show, less than 15% of the people that attend the show camp,.. I'm hoping the other 85% of people that come don't think it is rubbish.

What we can tell you is RRG 2013 will be better than RRG 2012 thanks to the feedback we get and our extra experience this year.


Obviously we don't want this to be a thread of all negative feedback, I guess some people enjoyed themselves?

[Lawsy]

Aug 21, 2012 7:02:56 GMT HoTWire said:

For those that say camping makes the show, less than 15% of the people that attend the show camp,.. I'm hoping the other 85% of people that come don't think it is rubbish.

I would say from a non camping point of view..

The show was awesome, the day itself was great

I think the camping is more for making it the social event and gives a more tight community feel..

you can see as a day visitor those that have camped, not because they all smell and are unwashed ;D but because they have a sense of comrademanship about them. A true community spirit.

if you are unaware of it and how it is then you woudl never notice them and not know about therefore not spoiling your own 1 day visitor enjoyment.

if you have experienced it, then being part of the whole weekend makes it so much more.. I wouldnt use the words, the camping makes the show, the camping makes friendships, teammates, buddies etc which helps makes the weekend even better.

I bet given half the chance, those that loved the whole social side of the weekends camping etc, woudl be happy to just spend a whole community weekend together camped up in a field in the middle of nowhere too, without an actual 'show day' to speak of..

hope that makes sense - its early!!

I for one tho, thoroughly enjoyed the day, was perfect for what we wanted..

[Robinxr4i]

Had an awesome time, camping and show spot on. Only problem I had was a cold shower, but as I found out later it was my own stupid fault for rwisting the lever too far

Aug 21, 2012 7:02:56 GMT HoTWire said:

We are considering (if we can find a suitable venue, or another date at Prescott) running another track session of some sort at a different point in the year.

This sounds like an excellent idea