I had heard rumors that fees were going up. Didn't expect it to be a 20% increase.
I had heard rumors that fees were going up. Didn't expect it to be a 20% increase.
Who has been run off???
American Iron Series - National Director
It sure seemed like the TWS rookie day went very well.
It wsnt as involved as planning a full race weekend, but:
AICMC had its own run group all weekend
Track was super helpful to work with.
Do we need NASA TX to plan a race at TWS or can we do it ourselves?
Thinking out loud here.....
AI # 12
I guess we could all sign up for HPDE 4 and just go at it ...
Hallett has COMA ... maybe Motorsports Club could come up with something similar.
Texas Driving Experience at TMS, The Driver's Edge and APEX can routinely fill up the grid. These are sound business models that seem to work.
When I suggested benchmarking these groups (along with several other things), I was dismissed.
NASA-SE is only $269 for the weekend and they have an event at Road Atlanta March 13-14, which is the same weekend as the NASA-TX at MSR-C. I would rather save some on entrance fees to put towards some gas and try out Road Atlanta. Is anyone else interested??
Since we race for a plastic medal why should it cost any more than TDE? We do not get as much track time now. That's great news. I was told we could also lose a race soon. Three races and almost $400.00! I've been looking for a new trailer but maybe I need to rethink that. Just when you think CMC is going to get better and bigger they go up on the price and run some people off.
JJ
I can never get a response from NASA-Texas via e-mail and I can't get a return phone call from Shannon, so I'll post this here. Some one who has the "insider" contact info, feel free to pass this along.
I have several years in marketing strategies, dealing with everything from a new safety initiative to frozen salaries. It runs the gammet.
So, to market the series ...
Institute a racer's package.
Package 3 event weekends together for a discounted price ... say $1050. It's still an increase over last years's per-race fee, but discounted enough over this year's structure to get folks' attention
Particulars ...
Payable by January 24th.
Regular and normal races only. No enduros.
Non-refundable, non-transferrable.
Redeemable at any NASA-Texas sanctioned event in 2010 only.
Not sure how teams could make this work, but I'm sure something could be worked out.
This gives NASA-Texas a nice nest egg and working capital to begin AGGRESIVELY advertising the series.
Sponsor several of the major internet sites that we all visit routinely. Solicit a list from the users. Or ask at registration. The bigger sites are ~$100 a quarter ... sign up for 1/2 a year and see how it works out.
Advertise in GRM by placing the year's schedule in the mag. I bet this is a freebie.
Build posters and bills that could be placed on track bulletin boards. It's important to have a tear-away pad with all the pertinnent contact info attached to the poster. This is something the potential customer can take with them and not have to rely on memory.
Contact competitors and attempt to build a bridge to get new blood headed NASA's way. But you have to have something to offer. Also check what the competitor's are charging. Benchmark them. Figure out why they are filling the grids and NASA-Texas isn't. Self-Assessments are vital to maintain continued viability and improved performance.
Finally, at registration, ASK where the participants heard about the event and NASA-Texas. This "survey" will point a finger at where to spend your advertising dollars.
These are just a few ideas to try and generate a buzz about what we have going on here.
Another idea is to offer a limited number of $100 off coupons for those of us who take our cars to the Texas Mile. Make an exhibition run, but put us right up front where everyone can see us, the cars and we can answer questions. Face time is vital for people to see who we really are.
These are all simple, cheap marketing strategies that can pay big dividends TODAY, not next year.
Have you sent the above to Shannon? All good ideas !
If not, I can forward it and see what we can make happen.
Regarding this thread - some cost increase was expected at some point in time. This was likely derived from 2009 car counts, as well as increased insurance costs and event costs the past 2 years. Costs vary by region depending on turnout (I noticed Homestead was $499 for the weekend and RA was $299). The increase is not meant to run people off, but you can't lose money putting on an event either.
Feel free to share concerns or suggestions with me via PM and I'll get them into the right hands.
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