[Survivor]

I am this year's President of the Northwest GTO Legends and the Chairman of the 2016 GTOAA National Convention. If you haven't heard yet, the 2016 GTOAA National Convention will be held next year in Bellevue, WA - a suburb to Seattle. This will be the first time that the Nationals have ever been held in Seattle and only the second time that GTOAA Convention has gone to the west coast.

We want to get as many of GOATs and not-GTO Pontiacs here as possible. I know it's a long way to bring your prized GTO, but the Seattle/Tacoma area offers a vacation of a lifetime. There is no place more beautiful than the Pacific Northwest and particularly in July, when if rarely rains. The Convention runs from July 13 to July 17, 2016. In addition to the traditional Convention activities, we have a week packed full of activities including a Car Cruise to Snoqualmie Falls, trips to both LeMay Car Museums, a trip to the Museum of Flight, as well as, trips to the downtown Seattle attractions. We are also marketing this as a "Vacation Destination" and are offering a second week of vacation activities, including a day long bus trip around Mt. Rainier and a 7 day Alaskan Cruise.

Our web page for the Convention is up and running and it outlines all of the Convention activities, host and overflow hotel information, as well as, details about convention fees and activities. The web site address is: www.northwestlegends.com

Even if the trek is too far for you to bring the GOAT, please be our guest and attend the Convention without your car.. After all, we speak fluent Pontiac out here. You have talked about that Alaskan Cruise for years. How could it get any better than enjoying it with your Pontiac brethren?

Hope to see many of you in Seattle/Bellevue next year!

Ted Knapp
President Northwest GTO Legends
2016 Chair GTOAA National Convention

[Old Man Taylor]

Will the schedule include drag racing?

[goathead455]

Originally Posted by Old Man Taylor

Will the schedule include drag racing?

I asked that question yesterday via email and was told that there is no drag racing.
Very disappointing to say the least.

[SR-71]

Getting to be that the GTOAA Nationals no longer has a want for drag racing. Anyone that makes the trek to Norwalk for the Ames Tri-Power Nationals will attest to the draw the draq racing has. Ever since the drag racing was dropped from the GTOAA nationals the drop in participation has also dropped.

I wish the host club all the best but with the meet being held at the furthest point in the continental USA and the lack of racing will surely be a tough sell for all that still are working and not retired and wealthy enough to attend.

[Ccass]

I feel for the racers but it's simply not practical to have drag races at GTOAA or POCI. They do not draw enough cars and therefore they are a huge drain on the finances and do not generate any reasonable sponsorship money. It's been attempted year after year by many with very limited success. The only one that has been successful in the last 10 years was the first Co-Vention. There's a reason why the Ames Norwalk event is so wildly successful..... Most people have one vacation that they can use for racing and most owners choose to go to the ultimate Pontiac event.

The rest of the events have been and will remain regional and even regional events require herculean efforts to promote and run. If you have one even remotely in your area, please support them before they are gone as well.

Let's all be very thankful that we have such an amazing annual event that we can count on!

[Ccass]

Originally Posted by Survivor

You have talked about that Alaskan Cruise for years. How could it get any better than enjoying it with your Pontiac brethren?

Hope to see many of you in Seattle/Bellevue next year!

Ted Knapp
President Northwest GTO Legends
2016 Chair GTOAA National Convention

Alaskan cruise....sounds incredibly tempting. I always wanted to travel to Alaska. Everyone says it's spectacular. I may have to get over my fear of being on a boat for days. Can I drive up the coast and hop on the boat when it docks each time?

[Survivor]

On the drag racing event - We looked hard at drag racing at the 2016 GTOAA National Convention. Our analysis showed that we would lose a minimum of $3,000 - $4,000, perhaps more, if we could not find sponsor(s). We take on a lot more liability and it is a lot of work to put on given all the other activities we are trying to pull off with doing a National. I am not a drag guy, but I am told that many of those coming for the drags are there only for the drags and most won't participate in the other Convention activities. I told our members that I am willing to lose money on a drag event, if others in the Club who are drag racing enthusiasts felt strongly that we needed it for the good of the Convention. Our drag racing members voted to drop it. I think the final straw for us was when Pittsburgh dropped racing at the 2014 GTOAA Convention due to lack of interest.

[rexs73gto]

It's been awhile since I've been able to go to a national event & I had almost talked myself into making myself go one way or another in 2016. Now I hear it's going to be across the country & with no drag racing. I will say that I can't & won't put myself through a drive like that. I live in MI. & the Nats. have fro years always been at the least in the middle of the country so everyone has some chance to come. But now the only ones that IMO will be able to go is the ones on the west coast only. I would rethink your choice of where the nats are going to be over again. I believe you will have a very small turn out by having it so far to one side of the country. I wish you luck , but hope you rethink your placement of the nats before its to late.

[notime]

My wife and I will be there, only reason she likes to go is to go somewhere different that we've never been and meet new people. Hopefully I will have my car done but its still to far to drive so we will fly out but I have 1 complaint about past shows, please don't schedule any activities on judging day, most of us cant go. I would like to see the museum and maybe another tour but seems like in the past some of them have been scheduled during judging and that means my wife and I cant go because I am judging and she does tabulation. Look forward to coming, see you there. Darrell

[Ccass]

Originally Posted by rexs73gto

I would rethink your choice of where the nats are going to be over again. I believe you will have a very small turn out by having it so far to one side of the country. I wish you luck , but hope you rethink your placement of the nats before its to late.

Rex, The choice of where a GTO convention is held is a bidding process where any local chapter can participate. The local club essentially sends a resume of their plans to host to the National GTOAA board. Then from all the entrees, one is selected. So your frustration should be directed at the National committee, not the club that won the bid.

Yes, the show will be smaller but not by all that much. When it was in Oregon a couple years back, I was very surprised by the turnout. Also, it's refreshing to see a whole selection of different GTO's when it's out West. Colorado, Oregon and now Seattle are really beautiful places to visit. I really enjoyed all three of those 'smaller' shows as there are a lot of things you can see and do when visiting a new area. Think about it this way, all the GTO owners in that part of the country have been saying what you're saying for most of the past 30 years.

I think it would be a nice gesture to 'share' the club this one rather rare occurrence of it being on the West coast.

Each year, wherever they hold the event, about 40 states worth of GTO owners are going to be disappointed.

[MCronkGTO]

Unfortunately I think the clubs are dying a slow death. The economy, participants getting older, etc., there are a lot of reasons why. All the more incentive to have a co-vention in a central location possibly at the same venue. I continually hear how it is a herculean effort for chapters to pull of these events. A lot of "reinventing the wheel" and inexperience could be avoided by having the event at the same place and run by the same people. Processes will become more efficient, leveraging a 2 to 3 year contract with a facility can bring the cost down etc. More participants means more revenue to cover costs. You could move the location every third or fourth year but still be centrally located giving both coasts a chance of attending. I think it makes it easier for people to make plans when they know it will be in the same location for a couple of years. I live in Florida so any convention for me is a major commitment in time and resources.

I also believe that to survive the clubs will need to work more closely together or else they will die out.

Mark Cronk

[GTO JUDGE]

Greetings:

Regarding the process, and location of our International Conventions. For those who know the process, this is nothing new, for those who do not, I will briefly explain the process so some will get a little understanding of how the process works.

We have 40 chapters in the GTOAA. Each chapter is invited to apply for a convention. Each year chapters that are interested submit their bid. Typically bids are placed 3-4 years out. Why? Good Question. Let me answer: There is so much involved in putting together a convention it takes years, many people, many, many hours, and much coordination to do this in even a two year time frame. We have a convention guideline chapters receive who apply for a convention. There is so much information in this guideline it is overwhelming.

To aid chapters in the process of hosting a convention, a year by year suggested schedule is outlined with timelines for convention chairpersons to follow as they delegate their committees. The GTOAA's convention coordinator works diligently with the chairpersons and provides support and direction. The GTOAA Board of directors also assists a chapter with direction as needed.

I am not going to go into the specifics of this guideline itself however every aspect of what is required to host a convention is listed. I will add, each year that set of guidelines are updated.

When a chapter submits a bid for a convention, the GTOAA Board of Directors, reviews that application. The chapter must then present a presentation to the board of directors satisfying the steps necessary to that point. The GTOAA Board of directors will then determine if a chapter can meet the requirements.

The host chapter sets the dates for the convention NOT the GTOAA. The GTOAA suggests NOT having the convention on holidays however as many chapters have learned, doing so can save them a lot of money and will get perks to say hold in over the 4th of July holiday. The perks can be substantial which is why often the conventions were held over the 4th of July holiday.

The GTOAA DOES NOT pick and choose who gets a convention, nor do they choose the place. This is all up to each individual chapter who submits a bid, wins the bid, and selects the location. The GTOAA does have an obligation to move the convention around the country so the venue is available to as many members as possible. In a perfect world this would be ideal if one year it was east, then central, then south, then west etc. The area of the country the convention is held is determined by which chapter submits a bid for one. If two chapters submit a bid for the same year, the GTOAA will determine which area the convention will be held based on which area has not had one in a specific time frame.

Now, regarding the 2016 convention: There was only one bid submitted to hold this convention. The Northwest GTO Legends submitted the bid, they met the criteria to hold it and were awarded it. This is why the 2016 convention will be in Seattle Washington. The Northwest GTO Legends put on one impressive presentation in Indiana. Those who plan on attending this convention, you will be highly impressed.

This is a brief overview, I just scratched the surface of the initial process.

[GTO TOM]

Not sure what club you are talking about. GTOAA has more members now than ever and it is growing every month. When a GTOAA Chapter requests to host a Convention, GTOAA must allow them to do it if they have the capability, desire and manpower. The members pay their $35 just like everyone else. Don't they deserve a GTOAA Convention once in a while? I have been to Dayton twice now and have grown tired of the same venue, same hotels, same activities and same everything. I am sure this would happen too if they were always in the same location.

[GTO JUDGE]

Contrary to all the rumors, and "facts" out there regarding the status of our GTOAA Chapters, and membership.

I was appointed to the position of Public Relations Coordinator and Membership recruitment in August of 2014. I began this position in mid September 2014. I was asked to grow the GTOAA. I set in place 2 plans of action to grow the GTOAA membership and, it's chapters.

The Refer-A-Friend program was put into place to reward referrals with a 6 month free extension to their membership for one referral and a 12 month extension added on to their membership.

The CHIP program: Chapter Incentive Program was set into place to reward chapters with incentives who bring in the most new GTOAA members into their chapter. The incentives have been widely advertised in The Legend and on our Facebook page.

To address the declining membership and chapters who are fading away: I do the numbers, our membership coordinator receives the new members in and process them and keeps the numbers. Those numbers are passed onto me. I chart the numbers, I report the numbers and maintain the growth numbers.

In September 2014 I challenged myself to grow the GTOAA by 10% in the first year or by September 2015. In 11 months time as of the numbers for August the GTOAA has grown by 9.4% or by 333 NEW MEMBERS. With one month to go to meet my deadline, through President Tom Oxler and Steve Hedrick's efforts in Norwalk they signed up 40 NEW GTOAA members and 8 more have renewed bringing in a total of 48 members which will exceed the 10% growth initiative I imposed. We have been averaging 29.6 NEW GTOAA members per month for 11 months. The next months figures from total membership is not yet in. If the averages work out we could see 12% + growth in one year.

Our GTOAA membership has been setting all time membership records for the past 4 months. There are more members now than ever before and the trend is upward. The Refer-A-Friend program alone accounts for 27.4% growth of the total 9.4% total GTOAA growth in 11 months. When I took over as P.R. our membership was in the 3,400 range, we are headed to 3800 plus in 11 months.

The CHIP Program? Results from this program will not be tallied until the chapter surveys come in for 2016. I will tell you GTOAA Chapters are bringing in new GTOAA members from the reports I am getting.

Social Media...... our GTOAA Facebook Page: 11 months ago we were at 280,000 likes. We are currently at 822,555 likes in 11 months time as we head to ONE MILLION. I see the numbers on social media each day we are reaching over a million sometimes as many as 1.5 million people. We are the hot ticket in social media with other organizations constantly PMing me and Lance Hudnell asking permission to piggyback our facebook page.

Social Media has resulted in explosive growth for the GTOAA, the Refer-A-Friend program as exploded in growth, I expect our chapters who are getting MUCH attention from our Facebook are growing.

I dunno where these wild rumors originate from but the GTOAA deals in Fact base not opinion based. The GTOAA is the strongest its ever been with the most members ever with all time numbers to show.

The GTOAA is headed UP not Down. Lets all work together to GROW the GTOAA not find excuses to not attend a function or quit based on opinion based facts rather fact based. If just half the GTOAA membership brought in just ONE member .........

~~~~ Vic S.



Lets get back on track to the purpose of this thread: The 2016 Convention from Seattle.

[Survivor]

Originally Posted by notime

My wife and I will be there, only reason she likes to go is to go somewhere different that we've never been and meet new people. Hopefully I will have my car done but its still to far to drive so we will fly out but I have 1 complaint about past shows, please don't schedule any activities on judging day, most of us cant go. I would like to see the museum and maybe another tour but seems like in the past some of them have been scheduled during judging and that means my wife and I cant go because I am judging and she does tabulation. Look forward to coming, see you there. Darrell

No "activities" are scheduled during either the Concours Judging or Popular Vote Day.

[SR-71]

I don't think the clubs or chapters are dying I think it's the conventions. Less and less venders, no racing and location are to fault I believe. Putting on a national event usually doesn't make money but costs money and sadly you need to approach it that way or the event quality will suffer.

[MCronkGTO]

I guess maybe it is just a personal observation. I used to go to both the POCI and GTOAA Nationals. Of all the people I knew back then not one of them go anymore.

My comments are not meant to detract from promoting this event. But the reality is both organizations are basically the same size (membership) they have always been. They grow a little, then contract a little, but basically the same since I joined both over 25 years ago.

Having a convention on the extreme east or west coast will limit the opportunities of those who can attend, that is just plain "physics".

No one can argue about selecting that club as the host, especially if no one else but in a bid.

MarkC

[GTO TOM]

Originally Posted by MCronkGTO

I guess maybe it is just a personal observation. I used to go to both the POCI and GTOAA Nationals. Of all the people I knew back then not one of them go anymore.

My comments are not meant to detract from promoting this event. But the reality is both organizations are basically the same size (membership) they have always been. They grow a little, then contract a little, but basically the same since I joined both over 25 years ago.

Having a convention on the extreme east or west coast will limit the opportunities of those who can attend, that is just plain "physics".

No one can argue about selecting that club as the host, especially if no one else but in a bid.

MarkC

Let's do some math to see what really happens when GTOAA goes to the West Coast. In 2011, we went to Portland and had 350 GTOAA members register. Now if we look at the surrounding states (9 including Canada)to Oregon, we have 424 GTOAA Members of a "Participation Rate" of 83%. Now let's look at the central US and Dayton in 2013. Dayton had 323 GTOAA members attend yet there are 1006 GTOAA Members in the surrounding states (6)for a "participation rate' of just 32%.
It looks to me that more folks in the Northwest value a GTOAA convention much more than those in the midwest since more of them take the time to come, register and participate.
Yes, Dayton was a Co-Vention and some probobly registered through POCI as like myself, we belong to both. My question is: What is wrong with the midwest where the vast majority of GTOAA Members reside, that the participation is the same or less that it is when we go somewhere like the Northwest?

[MCronkGTO]

Tom,

I think the "central" folks have many more "opportunities" to show their cars other than the GTOAA National events. Also they are centrally located and may have had to choose between a POCI event and/or GTOAA event in the same year. I am also a member of both and can not afford to do both in the same year. Like you I attended the co-vention in 2013 but registered through POCI because I was showing my Grand Prix.

Now on the other hand the folks out west probably don't have the opportunity to attend many Nationals so when they do get one there is "pent up demand" therefore the higher percentage. Which begs the question. Do we really need to have a National every year? It has always been that way but if attendance is dwindling and costs escalating maybe we need to look at every other year? I bet attendance would go up. Maybe alternate with POCI? Just something to think about.

Bottom line is if no other club put in a bid then "more power to them".

MarkC

[Jerry H.]

Originally Posted by MCronkGTO

Unfortunately I think the clubs are dying a slow death. The economy, participants getting older, etc., there are a lot of reasons why. All the more incentive to have a co-vention in a central location possibly at the same venue. I continually hear how it is a herculean effort for chapters to pull of these events. A lot of "reinventing the wheel" and inexperience could be avoided by having the event at the same place and run by the same people. Processes will become more efficient, leveraging a 2 to 3 year contract with a facility can bring the cost down etc. More participants means more revenue to cover costs. You could move the location every third or fourth year but still be centrally located giving both coasts a chance of attending. I think it makes it easier for people to make plans when they know it will be in the same location for a couple of years. I live in Florida so any convention for me is a major commitment in time and resources.

I also believe that to survive the clubs will need to work more closely together or else they will die out.

Mark Cronk

A lot of folks probably agree with you on the CoVention idea, but I'm afraid we'll never see another CoVention. In listening to some of the scuttlebutt in Columbus, IN. I understand that due to all of the politics between the two clubs it will just never happen again. It will become obvious what I'm talking about in the future.