NALM 2015 Bidding Officially Open!

[Tyson]

We're happy to open the bidding for the 11th Annual National Acura Legend Meet!

Starting 1/1/2015, the NALM Committee will begin accepting nationwide bids for host cities. Bid guidelines will remain unchanged from last year's and are detailed below. The deadline for bid submission will be 3/1/2015 which should leave a few months of planning time with the ground team of the winning bid to finalize the event. The winning bid will be announced on 3/7/2015.



What will you be looking for in my bid?

1. An overview of the event, the big picture, what is your vision for the event?
2. Suggested date. (3 day weekends are preferred but not mandatory)
3. What does your area have to offer other than NALM events? Think outside of the NALM box. What other attractions are there for families and those who want to get out and see the area in their free time. It is these kinds of attractions that will make or break the attendance of those traveling great distances or who will be bringing significant others or families along.
4. A collection of data that says your locale can support what you say it can.
Such as:
*What track(s) are you renting? Are they available on your date? What are the chances you will actually GET those dates?
*What hotels are available and convenient to surrounding events? What are their rates?
*A description of the area. Include details on the area itself, its accessibility, cruising opportunities (ie. driving roads), etc.
*What kind of photo opportunities are available?

How should I submit my bid?

You can submit your proposal in various ways, as long as it isn't a post on the forums (feel free to ask questions or discuss ideas). We are looking for proposals to come in the form of email ( nationalacuralegendmeet@gmail.com ), word documents, PDFs. If you prefer delivery by mail, email to the above address to get mailing addresses - You will be asked to send five sets of your mailed proposal to five different addresses (one to each of the board members).

When are bids due?

All bids are due by 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 1, 2015. Bids will be reviewed by the NALM Committee and the final selection will be announced on Saturday, March, 7th 2015.

Please keep in mind that a lot of planning and legwork go into pulling off these meets, so those of you who are already working on a bid need to select your ground team thoughtfully. A Ground Team Owner and a couple of Scouts seems to work best from what we can tell, but it's entirely up to you how you want to operate your bid. Once the winning bid is selected, and announcement will be made with the location and tentative dates - and then the ground team and committee will go to work finalizing the details and filtering that information out to the forum.

Now go get those bids done!!!



Prior NALM Locations:

• 2005: Dallas, TX
• 2006: Tulsa, OK
• 2007: Las Vegas, NV
• 2008: Chattanooga, TN
• 2009: Branson, MO
• 2010: Salt Lake City, UT
• 2011: Morristown, NJ
• 2012: Milwaukee, WI
• 2013: Asheville, NC
• 2014: Southern California

[Tyson]

Since a few have inquired, here are more detailed guidelines:

1. Minimum duration of event is an evening welcome get-together and then 2 1/2 days of activities. (3 days preferred). This does not include any drive to-from days. Just event days.
2. Hotel costs HAVE to be in writing with a sufficient number or rooms (15-20) reserved for our group.
3. Firm activity costs estimated (as accurate as possible). Tuner events/ racetrack events are ala carte.
4. Ground team number and names.
5. Group dinner locations planned for every evening.
6. Host hotel needs to be easily accessible from major highways without excessive traffic issues.
7. Event needs to be marketed as a package event. One cost for the entire event.

[Vic Cardenas]

Tyson, I really like the new rule set. I feel they will eliminate quite a few potential and past problems. I do, however have an issue with #5. I feel that could be burdensome to the planner and unnecessary. Me and Toure purposely left a few dinners unplanned just so everybody could break away and do their own thing if they preferred. I felt it worked out well that way (but we were in the city so rural locations are different) but instead there were 2 or 3 lunches that I wish we planned better. Like the acura dealership and the BBQ. In fact, I feel that the lunches in 2010 were the biggest problem with that event and feel that they are more important to have planned well because the group tends to be all together during the day. At night, some of us were fatigued.... Maybe it's best to word it that a large majority of meals need to planned with an emphasis on every lunch being planned?

[Alperovich]

Originally Posted by Vic

Tyson, I really like the new rule set. I feel they will eliminate quite a few potential and past problems. I do, however have an issue with #5. I feel that could be burdensome to the planner and unnecessary. Me and Toure purposely left a few dinners unplanned just so everybody could break away and do their own thing if they preferred. I felt it worked out well that way (but we were in the city so rural locations are different) but instead there were 2 or 3 lunches that I wish we planned better. Like the acura dealership and the BBQ. In fact, I feel that the lunches in 2010 were the biggest problem with that event and feel that they are more important to have planned well because the group tends to be all together during the day. At night, some of us were fatigued.... Maybe it's best to word it that a large majority of meals need to planned with an emphasis on every lunch being planned?

i disagree, anyone is welcome to break free, and go do individual dinners, however the group as a whole needs to have a planned dinner event for every night. The whole point of NALM IMHO is to try and partake as a whole group as much as possible, as someone coming from out of town, i don't wanna be worried about finding something to do for ANY meal of the event. SOCAL actually did a really good job with this, with breakfast at the hotel, some lunches and all dinners accounted for.

[Vic Cardenas]

Fair enough. I've only been to one NALM, and that was my own. So, sometimes you need to see it from an outsiders perspective. I just noticed that by the time we got to the 4th day of the event, the participants that I felt were burnt out from the long day at the drag races didn't show to dinner, where as the ones who had the energy... did. The one dinner we did plan after the opening day ceremony, at Thaifoon, on the 3rd day, I felt was more chaotic and poorly executed mostly due to the restaurant staff and the location. I am, as some of you know a chef, so maybe I was just being overly critical of all the food related stuff? I felt there was more of an importance of having all of the lunches planned better.

But your argument, Alex, I think is on-point.

[4HondaOwner]

Originally Posted by Alperovich

SOCAL actually did a really good job with this, with breakfast at the hotel, some lunches and all dinners accounted for.

Well said Alex.

[ActionJackson]

Originally Posted by Alperovich

SOCAL actually did a really good job with this, with breakfast at the hotel, some lunches and all dinners accounted for.

SoCal NALM was like an Eating Club meet with some sitting in our Legends on the freeway in-between courses Don't take this as a complaint; I like to eat. It was a helluva lot better than another NALM where we were driving around in circles out in the middle of nowhere while we were starving to death.

[Chrispy]

Originally Posted by ActionJackson

SoCal NALM was like an Eating Club meet with some sitting in our Legends on the freeway in-between courses Don't take this as a complaint; I like to eat. It was a helluva lot better than another NALM where we were driving around in circles out in the middle of nowhere while we were starving to death.

Oh stop complaining already. We had damn near every meal planned for during NALM 2012. We had a group meal planned for the day of the fail cruise which, no one seems to mention that one of my ground team members bailed and didnt even attend the entire meet, and the cruise was part of his responsibilities. We actually made our scheduled meal stop ahead of schedule on the day youre complaining about. You were the only one who didnt plan ahead and eat ahead of time that day. Just saying man, some things you should really let go of and not be so bitter about, that was really the only snafu of that entire weekend. Could the cruise have gone better, absolutely, but it didnt and we made the best of it and the rest of us still enjoyed ourselves.

I am a fan of the new rules set in place, hope that avoids some of the snafus in years past. As always the NALM team keeps evolving things and making each event better I do see #7 being the only potential issue for a planning ground team. From a would be attendee stand point its great to know budget costs, from a planning aspect, this could be a nightmare as not all prices may be known right up front. Estimate on the high side and people complain it costs too much, estimate too low and people complain that there are added costs, and yet others will find any reason to be critical and complain.

[sam o nela]

Originally Posted by Chrispy

I do see #7 being the only potential issue or a planning ground team. From a would be attendee stand point its great to know budget costs, from a planning aspect, this could be a nightmare as not all prices may be known right up front. Estimate on the high side and people complain it costs too much, estimate too low and people complain that there are added costs, and yet others will find any reason to be critical and complain.

In event planning, this is why it is so very important to have the variable and/or largest costs solidified (or at least have a rate locked in) as early as possible. Things that can be locked-in early are rental costs (like renting a facility), lodging, and prizes. Just having a budget ion mind for the remaining items will help you in knowing what you can and can't do cost-wise.

Example:

- Through planning and research I learn that a track rental will be $200. Looking at past NALMs as indicators, the average attendance is at least 20 people. That's $10/person right there if at least 20 pay to show up for the weekend (even better if more do!) +$10

Running Registration cost - $10



- NALM ground crew wants the event to host dinner the first night and lunch the opening day (figure a cost of $10 per person per meal) +$20

Running Registration cost - $30



- Prizes and giveaways are great for closing ceremony - An overall budget of $200 can get you a $50-$75 gas card and a lot of cool closeout Legend parts as giveaways from Rockauto. +$10

Running Registration cost - $40



- Shirts and stickers are popular items that every attendee gets. Figure $8 per shirt and $5 per sticker. While not everyone will get a prize, for sure everyone will get these. +$13

Running Registration cost - $53


Lodging can always be locked in and contracts signed way ahead of time so that attendees also know what their per-night lodging costs will be (on top of the registration cost).


So, at bare minimum, we are looking at a Reg cost of about $53 per person to do the minimum amount of things we'd like to do over the 2-3 days. Of course, one could go in and adjust the prizes budget, negotiate meal and rental costs, whatever to bring that down as much as possible. Main thing is locking that up ahead of time so people know what their bottom line, bare minimum overhead is going to be just to commit to attending this thing.

Of course, that is assuming 20 people attend; once you get 20 paid people, anything beyond that number increases you budget cushion just a little bit to allow you to spend a little more on things like nicer shirts, printing event agendas, having a cash fund in case little things like cases of water or napkins/plates need to be purchased, etc.

While there are many large events out there that can operate on a per diem/a la carte basis (people pay per day, or per activity) it is important for NALM attendees to understand that the cost they are paying assumes they plan to participate in all of the weekend's activities. And choosing to sit certain things out is really only cheating them out of maximizing the value of the whole event. That's like if I paid for a double cheeseburger but told them to only give me one meat patty. The price is the same so who's really losing out on that deal? I have planned ala carte events and while they are great for attendees, they are a often a pain to manage. I have to thank some of the previous years' NALM planners who talked me out of offering that for the SoCal NALM Having just an all-in take it or leave it reg cost is so much easier in planning and organizing the whole event. Or it at least gave us one less thing to worry about.

So you also run into things like guests or people bringing family members, and it is always nice to accommodate for that. It should be an event that attendees are proud to share with those guests. For NALM 2014, we simply asked that their meal costs be covered.

Of course, there are elective activities that can be additional costs to the individuals (like dyno runs, a professional photographer taking cash payments for quick photoshoots, a mobile detailer on site, etc) and while it's good to let people know about those things well in advance, they aren't factored into the overall reg costs.

Anyhow, long story short, the registration costs can be figured out ahead of time. Even if you don't know actual costs, research on the biggest ticket items (the things that can be the highlight or selling point of your NALM) and having and overall budget in mind is really all you need to get things moving.

[sam o nela]

Originally Posted by ActionJackson

SoCal NALM was like an Eating Club meet with some sitting in our Legends on the freeway in-between courses

Lol I think you just described living in Southern California in general. With meals, work, and maybe a personal life being the things you do when you aren't sitting in traffic.