Let's begin by admitting to ourselves that there is no one perfect solution. Nothing that will work for everyone in every situation. Once we all admit that we can begin to look for something that will work for the most people in the most situations.
ONE BIG PROBLEM with moving STAR after all these years of it being in June, is what happens to the rallies that are already scheduled every year in September-October?
Do we ask them to move their dates?
Do we ask them to suspend the rally for a year?
Can we somehow COMBINE those rallies with STAR for a year?
Right now, the club BYLAWS say that a REGIONAL STAR cannot be held within 21-days of the NATIONAL STAR. If the purpose of having the rule regarding the 21-day period was to keep local events from competing with STAR and possibly draining attendance away from STAR, I don't think it's working.
If we follow that rule, it basically says that over a 7-week period (3 weeks before-1 week for STAR-3 weeks after) we only have ONE event for our members. Only ONE event over a 7-week period in what is commonly looked at as the heart of riding season across much of the country. ONE event that only 25-30% of our members attend in any given year. THAT GOES AGAINST EXACTLY WHAT THE CLUB PURPOSE IS. It doesn't give members more opportunity to participate in club activities, it reduces it! If they can't make the dates of a STAR, or it's too far away for them to attend, they are out of luck for that whole 7-week period. Sorry Charlie! Find something else to do...and they do.
So, the FIRST thing I would say is to CHANGE that rule. It's not working, and it actually hinders our rally coordinators by making it taboo to hold a local rally anywhere in the country from Memorial Day weekend through mid-July. It is my belief that DISTANCE proximity is much more important than TIME proximity. We probably wouldn't want to have a STAR within a few weeks of another rally, that is in the same area of the country. right? But if a STAR is, is say 500 miles, away from a local rally, and is a week later, is that going to be a big problem? I don't think so. Not for most people anyway. Some people, yes. Most people, no. We need to change the rule to take distance into account. I will discuss that with the rest of the EC and see what we can come up with. Changing that rule would certainly open up more weekends in which we could have local rallies going on, and to my mind that is a good thing. it would also open up more weeks in which we could have STAR. Also, a good thing!
Let's look at WHERE our already scheduled September-October "regional" rallies are held...
September:
Ozarks Bull Shoals in Thedosia, Missouri
Fall Colors in Lewisburg, WV
October:
ByWay Boogie in Clarksville, Arkansas
Texas Hill Country in Kerrville, Texas
1ST OFF....would it be possible for us to combine any of these regional rallies for a year with the NATIONAL rally? To have them combined to make it a FULL WEEKLONG rally? Or to have the National rally REPLACE the regional for a year?
I think that could easily happen in some cases.
Could we make the Texas Hill Country rally STAR for a year? We had a STAR there once before but held it in April. Could it become a week-long autumn event for a year? Sun-Sat? Sat-Sun? M-F? (with weekends free to travel to and from)
Could we do the same for any of the other rallies we hold in the Autumn? With a little flexibility regarding locations, I think it is very doable. Perhaps one of the autumn rallies would need to change its time for a year and become a summer rally for a year. Would that really cause a big problem? Keep in mind that if we move STAR from June to Autumn, that opens up a long period of time in which we could move what is now an autumn rally to summer. That might give them more flexibility in regard to dates that are open at the host hotels.
OR>>>>
2NDLY....do we just say that we keep the regional/local rallies where and when they are, and just make sure that the STAR isn't the same weekend? AND isn't in the same area of the country?
Would a STAR held in mid-October in West Virginia/Pennsylvania/North Carolina, etc. cause an undue hardship to rallies held in Arkansas and Texas?
Would a STAR held in Colorado in mid-September cause an undue hardship to rallies held in Missouri and West Virginia?
Would those local rallies suck large numbers of attendees away from STAR?
I think for the vast majority of people, the answer is no. Some people would have to make an either-or decision, but not everyone for sure. And people are already making that decision, aren't they? I know that I don't have the time or money to attend every rally. I already have to figure out which ones I can attend and which ones I have to skip. I'm pretty sure that everyone else is also in this position. Changing STAR timing/location wouldn't change that. But in some cases, people may actually COMBINE trips and do a regional rally and a STAR together. (We saw some of that last year when the BMWMOA rally fell just before the STAR rally, with them being in the same state. Some people combined the two rallies into a week-long motorcycle trip.) As much as it might cause some people to choose between two separate events, it might allow others to combine them and give them even more reason to attend.
Once again....there is no ONE PERFECT solution that will work for EVERYONE. But I do think that if we give ourselves more flexibility, we might be able to come up with a solution that works for MORE people than what we have right now.
