Was asked to plan a car show tonight

[Don65Stang]

So my new pastor is a car guy and he asked me to help put together a car show for this fall.

First of all I will invite all my Mach 1 and 71-73 mustang buddies to enter so there should between 4 to 6 our our cars there.

Second, I have no idea how to do start a car show from scratch.

Please help me figure this out.

 

[HighOctane]

I have helped put on a few and I am sure the collective knowledge on this site can help you put on a great show. Have you picked a date that is not already taken with another major car show or another major event in your area. In the past that has been one of my biggest challenges.

 

[Don65Stang]

No date picked yet. Good idea to check the other car show calendars. Will do.

 

[caspianwendell]

That's cool Don. After the date is picked, print a ton of flyers and stick them everywhere they will let you, like parts houses, etc. have your pastor to have other churches to announce it too

 

[71mach351]

Get help. You will need at least a dozen more people to assist you. Maybe more if it's a big show. On the day of the show, the more the better.

Contact every parts catalog you can think of. Mustangs unlimited, Summit, jegs, NPD , Hemmings, etc. Most will send you boxes of catalogs, flyers and stuff for goody bags. Some will send you free gift certificates to give away. Local shops will also donate door prizes.

Local tent rental companies might donate a tent. Good luck. I've done a couple and if the help's not there it really sucks.

 

[imusa76]

I'm helping a neighbor advertise their Bike/Car show that the local Harley Davidson club is doing for the first time,

by dropping flyers in cars at cruise nights and car shows that I'm attending, just to get the word out there.

Here in Rhode Island, we have 3 well known Car show DJ's that almost all of the car shows and Cruise Nights, so they have a following, and websites that they will post all Local Car shows, including nearby Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Try Facebook also, make a flyer and post it and ask people to share it.

 

[Boss1Ray]

Check with some car detail supply companies. Adam's is one that comes to mind. http://www.adamspolishes.com/default.aspx

Encourage a local dealer to set up a booth at your show to display their products - they will usually provide some 'door prizes' for the exposure. Others who are in the automotive supply business might be approached in the same way. Local NAPA dealers have always been good to supply some stuff.

Good luck.

Ray

 

[bkdunha]

+1's to all comments thus far. Find the contacts for the local or nearby car clubs. It sounds like you are going for an all makes/models theme. Will there be judging? If so you need to think of your judging classes. With Judging it get ALOT more complicated. With it sounding like this is a first show for your group juding may be left to audience votes. I would expand to some local business in the area. You may have some church members that are business owners or managers that could get some items to aid as gift bags to participants or as door prize items to all attendees. I do agree with getting others in your group involved. There will be alot of logistics the day of the event. Parking cars (by manufacturer?/stock or mod?/or as they arrive). Trash containers? Local merchant vendor areas? Food & Drink? Is there a traffic control issue where you are planning it. Do you need a permit? I hope some of these help, but remember the goal is fun for everyone, even if you do not have any.

 

[OLE PONY]

One of the biggest complaints I heard at one car show was there was only 3 prizes offered. Make sure there are plenty of awards/trophy's etc to get interest up in attending. I attended one car show where Sears donated a very nice roll around tool box set as a prize. Maybe check with you local Sears for a donation!

 

[Don65Stang]

...but remember the goal is fun for everyone, even if you do not have any.

Fun eh? After reading all the responses I think I just want to hang out at the Methodist's car show that's a couple of miles away. lol

People's choice voting sounds like a the best way to go with it. I don't like classifying cars into a bunch of groups so maybe just two: classics through 1973 and a second group for 1974 and later. Maybe we can try to park them by manufacturer.

The only thing I know about car shows is that I like walking around looking at other people's cars. All of my cars are drivers and look like it so I've never entered one into a show. All of the above info is great. You guys are great - thank you for helping me figure this out.

 

[Bill73Ragtop]

You may want 5 or 6 categories - Stock up to 1973; Stock 1974 to present. Modified up to 1973; Modified 1074 to present. Trucks - All, Motorcycles - All

Pastor's Choice

Show hours: Gate opens ____ (9am?) Registration until ____ (12 pm?); Show fee: Pre-registration $_____ / Day of Show $_____ // Rain or Shine or Rain Date?

Peoples Choice is the way to go, hand out ballots with arrival - all ballots to be turned in by 2pm. Awards given out at 3:30pm

Start calling out door prizes at noon. Local DJ for music and announcements ?

As noted, trash cans, Porta-Johns (?); Park them as they arrive. You'll run out of room otherwise. Keep bikes in separate area.

Check with local Boy Scouts / local civic groups to sell hot dogs, hamburgers, etc.

Recruit your show team - show up to prep the field at 7am, Have fun - treat the show team to beverages after the show....

 

[imusa76]

all of the car shows I have been to this year, have not had a designated parking area, its "You park where you want, with who you want." it makes it easier for friends to gather when one has a Ford, and the other a Chevy.

and have Spectator voting, and a Trophy for each category, maybe not even a trophy, but a creative plaques, could be home made, I have some pictures at home from a few different car shows I'll post when I get home.

Here are some categories I have seen this year

Best of Show

Best Paint

Best Chrome

Best hotrod

Best Truck

Best Ford

Best Chevy

Best Mopar

 

[Mister 4x4]

Gotta have a cool logo and get an affordable vendor to make T-shirts (if you're going THAT far). If you can only afford 1 or 2 colors for a silk screened design, it'll severely limit what the artist will have to work with. I would go with a vendor who can do multi-color designs and offers white or light-colored shirts with sizes up to 4XLT (a lot of car guys are old & fat tall guys, after all rofl ).

The logo will help with the flyers, too. Make sure you have something simple enough for small print (on flyers, as web page graphics, etc.), or have a 'portion' of the overall logo for that, or an alternative small logo.

I mention this because I get tagged for designing the logo stuff for the Goodfellow AFB annual Car Show stuff every year - and the people at the Arts & Crafts Center always make my life a living Hell because of only allowing 2 colors for the silk screening on the worst possible color of shirts, and it can only be so big, but has to accomodate pretty much everything about the car show (hot rods, muscle cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, etc.) and then wind up altering the design somehow - and they never seem to manage to make a 3XLT for me... despite the fact that I designed the dang thing (I typically get stuck paying the registration fee for an XL shirt that winds up polishing the hood of my Jeep).

Another thing our car show coordinators do is to hit the local auto parts stores, online vendors, and speed shops for 'freebies' & 'give-aways.' Everybody who registers a car gets a grab bag full of things like automotive stickers, calendars, a hat, car care products (trial-size, usually), coupons for a free drink and a hot dog or 2 from a local concessioner, a pre-printed 'placquard' to fill-in with car information, a raffle ticket for door prizes, a ballot for all of the categories, and a car show logo'd T-shirt.

Our voting is from among the registrants, with the Wing Commander picking the over-all winner. But we've been complaining about there needing to be a 'People's Choice' award, where spectators can vote as well.

The success of your car show will depend a lot on what the average non-trophy winner will get to take away - they'll be back next time if they feel like they got their money's worth.

Edit: added

Categories at our show (makes for a lot of plaques/trophies):

Best of Show - Wing Commander's award

Long Distance Award

Best of Class 1900-1929

Best of Class 1930-1939

Best of Class 1940-1949

Best of Class 1950-1959

Best of Class 1960-1969

Best of Class 1970-1979

Best of Class 1980-1989

Best of Class 1990-Present

Best Motorcycle

Best of Class Motorcycles - Touring

Best of Class Motorcycles - Sport

Best of Class Motorcycles - Custom

Best of Class Boats

Car Clubs often show up in force, so make sure to recognize those clubs, and let them present club awards as well

Hope that helps!

 

[71MUSTY]

I would contact the local car clubs. Many of them are very experienced in putting together shows. My club hosts 8 shows a year and the members run about a dozen more for local non profits etc. Advantages are 1. Lots of Cars 2. DJ, activities,games etc already planned. Knowledge on how to handle trophies etc. etc.

 

[Don65Stang]

Wow! So many good ideas already! Sharing the wealth of knowledge you guys have to help one another out amazes me.

 

[Jim and Jutta]

What everyone else said, plus you might want to see if you can get local sponsors to help cover the costs of putting it on.

-You'll need lots of people to help you set up and then a few to "stick around" to help with the tear down and clean up.

-You need to consider restrooms facilities and if you plan on using the restrooms of local businesses you need to make sure it's OK with them first or things can go down hill fast.

-Not only do you have to consider parking for the cars in the show but also for the cars of those who show up to look at the cars.

-You should consider event liability insurance, plus the person who allows you to use their property assumes a portion of liability if someone gets injured on their property at an event they allowed. You especially need liability insurance if you serve food or drinks (ours is a very litigious society), unfortunately there are people out there that will seek out "hazardous" conditions to trip over to make a few easy bucks. Without liability insurance as the even coordinator you and the property owner are on the hook. Even the property owner's normal liability insurance may preclude coverage for special events such as these.

- Does your city require permits for special events?

Putting on a car show can be fun but it can also turn into a nightmare really quick if you haven't considered the "what if's".

Of course if you're putting it on tonight you don't have time to arrange everything I suggested, but they are things that should be taken into consideration for future planning of car shows.

Jim

 

[hyena429]

That is cool Don...Talk to pepsi and coke too...Sometimes they will promote your show long as you fly a pepsi or coke banner at it...My cousin runs a small biker rally in my town every year...He got nice big free banners from pepsi for his show...Coke was being a bit tighter about it i guess..lol

 

[Boss1Ray]

Great info! One more idea - if you get so big it takes a small army to do it all - please don't forget the worker bees after it is over. Plan a get-together dinner to meet and let everyojne reflect on what went right and wrong. We call them 'hotwashes' at work. Give the workers a T-shirt or give them something that was donated for their help. Makes it fun for all!

Ray