No More Great Canadian Bug Show!!

[petevw]

here's a email i just got from the prez:

Press Release: January 26, 2004

The Great Canadian Bug Show has been Canada's Premier VW Show since 1990. Due to the ever-changing dynamics of the VW Community and the increasing show costs, The Great Canadian Bug Show will be closing the doors as of 2004. Although there will be no show in 2004 and there are no plans for a show in the near future, "The Great Canadian Bug Show, Inc." will still exist, and the chance of a brand new show format in the future is a definite possibility. Bugshow.com will keep you informed of any additional information.

The show wishes to thank you, the spectators, participants, vendors and sponsors, for your participation and support over the past 13 years!

The Great Canadian Bug Show Staff.
www.bugshow.com

[CLKWRK]

Noooo!:confused:
I always liked that show best

[Rob]

That sux, coulda made an impact this year with the BAG...

Rob.

[kiwivw]

Truely a sad day. :(
It was definitely one of the better shows.

I would have thought the vw community was one of the more stable car communities! Is this just a excuse to run more import car shows by the promotoers i wonder (just a question?).

[Sandeep]

WTF !!!! :mad:

Was hoping to kick some butt this year at the AX ... :D

Well .. looks like all thats left is the June Jitterbug in Niagara Falls for major shows.

Sandeep

[CLKWRK]

we should hold our first Boxer autogruppe sanctioned vw show on the day the GCBS was supposed to be held in 2004. It would be super easy to promote, we just need to get cracking on gathering sposors.

[Sandeep]

GREAT IDEA ! :D

OK .. so how do we kick this thing off ? I wonder what the cost was for that parking lot at Hershey Centre ? If we did do it there, that would give us an idea on how much cash we'd have to come up with. We'd have to make sure the spot was still available.

The June Jitterbug is sponsered by John's Bug Shop ... wonder if he'd be willing to help us get this thing started ...

Also, the thought of getting a profit from this show would be cool for the club .. maybe we could afford to get our banner done then ! :D

We could also get some VW W/C clubs involved in getting this thing started ? :o Maybe get a W/C vs A/C thing going ....

How about getting a club that deals with A/X to set the A/X up ?

The key will be how much $$$ we will have to come up with. Just some thoughts ... should be a cool topic for our next meet.

Sandeep

[CLKWRK]

i imagine that we would need more than just one sponsor to get something this big to float, we could hit up john for it, but he already has one show to worry about, we could ask local shops like Brads bugs, Marks bug barn, clubs, like Bugs in the hood, etc.
Even non-vw shops might get in on it, like Altered altitude etc.
As for a venue, hershey center is good, but might be too big, we could explore other option, perhaps a concourse style show like the porsche show at appleby in oakville, maybe hit up a golf course or a university/college to allow us to hold the show.

[Sandeep]

Great ideas ...

We could use the last GCBS as an idea to how many cars to expect. We can also use Alex's car as one of the prizes ... seeing as he won't let me run it in the Targa Newfoundland race :mad: :D :D

So how many cars do you think were there last year ?

Sandeep

[CLKWRK]

maybe 100 cars? does that sound right?

[Rob]

Sounds like a good idea.
I can ask some one here in Burlington who has a heavily modyfied Golf, if he an his buddies are interested.

Rob.

[Sandeep]

Cool.

I thought about 100 - 120 cars ...LOTS of W/C cars. My brother has put on a similar festival in Alberta ( only with bands ). He can be of assistance with how to market this gig.

Sandeep

[Rob]

Keep in mind that setting up an auto-x can be very difficult.
You need insurance etc, which is apparently a huge PITA.

Maybe we should check with the Solo2 board, they have a lot of experience in this.

*If* we setup a track, I think it should be bigger than the one they had last year.


Rob

[Sandeep]

How about trying to hook up with the solo2 group at one of their A/X's in Brampton/Mississauga ? It would have to be a local level A/X ... not sure if you could just show up in your bug and run though ?

We could have a car show and they could run the A/X ... only problem would be that there would be cars other than VW's in the A/X ?

Another option would be to show up to a german car show as a group ?

Sandeep

[CLKWRK]

I am thinking that just a static show for this year, like Rob said, autocross can be a little complicated from a legal point of view. Plus most of us wont have our cars dialed in yet anyways. I think we should keep it simple for this year

B

[Rob]

Good point Brian,

Let's start 'easy'. If the show is a success, then we can add the Auto-X later. Also, our club is still relatively small, so we might end up shorthanded trying to manage the show and auto-x at the same time.

Should we contact the original organizers to see who we need to talk to etc. ?

We need to get cracking quickly if we want to pull this one off.

Rob.

[Sandeep]

I agree ... One thing though ... someone will have to front the cash for this ... and profit (if any) will be determined by what we can get back ... thats why we may want to look at additional clubs to help spread the load.

I also agree that we will have to start out small.

Just a thought.

Sandeep

[CLKWRK]

Did someone say Sponsors?
We have to canvas the local vw comunity, also find an affordable venue. I was thinking a location that is somewhat close to the centre of the city, so that its close to everyone. Square One in Mississauga perhaps?
Also, I think we need to find the venue first, then we will have an idea of how much $$$$ we need to raise.

[SuperRSi]

Sandeep,
Give Alex a weeklong cruise that just happens to be at the same time as the Targa, get a good locksmith for the garage....

When he gets home all sunburned tell him you used it to promote Germanlook.com. and you thought the cruise cost was the rental.

Then run...

Randy

[Sandeep]

:D :D :D

[btljus]

This sounds pretty cool! I personally never liked the way the GCBS was managed and organised (actually disorganized) but that's just my .02 I did like the new location better than the old one, + I have my own reasons for not liking the show...some of you might know them others may not... :rolleyes: and we'll leave it at that! Let me know how it goes and I'll see if there is any way I can help out/sponsor in one way or another...maybe Performance Ipmrovements Gift Cretificates or something along the way...

[Mark the canuck]

Ok....here's an offer

I have more than enough property to hold a show!!

BUT...I'm not willing to go it alone, there are legal, insurance, logistics etc., etc.....all that kind of stuff to be worked out. The show would have to generate a small profit to cover the next years expences, outhouses, grounds improvments, aftershow clean-up, etc. I would not jack up the grounds fees like I imagine the Hershey center has done, etc.
The show promoter would have to be a separate entity and I would rent my property for something like $1. so that I would not be legally responsible in the case of a mishap. That said, I will not be out of pocket for expences, or the deal would be dead quick.

Sorry no AX, maybe a fun run after the show. I could, in the future, have off-road racing. I would want it to be a Porsche/VW show all years.

I'm about an hour east of TO. I already know that I can hold an event like this once per year, I have checked it out.

Let me know if there is interest, Mark

[CLKWRK]

Mark,
Thats awesome, where is your property located?
Of course we would need to have some sort of entry fee to help finance the event. I think that if we break even the first year of holding the event, we've done well.
Maybe in years to come attendance will go up, but for this being the first year of holding the show, I dont think the event will be super enormous, just fun :)

cheers, B

P.S. Sandeep, email me about the BAG website, we gotta hook up iambryan@hotmail.com

[petevw]

here's whats going on in watercooled land:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1238656

pete

[Mark the canuck]

[QUOTE=CLKWRK]Mark,
Thats awesome, where is your property located?
Of course we would need to have some sort of entry fee to help finance the event. I think that if we break even the first year of holding the event, we've done well.
QUOTE]

I'm 10min north of Port Hope, 20min north/east of Bowmanville or the near the Kirby (Oshawa ski club) ski hill.

I don't want anything from the event, I would just want it to pay it's own way. When I say "grounds improvements" I mean things like if a certain area gets torn up we may need a load of gravel. Things that I would have to do anyways, as part of normal house/property expenses, I would not expect the show to pay for. I only say this because I know someone "might" say I'm getting/wanting free stuff.

Oh wait, one thing I would want, as part of the Admission, everyone brings a can of food for the local food bank.

We would need a good (maybe elected) committee and volunteers to make this work.