I agree with the aging Demografic situation; where are all the replacement young-bloods in Minidom?  Are we a dying breed?   ersonally, I would skip the whole hotel issue and camp out, like in the old days of MMW, but I doubt that many of my fellow "old coots and cootesses" will share my apparant excentricity.   I have heard that Motel 6 is no longer charging 6$ for a room....What do I know about Hotels?  Anyone here that knows about securing a block of rooms at a do-able rate, please announce.  Looks like we do have our first volunteer in Dennis Santarinella for building a website and other computer/photo related help; Hope I got the spelling right.  So, as & if a committee comes together, We should probably meet-up at some point and make a plan.  I will, again, at the crack of noon tomorrow, check with the current MOALA Prez for his opinion and funds availability; also with SCCA on securing an Autocross venue.  Is there anyone averse to holding the event earlier than June?  After all, who still has kids in school?  It might open up a few more opportunities with cheaper prices and cooler weather......Ahhh cooler weather please;   So keep the suggestions coming, or better yet, get on the horn and see what's available where.

By all means explore options, look at alternatives, conjure up a different approach...what has been done in the past is not a 'must do', the pattern simply worked well for the larger group who would attend all of a meet's activities.  The demographics of ownership are changing as we and all other car groups see aging membership overall just like society at large.

My personal belief is that there should be one registration fee for Entrants with Minis/MINIs, a lower fee for Enthusiasts (spouses, partners, friends) and a minimal fee for children.  And, a meet should not consider ticketing parts of the meet.  A meet is more than a car show, an autocross, a funkhana, a rally, drives, it is all of these things and the camaraderie that goes with it.

People can attend Car Shows many times during a season, Autocross at other events,..a Mini Meet should not just be another local Car Show or Autocross.

However, at the end of the day there still needs to be a core group of people who will cooperate with each other, support each other, take on the various tasks and put a meet together & host it.  Those who volunteer at the meet prove the adage that many hands make light work.

Some individuals tried to ask for help and volunteers and im just volunteering whether small or big events doesn't matter. I'm just an email away. 

Why doesn't everyone who wants to attend a MMW just go to AMVIV for 2016? 

//www.amviv.com

I still think West Coast Minis and/or So Cal Mini Maniacs should be approached.

If not, I'd say we hold the event at Steve's. Have a rallycross instead of an autocross, bring in a bunch of food trucks for the "banquet", project The Italian Job(s) on the side of his barn. And everybody just camp like they do at the International Mini Meets. Bring in a bunch of porta-potties. For the whimps, there's Barona Casino just down the street, or a few official campgrounds just outside of town. Lots of great runs fromout there: Julian, Palomar, etc.

The even has gotten too fancy, and the expectations for a classy banquet or host hotel add undue stress.

MMS: Mini Meet Steve's!

 [edit: Dennis-- you're post popped up while I was composing/deleting/recomposing/deleting this post. Great that you're willing to step up and help. As a "Club" SD Minis decided it was not a good idea to host this. As a group of individuals, it could still work for the SD area. As someone who has worked as part of the organizing committee of a MMW and whose participation in the hobby has dwindled over the last few years, I personally am unable to commit to volunteering my help for a MMW 2016 for anything other than as a pawn /bipedal traffic cone on the day(s) of the event.]

 

 

I can help with advertising and with the registration website. I can shoulder the hosting and domain registration fees until we get it transferred later on if needed. Probono with or without beer. Me and a handful of students from our school would like to help in exchange for link exchange or ads to our work portfolio

Let's get a solid website information to use as a medium to communicate objectives and sponsorship will be easier to lure in. Almost everything is dependent and accessible through online website. but it can't get started without a group of heads to create the objectives and contents. But I'd like to help In the advertising part.

I can make an almost exact site structure like the Mini London to Brighton mini run website. It will have a countdown of days til the event starts, online registration, sponsorship applications and spaces where sponsors can put their ads on the site, maps and information about the events, a working contact form etc.  It will also have FAQ, Q&A where a guest can leave questions and a team member can easily be tasked as one of the site mods to login and answer. I think if we can advertise this well it could be a great means to have west and east events consolidated in one site. Maybe "Mini Meet America 2016"?

I can make flyer designs, logos and even photography campaign if needed. I'd like to help. My email is [email protected]  Google Dennis Santarinala or visit some of my work at:

www.behance.net/santarinala 

www.modelmayhem.com/santarinala

Some of my basic site projects from school. I may just be a student but I'm a badass designer. I recently won the 2014 American Advertising Awards for the whole San Diego county.

sdbeerfest.imablur.com

bikeshop.imablur.com

mucha.imablur.com

So yeah just email me.

Thanks for all your intrest.  I have no concrete help so far though.  I will be contacting Dana, Prez of MOALA Monday and also try Qualcom Stadium in Mission Valley for a possible Autocross venue.  We will need volunteers to get a task force started.  I have never done anything like this and my Qualifications don't extend beyond Laying out the Autocross.  I assume the first order of business would be to get a group together and decide on a Venue location.  Graham is too bussy these days and if Dana can supply some Emails/phone numbers, I can hit up some of the past organizers for advice and possibly to take the reins again. We will need people who can spend time writing Emails and calling Hotels, Sponsors, etc.  Get printing done, Tickets, Fliers,.... a website set up for registration and progress reports,.... T-shirts printed, robably just get a list together of everything that needs to be done.  First thing is the Volunteers though, and soon. I understand these things can take a year or more starting from scratch.  

Temecula is pretty remote area of california it has about 110,000 population as of 2013, same as Napa Valley where the farms and wineries are. MMW needs to be held in some tourists spots and destinations to attract more people and encourage members to attend. im not sure but perhaps the heart of California tourist spot is San diego and places which is maybe200mi within it's radius, of course excluding the farm lands and residential areas. Nobody does MMW in farmlands duh ! i have organize and attended quite a few Maxi-scooter gatherings in LA and as far as Monterey, our challenge is to avoid the highways and do mostly biways. riding 150/250/400/650cc maxi-scoots.

i therefore nominate Socal to be the next MMW venue.

 

an onsite mini parts Swapmeet is a plus

I'll help day-of, too. Somebody else in charge. Somebody else doing all the red tape. Somebody else fronting the money.

Somebody else making all the decisions, handling pre-registration, etc etc.

But I'll commit to being a pawn the day(s) of the event.

Living in Montana I'm not well versed in venues for SoCal, but I might just add to the discussion consideration for a bit in-land at Temecula.  Great wineries and dining opportunities.  Some nice roads, but not sure 100% for a meet?.  Also not sure about autocross for tjis area.  A number of hotels.  Distance to the coast less than 50 miles I think.  About the same to San Diego, Carlsbad with Lego Land and GIA (my son did some jewelry train there at the world renowned school next to Lego Land.  Not to metion the Carlsbad body surfing pipeline!  Again. Just a thought.

I'll drive +1,300 miles south to attend MMW 2016...had a great time in 1996, 2002, 2008...will have a great time in 2016!

SoCal would be great venue and a significant change from the northern locations of MMW of the past several years.

Sounds like the autocross (always a key part of MMW) arrangement would be super.

Any thoughts on the LA folks teaming up with NorCal folks and looking at, say, Solvang or Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach, Paso Robles..... Hoping there's a MMW next year!!

This is going to be fun. Keep us in the loop Steve.

mini owners from as far as Utah, Arizona, vegas, and from the entire state of California can attend if MMW16 will be held in SoCal. 

 

No other place is more exciting than Southern California...no snow!, few Rains,no tornado! no tsunami, Sun is perfect, nice beaches(did i spell it right?), good food, nice people, no pine trees that covers the sun(unlike in the east coast,lol), NO TOLL PLAZA!(except the one in long beach), boat rides are everywhere,floating restaurants, name it! Catalina Island is another good venue tho. 

 

oh,pls not in Solvang, i've been there and it's too far, and there's nothing in there that excites me.

BigSur/Monterey Area is better. 

I will personally volunteer to help on-site. I attended Mini Meet West in Long Beach back in 1996 without a Mini and was just a spectator with some friends we all had a blast down there. I hope to drive my freshly restored 1960 Austin to SoCal in 2016!

Irvine 2008 was my 1st Mini Meet. I met many of you there for the 1st time.

If MMW16 is in SoCal, I'm sure a large group of us from MOASF would attend! We will be having a meeting next week and I will see what we could do to help as a group. As always I am also up to volunteer on-site where needed. That's what MM is all about!

-Shawn

Steve, this is great to read that you want to marshall the SoCal club members to once again host a Mini Meet there. As you are well aware, there's not a lot of time to make it happen, but as you say, the venues mentioned are great sites and readily available. I attended the 2008 meet at Irvine and though it was a super event.

I hope, knowing how much support you have in the Mini community of the West, and knowing how we all look forward to the annual gathering, that you will really push ahead to get your fellow Mini folks to help you make this happen. Having been involved with MMW13 in Bend, I know how much work it is, compounded by the short time span, but if 2008 was any indication, we know you can do it!

If you succeed in getting other folks to help you locally, I will personally volunteer to help on-site. I also know that at least two suppliers are willing to be sponsors, and a SoCal shop has voiced a willingness to "help but not lead the organization."

Please let me know how your efforts progress. Feel free to contact me >oregonminis at gmail dot com<

I have made it known to both Ca classic clubs that I am up for helping out again.  2002 and 2008 were the last So Cal MMWs and it is time for us to step up again.  El Toro Marine base has the best Autocross venue I have seen and it is usually no problem to book.  SCCA provides timing, cones and insurance, and I promise to organize and lay out the best course ever.  If anyone else is interested in getting involved, please contact me or Graham.  Most of it is simply putting in time on the phone and internet; the main work centers on getting sponsors signed on and a host hotel commitment. The rest will fall into place as enthusiasm builds.  Please step up and volunteer.

Thanks for the links Spank, and just as I thought - plenty of sweet Minis in SoCal!

Yep looks like I missed it by this much [].

I can understand the reservation of hosting a MMW as I know it is an extreme amount of work for all involved.  I have felt very lucky to make the two that I have and very thankful to those that have hosted!

Tahoe CA and Bend OR