Events suggestion thread

[Guest YoshiJohnny]

you enjoyed Donington though lol

[Paulm]

29 minutes ago, vizman said:

watching the oss muscle wrestling around the track (and the pits/paddock) at cadwell was far far far more interesting than shuffling around an indoor bike park looking at show ponies, the effort put into that kinda' thing outshines oss attending every and any two-bit W.I. organised cake stand raffle bike show.....

Ok,if the general attitude to bike shows is as viz says,fair enough,it's a disappointing attitude to trying to keep the OSS flag flying though.

[Guest YoshiJohnny]

2 minutes ago, Paulm said:

Ok,if the general attitude to bike shows is as viz says,fair enough,it's a disappointing attitude to trying to keep the OSS flag flying though.

I think the admin are wanting to move into more exciting and dynamic weekends as opposed to "shows" been great to do the odd weekender but it is a bit dull at times.

Something where there is something else going on AS WELL as the show is good... I know we make our own fun and everyone is welcome but I for one am a fidgety fucker and need to be kept awake

[Paulm]

I enjoy watching the bikes on trackdays when we go Johnny but ain't interested in doing them,or drag racing but I like going along and seeing everyone at them.Its more of a social thing doing the shows.

[Guest YoshiJohnny]

I enjoyed the events where a load of us just pitched up and got pished.... Preston, Mabie, Rocester, Lymm, 

 

[Rene EFE]

Hmmm, cake...

[MeanBean49]

I will be out playing at Pendine, Donington and Cadwell

I dont really find much fun in looking at static bikes, much prefer doing somthing that involves using my bike

[Rene EFE]

3 hours ago, Paulm said:

Ok,if the general attitude to bike shows is as viz says,fair enough,it's a disappointing attitude to trying to keep the OSS flag flying though.

Please understand me Paul; I'm not shooting you down, far from it. I personally simply don't feel we need to do every show on the calender. It turns into a chore very fast and I really feel quality is a lot more important than quantity. At the moment it is no different than there's a lot of focus on the site itself, Donington for our next event and Raceteam is being worked on in the lab. It's very hard to keep doing this, and more, and keep the standard as high as we desire for OSS, while all still living a family life and working 40h or more in the week. 

Again, all input is very much appreciated bit we need to be realistic, history has taught us that much. 

[Paulm]

Agreed Rene,and doing every show is not the suggestion,it is just that  ,a suggestion that people may want to do some shows.

[Sheep]

I am relatively new on here and haven't had a lot of socialising with OSS in the flesh,as it were, due to work/family commitments and I find it hard to interact sometimes (I lead a sheltered life lol) but take Cadwell for example,the weather wasn't great and my missus fell ill bless her BUT even if I didn't go out on track I would have thoroughly enjoyed myself simply looking at the bikes that turned up.They were all someone's pride and joy yet they were being used as intended.....It was my fourth time of going and love it every time.

I do go to the odd static show locally but only to see if there is anything 'different' about...but then again its about the people too I guess....Could we have some feedback,personal experiences or reviews on past shows/meets perhaps?

[Paulm]

6 minutes ago, Sheep said:

I am relatively new on here and haven't had a lot of socialising with OSS in the flesh,as it were, due to work/family commitments and I find it hard to interact sometimes (I lead a sheltered life lol) but take Cadwell for example,the weather wasn't great and my missus fell ill bless her BUT even if I didn't go out on track I would have thoroughly enjoyed myself simply looking at the bikes that turned up.They were all someone's pride and joy yet they were being used as intended.....It was my fourth time of going and love it every time.

I do go to the odd static show locally but only to see if there is anything 'different' about...but then again its about the people too I guess....Could we have some feedback,personal experiences or reviews on past shows/meets perhaps?

Personally I think the Donnington event in August is by far the best one that we have a stand at. It's got it all,racing,socialising,showing off your bike and getting to do a few laps of the track on the loosely named Parade Laps!

[Rene EFE]

The next Donington will make you forget every event you've ever been to 

[vizman]

4 hours ago, Paulm said:

,it's a disappointing attitude to trying to keep the OSS flag flying though.

i'll print you a load of flyers to hand out on your paper round

[Paulm]

7 minutes ago, vizman said:

i'll print you a load of flyers to hand out on your paper round

Thanks Viz

[vizman]

5 hours ago, Paulm said:

it's a disappointing attitude

i'll print that somewhere on the flyer

[vizman]

11 minutes ago, vizman said:

i'll print that somewhere on the flyer

 

[vizman]

11 hours ago, Paulm said:

Agreed Rene,and doing every show is not the suggestion,it is just that  ,a suggestion that people may want to do some shows.

qu'ils mangent de la brioche

[KATANAMANGLER]

There is certainly no harm in putting a list together. I think @banoffee already has a similar thread running somewhere. We hadn't planned to be doing any more events this year other than the 3 we are doing. This is not my view but a collective view that all of the Admins have arrived at.

We have spoken to a lot of people about stands and shows and we listen hard too. What we have learned is that everyone has a slightly different view of what the stand should be and indeed what it is for. Some people think it should be about purely social gathering and if you have a bike you can get into the show for free and park on the stand. Others feel we should be flying a flag and getting people interested and then there are those of us that believe that it should fundamentally be about showcasing the very best of what we have achieved in the project section each year and putting our best foot forward. This is the primary reason that we are not in a huge hurry to do lots of shows yet. We need to more clearly define what we want to achieve by having a show. There is room to accommodate everyone’s expectations but the balance of those expectations i.e. some guidelines on standards and approach need to be defined. For the time being, you’ll always find us here at www.oldskoolsuzuki.info

From a purely practical standpoint if we did more shows we would want to build up the show kits and assign show organisers and agree some  clear guidelines. We want to do that to make sure OSS is always represented to a standard both here in the UK and internationally.  In the meantime, our conservative approach doesn't mean that members can't hook up or organise to hook up at events by using the events section, that's what it's there for. It's important that we make a distinction though, between keeping in touch in the real world, and us having a stand. e.g. in Scotland we have the Lanark show coming up soon and I always try to arrange to meet up with the northern OSSers there.

I know that there are other groups like ACS that do as many shows as they can and that's their call but it is worth noting that they are always run by the group owner personally. We are first and foremost a digital community (for better or for worse) That means that we are a URL, namely www.oldskoolsuzuki.info and that is where the majority of our efforts are spent.

As far as flying a flag and promoting OSS goes we live and die on our site traffic numbers. Despite fewer real world appearances, the site traffic has never been better, the projects section has never been busier and our front-page articles are being shared across our Social Media feeds and it is bringing a steady stream of people to sign up. Our inbound digital marketing has been very effective in that respect. That’s been the focus of our activity and it has worked well.

So, for the short term at least, our collective view on stands is that less is more. That might change but it's still under discussion. Those discussions will be well informed because we have spent time listening to lots of views over the last 18 months, as many of you know. None of the Admin team want to rush in to it though. It’s on the list.

Right now, we are about to launch the race team board and we are still preparing for Donington in May so sorting out the extended kit and show organisers and stand guidance for the stands etc. can't take any priority.

While we accept any criticism that we are more cautious (read uptight and controlling) than we need be, I would only ask that you judge us on the health, stability and vitality of the website and its content. In an age when most forums are fading fast replaced by Facebook groups, we have actually proved the opposite is possible, and desirable.

KM

 

 

[KATANAMANGLER]

19 hours ago, minx said:

Very thoughtful Dave - don't want to overwork the @Katanamangler   

I'm oldskoolsuzuki I have roller bearings on my crank. Bullet proof see?

[Bubba1135]

On 24/01/2017 at 7:05 PM, YoshiJohnny said:

I enjoyed the events where a load of us just pitched up and got pished.... Preston, Mabie, Rocester, Lymm, 

 

Yup lots of fun was had 

[Blubber]

On 26-1-2017 at 10:47 AM, Bubba1135 said:

Yup lots of fun was had 

Loads of beers too and JD and etc... 

[Rene EFE]

And dancing... 

[Leblowski]

Elvington World Wheelierecords in August our very own Wheeliekid wil be attending

[Katana]

On 24/01/2017 at 5:20 PM, minx said:

Very thoughtful Dave - don't want to overwork the @Katanamangler   

We have different ideas so we're just working them out

had a few drunken discussions about it but no definates yet

[KATANAMANGLER]

9 hours ago, Katana said:

We have different ideas so we're just working them out

had a few drunken discussions about it but no definates yet

Dave flips the meat on the BBQ multiple times I think you should only flip once but we are working on a compromise.