Cougarfest Thoughts

[AtomicInternet]

Here is what I (and a good portion of MC-NECO) feel need to be discussed for the upcoming event. This post may turn into a mess but believe me I sort through them all and get opinions from these (and the polls above). Please comment on the topics below, or new topics we may not have covered. When you post try to stay to the topic format. Post each bolded topic below and your thoughts on it.

GUIDE TO COUGARFEST
A slip of paper for the goody bags describing how best to enjoy the event. If you're new, don't be afraid to ask to join up with a group or invite yourself places. We are an extremely friendly people and not all the newbies know it. Also a "code of conduct" like sheet for common sense issues (no jumping into the pool from the second floor)

EVENTS AND TIMES
Thursday is roll-in/register, the track/autox are typically Friday, Saturday is the show. There are various other events that may overlap such as the how-to's, drive-in, group drive, karaoke, etc. We need "event leaders" for these who can semi-organize and post times so they are easier to find out where and when they are happening.

HOW-TO'S
These were well received last year, we need volunteers to do them in 30-45 minutes blocks. I'm sure we'll have the auditorium again this year, hands-on may not be possible (hotel concerns) but powerpoints are definately a good option.

SHOW AND TROPHY ORGANIZATION
Each registered individual will have a vote card with a slot for each show category (need to figure out categories). This would be peer voting and I think is the most fair. Discuss.

T-SHIRTS / LOGO
What designs do we want? What logo do we want this year? Post your logos/designs in this thread. (also what you've seen that you don't want to see).

FUNDRAISING
We are looking into doing raffles on Cougarfest.com (possibly linked from here) but please post any other ideas for raising money (maybe per-chapter with a recognition of how much money was raised). The more we raise the lower the registration fee will be. We are already working on other track/scca options to help lower the fee further.

[EternalOne]

GUIDE TO COUGARFEST

Good idea!

EVENTS AND TIMES

We will need some help from people to find some various local events, as well. That way we can try and keep everyone in groups doing things together.

HOW-TO'S

These worked well before, but some people thought they were a little advanced. Some more general how-tos would be nice, something that more people could understand and use.

SHOW AND TROPHY ORGANIZATION

Simple is better. How does people feel about certificates instead?

T-SHIRTS / LOGO

I have a copy of a logo that Matt (ND4SPD) did that I think would be great, and of course I bet Matt will post a few. ;)

FUNDRAISING

Fundraising will be made a LOT easier by the next item. ;)

CHARITY

If we make CF support a charity then we end up with more public coverage from newspapers, radio, and such. It also gives me a good barganing chip for sponsors, as business loves charity. This would help us across the board, from getting more corporate involvement to helping us get the police involved in an organized cruise around the city. We are thinking a nationwide charity here, something like Make-A-Wish or the Ronald McDonald's House -- something everyone I'll be talking with will have heard of. Any ideas for this?

JELLO WRESTLING

This is a mandatory parking lot event this year. I will bring the inflatable pool, and I heard there will be a lot of jello shots. :P I wanna see Sami and Byrd tag-team people! Muwhaha...

E1

[LadyX]

GUIDE TO COUGARFEST

This is a great idea. I think the code of conduct is fantastic.

EVENTS AND TIMES

I know there was talk about a drive in and go karts. Last year a few us went to the zoo. It was a nice way to keep people together as a group, so we can have a great time!

HOW-TO'S

Last year there were a few. They were helpful, easy to understand, and passed some time. I think if we can get a few more, we can make an afternoon of it.

SHOW AND TROPHY ORGANIZATION

So far that sounds good to me. Organized peer voting will make a huge difference

T-SHIRTS / LOGO

I'd like to see something different. I'd like to see no naked women ;)

FUNDRAISING

The more ideas we come up with the better for all of us. If we get some raffels going, we should all jump in!

CHARITY

This is a great idea. We'll get more coverage, and more people showing up to the events to see the cars, and all the work that goes into them. Also we'll be helping out a good cause. We can use it to our advantage for next year, perhaps get some corporate sponsers.

JELLO WRESTLING

Oh my god....why not!

[puma1]

GUIDE TO COUGARFEST
Best to keep the new guys all together with the vets. let all the new guys/gals know what kind of things are done, where to go and when. and make sure everyone knows how to get there.

HOW-TO'S
Basics: How to change alternator(show both styles in the parking lot with video cameras and show multiple times)

fiberglass hands on

Sound system basics (in line conversion, voltage specs, etc.)
SHOW AND TROPHY ORGANIZATION
1st place trophy 2nd and 3rd certificates

T-SHIRTS / LOGO
general logo for oneside of shirt and chapter logo on other side.

FUNDRAISING
raffles starting now!

[Saleen Cougar]

GUIDE TO COUGARFEST
i think this would be a good idea expecialy for newbies
EVENTS AND TIMES
i think that should a bunch of diffrent activities including go-carting, and other things that are going on at the same time
HOW-TO'S
there should be basic stuff such as fuel filters
SHOW AND TROPHY ORGANIZATION
just little pieces of paper or ribbons
T-SHIRTS / LOGO
all the same, no segragation
FUNDRAISING
any thing possable
CHARITY
i think like make a wish would be good

[ND4SPD]

GUIDE TO COUGARFEST

and I could write that up too:)

EVENTS AND TIMES

and - When everything is decided on, there should be a 'whats happening when and where' sheet that people receive when they check in to the hotel... i could do that too ;)

HOW-TO'S
They were really cool last year.

SHOW AND TROPHY ORGANIZATION
No - save the time, money and energy for more important things - I'm SURE we will need it :)

T-SHIRTS / LOGO

I would be honored to do the shirt design for this year :)

Puma - it would be very cool if every chapter had their own shirt... but does every chapter even HAVE their own logo?
Even still... printing prices would be horrendous if every chapter got personalized CFest shirts.
Better to keep them all as one giant event shirt.

JELLO WRESTLING

Make sure your photographer buddies are around for that John :biggrin:
-just be sure to send them my way for any needed 'photoshop touchups'!

[Smitty2430]

GUIDE TO COUGARFEST
Very good idea for newbies!

EVENTS AND TIMES
Drive In and a giant cruise are a must!

HOW-TO'S
Everything need to be hands on for the not mechanically inclined people!

SHOW AND TROPHY ORGANIZATION
Trophhies are a must for a car show. A certificate that can be framed is good enough for me!

T-SHIRTS / LOGO
As long as the logo on the front of the shirt is better than last year, I could care less what it looks like!

FUNDRAISING
50/50, raffles, donations!

CHARITY
50/50 and most of the proceeds from the raffles should go to charity! Plus we can advertise more if we are donating to a big charity.

[puma1]

Use this form to post your response (just copy and paste)


GUIDE TO COUGARFEST
EVENTS AND TIMES
HOW-TO'S
SHOW AND TROPHY ORGANIZATION
T-SHIRTS / LOGO
FUNDRAISING
CHARITY

[Excelcier]

GUIDE TO COUGARFEST

A neccesity for newbies and pros alike. We at MC-NECO just had a two hour meeting discussing all these possiblities and agree that this is an important thing to keep updated with all events both official and unofficial

EVENTS AND TIMES

We will make an effort to publish official events both related to Cougarfest and other events that we are researching around Indy for options for people not going to the track as well as for significant others that aren't there for the car events or people who just want to see what else there is to do around Indy.

HOW-TO'S

I believe last years How-To's were a good idea but I think we should maybe take a step back to discuss topics everyone can get in on for example, car detailing, oil changes, basic fiberglassing with actual projects and installs in the parking lot. I will be surely doing headlight flasher circuit installs so I can make that my How-To for a real electrical install demo.

SHOW AND TROPHY ORGANIZATION

As stated earlier, I believe we should either eliminate them to save cash to put it towards the events and cost reductions, however, if we do offer event awards, we are talking about awards / certificates of merit instead with proper voting methods for each member to get an opportunity to vote for a car based on a ballot in each registration package and each car having a number on the dash.

T-SHIRTS / LOGO

We were talking about a chapter group shirt avaialble for MC-NECO members. May be a good idea for other chapters to do something similar.

FUNDRAISING
We are looking into doing raffles on Cougarfest.com (possibly linked from here) but please post any other ideas for raising money (maybe per-chapter with a recognition of how much money was raised). The more we raise the lower the registration fee will be. We are already working on other track/scca options to help lower the fee further.

[KurtsKougar]

GUIDE TO COUGARFEST
Its a great idae, i wish i woulda had a guide to read my first year. Like what to bring, and how much cash u need. and stuff like that

EVENTS AND TIMES
We should deffinatly have a big list of things to do

HOW-TO'S

Deffinatly a plus to have a lot of how tos. Demonstraitons in the parking lot would be a good idea also

SHOW AND TROPHY ORGANIZATION
I still think we should have some kind of awards.

T-SHIRTS / LOGO
Everyone that knows photoshop should take a crack at a logo. Then maybe we can combin ideas for a final product

FUNDRAISING
Any ideas will bring in money, so we should try everything

CHARITY
Doesnt really matter which one. anyone will give us respect around town

JELLO WRESTLING
Absolutly...

[ND4SPD]

T-SHIRTS / LOGO
Everyone that knows photoshop should take a crack at a logo. Then maybe we can combin ideas for a final product

thing is the picture that gets on the shirt, isn't a photoshop image - its a vector image, done in Adobe Illustrator... very different.

[ND4SPD]

What the heck happend at this meeting? lol


All of a sudden 'certificate' trophies, chapter specific shirts, and jello wrestling?? (well, tahts cool) hehe.
I thought we were on the right track with the other topics... but now i think im lost. Crazy MC-neco peeps :tongue:

[azbobbybooshay10]

One thing I see people missing. RAFFLES!!!! Trevor has said that in no uncertain terms there will NOT be any raffles of any kind on this site. I'm assuming that means "sponsoring" or "linking" to a Cougarfest.com raffle as well. From what I understand, Trevor wants NOTHING to do with raffles on this site, period. I'd wait for him to explain the situation before we jump onto the raffle bandwagon.

GUIDE TO COUGARFEST

I also like this idea. Give us n00bs an idea of how things work.

EVENTS AND TIMES

This woul be great to include with the "Guide to Cougarfest". Give a listing of the concrete events with times, along with other "things available to do" that people can get together and all say "OK, we're gonna do the go-karts at 6:30", etc.

HOW-TO'S

Since I'm a first-timer, I can't really say much on this other than I'm sure if there are good presentations, I will check them out.

SHOW AND TROPHY ORGANIZATION

This is the debatable subject. On one hand, I think we should eliminate trophies altogether. On the other hand, if it was something simple like a certificate, it would give us greater freedom to give "recognitions" without it being a popularity contest. Mainly things like track performance awards I think can and should be recognized. Those things are kinda indisputable, you can't really argue a quarter mile time. Its the show that I feel iffy about and don't want some sort of conflict to ruin Fest.

T-SHIRTS / LOGO

As long as its not a direct copy of previous logo's (2004 and 2005) thats great. I'm not much of an artistic person, so I'll let others help with that.

FUNDRAISING

Mainly, see above reference to raffles. They're off limits, we need to think of something else. I've always liked the idea of local chapters taking up some sort of fundraising (car washes, etc.). It may not generate ALL the money we need, but at this point SOMETHING is better than NOTHING. It gets the ball rolling. IMO, this needs to be started soon, that way we know whether or not we need to pick up fundraising or perhaps even slow down some.

CHARITY

I definitaly like this idea, just not sure how we can make it work. If it can be executed properly, that can get us a good amount of money and some public attention.

JELLO WRESTLING

Eh, why the hell not?? As long as its ladies only. :rofl: I'm really not sure I wanna see the guys of NECO taking part in this event :puke:

[ND4SPD]

Trevor also wants NOTHING to do with cougarfest Bobby... so he has nothing to do with any of this :) - Brad would host them on his own server.

(you forget that Brad is the man who INVENTED Cougarfest... :) )

[EternalOne]

One thing I see people missing. RAFFLES!!!! Trevor has said that in no uncertain terms there will NOT be any raffles of any kind on this site. I'm assuming that means "sponsoring" or "linking" to a Cougarfest.com raffle as well. From what I understand, Trevor wants NOTHING to do with raffles on this site, period. I'd wait for him to explain the situation before we jump onto the raffle bandwagon.

Brad and I are going to get together and write the code required to place the raffles directly on Cougarfest.com. I have done this sort of thing in the past, both code and corporate-wise, so I assure you everything is legal. We are hoping that Trevor will link to the raffles in support of Cougarfest, considering its significance to the Cougar community.

More thoughts, now that I've had time to think a bit more.

GOODIE BAGS

We should include the schedule of major events planned for the weekend, along with start times and locations, the "Code of Conduct", and a printed copy of the "Newbies Guide". It might also be nice to print out a list of a few of the coordinators hotel numbers on the newbie guide (once we're checked in and have our definate room #'s).

EVENTS

What do you think about having an event list that can be updated on the fly at a specific location in the hotel? Most likely near the conference room, where the whiteboard was last year. The whiteboard kinda worked this way last year, but too often I saw people erasing the entire board, including things ppl were doing that night. If we had this informal list people could go add "MC-Neco going to Dinner at that kickass mexican place @ 6pm" or whatever. (Of course, we already know we're eating at that place every night for dinner, so we wouldn't put that on the list, but you get the picture.) :P

CHARITY

I think linking CF with a charity cause would be a perfect bonus to us getting together each year. If registration costs go down, I could see adding $5 to the cost per registration that would go to the charity of choice. Even if we only raised $250, if it helps even in the smallest way, then I could leave CF knowing I did more than get drunk all weekend. ;)

JELLO WRESTLING

Ok, it was brought up that it'll take one helluva lot of jello to fill even a small pool. So oil was brought up, but that's just not as kickass as jello to me, plus something about being covered in oil in the baking sun makes me think of fried chicken. So I am on a mission to figure out how to make a whole lot of jello without cooking or using a fridge. I swear I've seen gel powder someplace...

E1

[ND4SPD]

what about instant pudding? pudding is always good! haha!

[Moraki]

Maybe we should just go to the strip club.... drag Heidi along and tell the strippers we hid 500 bucks worth of 20s in her clothes and they get to find them..... we gotta top her and Dana making out right? since i dont think Dana is coming since she sold her cougar... i could be wrong though.

[Moraki]

Oh and i have nothing to really add other than the trophies... maybe some one has a decent quality printer and we could get some of those decent quality certificates with blanks.... then print them out at fest in some ones room?

[ND4SPD]

lol...now its becoming ghetto 'ho-made' certificiates from a lexmark. :rofl:


IMO, this is another belief of mine on we shouldn't have them... because so many people believe that there is some kind of NEED or requirement, that there MUST be trophies at the event to have a good time.

Why can't we all just hang out and party with each other? Go to the tracks, stayup all night, go on cruses and photoshoots... We do this for 4 days out of the entire year, and trophies always seem to ruin it.
I say 'try the event without them this year' and if its SUCH an "omg catastrophy!", then we know that somethings can't be changed, and that people want a new location.

I just don't see any reason anyone would think a trophy is going to make themselves feel vindicated amongst their peers.

Everyone needs to ask themselves "What is Cougarfest" - and like a school report, everyone should write down 'what it means to them'. Is it a hardcore car show like Nopi, HIN, etc.?? or, is it a gathering of Car-Club, which is welcome all ages of 99-02 Mercury Cougars, who get together once a year from all over North America?

To me, I really don't have the words to express how fond I am of the event, but I will tell you all what I believe Cougarfest is NOT
- It is not a car show.

[COOGAH]

GUIDE TO COUGARFEST

Good idea!

EVENTS AND TIMES

We will need some help from people to find some various local events, as well. That way we can try and keep everyone in groups doing things together.

HOW-TO'S

These worked well before, but some people thought they were a little advanced. Some more general how-tos would be nice, something that more people could understand and use.

SHOW AND TROPHY ORGANIZATION

Simple is better. How does people feel about certificates instead?

T-SHIRTS / LOGO

I have a copy of a logo that Matt (ND4SPD) did that I think would be great, and of course I bet Matt will post a few. ;)

FUNDRAISING

Fundraising will be made a LOT easier by the next item. ;)

CHARITY

If we make CF support a charity then we end up with more public coverage from newspapers, radio, and such. It also gives me a good barganing chip for sponsors, as business loves charity. This would help us across the board, from getting more corporate involvement to helping us get the police involved in an organized cruise around the city. We are thinking a nationwide charity here, something like Make-A-Wish or the Ronald McDonald's House -- something everyone I'll be talking with will have heard of. Any ideas for this?

JELLO WRESTLING

This is a mandatory parking lot event this year. I will bring the inflatable pool, and I heard there will be a lot of jello shots. :P I wanna see Sami and Byrd tag-team people! Muwhaha...

E1



werd!
but i would like to add one thing. maybe just create some sort of digital trophy that can go in the empty space under the avatar?

also, we can go "old Scool" and have KY wrestling. "You're my boy blue!"

and john, i laughed so hard when i read your comment above, that i literally fell out of my chair.

[EternalOne]

Heh, you shoulda seen what I had written at first. ;)

And ya know, the digital trophies actually sound damn cool. Avatar's could be made for each class, etc. The only problem I see with that, is instantly you'd get people snagging it and either using it "as is" or modding it to say stupid stuff. I dunno if that's a problem, but that's just what I forsee...

E1

[COOGAH]

let me further describe what i mean: the area on the left where the avatar goes is made up of different things. at the top is the members name, under which is the custom heading, then space for "NECO GOLD MEMBER" and then a space for calender owner then the actual avatar, location, join date, post count, etc. then you got the icons for icq, aim, etc, then there is a bunch of empty space followed by the "online indicator" and "report bad post" button. i suggest that the e-Trophey be an additional item that is to be inserted in the empty space. the only people who can modify or alter them are moderators/admins.

now, i know there may be issues, but this is a way to get the recognition of winning a trophey without the cost. ok maybe the design/programming part is gonna "cost" something, but after, its all good.

[Moraki]

Hey i think the E-trophies sound great. Its not like anyone would see them siting on your bookshelf or mantle. Post em on the boards, and stick it over thier avatars. Either that or have some kind soul like Matt make sigs for these people with thier name in the sig so it cant be lifted by another member or use elsewhere.

[Excelcier]

Here's the same response I posted in the trophies post as it applies here and then I'll never mention this again as we're kicking a dead horse now;

Cougarfest USED to be a car show. It has evolved. It's not a NOPI because those are just collections of hardcore competitors of many different breeds and genres. Cougarfest is about Cougar owners. In the beginning it was about the car and its origon as it begun in Michigan as an idea Brad had to rally Cougar owners together to tour the plant where the Cougar was built and a trip to Dearborn to the engineering design centers to meet the engineers and reps from Ford who designed and released the car. It then evolved to be a social avenue for everyone who begun to have something in common. In fact, 2004 was the first year to even HAVE trophies, it never was a car show, it was a car showing and a social event for friends to have an excuse to get together from all across North America in a venue where they would never otherwise have the ability to hang out and have a good time with eachother. We also gather to compare mods and help eachother out with ideas and even work on eachothers cars. There are some who have made it competitive but for the majority of us, it's a HUGE hangout and drunk-fest with friends....no, not friends, our extended family for a yearly family reunion. That's my $0.02.

For the record, I've walked away with a trophy in 2004 and 2005 and I am a STRONG supporter of not having tropheys.

If you want a trophy to serve as a memory of the event to look back on, I would recommend the trophey of friendship and loyalty of the members and lots of pictures to take with you. That's all the trophey most of us need!

[KurtsKougar]

Yea, i loved getting a trophey last year.. but i say **** it.. i changed my mind. After hanging out with all of MC-NECO last night. Just hanging out will be so much better. So i vote for no tropheys at all. If we wanna go with the cirtificates that is fine.

I still think we should have the raffel. But i dont like the idea of ppl getting more then 1. I loved how last year everyone got 1 ticket. everyone had the same chance to win sumthing. If you wanna charge us for tickets because of charity. fine.. make it 5-10 bucks for 1 ticket. and no1 can have more then 1 ticket. that way sum1 cant dump 60 bucks on tickets and clean house takin all the prizes. 1 ticket, 1 chance. thats fair. and fun!

[ND4SPD]

yar :)

E-trophies... i'll admit, i never thought of that, so i'm not even sure how to debate against or for that... lol. Interesting idea, but the basis for my arguments are so that 'no one thinks they are better than anyone else' tis' all.


Either way - Trophies aside to keep things moving forward... I WOULD like to some how incorperate member's screen names as part of "something"

Any ideas for that?


Infact John - grab me on AIM sometime this week - I have a nifty little idea which could go as the 'first raffle'

[KurtsKougar]

but the basis for my arguments are so that 'no one thinks they are better than anyone else'

This comming from the guy that won Best of Show 2004 :bowdown:
lol jk matt :)

[ND4SPD]

lol... from the guy who BEAT me for best exterior! :rofl:

But in all seriousness - you could ask anyone sitting at my table... I nearly fell off my chair :tongue: If I hadn't been so scared of Sami attempting CPR, I probably woulda fainted :tongue:
and you can ask my friends on here.. .I am extremely humble about my car and that trophy. Cougarfest has just become more about the people than the cars (for me), and I wouldn't dare believe that i'm "better" than any of them, or anyone on here. :)

[Moraki]

If I hadn't been so scared of Sami attempting CPR, I probably woulda fainted :tongue:


Classic :rofl:

[COOGAH]

:disgust:

i thought what we had in 2004 was special.

;)

[Smitty2430]

I think that if we are going to have a "car show" there needs to be trophies or certificates. Something! If there is no trophies/certificates, there shouldn't be a "car show". We should ALL just cruise around all Saturday!

If people don't want to be part of the judge show and don't care about being recognized, dont enter into that part of the "car show".

I will put myself out on a limb here and say that I will pay up to $100 out my own pocket to pay for certificates to be printed out. If some one designs them, I will pay to have them printed out!

Yes, you you read corectly....I will pay up to $100 out of my own pocket for certificates/trophies for CougarFest 2006!

Jeremy

Here is my cross post from the trophy thread

[BigBalledOX]

Here is my cross post from the trophy thread
Which is totally ignorant of the fact this is a lot less about saving money and a lot more about cutting out drama and :bs:.

[BigBalledOX]

By the way, has a date been settled upon yet?

[Smitty2430]

2 or 3 bad apples shouldn't ruin it for th rest of us that can handle friendly competition between our cougar peers!

I was there last year and there wasnt that much drama. The judging should be peer voted. If you dont want to be party of the judged show, just clean your car and socialize.

[EternalOne]

Brad is calling the track and hotel again today to try and coordinate the times/dates. Once we have a solid date, we will let everyone know so that plans can begin to be made for time off from work, and saving up of cash.

E1

[frenchblueC2]

But in all seriousness - you could ask anyone sitting at my table... I nearly fell off my chair
everyone except Bethany because she was too busy trying to steal the trophy to even notice what your reaction was. ;)

[Phantom]

JELLO WRESTLING

Has no one seen Old School? KY! c'mon.

[ov3n]

The actor who played Blue recently died.

[Moraki]

The actor who played Blue recently died.

Didnt see that coming... he was looking so spry and healthy.

[ND4SPD]

everyone except Bethany because she was too busy trying to steal the trophy to even notice what your reaction was. ;)
hehehe, yes... I had to keep BOTH eyes on her! :tongue:

[KurtsKougar]

Lets get this back on topic ppl..

Brad. you were supose to call the track today.. howd that go?

[AtomicInternet]

Sorry guys, no instant gratification on the date yet. There are various dates the hotel/track work, but most of them have conflicts with each other. We are finalizing a tentative plan and will post it when we are sure it's possible. Our first goal is getting a date, followed by the track activities, followed by low registration cost to everyone.

[ND4SPD]

Just to say - I had no problem with last years reg. fee :)