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What can we do better?

macgyvr

NAXJA Member #120
NAXJA Member
Location
NE Indiana
Let's have it, tell us what you think can make the event better in 5 years. Whether it's me or someone else, this is the time to help us make it better.

I used this same thread for reference in 2013 to try to make 2018 better.

If there were some things that you really liked, let us know so it can be referenced in 5 years.

mac 'still on a Moab high' gyvr
 
Talking with Nimrod before Saturdays run, He seemed to think that taking a poll for which trails people wanted to run during the week would be a good idea.

If we had a poll set up for "select all trails interested in running" per each day with an option "I wont be here" for people leaving early or arriving late.

Example:
-List all trails for each day of the week with "Not in town/not wheeling" as an option
-have people select all trails they wold be interested in doing each day
-Take the results to determine the most popular trails for each day of the week.



Honestly only having one run canceled due to lack of participation was awesome accomplishment.
 
I like Goose's suggestion of doing a "poll" on what trails people would like to run and then attempting to work out a schedule from that. And, yes I realize Nimrod kind of did that, and it worked. I wouldn't want to be in his position, because everyone is a critic, especially if you are not in charge. Still, I commend him. BTW, I led 3 trails formally and informally offered to lead Elephant Hill (with the rain there were no takers). I did it anyway on Thursday. That's just to support my proposition that things worked, and they were good.
 
Loved everything about it. Instructions were clear of where to be, and when for each part of the event. Big thanks to all involved for putting on a great event! It made the drive across the country completely worth it.
 
maybe push the dinners back an hour. I know on the day I lead, 90%of the group turned back shortly after lunch so they wouldn't risk missing the dinner. and even the 2 people who stayed with me and i agreed we didn't have time to complete the trail and turned back early.



and quite a few people missed the other food events earlier in the week.
 
The challenge of making it to an event in the evening is real. I know there is no way to avoid it in the event of the wrong mishap on a trail, but I would like to consider some options for minimizing the challenge.

I don't know how set in stone the schedule is for the week, but this is my thought for the evening plans:

Monday: M&G #1 (hosted by a chapter)
Tuesday: No event
Wednesday: M&G #2 (hosted by a different chapter)
Thursday: No event
Friday: Show & Shine plus Banquet.

I would even consider not scheduling any trails for Friday, and rather encourage folks to use that day to go check out one of the National Parks or go shopping in Moab. But I would schedule trail runs for Saturday.

Part of the idea is that this gives folks a day to fix what they have broken over the past several days. It also gives folks a chance to actually clean up their vehicle for the S&S. And it gives us as a club a day to show Moab that we are actually present in a fashion that improves their bottom line and makes them happy to see us next time. Speaking for myself, I didn't even have time to go looking for a Moab decal for the Jeep. This also makes it easier for those who are responsible for getting everything in place for the banquet. They don't have to miss out on as much as they currently do.

I expect one of the biggest challenges to making this work is having enough parking space at the banquet location to also hold the S&S at the same time. To that I would suggest that given our current trend this may not be as much of a challenge as in years past. It is not a good thing, but it seems to be our reality. If our numbers continue to decline, in 2023 this may be worth considering.

For the sake of future consideration, our current membership roster is at 580 members and I think our registration numbers for Moab were close to 100.
 
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No matter what the schedule shows, I'll be wheeling every single day.

One other thing that I was a little disappointed with was what I thought would be an actual "swap meet" more so than just posts on the forum. People seem to be more inclined to buy something they can hold vs just seeing pictures.

Just because there is a run every day doesn't mean that you have to sign up for one. What I mean by that is if someone doesn't want to run a day, needs to fix their rig, or wants to clean the rig for the show event, they have every right to pull out of a day of wheeling to do so. just my .02

Just thinking about those not fortunate enough to make the whole event and may not know anyone to do an impromptu run.
 
I agree with goose. As someone who travels over 4000 miles to attend the event I would be pretty frustrated with a non wheeling day.
 
I think there should be (official) trail runs every day, but what could be done to help people get back to attend evening events is on those days schedule runs that are closer to town. Dome Plateau and Top of the World are 30 minutes out to get to the trail head. Some Moab first timers might not be aware of that when they sign up and end up missing out if something goes wrong. Yes breakdowns can happen on any trail, but with so many trails that start and end right in town, it easier to finish sooner if you do those.
 
Since a lot of the trails are on the top of our heads, can someone make a list of trails that are close to town that would be favorable to do on the meet and greet, show n shine, and banquet days?

That way when the future planners (volunteers) review this thread they won't have to do any more digging that necessary.

mac 'help the future out' gyvr
 
Hey, here's a thought - when publishing the trails list, include info on how far from town/basecamp the start/end of trail is.

For my part, back in '08 I didn't know it was darn near an hour south of Moab to Elephant Hill/Canyonlands...
 
Hey, here's a thought - when publishing the trails list, include info on how far from town/basecamp the start/end of trail is.

For my part, back in '08 I didn't know it was darn near an hour south of Moab to Elephant Hill/Canyonlands...

That's a great idea for those of us (myself included) who didnt do enough research as far as where trails were in relation to base camp.

Before I come back, I am def going to grab one of those trail books. They seemed to be extremely useful for the trail leaders I ran with during the week.
 
The book has trail lengths and estimated times that are pretty accurate. I don't think it takes travel to and from the trail head into consideration though. When you add in big groups, bad trail conditions and breakdowns. You can easily double the amount of time a trail takes. Wouldn't be a bad idea to give people estimated times and distances, but they can vary a lot depending on the circumstances. Certain trails are going to be long no matter what. It took Jeff, Kevin and I 9 hours to do Poison Spider, Golden Spike and Gold bar rim moving at a decent pace and stopping for one hour to change a PS pump and eat lunch. With a large group I can easily see that being an 11-12 hour day. Hells revenge took us probably double what the book says because of having a large group. I'd agree with pushing all the scheduled events back an hour and saving the really long trails for days with no events.
 
I can say that Dellenbaugh Tunnel/Secret Spire is a good candidate for a day with an important evening.

Dome Plateau I am not so sure about. Part of the problem was the upper control arm breakdown on the part of the green Jeep, but there were also issues with finding the right turns.

Which I think brings up an important factor: Trail leaders who do/don't know the trail they are going to lead. I would like to get the lists of all those who participated on the various trails and put those in this thread (or some other find-able archive) so that 4 1/2 years from now we can personally ask experienced individuals to lead specific trails based on their having run the trails before. Generally speaking, folks are much more likely to help out if they are asked personally, and having a valid reason for asking them is helpful. I know those lists existed on the sign up table. Hopefully that information can still be found.

And I would also like to suggest that trail leaders be given a jacket as a reward for their efforts, and also so they can be easily identified in the morning when everyone is gathering up.
 
I had a hard time picking times for the meet n greet, show n shine and banquet this year. I used the last two big events for suggested times. I went with 530pm every night because it was easier for people to remember one time instead of the evening events being moved around every night.

530pm also allowed for some sun light after the event began. It gets dark in Moab. It's also a normal dinner time and every one of those events involved food. Time was especially important for the show n shine and being able to see the rigs.

530pm doors open with eating at 6pm for the banquet allowed us to get started at a reasonable time, I'm never sure how late things will run and in the past at other events I've been dinged for them going too late. Especially trying to be mindful at Moab where people want an early start if they are leaving to go home on Saturday morning.

Spanish trail arena has an indoor facility where we could've had the show n shine inside if it was available (yes brought the jeeps inside). Unfortunately it wasn't this trip. Maybe in 5 years it will be and we could start that event a little later. I did have an inside spot (at Spanish trail) on backup tho this year if the weather would've been bad where we could've ate at least, but the vehicles wouldn't have been close.

Another option is to start the trails an hour earlier...

The most reasonable option would probably be just to move things back to 6pm every night. An extra 30 minutes would give a little more breathing room.

mac 'keep the comments coming' gyvr
 
One other suggestion - make sure that in a couple years (when we start planning the 40th ) that we can still find these suggestions!
 
I'd be fine with starting trails earlier.

I am noting that this suggestion is endorsed by those coming from the east coast.

:D

I was pushing it to be on time the first couple of days.

But I will grant that most of the country is east of Moab.


Another thought, on a separate topic has occurred to me: WRT trail spill kits--In addition to handing them out to everyone at the beginning of the event could we also have extras on hand so that we can tell folks that if you need to use your trail spill kit while here we will replace it with a fresh one so that you don't go home without one?
 
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