NW FEST Constructive Criticism thread

[fubar XJ]

Some very good lessons learned from a planning perspective at this most recent NW Fest. Tech inspection, check-in, trail run planning, all good stuff. Give the current guys a chance to make improvements, we'll use it as a blueprint for future ones.

 

[Metal Thrasher]

Some very good lessons learned from a planning perspective at this most recent NW Fest. Tech inspection, check-in, trail run planning, all good stuff. Give the current guys a chance to make improvements, we'll use it as a blueprint for future ones.

Perhaps some one could be selected to make a planning guide. Something that could be handed down with each BOD. Also perhaps the positions on the BOD should be staggered so that there is normally an experienced person in the group. Perhaps progressive? Elected to Vice Presidency then move to President after a year.... ????
Probably the wrong place for that stuff but it would defenitely be helpful to have a planning guide.

 

[CanMan]

Better late than never I guess. Ill respond to the others at a later time. My responses in BOLD.​

SO, let's give the BOD some feedback on how things went so we can make the next one even better. Here's a couple of points I would like to discuss:

It was lacking in leadership and organization. I kinda waited around for some sort of drivers meeting, a welcome, or SOMETHING from the BOD Saturday morning. I knew the trail runs weren't going to be "organized" but I figured at least everyone would get together and decide who was going where. When that didn't happen, I told a couple of people what I was going to run and took off..... with like 20 people following me.

I agree that the event was lacking leadership and organization. Ryan, Jeremy, and myself never really talked about the event. It just 'happened'. As far as Saturday morning went, that was a flop. Neither Ryan or myself got together and discussed anything that morning.

My next subject is dinner. I think things went fairly well, everybody seemed to enjoy the food, etc. My only recommendation would be this: If you're going to RSVP, SHOW UP. I'm not gonna complain TOO much, but I spend $300ish on food, etc. for dinner and took WAY too much home. We had said dinner would be between 6 and 7 and I thought everyone understood that. We actually waited until 7 or so to start cooking and had dinner around 8pm to give the rest of the group a chance to show up.

I think dinner went well. You were very vocal about having extras, and not being shy to pig out. Some might not of heard, but that may have been because the group was so spread out. Dinner was at a set time, and it sucks for the group that missed out on that and the raffle.

I'm not trying to start anything here or piss people off, just some help to make the next event even better.

John

My only real gripe was the communications breakdown. There were too many people on the trails with poorly working CB's or none at all. I realize not everyone wants to run out and spend money on a CB setup that they will most likely only use on the trail; but when someone has to stop and everyone ahead of them keeps going, the cohesion of the whole trail run goes away.

Trail communication was poor at best. I myself did not have a CB, shame on me. The one I do have, doesnt work anymore, and didnt have the time or money to run out and find a good, quality CB. Waiting up for the group, if the leader is fast, was key to knowing where to go. The ones without any CB, should be in the middle of the group.

Just another thing to keep in mind for next year.

I to feel the leader ship of the BOD was not realy there. IXNAYXJ(Matt),2ETREME(Michael),Los Lobos(Carl) seemed to have more to say about what was happening more than others.IMO.

Sorry neither Ryan or myself were more clear about things. This was our first event, and myself having NO prior experience setting up something this big, it was overwhelming at times.

Dinner:Well I must admit That I skiped out about 5:30ish.I needed to get home so my wife could go to work the grave yard shift.We found out on the way to the liquor store about it(why you don't turn on your phone).My apoligies (sp?) to you.

It was too bad you could not have stayed. The food was great.

JACK

P.S.John my son Chase says HI!!to Conner.lol

I have to say that this was the first large group wheeling event that I have been to. I had a blast and enjoyed the weekend. That being said, there where a few things that did suck.

I agree about the lack of radio communication. It was nice that Mason's samurai had a really strong CB system. Nice to be able to get in touch with the group that came in late on Saturday.

See above for my opinions on this subject.

I was present for the raffle but there were many that were not and wished to attend. There was a good amount of raffle money that was missed out of from the club. It was not the groups fault for being absent... More of a series of circumstances that set everyone back.

I see that there may have been some money missed out on the group that was late, but we didnt think it was fair to make the majority wait, for the few to come back. Yes, there were breakages on the trail that set them back, which was really too bad.

As for the food issue.... Some one should have told the fat kid (me) that there was more food left.... I'd have fixed that issue!!!!

It was announced by John and others that there was plenty of food.

Per the bylaws that the club was supposed to abide by, there was no once over of rigs. I assumed that there would have been a cursory inspection to assure that rigs where trail safe and a drivers meeting at some point.

Most of the rigs there, Ive wheeled with in the past, and *somewhat* know how they are set up. Im sure there wasnt any rigs that were total piles, and didnt meet the standards.

Still, I had an outstanding time. These were not big issues but just feed back thoughts.


Tim

I agree with everyone. I have talked to both Ryan and Eli and made my opinions known.

One can criticize, but it is useless without good feedback. I submit to everyone that attended to come up with a fix. Lets face it, one or two guys just cannot make this thing go off without a hitch. Here are my suggestions:


Welcome Party:
Dedicate a person and area to welcome attendees and take care of administrative duties. At this location waivers could be signed, raffle tickets sold, and membership "specials" offered. Have one of our officers or well known members there during peak hours. IMO there should have been a small fee to help offset the costs incurred (NWC raffle?) as well as fattening the treasury for more stuff in the future.

Thanks for bringing up these points John. We will be working on these such things next year. A welcome party/sign up crew will be mandatory for next years event. I dont believe there should be a fee to wheel. We shouldnt make people pay or hang out with us. Reason being, we want members and non members to come out and have a good time, and possibly donate money to the chapter, or become a member.

Trail runs: Post them in advance with difficulty levels and a general timeline to allow all to participate. Have a dedicated trail leader that is familiar with the trails that is responsible for tech inspection of his group. Print trail maps in advance that highlight the trails that will be run. Trail leader will also be responsible for the drivers meeting which should include trail etiquette, frequencies, emergencies, etc.

Myself and Ryan are not very firmiliar with the trails at Naches. That being said, we would not know the difficulty level of any given trail at anytime of the year. Trails maps should of been printed out, but thats just another thing to add to the list of stuff I forgot/didnt think about. I like the idea of each group being inspected by the trail leader, talking about how the trail is, whats expected, and soforth. But that also means the trail leader would have to know the trails quite well in order for that to happen.

Raffle
John and Crawl did a great job, but IMO did not get their due. I think that the chapter should have done a better job at trying to score a few prizes, or if money was available, bought a few small items to be given away. Unfortunately, this involves work. I suggest that in the future we designate a few well connected folks to try to obtain stuff. In all honesty, maybe ask the guys that are successful at doing it (PNW guys come to mind) for tips and tricks.

The raffle was a flop in my opinion. There was not a whole hell of alot to raffle off. A huge thanks to John and Matt for what they could do. There was money, but I was not sure if we could use it to buy stuff for the raffle. I guess its up to the chapter on how it spends its money. 's national Sponsorship took a shit earlier this year, or end of last year, and wasnt able to help out. Ill admit I dont know how to go about asking for companies to donate stuff for the raffle. I PM'd a few vendors here on that have user names, but never heard anything back. Yes, Phil and Marks were better, but knowing people and having 'connections' helps.

Dinner
John was very generous, but can we really expect him to do this everytime? A potluck worked well in the past with some help from the slush fund. In the future we should try to do something like that.

No, we cant expect him to do it everytime, but I asked, and he volunteered. A potluck would be a bad idea IMO. Just for the simple fact, that everyone would have to pack an extra cooler, food may spoil, and there might not be enough. Also, we dont need 50+ people getting sick from rotten whatever. The chips, pop, plasticware, plates, ect.. were bought with the chapter money.


I truly feel that we are a great bunch of people that just didn't click this time. I have no clue what was done behind the scenes nor do I care. The results spoke for themselves.

So now I ask everyone to look back and think what they have done to make Northwest Fest a success or failure. Could you have volunteered some of your time/experience/connections/etc? Would you have stepped up to the plate if asked? If so, how?

The BOD will be asking people to voulenteer for next years event.

Please realize that this is in no way meant to be a witch hunt to our leadership. I've been a leader for a loooooong time and figured out how to delegate many moons ago. If you think that you can do a better job, please volunteer to help organize the next run, and if successful, run for office next time. If you think that you can help, please do, and do it often.


John

o.k. i really really don't want to stir anything up.....but......since opinions are being asked for, here are my thoughts.

1st i agree with what GI John said as far as preping the trail runs in advance. groups, leaders, times, trails etc...

See above.

2nd i thought the dinner and raffle were great! but defenitly think they could have been bigger and better with a lil chapter participation on wrangling in some more prizes etc...(dinner was plenty, but i think the responsibility could have been shared by everyone ieotluck)

See above again.

3rd and last i guess i would like to discuss rules and so-called bylaws.
It was my understanding that there were certain requirements to attend, go on trail runs etc... although i do not think that much of the carnage this year could have been avoided, it may have been caught ahead of time with at least a once over of the rigs.

We did not follow any of the bylaw requirements this year. A total flop IMO. It is the responsibility of the vehicle owner to go over and give a once over to their rig. A tech inspection is nice, but may not catch all the flaws a rig has.

last i guess i have to say i was pretty dissapointed in the late night "call it what you will" around the camp fire. I was under the impression this was a family friendly event. don't get me wrong, i like to have a few drinks or 20 when i'm out camping, even with my kids, but i try and conduct myself in a manner that suites everyone. some of us had a long drive ahead of us Sunday and intended to get up earlyish. when it came time for bed i think around 130am, well, sleeping was nearly impossible. when the birds started chirping and music was still blasting it was a lil frustrating to say the least. again don't get me wrong, i have stayed up till the sun broke many a time drinkin round the fire. guess i just think we could have done with out the loud music and hootin and whistlin. if i wanted to pass out at a strip club, well, you get the idea.......

Ill admit I was in that crowd of late night, rowdy drinkers/non drinkers. After someone hollered it was 3 am, I was suprised it was that late/early, and headed off to bed. Im not one to ruin a groups fun time. Although, the music could of have been done with at an earlier time. I apoligize to anyone who was kept up due to the loudness of the campfire group.

anyway off my soap box, all in all i had an awesome time, just think the whole thing could have been a lil better organized, and a lil more maturity / respect / common curticy. alot for 2 guys to handle i agree 100%

p.s. it was great meeting and seeing everyone!!!! look forward to a bigger and better next year !!!!

I agree with most that was said...and I'll add a few. Before I do that I just want to say I had a blast, I learned a lot about the rigs (still A LOT more to learn though), and I learned more about 4 wheeling than the Internet ever could have taught me. Not to mention there were a lot of cool guys, and everyone's willingness to help out when people were in trouble was really impressive.

1. With this being not only my first 4wheeling event, but it was my first event. And I'll tell you right now, I did NOT feel welcomed when I first got there, or for most of Friday for that matter. Even after meeting some people, it just seemed like I was a complete outsider (which I was, really) but it just sucked to feel that way. It wasn't until some guys (I believe it was Matt and John) came over to my camp and told us to pull up a chair and join everyone that I began to feel like PART of the group.

Im sorry you felt that way. A good way to not feel like an 'outsider' is to introduce yourself to people as well. Im not saying you didnt, but for the most part on Friday, our group was out all day.

2. I agree about the whole late night party/drinking thing. Sure, that's probably pretty normal, but I don't think it needed to be so loud for so long. I typically see 12-1AM as the noise level cut off point.

See above. A good cutoff time for being real loud needs to be put into effect for next years event. Im not a party pooper, or the one who is the 'mother' of the gourp. I do see the need to be quiet at a certian time, for others sake.

3. There needs to be a better idea of what will be happening put out first thing for anyone who comes to this event next year for the first time. Thing that come to mind are better directions (lets face it, if you've never been there before, the ones we had sucked), a better idea of what to bring (a list of various things that are recommended like chairs, firewood, maps, extra parts, ect.) because without some things people may not think to bring, they could be left out.

The directions were stickied in the NWfest forum, and there were paper plate signs leading to the camp. Its was quite clear we would be camping in a somewhat underdeveloped campground. The list of things should be apparent to the Jeeper. We are camping and Jeeping. People *should* know what to bring to support themselves during these times.

4. A schedule that everyone can base thing off (drivers meetings, trail runs, food times, gas times, ect.) so we can all get an idea of when we can/should do our own thing. This way people can also get a chance to meet everyone, and I know it's lame...but those "hello my names..." stickers would have sure helped me a lot! :banghead:

Yes, there was a definite lack of that this year.

5. I think it would be cool if we had a 4 wheel video or a video from the previous event to play the first official night to start off the camp fire...maybe even a slide show of past events and an explanation of what's going on from someone.

There was a video of last years event(search youtube). But that was a member who put it on himself to film, and make the video. I think that finding someone, and the time it would take to put that together would outwiegh the benifits.

I can't think of much to add. And for the record, I personally didn't eat more food because I wasn't really sure who had eaten, and how much was really left...so I took what I thought was appropriate, sorry you had so much extra:dunno: .

~Scott

I have been to every NW Fest. And this one was VERY different than any of the others that I remember. I think that the biggest reason is the shear number of people. When I pulled in to camp (early Friday morning). I was shocked at the number of people who I didn't know (and there are VERY few people that I do not know by name or face on our board and I have wheeled with the vast majority of them). Here are my thoughts, concerns, recommendations.

1. Organization before hand. I have always said that this should not be put on the BOD (they have enough other issues to deal with). I think we should put a few people together to help with Food, Raffle, Trail Runs (organized before hand), Other.

It was a huge group to be left on the shoulders of Ryan and I. Yes, it is our own faults for not seeking out voulenteers. Next years will have such.

2. Camp. I have always believed that it should be held at a location that is family friendly (toilets, running water at the minimum!). I believe we need to look and reserve NOW for next year a location that will be big enough for all of us to be centrally located (with campers, trailers, tents, motor homes, etc) and with a "shelter" or campfire centrally located for the festivities, eating, raffle, etc. so that we can all (as 1 group, not 3) participate together as best as possible.

I think Long Meadow was a good place to hold the event. There were toilets(better than last years find a bush/nasty self made hole in the ground outhouse), but no running water. I think that was said before hand though. A location to reserve would be nice, but most places are first come, first serve. I dont think it would have been a good idea to bunch everyone together. Having a place as large as we did was good, gave people to spread out farther and have their space. The dinner/raffle was centrally located this year. As far as having 3 different campfires, it would be difficult to fit 50+ people around one. I think it was the choice of each individual to choose what campfire they sat around. Not knocking anyone for doing that, it was their own choice.

3. Tech inspection, Sign in. I agree that we need this for several reasons and we need to have it at a specified time set before hand (in this case we could have done it Friday evening or Sat morning). We should have a record of the vehicles that were pressent and the condition they were in. This also helps introduce people to each other (particularly those who are relatively new to the group).

See above comments.

4. Dinner. I think that a Pot Luck is asking for a disaster with a group this large. I think it needs to be a formal dinner (John did a wonderful job and always has but it should not be on his shoulders to provide this). Someone other than the BOD could organize this or we could have someone like Costco put everthing together for us for a small fee. John, I take full responsibility for my group coming back WAY too late off the trail, we did expect to be back in time for dinner but obviously in retrospect with the length of trails and size of the group we had it took much longer than I anticipated and we missed out on a wonderful meal, the commoradity of the group, and the raffle. Again, I appologize and it was not the intention at all but I agree with you, this was not appropriate and should have been avoided.

It was not your fault your group got back late on Saturday. It was nobodys fault. Shit happens, and sometimes cannot be avoided. As far as John providing dinner, he voulenteered to do so. Yes, the chapter could of helped out, and still can, with the costs of it. As far as having Costco or a catering company provide dinner, would be a bad idea. Cost would be too great, and I dont think they would want to drive out to the sticks to set it up. John did a wonderful job.

5. Raffle. Again, should be done before hand, with assistance from others not on the BOD and it should be a great way for the chapter to raise money. This is not easy for people who have not done this in the past or don't have connections. This group has a pretty long list of connections and we should "learn" how to do this so that it is not such a burden for any of us.

You've said it best. We do not have any connections. I tried a few vendors here, but got no responses back from them. We'll be asking a few people to help out with that next year.

6. Invitation. It has always been in the past that you had to be a MEMBER or invited by a Member to attend (a member could invite 1 friend). This year seemed to be "out of hand" with the number of non members in attendance. And I belive this had a LOT to do with the disfunction of the entire group. I am not picking on particular people (I wheeled with a bunch of non members and enjoyed all of them) but as a whole I think that it created a lot more disfunction of the group.

I dont want our club, the NW Chapter part, to seem like a circlejerk of just members. Inviting non members, or non Jeepers to the event is a good way to get them to know what we are about. I dont think it was out of hand that we had a few non guys there.

7. Trail Runs. I agree that these should be planned in advance with trail leaders and a max number of people in each group. I was very disapointed in the time it took to get on the trail each morning. Or at least a drivers Meeting each morning at a set time to organize the people.

See above comments.

8. On the trail. CB's are helpful (way too many issues with them this year) and I agree with it being said above, I tried to make it clear to each of my groups that you always keep the person in front and behind in your rear view mirror. We didn't have much of an issue with this in any of my groups but it doesn't seem to be as common knowledge than I thought. I think we might need a REAL noobfest to go through some more of this stuff.

See above comments.

9. Drinking. I love a beer (I know some of you don't believe me) but I am absolutely SICK of seeing people drinking on the trails!!!!!!! I can't say this enough, I am DONE with it and I believe that as a group we need to decide up front how we are going to deal with this. This is not a single person issue, this is a list of people and I think it needs to be delt with NOW.

I may be blind, but I didnt see anyone drinking and wheeling on the trails. Yes, I had ONE beer when we were at the rock for 2 hours. I dont see it as an issue at all. If someone cannot be adult or mature enough to keep it to a safe minimum, then they need to be asked to leave. It is policy to not drink while wheeling, but we cannot police every vehicle and see what the driver is up to. If they keep it to themselves, we wont know about it.

10. Late night festivities. I am with Rod. I was kept up from 1:30 till after 4:00am listening to the crap, swearing, WAY TOO loud music blaring inapropriate music, hooting, and who knows what else. Luckily for me, my son slept through it, but this is supposed to be a family event and this was far from that! In the past we have had late night (2:00am) drinking and I don't have an issue with that, it is part of the fun of it (even I enjoy it, believe it or not). But I believe there needs to be some sort of understanding in advance. Personaly I was seriously concerned about the safetly of people in attendance (rape, alcohol poisening, etc) maybe I am way out of line (I didn't see anything first hand), but it didn't sound like it from the distance I was hearing it from. This is NOT the kind of activities I think we want to condone in the future. It doesn not represent or anyone else well.

See above comments.

I did enjoy the weekend. I really enjoyed the time I spent with my son, a handful of others I wheeled with and talked with at camp. However, I really feel like I missed out on what I have grown to love about NW Fest in the past. If there is anything that I can do in the future I would be more than happy to support.

Michael

 

[WheelinJR]

I think to be a signed up vehicle for tech inspection there should be a small fee...

Members fee could be like $10 and come with a free raffle ticket.
Non-Members fee could be $45 and come with a free membership and raffle ticket. It's obvious where I was going with that, right? It would encourage people to sign up, and they wouldn't feel isolated out as non-members.

 

[Wang90xj]

I think to be a signed up vehicle for tech inspection there should be a small fee...

Members fee could be like $10 and come with a free raffle ticket.
Non-Members fee could be $45 and come with a free membership and raffle ticket. It's obvious where I was going with that, right? It would encourage people to sign up, and they wouldn't feel isolated out as non-members.

This is the dumbest thing I've heard. What happened to getting together with a bunch of good people and going wheeling? This is probably the number 1 reason myself and plenty of others have no interest in being a member. What does the money have to do with anything? The guys putting the work into organizing the event aren't getting a salary. So it just goes into the club fund, for what? NWC had money already and no idea what to spend it on. As if it isn't already expensive enough paying for gas, supplies, and parts. Someone might be better off spending that 45 dollars on having a working cb or something else useful. I think all this would do is discourage non members from coming to your event. But if thats how you all want it, have fun I'd rather go someplace where people wanna have fun instead of make money off me.

 

[WheelinJR]

This is the dumbest thing I've heard. What happened to getting together with a bunch of good people and going wheeling? This is probably the number 1 reason myself and plenty of others have no interest in being a member. What does the money have to do with anything? The guys putting the work into organizing the event aren't getting a salary. So it just goes into the club fund, for what? NWC had money already and no idea what to spend it on. As if it isn't already expensive enough paying for gas, supplies, and parts. Someone might be better off spending that 45 dollars on having a working cb or something else useful. I think all this would do is discourage non members from coming to your event. But if thats how you all want it, have fun I'd rather go someplace where people wanna have fun instead of make money off me.

I'm sorry, I was under the impression that chapter funds were sourced for chapter use, such as putting on events. I was under the impression that an event like NWFest was a little more than just some guys going wheeling.

BTW, membership fees go to running the site, not to our chapter.

And if you think there are no expenses to an event like NWFest, I am certain that you're sorely mistaken.

 

[Wang90xj]

I'm sorry, I was under the impression that chapter funds were sourced for chapter use, such as putting on events. I was under the impression that an event like NWFest was a little more than just some guys going wheeling.

If you need to have a fee to special or important or something, then more power to ya I guess. Call it what you will, in the end its a bunch of people camping and wheeling. And its that kind of snobby eliteist attitude that drives people away from here.

 

[WheelinJR]

If you need to have a fee to special or important or something, then more power to ya I guess. Call it what you will, in the end its a bunch of people camping and wheeling. And its that kind of snobby eliteist attitude that drives people away from here.

Well you can assume it an elitist snobby attitude, but the intent was to come up with some positive ideas of ways to support the site and chapter.

But thanks for the name calling...

 

[Muddy Beast]

Well you can assume it an elitist snobby attitude, but the intent was to come up with some positive ideas of ways to support the site and chapter.

But thanks for the name calling...

Ok boys, settle down! :smootch:

:soapbox: Save it for the ford guys...

 

[hards91xj]

Ok 2 cents worth from a past Trail Cordinator ; Donated Prize getter.
The first Fest we had a list of 20 some rigs and 40+ people --well we had lots of food left over because we ended up with 6 rigs attending ,Hans, Steve and whoever had alot of Hamburgers to eat .So I feel for John on that.
For prizes I hit up Central 4 wheel 2 years in a row and a couple other places and I also bought some things myself to give away ,and I was nervous about asking but when I had flyer`s made up and went to the places, let them see them ,they were willing to help.
[ Diana said they weren`t asked to donate this year]

Trail Cordinator ah yes I did my best for the first year .I made alot of trips to the Little Naches area ,traveled alot of the trails and timed how long some took, the dificulty and where Not to take people,[ Micheal 2xtream ,Hans didn`t follow directions then either and it cost Mr X alternator radiator. ] A learning year.
The second year I had maps made up with trails marked out and I even dropped to 31x 10.5 tires to get a better feel for the lower and close to stock rigs.
I also learned for doing pre event trail runs NOT to take a bunch of other rigs along it slows down progress and the planning of trails.
Second year was better than the first
The year it was in Liberty I helped with some trail organizing but was there for just the day and to be a trail leader.
For communication on trails ,That is a must do ,we used cb`s and frs radios.
I was in the NW Fest area this year but I had other people and plans going so I didn`t attend ,I was going to stop by but xj running issues changed that.
I see there was issues but it sounds like plans are being made to handle those problems in the future.
Start planning on the next one.

 

[CanMan]

This is the dumbest thing I've heard. What happened to getting together with a bunch of good people and going wheeling? This is probably the number 1 reason myself and plenty of others have no interest in being a member. What does the money have to do with anything? The guys putting the work into organizing the event aren't getting a salary. So it just goes into the club fund, for what? NWC had money already and no idea what to spend it on. As if it isn't already expensive enough paying for gas, supplies, and parts. Someone might be better off spending that 45 dollars on having a working cb or something else useful. I think all this would do is discourage non members from coming to your event. But if thats how you all want it, have fun I'd rather go someplace where people wanna have fun instead of make money off me.

I agree 100% with Jesse's statements. We are not a circlejerk elitest club. Why should anyone have to pay to wheel, really? Funds for the chapter come from the raffle, clothing, donations, ect..

I see it as having non members be part of the 'member' group, wheeling with them, camping with them, bullshitting with them, ect.. so maybe they see what they are about and see that, 'hey, maybe ill join this silly little Jeep club'. As long as Im part of the NWC BOD, we will not have 'fees' for our yearly get together. And if there is any after Im out, then you wont see me at a NWFest.

Fee's for wheeling are stupid. It'll just make people want to not wheel, and portray an image on the NWC as being a bunch of 'nose held high elitest'.

My .02.

 

[Ba-Riedo]

Fee's for wheeling are stupid. It'll just make people want to not wheel, and portray an image on the NWC as being a bunch of 'nose held high elitest'.

I also think it would be stupid to force people to pay, but there should probably be donations of some sort to help cover some of the cost. Unless the raffle can help make back the money.

-Alex

 

[CanMan]

We have more than enough money. Over a grand. What are we going to spend it on? Trail work parties, possibly a holiday dinner, NWFest for next year?

Its not like this is a business, and we are going broke. The chapter is fine, hence no stupid fees. We can make money in other ways, like stated above.

 

[kndrewa]

i was quite excited to get together with the NorthWest chapter.
so, as a last minute decision on thursday night - i pack up and skip work friday. *sick-day*

for me, this was a 6.5 hour drive from Vancouver.
I pulled into the meadow around Noon on Friday afternoon.
I met John from Auburn and said hello.
I met Josh from Oregon and his girlfriend and said hello.
There were a few guys around, but mostly Avanteone and a circle of friends.

I kinda hung around but definitely didn't feel too welcomed.
No worries, apparently a group would be returning soon.
After a few hours, some people had returned, and we headed to the quarry.
Even then, nobody really said who was who.
Even now, I don't know who all is considered the BOD.
Later we went on a *cough-cough* dusty fire road 'trail' run as it got dark.
Saturday, we waited and waited to get a run together in the morning.
We ended up just going as a small group since not many people were stirring.

Anyhow, just as others have said, overall it seemed unorganized.
__________

I did experience two sides of judgment during my rig's failure:
Some people were extremely helpful and kind during my downtime.
Others looked down on me for using blocks and ruining their day.

I am sorry to those who felt their day was ruined.
I am grateful for Josh, Karl, and Ken's 'night-mountain-dirt-lift party' help.
Others too, offered their tools, winches, and any other support they could.
Matt in the Woody let me use his Hi-Lift, Rod put in a U-joint, etc.
GI-John helped me conceptually and physically throughout my situation.
To them I owe my summer vacation and visiting my father.

I didn't expect as much help as what I got in my dire situation.
Nobody communicated that they had extra U-bolts at camp.
As far as Josh and I knew, the only way I was getting off the mountain was a drive to Yakima.

Overall, NWFest was good and bad.
Just like life:
1st time I had spent time with my dad in 2 years = good
coming home to a bunch of empty drawers and no girlfriend = bad

: (

sorry i have not been active on the forums since i got back.
work is really busy as we final our project, and ive been sad.
thanks everyone for your help and the good times.
next year i won't have blocks and i hope there will be some leadership.
i was glad to have made some great new friends.

thanks for putting it together!

 

[XJCasper]

Wow, that's an eventfull weekend you had. I was there to see the misfortunes. Sorry to hear about the misfortune that was not seen.


Jason