- Location
- Michigan
Re: Re: The "what can we do better thread"
I have no problem saying what's on my mind, in person or online.
I have no problem saying what's on my mind, in person or online.
-
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The "what can we do better thread"
- Thread starter Fore Wheeler
- Start date
DrMoab
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- The Utah Backwater
- Location
- Columbus, IN
Additional idea for the event next year:
More formal introduction of the BOD. I think it would be worth the two minutes that it would take. Not just saying who you are but maybe how long you've been into wheeling,
user/member and maybe a thank you to significant others that put up with this web/jeep/wheeling addiction we suffer.
As for the Prez or V-Prez... Maybe a 1-2 minute 'year review' of trail clean-ups, dontations, good news within the chapter such as new places to wheel? Maybe mentioning the approximate plan for clean ups in the new year.
Just throwing out an idea... I'd be more than happy to create the questions and help organize a 4-5 minute portion of the dinner.
Big 'I'll even create the answers if needed' Hank
More formal introduction of the BOD. I think it would be worth the two minutes that it would take. Not just saying who you are but maybe how long you've been into wheeling,
user/member and maybe a thank you to significant others that put up with this web/jeep/wheeling addiction we suffer. As for the Prez or V-Prez... Maybe a 1-2 minute 'year review' of trail clean-ups, dontations, good news within the chapter such as new places to wheel? Maybe mentioning the approximate plan for clean ups in the new year.
Just throwing out an idea... I'd be more than happy to create the questions and help organize a 4-5 minute portion of the dinner.
Big 'I'll even create the answers if needed' Hank
whta a cluster this thread has become.
that's a not bad idea.
Kind of a "state of the chapter" deal.
that's a not bad idea.
Kind of a "state of the chapter" deal.
89eliminator
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Delphi, IN
kinda glad i missed this WF....
kmanxj5050
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Reed City Michigan
I wouldnt be glad! This crap is just a couple people being petty. This was the best WF to date. And that statement came from numerous old timers and previous BOD members.
emptypockets86
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Sedona, AZ
x2, it was an awesome WF.
- Location
- NE Indiana
Quite opposite.
It was the best to date.
Things worked well and went smooth.
Improvements were made in all aspects of the event to make it run that much more smoothly.
The biggest issue was the previously discussed CB issues that a few people had.
Those that seem to be the biggest voice in this thread weren't even there for the entire event or they weren't there at all.
mac 'It was Le...wait for it...LEGENDARY!' gyvr
- Location
- Michigan
Re: Re: The "what can we do better thread"
I will tell you what we did right.
Free camping for those who qualified.
Printed itinerary so everyone knew all times.
Streamlined registration.
Drivers meeting that started on time.
Drivers meeting finished 5 minutes before time.
New flags for a better staging area.
Great trail runs.
Awesome potluck dinner.
Registration/staging/driver meeting on time Saturday.
Awesome trails.
Lunch in the quarry (paid for by HD Offroad)
Barbie Jeep races.
Awesome banquet with over $5,000 worth of giveaways.
30 foot fire Saturday night (once the magical burning items were used).
Nobody got hurt, the event ran like clock work.
We spent 6 months planning this event and it showed, to 99% of the attendees.
This was, without a doubt, the best run winterfest to date. Was it perfect? No, but damn close.
Every year we address the issues from the past, which we have already began doing for 2015.
We had a fantastic team this year, and yes, I take the nitpicking personal, because there has been a large part of my life put into running this chapter and this event.
Oh, and we gave away a winch too.
I will tell you what we did right.
Free camping for those who qualified.
Printed itinerary so everyone knew all times.
Streamlined registration.
Drivers meeting that started on time.
Drivers meeting finished 5 minutes before time.
New flags for a better staging area.
Great trail runs.
Awesome potluck dinner.
Registration/staging/driver meeting on time Saturday.
Awesome trails.
Lunch in the quarry (paid for by HD Offroad)
Barbie Jeep races.
Awesome banquet with over $5,000 worth of giveaways.
30 foot fire Saturday night (once the magical burning items were used).
Nobody got hurt, the event ran like clock work.
We spent 6 months planning this event and it showed, to 99% of the attendees.
This was, without a doubt, the best run winterfest to date. Was it perfect? No, but damn close.
Every year we address the issues from the past, which we have already began doing for 2015.
We had a fantastic team this year, and yes, I take the nitpicking personal, because there has been a large part of my life put into running this chapter and this event.
Oh, and we gave away a winch too.
89eliminator
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Delphi, IN
im glad to hear these things went good. these were my biggest gripes about the event in years past.
- Location
- Columbus, In
- Location
- Michigan
Re: Re: The "what can we do better thread"
Right, I never said nobody got hurt.
Well....nobody got hurt on the trail!
Flexd 'clumsy cripple' XJ
Right, I never said nobody got hurt.
*89Laredo*
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Sheffield, IA
Everything went smoothly and we had a good time. I only had two petty complaints about the actual event. One has been taken care of (raffle) and Im sure the other will be (communication/CBs). I honestly dont see much room for improvement, which is a good thing. Dan works his ass off for most of the year to make this event as awesome as it is, the BOD and helpers also work very hard.
My only other complaint was the cold showers, but thats a problem the Badlands people need to take care of and as long as you choose a good time to take one its not an issue.
This was my first WF and I was very impressed. I will try to make it back every year now.
My only other complaint was the cold showers, but thats a problem the Badlands people need to take care of and as long as you choose a good time to take one its not an issue.
This was my first WF and I was very impressed. I will try to make it back every year now.
- Location
- 29°58'28.9"N 99°15'15.5"W
Wait, YOU won a rig? And now you have the balls to say this?
You should have bought everyone in the room $100.00 worth of tickets.
That seems fair to me.
ihscoutlover
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Edwardsville
Here is some perspective from a first year attendee. I'm not trying to stir pots or what not, but I felt that the overall event was fabulous.
1. I was under the initial impression that the fees for the event included the park fees. My bad. Better budgeting on my part for next time.
2. Park flags. We kind of got nailed here, and I didn't have a chance to get with those that had posted up that they had some spares. This could have saved me some $$, no biggie, I have one for next time.
3. Didn't realize that my registration covered my camping. Probably another oversee on my part, but either way, I didn't know then what I know now, and that alone could have saved me a substantial amount of $$ since I had to commute to a hotel, but with the temps and predicted non-weather, and two small kiddos, I didnt feel like dealing with sick people. This was planned on my part, but knowing that camping will be covered(hopefully next time), I can make better plans to save some $$.
4. Better maps. No offense to anyone here but the park's map that we got royally sucked. The copy we got was black and white, and the key needed color to make some better sense of what was where. I have never been to this park before, and I was confused as to where some things were. I'm gonna do some searching and check some other sources to see what is where. If there is some cost for this, can we look into this??
5. Trail leaders and positions. Locally here, we have a leader, a tail gunner, and a rig in the middle of the pack. Leaders should be well versed on where they are gonna lead the group. I have been in mid and tail gunner positions before(no man left behind has always been my philosophy). I know what some of these guys have and had to do to get us to where we are going. We got to a point on Friday that we were done, but still had some time before the end of day. It seemed like no one really knew what direction was which, and all of us were pulling out compasses, on phones and other means, to find North. I had no idea where the parking lot was after about 10mins on the trail. No biggie, I would have eventually found it.
6. Trail markings. This follows the map to an extent. I was seeing a lot of white arrows, but few green, orange, white or whatever other colors of trail markings that should have been. I know things arent perfect, but unless some were calling like we should have been, I wouldn't have been on the right trail. I tried my hardest to keep the rig in front and behind in sight at all times or know where they were, even if I couldn't see them. Early in the green trail somewhere, I saw this and again it reared its head on Saturday. If help here is needed to mark things, I can make plans to help get this up for the new peeps.
7. CBs vs FRS, this is an ongoing debate everywhere I have ever been. I have been a Ham, for over 20 years. I have used FRS, 2M, VHF, UHF, OPP, yeah you know me...well not really. Those with great antennas will pick up everything. Those on portables, or craptastic amazon cheap boxes might not hear everything. The money spent on a decent CB, and antenna far outweighs the problems with hearing or being heard. The Uniden I used this weekend was a replacement for the one Melissa used to have in her Scout. Its been the most dependable, on being heard and hearing. The squawking that was going on on Saturday I agree was an issue, as we too had to turn the squelch up like 80%, but still could have missed things. Myron lost the top half to his antenna, which resulted in his radio being hard to hear when we were as close as we were, but he could receive just fine there, it was us hearing him. Introducing yourself to the guy in front and behind went a long way here, but I didn't introduce myself to Myron, until we were well into the trail, so I had to take care of this at a stopping point, so that it wasn't an issue.
8. Stockers vs Mods. I have about 10+ years of wheeling experience. Probably not as much as lots that were out there this weekend, but with this group I was the newbie. On the Green trail, there were probably only a handful of times that a stock rig could have gotten into some serious trouble, mine twice I could point out. Good spotting, and park knowledge helped out here. Saturday, we took a chance that some of us could make the white trail. I found the end of that, with the first poodle that high centered my rig. We were fortunate that the group and trail leader decided that anyone that wasn't capable of traversing the next poodle that was even larger, were at the point of turnaround, as extractions would have taken a lot longer with the group size.
9. Vehicle spacing. During one of the trips around the gully, some of the rigs were way to close together. If someone had a problem the rig behind would have been on top of them too fast to avoid an issue, this was more apparent during a climb on a rocky area, where we could observe, but I don't think that all were paying attention to waiting till the total obstacle was clear before proceeding. I do have some photos to show what I am describing. We did talk about this at the driver's meeting, but some didn't seem to be adhering to it. I also noticed at least two winch operations where no weights were used on rope or cables. Bystanders were also way too close while winching operations were going on. Not sure how this can be addressed, as I didn't know who was in charge on that run, and I couldn't identify the yellow vested folks, since I didn't see anyone around that trail in said vest.
10. Raffle. Funny thing here, since the raffle has been beat to death. I was one number off the winch. I didn't go into this event wanting to spend a fortune on tickets. I have done a million raffles. None of my numbers got called. I really didn't care. I wasn't there for the winning, but to enjoy all that went on. It was said before that life is unfair. I know its a money maker for the chapter. Any of the goods would have been awesome for my rig(since it needs just about all that was raffled off), but that is what it is. Sure guys win everything, or nothing. The tumbler should help this issue. The issue I saw was the part at the end. There were like 4-6 items at once being raffled in like a hurry, like we were on a time crunch. If we were, ok I understand. If not, well some of the folks that didn't get squat could have gotten a chance for just about anything. Again no biggie, but heck with what was there, almost everyone could have gotten out of there with something.
11. Trail cleanup. I didn't notice anyone picking up litter along the way, but I wasn't paying attention. We hauled a bunch of trash to include an exhaust pipe, rear window wiper and motor, cans, oil drain pan(made out of a 1 gallon oil jug), water and soda bottles and so on. Does the club do any kind of cleanup for the park, that could either get us a free day of wheeling, or something along that line. The local club to me that I wheel with from time to time does this at one of their locations, and it gets them a day of prepping the trails for the event, and the day after the cleanup they get to run the trails for the day for free. I am throwing this one out, because I know it might be something that could be looked into. I know its a private park per se, but we all have to do our part to help keep these parks open, for our and others enjoyment for years to come.
I had a mixed impression from this weekend, being one of the few newbies to this event. I got to put faces to some of the names on here. I had a great time, the kiddos had a ball, and entertained several during the two days of trails. I don't want to come off sounding like a complainer, cause I am not. You want to know, here it is. I will tell you my side, whether you like it or not, just so it goes towards helping improve future events. I am slowly building up my rig for my needs, but I am also there to help out where needed when needed. If further help or assistance or advice from a newbie about a newbie's perspective to this event that could help to make it even better, my email is on, and my PM box is open. I have more experience in more areas of all kinds of stuff it would surprise most. I came this weekend to kind of get an idea of where to go with my rig, help Melissa decide where and how to set up hers, and how to get involved within the chapter. This is one of the first events I have been to that the membership has made us feel truly welcome. They practically jumped right in when needed(even though I was willing to take one for the team, instead Myron did, and thanks for that), but to help make the weekend smooth. I felt that the experience was better than other parks we have been to, just by the fellowship displayed by total strangers to this stranger. Kudos to the BOD and those behind the scenes that put this on. It was great and I look forward to another if work doesn't have me in the field. Thanks to HD Offroad for the lunch, it was great, I forgot to add this into my earlier part of this spacious post.
Rant off, now where the heck did this cranium to seat apparatus collision take place?? Glad you are ok Flex....
ihscout "was gonna bring the trail Scout on 35's to an all XJ event" lover
1. I was under the initial impression that the fees for the event included the park fees. My bad. Better budgeting on my part for next time.
2. Park flags. We kind of got nailed here, and I didn't have a chance to get with those that had posted up that they had some spares. This could have saved me some $$, no biggie, I have one for next time.
3. Didn't realize that my registration covered my camping. Probably another oversee on my part, but either way, I didn't know then what I know now, and that alone could have saved me a substantial amount of $$ since I had to commute to a hotel, but with the temps and predicted non-weather, and two small kiddos, I didnt feel like dealing with sick people. This was planned on my part, but knowing that camping will be covered(hopefully next time), I can make better plans to save some $$.
4. Better maps. No offense to anyone here but the park's map that we got royally sucked. The copy we got was black and white, and the key needed color to make some better sense of what was where. I have never been to this park before, and I was confused as to where some things were. I'm gonna do some searching and check some other sources to see what is where. If there is some cost for this, can we look into this??
5. Trail leaders and positions. Locally here, we have a leader, a tail gunner, and a rig in the middle of the pack. Leaders should be well versed on where they are gonna lead the group. I have been in mid and tail gunner positions before(no man left behind has always been my philosophy). I know what some of these guys have and had to do to get us to where we are going. We got to a point on Friday that we were done, but still had some time before the end of day. It seemed like no one really knew what direction was which, and all of us were pulling out compasses, on phones and other means, to find North. I had no idea where the parking lot was after about 10mins on the trail. No biggie, I would have eventually found it.
6. Trail markings. This follows the map to an extent. I was seeing a lot of white arrows, but few green, orange, white or whatever other colors of trail markings that should have been. I know things arent perfect, but unless some were calling like we should have been, I wouldn't have been on the right trail. I tried my hardest to keep the rig in front and behind in sight at all times or know where they were, even if I couldn't see them. Early in the green trail somewhere, I saw this and again it reared its head on Saturday. If help here is needed to mark things, I can make plans to help get this up for the new peeps.
7. CBs vs FRS, this is an ongoing debate everywhere I have ever been. I have been a Ham, for over 20 years. I have used FRS, 2M, VHF, UHF, OPP, yeah you know me...well not really. Those with great antennas will pick up everything. Those on portables, or craptastic amazon cheap boxes might not hear everything. The money spent on a decent CB, and antenna far outweighs the problems with hearing or being heard. The Uniden I used this weekend was a replacement for the one Melissa used to have in her Scout. Its been the most dependable, on being heard and hearing. The squawking that was going on on Saturday I agree was an issue, as we too had to turn the squelch up like 80%, but still could have missed things. Myron lost the top half to his antenna, which resulted in his radio being hard to hear when we were as close as we were, but he could receive just fine there, it was us hearing him. Introducing yourself to the guy in front and behind went a long way here, but I didn't introduce myself to Myron, until we were well into the trail, so I had to take care of this at a stopping point, so that it wasn't an issue.
8. Stockers vs Mods. I have about 10+ years of wheeling experience. Probably not as much as lots that were out there this weekend, but with this group I was the newbie. On the Green trail, there were probably only a handful of times that a stock rig could have gotten into some serious trouble, mine twice I could point out. Good spotting, and park knowledge helped out here. Saturday, we took a chance that some of us could make the white trail. I found the end of that, with the first poodle that high centered my rig. We were fortunate that the group and trail leader decided that anyone that wasn't capable of traversing the next poodle that was even larger, were at the point of turnaround, as extractions would have taken a lot longer with the group size.
9. Vehicle spacing. During one of the trips around the gully, some of the rigs were way to close together. If someone had a problem the rig behind would have been on top of them too fast to avoid an issue, this was more apparent during a climb on a rocky area, where we could observe, but I don't think that all were paying attention to waiting till the total obstacle was clear before proceeding. I do have some photos to show what I am describing. We did talk about this at the driver's meeting, but some didn't seem to be adhering to it. I also noticed at least two winch operations where no weights were used on rope or cables. Bystanders were also way too close while winching operations were going on. Not sure how this can be addressed, as I didn't know who was in charge on that run, and I couldn't identify the yellow vested folks, since I didn't see anyone around that trail in said vest.
10. Raffle. Funny thing here, since the raffle has been beat to death. I was one number off the winch. I didn't go into this event wanting to spend a fortune on tickets. I have done a million raffles. None of my numbers got called. I really didn't care. I wasn't there for the winning, but to enjoy all that went on. It was said before that life is unfair. I know its a money maker for the chapter. Any of the goods would have been awesome for my rig(since it needs just about all that was raffled off), but that is what it is. Sure guys win everything, or nothing. The tumbler should help this issue. The issue I saw was the part at the end. There were like 4-6 items at once being raffled in like a hurry, like we were on a time crunch. If we were, ok I understand. If not, well some of the folks that didn't get squat could have gotten a chance for just about anything. Again no biggie, but heck with what was there, almost everyone could have gotten out of there with something.
11. Trail cleanup. I didn't notice anyone picking up litter along the way, but I wasn't paying attention. We hauled a bunch of trash to include an exhaust pipe, rear window wiper and motor, cans, oil drain pan(made out of a 1 gallon oil jug), water and soda bottles and so on. Does the club do any kind of cleanup for the park, that could either get us a free day of wheeling, or something along that line. The local club to me that I wheel with from time to time does this at one of their locations, and it gets them a day of prepping the trails for the event, and the day after the cleanup they get to run the trails for the day for free. I am throwing this one out, because I know it might be something that could be looked into. I know its a private park per se, but we all have to do our part to help keep these parks open, for our and others enjoyment for years to come.
I had a mixed impression from this weekend, being one of the few newbies to this event. I got to put faces to some of the names on here. I had a great time, the kiddos had a ball, and entertained several during the two days of trails. I don't want to come off sounding like a complainer, cause I am not. You want to know, here it is. I will tell you my side, whether you like it or not, just so it goes towards helping improve future events. I am slowly building up my rig for my needs, but I am also there to help out where needed when needed. If further help or assistance or advice from a newbie about a newbie's perspective to this event that could help to make it even better, my email is on, and my PM box is open. I have more experience in more areas of all kinds of stuff it would surprise most. I came this weekend to kind of get an idea of where to go with my rig, help Melissa decide where and how to set up hers, and how to get involved within the chapter. This is one of the first events I have been to that the membership has made us feel truly welcome. They practically jumped right in when needed(even though I was willing to take one for the team, instead Myron did, and thanks for that), but to help make the weekend smooth. I felt that the experience was better than other parks we have been to, just by the fellowship displayed by total strangers to this stranger. Kudos to the BOD and those behind the scenes that put this on. It was great and I look forward to another if work doesn't have me in the field. Thanks to HD Offroad for the lunch, it was great, I forgot to add this into my earlier part of this spacious post.
Rant off, now where the heck did this cranium to seat apparatus collision take place?? Glad you are ok Flex....
ihscout "was gonna bring the trail Scout on 35's to an all XJ event" lover
Last edited:
*89Laredo*
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Sheffield, IA
Re: Re: The "what can we do better thread"
I would have liked to see the scout.
Vfw hall after the raffle on the way out.
I would have liked to see the scout.
- Location
- Columbus, In
Right by the door walking out of the VFW hall. I'm doing good. It hasn't bugged me, it's healing well and I finally got to wash my hair yesterday. Never thought a shampooing would feel so good. On Friday, during lunch I had to go pull the hammer man out of the creek which I think caused some confusion, I apologize. I knew where we were for the most part but had to take different routes to make sure you stock guys could make it. And yes, the maps suck. Your response did not come off as whiny at all. Long yes but you had a lot to explain. Good input.
Last edited:
ihscoutlover
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Edwardsville
89 Laredo, here is the Scout:
kmanxj5050
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Reed City Michigan
That's awesome!! Red trail is calling its name for next year
Keith_Indy
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- New Pal/Greenfield, IN
Winterfest was great, and there is video to prove it. First time I've been to WF, but I've been to many different events.
Tech went smooth (and not just cause the guy doing tech said something to the effect, "Oh that Jeep, yeah it's got everything")
Registration went smooth too. I got to observe probably an hour of registration on Friday and there was never more than a few people deep waiting at the table. I've seen lines out the door before at other events.
The green trail group led by Macgyvr on Friday had a great time on the trail. Everyone pitched in when I got my XJ stuck up good. And everyone pitched in when we changed to my spare tire. We all took everything in stride.
The potluck pitch-in was nice, good food, and nice to see everyone so inviting. Typical group of off-roaders, which is to say all types, like one big crazy loving family. :sunshine:
I didn't mean anything negative by my comments, just an alternate way of doing things. This stuff on this thread, sh!t like that happens.
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