Billing have given us two options as to how we, as VBOA, organise the event. They can be summed up as a low input, similar (but not the same) with Billing taking the money as before or a VBOA organised event (similar to the way Land Rover did it) when we pay up front, do much more organising with potentially attractive financial benefits to both the VBOA and our Club.

VBOA have made it clear that they want the of members of the affiliated clubs to have an input. I will need to have our decision at the start of November.

This post will grow as I put what happened this morning into writing.

Edited October 21, 20187 yr by GreyDJ2

any more information on this please so we can start discussing it before chinese whispers take hold

I am holding back at the moment to try to understand wtf is going on. At the meeting on Sunday the two alternatives I mentioned above were given to us and we voted to adopt the second but the vote was close so it was agreed to allow reps to consult with their clubs and not to put info on it on social media, just club sites

One club, Cavalier and Chevette, has thrown a spanner into the works by circulating an attack on one of the options to an old email list (I didn't get it Andy did) and I don't know why they have done it.

I am waiting for clarification from VBOA before I put more up here.

Ok thank you

 

Pinched from vdc

Option one sucks no way I’ll leave my cars out of sight with the little scrotes about 

@andy @Frisco @Tim are we going to have a similar vote on here?

11 hours ago, Paul said:

@andy @Frisco @Tim are we going to have a similar vote on here?

Yes. incoming 

You have seen the VDC post above which was the basic information of the presentation given by VBOA to the club reps last Sunday. The following is my comments based on it which has also been circulated by VBOA.

 

Over the past couple of years VBOA there has been a changing of the guard at VBOA. We now have a very active committee and some new highly active Web oriented clubs reaching out very successfully into Vauhall land, leading the organisation to consider new ways of moving forward.

The Committee have negotiated with Billing who have offered us two options for our event. In summary, a retail type low VBOA input event (similar to but not the same as before) with Billing taking the money or a wholesale VBOA/clubs high input event (similar to the way Land Rover did it) with up front payment. Details of both are below.

As this is probably one of the biggest organisational and financial risk decisions for the VBOA and voting on the options at the meeting was close, the VBOA reps decided that they should go back and consult their clubs. This is part of that process and I will need to have your views in the next week or so.

First, what follows is based on the information presented at the VBOA meeting last Sunday and is subject to change.

Second and this point is vital, whichever option is selected and for different reasons, the days of booking tickets within the last couple of months of the event have probably gone.

OPTION 1 Billing run administration

This is administratively similar to the 'old' way of running things. Booking through Billing with pricing much as before. Gate control and security by Billing.

However that is where the similarity stops as operationally it is quite different in that there will be a vehicle only 'show' area, effectively the central block of the site with Mk2Cav old area top right. This will be divided up as now by VBOA into club areas where our cars will be during the day. This is about 21 acres.

Camping will be in the surrounding blocks which have been divided up by Billing into pitches, with and without electricity. Unless left there overnight, cars will need to be moved into the show area each morning. The Autojumble will be in the same place as before and selling from a car boot on a stand will not be allowed. This could be a very different show experience to that which we have been used to.

If this option is selected, VBOA will, as soon as possible, notify clubs which pitch numbers are closest to their area so that members can purchase those pitches. Bear in mind that there may be unrelated members of the public nearby or even potentially in the area so early booking is vital to maintain a club's contiguous area. Definitely advisable to book by the end of the year.

OPTION 2 VBOA and Club run administration

In exchange for an advance payment by VBOA, funded by its member clubs,  Billing will rent the exclusive use of the whole of the central block plus surrounding camping areas which we can use the totality of as a car/camping area. This is about 27 acres as against our approx 29 acres at Market Harborough'.

The rental period is Friday to Monday inclusive to VBOA for £35,000, paid in 4 instalments by the start of April. On top of that there will be some VBOA admin costs plus potential extra event costs like funding of gate control and some security so say £40,000 in round numbers. Then, dividing that total by the total number of spaces requested by the clubs the VBOA gets a price per space to allocate back to the clubs as per their request. That will then be the amount that the clubs will HAVE to pay VBOA on very tight advance schedule. As the first payment is due on signing the agreement, giving the clubs virtually no chance to collect their contributions, VBOA will lend out of its reserves that first payment recovering it from the clubs.

This is a huge change as it imposes financial risks and a new workload on both VBOA and clubs. Once we have committed to the space we will be on the hook for the money and we will have to chip in with some volunteer support , both should be interesting! There is however the potential for cost savings since we will be effectively getting the wholesale price for our area and we will have flexibility as to how we recover that cost.

My estimate is that the raw VBOA space cost to a club will be around £40/50 per car/tent for the 4 days. We will then need to add our costs and work out how to spread the total over campers and day visitors. Due to this, whilst there will be probably be a VBOA RRP, it is likely that clubs will have different price lists for their members. However, whichever way you look at it it should be cheaper than Option 1. We have to work on the basis of paying 50% by end December, 40% end January and 10% end March. As before you have to be a member to be on our stand and to gain our pricing.

Conclusion

So we have two polar opposite options, the first the same administratively as the old Billing but with a totally different layout and operation, the second with brand new administration and probable reduced costs for many but a layout and operation that we are all familiar with.

Comments please.

Regardless of option we also need to know:

1. What is the chance of you coming and camping and the number of nights?

2. What is the chance of you coming on a day trip?

Thanks

John

Edited October 27, 20187 yr by GreyDJ2

23 minutes ago, GreyDJ2 said:

1. What is the chance of you coming and camping and the number of nights?

2. What is the chance of you coming on a day trip?

1)  for many reasons .... none  ,  I will  say a lot of this mainly do with not being able to book near the time of the event. which is a shame as I have attended over 10 years and would normally do Thursday to Monday evening at MH

2) no 

Edited October 27, 20187 yr by steffi

16 minutes ago, steffi said:

1)  for many reasons .... none  ,  I will  say a lot of this mainly do with not being able to book near the time of the event. which is a shame as I have attended over 10 years and would normally do Thursday to Monday evening at MH

2) no 

I’m the same due to ongoing health issues and not working at present I can’t connit this early, it was a day before mh that I fealt well enough to attend this year it’s gutting that the one show a year I’ve always looked forward to looks like a no go for me next year, maybe a campsite near retro for the night before as a get together like previous years to get me fix of Steffi banter is called for 😂👍

With the 2nd option will  we be camping on club stands or by cars or still in designated camp areas

38 minutes ago, newbody said:

With the 2nd option will  we be camping on club stands or by cars or still in designated camp areas

Exactly the same as in past years at Billing, plus I hope in the same spot but probably a bit smaller if we do get it.

cheers for the clarification

No problem, ask away.

Basically the main difference to the 'old days' is in the administration prior to the event not the event itself. The changes to the event are due to the loss of some areas, but gain in other, leading to a need for a more accurate estimate on space needed. So that huge stand next to us will definitely shrink!

I think its the large 'general' clubs like them, MIG, VxON etc that are suffering in all aspects. Targetted clubs like us, Calibra and endless Astra clubs less so.

It's ok if it was not camping on club stands by  car like old days (option 1) then it would have been a definite no from me as I attend for the social side of things  more than the cars 😀😀😀 but like to be near it 

You are not alone in regarding it as a social event. The cars are just an excuse

Most prob 3 nights fri sat sun subject to costing and camping on club stand and not having to state what vehicle when booking cause at minute cav is still in bits 😂😂🤣

 

The beauty of Option 2, once the shock of the change has passed, is that the operational admin is ours so we can almost certainly be more flexible than it has been in the past.

If lmf was the issue, why does the vboa not approach mh to rent the showground or a portion of it and then hire in facilities as required. Mh definitely had a festival feel about it and i wouldnt trust billing management not to do the same again in the future. It seems that the better billing option for us gives vboa most control over the event resulting in more admin work anyhow. Is mh not cheaper?

Could get expensive if you dont turn up in a cav Jason!

LMF is in MH and is a real company with fulltime employees (and family!) with access to contacts in the area. VBOA is a club made up of group of reps from multi clubs, it has no contacts in that area, is run by unpaid volunteers and is not set up to do anything really major like that. We also have no idea what the actual costs of MH were, that was down to LMF.

Also there was a risk that if the showground as a whole was not a success the landowner may have decided to do something else with the land. At least this time there would be a long term contract with Billing, something we did not have before.

9 minutes ago, chris m said:

Could get expensive if you dont turn up in a cav Jason!

Interesting point, we could premium price the 'bad boys' non Cav corner

He already said he'd pay my billing entrance fee for 5 years if he didnt come in a cav....i got off a little lighter in that i only have to pay his for five years if i dont turn up at all, ie no cav required.

Fair point....billing management make me nervous thats all. For us ots about cars, for them its about money and if something more lucrative came up, could we get dropped again?