How to Plan, Promote, & Run a
Successful Corvette Show

So, you just got tapped to coordinate your Corvette club's big annual fund-raiser show. Congratulations! Here's a few tips collected from folks who've successfully run shows. Hope you find them helpful.

Planning

Have a committee for EVERYTHING! Teamwork works better than one person, and most people want to play a part anyway. It also divides the hard work up so opthers don't get burnt out.
Committees should start meeting on a show about 6 months ahead of it, so they have time to implement ideas, gather information, send out invitations and make follow-up contacts.
Focus on your admissions. Who will they be?
- Local people? If so, offer ballons for the kids, bring in a remote radio station, etc. Local people need something other than Corvettes in a line to bring them in. Maybe a grand prize raffle, which worked great for us. A charitable cause also helps a lot too!
- If your admissions are from Corvette owners and enthusiasts, then you need to offer convienences for them. Accomodations made easy, with a list of things to do. Not necesssarily a schedule that if they miss it they are out of luck, but instead a guideline, so they can decide when they want to arrive, and when they want to leave. Then they can get off work as needed, buy plane tickets in advance, etc.

Promoting

Magazines.

Keep a mailing of EVERY magazine that advertises car shows, and mail a post card to ALL of them. Last time I did it, we had 28 magazines.

Since magazines print 3 to 4 months early, and many people have to schedule vacations months in advance, it pays to plan ahead. How far ahead? Well, if you are going to have a show in August, send out information 1 YEAR in advance! Why one year? Because when you mail it in August, it gets into print on the news stands, it will be November or December (the issues will be December or January). This way, you will get the information out for issues from January thru August (8 months). This way people will be able to plan their vacations around it.

Online Websites

Your PR list should include both print and ONLINE contacts who can publicize the event. For some magazine publishers, print and online are 2 different divisions. Don't assume they talk to one another.

Door Prizes.

Get people out to collect door prizes. We charged admission, but we gave away a lot of things, too. That made a lot of people satisfied they got something for what they paid for, yet it did not cost us anything. No matter how small the gift, it was a gift.

For best results with product vendors, write each an individual letter, INVITING AND ENCOURAGING THEM TO ATTEND the event. Suggest that they could send a donation or door prize if they cannot attend personally..

Local Press.

Invite the press. The newspapers, TV, etc.

During the Show

Make sure you have a couple of PR people constantly walking around, thanking people for coming, greeting people, answering questions or offering help. PR will keep more people satisfied, as it let's them vent any complaints, and then get them addressed before they complain to 25 others about it first! Make sure the PR people know their #1 job is to make sure each person is SATISFIED!
Make as many people leave a winner as possible. Whether it be a door prize, a trophy, or a gift certificate of some sort. They went out of their way to go to your show, maybe bring an expensive Corvette, or spent a lot of money...you need to let them know you want them back next year!
Take pictures, take names. People enjoy being recognised at an event.
Let folks know BEFORE they leave that you will do this again next year, with the dates. Thank them one more time for coming.

Vendors

Will your show have vendors?

Vendors are very special people. By setting up their tables and displaying their wares, they draw attendees. At too many events vendors are treated as afterthoughts. Here's a few suggestions for keeping vendors happy, encouraging them to come back (even if they don't sell a lot), and encouraging them to bring their vendor friends with them next year.
Assign someone to check regularly with the vendors to see if everything is ok. If they need to spout, it's better if they do it to your club representative, rather than every JohnQ that passes by--or worse--to their fellow vendors.
Make sure there's food, bathrooms and phones that vendors can get to quickly and easily.
If you see a vendor working alone, send someone over periodically to watch the booth so the poor bloke can take a potty break!
Periodically check with each vendor to see if they need food or drink--then get it for them. Nothing worse than not being able to get away from a booth, either because you're working it alone or because it's busy. Vendors *do* get cranky when they're starved at the end of a long day.
At the end of the day, keep an eye on the vendors as they pack up. Make sure they know where to get gas on the way out, have good directions to the Interstate, and know where they can stop for food if they're hungry. The last impression you leave your vendors with is the one they'll remember.
Personally thank each vendor for coming at the end of the event. Make sure you give them the dates for next year's event--and sign them up immediately if possible.

After the Show

Keep all of your notes from each event, and ALWAYS have a meeting after the event to discuss what you could have done better next time. Then implement these ideas next time. And next year will be even better, if someone writes down everything that didn't go perfect with an idea or two what to do next time to make it perfect.
Write an article, send it to the magazines, with lots of pictures.
Put event picutures on your poster next year, too!
Celebrate with all of the helpers; they worked hard and deserve to be rewarded.
Send thank-you notes to anyone who helped or donated. Maybe it's old fashioned, but because so few folks bother today, that little note will get noticed and remembered.

Contributors to this article: Racer Dan , Barbara Spear