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Friendly advice for organising a regular social meet
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DG
Joined: 12 Dec 2005
Location: The Gaff !
Posts: 12354
 
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| Friendly advice for organising a regular social meet |
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So….you want to organise a regional disco3.co.uk meet in your area? ….your looking for advice on how to organise it without a headache?
The Disco3 South East meet celebrates its 3rd anniversary in April. We have held a regular meet once a month, together with some specials like a BBQ and Christmas dinner. We achieved a regular attendance of between 10 and 15 vehicles on every occasion and I am hopeful that we can expand to a 20+ attendance during 2008.
Anyway, without trying to teach bods to suck eggs, here are my top tips on organising a successful regular meet.
When to hold it.
• Keep the regular meet and other regional events separate. Think of the regular meet as your night out with the boys….a few shandies and a bite to eat while discussing all things D3. If you want to do some lanes or specialist course, then organise this as a special...don’t let it interfere with the regular meet.
• Go for an evening during the first half of the week. Your venue will be fairly quiet then and welcome the additional business. For obvious reasons avoid Friday and Saturday nights. If you really want to hold it during the daytime on a weekend then go for Saturday lunchtime. The Sunday lunch period tends to be a very busy time for pubs that serve good food. Weekends can also be more difficult for members who have family commitments.
Source a venue with appropriate facilities.
• Location, location, location - make sure the venue is easily accessible to major road networks and is fairly central to your region. Peeps may not be comfortable travelling much more than an hour for the meet. Do some research in your area. Google other car \ 4x4 clubs and see where they meet.
• You’ll want to ensure that the venue can accommodate at least a dozen motors in the car park or, if your lucky, on a lawn area, that way if your initial attendance grows then you’ll have some additional space to play with
• Does the venue have a reputation for good food??... as no doubt the guys will want to eat.
• Make contact with the venue tell them the frequency that you want to meet e.g. once a month, and ask if they are prepared to allocate a dedicated space for the vehicles and tables for the group inside.
The organiser
• Once you have established a rapport with the venue it should be a simple case of contacting them to confirm that the meet is going ahead on ‘x’ date and to expect up to ‘x’ amount of people. Make it clear that some may want to eat.
• Be aware that if you book and confirm a reservation for ‘x’ amount of bods to eat, then you are creating a contract with the venue that may make you, the organiser, liable for lost revenue should the numbers not turn up on the night. Therefore keep the arrangements as flexible as the venue is prepared to be. If the venue requests clear numbers then make sure you do no compromise your own position.
• If you are organising a special event that involves deposits, then make the booking rules as clear as possible to the interested members and stick to them.
• Keep your region informed as much as possible and post reminders as you approach the date of the meet.
• Be prepared for members to request alternative venues and perhaps encourage debate amongst the group….go with the consensus of views.
If anyone wishes to give additional tips then by all means do ...but remember ......the objective is to enjoy yourselves.....and don't take it all too seriously eh 
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Last edited by DG on Tue Mar 25 2008 12:35am; edited 7 times in total
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 Fri Mar 23 2007 2:05am |
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definitely not dickgriff
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Location: Woodshill Drop
Posts: 11
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Quote:• Be prepared for members to request alternative venues and perhaps encourage debate amongst the group….go with the consensus of views.
Can I suggest we meet in Camden one day at our parking ticket printing facility ?
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| Fri Mar 23 2007 2:06am |
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Dave
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Location: Chippenham
Posts: 688
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Great advice, there are too many farmers in Wiltshire for it to be feasible due to
"Dave - does the venue you have chosen have a sheep dip for my girlfriend"
Check you out being able to sticky stuff
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| Fri Mar 23 2007 2:11am |
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definitely not dickgriff
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Location: Woodshill Drop
Posts: 11
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did you write this yourself DG or did someone help you ?
Interesting advice... almost like being in a club.
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| Fri Mar 23 2007 2:13am |
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Doctor Diesel
Joined: 23 Sep 2006
Location: Driving the kids around as usual
Posts: 1552
 
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??? regional organisers????
??? regional forums (fora)???
just a suggestion
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| Fri Mar 23 2007 8:08am |
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Ken
Joined: 20 Feb 2006
Location: Here & There
Posts: 3400
 
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Doctor Diesel wrote:??? regional organisers????
??? regional forums (fora)???
just a suggestion
Hope it never goes that way to much like other clubs it then IMHO becomes too much of a dictatorship
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| Fri Mar 23 2007 8:34am |
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DSL
Joined: 11 May 2006
Location: Where the heat is
Posts: 8455
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DG U going all Jekyll & Hyde on us???
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| Fri Mar 23 2007 9:11am |
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DG
Joined: 12 Dec 2005
Location: The Gaff !
Posts: 12354
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Doctor Diesel wrote:??? regional organisers????
??? regional forums (fora)???
just a suggestion
Woooooaaa.......the inference in my post of regions within the disco3.co.uk community is purely due to logistics and convenience for members to meet ...this in no way negates the national gathering or indeed the desire of members travelling from anywhere in the country to attend any particular meet. We are not a club and the organiser holds no hierarchical status - he\ she is just a volunteer who is prepared to co-ordinate a social gathering.
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I'm powered by............................
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I have the body of an 18 year old ......................I keep it in the fridge
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| Fri Mar 23 2007 10:17am |
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definitely not dickgriff
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Location: Woodshill Drop
Posts: 11
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It all sounds very formal and organised.
I like it 
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| Fri Mar 23 2007 10:22am |
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Doctor Diesel
Joined: 23 Sep 2006
Location: Driving the kids around as usual
Posts: 1552
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just a point of contact for regular , say monthly, pub meets....certainly not wishing to hijak the forum/club/etc etc
The porsche club has a similar setup and it seems to work but I think it would be a bit too formal for us!
_________________
2007 HSE Java Black
2007 B150 Horizon Blue
Pure Highway DAB !!!!!!
--------------------------------------------------
The Master of Suave !
Ding-Dong Matron
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| Fri Mar 23 2007 10:36am |
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Bodsy
Joined: 06 Nov 2006
Location: This Week, Shropshire...
Posts: 4637
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I think the point is, If you are organising something, don't overcommit yourself to venues/costs. However the organising of any event/regular meet requires maybe not hierachal structure, but at least someone who kindly takes control and does the 'organising' so it is formal in some respects by the very nature of you calling it a meet.
Whilst Disco3.co.uk is not a 'club' and doesn't have all the political  to manage, none of us would wnat to see another member be out of pocket for arranging a meet so the guidelines I think are well founded.
They are afterall, only guidelines. If you don't like the members you meet, there's a whole bunch of other members coming along all the time. 
I can't imagine a Disco3 AGM can you!? Well not where anything involving treasurers & minutes etc etc are involved. I suppose we could call Rockingham the AGM, where the only items on the agenda are Discovery3 (and maybe some RRS/FFRR for the aristocracy) BBQ's, Off-roading and Beer!
Maybe shoes & handbags & the colours of teh cars for SWMBO's 
Regional? Geographical? who cares! It's just a case of here's a location that we can warn in advance that there'll be some big cars in the car park & to put the pot roast on! if you're able to make the locations then fine & if you're not, then that's fine too.
No membership dues, no monthly subscription (other than in Donations to Martin), no 57point rulebook about codes of conduct. Just be sensible, if you're a Pr1ck people will stay clear of you and you'd still be a Pr1ck regardless of your position in a 'committee'.
Of course, the more structured off road events (paid for events) then there IS a formal structure and whoever is in charge of the day/group/bacon butties should be listened to & instructions obeyed from a safety point of view for everyone's enjoyment.
Anyway, just my twopenneth........
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Need black RRS wheel centre caps.
We D3, therefore we are..........
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| Fri Mar 23 2007 2:02pm |
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TB
Joined: 28 Feb 2006
Location: In the Black Country
Posts: 299
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So who is organising the next West Midlands meet then?
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| Sat Mar 31 2007 9:32pm |
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Bodsy
Joined: 06 Nov 2006
Location: This Week, Shropshire...
Posts: 4637
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Is that you volunteering Andy?
Same pub, choose a night & let's see who turns up! 
_________________
TDV6 HSE Black, Black Wheels /MTR's, Black RRS front/rear LR badge (tbf) Black Leather, Black Glass, Black TowB, Shiny Tasmods, Dull Mantec, White Reflective D3 Sticker, Black steering wheel badge, black air intake.
Need black RRS wheel centre caps.
We D3, therefore we are..........
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| Sat Mar 31 2007 9:57pm |
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TB
Joined: 28 Feb 2006
Location: In the Black Country
Posts: 299
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I suppose I walked straight into that one. 
_________________
Arctic Frost RR Sport. TDV6 SE. Aspen Leather, Tow pack, PTI, Privacy Glass, Tasmods, Mudflaps & a RRSport umbrella in the boot.
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| Sat Mar 31 2007 9:59pm |
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Bodsy
Joined: 06 Nov 2006
Location: This Week, Shropshire...
Posts: 4637
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_________________
TDV6 HSE Black, Black Wheels /MTR's, Black RRS front/rear LR badge (tbf) Black Leather, Black Glass, Black TowB, Shiny Tasmods, Dull Mantec, White Reflective D3 Sticker, Black steering wheel badge, black air intake.
Need black RRS wheel centre caps.
We D3, therefore we are..........
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| Sat Mar 31 2007 10:03pm |
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