2009 45th NZ Mustang Run : Possible Outline
After the 2004 40th national run,
there was huge enthusiasm for a future event.
Below are my thoughts on a possible structure for future runs, based on the
feedback and lessons learned from last time.
(See
Updates below for feedback)
Frequency:
5 yearly. This is clearly the most popular option based on feed back I received. This
would put future events into 2009 (45th Anniversary) and the 50th in
2014.
Dates:
Easter school holidays. (Mid April) It was clear that had the first
event overlapped with the school holidays, participation
would have been greater. Also with the event being relaxed
in nature, and with fairly frequent stops, it proved quite
suitable for children. However having the event in the school
holidays means that early attention to accommodation and ferry bookings
will be important.
Route: Consensus here
seems to be to retain the basic Kaitaia to Bluff route, but
alternate the direction each 5 years. (ie run it
Bluff to Kaitaia next time, then Kaitaia to Bluff for 50th
etc). There is also support for varying the route such as including the South Island
West coast, and/or Hawkes Bay, and
make other changes from event to event which will add
variety.
Numbers: Experience
from the last event suggests that about 50 cars (around 100
people) is the upper limit for a manageable number of
participants. The main constraint on numbers is finding
stopover venues during the day that can park,
feed and toilet more than 50 cars/100 people, not to
mention accommodate them overnight. Larger numbers also
make it that much harder to get the cars away and into each
venue on schedule. If numbers were well in excess of this a double event
starting at opposite ends of the country and crossing over in Wellington might
be an option.
Organisational Structure:
There seems to be support for the existing basic structure of the
event to continue, in so far as it is organised by the local
clubs with a national co-ordinator and a steering committee
of reps. However the national co-ordination role is too big
for one person to handle and this role needs to be spread to
make the workload manageable.
From my own experience of organising the first event I suggest the following
structure for next time:
1. National Event Manager:
Overall Co-ordination role, chairs meetings, makes final
decisions etc.
2. Schedule Manager:
Arranges the route, stopover points and accommodation in
conjunction with the 7 local clubs.
3. Registration and Finance
Manager. Organises registrations, gets the event
booklets and documentation printed and distributed.
4. Clothing Manager. Arranges
clothing, takes orders, sends it out when received etc.
5. Publicity and Sponsorship
Manager: Prepares publicity material, posters, press releases,
interacts with sponsors etc.
6. Website Manager: Posts all
event material such as
background, registration, publicity material, route maps, dates,
clothing details, posters, etc etc
7. Plus one liaison rep
appointed from each of the seven clubs.
This represents a core working group
of 6 managers + 7 club reps = 13 organisers, and should
ensure the work load is evenly spread. I suggest it be
essential that all members of the organising committee be on email as
they will likely be spread about the country.
Possible Simplified
Structure: It would also be possible to strip down the
organisation of the event to a simple core. This would
eliminate sponsorship, publicity, registration fees, booklets,
event clothing, stickers, certificates, banners and name
tags etc, and provide just
a simple schedule of the event on the website with suggested
overnight stop venues. Participants
would just print this off, turn up, join in, and drive, and
be fully responsible for all their own meals and accommodation etc
etc. Each local club would just do what they did in the last
event in terms of arranging each days events and overnight
venues. In effect it
would revert to just being an extended club event joined end to
end to make a national run. Determining numbers might prove
difficult, so some limited registration might prove
necessary.
Decisions on the future events: The full support of the clubs is essential to
make any national event possible. The appropriate venue to discuss this is the national club presidents
meeting held annually at National Convention.
If you
have any thoughts on a 45th event, or have ideas on what form it should take,
make sure you tell your club officials so this can be reported and discussed at
national convention in October 2008. (If you are not a club
member, then you can still call or email your local club
officials with your thoughts anyway!)
Wal Marshall
Updates
25 June 2008
"Wal, For the
record I tabled at a recent Auckland Club committee meeting, your outline of a
possible run/event to celebrate the 45th Anniv. The Auckland Club would be
pleased to support what ever arrangement is decided on and as with the previous
40th run, we would be happy to be responsible for the arrangements of an event
for or through the Auckland area. This could be as part of a national event or
as a single event focused on the Auckland area. Again we are also keen to
support any plans for the 50th in 2014.
Ken Smith."
"Ive also had 3 emails from individuals who support the idea of a 45th event of
some sort. Wal Marshall"
