banquit

[sdiver68]

Hotel 71-

Very nice, and a steal at $79 + $32 = $111 for a renovated, modern, downtown Chicago Hotel with a view.   NO room for complaints there, in fact kudos are in order.

Kendall's/Banquet-

Cab ride was $12 for 3, each way.  Limo service was poor.  I didn't know what to expect at the place, and told my date (CYA) that club level racing is not glamorous at all.  Well guess what, it wasn't!  But, we made lemonade out of lemons and had a blast anyway.  I tipped $1 for every drink, hopefully that's enough  ::)  $25/PP entry was too high.

Getting awards in boxes was kind of cheesy (but easier to carry once you left the banquet), but the trophies themselves were nice.  I'm not a big awards guy but would like to have one of those :)  I did place 3rd in a couple of classes (and 6th and 9th Overall points) so its not like I'm a guy without a "vested interest".

Ended up at La Passage thanks to Tez and gang (see other post by OmniGLH), had a blast.

Maybe I just don't have as high of expectations as some others do???

Maybe I think that CLUB level racing is exactly that, if you want to go Pro maybe this isn't the right primary org for you.  But, if you are in the MW be prepared to double or more your traveling mileage and time.

Maybe I think that we have to work together to improve things.  Ask not what CCS can do for you....

All I know is get me on the grid with my friends and friends-to-be and the rest of this seems pretty trivial :)

[jim_p]

S-diver, You made some excellent points. To me $111 for downtown is Cheap and the parking etc.. no big deal. As far as the size of the room ?? could have been better. What warms my temper is the "Sit down and shut up!!" The awards in the boxes (granted for transport it was good) Oh well..  CCS has been around long enough to know the difference between Cheesy and nice.Bottom line, "give us your money" and if you don't like it go elsewhere.I'm sure Mr suave "shut up" will say some thing like "we just won't do this anymore" and that my friends will be what shows us how much we mean to there business.Give us what we pay for- try going to Sears, Pay for the new lawn mower and have the clerk tell you " we are really busy now, we will TRY to get the mower to you soon... No one would stand for paying for something at a retail store and not getting the service, Would You ?? The guy who suggested Rockford is on the money location wise. Now someone buy my "R-6 race package" so I can not have a heart attack B-4 my 34th B-day

[Super_KC124]

Not a misspelling, banquit, because if this is what we can expect for banquets in the future, I quit.

I hope you voiced you concerns with Kevin and Tiffeny at the banquet before you came on this forum and bashed them. Remember, mean people suck!

[Chef]

:)

And where the hell was Ike? I was looking forward to chillin with him but he no show like a mofo.  
  

im sure i missed everyone more than i was missed  :)

and by the sound of it, my frugal thoughts were on point. 25 bucks didnt sound bad, but i was certain that the expense was sure to grow, and yada yada yada....(i was working on sponsorship)

sounds like i wouldve been one to enjoy being amoung my peers more than the sittuation, but
i am also one who would be for the improvement of the gathering.

Super_Duck Dude,
i owizzle yizzle wizzle my brizzle, yet agizzle.....
(i owe you one, yet again)

[CCS]

First, the Bartenders and Waitresses were tipped $630, included in the $25.00. Any thing extra was nice but not necessary.  (I would like to make $30 - $50 an hour, wouldn't you?)

The distance from the hotel to Kendall's was 3.8 miles, 9 minutes in normal traffic for a normal car. The limo company stated they could not use that route, the car couldn't negotiate two of the turns. We had to trust them on what route they could take, because it wasn't revealed to us until the first party had been taken over to Kendall's, too late to change arrangements. There was no charge to the attendee's of Saturday night for the limo, (The food, drinks and tip were exactly $25 per person, ask Kendall's they will tell you.), it was added as a courtesy and all we get is grief because it wasn't what some expected.

Parking at the hotel was $11.00 for the weekend at the self-park just fifteen feet to the left of where the Valet parking for $32.00 was.

Normal rate of $169 per night rooms for $79 per night was pretty good considering the Days Inn and Comfort Inn wouldn't budge from their $129 per night. (And you still would have had to pay $10 per day for parking.)

Kendall's was inspected by people we trusted before the Awards Ceremony was scheduled there. They told us it would be great, we believed them, and by the time we saw it for ourselves it was too late to change. Seating capacity of Kendall's was listed as 300, we had 200 in attendance,  of which only 108 pre-registered.
 
Kendall's continued to bring out food up front until the line disappeared, and then they moved the food to the back of the room, which was announced several times. They served until well after 9:00pm.

I apologize to those whom I offended when I told everyone to sit down and shut up. As rude as that was, it was even ruder to have people continue to talk and laugh amongst themselves when a Champion was giving his or her speech. I felt that we were there to honor the racers who had given the effort and it angered me that there were people in that room who did not feel the same way. (And some of those even have the gall to complain in this thread!)  I lost my patience, as Chris put it, while trying to save the sinking ship. I guess I was mistaken when I thought that everyone would show each other the respect, courtesy and honor they deserved.

After years of complaints about the poor food and the high cost we get at these hotel banquets, we tried something different. (I had more than 50 complaints last year about the Mid-West banquet food and the price.) At least we listened and tried something different, obviously what made some people happy made others mad and some people are just unhappy no matter what you do.

For 19 seasons, CCS has only awarded the Regional Champions Trophies or plaques, certificates for 2nd through 5th. This has not changed. Stacey Clark and Nancy Adams were in charge of previous years certificates, if you did not receive them, please contact me.

Thanks to those who had the respect to address their comments to me personally before coming on here. I appreciate that. Ed Key's simple e-mail to us was more powerfull than Gordy's diatribe that started this.

Good Day.

[CCS]

In the spirit of Jack and Alexia's comments, CCS will gladly turn over to the racers the planning of the 2003 Awards Ceremony. For those who are interested, the parameters are:

1. Pick a date that everyone can make, stay off traditional dates such as the Super Bowl or the Daytona 500. (You want no excuses for riders to not attend your shindig.)

2. Make the location convenient to ALL racers in the region(s). Racers who competed regularly in the Mid-west, Great Plains and Great Lakes regions came from Minnesota, Iowa ,Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

3. The hotel/restaurant has to be flexible, crowd will be from 50 to 300 people, we won't know until the night of the dinner. (We had 108 pre-enter, 92 show up "unannounced" this year, 120 pre enter and 60 show up "unannounced" in 2002  and 150 pre-enter with 35 or so "unannounced" in 2001.)

4. Obtain a total price, including taxes, tips, set-up fees, room charge, bartenders, cash bar, public address system and any clean-up fees there may be. If it is a sit-down dinner or dinner buffet, you need to satisfy those who eat only meat and potatoes, vegetarians, and those who only eat "healthy" like chicken or fish. Must be under $35 per person total and include non-alcoholic beverages.

For an appetizer / finger food buffet, you must come up with a small variety of foods that will be acceptable to a very wide variety of people fro vegetarians to the meat lovers. Cost must be $15 or less and include non-alcoholic beverages

5. Negotiate a good room deal. No complimentary rooms for every 10-20, you want to get the discount spread over every room so it benefits everyone, not just a few.

6. Find an Emcee that won't offend the attendees. Pay scale is free dinner, must have prior experience and be acceptable to both CCS and racers.

Please e-mail me at kevinelliott@clearchannel.com with your intention to arrange next years Awards Ceremony, and I will choose a representative in each region to plan the 2004 event.

[SliderPhoto]

Kevin,

I am interested and volunteer to handle the banquet. My wife is THE wedding planner and has reviewed your criteria. We understand the difficulties. If an advocacy group is formed I will let them handle it, but regardless I'll volunteer and accept the responsibility.

In addition, I'd like to discuss the budget for certificates, trophies, and other awards.

I'll e-mail you.

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

Wow.  That was pretty strong.  Anyone planning on jumping at this opportunity?  I helped my wife plan our wedding, and threw a few biker parties back in the day.  Gosh, was that fun.    NOT!!!  Now I just say "Here is where I'll be.  I'll see ya or I won't."

Lex, you know I luv ya.  You did an incredible job of not offending me as you disagreed.  Seriously though.  I invented, got approved for, and ran a motorcycle parade in my town for four straight years.  This parade happened the weekend after Chicago Toys for Tots, and was essentially the same idea.  My run always ended in a bar, and had the food/drink/entertainment/space/emcee issues that Kevin brings up.  After four years of devoting 3 months of my spare time each year to the project, I decided to step down.  There was such a rush of people clamoring to take my place that the run never happened again.  For God's sake, I had an entire notebook full of contacts, form letters and documents that I had created, and a long list of people and buisnesses who would help the cause.  There was no longer any research required.  All someone had to do was take the ball and run with it.  No takers.
Organizing this kind of thing sucks.  I truly doubt that Tiffany, Kevin, or anyone else from CCS decided to cook up a really bad awards banquet in order to piss off the racers.  Sometimes we prepare hard for a race, but then we crash or blow up, and the result is not what we expected.  I have been quite vocal about lost pre-entries, lack of practice, track days run during our practice, and a number of other gripes, so you know that I have no problem criticizing CCS when I feel they've done something wrong.  Honestly, I don't feel that the banquet debacle was in any way the result of meanness or a lack of effort.  Kevin is right on target.  Anyone who thiinks they want to take responsability for next year should jump right up and be counted!  

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

Jack, you're a brave man, a glutton for punishment, a fool, and a hero.  Call me if you need someone to cover your back...
K3

[unforgivenracing]

I was at the bike show and knew of Kendells.  I made other plans.  (I was'nt getting any awards anyway)  Sorry, If I was'nt already planning to go to a larger dive I would have stood out side with a Clown and handed out ballons to you all.  I saw this comming awhile back.  I was even tempted to change my mind and go later, when I found out a friend was going to be there.  I'm not impressed with the new pace managment team, and I think they know It.  I used to think it truly was about the piggy-bank, but after hearing that about a open bar.  I think I would take it a judgemental,anal-retentiveness, and to speak futher would not be P.C.

[the_weggie_man]

Jack and Alexa, there is a group that is a go between from racer to CCS. They are the regional race director and staff. They should be getting information, complaints or compliments to CCS and solving your problems during the year. Nobody should have to go beyond them to get things handled. I doubt seriously that CCS would recognize an outside group of racers.  

KC 124, no, I got on here and blasted away before I sent anything to Kevin. Notice the time on my post, 3:09 a.m., I sent it after I drove home from the banquet. Then I sent a message to Kevin and we are playing email tag right now.I did not send anything seperately to Tiffanny because I'm quite sure Kevin will share.

Why am I so disappointed with the banquet some of you may ask. Because I think the racers, workers staff and everyone else involved with this sport deserves a better effort than what was presented. And think of this.  Clear Channel prides itself in being one of, if not the largest entertainment promoter in the world and we have to put up with stuff like Saturday night. Let me ask you, WHY?

CCS probably has the smallest budget of any of their organizations, why? Because we don't make enough money for them? No, we don't pack the stands with thousands of people like the monster trucks, supercross or concerts they promote, does that mean we should not get a decent banquet to honor the guys that spend their hard earned money to race with CCS?

Yeah, we can have a good time getting together anywhere. Does that mean we have to settle for less from CCS? If you guys don't demand better you won't get better. Why are some of you willing to accept mediocrity? This is your organization. It is made up of members that pay an annual membership fee (your license) as well as pay dearly all year long for the privilege (?) of racing with CCS.

If you guys are willing to accept what they are giving you then go ahead. I will sit back and remain silent. It's your organization, do with it what you will.  ;D

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

Gordy, I really can understand where you are coming from.  Yes, the banquet was disappointing compared to previous years, and yes, that upset me.  I'm just not willing to burn anyone at the stake for it.  Having been in the position of "organizer" myself, I can easily imagine the screwups that led to the situation we all faced.  Trying to set up a party 1000+ miles from where you live is a daunting task.  I'm sure that we can all armchair quarterback this thing to death and figure out EXACTLY how it should have been handled.  My boss is fantastic at that.  
I guess I'll reiterate what I said before.  I don't think that the snafu that was our banquet was anything other than the result of people trying to do the job right, but coming up short.  I may have earned a stack of awards this year, but I spent 2 seasons and thousands of dollars doing it wrong before I finally found the formula for success at an amateur level.  White plates for 2003 mean that I must start the process all over again.  
Did Tiffany plan the banquet?  She's 22 years old, man!  How many times do you think she's planned something like this before?  Do you think she's embarrased by the way things went?  I consider Tiffany to be my friend, but she wouldn't even smile at me that night.  She was definitly NOT basking in the sweet glow of success at that point.  Do you think she'll be much more experienced and wary if she's given the same task next year?  Honestly, I felt sorry for her that night.
In my opinion, it's right to be disappointed, but wrong to be angry.  I had built that banquet up in my mind to be the best night of my life, and in spite of the problems, I was not disappointed.  As Lex and Rhiannon are so fond of saying, "PMA!!!  Positive Mental Attitude!"
In the last few weeks, I've said the same thing on several threads.  CCS is a corporate entity.  Kevin, Tifanny, and the rest are employees of that company.  They must deal with the repurcussions of what corporate decides, pass the word on to us, and deal with our anger.  Tough job!  These people could be working elswhere, but they chose CCS because they love motorcycle racing.  Perhaps it is time for us as a group to find out how to go over their heads.  CCS has a hiring freeze on right now, so Kevin, Tiffany, and co-workers will continue to be overworked.  Is the situation likely to get better?  I doubt it.
Recently, I did a job exactly the way my foreman told me to.  I knew that it was a bad, even dangerous idea, but I had no choice except to do what I had been told.  The end result was a major snafu, resulting in a fair amount of property damage.  Needless to say, the foreman lied his @$$ off at the inquery, and now I'm facing a suspension.  Perhaps this is why I can feel some empathy for the CCS brass.  Kevin doesn't own CCS, after all.  He's an employee with a boss.  I'll bet he has a comittee of bosses, and they probably don't listen to much that he has to say.  Would you want his job?  There are many thing wrong with the way our club is being run, but I suspect that we may be blaming the wrong people.
OK, I'm done with this thread.  Sorry Gordy.  You have always had, and will continue to have my highest respect.  I hope you won't take it personally that I've disagreed with you on a few points here.