Banquet Suggestions

[TiffineyIngram]

Howdy, howdy, howdy!!!!  It's that time again to start thinking about getting all dolled up and get your hard earned "ROCK ON!!!" from your buddies here at CCS!!!  With that in mind, I would like to open the topic of where y'all think would be a good location for the combined banquets.  First, the Mid Atlantic and Southeast banquets will be combined.  Where would a good (and fair) central location be?  Any suggestions of a hotel, sports bar, etc is that can handle up to 400 of y'all?  Second, the Midwest, Great Plains, and Great Lakes banquet is combined and will be on February 8th in Chicago in conjunction with the International Motorcycle Show that weekend.  Any good suggestions on a place to hold this shindig?  I'm looking at a place called "Joe's Bar"--a very large sports bar in Chi-Town.  As for Pacific and Southwest regions, your banquets are separate, but will be on the Saturday of your first race (just like this year).  PC, we'll probably stick with our usual, SW, please suggest!  I'm looking for somewhere nice, but casual, where y'all can have a good time, a few appetizers (no sit-down dinners this year), and rag on all your buddies.  Thanks, and keep up the great season!!!

[Eric Kelcher]

South central is scheduled Dec 7 Green Oaks Hotel, Ft. Worth, Tx link

[r6_philly]

sountheast and mid-atlantic banquet combined? That would mean the central location would be somewhere in NC to be fair. Maybe RDU. I would love to attend the banquet, but I don't know if I would spend $100(gas and tolls) and room for one night plus the ticket to go to it. I would rather save the money for a race weekend.

DC would be far more reasonable for us.

So maybe the SE and MA should not be combined

[TZDeSioux]

For the midwest/greatlakes banquet..  I suggest either the Admiral Theater or the skybox in Harvey  ;D

[sportbikepete]

Damn I was wanting to go but NC is going to be way to far.

[am125ike]

For the midwest/greatlakes banquet..  I suggest either the Admiral Theater or the skybox in Harvey  ;D

are you saying that you'd be able to pay attention to the trophy presentations with those topless, thongclad, soft skinned beings rubbin allll up against you.
   you'd here your name called, if you were called?, no nipples would fall into any of the many photos due to be taken, are you saying that you'd be interested in a trophy over a Beer, a long island iced tea, martini, rum and coke or crown strait up? are you insinuating that anyone (after 30 mins.) would be paying attention to anything other than the vast array of uhh...how should i put this???.....vast array of nipples, bellies and arses ???  hey, you know variety IS the spice of sex, i mean, life  ;D
 i vote the skybox out, doesnt sound rite :-X ...
but after the bangqwik, maybe they'll still have the doors open  8)

[TiffineyIngram]

Uh...perhaps I should have been a bit more specific in my request...I was just about to look up what "Harvey" was before Ike's post...
How's about we all agree that the banquet facilities need to be G rated?  Remember, some of you lucky guys have little ones and wives that might not enjoy some of the "environments" that others of y'all might love.   ;)
Please, guys, I'm going to look into your suggestions, so even if you don't think it would be a great idea, it might sound great to the rest of us.  I just think a little change from the boring banquet halls would be nice.  Would y'all rather just stick with the same format that we've been using in the past?  Like have the awards ceremony at a hotel?

[r6_philly]

Dave & Busters in DC or here in Philly - most of the fast guys are from PA,NJ anyway  ;D

Or Jillians, somewhere with fun and games, restaraunt and a bar would be really nice

[TreyBone]

Why don't the SE and MA just have it at a VIR race like we did this year?  That is the most logical.  Most of the racers will be there for racing anyway.

[EX#996]

Tiffiney:

I like your original suggestion for the MW.

Dawn :)

[Super Dave]

G rated?  You mean like G string?

Don't know Chicago very well, but I someone knows some place cool that would be great.

There is some bar called PLAYERS in Chicago that has helped support some racers.  Don't know much more than than, but there is that connection.

[wera331]

I'm in the mid-atlantic, south east and I'd go to n.c. no problem. :)

[bfkidd]

We have a Jillians here in Raleigh. How about it?

[TiffineyIngram]

What is a "Jillians"?  You guys threw me off with Harvey's so I'm a little skeptical...for good reason.   ;)  Come on, guys, this is your banquet, tell me what you want.  Do you really want the boring dress up thing you had last year?  If you do, that's fine, we can make that happen, I just thought a change was in order.  Please, any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated.  And Ike, you know I love ya babe, but give me a break--let's give me only serious suggestions.  :-*

[B-MAC]

I like the idea of Dave & Busters for the MA banquet. It is in White Flint mall in Bethesda, MD I beleive. If you were to combine the MA and SE banquets, somewhere like Charlottesville (sp) VA would be pretty good or even Fredericksburg VA right off of 95, cause there are a lot of guys from PA that are MA and NC would be too far away.

[am125ike]

G rated?  You mean like G string?
Don't know Chicago very well, but I someone knows some place cool that would be great.
There is some bar called PLAYERS in Chicago that has helped support some racers.  Don't know much more than than, but there is that connection.

actualy this may be the same place that my Race Team Acapelo teammate, Sean Wyatt  ::) introduced me to (and maybe he'll comment on this subject)...
this place may have to be check out for size, but they have "two wheeled tuesdays" showing wsb and ama races on the big screen starting at 7pm or so. owned by a car racer guy, very profesional, very attractive, foriegn waitresses, clean place, but good luck parking  :-/ .....
if it will hold the party, i (seriously) think it would be a great place   8)

dont have the address, but its north side chicago, near armatige and ashland or something another....
sean, help...

[wera331]

What date were you thinking of for the mid atlantic/south east?

[xlr8tn]

I second the Dave & Busters idea for MA.

[spyderchick]

Re: MW banquet
{alexa puts her soap box in place} Ahem. For what my two cents is worth, I'd like to see the banquet held at a Hotel facility. First off, I feel that we are honoring the athletes that have participated to their fullest, mind, body and pocket book. It's kind of nice to see what we all look like cleaned up. We all can go to a sports bar anytime, and even the nice ones will not have the air of ceremony a hotel can provide.

Now for less subjective reasons:
How many people do you think are going to be enjoying some liquid libation? Should they get carried away, these same people will have to drive home or to a hotel. Let's give them the safe option of being able to stay put.

There are a few racers in the MW who are not of legal drinking age, and at least one who is a minor. Even though a sports bar would not  prevent these racers from accepting an award at that facility, a hotel facility is a more appropriate place for them. (they might argue differently.)

For racers with children in tow, numerous hotels offer child care. Another valuable option.

Many hotels offer discounted rates if an event is held in one of their rooms. Discounts are good.

As far as the proposed weekend, in conjuntion with the bike show...most excellent idea. Many of us from the Wisconsin area already attend the show, so we can coordinate an entire experience. I think we might get better attendance.

Tiffany, good luck with all the details!

{alexa hands off the soapbox to the next speaker}

[HandleThis66]

Hi Tiffany... not to take mommies side, but after conferring with Dean last night... the sportsbar is not the #1 rated choice.  We came to the terms that neither one of us would be in any shape to operate even a remote control vehicle, come the conclusion of the evening, to get to a hotel.  Also, Meghan is 16 and going to be accepting her award in a bar...I'm not real hip on that, but I'm also not familiar with the banquet facilities available at this sportsbar.  And also, we have numerous racer friends attending with newborns and toddlers.  I don't think they'd like the smokey atmosphere for their kiddo.  Plus I'd like to get nice and primped for a big night out (since it never happens) and I have to side with Mommy again on the issue...I can go to a sports bar any night of the week.  The specialty of this occasion deserves a special genre.  But the date of the banquet is an awesome idea!  I like the hotel thing, it's worked in the past, and I think Chicago has a lot of great choices for us.  Just something to ponder ;D.  Thanks for the great heads up on the subject, and the diplomatic presentation.  Much appreciated!!!  See ya soon - Rhiannon

[pmoravek]

Dave & Busters for Mid Atlantic is my vote too.

[Jeff]

So since there is a call to have this G rated (I'm saying PG-13 would be good), I guess I don't have to ask if it's okay to bring my kids along?  I'm planning on it since I dragged them to 12 weekends of racing.

I gave up drinking to go faster on the track (don't call me a quitter, it worked!), so a bar, library or anything in between would be fine with me...

The one thing I find funny though is how IKE was the one who knew those two joints were strip bars!  :o

[TrophyGal]

Re:  Mid-Atlantic / Southeast banquet

Tiff - I think combining the banquets is a GREAT idea.  There are so many who race both regions (and thus have overlapping region championships) that it just makes sense.

I agree that RALEIGH is a pretty good choice.  Considering Southeast riders come FL, GA, SC, AL, NC - and Mid-Atlantic from VA, WVA, MA, NY, PA - it seems a pretty good split.

Is there a Dave & Busters in Raleigh?

Oh, BTW, wait 'til you guys see the Regional Champ trophies ... they're awesome!

[am125ike]

The one thing I find funny though is how IKE was the one who knew those two joints were strip bars!  :o

ah  ah  ahhh......
hold up there jeffie..  the skybox is the only one that ive ""heard of""   ;D
i dont know the other place that TZ mentioned.... and the players club is a sports bar that i have actualy viewed some WSB with a black and tan, only there once, i, i  i dont get out much ::) .... never have  :-/ ......

  and ont the hotel banquet setting and the kidds and things, i like it !
too bad i wasnt able to make gateway this past weekend, i'd of possibly finished 5th in gto... and is there a cert for the top 5 or no ???
  jeff, you should know this one, you're soooo observant ...
    and wheres your wife anyway, she wont let you talk to me this way!!

[TiffineyIngram]

Hey Jeanne!  Aren't the trophies cool?  I'm keeping them a secret--that way everyone is surprised when they see them.  What do you think?  They're just so awesome, I think it's fair to keep the suspense up!!!   ;)

[TreyBone]

I don't know about the rest of you guys or gals but, the hotel banquet room thing sounds good to me. Just make sure there will be liquor involved. This is our time (the racers and staff) and we should be able to be loud and cut up like a new pair of scissors. ;D  Don't get me wrong. I have a child too. But I am not even considering bringing her to the function. I don't think any banquet event or (pit stud contest) should be curbed because children might attend. If we are gonna get down and party and have a night to remember ( or not remember ) don't take away our fun because children might be there. Leave the tikes at home.

[TreyBone]

Oh, I almost forgot.  I will vote for Raleigh as a location for the MA/SE banquet.  Like someone said earlier, that is the most central for both regions and it is on the interstate as well.  There are a few places that you can get banquet rooms with hotel rooms.

Brownstone
North Raleigh Hilton
or  MY HOUSE ;D

[Jeff]

Hey Jeanne!  Aren't the trophies cool?  I'm keeping them a secret--that way everyone is surprised when they see them.  What do you think?  They're just so awesome, I think it's fair to keep the suspense up!!!   ;)

Speaking of trophies, when are you going to come out with the final results?