Hot on the heels of our 4th, and most successful National Acura Legend Meet in Chattanooga, TN this year, we're ready to start working on the 2009 event. So gather 'round kiddies as I break it down! Starting 8/1/08, the NALM Committee (Tyson, Dave, Ben, Stevieray, and myself) will begin accepting Nationwide bids for host cities. It has been decided that the regional poll didn't really work for 2008, and opening it up for the entire country from the get go was the way to get more quality bids in by the deadline to ensure that our National Meet continues to remain fresh and enticing for all those planning on attending. Bid guidelines will remain unchanged from last year and are detailed below. The deadline for bid submission will be 12/1/08 which should leave approximately 6 months of planning time with the ground team of the winning bid to finalize the event.
What will you be looking for in my bid?
1. An overview of the event, the big picture, what is your vision for the event?
2. Suggested date. (3 day weekends are preferred but not mandatory)
3. What does your area have to offer other than NALM events? Think outside of the NALM box. What other attractions are there for families and those who want to get out and see the area in their free time. It is these kinds of attractions that will make or break the attendance of those traveling great distances or who will be bringing significant others or families along.
4. A collection of data that says your locale can support what you say it can.
Such as:
*What track(s) are you renting? Are they available on your date? What are the chances you will actually GET those dates?
*What hotels are available and convenient to surrounding events? What are their rates?
*A description of the area. Include details on the area itself, its accessibility, cruising opportunities (ie. driving roads), etc.
*What kind of photo opportunities are available?
How should I submit my bid?
You can submit your proposal however you want, as long as it isn't a post on the forums (feel free to ask questions or discuss ideas). We are looking for proposals to come in the form of email ( nationalacuralegendmeet@gmail.com ), word documents, PDFs, skywriting, whatever. If you prefer delivery by mail, email to the above address to get mailing addresses - You will be asked to send five sets of your mailed proposal to five different addresses (one to each of the board members).
When are bids due?
All bids are due by 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday December 1, 2008. Bids will be reviewed by the NALM Committee and the final selection will be announced on Friday, January 2, 2009.
Please keep in mind that a lot of planning and legwork go into pulling off these meets, so those of you who are already working on a bid need to select your ground team thoughtfully. A Ground Team Owner and a couple of Scouts seems to work best from what we can tell, but it's entirely up to you how you want to operate your bid. Once the winning bid is selected, and announcement will be made with the location and tentative dates - and then the ground team and committee will go to work finalizing the details and filtering that information out to the forum.
Get those bids done!!!
