My thoughts of the International meet in SB.

[lugamatic]

As per your comment, i was told the local chapter only gets 5000.00 to keep. The question is who keeps the rest? I heard the count for the cars in southbend was 151 which was great. There was a lot of complaining about the banquet stations for food and that the business meeting was questionable also guests were highly confused about vendor night , but i am not posting this as a complaint because i did not register for any of these events, i am posting this as information for people who want to learn from others . Thanks

[Buzzard]

I'm glad most attendees were pleased. We cancelled partially due to the uncertain weather in the Rockies. It has been the longest, coldest spring in years. We are disappointed as we had really looked forward to finally meeting many of you in person. My suggestion is to perhaps hold the meet in say the first part of June when the weather Gods are more on our side. I know that would have cinched things for us. JMHO.
Cheers, Bill

[tim333]

196 cars in the parade......

[52-fan]

Like a lot of other things in my life, I don't like to complain about things like this. Someone is bound to tell me to step up and do it better. I appreciate the hard work even if things don't turn out as I liked.
The only real complaint I have is about the street layout and unsychronized traffic lights in South Bend and the local Chapter can't control those.

[thunderations]

How many in the 2012 parade when it was held in the summer? Perhaps some comparisons would show if a later date is more preferable. I know of some younger members that passed on the event due to having school age children and the travel time would have kept them out of school too long. Others are school teachers and can't take the time off. Weather in northern Indiana is very unpredictable in May, (born and raised there) and it caused many to either not attend or to not bring their Studebakers. Seems like the amount of work would be the same, no matter what time of year it was held.

196 cars in the parade......

[studeguy54]

Steve-O. The opinion posters here are right. As the head of the SDC International Meet Committee, working with the Michiana Chapter, countless months of hours of volunteer work have gone into the meet you attended last week. I'm sorry if we disappointed you by not having trinkets in a bag for you, but we decided a few years ago to do away with the superficial things that take a inordinate amount of time to gather and put in a bag, not to mention it has become more and more difficult to get the free pens, pencils, key chains, pocket calendars and stuff from local businesses.

Then, too, the Pre-Meet booklet that people picked-up on-site a few years ago has been done away with due to the cost of printing, many of the venues for tours changing, and just the fact that too few people even registered until 6-8 months out from the meet. We're trying to keep this meet affordable for you and the over 1700+ people who attended this year, in an environment when just about everything you touch has increased in price.

You're probably right that some people might have left if the winner of the car was announced first, however that drawing was not until Friday evening. I don't believe there was a reason to leave Members Night, as the food was excellent.

We're sorry you found so much to fault, but please feel free to offer to help. Volunteers are becoming a tough thing to find, and we value the opinion and help of all who offer. My email is below and I am open to comment at any time.

Denny Foust
SDC International Meet Committee Chairman

studeguy54@verizon.net

[tim333]

Denny, check your PM's please.
Tim

[8E45E]

How many in the 2012 parade when it was held in the summer? Perhaps some comparisons would show if a later date is more preferable. I know of some younger members that passed on the event due to having school age children and the travel time would have kept them out of school too long. Others are school teachers and can't take the time off. Weather in northern Indiana is very unpredictable in May, (born and raised there) and it caused many to either not attend or to not bring their Studebakers. Seems like the amount of work would be the same, no matter what time of year it was held.

I agree the month of May is too early to hold an outdoor meet in that part of the country. Indeed, the wind made it cold and miserable for viewing the cars. Not to mention, I thankfully did not drive my Studebaker there this year as I was more on a parts-gathering mission which included some larger pieces requiring a half-ton truck. After driving through some rain just west of Fargo, ND, on the Interstate, I did notice the familiar crystalline pattern of road salt on the sides of my F150 once it had dried. Apparently it had snowed in the region a couple of days previous, and there was still enough salt residue on the road surface to leave a liberal coating of it on one's vehicle. All know salt and Studes don't get along. That being said, I did get a lot of parts I needed at the Swap Meet which was excellent, with the highlight getting to visit with everyone once again. Perhaps the most fun was Ed's "Stude Tailgate Party" at the 'High-Performance Hilton'! (Thanks again, Ed & Cyndi for a wonderful time!!)

Craig

[pinehurstbob]

I participated in the 2012 and 2017 parade and my choice for a route would be the 2012 route. Seemed to me to be more direct with fewer lights to separate us. Had a blast both times and I will do it again if a parade is in the future. Perhaps some auxiliary police can be obtained since the City of South Bend supports this event? Just my 2 cents worth as this should decrease the load on volunteers.
Bob

[JRoberts]

Rather than air my complaints here, I will try to contact my Zone representatives. I would rather do that since it seems any negative comments are not welcome here without getting lambasted in the process.

[41 Frank]

[The hosting Chapter is Guaranteed an amount of $5000.00, In other words if they make $3000.00 or any other amount less than $5000.00 SDC only makes up the difference up to the $5000 guarantee. Any other moneys go to the SDC as they are the ones bankrolling the event. These meets have been losing thousands of dollars a year for several years now. All that comes out of the SDC treasury folks! Hence the reason for cutting down on things like fun night and other freebies. The fact that the city of South Bend chipped in a fair amount of funds helped a lot in trying to balance the budget.

Frank van Doorn
Director
QUOTE=lugamatic;1053153]As per your comment, i was told the local chapter only gets 5000.00 to keep. The question is who keeps the rest? I heard the count for the cars in southbend was 151 which was great. There was a lot of complaining about the banquet stations for food and that the business meeting was questionable also guests were highly confused about vendor night , but i am not posting this as a complaint because i did not register for any of these events, i am posting this as information for people who want to learn from others . Thanks[/QUOTE]

[Avantidon]

Frank, thanks for the comments as you are right on the money. These meets are costly but your IMC and Board continue to look at ways to reduce the cost you the members they serve and at the same time make sure they breakeven as well. In addition, the host chapter has options to raise their profits on the meet. An example of that was the gate admission collected at the Fairgrounds from those who attended the meet from the general public. Moving the show to Saturday, increased this revenue source by about 25% for the local chapter over the 2012 receipts when it was held on Thursday.

If you have not walked in the shoes of a local meet committee putting on an International Meet for the SDC, I am sure if you reached out to one they would be more than happy to explain to you all that goes into making a meet of this nature a success.

[Bob Henning]

How many in the 2012 parade when it was held in the summer? Perhaps some comparisons would show if a later date is more preferable. I know of some younger members that passed on the event due to having school age children and the travel time would have kept them out of school too long. Others are school teachers and can't take the time off. Weather in northern Indiana is very unpredictable in May, (born and raised there) and it caused many to either not attend or to not bring their Studebakers. Seems like the amount of work would be the same, no matter what time of year it was held.

That was my co-event in 2012. There were more Studebakers at this year's downtown event than in 2012. I am not sure about other areas, but around here there is much talk about school year round. There is no good time to have a meet anywhere. The results of the recent survey indicated that respondents wanted to have a meet not in the heat of Summer. As the Co-Chair for the 2012 Meet, I received a lot of complaints that the weather was too hot, and they roasted waiting for the judges to judge their car. We went through over 50 cases of water. Weather in Northern Indiana is unpredictable all the time, not just Spring. Just say, "Lake Effect" to anyone that lives around here and see their reaction. As I said a couple of times, to my knowledge we didn't have any cars vapor lock.

[jts359]

There should have been an awards banquet , Granted the food is not always great , But I always ran into old friends at them and enjoyed the comraderie , I don't want hear about subsidizing them , Charge what it cost , Ed

[swvalcon]

I myself had a great time. The buffet all though what food was there was all right was kind of a let down. Enjoyed the building 84 tour and the test track. It did have a slow start as they where waiting until the last minute for stragglers. Everyone knew it started early so get your butt out of bed. Fair grounds and cars great time. The parade was kind of a cluster but I think that was because of the time of day and the fact that it was a Friday. Traffic would cut in and then stop at the next light so we where strung out pretty good but in the end looked like everyone got there some how. I think the host club did a good job. Stayed at the host hotel and not as cheap as a motel 6 but no complaints. All you could eat for breakfast for $10. with coffee and juice. $3.00 16oz beers at night which is not bad for that kind of place. I expected both the food and beer to be higher. Lobby people where great and very friendly as where all the help. My brother and I walked around town when we got there Tue. Evening and hit a Jimmy Johns with $1.00 6" subs. Sure can't beat that. So all in all no real complaints. Met a lot of people from all over the country and even Canada.