Ad Hoc Get-Togethers

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Since I replied to Chris Vickery in the BB thread about a possible North Bay get-together, I've been mulling over the whole concept, all day. Methinks the issue is more complex than I made it out to be.

I'll reproduce what I said, to start:

......I welcome and will recognize and support any individual effort made by any of our membership to establish a show in their own stomping grounds mirroring the CC/BB operations. The requirements are loose but simple: that it not clash with any other show(s) which potential participants might attend; that proper accommodation and hygiene facilities be provided; that any necessary permits from local government(s) be obtained; that insurance issues be covered, either by the person(s) putting on the gathering or by the participants themselves; that the sale or consumption of alcohol to or by the vehicle drivers during the event be regulated while during the time when vehicles might be driven.

Common sense, most of it. Start small and build up - much more easily handled if kept within the 'family' until you're established (hell, I'm probably preaching to the converted, but what the hell). In any case, I'm sure others who have embarked upon this road will be happy to help with advce they've learned the hard way!

I wrote from the simplistic perspective of a prospective show looking for MLU endorsement; certainly in that case, I think the basic conditions outlined above do make sense, in terms of keeping all of us out of hot water.

But what defines a 'get-together'? In past, it's always started with a few buddies getting together to tell lies, swap stuff, maybe go out for a drive and then drink a whole lot of beer, eat BBQ'd steak or burgers and tell some more lies. Does this need to be formally organised as above? Beyond the no-brainer stuff, methinks not... after all, what could be simpler than some pals getting together for beer and a BBQ, with a liberal helping of CMPs on the side?

Where things might get complicated is when relatively unknown people start getting involved. Where MLUers might be a known entity through interaction with others on the forum, new blood is an unknown entity, perhaps requiring a bit more of a kid-gloves approach.

The same thing stands for parades through populated areas, or in the event spectators choose to polk around. We certainly welcome the latter to a degree, but how far does our responsibility extend?

Am I right or wrong here, and in either case, how?

In the nine years since I started MLU, we have seen the CMP market explode right across the world. Not that the trucks and their owners weren't there before (they were), but we as enthusiasts are far more focussed than we we were then, it seems.

I will repeat my introductory quoted statement that MLU will stand by anyone wanting to emulate the CC and BB exercises, perhaps - nay, inevitably - with their own unique wrinkles thrown in. Experience has shown you don't need to be a 'club' for this to work, and as has been done in past, MLU stands as your umbrella organisation and as your outlet for publicity beyond your own website or anything else you may come up with. Fair enough?

Now, I would appreciate your comments on this whole subject, as it seems this trend towards smaller, private operations may be spreading. Hurrah for that! It's about bloody time, I say. How can we make this as seemless and painless as possible for those wishing to take that step?

Over to you, my friends. Be as open as you wish.

Thanks,

Jif



PS: If anything I've said has offended anyone, I apologise - that was not my intent.