2008 DRTC Nats Registration is Open!

[bad360rt]

The moment you've all been waiting for, registration is open! The cost for this year's National Meet is $150 for paid DRTC members ($30 cheaper than last year), $195 for non-members and $25 for guests. Please use the webform on this link to register, and then pick your payment option:

http://www.rtmods.com/DakotaRTclub/natmeet_reg_temp.htm

Here's the basic outline of the schedule we're looking at:

August 12th: Preregistration & Viper Plant Tour
August 13th: Show & Shine at the Chrysler Museum
August 14th: Auto-x at the Chrysler Compound & Off-road Jamboree at Mounds Recreational Park
August 15th: Drag racing at Milan
August 16th: Woodward Dream Cruise

For full details, go here:

http://www.dakotart.com/meets.htm (click on the pdf link, bottom left)

Remember that the meet is open to anyone, not just R/T's, so come out and have a great time! See you there! :biggthumpup:

[BTLFED R/T]

:rockwoot::hail::drive:

Do work fellas! Don't miss this one!

[uwntsumrtII]

WOOT!!! LET'S GET IT ON!!! :burnout:

[slvr03dakrt]

Well I am going to try my hardest to make it up there this year. It is going to depend on the money situation this 408 build is costing me a shit-ton of money. When is the lastest we can register I will know prob. a month or so before if I will be able to make it. It really just depends on how much money i can make between now and then.

[Trueblue R/T]

Great news.. but I have to ask ,,"off road jamboree" for our club I don't get it..

[BTLFED R/T]

Well I am going to try my hardest to make it up there this year. It is going to depend on the money situation this 408 build is costing me a shit-ton of money. When is the lastest we can register I will know prob. a month or so before if I will be able to make it. It really just depends on how much money i can make between now and then.

If you're mailing in your fees, July 25th is the cutoff. If using Paypal, August 7th is the cutoff.

[BTLFED R/T]

Great news.. but I have to ask ,,"off road jamboree" for our club I don't get it..

It's just a little mud, how bad could it be?! :jester:

Nah, since attendance has been so low, Rob decided to create an event that would bring in the 4x4 guys as well. I think it's a great idea!

[slvr03dakrt]

I will deff.know something by then jason.

[BTLFED R/T]

I will deff.know something by then jason.

:goodluck:

[BryanRT360]

WOOT!!! LET'S GET IT ON!!! :burnout:

off topic
rob your sig is sick wit it:rockwoot:

[uwntsumrtII]

off topic
rob your sig is sick wit it:rockwoot:

thanks :biggthumpup: i got bored last night :woot:

[1LoudRT]

we should side bet which noobie will win the rims! :)

[razman131]

Great news.. but I have to ask ,,"off road jamboree" for our club I don't get it..

must be for the non-R/T club members that have 4X4`s.....

wats not to get *ducks....*

[Trueblue R/T]

Well ok since you asked;I'm all for the club having non R/T dakotas at the event,,but I think having a off road event detracts from the autox and divides the reasources of the club a little thin..Club officers will have to be at both events,,insurance will have to be provided for both events,,ect,,ect..Like i said I'm all for other dakotas taking part [we need the new blood] but I do think they should fall under the auspice of [sport trucks] in other words built or modded or working towards the original R/T concept...And I have nothing against 4x4's there are some really neat ones over on DD,,I have even voted for one for TOTM the last two month..Anyway that is just my opinion and you asked,,see you didn't have to duck afterall..

[bad360rt]

I don't think the 4x4 jamboree will detract from the autox at all, since they attract two completely different crowds. Plus the 4x4 jamboree is run by the recreational park, so it won't take any club resources. I think it's good to have something to offer guys who aren't into racing. This is a trial run, we'll see how many people it attracts and whether or not it's worth doing in the future. But at least no one can say that we're inviting non R/T's and not offering them anything :biggthumpup:

[Kbabiasz]

IF i wanted to show up just for the main show off on the 13th, would i have to pay the $150 or whatever it is? I dont own an R/T and i dont plan on being part of the show, i would just like to show up and see the trucks

[Rick Adams]

IF i wanted to show up just for the main show off on the 13th, would i have to pay the $150 or whatever it is? I dont own an R/T and i dont plan on being part of the show, i would just like to show up and see the trucks

Spectators are always welcome! You being so close, be sure to check out the hotel parking lots in the evenings; its almost the best part of the Nationals.... :biggthumpup:

[Trueblue R/T]

Spectators are always welcome! You being so close, be sure to check out the hotel parking lots in the evenings; its almost the best part of the Nationals.... :biggthumpup:


ALMOST LOL I'll bet there are two dozzen people on this list who can tell you who did what stupid in what parking lot,,how many motels we have been banned from..There are many who would go and pay the meet fees me included just for the parking party..:D:rockwoot::rockwoot::D

[1LoudRT]

I have to say I was pleased with the hampton last year- They didn't say SHIT!!! left us all as we were- but we kept things pretty calm. Good crowd

[Kbabiasz]

Well heres my problem. I would be willing to pay the fee and participate in all if not most of the events, problem is, idk if i will or can get the time off of work. I just started this job in January and only have so much vacation time available to me and i think im using some of it in june to go down to Kentucky.

I would be up for everything except the auto-X(if it is what i think it is) and the maybe drag racing

and would i be considered a member or non member?

[1LoudRT]

The only way you can be considered a member is if you pay the years dues to be a member of the dakota r/t club. mIf you haven't done son then you are a non-member. I know last year it was an all or nothing- they did not split costs- If you wanted in then you paid for the whole thing- If you don't participate in everything then thats on you. Hope this helps!

[BTLFED R/T]

It's free to come hang out, and I don't see a problem with you even parking with us at the show. All the participating trucks will have window placcards. Come on out and enjoy the day, if that's all you can do. :biggthumpup:

[uwntsumrtII]

come on everyone, lets get registered and make this meet happen :rockwoot:

[03dakrt]

Money sent

[Kbabiasz]

It's free to come hang out, and I don't see a problem with you even parking with us at the show. All the participating trucks will have window placcards. Come on out and enjoy the day, if that's all you can do. :biggthumpup:

I have no problem paying, I just can see paying full price but only being able to take part in part of the events

[uwntsumrtII]

Money sent

thanks Dave :biggthumpup:

[uwntsumrtII]

I have no problem paying, I just can see paying full price but only being able to take part in part of the events

i forgot, what events did you want to attend?

if we broke it down to individual event payments i don't think there would be any way we could afford all the events.

[Kbabiasz]

i forgot, what events did you want to attend?

if we broke it down to individual event payments i don't think there would be any way we could afford all the events.


I would like to show up at the mounds if people go and i can get time off but at the moment i would just be able to show up for the show and shine and then the dream cruise.

And how do you figure you cant afford it? Im assuming that many of these events have some sort of discount or a group rate. And if you broke it down you could charge full coverage price for the particular event/s. Or does the money go towards more then just the events?

[BTLFED R/T]

It's going to be about $10K to put this event on. $150 x the 45 people say that say they are coming= us already being in the hole. There is alot of other costs associated, awards, meals, some giveaways and raffles, printing all the meet packets, lanyards, etc, etc...We would love to be able to break it down, but we just can't. The dragstrip rental alone is $5k, while that may be discounted, that the most we've ever paid. This could be the last meet we hold due to lack of attendance and ever rising costs for everything.

[Kbabiasz]

It's going to be about $10K to put this event on. $150 x the 45 people say that say they are coming= us already being in the hole. There is alot of other costs associated, awards, meals, some giveaways and raffles, printing all the meet packets, lanyards, etc, etc...We would love to be able to break it down, but we just can't. The dragstrip rental alone is $5k, while that may be discounted, that the most we've ever paid. This could be the last meet we hold due to lack of attendance and ever rising costs for everything.

Not to start a problem or anything but if there is a lack of attendance, dont go so big. Make it a weekend long thing, or a thurs-sunday type deal. Slapping in the middle of a week, even though its months down teh road, cancels it for a lot of people. Instead of going big like this one, you could do one in florida, have everyone gather for a friday night party or some small event friday, do a universal studios theme park type deal on saturday and do teh show and shine, raffle, and dinner or whatever on sunday. Theres just as much fun with half of the cost.

You have to factor in that on top of the $150+ people pay for this event, they also have to pay for gas and im sure those 5.9's and other big motors arent easy on gas. then theres food and travel time, and if they have kids or family. Theres more outside of just the truck family that people have to worry about that might hold them back.

[uwntsumrtII]

Not to start a problem or anything but if there is a lack of attendance, dont go so big. Make it a weekend long thing, or a thurs-sunday type deal. Slapping in the middle of a week, even though its months down teh road, cancels it for a lot of people. Instead of going big like this one, you could do one in florida, have everyone gather for a friday night party or some small event friday, do a universal studios theme park type deal on saturday and do teh show and shine, raffle, and dinner or whatever on sunday. Theres just as much fun with half of the cost.

You have to factor in that on top of the $150+ people pay for this event, they also have to pay for gas and im sure those 5.9's and other big motors arent easy on gas. then theres food and travel time, and if they have kids or family. Theres more outside of just the truck family that people have to worry about that might hold them back.

the rental rates are cheaper during weekdays

[slvr03dakrt]

Not to start a problem or anything but if there is a lack of attendance, dont go so big. Make it a weekend long thing, or a thurs-sunday type deal. Slapping in the middle of a week, even though its months down teh road, cancels it for a lot of people. Instead of going big like this one, you could do one in florida, have everyone gather for a friday night party or some small event friday, do a universal studios theme park type deal on saturday and do teh show and shine, raffle, and dinner or whatever on sunday. Theres just as much fun with half of the cost.

You have to factor in that on top of the $150+ people pay for this event, they also have to pay for gas and im sure those 5.9's and other big motors arent easy on gas. then theres food and travel time, and if they have kids or family. Theres more outside of just the truck family that people have to worry about that might hold them back. What No racing:jerkit: Isn't that why everyone goes.

[Kbabiasz]

YES THIS IS A LOT OF SHIT TO READ BUT IT MIGHT HELP SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD



the rental rates are cheaper during weekdays

but running weekdays makes you lose people running weekends might cost a little more, but more people would be able to come because there is a greater chance of getting time off and it could be a family event, kids dont have school on weekends so those with kids could come, a lot of people dont work weekends so theres more people.

Do something other then racing?
I dont know how the money on the other end works but by what i have read about the lack of attendance and ever rising costs, in my opinion leaves a couple options.....

(THIS IS GOING BY THIS MEET ONLY and the info i have, I have no knowledge of the previous meets or attendance at those meets)

1. Keep running the meet like you are and hope that somewhere something picks up(i.e. attendance or economy picks up to lower prices.)

2.Make the meet a weekend long thing. sure you might not fit a ton of events in like this one but it opens new doors for people to come, less of a hassle to show up on a weekend then it is during the week, like i explained above.

3. Advertise more. During the last dakotausa meet, they advertised on like 3-4 forums and they attracted 30-40 trucks, that doesnt include people who brought family or people who couldnt drive their trucks so the teamed with somone else, and there were more that signed up but couldnt make becuase of money or work. This year, i took over advertising and i sent out 400+ invites on myspace, now given i sent out about 200 and screwed those invites up twice cuz of image codes and myspace being gay but overall i sent out 400+ invites to people. Thats just myspace. Dakotausa.com has 5000+ members, DAK-DUR has 6000+ members, Myspace has between 1000-2500 people in dakota groups alone, thats not counting other mopar/dodge/car groups. Facebook has about 700 in one of the groups. Car domain has 3000+ members. Then there are the other dodge/mopar/dakota/truck sites.
Given a lot of those might be repeat people but if you send them a invite 2x or more im sure they will let you know. And thats a lot of people. A small group of 10 people advertising could easily knock out a few thousand of those, especially if i can do 400+ by myself in less then a week. Then there is advertising outside the internet. Dak-dur has buisness cards that members can pass out to people they see or meet on the road or in a parking lot, this brings in new people.

4. I know this is a truck group but if attendance is lacking, look to other models in the dodge community to join the meet, even if you keep everyone seperate it will give smaller groups a chance to do a national meet. It will open the doors to even bigger meets then what has already taken place. You dont have to keep it just dakotas and durangos.

5. Try and find some sponsors, usually they will eat up some of the costs if they can sell stuff and advertise. Yes it is hard to get sponsors but if you push and have all the right materials together it could happen.

6. Do fund raisers over the year. Do raffles or start a truck magazine specifically for dakota and durangos. I know there are some people who can photoshop a mag together and make it look professional. For publishing you can look to a company like the one that does car and driver or truckin etc. To get more funds to publish, let companies advertise parts and rims. Parts companies are always looking to find new mags to put their stuff into. If you cant find people on here to make a mag, look to people outside of here like on Photoshopedup.com, some of these guys can do crazy work and im sure if you offered some cash they would jump on board. Besides, I would be willing to pay the $24-$30 for a year subscription, especially since i do it for truckin and there are rarely any dakotas in it. I have basic-advanced PS skills, that flyer i posted in the other thread took less then 10min for me to throw together and it looks pretty good so a mag shouldnt be to hard to do.

7.Try and combine other meets with your meet. A big problem this year is the National R/T meet is the week of the woodward dream cruise, and is a month before dakotaUSA national meet which limits people who can go to both cuz of cash, work, and family. And though our meet isnt as big, there is an additional 20+ people that could pay and come. Dak-dur doesnt have a national meet that im aware of, so start one there and tie it into this one.

8. I know these meets are based on location and locations are picked by members. But if it gets bad try and to stick to one location and create a partnership with that location

EXAMPLE:
Cedar point, you host your meet there one year. you do the show and shine then you hit both parks, one park one day, and the other the next day. You do the group rate thing. at the show shine you attract a lot of guests, take pics. Turn around and send them to CP managers and say check this out, if you can help sponsor our meet and or give us a discount price, we would be willing to do a truck show for you. this will not only help you money wise but it will give you a place that you can count on when meet time comes. This can be done with many places. Dakotausa meet this year is in the same location it has been the past 2 years and its still just as fun. Locations will be willing to help you out if they can see some sort of profit from it, even if they have to give you a discount or if they have to shell out some cash themselves


IF you are serious about the attendance being low and this possibly being the last meet because of costs, you have to revise how you put these together. Best way to do that is to shrink the meet to help shrink the costs, and then re-build from there. OR take a couple of the options above, throw them together and see what you get.

I know im new here and not a contributing member, but i am willing to help in any way possible. I dont know if any of my suggestions are worth anything, or if it brings some new ideas or something to think about but is just my opinion on what could be done to help. I took on advertising for the dakotausa meet on my on accord and i will never get anything from it and thats fine with me, as long as i know that i did what i could to help keep it around. And im sure there are others out there that are willing to help to keep this around.

[Kbabiasz]

Have you priced weekdays VS weekend hotel rates? Another thing to factor for the people who attend the meets. Some fly out. It is cheaper to fly during the slower days as well. Oh, and from some places I called for 2009's possible events...the rate for racing during the weekday is half what it is for the weekend.
If the next meet ends up on the west coast, i'm going to contact magazines in advance. I like your idea about contacting people at cardomain. That would be a great way to advertise!
4) This is a DAKOTA R/T club meet! Non r/t's are welcome and really help keep our attendences up. It is also nice to see non R/T's and I don't mind having anyone that wants to participate and have gen 1-2 daks, rams, and durangos. But it is supposed to be a special event to celebrate our trucks. Kind of the purpose of having the meets.

i'm gonna stop there for now.

Well then someone should make polls asking people what they want, do they want it during the week or prefer a weekend, do they want to spend less or more to have it at those times, make a public poll on all the sites you advertise on and go from there.

And yes This is an R/T club, but it doesn't mean that this site cant start a sister site dedicated to everything else and then tie in the two national events. This will not only keep you guys separate but it will give bigger attendance.

Sometime in order to save something special, some sacrifices have to be made and most of the time, its for the better


Oh and to get magazines to come in and do their thing takes a lot of work from an outsider. You have to show them that this is something worth being part of, not that its not, but to them this is just another show, you have to show them and explain to them why this event stands out above the rest and should be taken very seriously. Also it helps to send them pics and info and contact information and to call them directly, not email or mail them

[uwntsumrtII]

i'm not gonna get into a bitch session with you. this is the way it's been done for years.....

[Trueblue R/T]

Intresting and glad to see you putting up some ideas.. Here are a few things I see,,first we are a club of racers,,I for one am not going to drive over a thousand miles to a event where we don't race and I like it all drags and autox..You talk about Dakota USA having 6,000 members and they pulled what 30 trucks to their meet.. To me that is a flop but then again I'm not going to drive half way across the country to camp out..
We have had meets with in excess of 100 R/T's but I am afraid that day is passed so things have been opened up to other dakota /durango models and this is good..The gas crunch is hurting everyone and that makes attendance tough..Shoot just a few years back this club might and did have 50 trucks show up at the Houston mopar nationals and 30 or more show up for the Trucking nationals in Phoenix,,been there four times myself..
You speak of possiably holding the meet on the weekend but when you are looking at 4 to 5 days travel for the round trip having the meet mid week is better,,I will only miss one weeks work as opposed to most of two weeks..
As far as cost go..our officers have worked very hard to give us good value for our money,, things like a tour of the viper plant and the museum just to make it better for us and I for one appriciate all their hard work..Things are just tougher now and we have to form new stratagies and we will..Just do one thing show up if you are not entered it won't cost you a dime,,share a glass of mojo get to know a few of us,,you will not regret it..

[Kbabiasz]

i'm not gonna get into a bitch session with you. this is the way it's been done for years.....

dude, im not bitching To quote the post that i was replying to
It's going to be about $10K to put this event on. $150 x the 45 people say that say they are coming= us already being in the hole. There is alot of other costs associated, awards, meals, some giveaways and raffles, printing all the meet packets, lanyards, etc, etc...We would love to be able to break it down, but we just can't. The dragstrip rental alone is $5k, while that may be discounted, that the most we've ever paid. This could be the last meet we hold due to lack of attendance and ever rising costs for everything.


Its just an opinion, if you guys want to keep doing this way, by all means go ahead and I will continue to participate as much as i can. Im not telling you that you have to change shit, im just giving my opinion based on what someone said, that is all. If this is what my post is going to bring then I'll drop it here, i dont want to start a problem, im just trying to help and if its not needed then thats all that has to be said

[Kbabiasz]

Intresting and glad to see you putting up some ideas.. Here are a few things I see,,first we are a club of racers,,I for one am not going to drive over a thousand miles to a event where we don't race and I like it all drags and autox..You talk about Dakota USA having 6,000 members and they pulled what 30 trucks to their meet.. To me that is a flop but then again I'm not going to drive half way across the country to camp out..
We have had meets with in excess of 100 R/T's but I am afraid that day is passed so things have been opened up to other dakota /durango models and this is good..The gas crunch is hurting everyone and that makes attendance tough..Shoot just a few years back this club might and did have 50 trucks show up at the Houston mopar nationals and 30 or more show up for the Trucking nationals in Phoenix,,been there four times myself..
You speak of possiably holding the meet on the weekend but when you are looking at 4 to 5 days travel for the round trip having the meet mid week is better,,I will only miss one weeks work as opposed to most of two weeks..
As far as cost go..our officers have worked very hard to give us good value for our money,, things like a tour of the viper plant and the museum just to make it better for us and I for one appriciate all their hard work..Things are just tougher now and we have to form new stratagies and we will..Just do one thing show up if you are not entered it won't cost you a dime,,share a glass of mojo get to know a few of us,,you will not regret it..


Considering that last year was only the 2nd year for this meet and 30 trucks showed up, i dont see that as being to bad. Yeah dakotaUSA has 6000members but a lot of those arent around anymore or only post here and there so its not to bad. Every event has to start from something and 30 is a good something. And i would have loved to be at one of the meets with the 100+ trucks that you talk about, that would have been awesome and i hope that one day i will see a meet like that. I see your point with the two weeks thing. If i do attend i will pay full price just like the others, even if i dont make all the events which im sure i wont, but i wont be able to pay till later in the year if thats possible.

[Trueblue R/T]

LOL it would probably profit you if you did enter,,for some reason newbies always seam to win the killer door prizes so chances are good you will walk away with something worth far more than the entry fee...Me on the other hand don't win much at all except on the track but i don't care I'm gonna be there if I'm still breathing..

[uwntsumrtII]

dude, im not bitching To quote the post that i was replying to



Its just an opinion, if you guys want to keep doing this way, by all means go ahead and I will continue to participate as much as i can. Im not telling you that you have to change shit, im just giving my opinion based on what someone said, that is all. If this is what my post is going to bring then I'll drop it here, i dont want to start a problem, im just trying to help and if its not needed then thats all that has to be said

sorry, that kinda came off wrong.

one of the main purposes, for years, of the club has been drag racing. the main draw for this years meet is the WWDC. so the 3 days prior to it are the best days to hold the meet. to a point your right. we're probably gonna have to break down the "National" meet into smaller regional meets. there are a couple of things we had to leave out of this meet that would have made it event better. i tried to get an actual road course to race around but another club beat us to it. i was gonna get a protable drive-in to come out and show a double feature.

we do post this up on various other boards. CarDomain is another great one to advertise on as well as fQuick.com. i will put together a bulletin to post up on both sites this weekend.

[1LoudRT]

I love my rims!!!!!!!!!

[uwntsumrtII]

i'm gonna repeat myself a little bit here....


Do something other then racing?

we do. we have a Show-N-Shine which is usually held at a great location. some locations in the past: Summit Racing Store, a realy cool car place (don't remember the name or what it actually was), a park right on the Chessapeak Bay (sp), a historical old west town (actual town used in various movies), etc...

(THIS IS GOING BY THIS MEET ONLY and the info i have, I have no knowledge of the previous meets or attendance at those meets)

i'll be giving you an idea of what we've done in the past

2.Make the meet a weekend long thing. sure you might not fit a ton of events in like this one but it opens new doors for people to come, less of a hassle to show up on a weekend then it is during the week, like i explained above.

this is what we've discussed as maybe having to do in the future. maybe an East Coast Meet, a Mid-West Meet, West Coast Meet or sumthin along these lines. i think your forgeting that this is a "National" event. no matter what it can't be done in a weekend because of travel time for most people.

3. Advertise more. During the last dakotausa meet, they advertised on like 3-4 forums and they attracted 30-40 trucks, that doesnt include people who brought family or people who couldnt drive their trucks so the teamed with somone else, and there were more that signed up but couldnt make becuase of money or work. This year, i took over advertising and i sent out 400+ invites on myspace, now given i sent out about 200 and screwed those invites up twice cuz of image codes and myspace being gay but overall i sent out 400+ invites to people. Thats just myspace. Dakotausa.com has 5000+ members, DAK-DUR has 6000+ members, Myspace has between 1000-2500 people in dakota groups alone, thats not counting other mopar/dodge/car groups. Facebook has about 700 in one of the groups. Car domain has 3000+ members. Then there are the other dodge/mopar/dakota/truck sites.
Given a lot of those might be repeat people but if you send them a invite 2x or more im sure they will let you know. And thats a lot of people. A small group of 10 people advertising could easily knock out a few thousand of those, especially if i can do 400+ by myself in less then a week. Then there is advertising outside the internet. Dak-dur has buisness cards that members can pass out to people they see or meet on the road or in a parking lot, this brings in new people.

as stated before, that's not very impressive of numbers. but your right, the more advertising that is done the better the turnout.

4. I know this is a truck group but if attendance is lacking, look to other models in the dodge community to join the meet, even if you keep everyone seperate it will give smaller groups a chance to do a national meet. It will open the doors to even bigger meets then what has already taken place. You dont have to keep it just dakotas and durangos.

this is not even an option IMO. there are plenty of other HUGE Mopar events around the country.

5. Try and find some sponsors, usually they will eat up some of the costs if they can sell stuff and advertise. Yes it is hard to get sponsors but if you push and have all the right materials together it could happen.

this is a great idea. i'm sure it's been thought about. for me, i just don't have the know-how to do this.

6. Do fund raisers over the year. Do raffles or start a truck magazine specifically for dakota and durangos. I know there are some people who can photoshop a mag together and make it look professional. For publishing you can look to a company like the one that does car and driver or truckin etc. To get more funds to publish, let companies advertise parts and rims. Parts companies are always looking to find new mags to put their stuff into. If you cant find people on here to make a mag, look to people outside of here like on Photoshopedup.com, some of these guys can do crazy work and im sure if you offered some cash they would jump on board. Besides, I would be willing to pay the $24-$30 for a year subscription, especially since i do it for truckin and there are rarely any dakotas in it. I have basic-advanced PS skills, that flyer i posted in the other thread took less then 10min for me to throw together and it looks pretty good so a mag shouldnt be to hard to do.

not trying to bash this idea but this would mean raiseing the membership rates.

7.Try and combine other meets with your meet. A big problem this year is the National R/T meet is the week of the woodward dream cruise, and is a month before dakotaUSA national meet which limits people who can go to both cuz of cash, work, and family. And though our meet isnt as big, there is an additional 20+ people that could pay and come. Dak-dur doesnt have a national meet that im aware of, so start one there and tie it into this one.

this is the one that sparked this response from me. the hole point in the location and time of this years meet IS the WWDC. and besides that i don't see it being ANY kind of problem at all. the past two meets and this one we are trying to included Dak-Dur and DakUSA. that's one of the reasons we've opened it up to ALL Daks and Durs. we are the one's putting it together so that's why it's call the DRTC National Meet. i tried to push to have it called the "Dak-Dur Nationals"

8. I know these meets are based on location and locations are picked by members. But if it gets bad try and to stick to one location and create a partnership with that location

this has also been discussed. and will more than likely be implemented in the future. we were in hopes of having the 10th An Meet back here in Detroit becasue that's where the first meet was. but the 10th An of the Dak R/T is just as good.

EXAMPLE:
Cedar point, you host your meet there one year. you do the show and shine then you hit both parks, one park one day, and the other the next day. You do the group rate thing. at the show shine you attract a lot of guests, take pics. Turn around and send them to CP managers and say check this out, if you can help sponsor our meet and or give us a discount price, we would be willing to do a truck show for you. this will not only help you money wise but it will give you a place that you can count on when meet time comes. This can be done with many places. Dakotausa meet this year is in the same location it has been the past 2 years and its still just as fun. Locations will be willing to help you out if they can see some sort of profit from it, even if they have to give you a discount or if they have to shell out some cash themselves

this goes back to this group being more into racing than just showing. if all we wanted to do was show we all would have bought 4-bangers and drove them threw the local Pep-Boys or JCWhitney. yes, we all want to make them look good but MoPowa is what we're all about. and getting together once a year to show that MoPowa off is where it's at.


IF you are serious about the attendance being low and this possibly being the last meet because of costs, you have to revise how you put these together. Best way to do that is to shrink the meet to help shrink the costs, and then re-build from there. OR take a couple of the options above, throw them together and see what you get.

I know im new here and not a contributing member, but i am willing to help in any way possible. I dont know if any of my suggestions are worth anything, or if it brings some new ideas or something to think about but is just my opinion on what could be done to help. I took on advertising for the dakotausa meet on my on accord and i will never get anything from it and thats fine with me, as long as i know that i did what i could to help keep it around. And im sure there are others out there that are willing to help to keep this around.

all opinions are welcome. some may not be worth much (including some of my own :jester:) but others are great. and some of yours are great...



one of the biggest things involved with these meets is the comrodery. the gathering of a BIG group of friends that otherwise only get to chat online. it's great to see friends you've made over the years and make/meet new ones.

i'm sure i missed a few things in my resonses but what i said is the way i felt. and pardone my spelling and grammer.......:nana:

[Kbabiasz]

sorry, that kinda came off wrong.

one of the main purposes, for years, of the club has been drag racing. the main draw for this years meet is the WWDC. so the 3 days prior to it are the best days to hold the meet. to a point your right. we're probably gonna have to break down the "National" meet into smaller regional meets. there are a couple of things we had to leave out of this meet that would have made it event better. i tried to get an actual road course to race around but another club beat us to it. i was gonna get a protable drive-in to come out and show a double feature.

we do post this up on various other boards. CarDomain is another great one to advertise on as well as fQuick.com. i will put together a bulletin to post up on both sites this weekend.


See, i didnt know that this group was racing based, I just thought that racing was just a part of the meet that people wanted just because. And there are a couple drive in theaters still around here in michigan

[360 XRT]

Since i've missed every meet as long as i've owned my truck (4-00) i don't think i deserve an opinion,but i would like to make a comment.Most long standing clubs have a central location (same place,same time format) for there meets.That way everybody has a fair chance to making it.On the other hand,this is a big country and to reach the four corners you have to move it around.Anyway i think you guys do an awesome job of putting on the meet and i wish i could finally make one, one of these days.Welcome to family life.

[uwntsumrtII]

See, i didnt know that this group was racing based, I just thought that racing was just a part of the meet that people wanted just because. And there are a couple drive in theaters still around here in michigan

yeah, i've got a list of all the drive-in's in SE Michigan. but i also found a place that does a portable drive-in. 20' screen, broadcasts on FM Radio, they play two movies of your choice for $500.

[Kbabiasz]

yeah, i've got a list of all the drive-in's in SE Michigan. but i also found a place that does a portable drive-in. 20' screen, broadcasts on FM Radio, they play two movies of your choice for $500.

To respond to your post above this one explainging points. You said that for a mag would mean you would have to raise membership rates, i dont see why that would have to be. You can charge a year subscription for lets say $24 the cost of most mags and you push and advertise and get 1000 people to buy a subscription, thats $24,000 right there and since this isnt a magazine stand type issue, costs shouldnt be that high. Offer it to members on here and other dodge forums and if those people have friends that want the mag have them pay too. You could also do a mag rate and say somone only wants the mag there truck is in, you could charge $6 for the mag + shipping. Im pretty sure if you are working on a smaller scale costs wont be that high, it doesnt even have to have a ton of pages like truckin, it could be a 30-50page mag highlighting certain trucks and parts. Hell you could even do rebuild or swap sections. YellowKota2k did a full 4.7-5.7 swap and he took pics and basically wrote an article on it.

Idk, i just think it would be cool to make a magazine like this since like i said before, you dont see many dakotas in many mags




And then like you said, the name change. You guys are labeled as Dakota R/T club, and that is the name of your meet and that in a way discourages non-r/t people to join. I have known about the R/T meeting place in Pontiac during the WWDC for about 4 years now, however because it is the R/T meeting place, i have never stopped in because i felt i didn't belong, even though i had a Dakota. That changed last year when Ken and others from DakotaUsa said it was kool to stop in. So i did. I didn't stick around long cuz there weren't many people there when i got there. Im sure people without R/T's feel like they dont belong when it comes to joining your national meet.

[scatpackdal]

what the hell... why are we having this discussion in this thread.
Kba-blahblah- we've heard most of these ideas before, we just went through a long reviewal process in the club to see what we can do to help ourselves. as good natured as your input is, we've been over most of these issues ourselves already. you're not exactly coming to the table with some type of experience that makes you seem more credible than anyone else who has made suggestions. this is just annoying IMO.

anyone know have many people have signed up this far? i'll get to it soon.

[uwntsumrtII]

To respond to your post above this one explainging points. You said that for a mag would mean you would have to raise membership rates, i dont see why that would have to be. You can charge a year subscription for lets say $24 the cost of most mags and you push and advertise and get 1000 people to buy a subscription, thats $24,000 right there and since this isnt a magazine stand type issue, costs shouldnt be that high. Offer it to members on here and other dodge forums and if those people have friends that want the mag have them pay too. You could also do a mag rate and say somone only wants the mag there truck is in, you could charge $6 for the mag + shipping. Im pretty sure if you are working on a smaller scale costs wont be that high, it doesnt even have to have a ton of pages like truckin, it could be a 30-50page mag highlighting certain trucks and parts. Hell you could even do rebuild or swap sections. YellowKota2k did a full 4.7-5.7 swap and he took pics and basically wrote an article on it.

Idk, i just think it would be cool to make a magazine like this since like i said before, you dont see many dakotas in many mags

yeah, your right.




And then like you said, the name change. You guys are labeled as Dakota R/T club, and that is the name of your meet and that in a way discourages non-r/t people to join. I have known about the R/T meeting place in Pontiac during the WWDC for about 4 years now, however because it is the R/T meeting place, i have never stopped in because i felt i didn't belong, even though i had a Dakota. That changed last year when Ken and others from DakotaUsa said it was kool to stop in. So i did. I didn't stick around long cuz there weren't many people there when i got there. Im sure people without R/T's feel like they dont belong when it comes to joining your national meet.

as far as woodward goes we've never turned our heads of other vehicles parking there. and the past 2-3 national meets goes the same for Daks and Durs. a LOT of people thought they were not welcome to attend and i don't know where they get this from. i mean "i don't have an R/T so i can't go" is what we've heard countless times and this is NOT TRUE. i'm just trying to make a couple of things clearer here...

[BTLFED R/T]

One thing to consider when discussing raising money for the club. We are a "non-profit organization".

I cannot fathom that ANYONE would not know that we are more of a race based club.

[bad360rt]

Has everyone that's posted in this thread registered? If not, GTFO :jester: (just kidding folks, lighten up)

Yes, we are always open to suggestions, that's the only way the club will continue to improve and move forward. Some are viable, some aren't, but I think all ideas should be discussed.

And yes, our meet is open to all Dakotas & Durangos, and has been for several years now, this is always mentioned when we advertise the national meet, and we try to hit all of the Dodge boards when we make the announcements.

As far as changing the name of the meet, that's a possibility, but so far we've only had a few non R/T's show up to the Nats. I don't know that changing the name would attract more people, maybe we'll run some market research and see what folks think. :)

We are absolutely a race based club, R/T stands for Road and Track, they were meant to go fast, so that's what we do. Whether it's in a straight line or around curves, it's all about going as fast as our wallets will let us :woot:

[1LoudRT]

and the / in R/T is an L for LOUD- :)

[Kbabiasz]

yeah, your right.






as far as woodward goes we've never turned our heads of other vehicles parking there. and the past 2-3 national meets goes the same for Daks and Durs. a LOT of people thought they were not welcome to attend and i don't know where they get this from. i mean "i don't have an R/T so i can't go" is what we've heard countless times and this is NOT TRUE. i'm just trying to make a couple of things clearer here...

I know we are welcome, now, Its just that this group is based around fast trucks with big motors and many people who dont have a fast truck or a big motor feel like they wouldnt fit in. that and the lack of knowledge about you guys allowing other trucks to join. The threads i read were more or less directed towards R/T members, i dont remember them saying anyone is welcome, then there are the noobs that dont know anyone and would feel weird being by random people they have never met before.


But you can count on me being there this year

[03dakrt]

I know we are welcome, now, Its just that this group is based around fast trucks with big motors and many people who dont have a fast truck or a big motor feel like they wouldnt fit in. that and the lack of knowledge about you guys allowing other trucks to join. The threads i read were more or less directed towards R/T members, i dont remember them saying anyone is welcome, then there are the noobs that dont know anyone and would feel weird being by random people they have never met before.


But you can count on me being there this year

First time I met the Michigan guys I was driving a Durango R/T and I felt more than welcome. I made many friends even before I got my Dak. I never felt like an "outcast."

[uwntsumrtII]

I know we are welcome, now, Its just that this group is based around fast trucks with big motors and many people who dont have a fast truck or a big motor feel like they wouldnt fit in. that and the lack of knowledge about you guys allowing other trucks to join. The threads i read were more or less directed towards R/T members, i dont remember them saying anyone is welcome, then there are the noobs that dont know anyone and would feel weird being by random people they have never met before.


But you can count on me being there this year

we'll be glad to have ya :biggthumpup:

[BTLFED R/T]

Don't forget, we were all n00bs at one point!

I can pull up threads from the past 3 meets on just about every Dakota based forum that says all Dakotas & Durangos are welcome.

[Kbabiasz]

Don't forget, we were all n00bs at one point!

I can pull up threads from the past 3 meets on just about every Dakota based forum that says all Dakotas & Durangos are welcome.

I must have missed it then, my fault. But ill try and get some more people to show up this year, at least to the WWDC

[Kbabiasz]

Ohh and can someone fill me in on how the drag racing works, never drag raced on a track before and i would like to see how my 300HP stands up

Hopefully by then ill have a few small mods on it

[1LoudRT]

last year we had test runs and you see where your time averages- then when they set up the runs you tell them what your time is- then they will delay the start for someone else if they are faster than you- you have to beat that person but do not beat the time you told them or your out. Thats the best that I can explain it.

[bad360rt]

Yup, that's pretty much it. We'll have time trials to start with, where everyone just makes passes to see how their trucks are running. Then we'll have brackets, where you have to pick a time that you think your truck will run (based off of what you ran during the time trials). Everyone will be split up into two groups, with the split being at 13.99. Then when you line up against someone, one of you will be delayed so that that theoretically you'll both reach the finish line at the same time. For example, let's say one truck dials in at 14.0 and the other one at 15.0, that means that the 15.0 truck will get a one second head start, so then the winner is determined by two things, who has a better reaction time and who runs closest to their dial-in without going faster (breaking out). It sounds complicated, but it's not really. We can explain it all better in person. It's a great time. I think a lot of folks think that you can only have fun drag racing if you've done a bunch of work to your truck, but that's not true, you can have a blast in stock truck. :)

[uwntsumrtII]

Ohh and can someone fill me in on how the drag racing works, never drag raced on a track before and i would like to see how my 300HP stands up

Hopefully by then ill have a few small mods on it

get some friends together and take a trip out to Milan. Wed nights is nuthin but test and tune. watch for a while to see how it's done.

[01Motorsport]

LOL it would probably profit you if you did enter,,for some reason newbies always seem to win the killer door prizes so chances are good you will walk away with something worth far more than the entry fee...Use me for an example :biggthumpup:
Newbie* @ St.Louis: 1 nice F&B billet throttle body :D
Thanks again, DRTC
Got a kid off to college Aug.15; time/distance may get in the way this year.

*(Spectator @ Atlanta)

[scatpackdal]

anybody wanna to fill us in on how many people are registered... i'm still sitting on the fence so seeing numbers might help my decision.

[BTLFED R/T]

6 so far! Does that help?! :jerkit:

So much for the 50 people on the list saying they'll be there! :jester:

[Rick Adams]

6 so far! Does that help?! :jerkit:

So much for the 50 people on the list saying they'll be there! :jester:

Is that 6 paid or 6 registered? I did the registration, up to the paypal which I don't have, so am I registered or not? Same thing with renewing my membership, Paypal was the ONLY choice to renew???

[BTLFED R/T]

Is that 6 paid or 6 registered? I did the registration, up to the paypal which I don't have, so am I registered or not? Same thing with renewing my membership, Paypal was the ONLY choice to renew???

6 registered, I think 3 are paid. Yes, you are one of the registered. :D

For the future, for mailing in renewals or meet fees;

Dakota R/T Club
P.O. Box 223
Valmeyer, IL 62295

Just add a note with your name and member #. I don't know why that isn't an option on the renewal page of the forum, we'll look into it though.

[bad360rt]

anybody wanna to fill us in on how many people are registered... i'm still sitting on the fence so seeing numbers might help my decision.

Get off the fence and register and you'll help bring the #'s up :biggthumpup:

Hopefully everyone that put their name on the list saying they're going will register soon. :)

[Rick Adams]

6 registered, I think 3 are paid. Yes, you are one of the registered. :D

For the future, for mailing in renewals or meet fees;

Dakota R/T Club
P.O. Box 223
Valmeyer, IL 62295

Just add a note with your name and member #. I don't know why that isn't an option on the renewal page of the forum, we'll look into it though.

Thanks Jason, I finally found the addy & sent in the renewal Monday.
I'll do the meet fee now as well.......:woot:

[BTLFED R/T]

Thanks Jason, I finally found the addy & sent in the renewal Monday.
I'll do the meet fee now as well.......:woot:

:hail:

Much appreciated! See you in August! :biggthumpup:

[6speedrt]

Get off the fence and register and you'll help bring the #'s up :biggthumpup:

Hopefully everyone that put their name on the list saying they're going will register soon. :)


LOL, can I register with this? At least it would be something to laugh at..:jester:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2000-CHEVROLET-S10-PROMO-WITH-ALIENS-COOL_W0QQitemZ110252289758QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item 110252289758&

[BTLFED R/T]

:gtfo:

[BryanRT360]

I think its kinda cool:jester: I would never owe/drive it. I think its funny

[Rick Adams]

LOL, can I register with this? At least it would be something to laugh at..:jester:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2000-CHEVROLET-S10-PROMO-WITH-ALIENS-COOL_W0QQitemZ110252289758QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item 110252289758&

This would be a perfect vehicle to cruise on Woodward! You'll be suprised at what you see out there :)

[Rigeldust]

Ohh and can someone fill me in on how the drag racing works, never drag raced on a track before and i would like to see how my 300HP stands up

Hopefully by then ill have a few small mods on it

Ill drag ya,
I've never done it before and cant wit to try.
I only have a few mods myself. With stock rubber. :burnout:
Its going to be a blast.
Making hotel res today and paying Nats reg today. :rockwoot:

[Rigeldust]

PAID :foshizzle:UP:flipa:Bitches

[uwntsumrtII]

keep the registrations comming people :biggthumpup:

[Rigeldust]

Lets get this going the 1st 10 people to reg get something cool..... that what I heard. :drive:

[Kbabiasz]

Ill will be a late register, and pay, probably more towards the deadline

[uwntsumrtII]

Lets get this going the 1st 10 people to reg get something cool..... that what I heard. :drive:

i'm one of the 10. so if there is an extra little prize i'll give it to #11. :biggthumpup:

[BTLFED R/T]

I'll give mine to #12, if there is anything.

[Rigeldust]

i'm one of the 10. so if there is an extra little prize i'll give it to #11. :biggthumpup:

I like the new Avatar


GO WINGS:woot:

[uwntsumrtII]

I like the new Avatar


GO WINGS:woot:

hehe :woot:

[Kbabiasz]

I registered but wont be able to pay till july, hope that doesnt mess things up

[uwntsumrtII]

I registered but wont be able to pay till july, hope that doesnt mess things up

right on! :biggthumpup:

[RTfreak]

hope you guys have a great meet, i am unsure right now if i can make it or not. so only time will tell. but if not hope all goes well, just make sure dave wears his bike helmet :P


sorry dave.......had to do it

[bad360rt]

hope you guys have a great meet, i am unsure right now if i can make it or not. so only time will tell. but if not hope all goes well, just make sure dave wears his bike helmet :P

sorry dave.......had to do it

I put it in the garage, next to my Hard Head award :biggthumpup:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v730/bad360rt/DSC02400.jpg

[RTfreak]

omg thats priceless!

[Heavy D]

Just got my payment in. I didn't pay for the guest yet as I want to be sure he's coming before paying. I hope that's ok. Hopefully I can just pay the guest fee this way in the next few weeks.

[bad360rt]

Just got my payment in. I didn't pay for the guest yet as I want to be sure he's coming before paying. I hope that's ok. Hopefully I can just pay the guest fee this way in the next few weeks.

No problem on the guest fee Dave, I haven't paid mine either, waiting to hear if my brother's vacation is going to get approved.

[NH_TAZ]

I am registered now!

[uwntsumrtII]

:rockwoot::rockwoot::rockwoot: keep em commin!!

[Kbabiasz]

Who sets up the raffles and prizes and what not?

I have an idea, well its already been posted, just for a diff meet

[bad360rt]

Who sets up the raffles and prizes and what not?

I have an idea, well its already been posted, just for a diff meet

The execs/reps and whoever is helping setup the meet for that division. What's your idea? :)

[Kbabiasz]

The execs/reps and whoever is helping setup the meet for that division. What's your idea? :)

The mopar surprise box. Was originally an idea for the dakota USA meet, but you guys seem to have the bigger cooler raffles so i thought you would like it

I have a small 1'x1'x1' Mopar box sitting in my closet, empty of course. My idea is to take this box and add mopar/dodge/dakota/car items to it and stuff it with as much kool stuff as possible then raffle it off as a "MOPAR SURPRISE" box
Items such as diecast cars, some hotwheel cars, maybe some tin dodge signs(i can get some for $10 in june) maybe some magazines or collectables or some framed pictures or just random mopar/dodge/dakota stuff. I think it would be more of a fun raffle then something serious like a turbocharger or racing seats, not that i wouldnt want to win them, but i think it would appeal to more people cuz a lot of people like collectibles and a lot of people have kids or nieces and nephews and what not that they could give the stuff to.

I could change the size of the box to a smaller 6"x6"x6" box or i can go bigger box, much bigger like a 4' tall x 8"deep x 5-6' long.

Idk i just think it would add a little fun, no one will know whats in it and it would be filled with all kinds of kool little shit to add to a collection.

I myself have 66 model cars, and some dodge signs and emblems. and winning some more would be kool, at least to me


Like i said, its just an idea, it would be more of a fun thing then a serious expensive raffle

[bad360rt]

That's not a bad idea, kind of like a grab bag deal.

[hskr]

So I have a question. How many people will have to be paid for the meet to happen?? Is there going to be a time that if not enough people are registered the meet just won't happen?? I registered and paid, but it's looking like I won't be able to make it now. Not sure if you will do a refund or not. But buying a house is a little more important to me right now.

[Kbabiasz]

That's not a bad idea, kind of like a grab bag deal.

Like i said, i can change the size of the box but you can fit all kinds of kool shit inside a 1'x1'x1' box. I just need to know if they want to do this and how big of a box they want. Hell i can get a big box and some small ones and they could have cash or coupons or a shot glass/mugs or something in the small ones and then have the big one

[Rigeldust]

How is this going. :worky:

[hskr]

Well folks, unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to make it now. We are in the process of buying our first house and my wife is starting a new job. So we need all the extra money we can get for the house and she won't be able to get the time off work now.

Dave, not sure what the policy is, but is there a way I can get a refund for the registration I paid for, or will I need to find someone else to take it and pay me?? The club can keep the guest fee I paid, but it sure would be nice to have the money back to put towards the new house.

[03dakrt]

How many are registered?

[Kbabiasz]

Yeah, can we get a number of registered peoeple?

I will do advertising this week on myspace for this and car domain

[dkboyny11]

I don't know if I registered for the event or not. Can someone tell me if I did or not. Sorry mental block