Hey Randy,
As I mentioned at the end, I thought things went pretty good.. however, this was my first bimmercruise show so only have videos/pictures to compare against. So I'll provide from generic comments based on promotional experience... (though no car show experience, so what I say may not fully apply... but hopefully will be somewhat useful...)
1 - I have a lot of friends with BMW's that have never heard of bimmercruise and aren't fully interested in coming. They're not internet people, or a part of "forum culture".. but do love their BMW's very much. Many of them are older individuals. These are the people who really need to be targeted. Some flyers distributed to maX members... (send through snail mail even, for those who don't go to the weekly meets.).. and let them distribute it amongst their non-internet savy friends, or any other bimmers they see in parking lots. I did manage to convince 2 other guys to come down, but most didn't really see the big deal... those little advertisements go a long way. Internet has a limited target market and is reflected in the cruise... lots of younger kids, e30's and e36's... the higher end / classier car owners don't really know about the cruise.
2 - There are others who visit the bimmercruise.com website, but not these forums... they don't know about next year's cruise and can easily miss out on it. It would be nice to add a "mailing notification" feature to the website where anyone who signs up is notified via e-mail about the following year's cruise once details are announced.
3 - Find out if you can work something out with BMWCCA or similar to have flyers at the parts desks of BMW dealerships. A lot of die-hard BMW fans visit those parts desks regularly. (not sure if BMWCCA has this type of pull or not...) If anything, you can perhaps push for the next level which is actually the BMW of Canada, ask them too put the flyers and in turn they can park some of their newest BMW's at the park promotionally. (I'm sure everyone would like to see some of the newer e90's, 6 series coupe, 7ers, etc. parked there... even if they are stock.) Your push could be that BMW owners are often repeat buyers. Good advertising opportunity for them.
4 - I love the grass idea. Although my car was dirty as hell from the cruise. I find it MUCH classier than a parking lot and adds a nice atmosphere. Seeing the M3's lined up at the end on the hill, and the cars on the rolling grass. Plus it helps people think of the "BBQ" theme and make more sales. Parking lots don't exactly scream "hey, let's go get a hamburger!"
5 - the cruise itself was very well done, scenic.. even though the guys I were following got lost for a while. however, it would help if a few more "public" places were seen... it's an eye turner, and if a few cars had
www.bimmercruise.com banners on them, well you've just got a whole lot of awesome free advertising.
6 - while the park was nice, and offered the nice indoor areas for vendors... the cars were not visible from public roads, which could really help with getting more people in there... not necessarily BMW owners, but people interested nonetheless. If it was off a major road, and there was a big banner on stakes in front of the show facing the road which said something to the effect of "Bimmercruise Car Show" in big letters... that would draw in a nice crowd.
7 - Advertise on forums where there would be an interested crowd. (i.e. VW and Audi forums)... just advertise the show part, not the actual cruise.. and be clear that they're there to spectate only... can't run their cars in the show. Spectators really make the event. And really, the more people that show (even to view) can potentially mean more $$$ sold from the BBQ, and for the promoters. The more spectators, the more companies would be interested in coming to advertise their magazines / products... which also helps add to the culture and provide publicity.
8 - free media advertising. there's that ricer tv show that comes on Saturdays... canadian based. they can come and do some video footage.. get the word out publically and have a few clips shown. lots of canadian car magazines that would be interested in coming to snap some pics, maybe feature a car or two. it'd be good to send out a mass notification to them about the event, and provide some photos of past events to ensure them this isn't a "mickey mouse" event.. but something big that could provide some good photo oportunities. All of this cascades to help make future cruises into bigger events. And bigger, in this case, is better.
9 - not much you can do about people fighting.. it happens. you just want to make sure that if anything does happen, you're not accountable. a disclaimer on the bimmercruise website could help in the future in case something more serious does happen. you never know... what if there was a serious accident on the premesis, at your event. make sure it's stated somewhere that people are really accountable for their own safety and belongings.
10 - as far as BBQing goes... you really only need one person, just need to learn how to half-cook the food and keep it on the warming tray until an order is placed, where it is finished off for the next 2 minutes or so. Being one step ahead is not enough, gotta be 10 steps ahead for these things. (I've helped host a lot of BBQ events in the past w/ professional caterers, this is usually how it's done.)
11 - the food (and especially water!) in a more visible place will help with sales too.
that's all I can think of now... but hope it helps some.
was nice meeting you too, btw.
Justin
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