Just curious to know if there is any interest in a national meet? I am not talking about next week, more like '04 or '05.

Just close your eyes and imagine.....wicked scenery, camp fires, and hundreds of Es and their crazy owners. Perhaps a Great E CampOut? Or E Beach Days? Or we could do a E Challenge (East vs West or North vs South)?

Thoughts, Ideas, Comments, Etc. I ask for a couple of reasons....1. To find out if there is interest. 2. If there is interest, someone will need to start organizing and finding a few sponsors, location, etc.

Thanks Everyone!

I think that is a wonderful idea!!! We would have to have a scavenger hunt and obstacle course. Maybe a E pet show too for the babies.

:lol:

That would definitely be cool. I personally think a mass camping excursion or something in the middle of the country, where we can all pile into our E's and utilize the functionality of them. Of course, it's a great reason to go on a road trip (which I find myself making excuses for all the time now.. No milk?? ROAD TRIP!!)

Oz

[quote:91d82095d2="Oznecsad"]That would definitely be cool. I personally think a mass camping excursion or something in the middle of the country, where we can all pile into our E's and utilize the functionality of them. Of course, it's a great reason to go on a road trip (which I find myself making excuses for all the time now.. No milk?? ROAD TRIP!!)

Oz[/quote:91d82095d2]

amen to that - 6 months old and already 14k on the E!!!

Count me in. I am stoked already. :)

Like Datona bike week or Oshkosh for airplanes, we should have a E-Week. With some notice, what the hell I'm up for driving half way across the country for a meet.

I have a few balls up in the air on a national meet. Stay tuned for details sometime down the road....

if said meet is within 300 miles of LA... i'm down like a clown, charley brown.

:)

As long as I know far enough in Advance, I'm down, I might even have 3 new additions to bring in my E if we have this event in 05...

Sounds like a great idea! At least I'd get to talk to other E owners; can't seem to get them together in the Northern VA area. The scavenger hunt sounds good. We could divide up into regions and the region that collects and brings the most items wins the prize. I am sure our site administrator could arrange sponsorship prizes for this event. :lol: Let's make sure it's during a nice part of the season in an area we can do some off-roading.

Yeah, and since so many Es live on the West Coast, I would offer up CA as a great location!

No doubt, California's got some great scenery, but I'd guess a lot of "the rest of us" were hoping this imagined "national" meet might take place somewhere on Planet Earth! And as far as that goes, "continental" might be more inclusive of our Canadian friends. Fear not; I'm not going to suggest my locale, but even St. Louis or the factory in Ohio might be a little more "centered".

[quote:cc9b493fc6="hownowcb"]No doubt, California's got some great scenery, but I'd guess a lot of "the rest of us" were hoping this imagined "national" meet might take place somewhere on Planet Earth! And as far as that goes, "continental" might be more inclusive of our Canadian friends. Fear not; I'm not going to suggest my locale, but even St. Louis or the factory in Ohio might be a little more "centered".[/quote:cc9b493fc6]
Sounds great ......... and then we'd have the factory in Ohio, and ..... the factory in Ohio ................. :D

just kidding CB.

I want to drive.....so I will go where ever the E calls! Cali is cool, I just don't want to drive down the street for the meet :)

Well, if anyone is up for a drive this weekend, they are welcome to join us on our Cali Coastal run!

Hey, California is nice, but I live there. What kind of getaway is that? Wherever it is, it should be someplace that's not too hot in the summer - hopefully in the mountains or northern part of the country?

Although if Honda gives us a factory tour, maybe I could be persuaded to head farther east...

I wish I were in the west coast, I most definatly would be there, Hopefully all goes well with your meet this weekend.

[quote:9349fc998d="lae10851"]Well, if anyone is up for a drive this weekend, they are welcome to join us on our Cali Coastal run![/quote:9349fc998d]

So is there any news on this since the last post? I would love to get out of here in the summer to someplace cooler. All I need is a half-decent excuse.

Honda, should take the lead and sponser an event. It would be cool to have E caravans on the interstates all heading to the same destination.

Make it in a placed with great camping and Hotel options.

Logic says somewhere near the center of the US.

Need sugestions for places from folks.. Maybe we can get an informal one going is Honda wimps out...

Hey Honda... sounds like cheap publicity to me..

This would be a huge event and would take alot of organization. More like a nationwide collaboration like maybe start organizing it in sections of the United States then linking up and then caravaning into one location. Research other events like this and see how they did, but I think we definately might need some outside help.

Is this in the works? Who's organizing this? Any info update?

>Honda should take the lead and sponser an event.

If you're thinking of something along the lines of what Saturn has done, well, that's really not Honda's style. When it comes to publicity-type issues they are excruciatingly conservative. If anything happens it's going to have be initiated, organized and possibly even sponsored by an enthusiast group.

I am a member of a large Miata club who is organizing this year's national meet, which will be in St. Louis this time. It is only happening due to one real go-getter in the group, and he's sort of dragging the rest of the club with him. I get the sense that's the way it's always happened.

To give everyone the idea of the scope of such an undertaking, here are some key items I've picked-up along the way:

1. Mazda has been willing to sponsor the annual meet. However, they're not Honda - they need the "customer buzz". But they've never organized the meets - it's always been an enthusiast group outside the company doing the real work. We could certainly ask Honda, but I think the answer would be "Good luck to you, but no."

2. "Sponsorship" in this case means $15,000. The total budget for the event is running around $120,000.

3. The greatest part of the cost is meals for the 2-1/2 day event, which are mostly being done banquet-style. If you want a jaw-dropper, the hotel is charging $25 a head for just a dinner. And while it's a name-brand facility, it's not a premium downtown hotel, thank goodness. Bypassing the hotel and using your own caterer is not allowed if your event is going to be hotel-based.

4. Attendance is figured to be 300, minimum. They (we) have the advantage of at least 10 previous events to gauge what the showing will be. Knowing the costs and the anticipated attendance we can set registration fees.

5. One of the hardest parts was getting a date. Facility availability is extremely tricky, and in getting into it you find yourself astounded by the number of affinity-type groups competing for meeting space on weekends. Frankly, the Miata folks got stuck with a lousy date for St. Louis - late September, when the weather around here can be sunny and 80° - or rainy/blustery and in the low 40's. And usually the latter. What's worse is that this date was only possible with 18 months' notice - and a hefty deposit! Bottom line - everyone wants summer weekends for the same reasons we might, so good luck.

6. As to "central location", that's a good idea. St. Louis is an obvious choice... actually maybe a little too obvious, getting back to finding a facility that isn't booked. Also consider Kansas City, Indianapolis, or Memphis. There are some smaller cities such as Columbia, Missouri, which have beaucoup hotel space because they're college towns with a big sports following - which are mostly vacant in the summer.

6a. You will be unable to find a locale that makes everybody happy. The mid-Midwest location is beyond reach of most West-Coasters.

7. Access to camping is sometimes a do-it-yourself proposition. In one event I'm with, we rent a facility such as a fairgrounds and have a grassy field set aside for the purpose. The last such facility had more formal camping facilities, with RV hookups and showers.

"If you know so much about this, Mike, why don't you take the lead?" I could, but life has a way of biting one on the bottom. We're in the midst of preparing for possible relocation, where and when we don't know. I don't want to get 80% into the E-meet and then be all a-scramble dealing with a move, dropping the ball on the meet.

[quote:cd50485028=" "]5. One of the hardest parts was getting a date. [/quote:cd50485028]

Whuh? Oh! ...Nevermind. :)

-brendan

Mike, like you I have been involved in National Car meets. In my case I have put on a few of them. First one I did was a regional Audi TT meet, we had 16 cars. I held this on Long Island and had people drive in from 3 states. My second event I had 24 cars and people came in from 6 states.

My next event was a National event that has now grown beyond what my friend and I originally thought possible. Each of the first 2 East Coast events was geared around a famous House. Fallingwater took place in 2000 (87 cars). This is in Western PA. The 2001 event took place in Asheville, NC and we toured the Biltmore Estate and got an awesome picture in front of the house (135 cars). In 2002 we went to upstate NY and had around 80 cars. This years event will be in Mryland and should see 100+ cars again. It will be a much larger event with even more to do.

Each year beginning in 2001 there was a West Coast event held as well. The west coast events generally get around 40-50 cars. The reason is geography. The states are larger and for some reason people out west don't seem to all want to travel as far as east coast people.

Holding a National event for a new club can't be done by commitee. It has to be 1-3 people taking the lead and just putting it together. It should also be where the majority of the people show interest. But even before a National event is put together, there need to be some local thngs put together. The only meeting I have ever read about was held in Bear Mountain in NY some time last year. That doesn't truly show much interest in people getting together.

There have been several regional meets (CA, NY, DC (next wekend)) and I know of several two and three person get togethers....I know there is interest....how much, perhaps a poll or the likes is in need here. If this is of a general interest (after a poll is done) I would be willing to work with Tom and whoever was willing to voluenteer some time to put this togther...as stated this would be for some time in the future (ie Summer 2005). I know this all takes time and money and a true passion for our cars (which I know we have!)

Perhaps I should go put up a few polls.

Diane, I would be more than willing to help put something together. But you need to be careful how you word a poll.

We had that problem when we put up a similar poll asking where the event should take place. We didn't give any choices and literally got 100 different ideas. When we chose something on our own, everyone got pissed and said they wouldn't go. lol Of course they went. They just never volunteered to help so their ideas couldn't be implemented.

Put up a generic poll asking if anyone would be interested in going to an event.

a. Yes
b. No
c. Maybe, depending on where the event is.

Then another poll could ask how far they are willing to travel.

a. 1 hour (60 miles)
b. 2-4 hours (100-250 miles)
c. 4-8 hours (250-500 miles)
d. 8-10 hours (500-600 miles)
e. 10+ hours (600+ miles)

Our events have been seeing the majority of the people driving 10+ hours, some have driven from CA, AZ and TX to our events. Many people have flown cross country as well.

The next poll would give a few choices of what to do at the event itself.

The last poll could list 4-6 places to hold the event.

Just trying to give you a few ideas as to where to start and how we went through things back in 2000.

Something that just occurred to me that was different about the Miata situation and why it got big quickly was that it had a huge boost from "Miata Magazine" and the Miata Club of America, which, yes, were initially sponsored by Mazda. So the meet idea was promoted through the magazine, which had a circulation of 30,000, give or take. That's a lot of publicity.

While the magazine is no more, the meets live on.

Larry's idea is the best. Find an interesting focus venue for a regional get-together, pass the word, and build from there. Diane's thinking about a 2005 formal meet could easily build on 2004 regional participation.

>Many people have flown cross country as well.

Does an E count as a carry on, or do you have to check it?

:wink:

If my TT was too big for carry-on... then the E is as well. lol

(actually in nova, but nevermind). i think a big reason the dc thing is happening this weekend is because of www.hondaelement.meetup.com . MastiffsOnE pushed for local people to join and dc now has twice as many members as any other chapter. unless you want to be a host(with all its privileges and responsibilities) it is free. it's helped build momentum here with very little overall effort. just a thought.

I have to admit if you build it, they will come. I was pretty surprised at how many people & Es turned up for the Nor Cal Coastal Run.

I also admit that being I have had some good experiences meeting people locally, I would love to go to a regional or national meet. Unfortunately, like most I probably wouldnt be able to travel far.

The thought also crossed my mind of why wait til 2005? Some of us may lose interest by then (certainly not me, of course).

I am still waiting to hear from Eshen about the Cali meet we are supposed to be having in SLO this spring. Anyone heard about that?

I agree that a National meetup is a great idea. Judging by the numbers that are turning out to the smaller regional meets and personal meetups Im sure we would have several people attend. Sure it sounds like a lot of work, and finding a date and a location and all that but there are a lot of us who would pitch in and really get this thing rolling. And spdrcr5 you can please some of the people some of the time, but not all the people anytime... in other words sure a chosen location or date wouldnt work for some but we just have to go for the most convienent overall.

I'm in, ill drive my happy A%& anywhere!!! as long as we can bring beer.

I'm all up for anything. I live in Saint Louis but would drive almost anywhere, with enough notice

I would definitely go...of course it depends on the date. But as far as location goes, I'm pretty much down for anywhere. I agree though that it should be in the middle of the U.S. somewhere.

Here's one vote for St Louis over 4th of July.

Or Houston anytime. :wink:

The last weekend in July the Miata people have a gathering at a place called Deals Gap in North Carolina right on the Tennesee border in the Smoky Mountains.

It's called (appropriately) Miatas At the Gap (http://www.miataclub.net/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi?s=a50446672fe635b23025849620c44726). This is a really nice area, with good roads, hotels, restaurants, camping, rafting, etc..It would be a nice place for an Element get together. It's beautiful there and you can't beat the roads.

For info about Deals Gap...

http://www.tailofthedragon.com/

I'd like to see a bunch of Elements running the Dragon. :D

This sounds like a groovy place. Tell me more.
Do you really think you could handle the E on that road? Have you driven it alot?

:oops: double posted...Read my reply below.

I've driven "The Dragon" many times. First time was in 1997..in a 425 hp supercharged '91 Mustang GT convertible. Interesting, to say the least. :wink:

Every other time I've driven my Miata on the Dragon. A Miata is hard to beat on that road..It's made for it. 2400lbs, small wheelbase, incredible handling. I go down there a few times a year and often spent an entire day running up and down that road. A Miata is alike a 4 wheeled motorcycle or a go-cart.

I think the Dragon is the closest thing to a road course you'll find on a public road. It's not just the curves but the way the curves are cambered. It's really quite incredible and unlike any other road I've ever driven. There are roads that are as twisty but they aren't set up the same. You have to drive it to know what I mean.

That takes me to the "E"....It's no Miata so I wouldn't expect it to handle like one. It would be interesting to drive it on the Dragon and see how it handles. I've never pushed my E to it's limits but between the AWD and taking the correct line I could probably have fun with it. It would just be a matter of knowing the limits because if you push too hard on the Dragon it can come back and bite you. Many drivers have found that out the hard way. I've seen quite a few people wreck on that road.

I think the idea would be to just enjoy the experience and be able to say "I drove the Dragon". You can even buy a T-shirt or buy a sticker saying that you did. :D The road is famous. It's akin to driving the PCH or Mulholland Drive. I've had people see the Dragon sticker on my Miata and comment about it. I was up in Nova Scotia and a guy in a Goldwing started talking to me about driving the Dragon and we were 2000 miles from it! :D

I find the gearing of the Element's 5 speed to be very similar to the Miata's so it would probably be in 2nd gear the entire time. I can't imagine getting the E up to a speed where it would be necessary to shift into 3rd. I keep the Miata in 2nd gear 95% of the time. The rev limiter kicks in around 60 mph in 2nd gear so usually I'm running close to the limiter..Only on the few straights do I go into 3rd gear...Most times I'm running 45-50 mph. I don't think an Element will go this fast..Prolly a lot closer to the speed limit, which is 30-35 mph. It's not a fast road...but it feels fast! It's incredibly challenging and a ton of fun.

I think with the Element you'd stick it into 2nd gear, take the proper line and be careful..But it would be fine. The VTEC would sound sweet and make for a fun run.

I can't comment on the automatic..I guess if you put it in a lower gear it would work well enough. Same theory. I've never driven an automatic in a performance-oriented way so I may be off base here.

At any rate, there are many, many other roads in that area which the Element would be a blast to drive on..The Cherohola Skyway comes to mind. This is a scenic road with nice sweepers at 5-6000 feet and many scenic overlooks you can pull over to check out the view. I think the Element would do great on a road with broad sweepers as opposed to tight switchbacks. Nice thing about the Deals Gap area is that there's plenty of both.

There are also a lot of dirt/gravel roads which lend themselves to some interesting exploring..Stuff I wouldn't do in my Miata but would love to try in the Element.

Many different cars and bikes go there each year for gatherings. There are tons of affordable hotels, restaurants in the area. It lends itself to a big gathering and I think it would make for a really unique experience. Nice thing about having an Element is that you don't even have to get a hotel room..You can just camp out in it. 8)

Here's a view of the Cherohola Skyway at 5500 feet..

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/326552/104_0437.JPG

Yellowstone or thereabouts in the early Fall.

We've driven Deals Gap, too. Great for Miatas and motorcycles, really really lousy for big boxes. Last time we were through was in our previous SUV, and while it handled surprisingly well driving it 9/10ths+, it was more fatiguing than fun.

While it handles nicely, the E is not a sports car. Personally, I get my fill of "the twisties" from the local Miata group, and would probably shy away from any E event that meant serious mountain driving.

:?

Ok..No Dragon (although I'll have to try it sometime just for kicks)..but don't you agree that some of the surrounding roads might be ideal for the Element....Some gravel/dirt roads and roads like the Blue Ridge Parkway and Cherohola Skyway?

It's a pretty area with lots to do..camping, fishing, rafting as well..and good facilities so I'm still recommending it.

No posts to this thread since late February. Bigbigstick has thrown down the gauntlet...if we're going to have a successful event we need to crank up the dialogue now and start serious planning soon.

The most recent consensus about a gathering place for a 2005 National Meet (according to the Poll thread) seems to be East Liberty, Ohio. Anybody live in this part of the country? Any camping sites nearby? Hotels? Motels? B&B's, restaurants? Anybody have connections with Honda? Alternate locations? Deals Gap, NC? Note: the geographical center of the lower 48 states lies outside of Lebanon, Kansas, in the middle of a hog farm...Woodstock with Honda Elements?

Date? How about after school gets out in June but before the summer heat really sets in? Who wants to help organize and plan this event? How about one or two volunteers from each region? Huh? Huh? Huh?

Just trying to rekindle the fire.

Count me in as the official coordinator. I would like for volunteers to contact me via email about their interest in helping me to line up details for a 2005 national-level meet at the plant in East Liberty, OH area.

Let's do this right. With a whole year, we should be able to really plan a fun, festive E-vent!

We're definatetly in!! :D
Anywhere I can drive to, we can drive to it.
The wife and kids want to take a run out to Arizona in the early fall (anyone in that neck of the woods wanna volunteer some info, it would be appreciated).
I don't know how much help we can be up here, but we'll do whatever we can..... :D
Lets keep hitting the boards with the idea, plan like it's gonna happen, and more people will come on board as we get closer to the date.
It might be an idea to start a new thread 'National Meet' on the home page Tom, and promote the hell out of it.
I'm gonna approach my local Honda Dealers, and see if they want to put anything towards an International Element Meet (hey, we are Canadian, eh)

I wonder if anyone has connections with people at the Liberty plant. Although it might be as fun to show up all unexpected-like. Let me know what I can do to help, I'd love to see a big group

Honda plant tour contact information at: http://www.ohio.honda.com/manufacturing/tours/index.asp
There's also a 2005 National Meet thread with some recent activity at Poll Central.

Looks like we're gettin' some interest again!

Hmm, looks like they offer tours for all East Liberty lines but ours :? .
Maybe we can twist their arms