NASA Rally Sport says: Organize a rally!

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biggreen96
How does insurance work when the stage roads are all on private land? Of course transits would be on the state and county roads.

Who's insurance, yours or the events? (See how this all gets complicated? )

It sort of doesn't matter: the stage roads, when they racing stages, are, for all practical purposes, private land. There isn't a difference in how the event insurance or your insurance would handle a claim on a stage road that was on, say, a normally-public-county-road versus a normally-private-farmers-field-access-road. Same liability and medical coverage and procedures.

Interestingly, it's the transits where a big part of the expense comes from. Having part of the event out on a public road, with other 'civilian' traffic, is super expensive. That's why the insurance costs for a "rally sprint" (defined as a rally with no transits on public roads) are about half, and offer the same levels of liability and medical coverage.

Anders

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Grassroots rally. It's what I think about.

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starion887
I think that Anders is trying to promote the NRS product, and that's OK.

Yes, naturally, that is exactly what I am doing. It's not like someone else is going to do it. (In general. This thread was created by request, however.)

If I start with the premise "Hey Anders, how about working hard to make rally fun and easy?" Ok, working on that... now there's two options:

1) Work on making rally fun and easy... but tell no one.
2) Work on making rally fun and easy... and try to tell everyone.

Since it's not like I can hand that off to the NRS PR guy... that leaves me doing it.

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starion887
in a market, any company/organization has a right to be there, and should work to their strengths; that might make any company a specialty player, focusing in particular parts of the market, but no 'company' can be all things to all customers...

Definitely focusing on the strengths (which, since strength is often a relative measurement, means the differences from another) of NRS. Any other course of action would seem silly.

I don't really have a grander plan than "NASA Rally Sport: we have fun rules, great technology, great insurance, a great friendly vibe and we're willing to help you put on a rally because we love rally!"

And I still think that's something that should be promoted and spread around.

Anders

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Grassroots rally. It's what I think about.

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Anders Green
I don't really have a grander plan than "NASA Rally Sport: we have fun rules, great technology, great insurance, a great friendly vibe and we're willing to help you put on a rally because we love rally!"

And better awards banquet food.

Mark, buddy...you're not reading the statements correctly (or they way I intended it)...Grant asked why the end result is people trying to put on a RA national. I answered that and then indicated that it wasn't always worth the effort. Really nothing there for you to disagree with. I never proclaimed one was better or "the answer".

I've been a "regional hooligan" since the very early 80's, but my cars were always painted, sponsored, damage repaired and so on. In fact that was one of the SCCA requirements back in the day. Most of our regional cars looked pretty good back then. Now not so much. Now many people seem to have no pride in the appearance of their equipment, probably a generation thing.

Travis Pastrana and contemporaries brought a huge amount of excitement, energy and notariety with them. People loved it, workers, spectators, business and even the politicians. That was a very unique time in our sport I'm thinking. Now it is back to the normal old days. A few years ago Ray Damitio and I made a journey to a remote Indian reservation casino looking for roads. During the intial conference the restaurant manager jumped up and showed us his DC shoes. He didn't know rally but he knew Ken Block. Kind of like Junior making a visit to a small circle track somewhere.

Confidence in a product has nothing to do with the question 'why do people try to put on a RA national'.

RAs national program was/is more cohesive than the USRC. The heavy hitters were well known and traveled coast to coast. USRC lacked that part of the equation. When Olympus was a NASA national we had about 35 entries, next year with RA we had over 60 I believe. Cost to put on the events was the same. Do the math, its pretty easy.

There are a couple different philosophies and both organizationa can learn from the other. Organizing a rally is a lot like actual rallying. Some people just have to win (that would be the RA natioanl) others just like to go play in the woods (regional events). Neither is right or wrong and a persons or groups goal and ideas can change with time. The one thing they have in common is you pretty much have to be a drooling blithering idiot to be an organizer....

I appreciate Anders efforts to bring rally to the masses. Organizing can be fun and doesn't need to be as mysterious as a lot of new people think it is. We talk about mentor program for new rally teams but we need one for new rally organizers also.

i would also think something for helping to get volunteers would be good. Perhaps not exacting documnets, but templates and checklists of items. Organzing for idaho rally for the last two years has taught me that getting volunteers is the biggest make or break to get a rally going. Even if you have 25 entries, but few volunteers, the roads can't close, the driver's dont race, then the event for next year has a dark cloud of people remembering "last year". Thankfully, its been easier going for my end, but we still have to make last minute changes, moving people and coming down to the last man. Partially to blame is idaho population base....

Hell, i might even use the stuff im going to recreate for idaho rally, then see if your approving of it for other peoples use.

Hey Alex!

Inside the NRS database we have a check list template for rallies. You plug in the date of the rally and it auto-figures when a bunch of things need to get done. Then you can mark them all started, half way, completed, etcetera. Right now it's at 272 activities and documents and yes, things like volunteer email blasts are on there.

However, Amy and I just thought of something new to go on it today, so probably it will be up to 274 or 275 once I take a look at how to detail that task.

Is every single one of those tasks needed for every rally? No, of course not, but it's a lot better to know about something and _decide_ not to do it than to not even consider something at all.

So it's available, let me know.

You're absolutely right that getting volunteers is one of the main components of success of the event. I'd say maybe it's 50% of the work?

Cheers,
Anders

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Grassroots rally. It's what I think about.

after two years of stressing out with it, at least i understand it. Im still going to assist for next year to the extent possible including some ideas up my sleeve, but thanks to a deployment, being primary isnt likely. Fortunately, im going to race Idaho 2012. Probably will be my first rally.