I need to vent

First off, if you're reading this and you worked BRS (Black River Stages) this past weekend, thank you (probably not many on here did).
My gripe and I'm curious if it's the same in the mid west or out west as it seems to be here on the east coast. A BIG lack of workers, particularly from the driver/co-drive contingent, current or past drivers/co-drivers. I was stage captain for one of the 3 teams of workers. At the time of the workers meeting both Saturday and Sunday, I had only 1 or 2 experienced workers (experienced meaning having done something other than marshall/spectate a side road/junction). Drivers and co-drivers at least have some clue to what happens at stage arrival, stage start and stage finish and can be trained relatively quickly and trusted (at least more than a 24 year old flat brimer). So with a lot of scrambling and taking hams with experience and people performing ham plus stage start/finish we got it accomplished. But not without a lot of hand wringing, etc. It's just getting more and more frustrating (particularly as I get older) that that group of people don't have any sense of responsibility to give back to the sport. One of these days, guys like myself are just going to get tired of it and it will be the reason they'll be no more rally!

---

Don Kennedy

We've been pretty lucky with enough volunteers recently, not always and still working with the noob issues. . I know exactly what you mean. I've driven thru stages as adavnce or sweep and noticed 'competitors' at spectator areas. Always bugged me a bit. Same with the guys looking for service crews and no help.

Don, I can remember dropping out of STPR back in the mid-80' (busted oil pan) and then going out to spectate and running into the end of a stage where there were no workers. We volunteered on the spot and ran it OK; have some good memories of Tibor's Volvo crossing the flying finish with the carbs on fire....We did this on several events in the past.

Point is.... that this is not all that new, and it was pretty common just to start the rally and see who showed up for each stage and cancel the few that were un-/undermanned. Without radios back it the day for coordination, things just had to run or not as the workers showed up.

Having enough workers was my biggest 'last-few-weeks-before-the-event' stressor....IMO, just having an on-line sign-up is not adequate; that takes a lot of work out of the volunteer process but that does nothing to 'sell' the idea of working events to canadiate workers. I see that 'sales' role missing on too many events 'round here.

I guess first thing I'd ask is who's the volunteer coordinator on the BRS rally committee?

It would be good to know, to get their input on how they go about rounding up volunteers. Speaking from my first hand knowledge at my two local events, our volunteer coordinators have to constantly keep up good relationships with our volunteer pool, ask other regions to help out and send volunteers, reach out to other racers (solo, road racing, etc), and the local community. Since getting experienced volunteers takes more effort than simply posting onto forums. Also, giving out swag helps keep volunteers feeling all warm and fuzzy inside I always love getting a t-shirt/hat/pin from an event.

Can't complain about worker swag at BRS. Free T shirt, a meal delivered to you Sat and pickup your own lunch before deploy Sun. Free chicken BBQ Sun after the event. Potential lodging and gas financial help (don't know how much that is publicized, same as the other perks may not be heavily publicized). My $.02. NRS doesn't have the Higgins/Block/VanWay type entrants to attract people in general. I think that applies to both spectators (which in all reality I don't worry too much about the lack of) and workers. Much easier for someone to say to a friend "do you want to go help with a rally this weekend and see Block and SRTUSA" than "do you want to go help with a rally this weekend where a bunch of my friends are out in the woods in the middle of nowhere having a good time". This is why the entrants need to support putting on the events if they're not entered in a particular event.

---

Don Kennedy

I've been a proponent for years of requiring each entry to supply one worker or pay an additional fee. Works for local hill climbs, though the fee has to be high enough to motivate people. I heard the CHCA had issues with not having enough workers to pay with the $25 a day fee.

---

Grant Hughes

I'm in boston for work. I was tempted to go down to BRS and passed.... shoulda came and helped, went to the nascar race instead.

I do think Grants Idea has merit. Seems like there are always people interested but no one wants to drive by themselves.

The volunteer coordinator position is an important one. A local sales professional, insurance, vehicle, investment advisor, etc. that also welcomes the increased contacts is a definite plus!

---

Grant Hughes

The old bring a worker deal was tried back in the day, didn't work well. Then they (SCCA) gave competition points to organizers. That really blew chunks.

First off I would say that under subscribed events need to go away. Duhniece just had about 6 or 7 rally cars show up for her Arizona Extreme BS (near as I can tell). Workers don't get thrilled about giving up a weekend for a BS deal. No cars to watch, not much excitement. I forced the Pomeroy event to go away over a lack of workers. No workers, no safety and canceled stages.

A good volunteer co-ordinator is crucial. We've had people try the position on and have dismal results. Worker goodie bags, a meal, T-shirt etc go a long ways towards keeping workers. Keep the competitors in check. Never yell at a worker, and some co-drivers are famous for that. We've had talks with a few over the years. Short of an actual DQ, not allowed to finish a rally, everything else is paper work and can be dealt with later. No yelling...period. Educate the workers, show them what to do. many are afraid they will mess up so they don't show. Directions are as important as instructions and a biggie is don't have the same stage crew work the last stage every day. We are all parts of the formula and many times workers seem to get the short end. They are important and need to feel part of the process.

Non-racing competitors need to give back as first mentioned. All those entry fees just went to pay expenses, nothing towards the time I put in nor any of the other workers. Competitors still have a debt, pay up when you aren't racing.

By far, like it or not, driver's and co-driver's really do need to give back by volunteering.

This isn't to say I haven't been the guilty party before. Beyond the financial commitments, it's tough to give up time to volunteer when you can't compete at a rally due to (money/time) constraints to begin with.

I'm going out to PFR and I'll volunteer though (as long as the schedule checks out), as I've done at practically every rally I haven't raced at in the WCRC since I started competing back in 2007. This year is the first time I've ever missed Cochrane in some capacity since then. Might be the first year I've missed competing at PFR as well!

Making workers feel appreciated is definitely the number 1. That can be a very tough goal to achieve!

I think the biggest problem is that event is in the middle of nowhere. Very few places to stay. A bunch of B&B's 25 to 30 miles away unless you like camping. I hate camping so if I couldn't get a room, I'd stay home.
Used to run the MG 1000 through that area, but that day started in Syracuse, NY and finished in Kingston Ontario Canada. Watertown,NY might be a better hub to work out of. It's only 30 or so miles from Harrisville.


Sean Gallagher

---

2WD...Less Traction More Action!

I think that some of competitors running g at the front could do more to attract and keep the volunteers. I have noticed that the cars at the back of the field are more aware of the workers.

Here in the PNW it is rare to see competitors volunteering.

---

Robert.

"You are way too normal to be on Rally Anarchy." Eddie Fiorelli.

On top of what Don did to help run BRS, He also lent me a HANS. Thanks Don!


As for Volunteers, I asked anyone I knew who would be interested in that type of thing. None were interested in a 5+ hr trip and having to be up there for 3 days.

Lodging up there is inconvenient. I was in a days inn almost an hour away because I booked 3 weeks before the event.

I couldn't believe the amount of volunteers that were still out there late on Saturday night. With the constant moderate (or heavier) rain I'd have thought it would be hard to pay people to stand out there, Let alone have people volunteer and stick with it.

---

Enablers, All of you.

Quote
heymagic
The old bring a worker deal was tried back in the day, didn't work well.

Did it come with a fine?

Bring a worker or pay an extra $200 is my thought, which may actually keep away some competitors.

How far or long until all workers need paid in order for the sport to continue. Think of what that would do to entry fees!

There's no magic bullet.

---

Grant Hughes

And as soon as I lose one competitor and entry fee then it is a huge loss. We'd still be short the volunteer, the fine and the entry. Nothing gained but hard feelings.

At whatever point it gets too difficult to put on rallies for whatever reason (road use, sanctioning fees, lack of volunteers or competitors ) then we simply quit. No big deal.

Quote
NoCoast

Quote
heymagic
The old bring a worker deal was tried back in the day, didn't work well.

Did it come with a fine?

Bring a worker or pay an extra $200 is my thought, which may actually keep away some competitors.

How far or long until all workers need paid in order for the sport to continue. Think of what that would do to entry fees!

There's no magic bullet.