SpeedWeek Survey

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Here's a survey asking for information on how, if at all, SpeedWeek (and World Finals) can be changed or made even better.  This comes from SCTA, and I don't want to see or hear your responses (or at least don't need to).  If you can come up with answers and such, print off a paper version of this survey and fill it out, then mail it to Scott Andrews.  Address:  

Scott Andrews

Candidate for President, SCTA
9801 Independence Ave.
Chatsworth, CA 91311

Here's the Survey:

In your opinion what area(s) require the most attention and/or changes from the SCTA Board?

1-10: One is least important ten is most important.
___ Technical Inspection................................... ___ Safety for Drivers
___ Bonneville Entry Fees-SCTA........................ ___ Infrastructure (improved racing facilities)
___ El Mirage Entry Fees-SCTA.......................... ___ Increased Club Involvement in SCTA
___ El Mirage Entry Fees-BLM............................ ___ Number of Courses at Bonneville Speed Week
___ Financial Condition of SCTA......................... ___ Rule Book Rewrite
___ On-Track Radio/PA Information................... ___ Pre Stage Lanes
___ Restoration of the Bonneville Salt Flats....... ___ Staging Lanes
___ Alternative Racing Sites............................... ___ Starting Line Procedure
___ TV/Media Awareness................................... ___ Course Marking

If you could change the two most important items on your list above what you would do?

Item #1: ____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Item #2: ____________________________________________________________________

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Sum, I copy-and-pasted the entire survey, including the address/name/title.  But I thought that he was in the running to be elected, not already the president.  Nonetheless I put up what I was sent.  I'll be happy to make a change there to reflect the world and to remove any sense that he is (unfairly) claiming to be the current president.  Thanks for your comment - now I know for sure.

[dw230]

Ballots are to be counted at the Nov 15th meeting. The survey results will be given to whom ever is elected for their education.

DW

[Sumner]

If one is interested in who is running I found this on this 'land racing forum'  .......

http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php?topic=13244.0

Not sure if all that are on here realize this or not but some of the clubs allow absentee members.  I'm one but have been able to attend a couple meetings and have done course work at El Mirage.  So if you would like to have a more direct access into what is going on in SCTA and/or more input think about joining one of the clubs,

Sum

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Dan, if that's the case -- that the surveys will be presented to whomever is elected president -- maybe there's someplace else we should mail the completed surveys (instead of directly to Scott).  If you know of such - please let us know.  Thanks.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

I think I'll change a bit of what I said about the survey.  Since it's from the SCTA and since Scott (as well as the others) is interested in seeing what you've got to say, why the heck not -- put your responses here, too.  I don't want to be the one that's responsible for collating them and then sending them along, so please do print the form and fill it out and mail to SCTA, but in the meantime, if you put your thoughts and ideas here -- maybe it'll help everyone think more about the subject of potential changes that might be needed/can be made.

By the way, I got this from Ron Main and he from Scott.  And also - whether you're a member of one of the SCTA clubs or not, if you're a racer -- your input can be helpful.  Let's hear from you here and on paper.  Thanks.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

More stuff on the survey:

Scott Andrews just called to ask me to remind you folks that the survey results will be calculated by adding up the number values that you folks enter. That is -- the survey requests you to not just mark which things are important to you, but that you enter a value from 1 to 10 (1 is least important, 10 is most important, and yes, you may use a number in more than one place).

He also asked that I don't request that "C" that Sum added.  Don't use a C - and instead enter whatever number is right for you for that particular item.  The survey results will be totaled using the numbers, and a C ain't a number.

Pretty soon, with all of these fine-tuning "amendments" - I might just take the whole thread down and start over .  Nah, I betcha you'll figure it out.  Have at it.  Let's see if we can be of help to the SCTA - and ourselves, too.

[dw230]

As a point of clarification. Scott and I plus others have talked about doing a survey like this for at least a year. This was before Scott decided to run for office, remember he has a full plate at Bonneville with the timing and broadcast. He is a young man, compared to me, and will be able to full fill all duties assigned him.

This survey will be helpful to the administration in order to address areas of concern identified by you, the customer(racer).

DW

[Glen]

He is president of his own painting company. 

[desotoman]

I will probably get into the dog house on this reply, but it needs to be said.

I would only like to see people who are SCTA members reply, since it does say "SCTA Membership Survey 2014" on top of the post card.

The number 10 on everyone's reply should be ___ Financial Condition of SCTA.........................

Without the SCTA having a sound financial base, racing will not be possible. Sure everyone wants more courses at Bonneville and that requires more people to man the courses which means more money is spent on both equipment, hotel rooms, per Diem for workers, etc.

We are having prices on goods go up everywhere from the grocery stores to the gas pumps, and the SCTA is no different. There costs go up every year, and they have done a good job at holding the line on entry fees etc.

I hate to say this but with all that is being demanded of the SCTA for more courses at Bonneville, Announcing live from the salt etc. the entry fees need to be increased to cover all of these new demands.

If no one wants to pay more for entry fees then you have one of two ways to address the problem. You either sell your soul to advertisers, or you decrease your expenses, which would mean elimination of some services.

Tom G.  

[OU812]

This will be a huge help for SCTA next year financially

On Monday Oct 28 Pat Riley, Roy Creel and myself met with Katrina Symonds and Rusty Gates from the BLM up at the District Office at Bastow. After a lengthy conversation, exploring many options, we came up with the below plan to save the association most, if not all of the $15,000+ cost recovery fees we are projected to have to pay for 2014.

Currently the SCTA puts in a Special Recreation Permit that covers all 6 meets. The total number of hours required to process and enforce the permit (we require 1 BLM Monitor and 1 Law Enforcement Officer on site during the meets) comes to over 50 hours. 50 hours is the threshold, after which the BLM starts charging cost recovery fees.

For 2014, the BLM would allow us to submit a separate Special Recreation Permit for each meet under a different club name. Each individual meet, when processed and enforced, falls under the 50 hour threshold. The SRP would have to be signed by the club president “hosting” the meet.

I met with Bob Leggio – SCTA’s insurance broker, this morning to discuss this plan. He was very supportive and agreed to make it work. The SCTA would continue to hold the insurance for the meet (the BLM is ok with this also) and the club hosting the event would be written in as an additional insured party. The SCTA would continue to run the meet as it does now. The main change is the name on the SRP. The hosting club president could welcome the participants before the driver’s meeting, much like what the BNI Chairman does at Bonneville before handing it off to the SCTA President to run the meet. There would be no additional duties or requirements from the hosting club, just the club president’s signature on paperwork that Pat Riley and myself have already prepared.

Yesterday, I also ran the idea past Russ Deane – Chairman of Save the Salt and General Counsel for SEMA. He could see no obvious drawbacks or projected issues either.

We are currently waiting on the number of hours it would take to process and enforce the May and/ or Nov meets, as being two day meets, that may fall over the 50 hour threshold. Safe to say though, we are in a position to save a lot of money, if the clubs would support this plan.

Club Presidents – I will be calling you over the next day or so to discuss this and answer any questions you may have. 

Regards,

Miriam Macmillan
Vice President – Southern California Timing Association
Chairman – Bonneville Nationals Inc.

[Sumner]

More stuff on the survey:

Scott Andrews just called to ask me to remind you folks that the survey results will be calculated by adding up the number values that you folks enter. That is -- the survey requests you to not just mark which things are important to you, but that you enter a value from 1 to 10 (1 is least important, 10 is most important, and yes, you may use a number in more than one place).

He also asked that I don't request that "C" that Sum added.  Don't use a C - and instead enter whatever number is right for you for that particular item.  The survey results will be totaled using the numbers, and a C ain't a number.

I'll edit out the "C" option that I added above but the reason I went that way is the wording...

In your opinion what area(s) require the most attention and/or changes from the SCTA Board?

1-10: One is least important ten is most important

I felt that if I put a 1 on one of the items that could be construed to mean I felt that it wasn't important.  For instance I didn't want to put a 1 on "Safety of Drivers" which to me might of meant it wasn't important.  I think it is but I'm happy with the current effort and situation.  I guess I misread the survey and read it to mean mark only the items we wanted to see change in and then indicate how important a change was.

It is also good to see some of the people running for office posting on on here. 

Sum

[Land Speed Lady]

All surveys need to be returned to Scott Andrews for proper tally, as he is the person responsible for spearheading the survey and tallying the results, and thats where all of the other surveys have already been turned into. These surveys were paid for by Scott Andrews not SCTA. Sending them to the SCTA offices won't do anything except earn a ticket into the wastebasket. Surveys from non members of SCTA will still be considered but not added to the same resulting tallies. Perhaps its time for you to join SCTA. Your opinions count.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

I guess I understand some of the reasoning for non-SCTA member's comments/"votes" not being counted in the same manner -- I do think that the views of anyone that's a land speed racer at Bville or EM are worthy of consideration.  Whether members or not, if they race out there -- their opinions are valid.  As for joining one of the SCTA cubs -- for many of us it's not very realistic to become a member.  I was a member of the GG for a few years, but when the dues for non-local members went up quite a bit, and since I had never been anywhere near being able to attend a meeting or do volunteer duty at EM, and on and on with all of the things that those of us that are not in the SoCal area - that's when I decided that the value received for my dues just wasn't worth it.  But Nancy and I do race, do volunteer, do see things that might be changed at Bonneville (and we'd hope that they'd be changed for the better if our ideas and suggestions were adopted) - so when I submit my survey sheet I'd be disappointed if the contents of it were accepted only as "second rate 'cause he's not a member". 

Thanks for the reiteration of sending the surveys directly to Scott and not one of the SCTA clubs.  That's an important thing for all of us to know.

[desotoman]

By the way, I got this from Ron Main and he from Scott.  And also - whether you're a member of one of the SCTA clubs or not, if you're a racer -- your input can be helpful.  Let's hear from you here and on paper.  Thanks.

SSS,

IMO Ron Main should not have sent this to you for publication on this site. Reason? People who are not associated with the SCTA directly (members), don't have the tools or information to make informed decisions on the following:


___ Bonneville Entry Fees-SCTA........................
___ Infrastructure (improved racing facilities)
___ El Mirage Entry Fees-SCTA..........................
___ Increased Club Involvement in SCTA
___ El Mirage Entry Fees-BLM............................
___ Number of Courses at Bonneville Speed Week
___ Financial Condition of SCTA.........................


The only way you can get the information you need to make informed decisions on the above is to be a member of the SCTA. Speculation or hearsay is worthless, and that turns into a worthless reply, yet it would be counted in the tally. There are 4758 Members on this site, and that does not count the thousands of guests that read all the posts. Yet there are only approximately 760 SCTA members. Seems to me like the deck is stacked against the SCTA members who were sent this survey.   

Example: I hear that SCTA is a big cash cow (hearsay, and speculation), so I want the entry fees at Bonneville to be reduced, I want more courses that I can run on, and I want them to spend a lot of money restoring the salt flats. My reasoning is that So and So told me that the SCTA was loaded with money and they don't know how to spend it all.

Now the above example would have 10's  checked on the form in the area's described, strictly on hearsay and speculation. How does that help the SCTA in making decisions? It doesn't.

If anyone who is in the BNI needs to address issues at Bonneville I suggest you contact people on the BNI Board, their contact information is on the SCTA website with phone numbers and email addresses under,

Contact Us at http://www.scta-bni.org/contact.html

Tom G.