DCS - DeLorean Convention and Show (DeLorean Midwest Connection - Host DMC Club)

[Rich W]

Starting a new thread here in the DMC Clubs section, since it is related to the current Host DMC Club
of the DeLorean Convention and Show (specifically for DCS 2016 and DCS 2018, as of this post).

The DeLorean Midwest Connection club is an integral part of the current DCS Events, for a number of
reasons, including our volunteer base and the "business support" of the club for the logistics of having
technical requirements addressed for DCS, such as Event Insurance and consistent points of contact.
The second integral part of the current DCS Event is our relationship with DMC Midwest and their staff.

For those who have been commenting on DCS Social Media and other DeLorean Forums about why the
current conventions have been in Illinois, the biggest factors have been logistics. If you have political or
other reasons not to visit Illinois or the Chicago area, you have already missed 2 awesome DCS Events.
As with DMC Midwest being in Illinois, the current DCS Team is based in Illinois and do not plan to move.

DMC Midwest and their staff (with Dave and Julee Swingle still considered part of the DMC Midwest team)
are an integral part of the DeLorean Convention and Show, and if we do decide to do another DCS Event,
DMC Midwest will continue to be within a few hours drive. There is also talk of combining DCS activities
with the next DMC Midwest Open House Event, if the traditional DCS Event does not continue on it's own.

I will try to address questions and comments about DeLorean Convention and Show in this thread, as time
permits. If posts become political or otherwise off-topic, they will be deleted or redirected to another thread.

[Rich W]

Conspiracy Theory 1 - Thursday Later Start at Registration Desk

Despite the Social Media comments and concerns over the Later Start on Thursday morning,
there was no "secret" reason that the Registration Desk was not open at exactly 8am.

Those of you who spent the night at Pheasant Run on Wednesday night likely know that there
was heavy thunderstorms overnight and this storm knocked out power East of the Resort. Due
to the power outage(s), the traffic signals East and Southeast of the Resort were not reset yet
in the morning (but at least they were flashing red), which slowed the return of local volunteers.

No, we were not monitoring the security camera near the Registration Desk and decided to delay
starting the Registration Packet pickup because of the folks who were waiting there since 7:45am.

I'm glad we did not have Social Media at some of the DCS Events of the past, otherwise there may
have been similar posts of why the AV equipment arrived very late when Cliff's truck broke down.

[Rich W]

Conspiracy Theory 2 - Friday BTTF Tribute to Mark Gale was "exclusionary"

Despite the Social Media comments and concerns over the Friday BTTF Tribute to Mark Gale,
there was no "secret" reason behind this bonus event and why and how it was scheduled.

First, as Oliver alluded to in his post, this bonus event was privately funded, and due to the
logistics of putting this tribute together (as a surprise, not a "secret") we decided to invite
the first 88 people from Thursday's dinner, since this dinner & speakers were BTTF focused
(also not a "secret") and appeared to be the "best fit" given how the other events aligned.

As for using the "88" as the number of people invited, this was a happy coincidence, since
the concrete mixers are shipped in a container (with dry ice) that happens to fit 90 mixers.

Conspiracy Theory 2 - Part B - What happened to the other 2 mixers? If you must know,
we gave Bob Gale the other 2 mixers, which he enjoyed on Friday night and Saturday night.


So for those of you thinking this event was secret, well, yes, since surprises are meant to be
secret, at least until they are meant to be revealed. Did we intend to "limit" this bonus event?
For logistical purposes, there was a limit to number of mixers that were privately purchased.
Was this event specifically planned to exclude any specific person or people? Don't think so.

Below is the article that inspired the tribute:

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...66853057a.html

Excerpt:

"Instead of a service, Mr. Gale asked his friends simply to gather together, swap anecdotes
and eat Ted Drewes Oreo concretes."


As listed, several times in several posts, both here and on Social Media, and if memory serves,
the words bonus or surprises were referenced in the posts. This was meant to be similar to the
"surprise" for guests (and the DCS Team) at DCS 2016 when Dr. Perini arrived and told us less
than an hour before Friday Dinner, he had GG sketches for auction and to be given away Friday.

Having the Giorgetto Giugiaro sketches were a complete surprise and happily accepted as a last
minute addition to the Friday program and to my knowledge, there was no negative comments
or conspiracy theories why we did not "include" the Thursday Dinner guests for a chance to win
one of the current, original and limited edition of Giorgetto Giugiaro sketches of the DeLorean.

Maybe the more appropriate comment is why this would be an issue now and not in the past?

[Malevy]

Great reminder as to why this style forums sucks- I composed a response, and now it is gone (so much for auto save).

On my 12+ hour ride home, I had a lot of time to think about DCS, and the DeLorean community. I thought I would keep my thoughts to myself, but then someone sent me a link to this thread and I took the bait.

Ignoring the semantics of the name change from “DeLorean Car Show” to “DeLorean Convention & Show”. Why does DCS now have a “host club”? Why does it rely on a single vendor (or ANY vendor)? This is pretty much the polar opposite of why DCS (DeLorean Car Show) was established, and the inclusiveness it tried to achieve. Having attended every DCS, and having “worked the show” in some form since 2000, I can’t put in to words how upsetting it is to see the DCS name be hijacked for a regional club show. There is no “DCS Team”, it is (by the statement posted here) the DMC Midwest Connection club rebranding itself to take advantage of the DCS reputation. Would Bob Gale attend a “DMC Midwest Connection show”? I doubt it. It has clearly become a club show because so many offers (including mine) for assistance from people outside of the club have been rejected.

Unlike Ken, no statistics were provided for this DCS but I’d estimate less than 200 people were there, and based on the fact that so many of the dinner tables were for “VIP/Volunteers” I wonder how the numbers even worked. Attendance at this show seemed to be the lowest of any DCS, and I think that speaks volumes to the way it is being run and promoted now. The “celebrities” will eventually notice the low turnout, and no longer attend either. I did notice that Lea Thompson was not there on Thursday, like previously announced.

Conspiracy Theory #1: A notice was posted to facebook early on Thursday that Registration was open at 8AM. I commented on FB shortly after 8AM that no one was there. I have no idea where the accusations about security cameras came from, but it was not me. My comment was simply to notify others that registration was not open. It is a good example for the use (or misuse) of social media. The tool should have been used to notify us that registration would be delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. We get it, shit happens, but with up to date information we could have planned accordingly. For the record, DCS has been using social media (Facebook and Twitter) successfully for many years. I know for sure we used it in Lexington and Florida, and think we were using it in Gettysburg. There were never any issues with it.

Conspiracy Theory #2: This is more clearly directed at me, because I commented on the “secret event”, and Oliver responded to me (I always suspected Rich did not like me, maybe that is the conspiracy? LOL). There is no denying that this was a “secret”, for whatever reason. That means it was intentionally excluding people (obviously, people who chose to not go to dinner on Thursday)- the exact opposite of why DCS was created. Maybe some “cool kids” don’t realize it, but the feeling of being excluded sucks. Especially when it is a part of an event that we paid to be at. As so many people got up and went to the “secret event”, the rest of us were left standing there wondering why we were left out. Even if there was a limited amount of “mixers”, why were those without tickets not permitted to enter the room and participate in the event (without eating)?

Conspiracy Theory #2b: I was sitting in the hotel bar Friday evening when I watched Rich walked up to one of the tables with a few “mixers” in his hand, and give them to his friends that were sitting there. So, maybe 2 extra went to Bob- but there were others. What happened to any extras is irrelevant anyway.

I was at one of the tech sessions where the speakers did not appear. After waiting 15 min or so, one of the people in the room asked if Ken would get up and speak- which he did. He gave a history on DCS, told some old stories, and answered some questions. The crew from the DOA happened to be there, and went in to their tired old rehearsed speech of how they were fixing all of their problems and THIS time it will be different. Ken and I stayed and spoke with them (trying to offer advice) after everyone else left. It became very clear to me that this time it won’t be different, because they continue to make the same mistake “DCS” is making now; The show organizers must have the goal of serving the entire community, not just their members. The only way to continue to succeed is to continue to grow, and the only way to continue to grow is to bring in new people by demonstrating the value of the show.

When deciding if I should attend DCS this year or not, the factor that made the decision for me was to see all of the people I have not seen since the last DCS, and have the opportunity of meeting new people. The guest speakers, the tech information, the vendors, even the cars themselves were all secondary. As the attendance numbers go down, they will shrink exponentially, because it is attendance that generates attendance.

I know intimately what it takes to run a show like this, so I am not some guy on the side line looking for things to complain about. If I (and others) are painted with that brush, useful criticism that can be used to improve the show will be missed. This is nothing personal against Rich, Tony, or anyone else involved with running DCS this year. All in all, it was pretty good- I am glad I went.

Oh, and what was with the professional film crews at so many of the sessions?

[opethmike]

i am not some guy on the side line looking for things to complain about.

lol

[Rich W]

Hi Marc,

For the record ... I like this Forum. Maybe because I'm too old. (lol)

I also had plenty of time to think about DCS while doing multiple transports
of vehicles and trailers of support equipment from Pheasant Run to storage,
putting in a 24 hour day from 4am Sunday to 4am Monday. Yes, probably over
did it, but I much rather transport on dry roads on a Sunday than drive in
the heavy thunderstorms on Monday, which did occur, as expected. Picked up
one stranded vehicle in the rain on Monday (failing alternator?).

I too did not plan on responding to posts I had heard about from others, but
once I heard about the post mentioning a "crappy thing to do" in a thread
about a Tribute to Mark Gale, I thought that was a "crappy thing to do" in a
tribute thread. If Bob Gale stops coming to DCS, I would not blame him.
Since you felt so strongly about this issue, you could have said something
to me directly, in person. Maybe Marc doesn't like me since I'm not Ken? lol

Why ignore the semantics of the name change? Although I was not in on the
initial discussions between Tony and Ken, my understanding is that Ken wants
to keep the DeLorean Car Show name and URL's, which is why the name changed.
Tony made the decision on the new name and purchased the new URL's. This was
done with Ken's "blessing". This had to be done quickly and decisively due
to the second "changing of the guard" even before the first non-Ken DCS.

While Ken ran DCS, I believe he had a lot of the Ohio DeLorean Club members
and some DMA club members assisting him with DCS, but no inference of Ken's
DCS as being "too club specific". The current DCS has many volunteers from
the DeLorean Midwest Connection club and the Mid-States DeLorean Club, and
somehow DCS is now a local club event? If I recall correctly, the first two
DCS events that Ken had were both in Ohio, but I guess that does not matter.

Ken seemed to favor Bauerle Auto to help with work on some of the early
Raffle Cars, much the same way we utilized DMC Midwest for DCS 2016.
This is more logistics than favoritism, but maybe others do not see it that way.
All vendors are invited and encourage to attend. Some never even reply.

If it helps comfort Marc on his long drives, two of my primary helpers for
DCS 2018 were Cindy and John Bennett (both non-club members). If you had
purchased dinners, you received at least one email from Cindy, asking for
your dinner selection(s). If you brought your DeLorean, John directed you
to your parking spot inside the Mega Center. John also headed up Security
with five formal Security volunteers (only one a local DMC club member).

The DCS name was not hijacked, it was rescued from a fumbled hand off after
DCS 2014. Tony picked up the fumble and ran with it, and both Matt Sommer
and myself ran blocker for Tony in 2016. If I recall correctly, no one else even
reached for the fumble, but there was plenty of arm-chair advice offered (lol).
Granted, some of the advice was from DCS veterans and some of it was good,
but Tony had his own ideas of how he wanted to proceed and we supported him.

While I probably do not have to address any statement starting "Unlike Ken"
since Ken himself encouraged Tony (then myself) not to do things his way,
since it was time for changes. That does not mean we ignore the good and
bad history of DCS, but Ken encouraged change and new ideas. Ken still does.

If statistics are important to you (and others), the DCS Team will try to
make some time to get these numbers together, but do statistics matter most?
I think that making the VIP Guests comfortable will make for better talks,
and we did that with the Break-out Rooms. Ken agrees this works very well.
The Break-out Room concept was used in 2016 and 2018, complete with Big TV's
in each room, allows attendees a closer encounter with the VIP Guests, which
makes a difference to folks who are not comfortable talking in front of big
crowds, whether giving speeches or just asking a question to a VIP Guest.

Of course, this does "shoot us in the foot" with less folks at the dinners,
since they can see most of the VIP Guests as part of Event Registration.
This is why we have the Keynote Speakers at night, with different talks and
presentations, with speakers that are comfortable in front of bigger crowds.
With Raffle Cars for DCS 2016, we were able to keep Event Registration cost
to a minimum, but without Raffle Cars, the Event costs did increase in 2018.

As we stated elsewhere, every VIP Guest said they enjoyed themselves so much
that they would return for a future DCS Event if asked, so we are OK there.
As for Lea Thompson and other "celebrities", we had no formal confirmation
on the tentative list (and we stated that), but there was good possibilities
for each of the BTTF VIPs mentioned, since Bob Gale was in contact with each
of them. The current DCS Team considers Bob an unofficial DCS Team member.

CT-1 Comments: I'm sure Marc would not be encouraging volunteers to post to
Social Media while they are driving, unless there is a hands-free speech to
text ability to post to FB and Twitter. If there is, then I'm too old. Yes
they can call someone at the Resort (hands-free), but then there is another
person in the mix, posting for someone else and at the time, it did not seem
like a big deal. Those involved did not think it was an issue at the time.

CT-2 Comments: As I mentioned earlier, the "crappy thing to do" set me off
since it was posted in a thread created to talk about the Mark Gale Tribute.
(CT-1 occurred first, that's why I mentioned it first, but not a big issue)
A time and place for everything and the comment seemed to fit neither to me.
Bill Miller created his own awards for certain people and Ken let him give
them out at DCS. I didn't get one. Marc didn't get one. Were we excluded?
You do not buy a dinner but want to see a Keynote Speaker. Are you excluded?
You do not buy Event Registration but still want to attend. Is it exclusion?
This was a bonus activity, like the Skilled Driving Event, so if you did not
have a DeLorean (and a passenger), you could not participate. Exclusion?

Eligibility or Exclusion? Difference of opinion. I know you get along with
Ken pretty well (except for politics) so maybe we cannot agree on semantics.
Of the six or so concrete mixer coupons that were not redeemed on Friday,
the unclaimed deserts went to a few staff volunteers (because they asked).

For DCS 2018, the theme was "Behind the Authors" and I do not think anyone
was disappointed with the line-up of VIP Guests. All the VIP Guests were
relaxed (the POGs were too relaxed, lol) and all the talks (that were done)
went very well. The authors expected questions and they got plenty of them.

As for attendance, I do not think higher numbers are always "better". I know
Ken has always said higher DCS numbers are much more difficult to manage.
Quality or Quantity? Ken admits that one will often suffer for the other.
I believe Ken achieved both at some of his DCS Events and less at others.

Much of the attendance for DCS 2018 hinged on a possible appearance by GG
and whether or not there would be a formal premiere of Tamir's documentary.
Once Giorgetto Giugiaro (and Fabrizio and Silvano) could not confirm and
Tamir's documentary completion was delayed, there were some cancellations.
As a few folks said on Social media, get GG and location will not matter.
We planned for 300-500 and we were closer to 250-300 Event Registrations.

Of all the DCS attendees, the "new" owners and first time DCS attendees
were the most enthusiastic. I made a point to talk to most of the newbies,
whether they approached me or I sought them out. While we did not turn
away any Late Event Registrations, we did not add any dinners after Aug 5th.

While I do not often agree with Marc's semantics, I have nothing against
Marc personally, and while long-distance volunteers work for some tasks,
I prefer face-to-face, in-person meetings with my core volunteer staff.
Maybe it's the in-person contact that helps convey my intended meaning.

As for the "professional film crews", thanks for the compliment Marc!!
Brian Hajik provided several AV Interns that worked for food and rooms,
and a chance to put working this event on their resumes. It was a win win.
My second oldest nephew worked the projector, switcher and sound board.

Thanks,
Rich W. [for the DCS Team, not just local DMC club members]