membership questions

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hepcatz
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membership questions

Post by hepcatz »

Being a new member, I was curious if CDC has scheduled meetings or gt's (get togethers)? tech days? Also does the club offer an autocross school? How frequently are fun runs held, I see info mentioned from yast year.
thanks!
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echan
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Re: membership questions

Post by echan »

Our club is focus mostly on autox. We tried to do a couple of rallys last year, and are about to schedule another this year (see schedule page in the next day or so). We also have an agreement with the Mercedes Club to allow our members to participate at their track days. We also hold and end of season lunch.

The problem has always been trying to get people to attend. We seem to be able to attract over 100 participants at many of our autocrosses, but can only attract about 10 people at a lunch meeting. Even at this lunch, most of the people there are those that won an award.

I've also thought about having a CDC picnic but then realized that our members would rather attend an autox with a hotdog then to have a picnic without any autox activities. I've even thought about having some sort of CDC party (Halloween, Superbowl, Christmas, or just normal party). My fear is that the attendance, again, would be very low. In addition, the party would require a place to use and lots of labor to organize.

In terms of just working meetings, the organizers meet over the internet to make sure all the events (about 20 in 2009) are ready to go. In addiiton, we try to evaluate each event after completed to improve on the next events. For good or bad, our organizers are scattered between Alexandria VA, Ashburn Va, Arlington VA, Centerville Va, McLean VA, Columbia MD, Silver Spring MD, Frederick MD, and even PA. Meeting in person outside the actual autocross has proven to be very difficult.

If you have any suggestions, please feel free to let me know. We are always looking for ways to improve.

Ed
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hepcatz
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Re: membership questions

Post by hepcatz »

Thanks for the reply Ed, I will give it some thought & let you know if I have any ideas. Also, although new to ax and the club, if there is any way I can assist with things, let me know!

John
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Re: membership questions

Post by Gonz »

We don't have an autoX school per se, but you can always ask an instructor to ride along with you if you are new or just looking for some tips on where to improve. Usually during the driver's meeting the group leader will point out who is an instructor.

You can also find someone to let you ride along in their car, and get some tips that way.
Since CDC is pretty laid back, many people will not mind having a passenger. Just don't ask them as they are next in line to start their runs.

For more seat time, the "test N tune" events are typically run in Frederick the Sunday after a Saturday autoX. So if you are available on Sunday's you can sign up and get a lot of seat time. Check the event schedule for those..

When you aren't working or driving, the downtime makes a good opportunity to walk around and meet new people and check out their cars, etc.

Hopefully we'll have good weather at the next one.


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hepcatz
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Re: membership questions

Post by hepcatz »

Thanks Gonz!

That has been my plan so far. So your advice is to just do it. I had seen the scca novice school and thought that would help speed up the learning curve however I think it conflicts with Summit so I chose that, plus of course the price had an effect as well. I attended the tnt at Harry Grove last month as my first event, knowing I'd get more runs to practise and it would be more low key then a standard event. I also enjoyed working out on the course, even if I did have to dodge a sliding Lotus, lol. I will definately be asking for an instructor this next time out at Summit like I did before to help with directions, since it will be a new course and less runs.

It also looks like we do not compete in classes like with scca? This means I can mod my car (also a DD) and not worry about being thrown into a class I have no chance in (although my main goal is just having fun, it would still get old always being last)?

John N
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Re: membership questions

Post by kyle.bowker »

John,

Many common questions about our club may already be answered in the FAQ section of the website. CDC has absolutely no formal relationship with the SCCA and we do not follow their classifications. The index system that CDC uses is an attempt to satisfy certain members' desires to achieve some level of parity between vastly different cars so that they might better compare raw, natural driving ability independent of the car itself. You are free to modify your car as you see fit provided the car remains "street legal" and you successfully pass the tech inspection held at the beginning of each event and it meets any/all other requirements specified in the FAQ. However, like in all motorsports, speed costs money. How fast do you want to go? Whether racing in stock class auto-x with SCCA or an indexed system like CDC or the NASA TT points system there will never be a completely level playing field. Even in "spec" racing series there are faster cars and slower cars. As a newcomer to auto-x you will have your hands full just learning the course and the basics of autocrossing. Like golf, it's easy to get the hang of auto-x after a few days but for most people it takes a lifetime to truly master it. Focus on your own driving first - you and your machine against the clock - and then worry about what your competitors are doing later. And don't worry about mods right now. If you want to go ahead and mod your car go for it, but honestly, short of some brand new Hoosier A6 tires, nothing will make you faster than lots and lots of seat time honing your driving skills.

Many CDC members have attended various auto-x schools offered by other clubs and private businesses in the area. Hopefully they will chime in to relay their own experiences but almost all have said it was a positive experience. If you'd like more intensive training then I highly recommend them provided you want to spend the money (again, speed costs money: how fast do you want to go?) but just as many autocrossers have learned their craft the old-fashioned way by going to as many auto-x events as possible and just doing it over and over again.
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hepcatz
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Re: membership questions

Post by hepcatz »

Great feedback Kyle, thanks. Glad to know I can complete mods for personal reasons and not have it effect AX with CDC.
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hepcatz
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Re: membership questions

Post by hepcatz »

Have the ideas of a season pass (pay one lump amount to partake in any events of the season) or pay additional to run in multiple heats been brought up previously?
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Re: membership questions

Post by echan »

hepcatz wrote:Have the ideas of a season pass (pay one lump amount to partake in any events of the season) or pay additional to run in multiple heats been brought up previously?
We've talked about a season pass. The problem is that we never know how many events we will have during the season. In many cases, we don't know how many times, if any, at certain locations, and when we do, we've had to cancel the event (not just for rain) but for construction equipment with large piles of gravel on the lot, City festivals, Baseball games that have been rescheduled, high school activities, you name it.

In terms of getting more than one slot, we've had several people request more than one slot so that they can run in more than one heat. We have no problem with that. However, we only count points based on the first 6 runs.

Ed
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Re: membership questions

Post by hepcatz »

I understand your point Ed, however I think people would understand. I'm sure there would also be events that a season pass holder who not be able to attend on their side. Kind of a one time payment to atend how ever many events you can/want to with the understanding you would not get a refund for a canceled event (simply just attend another) and you are not obligated to attend every event.

For running in more than one slot, do we mention that at sign up and then pay for two? (i.e. $30x2) I have no problem with the points part as the more runs/experience is more important to me than points.

Another idea (you can tell me to shut up with all my ideas at any point, laugh :D ) How about a designation- like a "N" or "R" next to the names in the stat posting designating someone who is an autocross rookie that season? Not only could the club gauge new folks into the sport/club, Rookies could also gauge their times against others for comparison. If you wanted to be fancy a "rookie of the year" could be picked by something like best avg time improvement over multiple events (or some other basic metric deduced from the posted time stats) to garner something small like a shirt or free membership the following year?
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Re: membership questions

Post by echan »

hepcatz wrote:I understand your point Ed, however I think people would understand. I'm sure there would also be events that a season pass holder who not be able to attend on their side. Kind of a one time payment to atend how ever many events you can/want to with the understanding you would not get a refund for a canceled event (simply just attend another) and you are not obligated to attend every event.

For running in more than one slot, do we mention that at sign up and then pay for two? (i.e. $30x2) I have no problem with the points part as the more runs/experience is more important to me than points.

Another idea (you can tell me to shut up with all my ideas at any point, laugh :D ) How about a designation- like a "N" or "R" next to the names in the stat posting designating someone who is an autocross rookie that season? Not only could the club gauge new folks into the sport/club, Rookies could also gauge their times against others for comparison. If you wanted to be fancy a "rookie of the year" could be picked by something like best avg time improvement over multiple events (or some other basic metric deduced from the posted time stats) to garner something small like a shirt or free membership the following year?
Maybe it's just me, but a season pass is a season pass. For instance some of the first place winners in the past, won a season pass. This could have been worth 14 events or 17 events. If we offer a 5 event pass (for agruement sake), they would just decide on not attending events that they don't wish to attend (e.g. cold or bad weather), which I don't really think helps.

If you wish to sign up for a second slot, just make a second reservation, but write in the notes section that you wish to have two slots. Otherwise, I may think you made a repeated reservation by mistake.

Right now, it takes about 3 hours to complile the results. This last event, Ted was the head organizer and is responsible for the results, which he has quickly found is very completicated when considering all the alias, small bore series, and special requiests. I think the "rookie" designation might be a little too much for us at this time. I think when we get the bar code system on-line this year, we can consider the rookie notation.

Ed
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hepcatz
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Re: membership questions

Post by hepcatz »

Another nice feature at some point could be a brief bio on the organizers/staff of CDC. Kind of like "meet the staff of CDC". A quick blurb with name, photo and line on what their role with the group is. This could be on the website or facebook site.
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