FTOluv wrote:Alex is right, theres not point having the pre meet in the western suburbs if all the eastern peeps have to go there and come back again.
With the pre meet, we should always have it in a logical place.
It seems to me that this "logic" is based on travel time / distance, whereas I believe the more important factor is getting as many people participating as we can. While it might be great for those who live in the east (such as myself) to not have to travel as far, the event is never as good when we are missing people from other areas and the numbers are lower.
Personally, I value the friendships of those members who live in the west and the more regional areas and would be happy to inconvenience myself to catch up with them, even if this means I have to drive further or spend more time doing so. Quite simply, friendships are worth more than kilometers.
The destination where the event is being held is not the important factor, let's face it, you can go there any time you like. What is important is catching up with your friends and having a good time. One of the most enjoyable things is to be part of a convey of FTO's with other drivers and pedestrians turning and looking. Personally, I'd rather have a longer cruise with more friends than a shorter one with less friends, even if this means I'm backtracking from the east-to-west-to-east again.
I believe a central location is the most neutral and inconveniences both the east and west sides about the same. Sometimes events are in the east and sometimes they are in the west. A central location also works very well for those people that only have time to catch up at the pre-meet and are unable to attend the actual event. So far Albert Park has worked the best for this (outside the F1 pits).
The other alternative would be to have a "west" meeting point and an "east" meeting point that we use on a regular basis. This way if the event is in the east, all the people in the west can meet at their point and then have a mini-cruise to the "east" meeting point where we'll be waiting. Then we can all travel together to the actual event. Obviously this would also work the reverse way if the event was in the west.
I've been to every mini-meet and cruise since I joined the club last year and have seen events with over 20 cars and those with less than 10. From past experience it seems the distance to the meeting point is a more critical factor than the distance to the event. Lets not forget that it can be a long and lonely drive when the event is on the other side of town and you are driving there by yourself. It's much more enjoyable to catch up with people first and travel together.
...just my 3 cents
can't make a saturday cruise