Schedule Question and Poll

[arniecoleman]

Clay and I have been discussing the schedule, particularly the CDR School currently on the schedule for 9th of September. We both feel that the end of the year (nearly) is not the best time to host a school, in terms of benefit to the student. (at the time it was originally scheduled, the Memorial Day weekend dates hadn't been settled).

We are considering swapping the Memorial Day weekend (28/29 May)schedule (SS#3 & 4) with the 9/10 Sept weekend (CDR School & SS#10).

We are concerned, though, that the Sunday - School/Monday - Event schedule of Memorial Day weekend might affect attendance at the event on Monday.

Clay asked me to present the issue to the community for your consideration, and asks you to respond to the poll with your preference. Discussion on the forum is welcomed as well (like I could prevent it if I wanted to !!) :D

Thanks!
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[S Abshire]

I too think students would benefit more from the school being earlier in the season, more time to apply what was learned through out the remainder of the season.

[khammack]

One consideration is that the BMW end of year Driver's Championship Event is on Sept 9. It currently is in conflict with the SCCA school. The proposed change makes it conflict with a driving event. I'm not sure I want to make a decisions on either missing one of the SCCA events or the BMW end of year event.

Ken

[Proxenus]

I'm a fan of moving the school to an earlier date.

I'm not a fan of schedule conflicts between local events :(

I understand the reason for choosing those dates for the swap, since we wouldn't have to change any 'reservation dates' in regard to the lots.

But you know what would be REALLY cool to do? Leave SS#10 on Sept 10th and move the school to May 27th. Then the students will have 2 consecutive events to work on their skills. I do, however, understand the complexity of lot reservations and date changes. IIRC 5/27 wasn't even available to us anyways. I thought I'd just throw that suggestion out there.

[Eric Pollock]

Are there any more dates that you can switch with other than the Memorial Day weekend?

Conflicts do sux and would prefer not to do it if we can avoid it. If it is possible I do like Jesse's idea of the 5/27.

[MrPickles]

So I'm assuming that the possiblity of the Memorial day weekend events being sat/sun has been thrown out??

[arniecoleman]

Sat. was never a possibilty; the lot wasn't and isn't available.
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[PaulL]

If we move the school to an earlier date, it would only be 6 weeks after the first school, which isn't ideal, either.

Having the school earlier in the year would be better for the students, as you state, but I don't think we should move it and create a conflict between SCCA and BMW events on Sept 9th, when a LOT of members attend both.

Keeping our double-header event on Memorial weekend also has a nice 'flavor' to it.

Arnie ... is there ANY other single date when the school could be run? It doesn't need to be followed by an event the very next day. (This would be my choice if we can find another date to run the school.)

Dan G ... is there any possibility of moving the Sept 9 BMW event?

[S Abshire]

If we move the school to an earlier date, it would only be 6 weeks after the first school, which isn't ideal, either.
It should be the a different set of 40 students so having the schools close together should not be an issue to worry about.

[Chris_Swearingen]

It should be the a different set of 40 students so having the schools close together should not be an issue to worry about.

I was hoping to do both schools. I think moving it to an earlier date it a good thing. I agree we shouldn't cause local schedule conflicts. So the ANY other date is a good thing. I don't think anyone would object to having an additional opportunity to play. Then we could consider changing the scheduled school date to another summer series event.

Can we add a third voting option to the poll to say "Earlier in the year but not Memorial Day?" It would get my vote.

[PaulL]

Perhaps, but it's also a drain on the instructors and volunteers to do it all over again the very next month.

[Clay Turner]

First of all, a correction: I do not agree the school should be moved. Yes, Arnie and I discussed this, but I only agreed that Arnie should post a poll to take the temperature of the list! Sorry for the confusion, Arn.

Dates at WA are very difficult to schedule this year: we have a big hole in the schedule around the Pro and Tour, as well as scheduling around national pro events so our members who want to qualify for the finale can do so.

We've also tried to schedule around national tour dates that are closest to Colorado for the benefit of members.

We've also scheduled around BMW club events wherever possible. And the WA lot isn't always available (i.e., Saturday, May 27 of Memorial Day weekend).

So, finding a completely new date isn't part of the picture at this point.

I don't agree that a late school is bad. I see benefits to a late school for newbies who start with us in June, run a few events and want to commit to AX. With a late school, they still have an opportunity to attend. Remember, 1/3 of our entrants are novices, and half of those are at their first event—and that pattern repeates itself all season long. That's a lot of rookies joining us every event.

And remember, we now require membership and some AX experience to attend our schools; we want to devote our time to people who are likely to stick around, not just attend one event and bail out. A late school gives those newbies a chance to attend a few events.

My .02. Thanks.