Project-G Official Recap: Annual Meet 2014
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Project-G Annual Meet 2014
Project-G would first like to start out by thanking all of you for making our 3rd Annual Meet a success! If it weren't for all you supporters, it just would not be possible. The turnout this year was amazing. We thought we had the parking situation figured out this time around, but the satellite parking was filled up almost immediately. Cars overflowed into surrounding parking lots, down the back street behind our shop, and even into the surrounding neighborhoods. An unofficial count of over 500 is as good of a count as we are going to get, as the person counting indicated it would be impossible to find the cars hiding in the other lots and side streets. We are amazed and truly appreciate the support!
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Vendors
This year the vendor support was great! We had Whistler Wheels come out with a great display and even donated a set of their wheels to the raffle! Kazespec Engineering was here with a great display and an awesome display vehicle. They donated 2 of their super stout tow hooks! Indotech combined forces with Aerowerkz with a few great display vehicles and donated 10 Alignments and also wraps for a: Hood, Trunk, Finish Panel, and a Hard top. In addition, Aerowerks is offering a discount on full vehicle wraps with the event flyer. Apexi came out with some awesome deals on exhaust and their coilovers for the Miata. Last but definitely not least, MotorMavens and AME Wheels had a booth here to showcase their latest wheel line on two really sick Miatas. It looks like Project-G will have these in stock real soon for those who are interested. The feedback online has been a little shaky, but in person people were saying they were really liking them. MotorMavens were also giving out shirts and various items throughout the event. Not to mention, providing us with the awesome coverage MotorMavens is known for. So a huge thanks to all the vendors for taking the time to come out and showcase their products! This lets the community actually see the products in person before they purchase, rather than just an online image.
Raffle
The raffle at the event was insane. There were so many items to raffle off, toward the end, they were giving them out in batches. There were so many happy faces in the crowd, it was amazing! We started raffling and doing the giveaways at 1:00 and struggled to finish by 4:00. Our MC for the event, The Notorious R.O.B. did an awesome job keeping the event moving! We didn't have time to fill him in on what to expect, so he was really just winging it! Thanks Rob!!!
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The Roadster Showoff
As many of you know, this was our first year introducing our Roadster Showoff. We did not know what to expect, and quite honestly, we did not even know if we would have enough interest to have a show. We had posted early on to please register early so we could set up the different categories, but the start was really slow. We had considered cancelling it when we were 1-1/2 weeks out. All of a sudden, the registrations started pouring in. This made it extremely difficult since we were on the verge of calling it off, and at this point, it was clear we were under the gun to get the awards situated, not to mention figuring out the categories. This was on top of everything else we needed to address for the event, and our normal grind.
Judging
The plan was Project-G (Steve, Joe, Jon B, and Bryan) along with 2 other selected members of the community would judge the cars. As much as we had things planned out and had time allocated for this, the event was too big for us to find time time manage the event AND have time to judge the show. In addition, we had a couple members that were going to help us judge the Track category, but evidently there was a track event this weekend and they were not able to attend. This left us in a bad spot since that is not our area of expertise. The outcome was our 2 additional judges ended up with the overwhelming task of doing all the judging. (Sorry guys) We felt terrible about this, but it was the best we could do at the moment, and we feel they did a fantastic job. Up until it was too late to address it, it looked like we were going to have 12 cars to judge. By the time the event hit, we were almost 70 cars deep. This was great, but quite honestly we were unprepared.
Room To Improve
So on the topic of our first Roadster Showoff, Project-G would like to issue an official public apology to the participants, as we feel it did not live up to what we strive to accomplish for the community. Your participation this year has shown us there is a real interest in the Roadster Showoff, so we can move forward with it knowing this. As they say, we cannot get to the next level with out taking the first step. This was our first step. We learned a lot from this experience, and we can guarantee the next one will be what you have come to expect of us.
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Final Thoughts
Overall, we are pleased with the outcome of The Project-G Annual Meet 2014. All the attendees were OUTSTANDING! Everyone got along, and we got to see so many of our friends we have not seen in awhile. In case you don't know, this event is not for financial gain for Project-G (If it were, everyone would be doing it). The events are to bring the community together. We hope to create an opportunity for everyone to finally meet those fellow forum members in person and see all these amazing builds up close and in person. With this event we were hoping to blur the lines between Street, Track, Stance, Slammed, Race, Rice, or whatever label you want to put on people, and bring everyone together to appreciate what we have all come to love, the Mazda Miata.
A big thanks goes out to all the attendees for respecting the venue and our neighbors. There was not one incidence, anything broken, no vandalism, and EVERYONE left in a respectable manner. Because of this, it will allow us to continue to have meets such as this.
Thank you to everyone involved, near and far, for your continued support!
Like we always say, Project-G has the best customers/supporters!!!
