Joel....sorry for the confusion. I will try to explain.
About a month ago I sent the gentleman doing the website, the registration form from the 2004 Convention wanting him to use it as a template. Unfortunately, he listed the prices. I sent him an email about 10 days to 2 weeks ago to remove it as the figures were incorrect. I checked this morning and the $110 figure is still listed. I finalized all the costs this past week and am having flyers printed and will be picked up next Wed. The registration cost this year is $130. My goal with the website builder was to have the registration form and a "shopping cart" for payment be used right from the website. That's the goal. He has been out of town for 10 days and I've been gone myself for the past 7 days. When I get the flyers this week, I will scan them and post it here. The front of the page is the schedule for all 3 days and the back will be the registration form. If it's easier for anyone, they can just print a copy and fill it out, sign it and mail it to me. Personal checks from anyone here on the forum are fine. I have a PayPal account setup for the Convention so you can use that if it's easier. Either way, you will receive a conformation of your payment when you check in at the registration tent.
I'd like to give everyone a little background on how this Convention came together. When Dick MacKenzie flew to KC last summer and went with me to Great Bend to meet with the car club, we basically had 2 options. Either rent the track out and have our event be self-standing or use a weekend that they have one of their divisional races and be part of their group. Since the track rents out for $5000 a day and I would have to provide key people to handle the attendance, etc...it was a pretty easy decision. Plus, I didn't know how many racers would show up to keep the program going. So, I opted to go in with their group. Our cars mixed in with their normal racers I thought would make a good mix. So now, how do we pay for this? I use the term "participant" for lack of a better word. I am assuming that 99.99% of all participants will be men. Some will come alone, some will bring their wives, and some may have kids under 21. So the registration fee of $130 will be for the guy and includes a paid ticket for the Sunday brunch. If wives and kids come and want to attend the brunch, those additional meals are $25 each extra. That's the fairest way I know how to handle this. It's the same with the racing...if you want to race, the track requires a tech card at $25 per day to race. If you do not do race, you will not have this extra expense. And you can choose to not bring a car or as many as you want. Pat Lobb is bringing 5 cars!! I just am not going to have to have a Convention Police officer running around to check everyone's registration to see if it's what they said they paid for. Life is too short for that!!! The SRCA club is all volunteer and has only three forms of income: the gate coming in, the tech card and the concession stand. They are offering us a three day pass for $20. I, basically, only have one source of income....the registration fee. The seed money I spend on printing t-shirts, ball caps and the video will probably take one to two years to pay for themselves. The registration fee of $130 is only $20 more than it was 10 years ago. That's an increase of just $2 per year. As for your friends...that's a tough one to call. There is a cost to attending any event. I would hope they chose to register. If not, they can pay to come in the gate and pay the $20 three day pass. But to attend the brunch and to race...you have to be a paid participant.
It isn't cheap to put on an event like this. The Expo building rents for $500 a day. Now the Chamber of Commerce did give me a reduction in that price but it's still a pretty good chunk of change. But they also require a $1 million Liability insurance policy to protect their building. Then I have to use their cleaning crews every day to keep it up. I have to rent tables and chairs for the brunch and then a speaker system and microphone for the lunch program. I have friends who helped me with the 2004 Convention. I can not do this without them. None have ever asked for a cent in payment.!! When I called to say we are having one more convention, their only question was "when do you need us there?" So I'm going to furnish them with their motel rooms. That's 33 rooms over 5 nights at an average cost of $100 per night. Because the track is so big.....I'm renting 4-5 golf carts. One for myself, one for Hayden to get around in and one for Doug Marion so he can be sure to get photographs of all your cars. It just all adds up. I'm not complaining!! I'm just trying to put on the most professional event that I can with funds I have to work with.
Hope to see everyone there!! Please ask if you have any other questions.