Steve Adams
Just this guy, ya know?
It strikes me that NASA has three strengths, irrespective of a comparison with Conference:
Related to the comment about how NASA doesn't have certain kinds of classes: If NASA doesn't have a class and enough cars show up to run one, they'll create a class for you. If Pro3 were to show up to NASA, you'd better believe there'd be a class for them even with Spec E30 around. That said, they also have a policy of combining smaller classes into run groups that may or may not be the best grouping. Safety issues aside, this can lead to a "less good" racing experience... but only if you know what the alternative can be.
No, we don't need to reinvent ourselves, but the greatest threat to any organization is complacency. There have been quite a few comments on this forum over the last few years in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" vein, but there have also been at least that many comments from people for whom some things ARE broken. My hope, occasional optimist that I am, is that the presence of NASA in the Northwest will force people to take a good, hard look at the core values that make Conference successful, and then look at how they can be used to promote ICSCC and our style of doing things to a wider audience.
NASA's arrival here is only a threat if we're worried that our core values won't stack up well with the competition. NASA's arrival is a HUGE opportunity, though, if we can find a way to use their strengths to OUR advantage.
- It's a for-profit business, which lets them spend money on things like marketing and corner workers.
- It's a dictatorship. Much like Formula 1, this might not lead to the best experience for the members, but it's a great way to get things done.
- They have a strong HPDE program that runs with their W2W program. This is, in my opinion, the best kind of low-key marketing, as your target audience, i.e., people with enough money to take their car to a track, actually comes to you.
Related to the comment about how NASA doesn't have certain kinds of classes: If NASA doesn't have a class and enough cars show up to run one, they'll create a class for you. If Pro3 were to show up to NASA, you'd better believe there'd be a class for them even with Spec E30 around. That said, they also have a policy of combining smaller classes into run groups that may or may not be the best grouping. Safety issues aside, this can lead to a "less good" racing experience... but only if you know what the alternative can be.
No, we don't need to reinvent ourselves, but the greatest threat to any organization is complacency. There have been quite a few comments on this forum over the last few years in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" vein, but there have also been at least that many comments from people for whom some things ARE broken. My hope, occasional optimist that I am, is that the presence of NASA in the Northwest will force people to take a good, hard look at the core values that make Conference successful, and then look at how they can be used to promote ICSCC and our style of doing things to a wider audience.
NASA's arrival here is only a threat if we're worried that our core values won't stack up well with the competition. NASA's arrival is a HUGE opportunity, though, if we can find a way to use their strengths to OUR advantage.