Trail Ride T-shirts, gripes, praise, suggestions!

[Deleted]

Use this not for pics for after action reports, but to offer up suggestions, complaints, or praise so we can modify or keep certain things the same.
We learned a lot of lessons last year and did what we could to make things smoother. Chris and I heard a lot less complaints this year, so I think we are really on the right track.
I will start with some things I noticed and we will change for next year, or discuss if we want a change for next year:

1. The confirmation email with FAQs, directions, and information is too long. Information gets lost and people don't read it. I got a ton of questions, and all the answers were in your confirmation email. So the goal is to shorten that up to half its size and still retain the important info.

2. T-shirts. This event has never offered t-shirts as part of the registration costs. This year there were more people that usual who expressed displeasure that there was no t-shirt in their goodie bag because they thought one was included. So since they never ordered one, we sold out and Chris ordered 20 extra shirts in all the popular men's sizes.
So we can leave it as is, and make it clear as day next year on the registration form and in the email confirmations, or we can include a t-shirt and jack up the registration price $15.

3. Apologies on forgetting the poker hand prizes until halfway through the raffle. We will try to do that first next year.

4. To me the raffle was the perfect size and length of time. Thoughts?

5. This will be a sore spot for many....But there were WAY less children in attendance this year compared to last year. We've heard it from both sides, but again this is a family event and lots of kids aren't coming because this is during school and sports. It was a perfect weekend but I'd still rather have it on labor day weekend.

6. Cursing. Seriously people, the campfire sucked on Saturday night. I witnessed the few women and children who were there get up and leave after only a few minutes because of the vulgar language. You know who you are, and that was the most uncool thing I witnessed all weekend.

7. This was the best trail ride ever! ;D

[Deleted]

We also want to recognize and thank Sandy and Jesse for all the extra help they were able to give this year. They are really busy with VA Assoc stuff and this came on the heels of the Expo. I think we all can recognize that their presence was felt this year and they made the event a lot more exciting, especially on stage. Jesse likes to talk ;D so it'd be a shame if we didn't give him a mic to use for a few hours on Saturday. The man can really sell some raffle tickets and keep the energy going during the raffle. So thank you for that Sandy and Jesse, and we hope you can do it again next year.

[Jesse Schneirla]

All,

We here at VA4WDA want to thank Tidewater Fourwheelers for putting on a great event again this year! I saw nothing but smiles and heard nothing but praise from everyone that came to the event.

I want to thank Chris Boucher and Keith Fromme for coordinating this years efforts and a special thanks to Jason, Ryan, Craig, and Eric for cooking again this year. Great Job! Plus don't forget those that guided everyone through the trails, repaired vehicles and got everyone back safe!

This year we welcomed, Eastern Truck and Accessory, Great Tops and Southern Jeep to attend the event, set up their displays and we also appreciate the donated prizes to the raffle. I'm hoping that they can come back next year and join us again.

I also want to thank the clubs and sponsors for the many raffle prizes that were donated to make this years raffle great! Without your support we wouldn't make any money to support VA4WDA.

We also had the privilege to have Greg Mumm from Blueribbon Coalition stop by and spend a day or two with us on his cross country tour. He has attended and run many events throughout his time with BRC and he rated our event in the top three! That I took as a great compliment!

Yes I enjoy talking, even though I'm quiet and shy! I'm glad I got the privilege to host the raffle again this year and I had a great time doing it! I only wish I could have gotten my hands on that GoPro cage mount! Well maybe next year! I want to thank Keith for the kind comments but Sandy and I did hardly anything, This was his and Chris's show and they did an outstanding job.

I hope everyone had a great time and look forward to coming back next year. When next years date is announced I would put this on your calendar so you can sign up before all the spots are gone!

Thanks again Tidewater for 20 years of hosting this event!

Jesse L Schneirla
VA4WDA President

[BronzePig]

Great job Keith and Chris, as well as everyone else! You guys make it look easy and we all know it isn't! A perfect weekend helped too!

[Ron Paquette]

Hey guys, overall it was a great weekend and while I won nothing, the amount of stuff at the raffle was impressive.

My only criticism had to do with the organization of the trail ride itself. According to our trail guide, the group "behind" us on the loop skipped some trails to the point that they were right on our tails by the end of the first day. Then, on the second day, they skipped ahead of us and were running the trails immediately before us. Why do I care? Well, the second day, they weren't quite so fast and we kept getting delayed and re-routed to "other" trails because we were waiting for a group that shouldn't have been there in the first place.
I understand that sometimes, stuff will happen but I assume that the planning for the trail rides, number of vehicles and spacing is there to maximize the wheeling people can do and minimize interference between groups. When a trail-guide takes matters into their own hands, all of the organization falls apart and other groups are negatively impacted.

I was in the group that was led by Tony in the Red CJ-6, who was great (although he has some deep seated hate for MT/R's which I don't understand--jealously maybe?)

Thanks for listening.

[Mike]

We had a great trail run with Keith and Chris. They kept us moving both days and being in what I think was the smallest group (12 rigs) we were able to slip in and out of places where people were not thanks to their experience.
The ongoing commentary from Chris on the history of Oakridge was entertaining as well as informative and made the pump house run and butcher barn feel less like "time killing" and more like an integral part of the trail system.
Everyone in our group knew what their strong points were and when it was time to move around an obstacle they did and that is also what kept us moving.
The praise also goes out to Jessie and Sandy and all those who were in the camp when we got back Saturday that were getting food and drinks ready and all the volunteers that were dumping trash and cleaning up.
I like the non-labor day Fri/Sat format being back but we have no children.
The dinner and raffle were great, it seems like this was the first time in years that everything started "on time",

I had no complaints and short of tearing off an antenna and wiper blade due to high speed cross mountain runs it was perfect and the memorial at the top of CJ5 for Mr. Holland was truly awesome! Way to go!

[PingPong]

I know I had a great time and all the comments I heard from my fellow members has been positive.

My only gripe was my 2x VA shirt doesnt fit, but my "its only oak ridge one does.

[JoAnne]

We were in the group with Keith and Chris and we had a great two days. Chris had to be the most patient and pleasant trail guide ever. One of our Jeeps "gently" flipped and Chris was great in helping get it back on 4 wheels without any damage at all. Look foward to next year!