All Mitsu Cookout -- Sunday, August 24th, 2008

[A//// Guy]

Yea it is a great event, and Id definitely keep it going even if the numbers were lower this year. Im sure numbers fluctuate, and not everyone can attend for one reason or another.

We did show up a little before 2, but I was getting antsy towards 4 for the awards to be given out.

Thanks Curt for organizing it all though!

[Kracka]

I say keep doing it even if the numbers continue to slowly drop. DSM's and 3/S's are getting old and there are fewer of them on the road. I look forward to this every year.

[Matt D.]

Based on how things went this year, I doubt I'll make it a full weekend event next year. We were 32 cars less this year. (134 total Mitsus) I'm very disappointed in the car numbers, and the fact that I barely broke even this year. And to top all of that off, there were more cars in the lot that didn't bother to register.

I'll also make this promise. If next year's numbers are not above the 160 from 2007, the 2009 Cookout will be the last one.
Why does it seem you are shooting for specific numbers, or even making such a big deal out of how many cars show up? You're not running a business, there should be no reason to expect increasing numbers year to year. The more the merrier, obviously, but is it that much of a deal breaker if you lose a few cars from one year to the next? There are ways to cut costs.

Barely breaking even is all a part of the deal... You win some, you lose some. If I had a dime for every time an event I helped run barely broke even, or didn't break even at all, I'd have a lot of dimes.

It's hard to tell if you're venting frustration or just taking this whole thing far too serious. Lighten up, take the good with the bad. You run a great event and have done so for as long as I've known you. No reason to be discouraged over such trivial details.

[adm2204]

Remarkably stock:

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/data/568/medium/100_1606.jpg

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/data/568/medium/100_1607.jpg

Heading all the way back:

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/data/500/medium/100_1628.jpg
[/quote]

So do I win the "most stock looking" award? :D Actually I was surprised to see that I had the only Laser with no spoiler/extra bodywork. I had assumed that all the lasers were like mine stock. My car had been sitting outside for 2 months and was REALLY dirty (Don't ask about the ding on the driver's side fender :( :( ). I should have at least gone through the car wash. I'll hopefully have it cleaned up/tuned up for the next event. I envy the owner of the maroon (burgundy?) AWD laser :score010: (won third) I was stunned that it didn't win. It was SO clean and nice looking I would take that car over any other 1g pretty much for sure. I will definitely be attending more events (I was at the dyno day at DBP in... may?) see you all again soon hopefully! It was a blast.

[adm2204]

Why does it seem you are shooting for specific numbers, or even making such a big deal out of how many cars show up? You're not running a business, there should be no reason to expect increasing numbers year to year. The more the merrier, obviously, but is it that much of a deal breaker if you lose a few cars from one year to the next? There are ways to cut costs.

Barely breaking even is all a part of the deal... You win some, you lose some. If I had a dime for every time an event I helped run barely broke even, or didn't break even at all, I'd have a lot of dimes.

It's hard to tell if you're venting frustration or just taking this whole thing far too serious. Lighten up, take the good with the bad. You run a great event and have done so for as long as I've known you. No reason to be discouraged over such trivial details.

I agree wholeheartedly. That was the most fun I've had in AGES. It was great to see all the cars there and it was all organized VERY well. I would hate to see an event cancelled because the number of attendees isn't constantly rising. I can assure you that now that I've been to two of the DSM events this year I'll be attending any and ALL future events that I possibly can. I must admit I didn't register because I had only barely enough money to buy gas to drive there and back. Next time I will definitely register. My apologies also for the burnout in the parking lot I wasn't really thinking about it. I'm sure the school expects good behavior in order to allow the usage of their parking lot. To anyone else who agrees that the events should continue (despite attendance numbers) and enjoyed them as much as I do give some more encouragement to the organizers and everyone who did a fantastic job of making it an AWESOME event. :D

[curt_gendron]

Why does it seem you are shooting for specific numbers, or even making such a big deal out of how many cars show up? You're not running a business, there should be no reason to expect increasing numbers year to year. ..........It's hard to tell if you're venting frustration or just taking this whole thing far too serious....

Hey Matt,

I do treat it a little like running a business. You have to unless you don't care at all about breaking even. The All Mitsu Cookout is the biggest Mitsu event in the country that isn't run by a business. Thats no accident.

The Cookout also wouldn't be as big as it is if I didn't care about the numbers. For me its all about building a bigger and better Mitsu enthusiast community. Having a smaller event tells me the community is getting smaller. Whether that is true or not, who knows.

Bottom line is, I want the All Mitsu Cookout to grow. And what happened on Sunday set us back three years. Who wouldn't be frustrated at that?

later,
Curt

[Kracka]

Is the point of the Cookout to hang out and have fun with other enthusiasts or to get data to write down on a piece of paper after the fact?

Nobody wants you to take a loss on the Cookout so if needed charge more for registration, charge for food similar to how we do at dyno days, etc. Its hardly like the event was a total failure; you broke even and still had a great turnout!

[Matt D.]

Hey Matt,

I do treat it a little like running a business. You have to unless you don't care at all about breaking even. The All Mitsu Cookout is the biggest Mitsu event in the country that isn't run by a business. Thats no accident.

The Cookout also wouldn't be as big as it is if I didn't care about the numbers. For me its all about building a bigger and better Mitsu enthusiast community. Having a smaller event tells me the community is getting smaller. Whether that is true or not, who knows.

Bottom line is, I want the All Mitsu Cookout to grow. And what happened on Sunday set us back three years. Who wouldn't be frustrated at that?

later,
Curt
Has there ever been any thought of having it at any other time of the year, or at a different, dare I say more attractive, place in the Twin Cities? Yes, the majority of the cars there are from the local area, but what would it take to compel people to come from out of state or more than an hour or two away? Heck, I still meet Mitsubishi owners on occasion who have never even heard of the Cookout.

We all would love to see the Cookout grow, I don't think anyone would deny that, but getting frustrated over losing a few cars from one year to the next in the Mitsubishi enthusiast community, which is flaky at best to begin with, is really no different than crying over spilled milk. Chalk up your losses and move on to next year and do your damnedest to make it even bigger and better.

[v8klla]

Based on how things went this year, I doubt I'll make it a full weekend event next year. We were 32 cars less this year. (134 total Mitsus) I'm very disappointed in the car numbers, and the fact that I barely broke even this year. And to top all of that off, there were more cars in the lot that didn't bother to register.

I'll also make this promise. If next year's numbers are not above the 160 from 2007, the 2009 Cookout will be the last one.

I will post up all the dyno numbers and trophy winners, but it won't be today.

I don't want to sound harsh, but you definitely could have generated some more revenue for the event had you allowed "competing sponsors" as you put it, as we definitely would have paid for some space on Sunday and donated some product/merchandise for prizes. Having a performance focused car show and only allowing one performance shop to sponsor the event just doesn't make sense, and I don't even think the other shop had a display set up on Sunday?

Also, you could have had at least one more car registered if you allowed "mitsubishi powered" vehicles in the other category ;)

[Kracka]

Rogers is quite a hike for some people, a more centralized location would definitely boost attendance.