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It goes through Sunday, but I think sunday is more about buying stuff from venders and swap meet people. They seem to have special deals as they are packing up. Plus you can have more time to just hang out with other let over attenders. The main events and shows are done with the parade on Saturday.
I also went Sunday and was pretty upset when I discovered GM left with all of the C7s. You couldn't even get close to the yellow one because the girls taking photos kept asking people to get away from the car. The Carlisle show is one on the biggest in the nation. If they are not going to stay for the entire show; what is the point. GM likely disappointed more than a thousand consumers looking for the C7 on Sunday. What was so important that they had to leave a day early????
As for Sunday attendance....a close comparison is the Hershey event for AACA. A HUGE event (larger than Corvettes at Carlisle). The car show is Saturday morning and runs until 3pm, but the reality is that most of the vendors that have been there in most cases since sometime Wednesday, are packed up and gone by Saturday morning. If you went to the Hershey event (free to get into by the way) on Saturday for anything other than the AACA meet, you would be disappointed. Our group has always traveled to Carlisle from here in East Tennessee on Thursday, attended on Friday all day, then again on Saturday until noon, then we head home. I appreciate Lance asking for input.....sounds like Sunday should be eliminated, or vendors agree to stay until a certain time OR, maybe cut the attendance fee in half for Sunday. Either way, I appreciate Corvettes at Carlisle....a quality event indeed. Would suggest that they ought to look into repaving some of the roads thru the grounds....getting pretty nasty and hard to walk on.
Lance,
I understand it is a business. A well run and well received business. I think the plan to run the show through Saturday is the best idea. The parade could be the culmination of the event. Go to $20.00 for a day. Not an unreasonable price for an event.
Just as a side note. I drove out Sunday morning with my wife. We were both very excited to see and touch the new cars. When they were not there we went over to customer service and ask the ladies if the C7 were coming today. They had no idea.. Not a good experience. No one knows anything. I have a new C7 coming in September. I will return next year but I would not recommend to my Corvette Club or any of my Corvette friends to attend on Sunday. But I would strongly recommend attending the finest Corvette event in the country.
This was my 10th year in a row and I can see the change myself form the 2003 show to now. I always go Friday morning. Camp out next to the fair grounds, have all day Saturday. Haggle in the morning and leave around noon Sunday... I always have a good time
Nice to have a year that you don't melt walking around.
Hi guys, I wanted to chime in on this thread. I also noticed that there was only one '14 Stingray on Sunday. We've had issues with Sunday's at all of our event (and others around the country that I attend). Internally we've discussed cancelling Sunday's due to the change in times. People simply want to get home after a long weekend (which starts on Thursday for this event). Thursdays continue to get larger and larger while Sunday's continue to get smaller and smaller. As many of you already know we had a wonderful giveaway package this year - Bondurant 3 day driving school valued at approximately $9,000. The winner was thrilled, always nice to see. We aren't able to continue giving away a vehicle because it simply doesn't make business sense. The laws changed in PA and we weren't able to force people to stay in order to win the car, once this happened (a few years ago) the attendance went down drastically. Yet even before that, the attendance for Sunday was much worse from the early days.
With all of this said, I'd love to hear your feedback on how you'd recommend moving forward. We're always open to suggestions/recommendations. I appreciate your assistance.
Thanks in advance,
Lance
Lance,
We are a vendor, GM Parts House, one of the largest on the Midway this year and we did some pretty decent business Sunday morning. I would like to see us move forward with making Sunday better rather than trying to can it. I'd be happy to assist in any way possible.
Thank you,
Gene.
__________________ Phone: 484-334-8833 Owner of CULTRAG Performance
I guess that as you get older.... you try to keep traditions that you had in earlier days, but then sometimes you don't have control over those situations and need to make changes. When I mentioned that Sunday isn't the same anymore, that is because I was so use to that day, as it was the only day that I or the family could attend over the years. I once attended on a Saturday, and it was great but sort of missed that Sunday feeling, most people who have attended the Sunday of the show from earlier days would understand what I mean.
So the option is to make arrangements to take off next year and either attend Friday or Saturday and can Sunday.
Lance you mentioned that PA laws have changed and it didn't make good business sense to do the giveaway any more. Well is there anything else that could be given away in place of a Corvette? How about an engine, or an engine and trans package for your Vette, or a restoration package for what year Corvette that you own, or certificates offered for a paint job, or suspension work, or suspension and exhaust...etc.etc. I think if you offered a service or parts for a substantial amount in the thousands as compared to the hundreds, which would be most likey be less expensive than purchasing a Corvette to giveaway, you may be able to promote Sunday attendance like back in the early days if desired.
It's just like Sunday was or has been left out of the business mix in the years gone by. Don't get me wrong on the one hand it was great to drive into the grounds quickly, on the other hand it was sad not to see to many Vettes in the parking area. There were times when we would just stand there and watch the Vettes come into the parking area, just a great variety. We would actually walk around the parking area for awhile before we got onto the grounds. And of course the weather was great this year with the temps being where they were.
I was also disappointed that some of the big vendor names, not all, were not in attendance this year. It seems like a few have not made it in previous years and appears that the list is growning. Apparently their business plans have changed with the times.
Corvettes@Carlisle is a great show, IMO it was once a great show for all scheduled days of the event, but now it seems that Sundays have lost their grip in attracking people as it once did way back when!!!
Later...............Tom
08-27-2013, 07:28 PM
you try to keep traditions that you had in earlier days, but then sometimes you don't have control over those situations and need to make changes. When I mentioned that Sunday isn't the same anymore, that is because I was so use to that day, as it was the only day that I or the family could attend over the years. I once attended on a Saturday, and it was great but sort of missed that Sunday feeling, most people who have attended the Sunday of the show from earlier days would understand what I mean.