Operational Improvements for Aug 20th

[NickST]

So a lot of good conversation at the club meeting yesterday, thanks to everybody who came out and added their contribution

There were some suggestions for operational improvements that had quite a bit of consensus from the members who were there, I just wanted to quickly type them out in point form on our private area for the benefit of people who were not able to attend. Also to ensure that my understanding is aligned with everybody else.

1) Spectator Area
There is going to be some caution tape put up at the next event to keep spectators confined to areas which are safe and do not interfere with course operations

2) Waiver Sign In/ Gate Marshal
The site has a great feature of only having one way in and out. My understanding is we would like to have somebody posted there to sign in people and given them direction on where they can park and spectate from. I have a fold out table I can bring for the next event that could help with that.

3) Lead Marshals
There are defined marshal stations, and for each run group there will be a defined leader of each station team. They are responsible to ensure all of the people on their team are present, and providing direction to areas where marshaling is needed most. The lead marshal at each station should have a reasonable amount of experience.

One of the concerns raised at the meeting is that this venue allows us to put a lot more cars on course than before, which means we need to be extra vigilant in dealing with unexpected issues (spin outs, off-course, break downs). The lead marshal for each station is responsible for keeping an eye on the course, transmitting the "stop course" signal when needed, and using the large flag at the station to get cars stopped when necessary.

4) Re-Runs
To minimize back to back re-runs, going forward, re-runs will be taken at the end of each completed set by all cars in grid. For example, if everybody is on their 2nd course run and a few cars do not get a time, they will take their re-run before the first car starts their 3rd course run. Timing will make a written list of re-runs, and that list will be passed off to the grid Marshall as a set warps up.

One thing I wanted to mention is that if you are out marshaling and a car has to stop or slow down for either a marshal or down cone, please radio it in so we can add them to the re-run list. There is no other way for timing to know this without the competitor having to physically come to the timing guys and tell them.

5) Sound station
Going forward there will be 2 marshals for the sound station. One dedicated in grid, and one at the station itself. They will communicate on a dedicated radio channel, and not on the general channel. Warnings for cars getting close to the limit shall be given as a courtesy.

For cars blowing over, the grid sound marshal needs to ask them to make a change before they can run again. For some cars this might mean a physical change, for others they may choose to back off the throttle. For additional infractions, the driver must make a physical change to the car before they are allowed to run again.

As I understand it, the spirit of this rule is if a driver is actively working with us to reduce the sound levels of their car, we want to give them the opportunity to continue to run.

6) Grid Marshals
For upcoming events, there will be 2 grid marshals. One which controls when a car is sent to the line and is responsible for keeping the start supplied with cars, and a second that will be getting people ready 5 cars in advance.

7) Starting Marshal
It was brought up that the starting marshal needs to have a lot of experience. Firstly to scan and ensure the course is safe before sending a car; and secondly, to assess how much time is needed between cars based on how fast they are, and the experience of the driver.

8 ) Event Chair
There will be a designated event chair at upcoming events, this can be a rotating roll. This person is responsible for running the event and any major decisions. These events are not a democracy, whatever the event chair decides, shall go without question or argument.



So I think that about covers it 

Please, if you have comments or questions on any of these, post below

[Terry Johns]

Sounds like it was a very productive meeting, hopefully these suggestions will improve our game.

Was there any discussion on when registration opens and when it closes? Will we still be allowing late comers to register after registration has closed as has been happening these past few events ?

I would like to suggest that we have a rotor of people 2 per event who are there first, stand at the gate and everyone who enters signs the waiver, everybody. That will save time at registration and insure that everyone who is on site is signed up.

I think the suggestion on an event chair is a great idea, how ever I suggest that the days proceedings be shared at the drivers meeting, as a general rule how many runs we are going to get is rarely discussed. Isn't that why we turn up.  That way the event chair can here the suggestions that are being made and can then make and informed decision. I agree it isn't a democracy, but neither should it be a dictatorship. The event chair must get input from others, it's called consultative leadership. We all need to learn from what happened on Sunday regarding how decisions are made.

Once again thanks to everyone who made last weekends event a great success, let's make them better.

[NickST]

One of the items that discussed at length was setting the number of runs in advance. The challenge of that is when things are running late, or very quickly, it doesn't make sense to wrap up early or late.

That is really where an event chair will come in useful, to make a quick and decisive decision on the issue.

I support the idea of an event chair simply because people are naturally going to have different views and ideas about how things should be done. There certainly isn't one way to do things, but if the authority to make a decision isn't given to a single person it can result in conflicts and confusion.

In my line of work I am often working on projects with hundreds of people (if not thousands) involved, so I am fairly used to having these kind of structures in place. A common figure of speech in my office: When we get too many "captains for the same ship", the result of too many people trying to steer, is the ship tends to just go around in circles, and everybody gets frustrated.

It should be a rolling position within the club so that everybody gets the experience needed to run an event, and also has the opportunity to run an event as they envision it. I am a firm believer that empowering people brings out new ideas and strategies. I have been a team lead for the past decade, and I try to empower my own team as much as I can. They often surprise me with new ideas and approaches, and it helps make them take more ownership of their work. I see this as a similar opportunity for the club.

[Midnightsky]

1 thing I wanted to mention on the sound station.  During the event Sunday I heard ALOT of chatter about the event co-ordinators being biased towards one type of car or another in regards to the sound limit.  I know that is horse poop, we all want to have a large successful event and nobody is excluded because they drive a ricer car or an exotic car or a basic stock prepared vehicle.  I would like to have the event chair of future events address that to the general racing population at each of the first drivers meetings, every event.  Nip this quickly to keep the negative chatter to a minimum and it will help to keep these events positive, productive, and lots of fun for everyone.   

Another item with the sound meter, many would like to know exactly how the meter was calibrated, and why they should trust it.  Maybe a video can be taken of the sound meter being officially calibrated before each event begins. We can post that up on here to show everyone the meter is accurate and nobody is being biased towards anyone.   If you go over the sound limit then you go over, accept it, make changes, or don't race, its very simple guys.  Im sure nobody wants to be "the reason" why we lost another venue.  Lets not lose sight of how great of a venue ParkNJet is for us.

[NickST]

1 thing I wanted to mention on the sound station.  During the event Sunday I heard ALOT of chatter about the event co-ordinators being biased towards one type of car or another in regards to the sound limit.  I know that is horse poop, we all want to have a large successful event and nobody is excluded because they drive a ricer car or an exotic car or a basic stock prepared vehicle.  I would like to have the event chair of future events address that to the general racing population at each of the first drivers meetings, every event.  Nip this quickly to keep the negative chatter to a minimum and it will help to keep these events positive, productive, and lots of fun for everyone.   

Another item with the sound meter, many would like to know exactly how the meter was calibrated, and why they should trust it.  Maybe a video can be taken of the sound meter being officially calibrated before each event begins. We can post that up on here to show everyone the meter is accurate and nobody is being biased towards anyone.   If you go over the sound limit then you go over, accept it, make changes, or don't race, its very simple guys.  Im sure nobody wants to be "the reason" why we lost another venue.  Lets not lose sight of how great of a venue ParkNJet is for us.

There is absolutely zero bias on the sound, period

The marshal writes down the reading, and radios it in if it is either close, or over

Zero preference or bias towards cars or members on this issue. There are complete logs for the day to back this up as well.

The sound station is also as per SCCA standards

I saw some of this chatter on Beyond.ca, and I posted a similar response

[Midnightsky]

1 thing I wanted to mention on the sound station.  During the event Sunday I heard ALOT of chatter about the event co-ordinators being biased towards one type of car or another in regards to the sound limit.  I know that is horse poop, we all want to have a large successful event and nobody is excluded because they drive a ricer car or an exotic car or a basic stock prepared vehicle.  I would like to have the event chair of future events address that to the general racing population at each of the first drivers meetings, every event.  Nip this quickly and keep the negative chatter to a minimum and it will help to keep these events positive, productive, and lots of fun for everyone.   Another item with the sound meter, many would like to know exactly how the meter was calibrated, and why they should trust it.  Maybe a video can be taken of the sound meter being officially calibrated before each event begins. We can post that up on here to show everyone the meter is accurate and nobody is being biased towards anyone.   If you go over the sound limit then you go over, accept it, make changes, or don't race, its very simple guys.  Im sure nobody wants to be "the reason" why we lost another venue.  Lets not lose sight of how great of a venue ParkNJet is for us.

There is absolutely zero bias on the sound, period

The marshal writes down the reading, and radios it in if it is either close, or over

Zero preference or bias towards cars or members on this issue

I know this to be true, but the general population apparently does not believe it.   I think it is important for the general population to hear this every event from the event chair.  I am sorry to report that I heard much more about this issue at this past Sundays event than I ever expected from our group.  Its a growing problem apparently and I firmly believe we need to address it publicly for at least 1 event to ensure it doesn't get out of hand.

[NickST]

^^They also thought Pauls GTR was heavily modified   

I don't think we have to address the issue of calibration, it is what it is. We are setup as per a certain standard, one that is recognized and used throughout North America. I don't think we have to justify it any more than that.

[Terry Johns]

One of the items that discussed at length was setting the number of runs in advance. The challenge of that is when things are running late, or very quickly, it doesn't make sense to wrap up early or late.

That is really where an event chair will come in useful, to make a quick and decisive decision on the issue.

I support the idea of an event chair simply because people are naturally going to have different views and ideas about how things should be done. There certainly isn't one way to do things, but if the authority to make a decision isn't given to a single person it can result in conflicts and confusion.

In my line of work I am often working on projects with hundreds of people (if not thousands) involved, so I am fairly used to having these kind of structures in place. A common figure of speech in my office: When we get too many "captains for the same ship", the result of too many people trying to steer, is the ship tends to just go around in circles, and everybody gets frustrated.

It should be a rolling position within the club so that everybody gets the experience needed to run an event, and also has the opportunity to run an event as they envision it. I am a firm believer that empowering people brings out new ideas and strategies. I have been a team lead for the past decade, and I try to empower my own team as much as I can. They often surprise me with new ideas and approaches, and it helps make them take more ownership of their work. I see this as a similar opportunity for the club.

I am in total  agreement about an event chair, but it must be based on the chair consulting others in the executive who can offer some additional wisdom. Once additional input has been recieved the chair has the final say.

[E6Cueman]

I know this to be true, but the general population apparently does not believe it.   I think it is important for the general population to hear this every event from the event chair.  I am sorry to report that I heard much more about this issue at this past Sundays event than I ever expected from our group.  Its a growing problem apparently and I firmly believe we need to address it publicly for at least 1 event to ensure it doesn't get out of hand.

If anything needs to be explained, it might be that some of our regular members have failed in the past, and taken measures or made modification to allow them to pass.

[PaulT]

Hey Nick, it was heavily modified.... there was a short Finnish dude installed between the seat and the steering wheel, doing that to any car will make it go faster. P.

[E6Cueman]

 

[NickST]

Hey Nick, it was heavily modified.... there was a short Finnish dude installed between the seat and the steering wheel, doing that to any car will make it go faster. P.

Yeah the rules clearly state that you may not install additional driver assists such as aftermarket traction control, Reijos, or limited slip differentials.

[Reijo]

hahaha......but, hey, I'm willing to help you with mods too!