TABLE OF CONTENTS
| One Year Before the Event: The Preliminaries
Six to Eight Months Before the Event: The Details Three Months Before the Event: Final Preparations One Month and One Week Before the Event: Crunch Time The Day of the Event: Heaven or Hell?
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Site selection from the point of view of spectators is as important to consider as the pit area. Close proximity to the course where the boats will run is essential. Bleachers or areas for lawn chairs are very helpful. If you will have vendors present for food, souvenir or other items, preliminarily plan for where they might be located. If there are other events that will take place along with your event (car show, craft show, kids’ activities, etc), allow space for them at your prospective site location. The next thing to determine is how much support you will receive from the city in which you will hold the event. It is difficult if not impossible to organize a successful event without strong support from your city. Talk to the mayor, city manager, public relations director, convention and visitors bureau director, chamber of commerce president, etc to see if they are onboard in bringing vintage to your city. Support would include enthusiasm for your event, logistic support (where to have the event, crowd control, police support, paramedic/EMT support during the event, etc) and financial support, will you have to pay to rent the area where the event would be held, will you have to pay for a dedicated ambulance during the event, might the city, chamber of commerce, convention and visitors bureau etc be willing to be sponsors to help fund the event). The next step, once you know that your city is behind you, is to talk
with the Chairman of the Vintage and Historic Division of APBA (currently
Tom Bertolini, 586-716-4491). He will be your guide as you establish your
event. The Vintage Chairman will help you establish your date both with
your city and with the APBA and will identify another contact for you,
the vintage representative from your APBA region. Will your event be a
2 day or more event (preferable) or a 1 day event (definitely possible)?
Consider when and where you will hold registration; having it the day before
the event insures a smoother running event the next day, but it is possible
to do it the morning before the event if it has to be that way. Don’t forget
that you will need to have every boat inspected after registration and
before you can start running heats! (You must be very organized
to do registration the day of the event!)
Determine what other applications/permissions will need to be completed. This may include Coast Guard, Department of Natural Resources, any that your city may require, etc. Ask questions to be sure you haven’t missed anyone and don’t wait too long to get these all filled out and submitted. By this stage you will want to begin to enlist the help of volunteers who will serve on the event committees and as chairman of each. Consider how much you want to delegate (more is always better if you can trust that the people to whom you delegate will carry out their responsibilities). Begin having at least monthly meetings with these people and start laying out your plans. a. Registration: You will need one or two people assigned to guiding the registration process. This will include deciding what your registration cost will be, creating the registration form for your event, receiving the applications by mail, depositing the registration fees received, organizing staffing for the registration booth during the event, and filing the correct paperwork with the APBA during and following the event. The APBA forms you will need can be ordered from the APBA or downloaded from http://apba-racing.com/downloads.html; look under Insurance Forms and Membership Forms. This committee would also be responsible for lining up potential hotels for participants to use. b. Program: If you are going to produce a program even in a very simple way, you will need a committee of from 1 to ? people to take this on. They would be responsible for selling advertising (if needed) to producing the layout of the program (or having it done). A program is not a necessity for your event to be successful but it is a useful tool to help spectators understand the vintage boats and to provide advertising for your sponsors. A program can also be used for autograph sessions with the drivers during your event. c. Participant/sponsor dinner: It is customary for each event to host a dinner for participants. Sponsors can be included also if you want to include the dinner as one of the sponsor benefits. This dinner does not have to be a major financial undertaking and can be as simple as hot dogs and hamburgers cooked on a grill with committee members providing salads, desserts, paper products, condiments, etc. A committee of at least 2 will be needed to organize and execute this dinner. d. Souvenirs: Decide if you want to offer souvenirs for purchase to those who will attend your event as spectators and/or participants. If so, you will need a committee of at least 1 person who will order whatever you decide to sell and organize a booth or table where the souvenirs will be sold as well as volunteers to staff it. e. Vendors: If there are not quick or fast food restaurants near your event site, you will want to have food vendors so participants and spectators do not have to leave your site to get something to eat. A committee of at least 2 will be needed to create a vendors’ application (see page for the Wheeling vendor’s application), set a price for the vendor to display and sell their product, receive vendors’ applications, and set up and monitor the vendor area during the event. f. Pit committee: Several volunteers will be needed to help enforce safety requirements in the pits (no alcohol, no smoking, no open-toed shoes, pit credentials checked). You will need one or two people to be designated as “launch boss.” They will be responsible, with the referee, for getting the correct boats to the crane and into the water at the right time. Your on-time schedule will depend on the launch bosses so select them with care! You will need at least 6 volunteers to help with boats once they are in the water, holding them away from the dock and other tasks as needed on the dock. You will need one or two people to serve as flagmen while the boats are on the water (the referee and chairman of your safety crew responsible for determining which flag flies at any particular time). g. Publicity: Determine how much advertising you want to pursue and organize a committee of the size to handle this. h. Safety: This committee will arrange for the safety crew and boats on the water the day of the event. The Vintage and Historic Chairman can help you with trying to arrange for one of the APBA safety teams, or you can arrange for a local dive team with recovery experience to be present. If you go with a local team, you will need a minimum of 2 divers in wet suits and scuba gear to be on 2 boats at all times while the course is open, and another group of individuals with paramedic training and equipment on boats. You will need at least 2 jet skis or very maneuverable boats to serve as tow vehicles when a boat breaks down. Your APBA insurance is dependent on having a dedicated ambulance and paramedics/EMTs on site at all times while the course is open. We have found that it is helpful to have one person designated as leader of the safety crews which are on the water; this person is responsible for communicating with and directing other rescuers during any incident which occurs on the water. They also communicate with the land-based paramedics/EMTs to advise of the nature of any injury which they will be bringing to shore. i. You will need to make arrangements to have a referee
as well as a Vintage driver’s representative present for your event. Your
Vintage Regional Representative will be able to help you with this.
k. Housing for referees, driver’s rep, safety team, launch bosses (if needed): it is customary to provide hotel rooms for these folks who will help you put on your event. l. Welcome dinner/sponsor dinner: This can range from a steak dinner to hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. You can have this totally catered or ask for donations from your committee of salads, desserts, drinks, paper products, condiments etc. You might be able to get hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage etc donated. m. Program: If you will have a program, decide how to have it produced (our local newspaper in Wheeling prints ours and inserts them as an addition to the newspaper on the Friday of our regatta; the newspaper donates part of the cost and we consider them as a sponsor in return). You can also go to a local printer and have them professionally printed and sell them during the event. The least expensive way to do a program (especially if it is only a few pages in length) might be to have the committee print them on their home computers or see if a local printing business will donate the printing of individual sheets and then staple them together. Whatever you choose, figure your costs and add them to your budget. If you want to have photos of the boats included in your program, be sure that a request for photos is included with the event registration forms. n. Publicity: Decide how much publicity you can afford for your event, and what types of advertising will accomplish your goals. Consider billboards, newspaper advertising, radio and/or TV advertising, and informational posters. Be sure to use “free” advertising wherever you can get it: interviews on local radio talk shows about the event, newspaper articles on which boats will be coming and information about them, press releases faxed or emailed to TV and radio stations and newspapers, etc. Be creative here; more publicity is always better! o. Buoys/flags/walkie-talkies: these can often
be borrowed from other race sites or donated for your event from a local
business, but if you want to purchase your own determine the price and
add it to your budget.
Decide if you want committee members to help you in finding sponsors or if you want to keep this crucial step as your responsibility. Prepare some type of paperwork (booklet, flyer, detailed letter, etc) to give potential sponsors an idea of what you are asking them to support and what your various sponsorship levels will be. This potential sponsor information should include a description of the Vintage and Historic Division and its purpose, description of the APBA sanction and insurance you will have for the event, how many boats you will expect and from where the participants will travel to get to your event, and what the sponsor’s benefits will be for supporting your event. A listing of the other vintage events for the year across the country helps sponsors to understand that your event is an important one nationally. A copy of the 2007 Wheeling sponsorship levels and the benefits associated with each begins on page 19. We made many copies of booklet describing our first event and had them bound for a professional look. We passed these out widely in our community both to attract sponsors and to raise the knowledge level of what we were trying to bring to Wheeling. In 2007, most of our 2006 sponsors renewed their sponsorship and we added a few new sponsors. We found that most people we approached knew of the Regatta so we didn’t prepare a new booklet. Make the contacts and get sponsorship amounts locked in, even if you don’t request or receive the money at this point. It will lower your stress level immensely if you have raised the sponsorship funds needed to host your event early in your preparations. Instruct the concessions committee to prepare a vendor’s application for your event, if you will have vendors present. Our Wheeling event vendor’s application begins on page 13 of this manual. Talk to the concessions chairman from other festivals, etc in your area to get a list of vendors with whom they have worked and found to be reliable and presenting a popular product. You may also be able to use one of their vendor’s applications with changes to personalize it for your event. If there are festivals in your vicinity where you can scout for good vendors, this is a great way to hand-select who you want by trying their food and watching for clean food preparation. Remember that these people usually make a living with what they do; don’t arrange for so many vendors that no one is able to make money at your event (or be ready to have vendors refuse to come back for future events). Also try to keep the number of vendors selling one particular product (kettle corn or sausage sandwiches, for example). Instruct the registration committee to prepare a raceboat
registration form for the event. Post on the vintage website www.vintagehydroplanes.com
about your event. If possible post your registration form somewhere on
line (Bill John has a website, www.vintageraceboatshop.com,
on which he lists vintage event information and some event registration
forms; contact Bill and see if he would be willing to do this for your
event).
q. Concession committee: How many vendors have applied? How many vendors will you need? Is there any popular item that is not being sold by a vendor on your list? If so, can you try to contact another vendor to provide that item? How will the vendors be arranged at the event (try to decide this in advance and stick to your layout, no matter how many vendors tell you that they wanted “the” prime location. r. Program committee: How is the program progressing? Has all the advertising needed to produce the program been sold? Has specific information on each boat that will be attending been provided by the boat owner? Has the selling price (if any) for the program been determined? Are photos from the participating boat entries being received if you will include them in your program? s. Sponsor Dinner committee: Have the food and drink for the dinner been arranged? Who will provide tableware (plates, cups, silverware, etc)? If the dinner will be held outside, what arrangements for inclement weather are in place? t. Souvenirs committee: What souvenirs will be sold? Have they been ordered? Have selling prices for these items been determined? Are tents available for the souvenir table(s)? Who will staff the souvenir booth? u. Pit committee: Have launch bosses been determined? Have volunteers been assigned for safety in the pits? Have flagmen been assigned? v. Publicity committee: What kinds of advertising will be used? Are posters ready to print and distribute to local businesses for display in their store windows? w. Safety committee: Is the safety crew confirmed, including jet skis,
dedicated ambulance, police and/or fire boats, Coast Guard boats? This
is the ONE item that will stop your event before it begins, so be certain
that this is arranged, confirmed and re-confirmed. Accidents requiring
transport of injured people to hospitals are rare in vintage, but at least
consider what will need to happen if this becomes a necessity. Remember
that your insurance mandates that an ambulance be present at all times
during active running of boats.
Arrange for APBA inspectors who will be responsible for being certain that each boat is in safe running condition for your event. Your Vintage regional representative will be able to guide you with this. If tractors will be needed to take boats from the registration area to the pits, arrange for them now. Be sure they will have a variety of hitch sizes to accommodate the difference of sizes among trailers. If portable restrooms will be needed, be sure to order them now. Arrange
for an adequate number of trash containers and someone who will be responsible
for changing them as needed during your event.
y. lodging for your referee and/or driver’s representative, and date/time they will arrive z. lodging for your launch bosses, and date/time they will arrive if not local aa. arrival date/time for the crane(s) and operator(s) bb. arrival date/time for the ambulance/paramedics cc. arrival date/time for the on-the-water safety crew dd. arrival date/time for your APBA boat inspectors ee. Registration committee: all registration forms ready to go? You
will need approximately $50 in change for the registration booth in case
someone needs to pay for their registration on-site. Be certain that the
registration committee has thoroughly instructed everyone who will be working
at the registration table on what forms need to be completed by which entrants
and their crews and family members:
ii. If entrant is an APBA member (or if they have just paid for vintage membership), ask for their plastic embossed membership card. Enter information onto an APBA event registration form either by swiping the card or manually entering their information into the left column. Have them enter their equipment information on the right side of the form. This form must be signed on the bottom. iii. Anyone who will be driving the boat or crewing for the boat must also have their APBA information added as above to the APBA event registration form. If you run out of room on the front of the form, additional member information and signatures can be added on the back of the form. iv. ALL individuals over the age of 18 who will be allowed access into the hot pits must read and sign the APBA insurance waiver. It will be helpful when it is time to call roll at the driver’s meeting on the morning of the event for all drivers to sign on a set of separate APBA insurance waiver forms. v. If there will be minors who have access to the hot pit area, their
parent or guardian must fill out and sign the APBA insurance waiver for
minors.
gg. Souvenir committee: all souvenirs available and priced? Has a sign board with all the items being sold and their prices been prepared? You will need approximately $100 change for the souvenir booth, and a cash box that can be secured to a table, etc is strongly advised. hh. Program committee: are the programs printed and ready to be sold? Who will be responsible for selling them at the event? ii. Sponsor dinner committee: all preparations in place? jj. Pit committee: all volunteers briefed and ready to go? kk. Publicity committee: have posters been distributed to businesses for display in their store windows? (Sometimes it helps to be ready with tape, etc if the business owner will let someone put the poster up themselves.) ll. Safety committee: Is every member of the safety team confirmed? Don’t forget to confirm the ambulance and paramedics! This has caused at least 2 events in recent years to be held up for hours until replacements could be secured. mm. are all buoys and flags ready to go? Who will inflate the buoys on the day before the event? nn. will the boats be able to be driven directly into the pits as they arrive, or will they have to be unhitched and taken to the pits by tractor, etc.? (Be sure to confirm when the tractors and their drivers will arrive on registration day if you need them.) Where will participant tow and support vehicles park during the event? Signage to direct participants to registration and parking areas may be helpful. oo. Arrival time of portable restrooms? Trash containers and whomever
will monitor them?
pp. Be certain that all boats have registered and appropriate fees have been collected. qq. Be certain that each boat has been inspected by the APBA inspector. rr. Along with the referee, run the drivers’ meeting approximately 1 hour before your first heat will begin. A driver’s meeting agenda list is included in vintage materials from the APBA. Use it to be certain you cover all necessary items. ss. Be an absolute task-master about getting the first heat off on time and require your referee and launch bosses to make sure this happens! There may be things later that you cannot control, but you are in complete control on getting things started at time. Later in the day, try to keep an eye on how the launch bosses and referee are doing to get heats off on time. If they show a tendency to be late on the schedule, do all you can to encourage them to stay on schedule. tt. Have fun! Talk to people! Enjoy the offerings from your vendors! You’ve worked hard to get to this day, so relax and be a spectator as much as you can. uu. As soon as possible after the event, mail all the completed APBA membership forms and insurance waivers back to the APBA along with any APBA membership fees you have collected. Any one day event forms that have not been filled out (these are numbered) must also be returned to the APBA. If you had a separate registration form that you prepared for your event, these are kept for your records and are not sent to the APBA. vv. Write thank-you notes to sponsors and donors as soon as possible after your event. These folks allowed you to put on your event and keep it in the black finacially, and they must feel that their contributions were appreciated if you want them to help in future years. Also consider having some type of event to thank volunteers and committee members for their hard work for your event.OUR THANKS Thanks to APBA Vintage Division Chairman Tom Bertolini and APBA Vintage Division Vice-Chairman Alan Radue for offering their encouragement and assistance as this manual was being created. Thanks to all Vintage Event Organizers for helping to create venues where those with a passion for beautiful and historic hydroplanes and race boats will be able to run. Finally, we salute all our friends in the Vintage Family who have truly become family in the last 8 years. May the months between our last vintage event in the fall and the first event in February go quickly! Deb, Dan and Butch --- January, 2008 |
| Number of Boats__________ (before 8/1) | X $75.00 | $____________________ |
| Number of Boats__________ (after 8/1) | X $100.00 | $____________________ |
| Sponsor Dinner Complimentary Tickets (please circle # of tickets desired) | ONE TWO | |
| Sponsor
Dinner Children’s Tickets
(10 and under) |
ONE TWO THREE FOUR | |
| Sponsor Dinner Extra Tickets | X $20.00 | S____________________ |
| TOTAL ENCLOSED | $____________________ |
| Make checks payable to
Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta, 1 Hawthorne Court, Wheeling, WV 26003 For further information contact Debbie Joseph at 304-233-4738 or djjoseph@comcast.net My signature below indicates that I, for myself, my executors, administrators and assigns do hereby release and discharge Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta, Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Association, and any affiliates, their respective employees, directors, officers, representatives and all persons involved in the sponsorship or conduct of the Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta from all claims, demands, or causes of action or loss, cost of injury, or damage whatsoever arising from or out of the participation in this event. SIGNATURE_______________________________________________DATE:____________ |
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Directions to the Heritage Port/pits for participants: Interstate 70 (east or westbound) to Exit 1A (Downtown Wheeling and Rt. 2 South). Go south on Rt. 2 approximately 1/3 mile and watch for sign on right to enter pit area and registration. On Saturday and Sunday, you will need to display a parking pass that you will receive at registration in order to enter this area. All participants are requested to have their boats registered and in the pits by 4:00 PM Friday. Limited parking will be available immediately adjacent to the Heritage Port Amphitheater. One vehicle in this area per boat, please. Other parking will be available a short walk from the pits. The pits will be open to the public throughout the day on Friday; all drivers/owners are requested to be at their boats as much as possible during this time. Dinner/social hour will begin at 6:00 PM Friday for owners/drivers/crew and sponsors at WesBanco Arena adjacent to the pits. The pit area will be guarded on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Please plan to leave your boat in the pits as parking at the Hampton Inn, Super 8 and most other area hotels/motels will be difficult if not impossible. If you will be coming to Wheeling before Friday August 31, let us know and we‘ll help with arrangements (Dan and Debbie Joseph: 304-233-4738 or 304-650-0185). MANDATORY driver’s meeting at 8:30 AM Saturday September 1 and Sunday morning time TBA in the pits. You will not run if you are not present for roll call at the driver’s meeting! Vendors will be available in the Heritage Port Amphitheatre area during the event. A block of rooms is being held at the Hampton Inn Wheeling, 304-233-0440 and at the Super 8 Wheeling, 304-243-9400 from August 31-September 3. Please call the hotel directly before July 30 to reserve your rooms. For other lodging in the Wheeling area, please go to www.WheelingCVB.com/lodging.html. APBA Safety Inspections will be held on every registered boat in accordance with the 2007 Vintage and Historic Bylaws. Please come prepared with safety gear that is also in full accordance with the Bylaws. If these conditions are not met, your boat will stay in the pits— NO EXCEPTIONS. Safety will be the primary concern at the Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta. If your actions are viewed as being unsafe for any reason by the Referee, Driver’s Representative or the Safety Crew, your boat will stay in the pits for the remainder of the day/weekend—NO EXCEPTIONS. For more information about the regatta, please go to www.WheelingVintageRegatta.comand
www.vintageraceboatshop.com/Wheeling2007.htm.
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2007
Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta
Sponsorship Opportunities
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Advertising Included |
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| Program Sponsor
(full-color program to be published as an insert in the Wheeling Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register August 31, 2007, circulation 35,000) |
$7,500.00 | Outside
Back Cover |
-Premier listing
as Official Program Sponsor on event advertising poster
-Custom 4’ x 12’ banner with business name displayed in Heritage Port during Regatta Weekend -Frequent announcement of business name over public address system during Regatta Weekend -Sponsor of one class of hydroplanes/raceboats -Six invitations to VIP and Participant Dinner, August 31, 2007 |
| Jet Ski Stunt Show Sponsor | $5,000.00 | Inside
Front Cover |
-Premier listing
as Jet Ski Stunt Show Sponsor on event advertising poster
-Custom 4 x 12’ banner with business name displayed in Heritage Port during Regatta Weekend -Frequent announcement of business name over public address system during Regatta Weekend -Sponsor of one class of hydroplanes/raceboats -Four invitations to VIP and Participant Dinner, August 31, 2007 |
| VIP and Participant Dinner Sponsor | $4,000.00 | Inside
Full page |
-Premier listing
as VIP and Participant Dinner Sponsor on event advertising poster
-Custom 4 x 12’ banner with business name displayed in Heritage Port during Regatta Weekend -Frequent announcement of business name over public address system during Regatta Weekend -Sponsor of one class of hydroplanes/raceboats -Four invitations to VIP and Participant Dinner, August 31, 2007 |
| Gold Sponsor | $2,500.00 | Inside
Half page |
-Gold listing on
event advertising poster
-Custom 3 x 8’ banner with business name displayed in Heritage Port during Regatta Weekend -Announcement of business name over public address system during Regatta Weekend -Sponsor of one class of hydroplanes/raceboats -Two invitations to VIP and Participant Dinner, August 31, 2007 |
| Silver Sponsor | $1,000.00 | Inside
Quarter page |
-Silver listing on
event advertising poster
-Custom 2 x 6’ banner with business name displayed in Heritage Port during Regatta Weekend -Announcement of business name over public address system during Regatta Weekend -Two invitations to VIP and Participant Dinner, August 31, 2007 |
2007 Wheeling Vintage Raceboat
Regatta
Program Advertising
| Program Ad Placement | Cost | Program Ad Size |
| Inside back cover | $850.00 | Full page (9.75” high x 7” wide) |
| Full page inside program | $750.00 | Full page (9.75” high x 7” wide) |
| Half page inside program | $450.00 | Half page (5.25” high x 7” wide) |
| Quarter page inside program | $325.00 | Quarter page (5.25” high x 3.5” wide) |
| Business card size inside program | $150.00 | Business card (2” x 3.5”) |
Please contact Debbie Joseph at 304-233-4738
or 304-650-0185 for more information on sponsorships or advertising.