MNMazda Weekly Wednesday Night Meets - 2011!

[minitrucker@heart]

Just got home from work. I will be heading out to Wagner's shortly.

 

[ohsixspeedsix]

So badly wanted to come in the mistake but they made me come to work :-(

 

[Picklz]

Very nice turnout tonight guys, it was nice to meet a few of the newer peoples!

 

[AJ]

x2!

 

[minitrucker@heart]

It was nice meeting you guys tonight, I had a good time.

 

[JohnnyT]

If that was a good turnout then I think I know the missing piece - ATTENDANCE! Every single week I attended Porky's the lot was damn near full with either members on here or people that knew members (plus the few times a couple other clubs came out). I had a great time, and I actually prefer the more low key meets like this, but it definitely didn't have the Porky's feel.

The Wagner's lot is fair at best - I wasn't a fan of the parking situation, but the owner seemed casual and willing to accommodate us which is going to be tough to find. The food was fine - no BCS by any means but it was cheap and filling. The drive is an absolute nightmare for anyone south that needs to take 94 to get there. Now, the problem is it's going to suck for a handful of people no matter where we go so I understand that...it just sucks for me now and it didn't for Porky's haha.

I think it'd be a good idea to re-evaluate the meeting spot for next year, or thinking out of the box and possibly doing something a little different - join other local clubs, attend regular car shows, get in good with MAP and sponsor a weekly (or bi-weekly) meet now that RKC is outta there, etc. I'm not sure what the motives or goals for this club will be for next year, but we do seem to be stagnant. Though it was nice to see a couple new guys show up!

 

[JohnnyT]

Double post

 

[AJ]

The lot next door to Wagners can also be used for parking, and maybe next week we make it a point to park there as a group? Get some pics taken, ect ect.

The reason I like Wagners isn't for the location benefit for me. I Blink and I'm home. It's the drive in feel you get, the small business owner we support, and the service from the girls. Porkys will always have it's spot for people, but that place is gone, and other than the location (which would suck right now anyway with light rail going up) I never liked the place for it's food and convenience aspect. Wagners is a car joint with it's own touch, and until we get over Porkys, it may not get a full chance. JT, on other Wed nights, if you are there later, the Mitsu guys show up and you'll get more cars to oggle at. We start at 5ish, they don't start till 730 ish, so maybe traffic wouldn't suck if we changed the time up a few times? Do it a bit later, maybe another day of the week, maybe get some e-mails out to the current member base and get some more forum activity going?

Fuck the chatbox, the forum activity draws people to check the site on some sort of schedule, give them more to follow, they will see more about our events and hopefully get more involved. Thankfully we have a few new members with new threads in which I like to make it a point to check on the project cars daily, but other than that, I've given up on most of the other forums cause I don't expect anything.

 

[JohnnyT]

The lot next door to Wagners can also be used for parking, and maybe next week we make it a point to park there as a group? Get some pics taken, ect ect.

The reason I like Wagners isn't for the location benefit for me. I Blink and I'm home. It's the drive in feel you get, the small business owner we support, and the service from the girls. Porkys will always have it's spot for people, but that place is gone, and other than the location (which would suck right now anyway with light rail going up) I never liked the place for it's food and convenience aspect. Wagners is a car joint with it's own touch, and until we get over Porkys, it may not get a full chance. JT, on other Wed nights, if you are there later, the Mitsu guys show up and you'll get more cars to oggle at. We start at 5ish, they don't start till 730 ish, so maybe traffic wouldn't suck if we changed the time up a few times? Do it a bit later, maybe another day of the week, maybe get some e-mails out to the current member base and get some more forum activity going?

Fuck the chatbox, the forum activity draws people to check the site on some sort of schedule, give them more to follow, they will see more about our events and hopefully get more involved. Thankfully we have a few new members with new threads in which I like to make it a point to check on the project cars daily, but other than that, I've given up on most of the other forums cause I don't expect anything.

I should've checked out that other lot - that could change my perceptions on the place. I'm all for supporting local businesses and what not but I just didn't get the same feel like many others had with Porky's. I think partnering up with the Mitsu guys would be a solid idea - their member base is much larger and they seem like good guys. A later time would definitely help with the traffic issue, but it'd be a stretch for the southern guys to go since most of us would go home after work and not want to double back up there later.

Now I know this might scare away some of the northern folk but I went to this joint in Shakopee before a Friday night car show and really liked it. The owner's a car buff, it's a local business, and he seems interested in hosting if we pursued it - http://www.sammyspeeddog.com/index2.html . Awesome dogs, fair prices, plenty of seating inside for 20+, and the lot is kinda small but looks to be enough spots to hold us. There is a couple tables outside for seating and it's very easy to get to.

If people are interested either this year or next, I'd be happy to get in touch with the owner and try to coordinate something.

 

[Picklz]

Do they have an outdoor space? A big part of why we went w/ Wagner's was the outdoor seating / eff-ing off area. I don't really want to go somewhere where we have to sit around inside, especially on nights like last night.

 

[Workdawg]

He said in his post, and it's visible in the pictures, that there is outdoor seating.

 

[JohnnyT]

Do they have an outdoor space? A big part of why we went w/ Wagner's was the outdoor seating / eff-ing off area. I don't really want to go somewhere where we have to sit around inside, especially on nights like last night.

tl;dr?

 

[dmention7]

I read Picklz' post to mean "enough outdoor space for a medium sized group". There are like 2 tables in that pic, which would get a bit crowded if anyone else is there. Hard to tell if there's more room out of the frame, or adjecent to the place.

 

[AJ]

Looks like a nice spot JT, but how busy does it get on a normal night? With Wagners (and with Porkys) they didn't have big dinner rush hours of normal business... so there was always room for a group of us for eating and parking. I'd hate to got to a place where we are scattered in parking and possibly seating/eating as well.

That said, I'm all for options as well, and the upside is that none of us are shy about voicing thoughts on the meets, but to tell you the truth, I'd love to hear more from some of the guys who have just joined up these last few months. Impression of the meet spot, ease of interacting with the other members.

 

[JohnnyT]

I read Picklz' post to mean "enough outdoor space for a medium sized group". There are like 2 tables in that pic, which would get a bit crowded if anyone else is there. Hard to tell if there's more room out of the frame, or adjecent to the place.

IIRC there was another lot to the left of that picture (not sure if it's another businesses or the dog places') and parking for the joint wraps around the restaurant. Outdoor seating is limited to those 3 benches but last night we only used 1.5 and some of us were standing.

Looks like a nice spot JT, but how busy does it get on a normal night? With Wagners (and with Porkys) they didn't have big dinner rush hours of normal business... so there was always room for a group of us for eating and parking. I'd hate to got to a place where we are scattered in parking and possibly seating/eating as well.

That said, I'm all for options as well, and the upside is that none of us are shy about voicing thoughts on the meets, but to tell you the truth, I'd love to hear more from some of the guys who have just joined up these last few months. Impression of the meet spot, ease of interacting with the other members.

I was only there once around 7pm on a Friday and there was a handful of other people there - maybe 2-3 families. I have no clue what the regular volume of customers is on a weeknight but I can surely find out. I think it's worth a visit and we can gauge interest from there. I agree on the new member's thoughts and opinions - would like to hear what was on their minds.

 

[dasmikechen]

Im not one who gets out to these very often, nor do I think these events should cater only to one person by any means, but being an ADDITIONAL 17 minutes outside the twin cities loop (downtown shakopee), I don't think I will find myself ever spontaneously heading this way.

If the idea is to have a very causal place for people to show up and meet other car enthusiasts, I think it should be approachable. It should also stay the same, so people don't have to guess where to go week from week. And I do like knowing if i get there any time between 5-8 I can expect 1-2 members to be there. Sounds like I missed AJ and Picklz, but I did get to meet some other new members and enjoyed the casual feel.

Now, if the intent change to a 'car show' feel, I guess the place JT suggested might work better for more 'organized' events. And maybe this location could be rotated from week/month to week/month. Do we think the memberbase could support a casual location and a more organized, less frequent location?

I personally live downtown so anywhere in the loop is very tolerable. I dont think wagners is perfect by any means, but for casual it seems alright. Are there any other options in the metro? If shakopee is in, maybe we could rotate there on the water and somewhere in stillwater? Scenic type places?

 

[minitrucker@heart]

I grew up in Stillwater, it is scenic, but I cannot think of any places that would be able to accommodate in the same fashion as a drive it like Wagners, Sonic, Porky's (R.I.P.) could

 

[mndsm]

Welp, it's Wednesday, and you know what that means- WAGNERS! I will be there tonight, unless my car starts on fire. I will also have a limited supply (read- whatever I got as part of buying the website) of T-shirts. IIRC most are Small, Medium, and REALLY frickin small, there may or may not be large/XL in there. I doubt it on the XL or the XXL- those got bought pretty quick. 10$ gets you a shirt.

 

[ohsixspeedsix]

I realllllly want to come up in the miater. Damned night shift.

 

[Picklz]

I probably won't be there for the next couple weeks, for sure not tonight. My parents are moving and I volunteered to help out...silly me I know. lol.