SpyderFest 2014 - Two Questions followed by lots of Opinions

[DJFaninTN]

This being our first Spyderfest and not really knowing what to expect, I'd say for the most part everything was good. Really liked the Vendor Village set up and it was one of the best parts for us.

A few suggestions on what could be improved on:

1) have a place where people could at least hang a coat up. mornings were cool and by afternoon it was really warm. no fun walking around with a heavy jacket in tow.

2) while at Vendor Village, people were looking for a place to take a load off their feet. there were not many chairs around where someone could sit down for a few.

3) work a deal with a local shipping vendor to be on site and offer shipping back home. we would have purchased more, but we were already low on room for the trip home so we had to pass on a few really good deals.

4) final night needing some kind of seating there in the parking lot. chairs would have been nice (i know .. sore subject).

5) perhaps offer SD cards with the maps of the rides already downloaded on them. I'd gladly pay for the card and be able to keep it for future reference.

6) offer a tour of the charity that is being supported. I would have liked to have known more about Isabel's House.

I know how hard it is to pull off an event like this and I commend those who had a hand in it. Lots of hard hours of work and we all appreciated the sacrifice made by the volunteers. You guys did an awesome job!!

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Take advantage of the numbers of attendees to schedule training sessions

I suggest you add in some educational seminars, like how to do group riding, does and don'ts of trailering, advanced bike riding training, basic CPR, how to ride in bad weather, how to respond if you come upon a bike wreck, etc. I did not attend but seriously considered it. One great reason I did not was I saw no training or educational activities on the schedule, basically just all fun and games. Judging from some of the questions I've seen on this forum, there are a number of folks who undoubtedly would benefit from some of these types of training sessions. There's absolutely nothing wrong with fun and games, but why not take advantage of an event like Spyderfest to gather enough people together for training? Many times training isn't feasible because you can't get a large enough group together to justify it. That would much less of an issue at a gathering like Spyderfest.

 

[SpyderMeLucky]

I suggest you add in some educational seminars, like how to do group riding, does and don'ts of trailering, advanced bike riding training, basic CPR, how to ride in bad weather, how to respond if you come upon a bike wreck, etc. I did not attend but seriously considered it. One great reason I did not was I saw no training or educational activities on the schedule, basically just all fun and games. Judging from some of the questions I've seen on this forum, there are a number of folks who undoubtedly would benefit from some of these types of training sessions. There's absolutely nothing wrong with fun and games, but why not take advantage of an event like Spyderfest to gather enough people together for training? Many times training isn't feasible because you can't get a large enough group together to justify it. That would much less of an issue at a gathering like Spyderfest.

I'll add this to the list. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[SpyderMeLucky]

Any more thoughts and ideas?

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted and now wonder if anyone else has input to add.We really would like suggestions, opinions, and feedback. How can we make changes if we don't hear from our Spyder family?

 

[PrairieSpyder]

Terry,

I can't say enough how much I appreciate MoGang for the work that goes into Spyderfest each year. You guys ROCK !

I don't know if it's been mentioned here before, but I really liked the venues for this year. The fairground, Lamplighter and other hotels in the vicinity, etc. I just don't know how you could improve on that.

 

[OJ UK]

I travelled a long way to be at Spyderfest 2014. To be fair I did have some apprehension in respect
of exactly what was going to go on and whether it would be the kind of thing which I would enjoy.
I obviously had nothing to compare it to and so I had no yardstick.

My apprehension was very swiftly laid to rest by the huge hospitality and kindness shown to me right from the get-go.
So I have to say that my favorite activity was simply meeting you totally wonderful people! You all understood that I
was many miles from home and you did your best to help me find my way around and enjoy what was on offer.

I enjoyed Vendor Village where I was most days just chilling and chatting. MOgang were unbelievably kind and managed to
keep smiling from beginning to end and no-one showed any signs of fraying around the edges.

For me to find any fault would be extremely churlish but I would say to Lamont, Len and Vanessa,

"You guys worked your arses off so that we could all have a good time.
Now you need to take a short break and have some fun yourselves!!"