Q3_Newsletter_2018_V2_022619

DRIVER’S EVENT
CONFERENCE REPORT
by Rick Largen
I recently attended the
Driver’s Event Conference
held in Dallas Texas.
The event was held at the
Westin hotel near the airport
in Dallas. It consists
of two meetings going at
the same time. One of the
meetings involves the stewards of the BMW Car
Club of America Racing program and the Driver’s
Event Committee. Though not as large as the national
conference that is also held in Dallas, it is
just as important. Especially that we all, or should,
participate in all the events that the chapter offers.
The event starts on a Friday. Everyone arrives
by three o’clock and the meetings begin at five.
Friday there is a welcome dinner and an outline
of how the weekend will progress out. Saturday
is a full day of lectures. A lot of subjects are covered
and some apply to all chapters. They are
anything on how to organize an event to liability
issues. There are also programs presented on
the Instructor Training School. This is a program
that is being organized to unify what anyone who
is a high performance driving instructor is teaching.
It is a pretty tough selection process. Not
everybody makes it. There are also programs
on organizing the group drives, as well as Tire
Rack Street Survival. Sunday, we got started
about eight in the morning. That is a travel day
for most, so the attendance is not as great. We
went over what we learned. We also met with our
driving events coordinator, who is Fred Bell. He
is an awesome person with a wealth of knowledge
I can only hope to get a small percentage of.
As many of you know, I am the chairperson
for the Tire Rack Street Survival
School that is held by our chapter.
I was able to attend the conference and bring
back a wealth of knowledge that not only applies
to Tire Rack Street Survival, but to every
driving event that is held by a club, not only on
the national level, but on a local chapter level.
Driving events are defined by the national office
can be anything from a drive to a destination to
high performance driving events that are held
at a racing venue. That being said, there are
rules that apply at every event, and some that
are specific to each event. To try and explain
all that, this article would end up being the only
one in a newsletter. I will try to highlight some
of what I was able to take away from the event.
All of us own, or have an interest in BMW for
many reasons. For some of us, it is the reliability
of the vehicle you own. Some of us
drive them for the exterior and interior craftsmanship.
There are also some that drive
one for the performance these vehicles have.
That being said, each time we participate in an
event, there are things that need to be done so
that we keep our participants and ourselves
safe and have a good time that we can all enjoy.
There are quite a few things that go into making
an event a success from not only the organizer
of the event, but to all of those who participate.
If you want to learn more, the entire guide
is available under the BMW Car Club website.
If you look under “Chapters”, you will
find the BMWCCA Operations Manual.
As always, I am looking for people who want to
participate, either by instructing, or volunteering
to do other necessary tasks for Tire Rack
Street Survival. Remember, this is everyone’s
club. Participate all you can. You don’t have to
be an officer, or be at every event. I’m sure that
everyone who is a member has something special
that they bring with them. Share it with all.
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