GETTING STARTED

You’ll need to determine the date, location, type of show, and format features as soon as possible so that basic publicity can begin. Publicity is crucial, especially for your first event. Begin publicity as soon as basic details are determined. As details get fleshed out, adapt your publicity materials to include those details. There is nothing wrong with distributing flyers or notices to car clubs that simply say “Car Show at The Solid Rock Church, July 18^th from 9am-4pm, awards, food, games, and music.” That’s enough to claim a date before other car shows and events take it and get on the calendars of those who are likely to participate. A planning checklist starts near the bottom of this page. See the Format/Features section for more information to flesh out your event.

Here are the minimum features I recommend you incorporate so that as soon as you set a date, you can begin publicizing your event while planning further details:

· Determine event type (cruise-in, car show, hybrid, multi-day, or car fest) – more info below

· Determine fee for entry (if any)

· 100 dash plaques (more about those later)

· Food

· Music (DJs, live band, or both)

· Games (e.g. picnic and carnival type games, horseshoes, volleyball, kid games, etc.)

· Door prizes

Your Audience

Your audience will be varied and they can be grouped into three categories. First, there are the car owners who drive and restore the cars you want to have on display. They are often in their 50s or older although it’s not a rule of thumb. Obviously, they are the star attraction of your event. They enjoy attending cruise-ins and car shows in their area (some are willing to go considerable distances), talking car tech with fellow car enthusiasts, and putting their cars on display for others to appreciate the history and style of these old cars. They know where to go to get a 50 year old rusty bumper re-chromed or where to get new rubber molding to fit a 1937 Plymouth coupe front windshield. They have lots of time and money invested in these vehicles and you should ensure they get a warm welcome. When publicizing your event, you’ll need to target your publicity in two different directions – one to car owners and one to spectators. More on publicity later. The second category of your audience is the un-churched who likely are not believers. Many of the car owners may also fall into this category. The third category is those who are from your church or other churches in your area. Of course you’re glad this third category is there (for one thing, you need plenty of them as volunteers), but as an outreach event, you are really trying to focus on the first two categories.

Is There A Difference Between a Cruise-In and a Car Show?

Yes. A cruise-in usually does not award prizes and trophies whereas a car show usually does. I say “usually” because sometimes the two terms are used interchangeably. Categories for awards and trophies come in a wide variety, such as “Best Paint,” “Best 50’s Car,” “Best Unrestored Classic,” “People’s Choice,” “Pastor’s Choice,” “Best Muscle Car,” “Best Import,” etc. A cruise-in is usually a more casual affair. Cruise-ins and car shows often have several other features such as music (live or music CDs), door prizes, dash plaques, and food and drinks.

Cruise-ins generally do not charge a registration fee for car owner participants whereas car shows normally do in order to subsidize the cost of the awards and other expenses. Car show registration fees are typically $5 - $10 per car. Spectators are usually not charged a fee in either event.

I recommend cruise-ins (without awards), especially if this will be your first classic car event. Cruise-ins are more inclusive and simpler and cheaper to conduct without awards. A car show can keep some car owners home that have not yet (or just can’t) invest a lot of time and money into restoring their vehicle to show winning condition. I personally don’t mind admiring a rust bucket of a 1953 Buick Skylark that was just pulled out of a barn where it sat and deteriorated for 27 years and still smells like mouse urine inside. That is an extreme example but you get the idea. Cruise-ins can bring out more of the “daily driver” classics that are still intriguing despite their rust and imperfect interiors.

You can also do a hybrid event where car owners who want to compete for awards can pay a registration fee and get a numbered windshield placard for reference by the judges and park in a designated “show car” area. All others park in a different area for the cruise-in.

If you want to have a lot of family and kid oriented elements as well as the car-related elements, you may want to call your event a Classic Car Fest or something similar.

Another variation is a multi-day event. One format could be a cruise-in on a Friday night followed by a judged car show/car fest on Saturday. City downtown areas and parks often have these types of events.

Decide early what kind of event you want to have.

Incorporating Outreach

The most important element of organizing your event is to make sure the car owners and the spectators get some low-threat exposure to the gospel and your church. Three important aspects of your event toward this end are your registration process, goody bags, and “minglers.”

Registration focuses on the car owners, the star attraction of your event. Registration allows you to personally welcome each car owner to your event and thank them for publicly displaying a car they have put lots of time and money into. You’ll get contact information so you can thank them again after the event and invite them to next year’s event.

You’ll need a table or booth to conduct registration and a standard registration form. See Appendix 1 for a sample registration form. You can also Google or Yahoo search for “car show registration form” to find many others to use as samples.

If you are conducting a judged car show with an entry fee, consider having a pre-registration period. Pre-registration usually gives a discount for early registration with the reduced fee mailed in. The entry fee goes up on the day of the show. This is a good incentive to encourage turnout and to get a good idea of how large a turnout you will have.

Goody Bags should be given to all attendees – car owners and spectators alike. It acts as a seed. The goody bag is where you can include small gifts or trinkets (e.g. a pen or fridge magnet with your church logo on it) as well as information about your church and gospel tracts. They can be passed out to car owners at registration and you can have volunteers pass them out to spectators as well. Recipients can sort through the contents at their leisure. See Appendix 2 for a sample checklist of what to put in your goody bags.

Minglers are people who are designated to walk about during the event and casually talk to the car owners and spectators alike. Their purpose is to connect a friendly name and face to the church building and just talk to the car owners and spectators. I recommend they wear a badge or clothing that identifies them to your church. Obviously, the most common conversation starter will be about cars and from there, wherever the Lord leads. Some guests will likely ask questions about the church and/or spiritual matters. Minglers can offer facility tours to guests contemplating a Sunday visit. Most conversation won’t go beyond cars and other small talk but each person will have the goody bag contents which may prompt them at a later point in time to seek Christ through a church or other path.

Other Outreach Tie-Ins: Do you wish to tie-in this event to other events and ministries? Maybe there is an upcoming youth event, a spaghetti dinner, a free oil change event for single mothers, an ongoing mom’s ministry, a men’s social, a ladies get-together, a musical, a special seeker service, etc., that can be publicized at this event. It’s easy to do. Have an MC periodically announce them or “interview” the person who can give all the details. Put flyers about these special events or ministries into each goody bag. Have your minglers talk it up with the folks they meet. Have informational signs posted at a church information table or information board.

Supporting a Charity or Non-Profit Organization

Whichever type of event you organize, consider partnering with a well-known charity or non profit organization in your area. Some churches advertise proceeds go directly to church ministries such as the youth group, a building fund, a playground project, etc. However, I believe supporting and partnering with a well known charity or non-profit organization can create a wider appeal in the community to those unfamiliar with your church’s beliefs and ministries. Proceeds from registration, food sales, t-shirt sales, etc. can be donated to the selected charity or non-profit. Examples include the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, a local homeless shelter, a local food bank, etc. An event benefiting a food bank could have the “registration” or “admission” fee be grocery items. The selected beneficiary might even provide volunteers and participate in publicity. Regardless of the beneficiary you choose, keep your event outreach focused rather than focused on fundraising. If you sell food, keep the prices low (e.g. $2 for a burger, chips, and soda). The low price advice also applies to merchandise you might sell such as commemorative t-shirts. If you have a registration fee, keep it as low as you reasonably can.

What Kind of Cars Should I Expect?

“Classic cars” generally refers to cars from the early 70’s and older although there are strict age and make/model definitions for serious enthusiasts. Many events are advertised as open to all classic vehicles. Other events get specific with age (e.g. pre-1977). You are likely to end up with a mixture of original vehicles of all conditions, restored vehicles, “resto-mods” (cars that look original but have modern or high performance drivetrains), customs, hot rods, street rods, old trucks, newer or old motorcycles, and possibly some “specialty vehicles” such as hearses, military vehicles, old fire trucks, and old police cars. In some parts of the country, old tractors and other combustion engine farm equipment are also featured. All of this variation can make award categories tricky. Be specific about what you want in your advertising or leave it as “open to all classic vehicles” and enjoy what arrives.

Here’s a side (and true) story on old hearses since having one or more on display is one way to get your guests to think about life after death: I was at a car show where the vehicles all had placards in the windshields identifying year/make/model/special features. In the special features box of the placard, the owner of an old Hearse had written “plenty of legroom.” Ha!!

I’m Still Interested, Please Tell Me More About A Format

“Market research” is an important step to determine your format. This can be really fun because you visit other cruise-ins and car shows to get ideas for yours. It’s like being a restaurant critic or movie critic for the local newspaper if you like to eat or watch movies. It’s also a good way to line up volunteers you’ll need later by getting other folks to go with you and to get them excited. Car owners and spectators alike who are experienced at going to cruise-ins and car shows will expect to see some degree of quality, organization, and turnout that they are used to at other events. Therefore, your event needs to come across as professionally conducted as possible. Begin planning at least three to six months in advance. You might also have some classic car owners in your church that attend these events who you can tap into for ideas and information. Go to a few and you’ll quickly put together the format you’ll want to utilize (plus there’s plenty more information to follow in this guide).

You can also get ideas by researching other cruise-ins and car shows on-line. Contact some of the organizers and ask questions. See the Car Show websites link for information about past and upcoming events. See also Activities and Features below for format ideas.

Planning Checklist

Here is a notional time phased schedule to plan your event. It is not extremely detailed but should help you to develop your own detailed plans.

3-6 Months: Getting Started

Recruit a reliable few as your core team

Recruit publicity officer or helpers

Determine location (church grounds or other location)

Determine event type (cruise-in, car show, hybrid, multi-day, car fest)

Determine beneficiary (your church’s ministries, a non-profit organization such as Habitat for Humanity, local food bank, etc.)

Determine type of cars you want (classics, hot rods, motorcycles, trucks, late model street rods, military vehicles, etc.)

Set date (minimize date conflicts with other car show and family events as much as possible)

Determine car participant and spectator fee (if any)

Determine number of dash plaques (minimum of 100 recommended)

Will you have food? (yes or no, details not important yet)

Will you have awards? (yes or no, details not important yet)

Will you have music? (yes or no, details not important yet)

Will you have games? (yes or no, details not important yet)

Will you have door prizes? (yes or no, details, not important yet)

What other special activities will you have?

Once all of the above is determined, begin publicity (details of music, food, games, etc. can be determined later)

As Soon as Possible (ASAP): Publicity Blitz

Advertise within your church (car owners, committee members, helpers; raise awareness so that members may invite friends and neighbors)

List on your church website

Develop Flyers and print at least a few hundred to get started

Pass out flyers at car show events that precede yours

Post flyers in restaurants, body shops, car repair shops, high performance shops, auto parts stores, etc.

Find and invite car clubs

Advertise on car club websites and in car club newsletters

Advertise in local “Antique/Classic Autos” for sale classified ads

List on multiple car show websites

Put signage and banners for your church property

Submit PSAs (Public Service Announcements) on local radio and television

3 Months: Committees Begin Work

Publicity continues (emphasis on flyers at car shows and contacting car clubs)

Reserve bouncy castle (deposit likely required)

Book band or DJ as required (deposits or contracts may be required)

Reserve sound system equipment as required

Design dash plaque

Order dash plaques (minimum 100)

Recruit MC, Minglers, Photographer, etc.

Determine signage requirements; order from sign company or have volunteers make them

Determine food menu, quantities, electricity, water, and other logistic requirements

Begin soliciting and/or purchasing doorprizes

Determine award category structure (if having awards)

Select award items and order (if having awards)

Invite special guests/community leaders and VIPs as required

2 Months:

Publicity continues (emphasis on flyers at car shows and contacting car clubs)

Doorprizes: continue soliciting and/or purchasing

Determine parking flow, siting of food booths, games, bouncy castle, special activities, band/DJ, etc.

Goody bags: Determine contents

Goody bags: Obtain plastic shopping bags from one or more auto parts stores to use as goody bags

Obtain goody bag material and stuff bags (segregate between spectator goody bags and car owner goody bags if necessary)

Begin weekly meetings with committee chairs

Advertise within church

Recruit church volunteers as required

Verify web site listings (especially on car club sites)

1 Month:

Publicity continues (emphasis on flyers at car shows and contacting car clubs)

Doorprizes: continue soliciting and/or purchasing; buy tickets

Confirm special guests and features

Ensure committees have enough volunteers

Ensure event signage (parking, food, etc.) is available or under construction

Confirm dash plaques have been received

Walk the grounds to visualize setup details

1 Week:

Ensure food supplies are being purchased

Confirm set-up and clean-up crews

Confirm who the minglers are

Confirm all equipment is ready (sound, microphones, extension cords, access to water and electricity, portable rental toilets, garbage cans, orange traffic cones, etc.)