Supernats

[DJgrant]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I have read all of it, good and bad, and we will take it all on board when we have our committee debrief.
I do just want to clear up one thing though, because I have said this before. We are not trying to turn the Supernats into the NASC Nats.
There isn't actually more entertainment than we used to have. It is just more visible because we have brought it together in one place.
Previously we would have two bands in the Party Tent and two bands on the main tent. This year the bands were all on the main stage and there were no bands in the Party Tent, just a humble DJ!
Even the tribute acts aren't additional acts. In most cases it is the same performer doing two different sets.
I put a huge amount of time into trying to get the entertainment balance right while also keeping it within budget. We know some people would happily have a band at 7pm and another at 10pm and nothing else, but we also have to cater for the wider membership.
From what I saw, the stage area had a good crowd from the moment it opened until it closed. We had over 100 people there at 2pm on Friday and around 300 people sitting watching at 2pm on Saturday, so there clearly are people who enjoy having something going on during the afternoon as well.
That doesn't mean we won't listen and tweak things. We absolutely will. But I would be lying if I said the continued digs don't sometimes make me wonder why i put so much work into trying to get it right. Constructive feedback is always welcome and genuinely helpful, but please remember there are volunteers behind all of this giving up a huge amount of their own time.
On the prizegiving, I thought it worked really well and a massive thank you has to go to Hannah, Glyn, Colin and the whole prizegiving crew.
The same goes for our judges. They didn't simply turn up on Saturday, pick a few cars and go home. They spent the weekend looking at cars, discussing them and doing their absolute best with an incredibly difficult job. The judging continued into Sunday morning and the provisional winners changed several times. With the standard of cars we had this year, there will always be fantastic cars that don't get an award.
Nobody is saying everything was perfect. There are things we can improve and there are some great suggestions in this thread that we will discuss.
But overall, I think we should also remember what we had. Four days of hot rods, friends, sunshine, music, laughter and a huge number of people giving up their time to make the Supernats happen.
We will listen, we will learn and we will keep trying to make it better.
And hopefully we can all do it again next year, with a little less dust!

[ParadiseRoad]

Hello Grant,
This is profound. Looks like you've just hit 454 posts... back of the net!!!

I think I speak for all of us, we've been having a lot of WhatsApp chat since the Nats. bear in mind we help out every year and love doing so.
I think it's fair to say from all of us, we have a lot of faith in the new Committee. It seems younger and more approachable, but more importantly, the Isle of Wight and the Nats were absolutely fabulous. So, thank you to all of the Committee and your hard work.

We're just the humble litter pickers but we love to give back and support the NSRA. If you cut us open it would say NSRA like a stick of rock and a bit of MPH vintage drags as well!
We have ran businesses all our lives in Construction and Hospitality very successfully. I don't do Committee's, it's non existent in the private sector.

I've got a simple idea. I don't want to travel anywhere but maybe we could arrange a zoom meeting with likeminded members like us and the Blue Crew and relevant Committee members because I'd like to share my interesting thoughts on a few tweaks that might benefit the event and some radical ideas to boost younger membership. I'd love to speak with your under 29 captain. I see stuff that you probably don't see or haven't considered as you're so busy .

I love Shuttleworth and I built the tropical species Biome there and crocodile pit for Bedfordshire Agricultural College.
Have a think and get back to us.
Thanks Mike and Vicks

[Brizey]

Hi Grant,
Yes, I`m one of those who mentioned what has been described as a growing concern for the similarity of the Supernats with the NASC Nats. As far as I`m concerned please don`t take my comments as `digs`, they are simply, as you later say in your latest post meant as `constructive criticism`. Having served on the committee myself for 5 years I fully appreciate all the time and effort put in by yourselves, the Blue crew and helpers!
Any weekend (or longer) car event needs entertainment but the NASC Nats was ruined by it turning into more of a party weekender rather than a car show causing many customised car owners to shy away from the NASC event, I for one would hate to see the NSRA Supernational`s go the same way.

I don`t feel the party weekender `thing` is in any way the fault of the committee and it`s much appreciated efforts, but simply a by product of the past and present committee`s success of creating a great extended weekend based around cars! Having attended this years IOW Fun Run I found it a perfect week of cars AND entertainment, with the emphasis being on the cars which is what the NSRA is, and should be, about ...

[DJgrant]

Thanks, and I do appreciate you explaining where you’re coming from.
I genuinely do try to take on board all the comments and constructive criticism. Sometimes though, when you’ve put so much time and effort into trying to get something right, it can get you down when it feels like you’re constantly defending it.
Personally, I feel the entertainment at the Supernats represents really good value for members and adds to the weekend without taking away from what the event is actually about, which is the cars.
I also don’t feel we push the Supernats as a massive party weekend. We don’t even publish the bands before the event, despite the fact I’ve already booked the bands for next year. We don’t sell tickets for people just to come and party, and we certainly don’t have the sort of crazy party atmosphere with wet T shirt competitions, foam parties and everything else that the NASC Nats became known for.
The entertainment is there for the people who are already at the Supernats to enjoy. If you want to sit by your car or your camp all evening with your mates, you absolutely can. If you want to wander over and watch a band, have a dance or join in with something, that’s there too.
What makes it difficult is trying to put together entertainment across an entire weekend that keeps thousands of different people happy without getting pushback from somewhere. Even the bands we book are largely based on suggestions that have come from members.
I completely understand the concern about what happened with the NASC Nats, and I certainly don’t want the Supernats heading down that road either. But I also think there is a big difference between becoming a party weekender with cars attached and putting on a good car event that also has plenty for our members to enjoy once the cars are parked up.
Your comments are taken in the spirit they were intended, and I do appreciate them. I probably just need to get a little better at not taking every comment personally when I’ve spent so much time trying to make it work for everyone. maybe I just need to step back for a while

[Blackpopracing]

I'll put this here for the small amount of people who frequent this forum - did anyone miss Jonathan Price?

I'll be honest - I love the guy, but it was quite nice not having someone chatting all weekend over the tannoy.

As a bit of constructive criticism (sorry Grant) I think Grant (or someone) should have commented a bit more on the Sunday for the general public to know about the cars more, and although I don't miss Jonathan's rather sexist comments (he's a product of his time - but now not so acceptable), I did miss his little 'interviews' with the show winners.

Anyway, I think this year shows the event & comittee doing a pretty sterling job.

[malstbird]

Grant you should be very proud of what you have achieved recently. I for one can see a big difference and taking on board suggestions is a real strong point of yours. I supported both the Isle of White and the Supernats which as mentioned were amazing.

I would say 98% of people had a fabulous time and some of the comments perhaps stem from people worried that we will lose focus on what we have now. I want to see the events keep going and maintain its longevity. Ensuring we keep the younger generations interested in paramount in that.

Mal

[DJgrant]

Thanks, and that’s actually really useful constructive criticism.
I’ll be completely honest, Sunday and the prize giving was probably the bit I was most nervous about. John left some very big shoes to fill. He has his own natural way of working a crowd, filling the dead time, chatting to people and getting those little interviews out of the winners.
The last thing I wanted to do was try and do a poor imitation of John because I’m never going to be John Price. So I deliberately tried to do it my own way and keep things fairly to the point, informative and moving along.
I was definitely nervous though! There’s a big difference between John is there and suddenly realising it’s now down to you.
We actually did talk about interviewing the winners on stage this year, but with it being the first year without John and with the change of format for the prize giving, we felt it might have been a little too much to try and introduce all at once. The priority this year was getting the new format working smoothly. Now we know it works, we can start building on it.
Looking back, I completely take the point that I could have said more about the cars on the Sunday, particularly for the general public who might not know the cars or the stories behind them. During prize giving I was concentrating so much on making sure we had the right cars, the right winners and everyone in the right place that I probably missed some opportunities to actually talk about them and their owners.
If I get the chance to do it again next year, that’s definitely something I can work on. Hopefully I’ll be a little less nervous second time around!
We’re also already planning to introduce a panel style interview with some of the builders next year. I think that could be a really interesting addition and give people the chance to hear some of the stories behind the cars, the builds and the people who created them.
I’m not promising to start talking over the tannoy all weekend though.
Thanks for the feedback and the kind words about the committee. I certainly didn’t get everything perfect, but I tried my best to do it my way rather than pretend to be John. This year gave us something to build on, and hopefully next year we can make it even better.

[Brizey]

Thanks for the reply Grant.
Never, never take any comments personally, life`s to short and besides, one can`t please all of the people all of the time as there will always be those with a differing view point/interest no matter what one does.
I know I can be one of those who are somewhat `vocal` when it comes to the NSRA at times but it`s only because I care, as I`m sure you and the rest of the committee, Blue crew and helpers do ...