Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Organizing a Car Show

A How-To for Organizing a Local Car Show

Local car shows are a great way to get people together who share a common appreciation for cars. Car shows are also good for business and they can help to raise money for charity. If you run a business or want to raise money for a good cause, here are some tips to help you organize a local car show.

· Decide on a theme. Do you want a classic car show? Do you want a motorcycle show instead? Do you want an antique car show? Or maybe just a general car show that auto enthusiasts of any type can participate in?

· Gauge interest. Talk to potential participants to see if they are interested in taking part. Check a calendar of local events to make sure that there aren't other car shows at the same time.

· Choose a charity or local cause to raise money. You'll also need to decide how to raise support – will you charge admission? Will you hold a raffle? Will you take donations? Remember, it doesn't have to be financial support; your local food bank will probably welcome donations of canned goods.

· Find a good location. Your location should be central to the area you hope to draw a crowd from. Talk to the owner of a restaurant, ice cream shop, or coffee shop; they might welcome a car show in their parking lot if it will draw crowds to their establishment.

· Start advertising! You'll need to advertise to two groups of people – car owners and car show visitors. Get car owners to register with you ahead of time so you can manage how many people will show up. Encourage car show visitors to mark their calendars. Talk to local radio and TV personalities to "talk up" your car show on the air. Find local events calendars to include your car show on. Hand out flyers. Create the event on sites like Facebook, http://tweetvite.com/, and http://eventful.com. Encourage social media users to post on Twitter and Facebook. This step should be the one you spend the most time and effort on!

· Round out the show with other participants. Don’t forget that other participants might want to take part: Invite hotdog vendors to sell food, invite an inflatables renter to set up a "bouncy-house" for the kids, ask auto-related vendors if they would like to set up a booth or donate prizes.

One final tip – this one is critical! Always talk to local authorities to make sure that you have the proper licenses and permissions to hold an event. You might require a permit to hold the event, and you might require a different permit to serve food or alcoholic beverages.

A car show can draw a big crowd of people because it's a lot of fun. It can also help to raise money and awareness for a good cause. Organizing a car show is a lot of work but with proper planning and some organization, it can be worth it.