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NASSAM 2020 Rapid City

18K views 118 replies 27 participants last post by  mysolst 
#1 ·
Hello, welcome to the NASSAM 2020 thread.

As was announced at the 2018 NASSAM banquet, those who brought you NASSAM 2015 (Pacific Northwest Roadsters - PNWR) with some help from Ohio, Arkansas, Minnesota and the wonderful province of British Columbia are happy to bring you the 2020 version of NASSAM, this time hosted in Rapid City, South Dakota.

This thread in no way is an intent to take focus and planning effort from the 2019 event (some of us are working on that one too), but rather to simply let the community know that there is a 2020 event planned for June 21-26, 2020. As this constitutes a long drive for just about everyone, so we thought we'd get the word out and perhaps folks could plan a once in a lifetime trip to see Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer National Park, Devils Tower and my personal favorite, the Badlands of South Dakota.

Best regards from PNWR and our cast of thousands.

Hope to see you in 2020.
 
#37 · (Edited)
Not sure how I missed this thread here on the forum, cause I read almost everything here, pretty much.
While it is still a month away for our owners group annual gathering of the Kappa's the question still remains of where and how much from our group when considering attending an event such as this.

IMO: It's all the Mississippi's fault no doubt about. Dividing our country, and owners here how dare you do that?
Crossing the muddy waters... not gonna happen for some. Why? Distance. No owner from the west coast, or points west of the mighty Mississippi will attend anything on the east coast. Same holds true from our east coast members.
Too much travel.. time spent in transit to the event sometimes out weighs the time spent at the event, extra hotel costs, more gas costs, food, prepping in advance for a long drawn out journey to and from. Time off from work? It's human nature in most cases, but drivers like to drive. Road trip anyone? Who's in? With most Americans that's the thing here in the Land of the Free, Home of the very Brave. That's right your "free" to drive anywhere you like on our road systems, IF your brave enough to do so? Can you afford it? Are you willing to afford such an adventure into the great American unknown?

IS there a solution to this problem every year for our owners? To decide I'm going to NY or Rapid City in this case? Damned if you do, be damned if you don't? There is no in between to this problem, of where, how many will attend the event. It's a National Event for all if you care to attend, depending on your circumstance at the moment, more or less.

My suggestion would be: Two separate events. Both National in nature events for the cause of bringing Kappa owners out the woodwork, same place, same time, same station, stay tuned folks... June the Month of the Kappa. West of the Mississippi for those owners wishing to attend, East of the Mississippi for those of our owners to attend something closer more affordable to their out of pocket expenses? Two events, two sets of problems for events organizers to deal with. More headaches...

IF.. you have never been to up state NY, a beautiful section of America then go by all means, err IF you have the means to do so that is?
IF.. you have never been to SD, then go by all means, it truly is a special section of our country.

However: Choices. That's what makes this country of ours great. IF I wanna drive 2000 miles or not? Do I want to put that many miles on my odo to attend?
How much will it cost me this time? Where is my " cutoff line" for attending such an event? How far will I go over the line in the sand to attend? All up to you the owner/operator to decide. No whining here, in fact get off the thread IF you choose not to attend. Everyone has.. an opinion on such topics as this. It never gets old, the continuing battle of where should we hold next years event for our owners?

I have been to both places, and they are beautiful to say the least. One of my fondest memories as a child seeing the USA in a Chevy was Mt. Rushmore. The Bad Lands... are bad.
Ahhh upstate NY in the summer, cool breezes, mountain scenery galore, twisty roads too, plus Watkins Glen a racetrack you can drive on, sort of.. but decide here. AM I going?

I will not be attending this years event unfortunately, prior commitments prevent this. The 2020 event is too far away for me to attend. SO I have chosen...

LAC
 
#38 · (Edited)
I'm going to make the request one more time, this thread was intended to be for the 2020 event and I'd sure appreciate it if we could keep it to that subject. There is a thread over on the Solstice forum where folks are debating the methods by which locations for nationals are chosen...link below. If you're interested in making proposals, please go there.

Thanks from the NASSAM 2020 team.

https://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/f33/national-meet-discussions-158415/

PS: You may also wish to make note that the NASSAM 2021 event will be in Northern Michigan, but 2022 as noted in the thread above is up for discussion. There seem to be many that want a nationals close to them so now would be a good time to speak up and start organizing. And by the way this quote "No owner from the west coast, or points west of the mighty Mississippi will attend anything on the east coast. Same holds true from our east coast members." just isn't true. Nationals in 2015 in Portland, OR were attended by folks from all over the country and parts of Canada. My wife and I have driven across the country three times to go to Nationals...there are a few of us... :)

Not sure how I missed this thread here on the forum, cause I read almost everything here, pretty much.
While it is still a month away for our owners group annual gathering of the Kappa's the question still remains of where and how much from our group when considering attending an event such as this.

EDITED...

My suggestion would be: Two separate events. Both National in nature events for the cause of bringing Kappa owners out the woodwork, same place, same time, same station, stay tuned folks... June the Month of the Kappa. West of the Mississippi for those owners wishing to attend, East of the Mississippi for those of our owners to attend something closer more affordable to their out of pocket expenses? Two events, two sets of problems for events organizers to deal with. More headaches...

EDITED...

LAC
 
#41 ·
Hello All: As has been noted, the website will be up on July 15. To kick things off I thought I'd mention that the website we chose was capable of ecommerce meaning that the process of registering and buying t-shirts, coins, etc. will be like any other online store. You click on the item you like, choose the number of items you with to purchase, add it to your cart and then pay through PayPal. We hope that enough folks have done online shopping that this will be straight forward. At any time you'll also be able to return to make additional purchases...an extra t-shirt or whatever. Upon completion of registration you'll get two emails, one from PayPal and one from us. If you lose track of your confirmations you will be able to go to the website, click on the "Who's Coming?" link and find your name. To keep some anonymity you would find me by looking for "RickH" from Washington State...you should be able to find yourself and the runs for which you've signed up. More on other stuff later.
 
#42 ·
Hello, this week's coming attraction is for the NASSAM 2020 runs that will be available. On our website (coming July 15th) you'll be able to click on the link for runs and find descriptions and maps for each run. There are four guided runs and two unguided. The unguided runs are to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse, we figured there would be just so many different desires for time to be spent at each that folks could get together if they wished to stay for an hour, some longer. There are also evening shows at those locations. The other four runs are Badlands, Custer State Park (including the Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road), Devils Tower and Spearfish Canyon. Each has been carefully planned with many stops to...uh...well...use the restroom. :) Hope to see you in 2020. Oh, and before anyone asks, as noted on the Runs page there will be Garmin files available as of September 1st. I want to make one more pass in August before I publish those.
 
#45 ·
The dates are fantastic and we plan to make the event. If I can get there I am up for leading a run. Have been doing them for the FJ Summit for 12 years doing three runs at each event.
The dates also work out well for a trip to the College World Series in Omaha it appears. The wife is all excited about that. Chance to go home for a day or two for both of us. Let me know if we can be of assistance. 44th Sky call me, I owe you an apology!!!!!!!
 
#47 ·
Hi folks, our next coming attraction on the website. We have a page called "The Basics" that will tell you all of the when, where, how and how much ($$). After looking at the photos on the home page you might want to start with the basics and then have a look at the "Calendar" page with the day-by-day schedule of events. We'll be getting our committee to start final website testing shortly so hopefully we'll get them to find any last improvements before going live. Best regards. Rick
 
#48 · (Edited)
In testing the website we came up with a new thing! If you are bringing TWO cars; please note that you will process two separate registrations and payments in two different transactions. Register the first car individually and complete payment before returning to register the second car. For each car simply list a driver with no navigator. Each car will be separately numbered with its own goodie bag. Please order t-shirts for the occupant of that car so we can insure correct t-shirts get into the correct goodie bags. Yeah, I know this only applies to about eight people, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyway.

So please note: The registration fee is per person, not per car. If folks bring two cars like my wife and me, she registers herself as driver of her car with no navigator. Separately, I register myself as driver with no navigator of my car.

If we had a more sophisticated website we could have provided an option for a couple to register two people, two cars and pay once...but we're pretty limited on what we can do in that regard.

That said, if ONE person really wanted to bring TWO cars, they would pay only one registration fee, but they would need to send us an email at nassam2020@outlook.com so we know there is a second vehicle.
 
#49 ·
Good Morning: I received a PM, so I thought I'd better reiterate. The website is in final testing, and we're waiting for the hotel to open registrations. We will have the website up July 15 for your perusal, registration, etc. Karen will look into putting up something at nassam2020.com saying "Coming July 15, please join us in Rapid City for NASSAM 2020!" In the meantime, our apologies for any confusion.
 
#51 · (Edited)
As noted over on the Solstice forum, we thought it might be kind of fun to give some previews. Over on Facebook the response has been almost entirely positive in the dozens of responses. I just thought I'd try something a little different this year. Hopefully my silly idea has been fun for most. I'm just trying to balance the interest with folks who've already asked to get started. Don' the best we can here. :)
 
#52 ·
I think it's fine to post progress, but the way the earlier ones were worded was a bit confusing - implying the site was up. IMO, if you had prefaced each of the posts with "Website is not yet up, but latest progress is...", it might have satisfied all.
 
#54 ·
Hello Everyone. As promised it is July 15th and our 2020 website is up and running - https://www.nassam2020.com/. Please feel free to read through the "Basics" page for the who, what, when, where and how much ($$). The registration page works just like any other online store. Click on the link to that page, and then by clicking the "Registration" button you can walk through the process of signing up, choosing whether to buy t-shirts, posters, coins and patches. The hotel reservations page has a link to the hotel website, just choose your dates and you should be on your way. You may also call the hotel directly with the information provided on that page. And don't forget to check in once in a while to see if there is anything new by clicking on our "What's New" page. We'll update that as any plans change or any updates are made. And, of course, if you need any help or would like to comment just contact us at nassam2020@outlook.com. Hope to see you in Rapid City in 2020.
 
#56 ·
Here is your fun fact for the week. We have 37 registrations all paid in full. There are 6 folks who made hotel reservations all get registered (please do as soon as you can firm up plans). And add to that 2 folks who have requested runs (again, please register when you have a chance)...we have a total of 45 cars showing up. That's the news until next Monday. :)
 
#57 ·
Hello Everyone: Hey, someone submitted a question pertaining to our items for sale. We have offered the event poster, t-shirts, a coin and a patch...so the question was raised about whether we considered offering hats as well. That has been done in the past and has represented a lot of work. That said we did think about offering hats and decided against it for this year. But thanks to the individual who asked. We appreciate the interest.
 
#58 ·
BUMP....Hey, just a friendly reminder. Please take a few minutes to book a room. It would be helpful if you register, but at least grab yourself a room.
 
#60 · (Edited)
Typically folks order things as a part of the registration process, the assumption being that you will be at the event to pick up whatever you've ordered. We have not included shipping in the cost of each item. That said, if you just want to order a t-shirt, and have it mailed to you we'd ask for you to perhaps also include in your order a monetary contribution to our charity of...lets say $25. We could use a few dollars to ship your t-shirt and donate the rest.

To order any item go to https://www.nassam2020.com/store, and follow your nose. It works like any other online store. If you still have questions please send an email to nassam2020@outlook.com.
 
#62 ·
From the folks planning NASSAM 2020 we'd like to wish everyone a happy holiday season, and remind you that everything you ever wanted to know about our event next June is out there at http://www.nassam2020.com. You can also email us at nassam2020@outlook.com. And please note that you can find NASSAM 2020 along with over 400 followers over at Facebook, the link is https://www.facebook.com/groups/1102256869915619/. Come join us there for a little chit-chat with some messages from our vendors.


Again, happy holidays and we hope to see you in Rapid City in June.
 
#63 ·
Hello Friends: Sooner or later someone was going to ask, and it happened today. A query came up pertaining to the potential impact of the coronavirus on our NASSAM 2020. For those who may not know, my wife Karen and I live just south of the county in Washington State hardest hit, and I work in that county. The situation is a very real concern to folks in Western Washington, but despite what you may have heard Washingtonians are really quite calm about the situation. Sure, it is a little hard to find some items at the supermarket like disinfectant, but there was some left at the store last night when we went shopping. In the three counties here, that have been most affected, government officials including the governor and county councils have cancelled or postponed events of over 250 people. You may also know that the NCAA has made the decision that only immediate family and a few others will be in attendance for men's and women's basketball tournaments. This will affect the men's tournament in Spokane about 300 miles from our home. Many schools, colleges and universities are now holding classes online, that is generally true here in Washington State as well. Karen and I are currently in a dialog with the hotel in Rapid City to determine what this can potentially mean 90 days from now primarily with regard to our contractual obligation to the hotel. The contract does include a clause pertaining to cancellation due to "acts of God and nature". We'll try to keep you posted. For now, we continue to plan forward hoping that things will settle down and we'll get to see you all in June. Lastly, I'm going to moderate comments to this post to try to keep things on point, so please don't be upset if you see some edits. Best regards, Rick and Karen.
 
#64 ·
Hello again folks: Just a little update, we received a couple of additional registrations so we're approaching 120 cars. Let's hope we get to spend some time together in June, the potential spread of the Coronavirus notwithstanding.

On that subject, here in Washington State where Karen and I live, schools have been closed completely through of April 24 (as a teacher my sister gets a month of vacation she hadn't planned for). Many folks are telecommuting, oddly enough toilet paper still seems to be a big purchase item (this isn't dysentery after all). But for most of us we head to work each day, and go about our daily business.

A few folks (you'll see the thread below) have said somewhat adamantly they plan to go to Rapid City in June. Fair enough, but since I don't have an ability to predict the future I choose to wait and see. Remember, Karen and I are right in the middle of it all, so we do our best to figure out what is prudent based upon direction of our state health department and government officials. For those out there who are adamant about going to Rapid City...perhaps you'd reconsider if you were in our shoes. We've already lost one friend to this, and another is on shaky ground. We live in a state where travel restrictions have been proposed, so we'll see what comes of that. At least one university in the mid-west has told students that if they return home to the Seattle area for spring break they may not return to campus. I'd like to think that I'm not over reacting. As an engineer I pride myself on balanced judgement...I'm hoping that is still working.


:)
We'll continue to work out the details with the hotel and keep you posted. For the moment we do hope to see you in June. More later. Best to everyone.
 
#65 ·
Things move fast around here, I hope this latest update doesn’t make anyone’s head spin.

Karen had an excellent call with our contact at the hotel this morning. The Best Western (really the owners of this particular Best Western) have made the decision to waive all cancellation fees, including room percentage usage and food primarily. The outbreak falls under the contractual category as an "Act of God". This hotel has had all events through the end of March cancelled. Currently they are not under a 250 person group rule for gatherings as we are here at home in the Puget Sound region.

As for South Dakota, illnesses thus far are on the east side of the state, in particular in the Sioux Falls area with none in Rapid City. In fact, Rapid City is hosting the State A basketball tournament, but only players are attending; no fans.
Karen and I plan to be in communication with the hotel as we go through this week to week. As the hotel has any changes in Rapid City they will let us know; if we have changes here in Washington State we will let them know (and all of you as well).
As for a timeline for a decision of when to cancel; we will take that one step at a time, but it is currently our decision to make. Were the gathering here and now in our area, the event would have been cancelled by direction from authorities. We must consider this to be a potential possibility in Rapid City in June.
The hotel owners and staff could not be more understanding and helpful, and we have been and continue to be very thankful for their assistance. We have some details to work out in case of cancellation and room reservations. Once we have that we'll let you know.
 
#66 ·
To add a bit...from an email query. I was asked "If you cancel the event will we need to make new reservations for that week?" The direct answer is "yes".

That said, it is unlikely that we will cancel the event. South Dakota authorities may cancel such events as they have here in the Puget Sound area. Were that to come to pass the entire block of rooms will be cancelled. Given whatever your travel restrictions that may be enacted and your choices for vacation you would need to make a new reservation in that circumstance as well.

Lastly, if you do not wish to come to the event for whatever reason, you will need to cancel your hotel reservations.
 
#68 ·
Strange days indeed. Thanks for being on top of this, both of you.
 
#69 ·
Monday, March 16

Good morning friends: As I previously noted I wouldn't provide updates unless something significant happened...well, here you go. I hope that this isn't a preview of what the rest of you will experience.

Here throughout Washington State there is a temporary shut down restaurants, bars, and recreational facilities statewide. Grocery stores, pharmacies and restaurant take-out remain available. Schools are closed through April 24, as for the other closures there is not yet provided a definition of "temporary". Similar actions have been taken as I understand it in California, New York, Ohio and Illinois.

Karen and I continue to plan and prepare for NASSAM 2020 with help from the operating committee in hopes of seeing you in June. Please take care. Rick and Karen
 
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