Frustrated in the Motor City

[2toxic]

Greetings Viper Family,
Just venting about the way the 25th anniversary CAAP/M1 Concourse invitation went down. It appears that the local MCVO club nor the VOA had any input in the planning of the Viper send off celebration that is to take place in our own very backyard. I'm just curious if every executive board member and close friends with the local clubs board members had first choice of the preferred lawn parking (200 car limit) like our club executive board enjoyed. The vast majority of the club was not notified of the sign up until all the board members locked up their tickets, every last one of them!!! I never complain but this just seems too strangely convenient that the membership was left in the dark. I was of the impression that the boards responsibility was the membership first. Any dialog concerning this is just met with a song and dance around the issue and finger pointing. Its a shame that we had to request an invitation to only partially participate!!! I'm not the only one in the club that is furious over this. It appears our Board is self serving first, that's just my frustrated 2 cents.That does not include the folks from out of town/state that made hotel reservations only to be left out of half of the festivities. This should have been treated like a VOA event where everyone is included in everything, not the first 200 privileged with inside information. I understand that 5 local police departments were paid dearly for the personal escort from CAAP to M1 concourse. My dues are paying for something that i can not even participate in!!! Yeah, I'm slightly peeved to say the least. One fact that can be agreed upon by all is that this is truly a major cluster.

Mark Andring
VOA#1953

[01sapphirebob]

Major cluster Yes. Inside info? Not so much. If you look back through some of the posts in the 25th anniversary thread you'll notice that there were members posting about it before any of the officers. The word got around quickly once it was out and those that were able to register right away, did so. As soon as my region was able to, we sent the info to our membership and even in doing that most of them got the regular parking. It was on a first come, first served basis that tickets were sent out. Also, with the VOA having limited involvement in this event (actually no involvement as even the National President didn't even know about the announcement nor did he get an email inviting him to the event) I'm pretty sure there was no money spent by the VOA for a police escort to M1. I understand its frustrating and I totally get where you're coming from. I'm more frustrated with FCA and how they are handling their event.

Sending off one of the most iconic cars of the last three decades with a self guided tour of the plant and some coffee and donuts? Not very fitting for a car like the Viper. I don't believe FCA really cares and to be honest I'm surprised they are even doing this.

[ViperSRT]

I say stop blaming the VOA or local club. This event is by FCA and not directed to any specific club. As stated above the details took the club leadership by surprise also. That said I believe the major issue is that emailing lists with VIN identification were not made available (don't know if they were asked for from the clubs either) so those responsible for sending out invitations only had VIN and email information for owners that purchased through the concierge program, registered through UConnect or with Mopar during dealer service. Contact information and proof of ownership were the limiting factors I believe. My $0.02.

[ICPREY]

I was a little frustrated with the whole process as well. I sent an email the day it was posted after I got off work (5pm or so) and the invitation came the next day, but all the lawn parking was already full. I really didn't think it would fill that fast, but what are you going to do. So instead of taking the viper I'll be roiling in either a minivan (better on gas) or my SRT 8 Jeep. I have family in Troy so it's convenient for me to go and visit instead of driving the distance for a three hour cars and coffee event.

[SmoknTires]

I don't blame anyone for being frustrated, as this is indeed exactly that - frustrating. I explained a bit of what happened in another thread - as I sensed people will of course wonder why "things are the way they are" with this event. But especially when I see angry people, and trying to create links/ties to other things, I want to be sure to inform and I'll give you the whole story - as that then creates new problems that actually aren't at all part of this.

First off, this did start as an event that the VOA had both input on with FCA - sharing ideas, establishing timeframes, talking about activates, etc.... We worked with several folks including the (then) Viper Brand manager(s)... more than one - as the seats kept changing... Given our discussions, we agreed to make this a Bucket List event that we would invest efforts. It was about 9 months ago that those conversations turned to "needing approval and buy in from other execs". So the VOA was awaiting confirmation of the plans, and when it was to be firmed up, we were going to add additional VOA events to it so that people had more of a reason to drive out (rather than it just being a 1 day thing...). It was also agreed that we need 6 months lead time to be able to plan all the other things we wanted to do to make this a big time event.

FCA completely went silent toward the end of last year. And no one we talked to at FCA really knew who was planning it. The brand manager once again changed (with not even a notice to us)... We tried getting clarification, I won't name names but we do have ties to many of the important people, and we went direct to them - and were surprised at what we saw. Often you'd hear "I don't know what's going on, but I know I heard something was happening". So many things are changing in FCA - and among them are the musical chairs of employees (from the top down) and the dropped balls - even with our constant nagging.

So time went on, and over the last 8 months, this led to a really terrible mishandling of the coordination of this event. I will tell you, the people who actually doing the planning, were not even notified about this event until 6 weeks ago. It was a mad scramble. That's why we're where we are. I try my best to hide my own frustration, but to console the many who have either raised their eyebrow or are aggravated about it - I'm with you 100%. I can't tell you the anger I had over what ended up becoming an afterthought event, for good people who were LOYAL for over 25 years buying these products. I'll stop there.

So, that's where the problem was, and that's why we only learned of the date weeks ago, that's why registration only started less than 2 weeks ago, and that's also why you still don't even have a full schedule for the entire days event - because it's not all planned out.

Now, relative to your suspicion about any preferential treatment, I truly don't think your region did anything odd. Perhaps some did know earlier than others but perhaps it was simply because of what I'm about to say. In addition to all of the above, and don't ask me why, FCA then decides to roll out this registration process for the event without evening informing the club. Our own club literally learned from a few members who got an odd invite via email. I cannot explain why, and I've spoken with the very people who are physically coordinating this, but they decided "to use email lists they had on hand" to send "invites". They felt that it would hit the viper population - of course wrong. The hilarious part, I, along with many who buy every generation car and have owned multiple Vipers (and SRT products), somehow weren't on these lists. When I asked why, and also asked how they derived these lists, it's was still unclear. So if I wasn't on there - I would certainly assume many others weren't. Very, very few people got their announcement. And the only way people really heard in mass, was through our recommunciating their invites through emails and forum posts that the club sent.

So, those people getting those early invites, got first crack at the 200 spots. Understand that it was first come first served. So all those people who got the invite initially, were able to register first. Many of them did so without even knowing that others weren't even aware of the event. So those who got invite and heard through rumor, were able to register and get a lawn spot.

Anyway, that's the story. All of this was caused because this event was not a real priority to plan in advance - truly. It was then coordinated way too late, caused a ridiculous rush to the fence just weeks before, and people weren't notified well at all (nor equally). And of course not the clubs issue, all we were doing was chasing after a company, trying to help them, help themselves... It was exhaustive.

No one should blame FCA for the car going away - even if it's their fault to a degree - it's business. We should be thankful for the 25 years we had and the many within the company (gone or in different responsibilities) who truly deserve THAT credit. But I was truly soured when I saw how poorly this event was being handled, and how little attention was placed on properly giving the car an appropriate send off and HONORING the many, many owners who supported this car and it's manufacturer. That's what this was supposed to be about. But yes, let's also close the Chrysler Museum and erase the 3rd largest American car manufacturers history - to make room for Maserati offices... And that's why I understand the frustration.

It may not make you feel better, but that's the climate we're living with at the moment. Don't blame anyone for knowing first - as it wasn't their plan.

[Hisser]

Mark -

I thought all these issues had been explained to you. First of all, the 25th Anniversary is not a VOA event, it has been put together entirely by FCA. None of your local Region's money, or any national VOA money, has been or will be spent on the event. There was no collusion involved in sending out the invitations - no one knew they were coming and no one knows why some got them and others didn't (VIPER SRT above has the best explanation).

As all the members above have expressed, the Anniversary event has been massively mis-handled and is an extreme disappointment to all of us. However, in your frustration please don't involve yourself in petty, misinformed accusations against your hard working Regional Board. They began scrambling as soon as the earliest questions on event reservations came in and have worked hard to try to ensure equal access for our membership. Your assertions about self dealing by the Board are 100% misguided.

It's discouraging to try to do something to enhance the Anniversary at the last minute with a lack of information and resources. But let's work together to try to make the best of it without throwing rocks.

[2toxic]

My most sincere apologies go out to every member of the board of directors of the MCVO. I was truly out of line with my unjust,unwarranted accusations that something fishy went on. I feel my board goes above and beyond for the best health and welfare of our membership. I absolutely spoke out of frustration. I am currently speechless with my ignorance pertaining to my post. Bruce was correct in that it was explained to me. Unfortunately, five different versions from five different folks. Shame on me for not checking the facts.We all unfortunately say things we regret and that was one of them. I will keep my opinions to my self from here on out. Once again I'm sorry!! Hope the event goes better than planned!!

[sfm79]

Thank you Mark, we truly understand your frustration.

[Rapps]

Mark I understand how you ended up where you did as FCA totally missed the mark on this. Their plan may of worked with other car lines, but the Viper family is just that- a family and this event has "corporate" all over it. As far as MCVO goes, member's opinions matter to the BOD, reach out to any of us and we'll do our best to help. Gary and I have wonderful memories and many close friends because of the club which includes you! You're stuck with us

[BlknBlu]

Someone just wants the Viper out of thier hair.

Bruce

[quickster2]

The demise of the Viper was etched in stone when Sergio declined to invest in the platform. Marketing and the Brand totally missed the impact the ACR would have across the product line. FMVSS 226 was the final nail in the proverbial coffin.

[Hisser]

Spoken by one who was on the front line defending us . . .

[J TNT]

It's Ironic they didn't do a convertible or Targa Top , given the exception of FMVSS 226,
except walk-in vans, modified roof vehicles and convertibles.