- I got so angry I ripped my pants.
That's how angry I am about this topic.
(sighing)
I'm not going to get angry about this!
Okay, alright.
So, here's the thing, right?
You want to host a car show, and I have one tip for you.
And the biggest tip that I could possibly give you is don't.
(hip hop music)
Sorry, that intro may have been a little bit aggressive.
So you want to host a car show?
That's a personal one for me.
My name's Alex from Fitment Industries,
where you can find all things wheels, tires,
suspense related, fitmentindustries.com,
there's the plug.
Don't forget to subscribe and if you're not subscribed,
you're missing out on some pretty cool stuff.
I mean, look at all the stuff that you could potentially
be watching.
You guys ever had a Slap Chop before?
All you gotta do is stop having boring salads, right?
All you gotta do is you put it in there,
you Slap Chop, boom.
Slap it one time, you got yourself salad dressing.
You slap it twice, you got more salad dressing
'cause I don't know what else you would do with
salad dressing.
You might be wondering,
"Alex, how would you know this information?"
Well, let me tell you.
I've done this (bleep) for a while.
If there were karate belts associated with car shows,
I would definitely be like the black belt.
You know what I'm saying?
I've done them, I've been there,
I get it.
I know that this is something that is a very touchy subject
for a couple people,
and it's definitely something that I just wish people
just knew maybe, just a hair lick more about it.
But anyway, car shows are a great way to bring
people together and form a local community meet.
But, did you hear the word that I said?
Did you hear it?
I'll say it again: meet.
First thing to remember if you're looking to
host a car show is that they are not the same thing as
a car meet.
So let me explain.
On the side, we have a car meet.
They're like these great little guys,
free to attend, they're easy to set up.
They're little playful guys that don't require too much
like staff, or trouble.
And anyone can really host a car meet, for the most part.
Police usually don't get too upset,
you can kind of just do your own thing.
You cruise and you have fun,
and you talk about how you love the car scene,
and how you guys are going to start your own thing
and make stickers and shirts and stuff.
But then on this side,
you have a car show.
These guys are a little bit more sophisticated.
They're generally larger.
They require way more work, more startup.
They have a higher tier for quality entries,
they have more staffing involved,
and they're more about showcasing vehicles
than bringing a group of people together
to just randomly talk in a parking lot.
Now I know that's different, right?
You're like, well,
I want to host a meet or I want to host a show,
but shows kind of take a little bit of that local-ness
out of it.
It's important to note that the two are different.
And one isn't inherently better than the other.
However, if you're a greeny
and have never hosted a show before in your entire life,
this is a lovely time to just start with a meet.
Because here's why.
It's kind of like a first date where expectations
are pretty low.
You're going to show up,
but you're not sure what you're going to get.
Maybe it's an awesome date,
maybe it makes you question why you leave the house at all.
Either way, meets can really help someone understand
the scope of what it takes to actually host a car show.
Don't just jump straight into the show
because you're just likely going to mess it up.
And then if people paid to get into the show,
they gonna be mad.
You just have to plan things out a little bit better.
Because if you're going to just plan something
for the week of for a car show,
it's just not how it works.
You need to plan your show,
like months in advance.
If you're making it a big boy show,
then you have to because here's why, okay.
You got these weird things that are called licenses, right?
It allows you to do things.
Then you have police involvement because they want to
make sure that the things that you're doing are legal.
Then you have permits, which are different than licenses.
And they allow you to do things in certain locations at
certain times, as long as they're legal.
Then you have to find staff for volunteers,
so that you can do the thing appropriately with
the amount of people that are coming in.
Then you have logistical planning for profit and loss.
Because the thing that you're going to end up doing is
going to cost money,
and you're going to need to find a way to get it back if
you plan on having more than one car show.
Unless you're just very philanthropic,
which usually just never really pans out.
And a lot of times you also have to figure out
the fact that your thing may fall on another date of
another thing.
And if you're one of the little guys,
and you're planning your show last minute and you step on
the dates of somebody that has a big boy show going on,
you're going to catch a lot of flak for it,
it's just kind of a thing.
You're going to have to find an event location to
actually do the thing,
which if you do host a car show,
and you don't ask the event location for approval,
you're going to have a bad time.
You have to get the marketing plans to
actually get people to show up to go to the thing.
And there's probably going to be like two or
three more things that we probably already forgot.
But, this is how it works.
When it comes down to it,
this also helps attendees plan for your show.
The more time you give them,
the more apt they are to actually schedule around
your thing.
Having time also allows all of the above to be planned
without having a heart attack.
There's nothing more petrifying than hosting a car show
without proper planning,
and having 1,500 people show up and 500 cars.
Trust me.
Then, if you're not planned for the actual premise of
a car show, people are going to be like,
"Hold on there, bud.
"Where are the trophies?"
Judging cars can and will always be difficult.
And people take that (bleep) damn serious.
Plan appropriately to judge the cars,
or whatever it is that you're planning on doing in
whatever respective classes they could possibly have.
Because only using your eyeballs and nothing else is
a very bad idea.
As most people are going to miss pretty much all of
the little things that actually make a car win over
another car.
Use pre-registration information to grab a gauge on
the vehicles before they even enter,
then you'll have an idea on the cars before the show
even starts.
We recommend using a point system to keep it unbiased as
possible, and be thorough.
Because if you don't,
people are not going to like you.
And they're not going to like your show,
and they're not going to come back.
It's a thing, remember.
Car show, trophies,
you gotta pay to enter,
there's a little bit more politics behind that.
Car meet, it's like the fun uncle that you
never really have to worry about.
You can take the change out of their center console,
and the quarters and stuff,
so you can get Coke and they're not going to rat you out
because they're cool.
Car shows are a difficult thing to validate.
If somebody's doing it as a conglomerate,
like some of those other shows,
it's easy because it's just money coming in,
and money going out.
And that's why a lot of those shows just exist.
But if you're young Slim Jim,
you gotta love what you're doing because if you don't,
you're not probably going to stay in it for a long time.
Car shows aren't easy and it's hardly ever monetarily
worth it.
Once all the licenses are paid,
the event permits,
the tickets, et cetera,
you'll have just enough to buy yourself a sticker,
and maybe a SnackPak from Culver's.
Car shows are like a weird thing, too.
Because over time,
people get acclimated for them just to be a thing,
like you're just obligated to continue hosting them,
period over period over period of time.
And while the car scene generally speaking,
especially for us,
is just one that's a teeny bit younger than
the older car shows,
a lot of times people get a little bit entitled about
the shows that they attend.
So if you're not afraid to get into the politics of
it a little bit,
car shows can be actually quite fun.
But for anybody to assume that their not a passive pain in
the (bleep) to the people that are actually hosting them,
you have just another thing coming.
Car shows are fun,
they're cool,
they're exciting,
they're fun to host,
but they are...
If car shows and me were in a relationship,
it would be listed as complicated on Facebook.
That's all I have to say about it.
We hope you guys enjoyed,
let us know in the comment section below
what you'd like to see us talk about next.
I'm Alex from Fitment Industries,
don't forget wheels, tires, suspension,
fitmentindustries.com.
Don't forget to subscribe.
(clears throat)
Car shows, fun to go to.
We'll probably be at like nine or ten of them this year.
Let us know which one you want to see us come to,
and we'll be there to hang out and talk.
Definitely not drink beer,
because you're not supposed to do that at car shows.
We'll see you later, peace.