Those of you who have been to a ZCCA convention, what are the best reasons to go?

All of the above. Did you have a good time, Will?

Did I have a good time?

Are you Kidding!

The Convention was Terrific!

I got to meet Fred, Betty, and Johnnie, Shake hands with Mad Mike for a second time(and see that shame on you for bringing a Volvo to a Z convention look(I am sooo ashamed:(!), Judge His 350Z in the show-something he reminded me of at breakfast the next morning by asking my wife if I had good insurance!, and meet Charley Osborn!

I got to meet a bunch of members here, and their cars! Some for the first time and several as a reunion! I didn't get to spend as much time talking with everyone as I would have liked(I brought the whole family with me, and had Daddy Duties), I did get to shake hands and say hello to a good many members here.

The Convention was beautifully done from my perspective. I got there on Thursday before the convention started, and actually got to see some of the preparation as a fly on the wall. Let me tell you everyone in the Cleveland team that I saw was working away to get everything ready for us, and making sure it was flawless. I saw a cohesive team working together with an understanding of where they needed to be and how to get there-all ready to help in positions to which they were not assigned-if needed.

It was extremely obvious that this crew spent a great deal of time getting vendors, they had tons of donations to Raffle-ranging from Bose headsets(2 to give away) every day(and a wave radio)(Bose doesn't even sell car stuff to anyone but manufacturers) to Gift certificates from "The Floor mat guys" and everything in between. The goody bag had lots of vendor/area attractions discounts and info-even a thread gauge from the Bolt Depot!

It also had a terrific booklet on Mr. K put together by Mr. Dan Banks(Historian of the ZCCA). I am taking the whole thing to my next local club meet. There were coupons, discounts, stickers, even a thread guage from the Bolt Depot! The bag it came in was a high quality piece as well.

The hotel was a great choice-plenty of on-site parking even for those with trailers, plenty of room on the driveways for even the biggest rigs to move with ease. Though I didn't partake(Daddy Duty) the happy hour(s) were certainly enjoyed every day by more than a few of the attendees!

Those of you who haven't been to a convention, schedule the week, have the car ready, and meet us in Texas!

My wife(She keeps proving that I got the "240Z" of wives) was planning the trip to Texas right after the beans were officially spilled! Granted, we did take in several Cleveland area sites-We took the Cuyahoga Train and a shuttle bus to the Akron Zoo the Saturday before the convention, we visited the Science Museum on Monday(excellent interactive displays), and were interviewed for the just opened robot exhibit by one of the TV stations-we were on at 6pm! Wednesday we went to the Childerens Museum. Cleveland was a much cooler place than I expected!

I have to say-even with Daddy Duty, and not being able to get involved in some of the activities I would have liked to, the convention was a thoroughly enjoyable time. Listening to Conversations between Carl Beck, Fred, Betty, Johnnie, and their familiars... Watching Chris Wenzell and Jim Friedrick talk about luggage straps and use Charley Osborn's car as an example... The opportunity to jump in a GTR and ride it around the track with no fear...

Seeing gold medallion and gold cup winners up close and personal... Seing the owners of a true 4400 mile 240Z dressed up like Darrin Stevens and Samanthas Sister...

These are experiences you can only get at a national convention...even around Daddy Duty!

Will,

You sound like I did when I returned from the Long Beach convention. There I met Mr. K for the first time and Matsuo san.

I was most impressed by the hotel Embassy Suites. Jim Frederick and I shared a room and it was exactly what we needed - each having our own "room" to pile our crap in. To my delight, breakfast was free every morning and drinks were free every afternoon. OMG! I had omlettes every day and rum every evening. It was sik! I gained weight!

Monday the suds day was the best time getting to talk to people and look at their cars. Carl, Jimbo and I spent a lot of time being impressed with the number and quality of S30s that came to the show. But the car show Tuesday was a very long day. This would be my second national show in the rain, however it wasn't anywhere near as bad as Daytona. Inside parking was gracious and the planners really had thier act together parking the cars and setting up. One of the buildings had a collection of previous "gold" award winners. Mark and Barbara Lambert took the opportunity to bring a little Amelia Island flavor to the show and dressed in period clothing to show off Mark's stunning 240Z. I don't think anyone "got" it! Ray Herin? brought back his silver 240 that gave him a gold cup in Syracuse. The judging took place in two more buildings; one for S30s and S31s and the other for S32s and S33s. The lighting (fluorescent tube yellow/green) was pretty good - considering it was dark grey outside. The judges scored over twenty cars into the gold cup/medallion round and we tried to get the cars out in the sunlight, but no sooner had we started judging than it started to rain again and everyone had to move their cars back inside! Oh brother! Even so, Roger Casanova of Syracuse took home his second gold medallion in his pearlescent yellow N/A S32. Roger really gets it about making a car clean. I got back in time to make the driver's meeting for track day. That morning, Dave Palermo and John Jefferies asked me to be an instructor. As it seemed to turn out, Cleveland had a lot of novice drivers for track day.

The ZCCA business meeting was two hours long and Fred Buoni was assigned the duties of drink bitch. Look for the ZCCA to improve over the coming year. The web site is going to get a revamp with the intention that all future registration be handled on line through the ZCCA site. Also look for changes and clarifications in the car show rules and proceedures. Fred and I were given our marching orders. I will also explain that with the Nissan move from California to Tennessee, the relationship between Nissan and the Z-Car community changed. The ZCCA is actively involved in keeping this relationship strong. The ZCCA has new officers as well. Chris Karl will be the new executive vice president, Bob Bosse will be the new treasurer, and Todd Wagner will become secretary. Paul Hollander will chair the car show events with Todd, Fred, and myself making up the chief judge positions.

The Mid Ohio race course was a one and one-half hour drive away but well worth it. Because of the conventions, I have driven two courses I always wanted to drive; Watkins Glen and Mid Ohio. It was a dry day until the last session but cold. Cold tires vs tire barrier took out a 240Z in the first session and a new 350Z later. Ouch! My student, Chris Ford, had a very nice Z32 and we both quickly learned that Mid Ohio was a late apex course. Chris was impressively smooth right off the bat and my job was very easy. Todd Wagner gave me a ride in his 350Z to show off his brakes. Nice brakes. Then as the fates would have it, I copped a ride in the new GT-R. I couldn't stop giggling. Caught up with Art Singer for dinner when I got back to the hotel and then sat up to God knows what hour drinking in the bar with Mike Taylor, John Yukawa and the Japanese guys from ADVAN/Yokohama. Atsu Ishikawa is a scream!

It was so damned cold that I skipped the auto-cross and opted for the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame on Thursday. Thursday night was the dinner boat cruise and I was Fred's bitch for the evening. Todd's girlfriend, Mandy, was all over us to dance but we decided that there would be no pictures. Cleveland is the Northern end of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and I did the Ohio & Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor train ride on Friday.

Mr. K talked to the convention via Skype for both the opening and closing banquet. He looks to be in very good health and we had the chance to joke around with him. Came home with five more t-shirts and a ton of other stuff. The goodie bags were a duffle style this year (best goodie bags of all the conventions I have attended) and I picked up a signed Shin drawing of the BRE 240Z to add to my poster collection.

That was my experience. Cleveland definitely DID rock and I'm looking forward to San Antonio. I was told to keep my mouth shut about 2010, but I threw my hat into the ring for planning and I'll let everyone know what's in the future when this gig unfolds.

Edited October 5, 200817 yr by 26th-Z

I'm trying to digest all the literature in the goodie bag, sort the stuff, and re-assemble my cars, so it will take me a few days before I can straighten out what all happened during the week. A layover day mid-week would have been nice to just hang out with people and recharge from the late nites & 5am revellies. But for now, I"ll say it was a blast.

Will-

You knew I was there (somewhere) so all you had to do was stop somebody in the blue team shirt & say "where's Tom?" But at least you did run into me eventually.

Chris- I did put on a TomoHawk sticker on my name badge Friday morning, but I got into trouble and had to remove it. :disappoin

I finally figured out something that didn't go as planned: We wanted a full-size Nissan vehicle for Yoichi-san to transport the dignitaries to & from the Hotel & airport, but the rental car agencies 'can't guarantee make & model.'

thxZ

Edited October 5, 200817 yr by TomoHawk

Sounds like everyone had a great time. I have been to two conventions. '02 in San Antonio and '04 in Long Beach.

Hopefully San Antonio will have access to a road course next year. Autox is great if you like dodging cones(my car ate them up) ;-)

Long Beach was nice with Willow Springs, but for the money, streets of willow would have been a lot more fun.

Overall I still had a nice time at both conventions and will look forward to when Colorado hosts their 3rd national convention. I know ZCCA has been asking us to host another. We will, especially when our new road course opens.

shameless plug

www.highplainsraceway.com

I had a great time on Tuesday, but unfortunately I had to work the rest of the week and missed the rest of the fun. I guess that is one downside of being within a few hours of the convention site. If I had been 12 hours away, I would have made myself stay the whole week rather than making it a day trip. Maybe I will make the long drive next year.

I really enjoyed meeting everyone including Jim, Carl, Will, Patrick, Tom, Chris and others.

Jeff-

If there's a regional meet in the area, then I'll put the word out. It's always on Fri-Sun, with the car show on Saturday. The lasttime we had it in Akron.

thxZ

Jeff-

If there's a regional meet in the area, then I'll put the word out. It's always on Fri-Sun, with the car show on Saturday. The lasttime we had it in Akron.

thxZ

That would be great Tom. I'm from Akron, so it would be easy to go down for a weekend.

We have tried and failed several times to get a Z club going in the Detroit area. We have a decent all Nissan club, but there are only a few Z cars.