Solutions for shortened events

[Steve Tumolo]

Matt,

I would think coming up with a way to pay the workers could open a whole can of worms with reguards to taxes and how much work is enough to be considered a "worker". Not to mention we can already expect entry fees to go up $10 per event next year to cover insurance ( the hills have seemed to go up $10 a year for as long as I can remember). That on top of extra for the workers will put the cost of entry right up there with a regional roadrace. The entry for a MARRS event at Summit Point was $195. If costs get that high I see the people who also roadrace not wanting to spend that much for a hillclimb. And also some of the hillclimbers will see how close the cost is and might move to roadracing.

I think Tim Royer had a really good plan with the workers series. I was at the PHA meeting when he gave the proposal for it. It is a shame that other organizers didn't seem all that enthused about it. The core idea behind the program was to get workers more involved and for them to hopefully become a group that would travel to the hills to work the event just as the drivers come to drive. Workers would have a point system for each event worked with how far they traveled as an additional factor. As a matter of fact I remember a few organizers saying that the extra $10 per entry to support the worker series was too much.

[Mwilson]

post deleted

[jgrausa]

..... but no one has suggested asking the workers what their problems are. Why don't some workers want to work certain events? Why are they unhappy. What do they have to say. ................ Lets find out what is upsetting them to the point that they no longer want to work.

Morgan - did you miss the class on succinct prose in the creative writing lab?
Good point though, it's tough to offer an effective solution before identifying the specific problem.

Regards,
Joe Rausa
#23

[Matt Green]

Matt,

I would think coming up with a way to pay the workers could open a whole can of worms (snip)

Believe me Steve, I understand. I was just simply contributing a few thoughts in hopes that we might get a more realistic view of what the situation is. I am in no way proposing that we pay workers in any way. What was proposed was a way to help offset costs involved for the workers for the weekend, which is a different point entirely. No mater what, I'm not holding this out as a system to be used, but more as a point of discussion...

[Matt Rowe]

Well I have sat and read through the discussion for the last week and have some comments of my own. First, let's be very clear here that there the primary thought of every event official in PHA is to offer as many runs as safely possible. We all take great pride in streamlining the weekend and putting as many cars on track for as many times as possible. I went back though the records I have from 2003 to now and compiled a few statistics.

First, the numbers of cars and runs offered by event.

-------------------------2006------------2005-----------2004----------2003
---------------------Cars---Runs---Cars---Runs---Cars---Runs---Car---Runs
Spring Jefferson---80------13------68------11-----48------15-----34-----15
Spring Weatherly--79------8-------62------12-----57-------9-----47-----13
Pagoda-------------88------11------86------10-----69------10-----70-----9
Giant's-------------103------8-------87-------9-----71-------8-----73------6
Rose Valley--------82------12------58------12-----56-------8
Duryea------------105------7------120------5-----103------5------95-----4
Fall Jefferson------70------18-------64-----18-----59------18-----58-----18
Fall Weatherly-----------------------75-----12-----53------10-----67------8

Then the number of runs offered by event and the average for the year.

# of Runs offered-----2006-----2005-----2004-----2003
Spring Jefferson-------1040------748------720------510
Spring Weatherly-------632------744------513------611
Pagoda------------------968-------860-----690------630
Giant's-------------------824------783------568------438
Rose Valley-------------984-------696-----448
Duryea------------------735-------600-----515------380
Fall Jefferson-----------1260-----1152----1062----1044
Fall Weatherly---------------------900------530-----536

Average--------------920-----810-----631-----593
Average (Hills)------829-----764-----544-----519
Average (Track)---1150-----950-----891-----777

So looking at the trend the conclusion I come to is: WOW, WE ARE GETTING BETTER EVERY YEAR!

Is there room for improvement? Always. But it would be stupid to think the event organizers and officials aren't trying to provide the best event possible. Overall this year the comments I have heard from drivers reflect how succesful we have been at this. Now we have one event where mechanical breakage and time conspired to limit us to only an average number of runs and everyone has a theory on how to fix the problem. That would be great, but let's focus on what the real problems are? As I'm sure most of you know, I was only a brief observor at Jefferson but from what I saw and the comments I have heard the two issues that MIGHT have cost time were mechanical breakage and catch-ups on track.

Mechanical breakage and the flat tows and clean-up involved are as much in the driver's hands as the event organizer. Summit's clean-up crew are among the best I have seen in both response time and efficiency. I would hate to try and do the same effort with brooms and leaf blowers. And if a car breaks on track it is going to cost us time to shut down and move the car to a safe location. Obviously no one wants there car to break, but it does cost everyone time.

As for the catch-ups, sending cars out is part art and part science and I don't pretend to be even a novice at it. But I can tell you that no matter how good the pitout person is, if you line up behind a car that is 15 (or 20, or 25!) seconds slower than you, it is going to slow down the event. In the spring two driver's not only saw the problem on Saturday but they stepped up and put together a plan to address. Then they spent Saturday evening executing it. The result was a much smoother event Sunday. It didn't cost them any time in the car and in fact probably gave them more seat time. As officials we routinely ask people to line up with cars of similar speed but having someone execute the plan can make the difference. Maybe we can have someone volunteer to take on this task at future Jefferson events.

The Worker Problem

This is not a new phrase for anyone who has particpated in National, Divisional and even Regional discussions. It is a problem across the board .

Now Morg suggested asking the workers what they feel they would like to change. I can tell you personally that the only change I would really like is MORE WORKERS! Honestly, the things that makes the most difference to me is having more people at the event and making everyone's workload a little lighter.

I can't say that every worker feels the same way but I think that would rank in the top three if we were playing the Family Feud. Next up would probably be respect/appreciation, both from the driver's and from other workers. I can work on some of the issues from the officials side but I can also say that more workers/officials available would go a long way in helping there.

Finally, the worker problem is frequently broken down into recruitment and retention.

Recruitment
Getting more help at the events doesn't mean that a driver needs to to park his car for one event or even one timed run to pitch in. But, we have far more driver's than workers and official's and you all have friends. Some of them probably even are curious about racing but for whatever reason don't or can't bring a car out to a race. How many driver's have tried to help recruit those same friends for workers?

We have roughly 80 driver's active in the series. If a tenth of them brought one new person out during the season and got them involved and even if only half of them stay that's 4 new workers a year. When is the last time you saw 4 new faces among the workers? I can only come up with less than 10 core workers that show up for most of the events. 4 new people a year is a HUGE benefit.

Retention
As for retention, the best retention policy is to have workers who feel that they are having fun doing a job that is appreciated. Kurt is right, workers do this because they enjoy it. But there is little that is enjoyable about feeling overworked because we are short people. And then their decisions are second guessed either by other workers or drivers. That doesn't sound like fun to me.

I can tell you that I am relieved that we only have one event to go this year and I am certainly not the only one that feels burnt out. I have made the same appeal at every end of year PHA meeting since I became the divisional chief and it still holds true. If we don't bring new people into the system these problems will continue to grow.

[TKnorr]

Listed below are solutions that NEPA will employ during the Spring Jefferson Event to maximize track time:
1. Start on Time. The contracted start time with the track is from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Well in advance of the event, NEPA will inquire as to the possible modification of the contract to allow for the extention of the day beyond 5 P.M.
2. We will utilize the Color Code System my son Garth developed to reduce catch-ups at the '06 Spring Jefferson. This system was based on the analyses of actual times rather than classes. Within a given class there can be significant ranges of lap times. This system will be modified to facilitate easier staging by the drivers. Early registration of drivers will greatly simplify this process.
Drivers can also assist with this problem:
1. Prior to entering the track, thoroughly inspect your car to assure that all hoses, fittings, etc. are secure. Oil drops cause a significant reduction in track time.
2. Line up when its your turn to run. I would like to suggest the use of a whistle at all of our events to notify run groups... 1 blow for group one; two for group two. At times it can be difficult to hear the PA announcer.
Tom Knorr