What the Hollister Motorcycle Rally has lacked historically is
the perfect balance of having the right combination of
community-minded and business-savvy approaches to such a
wide-reaching event. It has had one or the other, but never
both.
Organization knows right mix for success
What the Hollister Motorcycle Rally has lacked historically is the perfect balance of having the right combination of community-minded and business-savvy approaches to such a wide-reaching event. It has had one or the other, but never both.
The San Benito Chamber of Commerce – with which the city partnered this week to run the July event – appears to offer both of these key elements. In reaching out to the chamber, city officials have shown a willingness to adapt when necessary and also trust capable leaders in other sectors of the community.
Council members approved the partnership – the chamber having primary rally oversight, such as hiring a private promoter – at a special meeting Wednesday. The decision came months after discussions started last fall with city officials and chamber leaders, such as Executive Director Jessica French, on forming such an alliance.
Chamber should be cautious in talks
It is not expected to affect Horse Power Promotions and owner Seth Doulton’s status in promoting the 2008 rally, set for July 11-13. In negotiating with the promoter the chamber should, we suggest, ensure that it has a firm grasp of revenues made by Horse Power Promotions in 2007 and a fair agreement needs to be reached with regard to insurance liability.
The now-defunct, volunteer-based Hollister Motorcycle Rally Committee deserves credit for reviving what looked like a dying tradition, which took a year off after the council canceled it, before a rousing return in 2007. Its part-time volunteers sacrificed countless hours planning for the 2007 rally and made decisions that, it appears, were best for Hollister. Perhaps most important, though, the panel chose Horse Power Promotions to run the show.
The chamber, however, as opposed to a panel of community volunteers, will undoubtedly zero in on the side of this event that needs the biggest fuel injection and with a full-time staff – its impact on the county’s economic development on rally weekend and throughout the year.
Businesses have the most at stake
French and the chamber are right for the job because the organization under its leader has shown strides toward more aggressive promotion of San Benito County tourism and, ultimately, the nonprofit’s staff answers to the business community. Local businesses, after all, have the most at stake in this tradition’s evolution.
Doulton also has indicated support for the chamber partnership – a smart stance on his part considering the symbiotic, financial relationship between the city, its businesses and Horse Power Promotions.
City Manager Clint Quilter noted how one advantage of the chamber partnership is that the previous volunteer board’s members had limited time to commit compared with the chamber’s staff and board of directors for an event of such a large magnitude. The benefit of having more time and energy is priceless and should, indeed, prove to be a great advantage.
Even Marshal and former Mayor Robbie Scattini, an active member of the defunct board, applauded the change. “I think it’s a good idea – I really do,” said Scattini, who expects to help out in an advising role.
The hardest part – execution – is yet to come. But the city has taken a major step toward making this event a sustainable, lucrative tradition by giving the appropriate leaders – the business community – one of the loudest voices in the Hollister Motorcycle Rally’s future.
