Having about six months to plan Hollister’s motorcycle rally revival, event Manager Mark Cresswell and other organizers appear ready to go for next weekend.
Cresswell, CEO of Worldwide Dynamics, summarized the status of planning for the July 5-6 event in downtown Hollister. As of late last week, Cresswell talked about general expectations for the rally, last-minute vendors and some of the logistics to consider.
As for some of the event features, he mentioned that 30 bands are committed, along with 18 food vendors and a host of activities over the two days such as the bikini contest, biker games and motorcycles being parked down San Benito Street.
“We’ve still got last-minute vendors calling right now,” Cresswell said. “This is the nature of the event business right now.”
With this being the first year back after a five-year hiatus – due to a $200,000-plus loss to the city in 2008 – Cresswell is particularly focused on making sure the event’s finances are more responsible this time around.
For Cresswell, when lining up vendors or others involved in the event, he hasn’t counted their money until he has it in hand. That way, he said, “I know whether or not we’re in trouble.”
“You can’t just keep spending, spending, spending,” Cresswell said. “We’d be booking the Rolling Stones.”
With the help of sponsorships driving revenue streams under Cresswell, already handed the city a check for $230,000 to cover its costs – which will be cut back considerably this year, something Cresswell largely contributed to “over-policing” at prior events.
There will be a more responsible, or old-fashioned, approach to other areas of the event as well.
At prior rallies, the Biker Games were on the explicit side. The Christian Motorcycle Association is running them this year on Sixth Street from noon to 2 p.m. both days. He said there won’t be raunchy antics this time around.
“No, not at all – not when you’ve got the Christian Motorcycle Association guys running the games,” he said. “You don’t have any problems with that.”
