While I was an enthusiastic supporter of bringing back Hollister’s Motorcycle Rally, I did not believe there was enough time to do it well until 2014 – well, I was wrong and I’m glad of it. By obtaining professional management, implementing many of the ideas put forward by the public, and right-sizing the rally for the moveable Fourth of July holiday, they pulled it off very well. The credit goes first to the public, then to the Hollister City Council, community organizations, city departments, public agencies, sponsors, volunteers and the management team at Worldwide Dynamics in no particular order; we needed them all.
To steal an observation from sports commentator Mike Greenberg, we live in an event-driven world. The attendees come to the rally to see and be seen. Putting the bikes back on San Benito Street was the single most important change and it gives the event a reason for being. It was both a physical and psychological improvement.
There were many other good decisions from the downsized, but adequate, public safety group to the banning of weapons and animals. Every iteration will provide an opportunity to improve and the management group should have a “lessons learned” meeting to memorialize the ideas. My contribution – next time we need more garbage cans inside the adult area at the 400 block.
I also see some opportunities for more attendee services from contractors. For instance, I know everyone has a digital camera or two these days, but a professional photographer might want to pay to set up shop with a properly lit stage and a large format camera for spectacular individual bike and attendee shots with the rally as the backdrop. It’s a memory.
Supporters seem to be falling into two groups regarding “profit.” My personal preference is to have a nonprofit eventually sponsor the rally without public funds. They can select the manager and make other fundamental decisions with a non-political multiyear horizon. To do that they will have to build a financial reserve to cover the upfront costs and contingencies; therefore, the rally needs to make a little money to generate the reserves to support that plan.
After the rally becomes self-sustaining, it does not have to make a profit as an entity. The individual nonprofits and community organizations should be able to do for themselves as sales and service providers. The benefit to the city and county also comes from the overall advancement of our brand.
One serious problem that always exists and must be addressed though – we just can’t stand success. The dust from the rally hadn’t settled before the infighting over who gets credit, who was disrespected and who gets blamed for the slightest problem was in full swing. Hey folks, they pulled it off and in less than a year and they could not have done it without everyone’s help.
It’s a strange phenomenon – when we had some terrible failures in the past those responsible for very bad decisions hid in anonymity and the sycophants kept saying you couldn’t blame any individuals. Now that we have success, they are looking for a pound of flesh. As they say in text messages – SMH. My advice is just get over it, most of the accusations are just petty – we can fix it.
This is not the first time nor will it be the last time I’m wrong, but I can’t imagine I’ll enjoy any of them more than this one.
Marty Richman is a Hollister resident.
