Whenever I attend any event small or large, I analyze the layout, flow and dissect every part of the event. My staff and I discuss things that we might do different as well as pick up ideas on how to improve shows we are already producing.
Whether it be Daytona Bike Week, Sturgis or a one day car show in a small town. Like an interior designer that visits a friends house for the first time, ideas just come to me on how things could be smoother and or better on different levels. My staff and I had attended Hollister many times never knowing that some day we would have the chance to work some magic on this historic event.
In August 2006 we started thinking seriously about getting the job of producing the 2007 Hollister Motorcycle Rally. In August of 2006, we started a four-month study session to see how we could put together an organized rally without compromising the history of the event. I say four months because it was not until Dec. 6 that we received the go-ahead from the City Council for the rally.
In one of my early talks to the council I said that the rally is the city’s rally. It has to be good for the city. The city has to want the rally for the long-term future of the rally. The city’s concerns and issues were my No. 1 concern. When I say city, I mean businesses, residents, city government, city employees and, of course, law enforcement. I have to say that, after all the great press locally and nationally about all the aspects of the rally – builders, three music stages, entertainment, and layout out, etc. – I am most proud that the city is happy. We have received many comments and e-mails from all of the mentioned – businesses, residents, city government, city employees and law enforcement – stating job well done.
In my previous trips to the Hollister rally one thing that always hit me like a ton of bricks was the layout. It was just wrong! I don’t blame anyone for it, as I believe when it was started it was the natural way to start. The problem was that as the rally grew, no one stepped back and looked to see if it was still a good layout. Changing the layout was probably the easiest discussion I have ever made because it needed to be changed for so many reasons. Most of the reasons are public safety issues. When you address public safety issues it also relieves other problems like insurance, event cost and crowd management costs.
Law enforcement’s job is public safety. If you can deliver a well-laid-out, structured event for them to manage, you can cut stress and cost down. Period!
Believe me, no one wants anything to go wrong at any event. Things have gone wrong at what I consider safe events (none at events we have produced, thank God). In looking back at the old layout on San Benito, it was only luck that prevented a bad accident. The two major safety factors are, No. 1, no access to the downtown area for firefighting equipment. The heavily-taxed fire department on July 4 would have had to drag hoses to the scene. San Benito being full of bikes and the sidewalk full of people would delay response times and seriously affect rescue efforts. No. 2, having vehicle movement inside of an insured California event is just a no no! Even thousands of dollars per hour of law enforcement protecting the crosswalks could not protect this area from causing a serious accident.
I am not willing to let either one of these endanger Horse Power Promotions’ clean record of 26 years of show productions. That’s the bottom line.
Most of the other issues were just pluses that came with the layout change – a lot of them large pluses, some small. A couple of them mean a lot to me, like better access to existing downtown businesses and more room to walk downtown (This year with the larger crowds there would be no way those people could simply fit on the sidewalk alone).
Because the event venue could handle more people, the outlining crosswalks were not overflowing, which resulted in smoother traffic flow throughout the city.
In the next 11 months we plan on enlarging the VIP parking areas. We sold out a month before the rally this year and hope to add 50 percent more VIP parking. This is the best way for the nonprofits to profit from the rally, and I hope that we build a larger volunteer base to capitalize on this in 2008.
It amazes me what we got accomplished in six months this year, and we are working hard in the next 11 months. Now that we have the core rally working, we want to expand and have many rides all over the area each day. This is something that we just did not have the time to do for this year. You know what they say: “It’s not the destination; it’s the ride.”
If Horse Power is involved, one thing you can be sure of is change – long term and short term. I do understand what this new layout loses and the cruising that some people miss. It is, however, a great example of where the benefits do not outweigh the risk.
Seth Doulton’s company, Horse Power Promotions, promoted this year’s Hollister Motorcycle Rally.
