My thoughts on the 2008 Busa Bash
Wow what a trip"¦. 15 hours to get there to spend 3 days and then 15 hours back. How can you accurately describe the experience to people in a way that they can understand why you would travel that far for such a short time. I tried and I miserably failed today at work. The discussion did however give me something to think about and I know that we have all experienced it, we have all mentioned it and we all already miss it.
For those that doubted me, the Zook guys were there and we had a great time"¦ Steve, Aki we all thank you for coming out and participating with the group. You presence was a reminder that we do have a voice and I think that maybe we opened your eyes to a few things too. You both seemed to be so open and honest about things that you fit right in. (By the way Steve there is a little scratch on the Busa I found after you rode it. Send me a Bking and we can call it even"¦) Thank you both for attending, let us know what you need and we will make it happen.
Friendship"¦"¦ I can honestly sit here and type this message and know that if I called any one single person out of a thousand from this board that I would get a supportive response if I had a need. We have all seen the kindness of the members here at the bash, from folks donating spare parts to a downed member, someone just wiping off your bike, someone getting you a drink or even just talking to someone that was new. I witnessed this very thing in the past 7 days, the members here never cease to amaze me with the random acts of kindness. I thank each of you for your willingness to do the right thing.
I am reluctant to even post up thanks because I know that I will miss someone, there was just so many great things that happened because of the members"¦. If it weren't for a few members about 6 years ago getting together to share a ride then this event would never have grown to what it has become. Thank you Zukracer (Brian) and Warbaby (Tom) for starting it all.
1. The Food"¦"¦ Oh my ! From the time that we got there on Wed Grumpy and MrsGrumpy were feeding folks burgers, dogs, sausage, vanilla and orange chicken along with the best pasta ever. Thur night, Friday night and Sat night Mr. Bogus, GixerHP were all cooking on some monster grills and the menus included brisket, chicken wings, nachos, steak, kabobs, burgers, dogs, beef tips, teriyaki chicken and more. Hooken203 brought in sausage burgers and man was that a great tradition to have"¦.. To you all that prepared, cooked and cleaned up I can't tell you how much that helped. People didn't have to leave to get food, we all were able to sit around and eat as a group, visiting with people that we would have never talked to before.
2. The Kindness"¦"¦.. I saw people picking up trash, cleaning others bikes, unloading, starting fires, picking up trash you name it. What a great thing to witness, it brought back some hope for human nature in this crazily rude world that we live in.
3. The Fun"¦"¦"¦. Good natured laugh out loud (on the ground for some) hold your stomach fun. No one was offended and no one became upset. We all seem to be able to laugh at ourselves and our faults and know deep inside that those folks that are poking fun at you would be the first ones to defend you if you needed it. There are a lot of good natured funny folks on this board. Thank you all for the laugh.
4. Admins and Mods"¦.. You guys never cease to amaze me. Your openness and true concern for the members just validates the reason that you were each asked to help with the site. You took on tasks to help the members and anytime I asked you to help you jumped in to make it happen. You guys are the rock of the board and I value your opinions and ideas.
5. Thank you all for allowing Kristie and I to attend and participate with the group. We continue to meet new folks and find it saddening that we can't see some of you but once a year. I met more great folks this year and I hope to keep those friendships alive. I do my best to not include myself into the events, this is your bash you all have created it you all own it I just come along to play"¦ Thank you for being open and letting us play. I am humbled by your genorisity and kindness to Kristie and myself and I thank you for the kind words and supportive attitudes. To tell you the truth I feel guilty at these events because I know that I am not worthy of the attention or kindness that you all continually show me. This site has become more than I ever could have imagined and when folks thank me and tell me what the site means to them I feel the weight bearing down on me that we must find a way to keep things moving. Regardless of what you all think I am just a simple man. Not very smart, incredibly stubborn and I have no patience to speak of. There are probably 500 other folks on this site that could run it better and make it a better success. We will continue to work to make this place better but know that I make mistakes every day and I'm sure that I will make many more as we go"¦..
Where do we go from here?
It seems like this animal is beginning to take on its own form, as much as I hate to say it I think we need to organize. As I stated before we have stayed out of the event planning and always just let them members set everything up, I think that we are to the point where we need to at least do some basic planning. I thought the whole drive home about what we could do and still foster the open environment and I came to this conclusion. On the board I always tell people that I simply provide a convenient place for you to call home. I think that we need to do this for the Bash as well. I think that we need to facilitate the place and a few other necessities and let the members take care of the rest"¦"¦. As an example I think that we should implement the following.
1. Block off the street at the Phillips.
2. Have a schedule of events
3. Have a morning stand up and evening review of the day. Announcements would be made from a central spot.
4. A white board that we could post announcements for those that missed the stand up.
5. Maybe a camping area for those that want to pitch a tent.
6. Basic needs like water and maybe snacks could be provided throughout the day.
This is always open to you all as to the involvement that you want us to take, if you agree then I think we should start these discussions now.
You all need to let me know what you would like to see and we will start some planning. Let me close this out by thanking you all for who you are and what you do. It's the members that make this place what it is, we can make it bigger and better. I just keep thinking about all the great people that we haven't even met yet.
God Bless you all
CAp
Wow what a trip"¦. 15 hours to get there to spend 3 days and then 15 hours back. How can you accurately describe the experience to people in a way that they can understand why you would travel that far for such a short time. I tried and I miserably failed today at work. The discussion did however give me something to think about and I know that we have all experienced it, we have all mentioned it and we all already miss it.
For those that doubted me, the Zook guys were there and we had a great time"¦ Steve, Aki we all thank you for coming out and participating with the group. You presence was a reminder that we do have a voice and I think that maybe we opened your eyes to a few things too. You both seemed to be so open and honest about things that you fit right in. (By the way Steve there is a little scratch on the Busa I found after you rode it. Send me a Bking and we can call it even"¦) Thank you both for attending, let us know what you need and we will make it happen.
Friendship"¦"¦ I can honestly sit here and type this message and know that if I called any one single person out of a thousand from this board that I would get a supportive response if I had a need. We have all seen the kindness of the members here at the bash, from folks donating spare parts to a downed member, someone just wiping off your bike, someone getting you a drink or even just talking to someone that was new. I witnessed this very thing in the past 7 days, the members here never cease to amaze me with the random acts of kindness. I thank each of you for your willingness to do the right thing.
I am reluctant to even post up thanks because I know that I will miss someone, there was just so many great things that happened because of the members"¦. If it weren't for a few members about 6 years ago getting together to share a ride then this event would never have grown to what it has become. Thank you Zukracer (Brian) and Warbaby (Tom) for starting it all.
1. The Food"¦"¦ Oh my ! From the time that we got there on Wed Grumpy and MrsGrumpy were feeding folks burgers, dogs, sausage, vanilla and orange chicken along with the best pasta ever. Thur night, Friday night and Sat night Mr. Bogus, GixerHP were all cooking on some monster grills and the menus included brisket, chicken wings, nachos, steak, kabobs, burgers, dogs, beef tips, teriyaki chicken and more. Hooken203 brought in sausage burgers and man was that a great tradition to have"¦.. To you all that prepared, cooked and cleaned up I can't tell you how much that helped. People didn't have to leave to get food, we all were able to sit around and eat as a group, visiting with people that we would have never talked to before.
2. The Kindness"¦"¦.. I saw people picking up trash, cleaning others bikes, unloading, starting fires, picking up trash you name it. What a great thing to witness, it brought back some hope for human nature in this crazily rude world that we live in.
3. The Fun"¦"¦"¦. Good natured laugh out loud (on the ground for some) hold your stomach fun. No one was offended and no one became upset. We all seem to be able to laugh at ourselves and our faults and know deep inside that those folks that are poking fun at you would be the first ones to defend you if you needed it. There are a lot of good natured funny folks on this board. Thank you all for the laugh.
4. Admins and Mods"¦.. You guys never cease to amaze me. Your openness and true concern for the members just validates the reason that you were each asked to help with the site. You took on tasks to help the members and anytime I asked you to help you jumped in to make it happen. You guys are the rock of the board and I value your opinions and ideas.
5. Thank you all for allowing Kristie and I to attend and participate with the group. We continue to meet new folks and find it saddening that we can't see some of you but once a year. I met more great folks this year and I hope to keep those friendships alive. I do my best to not include myself into the events, this is your bash you all have created it you all own it I just come along to play"¦ Thank you for being open and letting us play. I am humbled by your genorisity and kindness to Kristie and myself and I thank you for the kind words and supportive attitudes. To tell you the truth I feel guilty at these events because I know that I am not worthy of the attention or kindness that you all continually show me. This site has become more than I ever could have imagined and when folks thank me and tell me what the site means to them I feel the weight bearing down on me that we must find a way to keep things moving. Regardless of what you all think I am just a simple man. Not very smart, incredibly stubborn and I have no patience to speak of. There are probably 500 other folks on this site that could run it better and make it a better success. We will continue to work to make this place better but know that I make mistakes every day and I'm sure that I will make many more as we go"¦..
Where do we go from here?
It seems like this animal is beginning to take on its own form, as much as I hate to say it I think we need to organize. As I stated before we have stayed out of the event planning and always just let them members set everything up, I think that we are to the point where we need to at least do some basic planning. I thought the whole drive home about what we could do and still foster the open environment and I came to this conclusion. On the board I always tell people that I simply provide a convenient place for you to call home. I think that we need to do this for the Bash as well. I think that we need to facilitate the place and a few other necessities and let the members take care of the rest"¦"¦. As an example I think that we should implement the following.
1. Block off the street at the Phillips.
2. Have a schedule of events
3. Have a morning stand up and evening review of the day. Announcements would be made from a central spot.
4. A white board that we could post announcements for those that missed the stand up.
5. Maybe a camping area for those that want to pitch a tent.
6. Basic needs like water and maybe snacks could be provided throughout the day.
This is always open to you all as to the involvement that you want us to take, if you agree then I think we should start these discussions now.
You all need to let me know what you would like to see and we will start some planning. Let me close this out by thanking you all for who you are and what you do. It's the members that make this place what it is, we can make it bigger and better. I just keep thinking about all the great people that we haven't even met yet.
God Bless you all
CAp