Ha! I just saw this post by PartyCrashers.
For those of you who don't know, she is my sister (and I'm wondering why she is trying to butter me up??).
But it actually gets a good point across.
Rally organizers put in a ton of time organizing. If they are perfectionists and obsessive (like me) they put in an obscene amount of time doing little things that no one else even thinks about or will ever be aware of.
I design, print and bind at home the rally books that I make. Just to make a simple, bare-bones rally book for say 20 copies (with color) can run over $120 for paper, ink and binding materials, depending upon how many pages are in the book. I will research and write up articles to include in the book so it's informative of the area and hopefully an interesting keepsake of your time at the rally. I started back in August last year researching and writing an article that will be in the upcoming Lake Siskiyou rally book. The hours I put in on making a rally book are massive.
Those phone calls, emails, research, buying of supplies and taking on extra duties because no one else signed up to do them all are very time consuming and the rally organizer rarely gets to relax and go visit around the various campsites.
At the end of the rally, they are the one to make sure everything is back to the way it was at the beginning and are the responsible ones to pay if cleaning or repair is needed to be done by the campground.
By now you are wondering if organizing a rally is that time consuming and requires some outlay of cash, why in-the-sam-h*ll do you organize? I can only speak for myself, but I love doing it, I love bringing people together and seeing them have a good time. I have an idea that other rally organizers feel the same way.
So whatever rally you may signup for, be kind to your organizers and they just might keep on organizing for YOU:
Know that your rally organizer(s) started devoting time & energy on the rally months and even a year before you probably even decided if you were attending.
Try to not just meet a deadline but be well ahead of it. If you need help, contact your rally organizer.
If organizers are looking for help ahead of time, sign-up to help.
While at the rally, ask what you can help with.
It's hard to break into a group that has already formed friendships so take time to go out of your way and seek out new people and make them feel welcome.
I don't mean for this to be a rant, and if you take it that way, you can blame PartyCrashers, she started it.
Thank you for reading.