Event Planning: Running a Local Car Show

In my opinion, one of the most exciting feelings one can have is to sit back and watch a mega-event taking place right in front of their eyes knowing that they are the ones that made such an event happen. Event planning is perhaps one of the biggest ways to make money in a home-based business while having a world of fun in the process. The secret to running this type of business is to put together events that you would enjoy doing and that you know at least a little something about before trying to put it together. Today I will tell you about my favorite event to put together, local car shows.

Building, collecting, and restoring cars is probably one of the most popular hobbies of people of all ages. This is one of the few activities that people start to get interested in at a young age and wind up continuing to participate in late into their lives. It does not really matter what kind of cars you are into, the process and the excitement is still all the same. From antiques, to street rods, and from custom street racers to tricked out trucks, there is an almost endless supply of people across the country that has their pride and joy on four wheels sitting in a garage at home. So how do we get them to your event?

The first thing you need to find is a location which is capable of handling such an event. The best type of locations for this event are large empty lots (parking lots of clear level grass lots will work) or if your city will allow you to do so, using side roads around the city work great as well. For my upcoming event, I have secured permission from the city to close off three streets just off the main road between the court house and the hospital (don't worry, there are several alternate roads to access the hospital here too). To get permission for closing off city streets, you will need to go to your city office and present them with a written request of permission including the date and times you would need to close the streets, alternate routes available around the closed areas, the reason you want to close the streets, and the purpose of the event. Once you have secured permission for the location, you will need to find participants.

Finding participants for you car show is actually not as hard as you may think. The people that work on the cars you will need for your car show are very proud of their cars and the work they have done to them. Car owners are all too anxious to show off their cars anytime they have the chance to do so. Your best bet for finding a larger amount of car hobbyists to come to your event is by going on the Internet and search for car clubs in a 200-mile radius around where you live. Even if you have never seen one before, there are several groups in that range. Once you find their websites, locate their mailing address and phone numbers to their club president's office. Write a formal letter of invitation to the club as a whole telling them what your event is about, where it is, and who benefits from the proceeds. Send that same letter to each of the clubs you find within that range with a way to contact you by mail, email and phone with at least 60 days to 6 months before the show date for best chance of their availability. After a couple weeks make a polite phone call to the president's phone number to confirm that they got your letter about the event. Even if they decline to come to this event, be sure to thank them with kindness and tell them that you will be sure to invite them to the next event. It is common for the event planner to charge the participants a nominal fee to enter their cars into the event (there is also usually a cash prize offered in the event). Be sure not to be too crazy with the fee amount. Typically, $10-15 is a fair amount to charge per car for events that have cash prizes awarded to some of the participants.

Next you will need to have something going on at the event for entertainment in addition to walking around looking at cars all night long. My next event will have a local radio station that owns their own travel sound stage that will be broadcasting live from the event while playing their music at the event for the crowd to listen and dance to. We will also be having various vendors selling everything from food and drink to clothes, car stuff and so on. You will need to draw out a map of the location and preset all the spaces that vendors will be located and cars are located so that you know how many vendors you can actually hold within the event. Vendors to such an event expect to pay either an up front flat fee or a percentage of gross sales to the event planner for being allowed to participate in the event.

Then when the big day comes, you make sure it all sets up together the way you planned it out on paper and let the show begin. Just make sure at some point during the night, you stand in the middle of the show somewhere and enjoy that feeling that you are the one that made this event possible! Enjoy the show!