I've been asked to post something about this topic for a while now and it's sure to cause a debate, but it can't be avoided.

When people leave E@RTC, PLEASE don't just follow them and assume you're welcome in whatever they are doing after E@RTC. Unless you've specifically been invited to tag along, please don't make the assumption that just because you see a few cars leave to go somewhere it means it's okay for you to just follow along. What people do after E@RTC usually has nothing to do with E@RTC so please don't assume! People often have set reservations at restaurants, or other destinations, or plan to have a few people over to their house, or are off to see someone's garage, and they don't want to open it up to people they don't know well. It's awkward as hell for them to either cancel their plans because the group got too big, or disinvite someone. This is just common courtesy. Let's not make it a debate here.

Remember, nothing stops you from organizing something or asking others what they are doing after E@RTC or if there is room, etc., but PLEASE DON'T ASSUME or we won't have people coming out to E@RTC in the first place. I hate saying this stuff.

 

You need some of those ninja smoke grenades Tommy!

I don't think there should be any debates, as you say it's just common courtesy, you've done such a great job at organizing a great event for the community, I'm grateful to see such rare cars come out, hopefully this kind of behavior won't mess that up.

 

I agree with Tommy..and in support so he does not feel alone..ask the same.

There have been several times that a few poeple have followed me as well, and I know I have been rude to them.....when I pull up to my house..pull into the driveway and dont open the garage doors..

They are sitting at the base of my fdriveway, or getting out of their cars and asking.."can we see what else you got"

Sorry..but no..this is my "private time" after a public event..the show does not continue because you want to see more cars..

SO, as Tommy says...and I would go one further..dont embarass yourself, or cause for some one to tell you no...just dont ask unless your invited.

 

People actually do this?! Wow, that would awkward as all get out! I could see myself asking people if they were going for a drive somewhere but to follow someone without asking seems freakishly wierd. Sorry guys.

Great show saturday Tom! BTW.

 

it's amazing this topic even needs to be mentioned, but apparently it does. people following you to your home is downright creepy. if anyone left the keys in their car at e@rtc these nuts would probably assume it was ok to take them for a spin.

 

I feel like such a loser. Nobody ever tries to follow me home. In fact, sometimes my wife even tells me to drop her off somewhere else. (sigh)

 

if everyone was inner circle it would just be circle

:-)

 

There are two types of followers. Those we know well who just assume we're heading out on a group drive or something just because they see a specific combination of guys who go on drives. I can see how it can happen, but I'm hoping that people simply be polite and at the very least ask first so there isn't embarrassment on both sides.

Then there are others who we don't know who are just a bit overly curious and think everything about your personal life should be public. I'm mostly speaking to the former, and Roy's dealing with the latter, which I've had to deal with as well. I have a route I take with a series of stop signs to help shake them off, but it's creepy as hell when it happens as you have no idea what's going on.

Then there is another whole can of worms when people come out as a group and either cheat the single bill, barely tip, or don't tip at all. They remain clueless about how they look to everyone else by not parting with those few extra bucks. It's why we look for single check locations and try and keep groups very small, which circles back to the whole following thing.

 

There is no "inner circle" and we're doing everything we can to keep that assumption out of E@RTC. It's a matter of space and logistics. We've never found a place we can go that can manage everyone. We've looked.

The other issue we face is that we have some show up who have an agenda and that gets annoying. We simply ask that people NOT make assumptions about what happens AFTER E@RTC or an E@RTC event. Let's not make this political. ANYONE can organize their own gathering after E@RTC and we encourage it.

 

RTC is trying to get one of the restaurants to do a buffet after E@RTC. That will help if we can make it happen. I also think Desert Fire will be open for lunch and given our later hours, that should work for some too.

 

Very good advice! I could never imagine doing that!!!

Case in point.... When the photo/video shoot was happening last year for the "Carz" music video. I wasn't invited. Sure, I could have tagged along with everyone when they headed out to Crest Airport and been an unwelcome guest. But, I thought "hey, if they wanted a Countach there, they would have asked me"! Simple as that. I do know that after the fact, several folks did ask me why I didn't attend, and I told them that I wasn't invited. End of story. No hard feelings. :-)

I know that several weeks ago, I was having a private conversation with Richard Griot, when some guy just walked up and stood there as we tried to talk. Finally, Richard said to the guy "I'll be with you shortly." The guy got the message and walked off. But, all I could think of was "The nerve!!!"

Mike

 

I completely agree with what you're saying here, Tom. I haven't had anyone follow me home either (guess I'm also unimportant) but I can imagine what it'd be like if something like this were to happen. Sometimes folks would decide to do something at the event and others would assume that they've been invited to come along. I think that unless it's been specifically set as an "open" event then you should be "invited" to come along.

 

In some cases, it' can be called a form of stalking

 

Sorry for stalking all of you guys.

Jason, only reason you haven't caught anyone stalking you is because I stalk like a ninja... you just haven't seen me

Yeah, it's sad that a thread like this has to even be created, people should know these things already.

 

Mike, Crest Airpark was a delicate situation. We could only have the cars and the people who Anthony was going to use in the shoot because of some airport security concerns that the airport manager had. We already had some irate home owners upset that the airport would rent out the field and Anthony paid a lot of money for its use. It was about the lyrics and a finite time to shoot so we simply went down the list of cars he was mentioning and thats what we had on the list. We then submitted the list to the airport manager to get that cleared so she could deal with the homeowners around the airpark. As it turned out, we had a much easier time managing the group than they envisioned when we set up the shoot, so if we do another airport event, it will be much easier to add names to the list for the airport manager. It's doubtful that we will do another as it was very expensive.