Well, My First Post On Steve's Forum And...

[Team XS SPL - Jeffrey]

...I didn't think I'd be addressing a few issues about the current state of dB Drag Racing in SoCal (Southern California).

To those who don't know, myself along with Andy Teuscher are Boomin Audio Competitions. We host sound-offs in SoCal which include officially sanctioned dB Drag Racing events. I've officiated all but one dB Drag event in SoCal this season and trust me it takes a lot to make these shows happen.

We decided to run shows when many were on the forums posting "Where are all the shows at?" Now I'm not too sure we made the right decision.

Needless to say, when I read the "Worst Turnout Ever" topic I felt pissed, at first...well because, let's face it, I felt like I got lit up and put on blast! But then I thought about it and realized this is why the scene is on life support in SoCal...it's negative people posting negative topics with negative attitudes towards show attendance or even what was awarded to the winners. What ever happened to hitting up a show and running what ya brung?! Trophies, "certificates", points are a plus and should not determine whether or not we compete. Check out the hair trick...there's no trophy in that...but people still do it. Why? Because it's freakin' awesome.

To address the "certificate" issue...every promoter has this option available and to make it affordable for shops to host dB Drag events, we offer this as well. We offer the minimum "certificate" show all the way to what we call is the "full meal deal" complete with 1st place (two tier) to 3rd place (21 inch) trophies. It's entirely up to the shop/sponsor what kind of event or prize to be awarded. If it were up to us we'd want them to all be trophy shows but the reality is shops are losing money as it is so opting for the less expensive "certificate" event is a no brainer and we can accommodate this. I think it was a smart move on dB Drags part to offer a certificate. A certificate is more personal if you ask me. A trophy doesn't come with your name and score.

To address the "attendance" issue...not all events can be what we call "burners" or heavily attended events due to many factors but that does not reflect whether or not the event was "pointless" because obviously someone cared enough to take a risk to put on a show namely the shops and manufacturers. And it doesn't help much when other people in the same community put other people down when all they're doing is showing support in a shared interest. People reading these posts who attended said events may feel insecure about competing in future events as they feel they may be a target in future "Worst Turnout Ever" topics and posts thus leading to lesser attended future events.

A lot can be said about having a positive attitude and not burning people. A question I get asked a lot is about sponsorships and how to get them and one of the first things I tell them is in this business don't burn anyone. Always play it cool even if you might not agree with that person because you never know if that person or someone close to that person becomes in charge of a car audio manufacturers sponsorship department etc.

Plus people with negative attitudes hardly succeed and often make excuses why they aren't successful.

So take this post for what it's worth...this sport needs more supporters overall not just in SoCal.

[David]

First Welcome to the Forum Jeffrey, we are honored to have a World Class Champion on our forum, we met at WF's last yr in San Mateo, it was awesome watchingyou break the world record, keep it up Mang, much respect to you!

I agree with you 100%, DB Drag need alll the support it can get, not negitivity.

I hope you can hang out and share some of your Knowledge with us, we " the car audio community" could use more of the Good guys like youself to help spread the Knowledge .

Agian welcome to Our Forums,

David

Team SMD

[sactownstang]

Do u post those events here? I get emails on your shows, I try and put them on the RF forum. I always get a lot of spectators that are eager to here about your shows in SO Cal. In the past I have heard good things about the events. This may have been a rare situation cause usually your shows do ok right? Also, the ones who know about db drag ask if your van will be on display. I usually tell them I don't know but to call and ask. Do u demo that at all? Funny lot's of folks think a db drag burp car plays music for demos, go figure! I will try and keep up on the RF forum, or u can also come there and post if u like. Good Luck with the shows.

[jack]

jeffrey i did not intend to be negative or offend with that post. i regularly check results of shows in the us on db drag and just noticed the amount of people involved in the show in question. we are sometimes discouraged at the turnout if we only have 10 people at a show in n.cal so i posted that as a question I feel that i didnt attack anyone all i did was post the link to the results page -sorry

[Team Bassick - Kimo]

I know you have been keeping tabs on this forum. Its just has to be on the top10 with the car audio community. As I stated in the other thread as well as countless discussions with others. The sport needs help and we should try to do all we can to support it. I know Jack didn't intend for the thread to come off as negative as I see where some posts did go. I think it was more of an awareness of the state of the sport.

Personally I've gone down to So Cal a couple of times for 3x events. The shows have always been great in the past but, just watching the turnouts in Nor Cal and So Cal it has severly been declining. I've asked time and time again what we can do as competitors to boost the turnout. I think it comes down to advertising and promoting, then making it affordable for the shops and competitors.

Never the less welcome to SMD bro.....

[meade916]

Damn bro, sorry your first post had to be a pissed off post, but ummmm, welcome!

[B Slaps]

x2 on everything replied to this topic..... jack is one of the most positive people that comes to the shows. also he does try to hype it up as along with everyone. it is dying down here considering out last show there were about the same amount of people at the show that was talked about. EVERYONE needs to promote the show. i try and bring all my buddies who dont compete to the shows, some show up but most dont there just not into it and also they dont understand that ANYONE can bassrace. they always ask me " you won cause your the loudest?" i then have to explain it to them. maybe for some people its complicated. another reason is because the db drag rules were changed. i dont see not even half of the people who were competing last year. we had alot of good turnouts last year. and alot of good SACRAMENTO turnouts this year. the scene is dying down everyone needs to try and help as much as they can.

also the paper trophies dosent help ill tell you that.

[Team XS SPL - Jeffrey]

I'm really a laid back kinda guy and usually I'll give people the benefit of the doubt and though the intention here may not be specified, it does present a negative connotation to the topic even though it is in the form of a question.

"Worst..."???

Would anyone want to watch a movie that that had a review that started "Worst Movie Ever?"... then the actual body of the review just had a link to maybe a scene or maybe the end credits??? Even if the intention was to ask the question, the "critic" in this example is already placing a negative stigma to his or her readers.

Jack- its all good and there are no hard feelings, I just wanted to address the issue before it got out of hand.

[crazyjoker2]

The whole thing is cause and effect really.

We talk a shop into having a show weather it be Trophy's or certificates.

The Shop and Promoter invest time and money into the event.

When there is a good turn out the shop will want to plan another event sometime in the future and is happy!

When there is a less then desirable turn out, a shop doesnt want to have another and is left with a bad taste in the mouth and doesnt want anything to do with competitions, dB Drag or us.

We are just trying to do our part as promoters and get shows on the calender to keep it going.

Jeffrey is an fantastic Judge/ Promoter/ Competitor and has alot to offer!

[~digital~bass~]

Do u post those events here? I get emails on your shows, I try and put them on the RF forum. I always get a lot of spectators that are eager to here about your shows in SO Cal. In the past I have heard good things about the events. This may have been a rare situation cause usually your shows do ok right? Also, the ones who know about db drag ask if your van will be on display. I usually tell them I don't know but to call and ask. Do u demo that at all? Funny lot's of folks think a db drag burp car plays music for demos, go figure! I will try and keep up on the RF forum, or u can also come there and post if u like. Good Luck with the shows.

If you care about how many people are there you aint doing it for the love. Down here in Oah'u were lucky to have a shop hold 1 comp every 2 years and have 20ppl enter. Now we hold our own which started about 1 year ago and we started off with about 5ppl and now this past 1 couple days ago we had almost 40.

Edited August 5, 2008 by ~digital~bass~