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CANCELED - World's Largest Electric Vehicle Gathering, Sat, Aug 9, 2014, Irvine, CA
- Thread starter TonyWilliams
- Start date
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- Tags
- EVents
All,
I'm sad to report that all events planned for August 9-17, 2014, the 3rd annual BC2BC-2014 All Electric Vehicle Rally and the World's Largest Electric Vehicle Gathering are cancelled.
Coming off our fantastic event last year, we had planned a far bigger and better program this year. We suffered some set backs when we lost our original venue at the Long Beach Arena, but we regrouped to find a location in Irvine, California with the same dates.
I have to say that sponsorship interest was high, but ultimately we were never able to sign a single major sponsor by our cutoff date. Not one. The costs are already significant just to get the event to this point, and without major sponsors like we had last year, that left only me to fund the events.
One of the several outcomes for our events was promotion of the California West Coast Electric Highway. Sadly, the folks that I have been working with in the governor's office have largely moved on and I just don't see anything happening from California that would match what Oregon and Washington states have already done, and are expanding on. It seems we are beating a dead horse there.
The singular biggest disappointment is the lack of support from actual electric vehicle manufacturers, particularly Nissan and Tesla. These two companies are leaders in the market, but in the third year of this event, we never got even the most basic support. Not a Tweet, not a Facebook post, not anything whatsoever, ever. In Tesla's case, last year we actually had one Tesla Model S owner who had to leave his car behind and rent a gasoline car to finish the event because a Tesla sales office wouldn't let him charge there. I truly think that this type of support is also a dead horse as far as this event is concerned.
Going forward to potential future events, honestly, unless a sponsor were upfront with the money to make it happen, I wouldn't even start the planning. It really is a full time job with real costs. All of the many electric vehicle events that I have planned in the past have been entirely non-profit with no fee whatsoever to the participants. We have already discussed the possibility of one such event for next year with a potential sponsor.
I'd like to thank Zan Dubin Scott for her help in marketing. Also, many thanks to Angus Clark for securing our new launch location, and a long list of others who were instrumental in planning our Stage Overnight city activities and surprises along the way. There are just too many people for me to name, as I'm sure I'd miss somebody. One standout person from last year was Tonia Buell from the State of Washington Department of Transportation who I can't thank enough to make last year's event truly legendary.
I'd also like to thanks all our sponsors who already stepped up for this year and the many, many well wishes and encouragement that I have personally received along the way. It is truly humbling and all I can say is that whatever successes I've had promoting electric vehicles, it was only possible because I stand on the shoulders of giants in our electric vehicle industry.
I thank you all,
Tony
I'm sad to report that all events planned for August 9-17, 2014, the 3rd annual BC2BC-2014 All Electric Vehicle Rally and the World's Largest Electric Vehicle Gathering are cancelled.
Coming off our fantastic event last year, we had planned a far bigger and better program this year. We suffered some set backs when we lost our original venue at the Long Beach Arena, but we regrouped to find a location in Irvine, California with the same dates.
I have to say that sponsorship interest was high, but ultimately we were never able to sign a single major sponsor by our cutoff date. Not one. The costs are already significant just to get the event to this point, and without major sponsors like we had last year, that left only me to fund the events.
One of the several outcomes for our events was promotion of the California West Coast Electric Highway. Sadly, the folks that I have been working with in the governor's office have largely moved on and I just don't see anything happening from California that would match what Oregon and Washington states have already done, and are expanding on. It seems we are beating a dead horse there.
The singular biggest disappointment is the lack of support from actual electric vehicle manufacturers, particularly Nissan and Tesla. These two companies are leaders in the market, but in the third year of this event, we never got even the most basic support. Not a Tweet, not a Facebook post, not anything whatsoever, ever. In Tesla's case, last year we actually had one Tesla Model S owner who had to leave his car behind and rent a gasoline car to finish the event because a Tesla sales office wouldn't let him charge there. I truly think that this type of support is also a dead horse as far as this event is concerned.
Going forward to potential future events, honestly, unless a sponsor were upfront with the money to make it happen, I wouldn't even start the planning. It really is a full time job with real costs. All of the many electric vehicle events that I have planned in the past have been entirely non-profit with no fee whatsoever to the participants. We have already discussed the possibility of one such event for next year with a potential sponsor.
I'd like to thank Zan Dubin Scott for her help in marketing. Also, many thanks to Angus Clark for securing our new launch location, and a long list of others who were instrumental in planning our Stage Overnight city activities and surprises along the way. There are just too many people for me to name, as I'm sure I'd miss somebody. One standout person from last year was Tonia Buell from the State of Washington Department of Transportation who I can't thank enough to make last year's event truly legendary.
I'd also like to thanks all our sponsors who already stepped up for this year and the many, many well wishes and encouragement that I have personally received along the way. It is truly humbling and all I can say is that whatever successes I've had promoting electric vehicles, it was only possible because I stand on the shoulders of giants in our electric vehicle industry.
I thank you all,
Tony
ChadS
Last tank of gas: March 2009
Sorry, to hear that, Tony. I know you've put an incredible amount of work in to this and it's really unfortunate to see it not work out. I hope that as the EV market grows (and more automakers see it as a market rather than a penalty) that sponsorships will be easier to find.
To be honest, at least with respect to Nissan and Tesla, there are things they both support. As I write this, Tesla has moved a portable Supercharger station to the ReFuel event. Tesla gave at least one guy a prototype CHAdeMO adaptor to drive coast to coast. Nissan has spent oodles of bucks on enthusiast groups related to the LEAF. Two years ago, Nissan brought a portable generator and CHAdeMO charger to ReFuel.
So, they do support things... apparently not this thing. One Tesla marketing rep suggested I come to this forum for my needs... really.
