Originally Posted by TrevorMoody9:
HARFprez,
I hate to hear that this event was not successful. It sounds like a great time and a good event. I would have loved to attend, but I wrestle for IU and wrestled in Philadelphia this weekend. I have come up with a few ideas for HARF events that might be more successful during the off-season.
-HARF Legends Night: From my experience, race fans love meeting their heroes, especially from a time gone past. I am only 20 years old, and even I greatly cherish being able to meet drivers from the past. There are many past Indy and USAC drivers in and around the Indianapolis area that would be more than willing to give of their time to help a great organization, such as HARF. I would propose a night of a nice dinner, a live auction, and a Q&A session with the racing legends. I attended the Indiana Racing Memorial Association fundraiser at IMS in October, and it was great. They invited Mel Kenyon, Tom Bigelow, Ed Carpenter, Al Unser Jr., and Johnny Parsons Jr. to the event. They also had a restaurant cater a nice meal, and there was an auction going on all night. As a broke college student, this event was worth every cent of the $100 because I was able to meet and have conversations with some of the best drivers this country has ever seen. I think the ticket price could be greatly reduced to say $50 for a HARF event to be able to attract a larger crowd.
-HARF Daytona 500 Viewing Party: Since Eleanor Vogler has moved away from the Indianapolis area in the last several years, there has been no organized Daytona 500 viewing party for the many race fans around the Indy area. The Rich Vogler Scholarship parties were a lot of fun with live auctions, silent auctions, raffles, and a nice catered meal. I believe this could be a great way for HARF to make some money while bringing the race fans together during the off-season to do some bench racing. I attended many of these Daytona 500 parties as a kid and always had a great time.
Even better, HARF could combine these two events into one and host a Daytona 500 viewing party with the legends. Invite five or six Indy racing legends to the party to spark interest with the fans, and then have the whole concept of a legends night and a Daytona 500 party all in one. These are just a few ideas off the top of my head to help HARF bring the fans and racers together during the off-season. I hope these ideas help in some way.
Trevor Moody
IU Kelley School of Business 2016
Thanks Trevor its refreshing to have someone have some ideas to share. Bob and I have both helped Eleanor with the parties for at least 20 years. There has been some talk about HARF taking over the party but thus far we havent done it. Thanks for the comment and the ideas.
