Nick, I like this idea very much and I think its good you are planning a year out. If we really want to do this and try to make a big show (is that what you want... lots of press?) of it, and we should start taking action now.

I think we should look to get some big "hydroxy names" like smack and Bob if possible. Also, get a "famous" person.. not someone too big, but someone who supports alternative energy stuff.. or 'green' products.

Some ideas for this:

-we plan out a time frame, ie: take a few weeks to plan out the year from now until "the challenge".
Example:
week 1 and 2 - plan.
Week 3 - email supporters (Smack, Bob, zerofosselfuel, etc....)
Month 3 - Contact news stations to get some "pre event coverage".

-Take Donations to pay for food, gas, time, hotels, etc.....
-organize spacific "contestants" and what exact vehicle they will be using
-have a couple 'web meetups' maybe via webcam so we can get to know each other better .
-Do a few local events to help spread the word.
-Try to get a university to contribute (by that I mean contribute research, man power [students], time....)
-make t-shirts
-get sponsors

Just a few ideas. I think something like this would be really good for the hydroxy community.

I know they did the booster rally this year, but I don't know how well it was planned out, marketed, etc... (I'm not trying to say 'it wasnt planned well', I'm saying I really have no idea if they did any of that. )

How's that for an event tag line?

I'm glad to see you're interested. I'm gonna need all the help I can get.

To date, most of the focus has been directed east of the Mississippi. This will be an opportunity for the folks in the Midwest. The greater Dallas-Fort Worth area, alone, has 6.1 million people. Oklahoma City metropolitan area has 1.2 million and the Tulsa metropolitan area has another 1 million people. Amarillo has .25 million people and Albuquerque has another .5 million people. With all the the other cities and towns in between we're talking about a total of around 10 million people in this area. Surely, out of those 10 million people, there are a couple of thousand people who would be interested.

Another reason I chose this particular stretch of road is because it's relatively straight, flat and has good weather around that time of year.

Here are a few of the folks I would like to involve:

Oklahoma University
Automotive Engineering:
http://www.sae.ou.edu/

These guys have a great site:
University of New Mexico at Albuquerque
Automotive Engineering:
http://fsae.unm.edu/

Texas Tech University at Amarillo
Industrial Engineering Manufacturing and Design Research Group:
http://www.depts.ttu.edu/ieweb/grad/MSProgram.php

Protium Fuel Systems Research (Based in OKC)
http://www.protiumfuelsystems.com/

There is just one thing I will insit on. I would like to see all proceeds go to charity.

Getting bikers involved by integrating a simultaneous "Poker Run" for charity would be a good idea as well. Bikers are, traditionally, great charity workers and great folks to just hang out with.

Universities are a good idea for people to contact. When I was in college I helped design and build a super milleage vehilce at the university of nebraska - lincoln. Although we never competed with it (someone dropped the ball on registration) it was a good experience and was a good time.

I could contact my professor that over saw the project and talk to him as well.

That would be great. I don't know to what extent you would like to be involved, but it would be nice if you were willing to associate Aquauto's name with this as well. We could develop a logistical "Details" page (to be opened to the public in a month or two). It would also be nice to make a youtube video with "Visit Aquauto.com for details" at the end. Also, do you have the capability to "mass mail" all the members here to see who else might want to help.

I'm almost positive I have this ability, although I've never done it before .

I guess I'm not sure how involved I would like to be either , its hard for me to tell at this current stage in the process, but just keep in mind that I am very willing to help and that Aquauto and its name are available as well.

I like your detail's page idea. It could be page or we could create a subdomain and setup an entirely different site that we could handle sign ups specifically for the challenge. Drupal has the ability to integrate with http://civicrm.org/ . So we could use that to handle all our : Online event registration and participant tracking, Online fundraising and donor management, Personalized email blasts and newsletters.

I could have the user database ported over to the subdomain site so users from aquauto.com would have to re-register there, but would have the ability to sign up for the challenge and dedicate some time to it.

Maybe I'm over complicating it... but its just a suggestion.

It's just a matter of contacting people and organizations to find out who is interested in the concept and potentially participating, but I would like to have most of the concrete details hammered out by the first of February (the holiday season will keep most people from making any solid commitments). At that point, event promotion can begin in earnest.

CiviCRM is pretty sweet. Maybe not, but it looked like you would be able to import the Aquauto membership as a group.

This looks like a pretty good staging area. I have e-mailed the City of El Reno and inquired about their capabilities for accommodating events and confirming reservations for space at Lake El Reno campgrounds and pavilions this far in advance.

Its pretty decent. I've used it once before, but didn't do anything to serious with it.

As for El Reno, how did you decide on that town?

for someone who is not familiar with the area, but it is, literally, just minutes away from anything and everything anyone could need or want including free wireless internet access, Auto-Zone, Wal-Mart, food and lodging, conference facilities (if needed), etc., yet it has plenty of room, is easy to find, easy to access from I-40 and isn't plagued with congested traffic. Also, there are fuel stations located right there at the on and off ramps to I-40. Oklahoma University is just around the corner, so to speak, as well.

I am not familiar with the area, but I like the idea of being away from the city a little bit. My initial concern was that you had stated you inquired about "campgrounds and pavilions" and I just wanted to make sure there were other accommodations available also. I know some people that HATE camping (I'm not one of them).

A representative from the City of El Reno called me this morning, gave me his personal contact information and assured me that anything within the purview the City of El Reno or their Chamber of Commerce will be at our disposal to ensure that this event will be a sweeping success. He was also eager to let me know they had just spent millions of dollars upgrading their facilities at Lake El Reno.

Thats awesome, a personal call is always good and a sign that they will be willing to work with you to get this going. It also lets you know that there isn't "town event" going on on those dates so you wont be intruding on any annual town traditions they may have.

Nick,

What is your next step and your plans for the upcoming months?

I will be trying to locate and contact as many researchers, builders and distributers as I can to try and get a reasonable idea of how many people might be attending then coordinate and nail down some logistics with the City of El Reno and maybe talk to some of the local business concerns and try to get the citizens of El Reno excited to be involved...see if there is a local car club...etc.

I think we should put an emphasis on the rally aspects of the event for now and leave the possibilities open for secondary aspects like contests and so forth.

Do have anymore info on the rally location with a map and schedule of events ? Dates time ?
Mark /Jayhawkhho

Here ya go: http://aquauto.com/blogs/nickstone/rally-el-reno-map-and-info

due to lack of interest.