IMHO, at this stage it's probably too late to change venues due to the size and scope of the Fling. (It takes DV a whole to coordinate the Fling and it's in the same known location!)
An alternative, as someone else mentioned, would be to setup smaller, more local events. One such event that looks like it could work out (at least for the East coast/Central US folks) is the National Road Rally that is scheduled for June 5-6 in Cumberland MD. It's a two day vintage autocross and car show event. It's not necessarily Cobra specific, but the format (vintage autocross/car show/charity dinner) and time frame are similar.
I contacted the organizer, Dave Williams, to see if they can support the additional cars and participants, as well as whether the Team Jenny angle would conflict. He responded positively on all counts almost immediately and I included that below. One issue of course, beside the slight change in dates, is that is not centrally located like London OH so I'm sure it wouldn't appeal to everyone concerned.
Also, since I was looking at this from a local(CACC) perspective, I quoted 50+ cobras which depending upon response may be a little conservative. In which case, I'd need to get back with them and make sure they understood what that thunder is coming over the mountain!...
FYC, here's the response I got back from Dave.
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Simple answer to the thought of having a bunch of Cobra fans here. Great idea!!!! I will run it by our Kitchen Cabinet when they convene tonight, but I think this is wonderful “no brainer”. No problem with more fund raising. Bring your charity along and we can find ways to help all.
We can also make you guys a great deal, I think, for a 50+ lodging package either at our flagship Holiday Inn Hotel (they would our first contact as they are our sponsoring hotel) or at a very nice Best Western about 6 miles west of town on I-68 (with whom we have cordial relations and could quickly contract if this sells out the Holiday Inn)....easy, as long as we know we’re “Green light” fairly soon.
Given this kind of lead time, we can find you guys the rooms in a nice place, no problem. For your preliminary consideration, here’s a sample club entry form we’ve created for MG of Baltimore. The MG guys like to camp, might be related to the quality of the tops on their cars and the addictive smell of wet canvas and damp leather, wink, wink.
We would treat your bunch right, for sure. Special space in the show. We could dedicate spaces in our autoX at the airport and our rally, subject to a reasonable deadline to release the space back to the general public...which is exactly how we are working with TT-East, the Audi club that you can click from the front page of our web site at
http://www.nationalroadrally.com
The Audi guys are having their annual East Coast event at Rocky Gap Resort and plugging into our programming in the same way it sounds like we could work with you.
Our grand marshal this year will be Ray Heppenstall of Howmet Turbine Car fame. He should be a hoot. Here’s a link about the car he ran here in Cumberland
http://www.butterfields.com/areas/mo.../7458m-538.htm
In fact, I think we owe a couple of you guys a freebie or two from the October autoX don’t we? For your preliminary consideration, here’s a sample club entry form we’ve created for MG of Baltimore.
Bottom line is we would treat you right and love to have you guys up here. The more the merrier. You WOULD, however, have to take (and hopefully give back) a little trash talk from the Corvette and Kraut Kar boys who use Cumberland as the battle ground for their regional bragging rights
All salesmanship aside, this is exactly the way we’ve always envisioned the NRR weekend turning out for our community and our hospitality partners....and we can promise your group that we will be up to the task or hosting an enjoyable weekend for your members.
Dave