Ticket Prices Go Up After May Instead

[Karol]

OK. Since we had a problem with the MySpace payment link this week, and since some of us were taken by surprise by the coming price increase, Scarlett has decided to postpone the price increase until the end of this month (May).

Here are the new guidelines:
Before June 1st: $60
On or After June 1st: $75
At the door: $85 CASH (if not sold out)

Payments will from now on be made at the event's webpage on my website: www.RoadwarUSA.com/rwwe
(The event page is quite plain at the moment, please bear with me as I get it set up.)

[MFP 2020]

Excellent. Thanks for the update.

[Max Replica]

Thanks to Scarlett for the postponement and way to go Karol for getting a website together.

I think it's good that it'll be 60 now and then 75 and 85 after June 1st, the more we can do to get people to commit early, the better. I'm now saving $30 if I buy my two tix early. (and saving $50 off the door price!)

[nfpgasmask]

Thanks for reminding us. I need to buy my tickets. The wife and I got the time off and we are coming down for the event!! I can't wait.

Do we know how many ppl have bought tickets as of late? I'm really wondering about the turnout.

Trab

[torinoscj]

I hate to be a skeptic,but why any amount for a ticket at all?I have been to two RoadWar events and neither of them charged for anything.

What am I getting for my $60.00 or more dollars?The priviledge of driving my $50K+ BoB over 1,000 miles to camp in a desert?

Is this venue a private or State park that requires permits or rental?Or is this just a way for someone to pocket some cash?

I understand that Vernon gets a fee,no problem,but since he only RECENTLY heard about this event and has graciously agreed to attend,that is only one small amount of the $$$ to account for.Why was he listed as attending from the start when it really took Karol to really make it happen,long AFTER this event was hyped and the poster printed listing him as attending?

Are the bands/vendors requiring payment? If they are,just how big of fans are they?

Are there going to be port-a-pottys there?Or do you just 'go' in the desert? Is there a fan/ticket count so the organizer can figure out how many Honey buckets to rent?

Why was such a late in the year date picked?November 22 is going to have some pretty nasty weather in the passes coming across the Rockies or even down interstate 5 through southern Oregon,chains required at most times.Who wants to chain up a show car or a truck towing one and have it peppered with gravel?Even if it were just one month earlier,the passes would be fine.

As for RAISING the ticket price as time goes on,this is NOT Burning man and with no firm fan/ticket count there is no way to know how big or small this event will be.I mean,we ARE a limited number of crazies here.

I'm just wondering out loud here about a lot of questions I have had and heard.

I do not know this Scarlett Harlott and have been taken to the cleaners enough to question anything that sounds this fun.Anyone can make up a flyer,listing anything they want and start selling tickets to an event that may be suddenly cancelled due to some unknown reason.

Any refunds guaranteed?

After all,the folks with the vehicles are making the most sacrifice,driving hundreds or even thousands of miles at their own expense and then have to buy a ticket to display their creations?At many events,the participants are PAID to attend to offset the cost of transportation.Do you think those monster truck shows only pay the winner?EVERY truck is paid to come.The prize purse is the payoff for competing.

I am not asking to be paid for coming or even re-imbursed for fuel.If I choose to come,that is my contribution (about $400.00 in fuel alone IF it stays a $2.50 a gallon).I just want to make sure this thing is on the up and up.With Karol involved,I am more confidant then I was before,but still have these questions.Does anyone else wonder?

Cheers,Bill

[Karol]

Hi Bill,

Those are all great questions - I'm sure a lot of people are wondering the same things. Even I was wondering about some of these, and so I just had a nice long IM with Scarlett.
First of all, let me say that I have had several opportunities to get to know Scarlett. We have gone to two trilogy screenings, two day-trips out to the desert, have met with the documentary crew and more. We've also sent dozens of e-mails back and forth. She is crazy like us. She just wants to have a blast, hang out with Vernon, dress up and "geek-out" to all of the crazy Mad Max stuff that will be happening. And believe it or not, she fully expects to lose money on this event! But she doesn't care - this was never about making a profit for her. She is happy to break even, or to come out a little in the red. She's not perfect, but she has shown that she has the organizational skills and charm to pull this off. I feel comfortable trusting her with the main guts of this event.

Now regarding your questions:
The event is currently $60 because this is unlike any event I have organized before. Dee, Chris, and I all hosted events, and we each lost hundreds if not thousands of dollars putting on a show for other fans. In this case, the event will be so awesome that none of us can bear the financial burden. We simply have to charge. Here's what you're getting for $20 a day:

- Admission and camping for 3 days on a beautiful dry lake bed in the desert. It's the closest major dry lake to Los Angeles, it's a popular filming site, and a well-known speed trail site. Buying an admission ticket for the weekend would cost you $30 by itself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Mirage_Dry_Lake
Yes, we need to buy a permit in order to reserve the spot. And every permit demands that you buy insurance. That doubles the cost right there. If we want to let people run around in vehicles and play with fire, we need to be legally protected.
- Infrastructure: Yes, there will be port-a-potties. As many as the port-a-potty company recommends (we won't have a good idea of the crowd until later). There are also a handful of permanent outhouses scattering around the periphery of the lake - including one near our site.
In addition, there will also be lighting for the event and the bands, PA system, a movie screen for film viewing, heavy-duty generators and electricity, a large pavilion to house the Atomic Cafe, and a VIP tent for Vern. On top of that, we will need to rent fencing in order to keep lookie-lou's and non-payers out of the event. We'd also like to get a massive amount of tires . Oh, yea, and ram skulls would be cool, too.
- Vernon Wells: Always great to have Vernon around. He wants to hang out overnight. For whatever reason, he is quoting Scarlett a much higher price than usual. We'll see.
- Medical personnel. It's always good to have some medical people around. And if we end up getting the Thunderdome, they have asked that we get two trained paramedics on stand-by. (We don't know if we will have the dome, but there is reason to be optimistic.)
- Advertising: making hundreds and hundreds of photo copies and driving all over town all day long to drop them off so you can be surrounded by even more cool cars and cool people.
- Not to mention all of the free stuff we're getting that still adds to the value of the event. We're getting bands for free, but we have decided to pay our two talented headliners traveling expenses. (Vendors will either be allowed to come free-of-charge or will be charged a small fee since they are there to make a buck). I am recording a radio program (real songs with fake ads) to be played in the Atomic Cafe. We are also going to have a gyrocopter pilot fly in for photo ops & Q and A.
- And if there is some money left, it would be nice if I could be compensated for the thousands of dollars I want to shell out to make accurate Bartertown Guard outfits for the security team. But I would make them anyway.
- God knows what else we can get our hands on in the next 7 months that we'll need money for. Fire-breathing robots? AC/DC? Mel Gibson?

As far as Vernon being listed as a guest before he was confirmed, that was just a call Scarlett made. It's maybe not what I would have done, but she was very determined to have him come, plus she had certain unnamed fans promising her that they would get Vern for her. In the end, I was the one that stepped in and sealed the deal.

As far as the date, that is something Scarlett decided on a while ago based on a lot of research. She took a look at a number of factors and figured out that late November was the best time to have an event because of the low average rainfall, relatively low wind, and the mild temperatures (high 70, low 40). She definitely didn't want everyone sweating in their leathers. I'm sorry, but the mountain passes in Oregon were the last things on our minds. We will see what we can do. We need to make sure that participants who have already paid for their tickets are ok with it and haven't already purchased non-refundable airline tickets. I know you, Dee and Troy will be sacrificing a lot coming down from the PNW, as well as adding a lot of value to the event with all of the replicas. As a matter of fact, we decided a while ago that you should be able to get in for free. So there's your notice: Bill, Dee, Troy (and Humvee) get in for free and get to bring a guest. You guys will deserve a break somewhere. We are not a for-profit business like the monster truck shows, but we'll do what we can!

This event will happen rain or shine. If the lake gets flooded, we have an area within the park picked out already. We will not offer refunds - we need people to make a commitment to this event. We have people to pay and we don't want to be left with the check if half the participants decide to suddenly bail out. Hopefully, we will be buying the permits and insurance very soon. We don't have any idea how many people will show up, but we will cap things at 600 so it doesn't become too crowded. I know there aren't that many of us hardcore card-carrying Mad Max fans out there, but there are plenty of people in L.A. who appreciate the films and would love to be there! And I am excited to inform you that as of midnight May 4th, we already had 42 tickets sold! So 7 months before the event, we are already getting record turnout! I think getting at least 200 participants is doable at this point.

[Max Replica]

Great post Karol, answers a lot of questions.

Just to clarify one thing that I think Bill might have been asking - although tickets are non-refundable if we change our minds, we WOULD get a refund if for some reason the event was completely cancelled right? (or postponed 6 months for instance).
Seems obvious but it might be good to clarify.

[Karol]

Jared, if such a hypothetical situation were to occur, I'm sure Scarlett would do her best to return all of the money that had not been spent yet. Of course the closer we get to the event, the more we will have to lay down, and the more we are locked into doing this event. And the more people buy airline tickets and get the time off from work, the more we owe it to them to make this event happen. This event is not for our benefit, but for the benefit of all people who love Mad Max.

[HUMVEE Driver]

I get in for free? Sweet! But I already bought my ticket!

HUMVEE Driver

[March Hare]

... been trying , without any reply, to volunteer my labor for the entire three day shin-dig.. I thought maybe my 10 years experience in Festival Labor & Logistics Management, (including events such as the Arizona State Fair, and both the L.A. & Orange County Fairs), would come in handy...

I don't work pro bono for ANYBODY, especially for 72 solid hours , but I wanted to contribute in making this event a HUGE success, so maybe it would become an annual event.

Looks like i'm just gonna have to buy a tix, and be a spectator.