Ga.spider, aka Craig Nelson, is a BOD member, as am I. I'll try to answer some of your questions.
We ask the FLU chapters for proposals for a Freakout each year during the FFO board meeting. We ask the chapters because, 1st, you do need to be a FLU member to attend and 2nd, it takes a concerted effort from several people to plan, organize and put on the 3 or 4 day show. One of many things we look for in a proposal is whether or not the show will have a strong support group. If an individual decides he/she could meeting the criteria, I'm sure we would consider it, but as it stands, it's hard as hell to even get established chapters to belly up to the bar.
I put on the Dixie Fiatfest every year. I have been lucky it has been a popular event and I am thankful to the people that travel far and wide to attend. I am able to put this event together, organize and execute if by myself because it's pretty dang simple and straightforward. The people that show up almost expect me to pull them out of the group to help and I do. The Freakout consists of 300+ people that need to be fed and entertained. It takes a year of planning, a group of dedicated people that are willing to sacrifice their entire weekend and lots of work.
There are a couple reasons to be a FLU member. One and most importantly, the club has a liability policy that allows us to rent a parking lot for an Autox or close off a part of a small town for a car show or rally. The club will not be held liable if someone complains or gets hurt. I know this means nothing to some that don't like to be part of a club, but when I ask Wake Forest University if I can use their parking lot for the autox, they first want to see a copy of my liability policy. Being a FLU member guarantees each of us won't be sued if something unforeseen happens at an event.
Another reason we ask people to be a member is to help with the cost of incidentals, such as flyers, the Ricambi, banners, etc for the Freakout. It's only $35 for goodness sake. That's one night out for steak. It does cost to participate in the Freakout, but once you start planning your very own, you'll realize that nothing's free out there. We try our hardest to break even and it gets harder every year.
Hope this clears up a few of your concerns.
Denise
