The post by opie was by myself (Thomas needs to learn to log out of texags)

As for the little hops for busses... I personally hadnt thought about that and I will bring it up to beth tonight

Perhaps Sam's. they have a huge lot on hwy6.

Is Harry's a possibility? I know it ran there one year. What about the empty albertsons on University, maybe the owners of the building would agree to using the parking lot.

The hops are a good idea. They reduce the complexity of the load balancing problem considerably.

Even a shuttle from the 21 and 6 intersection to HRH would be effective. Just have the other busses drop folks off at a nearby area, reducing the time bottleneck of every bus making the trip to and from HRH.


The downside is you might have customers that are a little put off by getting on and off several different busses to get to and from burn.

We have asked several of the large churches and they all said no.

For directions to all parking locations please visit www.studentbonfire.com. There is a link for each location that will pull up a map.

Keegan, I completely understand what you're saying.

Quite personally, if I was in charge of logistics, there would be no on site parking, cept for VIPs, etc... and all parking would be run from a central location. (keeps things simple - no one has to turn around and try to find parking when there's no spots left)

The mall has an event that night, so we can't do that.

When fall came, I was not in charge of parking (or public relations). I assume the Hall got cranked up because virtually all the Browns work there and we won't have to pay people to park cars there (they're donating their time).

I've called pretty much any business that has a large parking lot in the area. Because Saturdays are the busiest days, they won't allocate us many spots. (20-50 does not justify a shuttle route)

Here's the lowdown.

The Hall has about 500-1000 spots, depending on weather.
The Rodeo Arena was suggested by the Judge. There's 150 spots in a pasture there.
Veteran's Park is a new sports complex off of Harvey on the east side of 6. There's 200 spots there.

I took over parking about 2 weeks ago because I had the same concerns.

I've called anywhere from Central Baptist to St. Mary's to Sam's to Walmart to Academy to Home Depot... the list goes on seemingly endless. And all of those were fruitless. Basically, you have to work with what's out there and because it's on the night it is (there's several other events going on, too), there's not a whole lot to go on.

Right now, I am trying my damndest to get Northgate to approve us running a bus from the one way street on the promenade. I've tried talking Harry's into us using their lot, too. I personally stopped by last Friday and it didn't seem too promising, after several phone calls. I will hear back about Northgate tomorrow.

We're meeting with the bus people this week to discuss balancing loads and whatnot. There will be plenty of buses on call, so the # of buses can be adjusted for passenger flow. I'm not worried about a shortage of buses.

I recognize the potential imbalance of lots, but I really don't know what else there is to do. Yes, there is a finite # of spots in each lot. These are the best that we could tie down.

As for getting the word out, I also too that responsibility up two weeks ago because it was not going anywhere. All of the local news has been out and has run stories on us. Lonestar 92.5 was supposed to have a Greypot on the morning show, but we haven't heard anything back. They were still interested on Friday. I'll take that upon myself to push that tomorrow, too.

As for advertisements, I do not believe that the powers above me want to spend the money on it. Chelsey and I have gotten thousands of flyers printed which were handed out to the dorms to spread around. That is only a drop in the bucket.

Jack was on 98.3 and their sister station for 3 weeks multiple times a day spreading some information.

If anyone has means to mass communicate for cheap or free, please let me know. I'll take you up on that offer. It's just that I think that money was deemed more important for construction than for burn night.

Slim, I'll be out there from midnight to 6 if you'd like to try and explain the Disney concept. I'm up for listening and making a case to whomever if it makes sense.

And AB2, you're right. Things like this do NOT need to be addressed in November. There was a post-burn suggestion thread that I took and implemented in my Greenpot report. The problem is that people were clearly defined what their responsibilities were, but when it came down to it, those responsibilities were reassigned. Then things didn't get done. That problem will be addressed for next year, but (thankfully) I will be d-e-a-d and will be devoid of the stress and worries of this week come this time next year. I'll gladly pass on my $.06 and hope it's taken to heart.

And as for my emotional appeals... they're not unneccessary. Bonfire is damn special and like it or not, is emotional.

My sisters and I are doing our best to reduce the logistical problem that has occurred... and there's only so much that can be turned around with the timespan that was given.

Point being, it's still going to be awesome and I stand by what I said. You can either pick this thing to death or lend a hand - one demeans the hard work that hords of us have put in as well as the heart of the Aggie Family and one draws us closer together.

Regardless of the logistics and the headaches, Bonfire will burn and it will be wonderful. It will be a defining experience. It will be a culmination of the Aggie Spirit. I personally can't wait.

I hope the northgate location or Harry's comes through. Both of those are walking distance from campus which would cut down greatly the parking needed.

I am surprised someone has not offered their lot even if they charge a couple of dollars a car to park--that would make money for the church and then they just need to give you a place to load the busses.

NSG, sounds like you need major help--wish you had let us know on here sooner.

People--brainstorm. That just sounds short on the parking--there has to be somewhere more--think ags.
[This message has been edited by 3rd Generation Ag (edited 11/14/2005 8:13p).]

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From 4 to 6 you could tell people to go to Northgate and then tell others to drive to Northgate to fill up their cars (5 people) before heading out to Burn site.

The northgate idea sounds awesome, who gives approval for that? The howdy club sponsors a bus trip that I know the last two years has simply parked a charter bus on Boyett at the Church street intersection for an entire day. Maybe you can have busses pick up there. I don't think you'd need any businesses permission but I'm sure a traffic jam of busses on Boyett would piss CSPD off a little but I don't know that any laws would be broken?

NSG - IM me sometime. There's an easy solution for this in '06.

Would Harry's be open to letting us have just a shuttle stop in their parking lot... let people park on campus in the garages or around northgate and walk to Harry's to catch the bus?
We've worked with Mr. Culpepper personally before if you're not getting what you need from Harry's management.

NSG- Are there any (Good Ag) large acreage landowners fairly near the site? I wonder if any might be open to the idea. With organized parking, you could get 140 cars in one acre, easily 100. So, about 5 acres gets you an easy 500 cars. Wouldn't hurt to ask. If you have a contact with the county government, they should be able to get you the landowners contact info.

3GA, had I known it was an issue earlier, I would have made it known that we needed help.

AB2, I plan on having little to no responsibility regarding bonfire after I pass my info down to the girls. If you ever have any suggestions, e-mail the info@studentbonfire.com account.

RealDeal - there is an organization called the "Northgate Association" and I have a contact for them (finally). She is waiting on approval from the members of the Northgate Assn.

buildthehell - Problem is, if you just have a shuttle stop, people are still going to come and park there anyway.

Analogy - we've spoken to some landowners in the area and there hasn't been many that have been too receptive.

Honestly guys, I feel confident that the NG thing will be approved. It'd be a good thing for the bars on NG and the contact that I have seemed pretty interested. I think that if this occurs, then we'll be good on parking. We'd be better off had this occured weeks ago where it could be mass communicated.

Oh and 3GA, we talked about the shuttle hops last night. I am not sure it would work this year because of the way it's set up. Great idea, though!

quote:

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AB2, I plan on having little to no responsibility regarding bonfire after I pass my info down to the girls.

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That's part of the problem right there. You need to be around a LOT to oversee the work next year and ensure they don't make the same mistakes that have been repeated for the last three years despite the annual "yea, we'll definitely get that fixed" promises.

Keegan, When you pour everything you have into something and get nothing but complaints from old ags and current students, it wears on you.

As for dealing with your comment about sticking around, they have the jr/sr relationship that was present in pre-99 Bonfire. The jrs are handling alot of the work and are being directed by the srs. The srs are not going to abandon Bonfire but they do need to be able to move on and focus on their schooling and futures.

Many of these Guys/Gals have put 3-4 years into Bonfire and have little to show except some bad grades and good friends. They need to be able to handle their future and if it requires stepping away from Bonfire, they need to do it. It took me a whole year ('04 Bonfire) to get my life in order where i could help out with Bonfire again.

Cut these Guys/Gals some slack.

jim - I understand that, but at the very least, a much better job needs to be done transitioning and sharing knowledge.

As a donor and a major proponent of Student Bonfire, seeing the same major mistakes year after year while being told "we'll fix it next year" does not engender confidence.

I understand your stance and feel the same way about many things but keep in mind that many of these people have no social life outside of working on Bonfire. They go to class and meetings and then Bonfire meetings. They are trying and things are improving rapidly.

Something as simple as bus load-out from stack after burn takes some thinking and planning, and has been covered along with lighting along the walkway to and from the bus. How we are going to deal with mobility impaired patrons... Many problems we have had in the past have been addressed (most have been eliminated but some still need improvement).

NSG - Did you contact St. Anthony's Catholic Church about the property they own on Tabor Road? It is the land on the north side of Tabor Rd, about a mile east of Hwy 6, with the large pavillion.

The property is larger than it looks. St. Anthony's has its annual bazaar there, which pulls at least a thousand people.

Anyway, weather permitting, you could park a substantial amount of cars there. A portion of the parking is on gravel, but the open field behind the pavillion is grass. You would need about a 6-12 volunteers to help direct cars and maximize the space.

If you have not contacted St. Anthony's, reply to this message, and give me a way to contact you this evening. It's my childhood church and my folks have some pull there.

Keegan, I think we both see eye to eye here. I basically said that once I pass down the knowledge, I am looking forward to not having responsibility (slim hit the reason why on the head).

If you take a second and look at who I am, I think we can agree that I am a very thorough person. My report last year was quite inclusive, as will it be this year.

Me saying that I am happy that I won't have tons of responsibility does not mean that I will abandon my daughters and the organization. Bonfire means way too much to me for that to be the case. It's been my life and my identity for 4 years.

My Jrs know that they'll be able to count on me for advice and support once I'm dead. I won't hesitate to lend a hand, but when it's time for them to step up to the plate, they must be allowed to.

But there's only so much that I can do and I am finally realizing that. I've tried and tried to get certain things to change - till I am blue in the face - for two years now.

I'll continue to by explaining the reasoning to my daughters. But, I don't think that it's our realm that is exactly the problem. There's only so much a subordinate can do, especially in hierarchical organizations.

This whole conversation makes it seem like everything's doom and gloom, when that's not the case. I think that we have made a lot of real progress this year. But I also think that we should hold ourselves to high standards because when Ags get together, anything is possible. Nothing is out of our reach if it's done right.

We started planning in the spring for the first time... ever... We reincorporated as a non-profit and we'll be filing tax exempt paperwork before the year is over. We sent Greypots out to spread the word. There's been a sharp increase in financial support. Not to mention that there's now a board that provides oversight. Each of these things will and should be capitalized upon next year. I won't go into the discussion about why not this year right now. The environment and the timing will be better than ever in 2006.

And for a 4th year in a row, Bonfire will burn. Let's save this conversation for the next few weeks and concentrate on the fact that in 4 days, thousands of Ags are going to unite in one impressive force.

I'm not trying to dampen the importance of this issue - I'm just trying to say that we have a lot to look forward to in the next few days.





willis - They said no for year #3. I wish I knew that you had some pull with them before we asked. After burn is over, e-mail the info@studentbonfire.com account and let Amanda know this is the case.

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nevermind, not needed

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build- I got some local contacts today. I am going to be out of pocket for an hour or two, but can I call you tonight?

sure, give me a call. I'll do what I can to help... sounds like you're off in the right direction.

northsidegreek06--it sounds like you guys/gals have your work cut out for you but that you are rising to the challenge to the best of your ability. I commend you for that. I will be making my first trip to an off campus bonfire this year and can't wait to see the result of all the hard work put into it.

I know we're down to the last minute, but I just found this thread. Have you guys considered the Bryan Regional Athletic Complex (BRAC). It's the softball fields in north Bryan close to 2818's intersection with the bypass. Huge parking lot and a short drive for the buses. Just a thought.

Good luck and Great Job!

Country, thank you. I hope that your experience is enjoyable!

We had not thought of that place, but I think parking is settled - at least as much as it can be this close to the event. Thank you and that will be put in the books for future considerations.

Another site with huge parking would be Texas World Speedway. I know its pretty far from the current site but may be an option for future years. Heck just have bonfire on the infield!

That northgate pick up might have great irony. People could park in the pay garages on campus and then ride the bus. Dorm people won't have to drive at all. It is brilliant.

Texas World Speedway said no.