How to stage a car meet when you haven't got a clue (or budget)

If you saw the intro to the former Top Gear trio’s new motoring show, The Grand Tour, you’ll have been reminded of just how much fun a big car meet can be. Ok, so most of us don’t attend petrol-fuelled gatherings that feature virtually every supercar known to man, fire breathing metal monsters, live music, a Californian desert location and the US equivalent of the Red Arrows, but not many car gatherings have a budget delivered by Amazon, either. If you’ve attended meets yourself and have spotted an opportunity to hold one in your area, you may be wondering where to start. How do you capture the interest of fellow petrolheads? What do you need to do in order to peak their attention and get them to go along? How do you promote it? Where should you hold it? If these thoughts have prevented you from staging a car meet, don’t worry - we’ve got five brilliant tips for doing it without breaking your bank balance or causing any form of nervous breakdown.

1. Decide on a theme

Petrolhead gatherings work best when they are themed. That usually means focussing on a particular manufacturer (say, Porsche), a specific type of car (say, classic) or a certain element of car ownership (say, the desire to keep one’s vehicle completely factory standard). You could, of course, use a combination of the above, but deciding upon a theme for your meet will be the most important thing you do and will enable you to focus on an effective promotion campaign.

2. Choose a location and date

Where are you going to stage the meet? Consider your location, but also the possible location from which others will be travelling. The physical location at which the meet takes place is obviously of vital importance, too. You’ll need to pick land on which you’re not breaking any laws in staging such an event but, equally, one where you’re unlikely to irritate or get in the way of the general public. Remote public car parks that are often unused are usually your best bet.

3. Speak to the experts

We’re assuming you’ve attended the odd meet yourself, and if you’ve got one in the pipeline, make sure you take time out to speak to the organisers. They’ve successfully done what you want to do. How did they do it? What challenges did they meet along the way? Learn from their successes and mistakes.

4. Use social media

Paid promotion shouldn’t be required for your meet. Save yourself money by investing a significant amount of time in social media campaigning. Come up with a hashtag (#ClassicCarNoho, for example) and start posting incessantly about it. Create a simple, free website for it on Wordpress and share the link on Twitter and Facebook as often as possible. Then…

5. Hit the forums!

If there’s one section of the internet in which you’ll find petrolheads aplenty, it’s on forums. Because you now have a theme, location, date and social media presence for your meet, you can start targeting those most likely to attend. You may already be a member of the relevant forum(s), but if not, get signed up. Put up a post announcing your event and add details of it to your signature. Engage with conversations already taking place on the forum and take every opportunity to mention your meet. That’s it! Happy meet planning! If you think we’ve missed something, do not hesitate to give us your tips in the comments section, below. Image credit