GRRC Membership - Is it worth it?
Discussion
hurstg01 said:
Ian Wegg said:
hurstg01 said:
I'm leaning towards not renewing this year - The Members Meeting now being open to non members ...
I have to pick up on that one as you're the second person to say that. The MM isn't now open to non-members, it always has been. Tickets go on sale to members, and these days "fellows", until the end of the year then any remaining tickets go on general sale. So far no MM has sold out to members but it could happen.Ian Wegg said:
hurstg01 said:
I'm leaning towards not renewing this year - The Members Meeting now being open to non members ...
I have to pick up on that one as you're the second person to say that. The MM isn't now open to non-members, it always has been. Tickets go on sale to members, and these days "fellows", until the end of the year then any remaining tickets go on general sale. So far no MM has sold out to members but it could happen.SS7
I'm going to give up my membership at the end of the year. Having been a member for 8 years now (could be 7 
) I have seen the member benefits go down over time to almost zero for me. I used to attend the events and thought the discount on ticket prices plus one or two other little things the club arranged/made available (golf rounds and a few nice events at The Kennels) via GRRC membership were worth the membership fee but as that has risen and ticket prices for events followed along the same path the benefit of being a member is now much diminished. I also get invites to all the events via corporate contacts these days as each is now attracting more and more of these as the years go by.
I am not "out of love" with the idea of the GRRC but the leaps forward in the corporate sector involvement with events in recent years means that paying to be a member is no longer a worthwhile expense for me. Plus I found it impossible to get on any of the visits the club arranged over the years, almost as if there was a bit of a closed shop here.
I'll continue to support events at Goodwood and attend where I can but membership of the club is no longer a viable option for me. I believe others are thinking along the same lines. The club will not notice this in membership levels as they have a significant waiting list of people wanting to join and as such will be fully subscribed for many years to come. The issue of paying to be on a waiting list is something that frankly galls me but each to their own and the estate is only maximizing it's income levels wherever they can.
) I have seen the member benefits go down over time to almost zero for me. I used to attend the events and thought the discount on ticket prices plus one or two other little things the club arranged/made available (golf rounds and a few nice events at The Kennels) via GRRC membership were worth the membership fee but as that has risen and ticket prices for events followed along the same path the benefit of being a member is now much diminished. I also get invites to all the events via corporate contacts these days as each is now attracting more and more of these as the years go by. I am not "out of love" with the idea of the GRRC but the leaps forward in the corporate sector involvement with events in recent years means that paying to be a member is no longer a worthwhile expense for me. Plus I found it impossible to get on any of the visits the club arranged over the years, almost as if there was a bit of a closed shop here.
I'll continue to support events at Goodwood and attend where I can but membership of the club is no longer a viable option for me. I believe others are thinking along the same lines. The club will not notice this in membership levels as they have a significant waiting list of people wanting to join and as such will be fully subscribed for many years to come. The issue of paying to be on a waiting list is something that frankly galls me but each to their own and the estate is only maximizing it's income levels wherever they can.
GT3-RS said:
so you got to pay a £29 fee to join the waiting list so you can then pay to become a member....I'm not sure of the reason why you have to pay a waiting list fee....but to me this just smacks of "GREED" how many hundreds are waiting and for how long ?
You get the £30 deducted from the joining fee and it means that while on the list you get access to certain stuff. Each to their own but makes good business sense. shoestring7 said:
It'll be interesting to see if they still have to open ticket sales up once Goodwood have recruited several thousand(?) Fellowship members.
SS7
In theory it shouldn't make any difference, ticket sales were previously open to the 7,000 people on the waiting list before the fellowship was introduced.SS7
Attendance figures are given in the GRRC annual report and for the first three meetings they were 26,000, 30,000 and 33,000. If that rate of increase is maintained then the 77MM in 2019 will be the first sell out.
Ian Wegg said:
Attendance figures are given in the GRRC annual report and for the first three meetings they were 26,000, 30,000 and 33,000. If that rate of increase is maintained then the 77MM in 2019 will be the first sell out.
Ian, what's the sell out figure? I thought Goodwood were aiming for 20,000 but obviously not. Or is that across the weekend and I'm thinking of each day? Ian Wegg said:
shoestring7 said:
It'll be interesting to see if they still have to open ticket sales up once Goodwood have recruited several thousand(?) Fellowship members.
SS7
In theory it shouldn't make any difference, ticket sales were previously open to the 7,000 people on the waiting list before the fellowship was introduced.SS7
Attendance figures are given in the GRRC annual report and for the first three meetings they were 26,000, 30,000 and 33,000. If that rate of increase is maintained then the 77MM in 2019 will be the first sell out.
SS7
RichB said:
Ian, what's the sell out figure? I thought Goodwood were aiming for 20,000 but obviously not. Or is that across the weekend and I'm thinking of each day?
Yes exactly that Rich. The capacity is 40,000 for the weekend - 20,000 each day. According to a post on the GRRC forum after the first meeting, the "break even" point is 28,000 (14,000 per day).
Yex 450 said:
I am not "out of love" with the idea of the GRRC but the leaps forward in the corporate sector involvement with events in recent years means that paying to be a member is no longer a worthwhile expense for me. Plus I found it impossible to get on any of the visits the club arranged over the years, almost as if there was a bit of a closed shop here.
I will keep my membership even though I am a bit unhappy with it.I agree with the above - the events seem to have become very much more for corporate entertainment, and very much less for the genuine racing enthusiast.
I first went 10 years ago - and every year since bar one. It has changed for the worse. There seems to be a large crowd there now who never venture from the main area, some of whom don't even seem to go and watch the racing. I guess it is the same as people going to Ascot and not being interested in horses.
The event and the GRRC has changed.
They did excel themselves this week.... I got an email from the GRRC entitled "Toyota Exclusive Invitation" only to open it to find I wasn't invited
The best time I have had at Goodwood is when I did an 'experience' with Mithril - nothing to do with the GRRC, and effectively Goodwood's corporate plans with BMW seemed to shut Mithril down shortly afterwards.
swerni said:
They extended the deadline for the fellowship and have been phoning those on the waiting list.
Clearly they aren’t getting the take up they’d hoped for.
Or the take up has been strong and they’re just mopping up the last few hold outs. Clearly they aren’t getting the take up they’d hoped for.
A deadline extension suggests you may well be right though.
150mph said:
swerni said:
They extended the deadline for the fellowship and have been phoning those on the waiting list.
Clearly they aren’t getting the take up they’d hoped for.
Or the take up has been strong and they’re just mopping up the last few hold outs. Clearly they aren’t getting the take up they’d hoped for.
A deadline extension suggests you may well be right though.
swerni said:
They extended the deadline for the fellowship and have been phoning those on the waiting list.
Clearly they aren’t getting the take up they’d hoped for.
Any commercial organisation is going to put most of their effort into converting 'low hanging fruit' - the prospects who have already clearly indicated that they are interested in the product - before they go off and start spending marketing budgets on acquisition.Clearly they aren’t getting the take up they’d hoped for.
SS7
It was extremely easy to put your details on the waiting list.
I seem to recall it was just ticking a Dropbox when you ordered tickets.
I don’t know if you could do the same if you just ordered something from the shop.
Anyway I’m guessing that resulted in thousands on the waiting list who were only part interested.
Monetising the waiting list is quite smart when you think it through.
I don’t think it’s been mentioned before but Glyndebourne did something very similar, so it’s not original thinking.
My only wish is that we all knew where we stood in the queue and how long approximately the wait might be.
Both should be relatively easy to calculate now.
I seem to recall it was just ticking a Dropbox when you ordered tickets.
I don’t know if you could do the same if you just ordered something from the shop.
Anyway I’m guessing that resulted in thousands on the waiting list who were only part interested.
Monetising the waiting list is quite smart when you think it through.
I don’t think it’s been mentioned before but Glyndebourne did something very similar, so it’s not original thinking.
My only wish is that we all knew where we stood in the queue and how long approximately the wait might be.
Both should be relatively easy to calculate now.
RichB said:
Phone the office and tell them to knock the fellowship fee off. I'm sure they will.
They probably will, just think they should acknowledge being in the fellowship or it is as others say just a money making exercise.The letter / paperwork should at least mention the fellowship, no mention of it anywhere, seems strange as you now need to be a fellowship member to be on the waiting list.
Edited by tighnamara on Friday 3rd November 22:25
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