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Hicksville Planning Committee (HPC)

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  • Tejano Scott

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    Jun 6, 2011
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    Hicksville Planning Committee:

    It brings me great happiness to introduce a new concept that TGT is trying for the next few Hicksville events. TGT Staff has created a Hicksville Planning Committee, or HPC for short, to address several issues regarding the Hicksville event. The Hicksville event has taken on a life of it’s own and has always been run by the efforts of volunteers. As this event has grown from a few people to 80+, we’ve become acutely aware that we must become better organized and deal with some of the issues that promise to undermine the Hicksville event if not addressed in a more coherent fashion.

    Please allow me to answer a few questions you may ask:

    1. Who are the members of the HPC and how were they chosen? The members of the HPC were chosen based off their contributions to past events. The decision to add these folks was made by me alone, Tejano Scott. The buck stops with me. That doesn’t mean I don’t recognize the contributions of every member who has made this event great, but I think we can all agree the following folks have gone out of their way to donate time, money, and effort to the Hicksville event. The HPC Members are: Glockster69, Younggun, Elbe, Benenglish, Shotgun Jeremy, AngeliaH, JTyler, RobertC1024, Vaquero, Glockowner, and Orbitup. Site staff is working directly with the HPC to ensure they have everything we need to host & (possibly) grow this event in the safest way possible. TGT Site owners Kevin and Lee have been extremely supportive in allowing this to happen. All of the other admins/mods are fully on board and I thank each of them.

    2. What will the HPC do? The HPC will help organize our volunteer efforts to make sure several of the issues we’ve identified are addressed in the best way possible. Frankly, this event has grown to a size that requires better advanced planning. The HPC is simply going to be given a separate section of the site to discuss some of the issues we are experiencing and interface with site staff. It will not be a dictatorship and all ideas, etc. are still welcome. When appropriate, major decisions will still be made by the larger group.

    3. I have contributed to Hicksville and feel I should be included in the HPC. What’s left for me? This event is nothing without our volunteers. We will still need every ounce of support we can get and then some. Please give this concept a chance and harbor no ill will against anyone but myself-Tejano Scott. The HPC Members did not ask for this, it was thrust upon them and they have agreed to assist site staff with addressing issues that impact the future of this event. Your input and efforts are still needed- yesterday, today, and always.

    4. What issues does the Hicksville event face that makes TGT Staff believe we need an event planning committee? This event was easy to manage when we had 15-40 people in attendance. Now we are consistently drawing 65+ people, there are legitimate issues that must be addressed. For example, 3 major issues that must be immediately addressed:

    Size of the Event in relation to Range Capabilities: Let’s face it, we all love Hicksville. None of us can dream of holding this event anywhere else. But we are threatening to be too large for the range to accommodate. 1 bathroom, 2-3 full time range staff, parking, camping pre-Hicksville, space on the rifle/pistol lines, etc. We are being presented with serious logistical issues associated with our size. The HPC is working already with JD Hicks to address all of these issues. Once workable solutions can be proposed, we will introduce these to the group and allow everyone to provide input and ideas. But we needed to have a centralized message and speaker with JD, as opposed to 15 random members calling him and throwing out ideas. If we want to fix issues related to the size of the event, we had to have better organization.

    Safety: We want this event to be as safe as possible. There are safety issues that must be addressed. Full time volunteer RSOs are something I heard numerous people suggest at our previous meets. That is going to happen. We also believe we need to be smarter about our grand finale, we’ve all seen how devastating a blast we can inflict on these poor helpless cars. We can only scoot the car back so far. We are very fortunate that we have a very safe group, but let’s always strive to be safer and smarter. This event would lose everything that we love if even 1 person is injured out there.

    Financial Issues: The expenses for this event have grown each time we’ve hosted it. We raised $477 dollars in donations last time, a very good number. However, several members have donated hundreds of dollars in food, tannerite, cars, wear & tear on their vehicles/trailers having to haul a blown up car around. My current guess is it would take approximately $1500 to cover the true expenses of this event. This event will only be a money making venture for the Hicks family. The site/sponsors will receive exposure and good press in exchange for any services provided/donated. Volunteers who shell out money to feed, buy tannerite, acquire cars, etc. deserve to be reimbursed at cost. Time is free. Whoever hauls the car needs to be paid (at a minimum) mileage to/from the event, scrapyard, etc. Any disposal/acquistion costs of the car need to be reimbursed. Extra money raised via raffles, donations, or any money making ventures should go towards: a) any range improvements we can help JD make; b) gets rolled over into a fund that goes towards paying expenses for the next event. Like it or not, organizing money for events like this is going to require oversight so members know that the money being raised is going towards the cause, as advertised.

    Summary:

    I love this event. It started as a small simple Central Texas range day idea from Younggun, that saw people like Glockster69 and Houston Crew crash the party. The first event was really special and we knew we had an awesome venue and the chance to grow this event. Hicksville has grown faster than any of us ever contemplated. It is important to maintain an outstanding relationship with the Hicks family, better plan for the size of the event, dramatically improve safety, and raise sufficient funds to cover the expenses of those who pay to make this event happen. Please be on the lookout for the discussion thread for the next event very soon. It is imperative to pick a date and get moving as quickly as possible. Once we have a date, we will want to start organizing efforts ASAP and getting feedback from everyone for issues that you think need to be addressed.

    Finally, once again, if you have an issue about the HPC please PM me personally. I do not want there to be anyone upset about any of this. This should be accepted for what it is- EXTREMELY GOOD NEWS!!! Thank you to the HPC members for their assistance and thank everyone who makes this event awesome. Lastly, and most importantly, Curtis wants all of you to never forget- he is still the handsome one.:roflfunny:
    Military Camp
     

    Dawico

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    The events have definitely grown to the point that they require some more organization.

    Very good idea and should benefit the events.
     

    Byrd666

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    I'm a "nobody"as far as Hicksville, etc. goes, and with the latest being my first but, hopefully, not last, I'd be more than willing to volunteer to something to make the event more memorable than the last. If that means I haul out 2 washers this time. Done. If you need help with parking, done. Just give me fair advanced warning, and I'll do what I can. Whatever. As long as it's not latrine duty.


    Byrd
     

    TXARGUY

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    I really like this idea. I am definitely in for the next one. Something that the committee might think about is contacting hotels in the area and seeing if they will offer deals to TGT members for accommodations and post a list of those that do. I travel a lot and Hicksville is out of my way so It won't just be a day trip for me. I'm sure I'm not alone.
     
    Last edited:

    jrbfishn

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    Only complaint I have about the last meet is me.
    Next time, I will bring pre-cooked food.

    Committee sounds good, as well as the people you picked.
    from a non-recovering coffeeholic
     

    Glockster69

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    All though very early I'm quite pleased to see the positive responses, thank you. Massive failure but we hadn't considered a bowl committee. :p


    One thing Scott didn't mention is he formed the HPC on April 7, just 2 days after the last meet. That's forward thinking IMO.


    ARdood: we have been talking about hotel rooms and early indications are you should not expect GREAT news but there may be good news coming.
     

    Elbe

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    I really like this idea. I am definitely in for the next one. Something that the committee might think about is contacting hotels in the area and seeing if they will offer deals to TGT members for accommodations and post a list of those that do. I travel a lot and Hicksville is out of my way so It won't just be a day trip for me. I'm sure I'm not alone.

    I do not think we have a huge volume of people booking hotels in the area. However, realize that there are, IMO, big safety and theft issues if publishing a list of hotels where attendees are staying with their firearms that many have already advertised that they are bringing.

    I think you could get the same "group" rate discount with AAA, military discount, and other similar programs.
     

    TundraWookiee

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    This is good to hear and I think it needed to happen. These events are growing and even the last one felt more put together and organized than the prior ones. I think with a little more focus put on this that we can keep it safe and fun for years to come. Just a thought, is there any way a bank account or fund could be opened in regards to this? Something where we can donate throughout the months leading up to a meet if we wished...

    You guys know that you can always ask me for help if you need any volunteers for something. I try to bring what I can but with the long drive its hard to bring and cook food or anything like that. Thanks for doing this guys.
     

    Tejano Scott

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    This is good to hear and I think it needed to happen. These events are growing and even the last one felt more put together and organized than the prior ones. I think with a little more focus put on this that we can keep it safe and fun for years to come. Just a thought, is there any way a bank account or fund could be opened in regards to this? Something where we can donate throughout the months leading up to a meet if we wished...

    You guys know that you can always ask me for help if you need any volunteers for something. I try to bring what I can but with the long drive its hard to bring and cook food or anything like that. Thanks for doing this guys.


    Thanks Jared, you are a big reason this event has been such a success. I always know I can count on you (and all of the Houston Crew- even Clark). We are looking into having a bank account or at least a designated Treasurer oversee the funds that gets raised and spent. We definitely want folks to know there is accountability and transparency in the way in which funds are collected and disbursed.

    I'm very happy to hear and see the early reaction to the HPC. The Hicksville event is such an awesome event and Jared is right- we've got better every time we put it on. We want that trend to continue. Making sure the quality improves while insuring we have the ability to handle the crowd if we get bigger, that's the difficult part. I've heard numerous members say at the previous 2 meets "that this is about as big as we can handle". In it's present formation, that's accurate. We are certainly at the crossroads. If this event continues to grow at it's present pace, or even slower, we could be looking at crowds of 150-200 people showing up and wanting to live the Hicksville experience within the next 2 years. If we don't plan now, we will have to consider things like maximum capacity limits, etc.
     

    Southpaw

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    Great forward thinking and I can't imagine anything proposed here would be a problem for anyone. The people chosen do a lot more then I personally could do myself and their efforts aren't lost on me. I'm really thankful that you guys have stepped up in both the past and certainly for the future of these events.
     

    scgstuff

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    Sounds like a wonderful idea, Scott. Thanks for putting it together and thanks to all HPC members. Seems crazy we have gone from a couple steel plates propped on the berm to this size event with multiple "fun" targets in such a short time. I would agree that an account where people could PayPal or somehow fund when they had a little extra at any time would make things easier to plan since you have an idea of budget ahead of time instead of waiting to until before the meet and asking people to donate then. Then it sometimes becomes "Should I throw in an extra few dollars or get a little more ammo?"

    Also want to say thanks again to the sponsors of the raffle from the last event. (Even though Syrup didn't pull my number out.) I hope the generous sponsors and the HPC can continue that.
     

    TXARGUY

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    Yeah, I'd kick in a few bucks from time to time as well if there was an account set up. Agreed on the planning now for future growth. That's just smart forward thinking.
     

    Dawico

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    First mission: next shoot date.

    We will see how the committee handles that before we throw too much at them.

    Next weekend works for me. I have faith the new committee can make that happen.
     

    TXARGUY

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    First mission: next shoot date.

    We will see how the committee handles that before we throw too much at them.

    Next weekend works for me. I have faith the new committee can make that happen.

    I'm not doing anything right now except for jack legging around this forum. We can go shoot today and it would be just fine with me.

    Or if you guys just like planning then....
     
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