Rally Organizing

After a weekend up in the Mendocino National Forest (the only National Forest in CA that isn't bisected by a paved road) I posted on SpecialStage about how fabulous the gravel roads up there are. I had a vague memory of a rally having once run up there, and whilst driving up to Lake Pillsbury I was struck by the notion that it would be a terrific rally stage. The surface was relatively smooth, the road pretty wide, it appeared to be regularly graded, and was close to a town that had a number of hotels and would serve well as a headquarters (that town being Ukiah).

My post sparked a host of responses, some reminiscing about previous rallies up there, and some showing enthusiasm for a rebirth of the event. Now I find myself thinking about what actually goes into organizing a rally. Not that I have time to do that, but others do, and I'm sure I'd be glad to help out (my background is in logistics and production so I kind of dig event management).

I suppose the biggest issue is securing the roads. If you can do that, everything else should be reasonably straightforward: secure an HQ hotel and space for service, grab about 100 volunteers, secure a sanctioning body, open up entries, get medical support, choose a route and create roadbooks. Simple, eh?

I've always had a huge amount of respect for organizers but have yet to actually work on an event - my point being that if I can spare the time to go to a rally, I'd rather be co-driving. Perhaps it's time to get involved with working an event. That said, I might be co-driving at the Reno Rally...