A few years ago, the fine folks at DODOlogic thought holding a meet would be a great way to test our reach. With only a few hundred Facebook followers, a webpage and no such thing as Instagram, we held our first DODO meet. When 100 or so cars showed up, we realized we were on to something. Fast forward a couple years and these meets consistently bring in hundreds of cars from across Saskatchewan (and beyond). These meets have become the target deadline to complete a build, as well as seasonal markers for the beginning and the end of each car season in the province.
I get that it probably sounds like I’m humble bragging, but to be honest I don’t have as much to do with these meets as I used to. There’s a small team of folks in Regina who make sure these meets go off without a hitch – or as little hitches as possible. Sure, I make a few posters and try my hand at design everyone once and a while. But with the exception sending a few messages and emails, I really don’t do a whole hell of a lot. So, I’m not so much bragging as praising the people who get the work done and gather the media.
Preparing for this year’s meet was filled with ups and downs, and I got to sit back and watch the drama unfold from Vancouver. As you can imagine, securing a location for several hundred cars isn’t always the easiest thing to do in Regina. Venues usually don’t understand the magnitude of what we’re looking for and they often offer us parking lots that hold less than 100 cars.
On the day of the meet, there’s always one or two guys who didn’t get the memo and seem to think that a parking lot full of cars wants to hear their exhaust, see a burnout or witness a drift demo. These displays don’t do us any favours when it comes to locking down locations, but I guess it’s all part of the challenge.
This year, we were also presented with a whole new challenge aside from securing a parking lot: we found ourselves having to dismantle a rumour. It was a great exercise in realizing that no news doesn’t necessarily mean good news.
It might be weird to hear someone talk about the behind-the-scenes processes and hurdles that we face. Usually when you read one of these articles, you expect to read an article about how great the event was and how it went off without a hitch. But let’s be real – we write articles all the time that scrutinize and critique events that aren’t ours, and it wouldn’t be fair to give ourselves a pass just because it’s our event.
These events are never perfect. They could use some tweaks here and there. Trust me, we’re well aware of the imperfections and we hear all the praise and concerns when it comes to these events.
DODOlogic meets weren’t intended to be destination events and we weren’t expecting to put Saskatchewan’s car scene on the map. All we were trying to do was bring automotive enthusiasts together so we could be a community. I think that’s a common goal we share with our sponsors and it’s probably why they help us keep these events going.
Thank you to Bag Barn, Works Engineering, Odd Man Out Performance, Redline Society, Mercenary Auto Care and NextGen Automotive Installation. And thank you to everyone who continues to support the Saskatchewan automotive scene. These events may be for the community, but they happen because each of you gets it and shows up.