The Guide - where to next

[aricus654]

So where do we take the guide?

Should the guide exist, or has it had its day?
What is it that people like and don't like about it?
What do people feel about the relatively high downloads and low donations?
Who are we targeting with the guide?

Aricus

[aricus654]

Nothing?

[Grand_Fromage]

When Club Arnage first started back in 1995, the guide was entirely online. When we went 'printable' ten years later, the pdf download was instantly popular. People liked having it in hard copy because in those days we had no broadband or 4G.

It would be a pity to completely lose the printable nature of the guide so perhaps sections could be printed out individually rather than one monolithic document

I'll ponder some more and get back to you... 

[Landy_Jon]

I'm of the thought that a guide of sorts, covering the mechanics of what Le Mans is, the circuit and transport/accommodation could be the bedrock of the information held. 

[slash]

Sadly, I think that the guide has had it's day. A pioneering document for sure, but one that has become obsolete with the march of technology.
This year we took the 30 year old son of a recently departed team member. It was his first visit and we were amazed at the level of information his Dad seemed to have imparted before his untimely death. Over the week it transpired that he had equipped himself with a number of free apps, and whilst there, had downloaded several more, which his phone was translating into English! In many ways he was better informed than we were.
Printable information of the runners and riders was useful, but let's face it the official programme was 5 euros, hardly going to break the bank, and this year carried comprehensive information on events, getting around, shuttle buses etc. I know that the money goes to a publisher, but realistically how many people downloaded the guide and made no donation.
I think a planning guidance and advice section on the forum where the combined years of knowledge and experience is available to inform people's decision making is the way to go.
Werner you have done an amazing job over the years and I am sure that your original concept has been the inspiration for many of the apps now available, sadly though I think it is time to put the mouse and keyboard away and take a well deserved rest!

[Landy_Jon]

^^^ well said ^^^

Note to self:  must obtain one of those 'smart' phones that connects to an interweb so I can upgrade from my pen and paper (maybe) 

[Grand_Fromage]

The information in the guide is just as valuable as it ever was, it is only the means of delivery that has become outdated, at least for our more 'connected' visitors. There were over 10,000 downloads this year so someone must still be interested. 

Sadly, I think that the guide has had it's day. A pioneering document for sure, but one that has become obsolete with the march of technology.
This year we took the 30 year old son of a recently departed team member. It was his first visit and we were amazed at the level of information his Dad seemed to have imparted before his untimely death. Over the week it transpired that he had equipped himself with a number of free apps, and whilst there, had downloaded several more, which his phone was translating into English! In many ways he was better informed than we were.
Printable information of the runners and riders was useful, but let's face it the official programme was 5 euros, hardly going to break the bank, and this year carried comprehensive information on events, getting around, shuttle buses etc. I know that the money goes to a publisher, but realistically how many people downloaded the guide and made no donation.
I think a planning guidance and advice section on the forum where the combined years of knowledge and experience is available to inform people's decision making is the way to go.
Werner you have done an amazing job over the years and I am sure that your original concept has been the inspiration for many of the apps now available, sadly though I think it is time to put the mouse and keyboard away and take a well deserved rest!

[mgmark]

The information in the guide is just as valuable as it ever was, it is only the means of delivery that has become outdated, at least for our more 'connected' visitors. There were over 10,000 downloads this year so someone must still be interested. 

Sadly, I think that the guide has had it's day. A pioneering document for sure, but one that has become obsolete with the march of technology.
This year we took the 30 year old son of a recently departed team member. It was his first visit and we were amazed at the level of information his Dad seemed to have imparted before his untimely death. Over the week it transpired that he had equipped himself with a number of free apps, and whilst there, had downloaded several more, which his phone was translating into English! In many ways he was better informed than we were.
Printable information of the runners and riders was useful, but let's face it the official programme was 5 euros, hardly going to break the bank, and this year carried comprehensive information on events, getting around, shuttle buses etc. I know that the money goes to a publisher, but realistically how many people downloaded the guide and made no donation.
I think a planning guidance and advice section on the forum where the combined years of knowledge and experience is available to inform people's decision making is the way to go.
Werner you have done an amazing job over the years and I am sure that your original concept has been the inspiration for many of the apps now available, sadly though I think it is time to put the mouse and keyboard away and take a well deserved rest!

+1 on GF's commentary - it is comprehensive on the history, the regs, the runners and riders, the place and how to get to it, where to stay and what to do etc etc in a way that no one other thing does - because its all in one place and not across multiple apps or whatever. Moreover, once downloaded onto a phone, phablet ot tablet, it's there without printing it and it's not reliant on a mobile or wifi signal....

It's relevant and impartial, it's not pushing a gilded line, or sponsored things, and its honest. If something is said to be good it is; if shite, then it is. 

That is probably why it has so many downloads - an astonishing number - even if that has not translated into donations, doing it because it benefits many is still a good thing in itself....

MG Mark

[Grand_Fromage]

I've been musing over the guide this weekend as a distraction from the political earthquakes going on elsewhere which are thankfully not very relevant to CA except possibly for the £/€ exchange rate.

At this point of looking forward to the future of CA, it might be useful to look at our roots

Back in 1994 I was travelling home from Le Mans with a group of friends, all of whom were already 'regulars' at the 24 hours. We were talking about our first time experiences coming to La Sarthe and how clueless were were to begin with. It was the early days of the 'world wide web' as it was called in those days. It seemed a cheap and easy means of helping first time visitors get to the track armed with information that would help avoid the pitfalls that most of us had encountered, and generally make the most of the race. In those days the internet still had a very low profile and only a small minority of homes were connected. The ACO were still several years away from having an official site and when we started we were essentially the only game in town when it came to Le Mans. In 1996 we changed our URL from lemans.co.uk to club-arnage.com and out internet traffic started to grow exponentially. Similar sites started to pop up with special interests and friendship groups such as beermountain and maison-blanche. The peak of our web traffic was around 1999-2001 and I resisted several tempting offers of site sponsorship because we are in essence a fan-driven organisation.

Throughout our history we have striven to make the 24 Hours of Le Mans a better experience for everyone. We have a community spirit and we are friendly and welcoming.

Whatever form the guide evolves into should always keep in mind the first-time visitor. Newbies are the future old-hands. We should assume nothing and tell all.

I'll keep on musing and perhaps crystallise some proposals in the coming days or weeks.
 

[aricus654]

I think there are two interrelated things here, the delivery method and the content.

I do believe in a future for the guide as a single place for valuable information not readily available elsewhere, and in particular to support new visitors to Le Mans.  There is nothing else out there that covers the breadth or depth.

Clearly there are some great apps and web sites that offer face information including the teams, cars and drivers.

I propose that we continue to publish the guide and refresh it on a yearly basis, I suggest that we exclude information that is readily available and better served elsewhere such as teams cars and drivers.

I like a paper copy as it survives long days, poor pattern and bad weather, but I think that an app would be great.  The key question is whether the app would hold the data locally or be kept on a server and called as required.

I'd like to hear CAers views on this proposal, in particular on the scope of the content.

Aricus

[Landy_Jon]

I like to think that I am reasonably technically literate however my phone (I do have a smart phone really) just wouldn't connect to an interweb whilst at Le Mans this year - despite my better half's on the same tariff having no problems.  It was just as well that I had a download of it on me e reader.

However, some apps are designed to operate without an interweb connection ie as you say hold the data locally - which might be the way ahead.  I would have thought that a cloud storage, whilst easier to manage from an Admin point of view for changes, may not be necessary as the info isn't going to change that frequently - unless you want to provide live race reports. (which I think is not the case).

[Jason]

Werner and I were discussing the guide at Spa this year, and one thought was to make it more than a Le Mans guide. We have the readership with hopefully the local knowledge. Why not reduce the LM availability, and open up - perhaps on a basic level to the rest od the WEC? Certainly more UK based members want to head to the Nurburgring.

[aricus654]

Werner and I were discussing the guide at Spa this year, and one thought was to make it more than a Le Mans guide. We have the readership with hopefully the local knowledge. Why not reduce the LM availability, and open up - perhaps on a basic level to the rest od the WEC? Certainly more UK based members want to head to the Nurburgring.

Jason,

I am very interested in this idea.  I think that we can provide the insight on Silverstone, Spa and Nurburgring.  Do you think that we can cover the others including Mexico, Austin, Fuji, Shanghai and Bahrain?

Aricus

[Jason]

Werner and I were discussing the guide at Spa this year, and one thought was to make it more than a Le Mans guide. We have the readership with hopefully the local knowledge. Why not reduce the LM availability, and open up - perhaps on a basic level to the rest od the WEC? Certainly more UK based members want to head to the Nurburgring.

Jason,

I am very interested in this idea.  I think that we can provide the insight on Silverstone, Spa and Nurburgring.  Do you think that we can cover the others including Mexico, Austin, Fuji, Shanghai and Bahrain?

Aricus

It is possible, IF we know people who have/will be going to get information from them. Thankfully we're not just a UK site, so wondering if some of the North America members could feed information???

Am willing to do some preliminary work on Silvers/Spa - there are quite a few CAers who do Spa every year, so perhaps start. I'll be at the Silverstone Classic if you want to discuss/move this along?

[smokie]

This is a great idea but IMO should be done for the love of it, and not let it become a chore for people.

You wouldn't need to have masses of detail on everywhere from day 1. I reckon you could just extend it to give an overview of the series and only put detail where people have it to hand.



One thing I looked for in this year's guide btw was TV schedules. I know that's difficult to find for each country but it'd be nice to add if it can be found, for those not actually there.