As always, the summer season is the busiest on the Wekfest tour. In the span of two months, our show series would cover four cities coast to coast. Having done this for a few years now, I think the crew has gotten accustomed to the hectic scheduling and more recently, have embraced it in full force. As we started with our ten year anniversary event in San Jose, the east coast showcase would become our summer finale.
This year’s event in particular was under close watch. In the previous outing, we experienced some misfortunes and had paid close attention to correcting some of these faults moving forward. One of the main issues was capacity. We had issues with the fire department last year with the amount of exhibitors in the venue as a safety concern. Unfortunately that meant some who signed up for the event was not allowed in. This was actually a blessing in disguise. We lowered the number of accepted entries this year to both ensure we meet all safety requirements, but it also helped us elevate the competition by only accepting the absolute best of the community.
Secondly, we had to not only screen exhibitors for their builds, but also filter out personalities. Last year we had an unfortunate incident where two exhibitors from the same car club were involved in an altercation. Authorities came and handled the situation, but it could have been much worse. This type of bickering and inexcusable fighting is the exact opposite message we try to promote. Yes, the car is the centerpiece, but how you conduct yourself matter too. We want to shine a light into our scene and not advocate negative press from the public’s point of view. If you have a great looking build then that’s great, but if the owner has a bad attitude then we much rather you not come out.
We will admit it, we could have done better and that is exactly what we tried to do for this year’s show. Rearranging the system so it benefits everyone. As the years go on, our platform will become stagnant if we don’t look for ways to improve within ourselves. The branding behind Wekfest is to maintain a certain level of excellence while promoting the sense of open dialogue between enthusiast and businesses alike. It is imperative that as an organization, we address past issues head on and resolve them collectively to the best of our abilities.
Part one consist of action from the morning during set up. I particularly like shooting at this time because it gives a different perspective of how everything works. One thing you won’t find here is 400+ pictures of cars sitting inside the venue. While that itself involves a ton of work and respect is due for those who do shoot and process at such volume, it’s just personal preference.
P.S. If you want to see some more interactive footage, take a look at The Chronicles Vlog for a different perspective, including some behind the scenes footage of our trip out East.
Part two coming soon!
-Ken