Let's see...
- Sliders, check
- Bumpers, check
- Lockers, check
- Winch, check
- Storage drawers, check
- Awning, check
- RTT, check
- Lift, check
- Gears, check
- Light bar, check
- CB, nooooooooooooo! WAY too expensive and hassle to install!
I'll take the blame on this one. When I was on the Cruise Moab Committee in 2018/2019 for the 2019 event, I shared several ideas that were more controversial than I had anticipated.
One of the first ideas I raised was no longer renting satellite phones and instead buying Garmin Inreach devices the club would own indefinitely. I put together a pro forma to show the payback period and did a quick presentation about how in theory whoever is running command at the Cruise Moab HQ could watch in real time everyone's progress on the trail. That was the least controversial and we enacted the plan that year.
Another idea was that we should offer the first ever women's only trail run to create opportunities for people who felt the off road space wasn't really for them or for those who are usually in the passenger seat. This led to some lengthy discussion, and the biggest concern I heard is "who would lead it and how do we know people will sign up?". The good news my wife had already volunteered to lead it (ok maybe I took some liberties here but she was indeed willing to go for it), and Emma Hamilton offered to gun. We put the event on the schedule, and the first ever women's only run was a huge success.
I wasn't prepared for the intense debate when I raised the idea of switching from CB to FRS/GMRS however...I've long been frustrated by poor trail comms - people either not having a good, tuned radio, not knowing how to use their radio, or simply having nothing at all. With simplicity, functionality and compatibility in mind, modern FRS/GMRS radios beat CB in every way particularly for those who show up with no radio. I have at least 6 FRS handhelds fully charged in my Cruiser ready to hand out to anyone who needs one and within seconds we have excellent comms with no learning curve. That simply isn't possible with a CB and isn't legal with a ham.
After I made my case for the switch, someone replied angrily pointing at me and said "
That's the problem with YOU MILLENNIALS!! YOU just want the newest, fanciest gadgets and don't RESPECT the way things have always been done!". Someone else chimed in and said they had invested a lot of money into their CB setup and it would be rendered pointless if we made the switch because the only time he used it was at Cruise Moab. That right there is the key - asking 200+ people to have an outmoded, relatively expensive and complex set of equipment that needs to be tuned and dialed to work properly so that a handful of people don't have to change doesn't make a lot of sense when you can instead ask people to spend as little as $20-30 on a handheld that works right out of the box and doesn't have to be installed or tuned. The other key is that the vast majority of people only used their CB at Cruise Moab, whereas the standard in the off road community is FRS and GMRS and can be used year round at every event. I realized that back in late 2018 when I made the suggestion, FRS wasn't yet the standard it is today, but the writing was on the wall and I wanted Rising Sun to be an innovator and leader by switching for the 2019 event. We did not enact it that year, but the switch had been made at the 2021 event with 2020 being cancelled of course.
The bottom line is planning for large scale events needs to consider how the majority will be impacted. Change often leads to a handful of people feeling unhappy, but if you want to have a successful, professional event, you need to adapt with the times and make things easier and more accessible to attendees. I'm incredibly proud to be part of Rising Sun and Cruise Moab, and I hope the club continues to be innovative and continues to improve what is already a world class event.
First ever women's only run with a nice taco lunch break on a skottle!