New Sign Up Procedure for Offroad Passport Trips

[Offroad Passport 45]

You might have noticed something different about the 2017 calendar of official Offroad Passport trips and events...

 

For most trips, sign-ups begin 8 weeks prior to each event. Signing up is still easy! Simply reply to the trip thread ON or AFTER the day that sign-ups open saying you'd like to attend. The exact date sign-ups begin (along with other important info) will always be located in the first post of each thread.

 

We'll still have "stand-by lists" on trips with rig limits, but we expect those lists to be much shorter. We hope this change helps to ensure everyone who is really interested in a trip gets a fair chance to sign-up!

 

Go ahead and post your comments/questions and discuss events as usual in the threads at any time - just don't forget to actually sign-up when the time comes.

 

So check out the newly posted Trips & Events, and be sure to mark your calendars for the sign-up days of those you want to attend!

 

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[Offroad Passport 45]

Hey everyone! We're changing the times that sign-ups begin for each trip to 8:00 AM (from 12:00 AM). No sense in everybody staying up late on a school night.

[kaspily 2]

Thanks! I set up an alarm to get up at midnight previously!

[theksmith 3,828]

FYI - that's 8:00 AM Arizona time!

[ob1jeeper 484]

FWIW: and JMHO, but this new policy is a bit unwieldy for anyone wanting to schedule time off work, or wanting to make reservations either for the trip itself, or for the general area in order to be able to also attend the trip and be able to reserve campsites or ?? for exploring the area, in addition to, or outside of the scheduled ORP trip.

 

Would MUCH prefer to be able to sign up and know that I'm either "in" if I'm quick and lucky enough to make the cut, or if I'm too slow, out, or possibly on a standby basis, so that any needed reservations and/or plans could be made prior to the short 8 weeks before the event.

 

Again... JMHO & $0.02

[dzJeepChic 2,433]

FWIW: and JMHO, but this new policy is a bit unwieldy for anyone wanting to schedule time off work, or wanting to make reservations either for the trip itself, or for the general area in order to be able to also attend the trip and be able to reserve campsites or ?? for exploring the area, in addition to, or outside of the scheduled ORP trip.

 

Would MUCH prefer to be able to sign up and know that I'm either "in" if I'm quick and lucky enough to make the cut, or if I'm too slow, out, or possibly on a standby basis, so that any needed reservations and/or plans could be made prior to the short 8 weeks before the event.

 

Again... JMHO & $0.02

 

I totally get this, and you can be sure that our decision to move forward with the new policy was not an easy one! We knew that it would make it more difficult for folks who work or who would like to make reservations around one of our adventures. However; we were trying to address problems inherent when the trip rosters filled up shortly after being posted, only to find that the early respondents could not go after all, or even forgot altogether that they had signed up a year later.

 

Oftentimes daunted the 'stand by' lists that developed, prospective attendees felt there was no use in signing up as the event drew near, but then the 'Attending' list AND the 'On Stand-by' lists undoubtedly dwindled in the weeks prior to the trips.

 

The way we figured it, having a set time to sign up a couple months in advance should alleviate those issues. People could still ask for time off or make reservations around a trip way in advance, but if they missed the sign up or something better came along, they'd still have time to make alternate plans or cancel time off or reservations.

 

Yes, this does require a bit more commitment from members if they really want to go on a trip. But it should help do away with people signing up for 'everything' even if they're not positive they can/want to go, and the resulting stand-by lists and games of musical chairs prior to every trip.

 

Please know that we did not intend to make the sign up process more difficult.

[mbuckner 134]

Hello,

 

So a trip will not be posted on the calendar until 8 weeks prior to departure?

 

 

Mike

[dzJeepChic 2,433]

Hello,

 

So a trip will not be posted on the calendar until 8 weeks prior to departure?

 

 

Mike

 

No, not quite. The trips are all still posted in the Trips & Events forums and put up on the calendar; we recently uploaded all the trips for 2017. Everything is the same as it always was, except actual signing up on the trips open 8 weeks out.

[theksmith 3,828]

Hello,

 

So a trip will not be posted on the calendar until 8 weeks prior to departure?

 

Mike

 

 

Hey there Mike!

 

 

The trips are posted to the forum and calendar as early as possible, often a full year in advance. However, sign-ups for each trip only open 8 weeks prior to the departure date.

 

Sorry if we didn't explain this well enough and created confusion. Think of it just like a band announcing way in advance that they'll be touring Phoenix on a certain date, but the actual tickets don't go on sale till a few weeks before the concert.

 

The trip threads are posted as early as possible so members can ask questions and begin making plans. I doubt that most trips will fill up completely on their sign-up day, but it could happen - so if you know you want to attend then you simply need mark your calendar for the day sign-ups open (or set a reminder on your phone).

 

Note that this only applies to our official/major trips, and each trip thread lists the date that its sign-ups open in the first post. See our upcoming Death Valley adventure for an example (the bright red text): https://offroadpassport.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4703

 

 

As Diane mentioned, we hope this will give us a better gauge of what participation for each trip is going to actually be. Previously it was always a minority of folks who took the sign-up commitment seriously. We understand sometimes things come up, but frankly it's very disheartening to lead a low turnout trip after making the effort to organize it - especially when many people drop out at the last minute.

 

We've always been of the mindset that if we announce a trip, you can count on it. In fact, I think we've only ever canceled 2 major trips. Going forward we will gauge interest during the first couple weeks that a trip is open for sign-ups and if it's not getting much participation we can consider canceling it and focusing our resources/efforts elsewhere.

[dzJeepChic 2,433]

We have our calendar marked and I have a phone reminder for each sign-up start date, when I'll post up reminders. Besides marking your own calendar, another way to get a reminder is to subscribe to the trip thread so you will get an email when we post it.