Texas State Fair

[Ty]

Hi "Quick"! I made it to the forums! I posted my State Fair pics in the regional forum for Texas. Thank you for pointing me here, it is fascinating!

Welcome to the forum. I sure hope that Elio doesn't do the same thing for the balloon fiesta here!

 

[Music Man]

Welcome to the forum. I sure hope that Elio doesn't do the same thing for the balloon fiesta here!

Sharing your "hope," TY.

I'm hoping that Elio doesn't cancel there November scheduled appearance in New Oeleans.

But then it really wouldn't surprise me if they did. I mean, they've already broken the promise and reschedule the New Orleans event at least 3 times since back in March.

 

[wayne kemp]

If they start canceling more shows look for Airline tickets and a large bag of cash out of the country.

• 

I would think since S'port is the target for building why haven't they had a two day show here.

 

[LillyMayPatterson #1685 & #5648]

Hi "Quick"! I made it to the forums! I posted my State Fair pics in the regional forum for Texas. Thank you for pointing me here, it is fascinating!

Oh, I am so pleased to welcome you, Patrick. I'll look up your pictures soon as possible.

 

[Patrick Power]

Hey folks...just to be clear, my understanding is that the State of Texas changed the permit rules surrounding car show participants, leaving Elio too little time to comply...hence they pulled out of the State Fair.

 

[Ty]

Hey folks...just to be clear, my understanding is that the State of Texas changed the permit rules surrounding car show participants, leaving Elio too little time to comply...hence they pulled out of the State Fair.

That was also my understanding. There is at least one website claiming that Elio's cancelling their showing is a sign of problems. I know it was an isolated event beyond Elio's control but couldn't remember exactly why they weren't at the Texas fair so I couldn't defend on the website.

 

[goofyone]

Hey folks...just to be clear, my understanding is that the State of Texas changed the permit rules surrounding car show participants, leaving Elio too little time to comply...hence they pulled out of the State Fair.

That was also my understanding. There is at least one website claiming that Elio's cancelling their showing is a sign of problems. I know it was an isolated event beyond Elio's control but couldn't remember exactly why they weren't at the Texas fair so I couldn't defend on the website.

The Elio Motors VP of Government Affairs, Joel Sheltrown, posted this more detailed explanation of the Texas State Fair situation on Facebook today:

Just to set the record straight, Elio Motors was forced to cancel because of the completely detailed agreement TX wanted before they would allow us to display at the fair. Among the restrictions were: "If anyone asks you what the retail price is on the Elio, you will respond: ""It is against the law for me to discuss the price" If anyone ask about reserving we were only to say: "It is against the law for me to discuss reserving the Elio and what amount might be required to reserve." If anyone asks about our website..or if we have one. "Can't tell you that either" Soooooooo, about the only thing that our product specialist can do is stand there and look dumb. We have the VP of Governmental Affairs doing that already. Bottom line, you know where to squarely place the blame and it isn't with Elio. We spend a lot of money on lodging, travel, many times airfare, and event costs of course. I suspect most of you would agree, these regulations are certainly over reaching and you should know what to do about them.

We COULD tell you what the MPG is... though. We COULD tell you that TX doesn't have a helmet or endorsement requirement(while we were at it) but you can already get that information from me at no cost. Being Elio Future Owners, I would imagine you to be quite frugal with your funds.

He then followed up with post post:

Any event .. any place we show the Elio, even in a parking lot, requires a number of things to work out... insurance for that location (each seems to have their own requirements) and a loss payable clause added to the contract to the owner of the premises.. sent to the right people for approval. I'm sure we will circle back again. I hope we do.. I want you and other Texans to be able to see the Elio upfront and personal. Events also have to .. or should be held where we get the most exposure. Not my area of expertise.. we have a VP and a tour crew that handle that quite nicely without me being involved, (Thank God) but I have set up two events now myself. It requires planning and a little time to get the approvals. Just can't pop in and set up. We had other locations that did not have the restrictions the fair did. We didn't know until late about these restrictions... and we suspected the State of TX may not get this worked out nearly in time. So the tour with all its expense would have set idle if the fair wasn't approved. I don't want to get into too much detail on this right now. Just wanted to comment that it is completely unfair that some are casting the blame on Elio for the cancelation. The original paperwork (got it very late ..too late to comply) contain NUMEROUS requirements that were impossible, completely impossible for us to meet.. especially in that short of time frame. That paperwork, even if we had sent it in, would have been denied. Period; In addition, there was a $2,000.00 application fee which is non refundable ... even if you can't address every requirement and your app is denied. The state did react rather quickly (surprise) to come up with another doc that they wanted us to agree to... some of the terms in that doc I explained already above. It's my job to get these things done... It's my job to provide guidance in what I think may or may not happen. I didn't think we could count at all on getting this resolved in time for the fair. Based on that information, the tour team had to rebook immediately. We are all disappointed in the cancellation.

 

[bigdean]

Thanks goofyone.

 

[LillyMayPatterson #1685 & #5648]

Not sure, but I'm disappointed. I went to the Earth Day at Fair Park earlier this year expecting to see the P4. I couldn't go Saturday, so I went Sunday and was very disappointed when I turned the corner and saw Silver instead of Orange. But they had to take the P4 to New York for the Fox and Friends interview. Very understanadable. So I was looking forward to going back and seeing it at the Fair. Now to find out it's only the P3. I don't see anything scheduled that conflicts, but maybe there is something in the works. Color me sad, though, guess I'll just have to eat some extra deep fried food to drown my sorrows! lol

We're having boneless barbecue goat ribs, lattered on a bed of rice and cheesy home grown spinach. Got nothing to be sad for, our elio will be here for my 60th birthday.

But, I did get to see both the P-3 in Columbus, Ohio and the P-4 in Detroit Michigan. I can tell you it was worth the trips.

 

[ElioTony]

Not going to throw mud at Elio. The purpose I thought of touring the country such as booking the Texas State Fair was to get the Elio concepts out there to the public to drum up some media and public attention. OK...paperwork/Fair politics is what it is. The booth at the fair would have been a hit regardless of what the promoters could or could not say. The Elio sells itself! There would have been plenty of enthusiasts out there with their Elio shirts on answering questions and showing their spirit for their soon to be produced Elios . ( I had my Elio shirt on and had not heard they were cancelling and walked all over the Auto Show looking for the booth) The cost of the set up would have been easily offset by the new folks that could have put in their reservations after going on the net and looking up the Elio like we all did....word of mouth, news, promotions, Facebook, etc..... Am I a little disappointed in the no show/decision not to show. Well, yes. Will this change my opinion of the Elio I have come to learn about through the forum NO. But it sure would have been nice to see it, touch it, sit in it, and finally be able to share a physical site picture and feel of the concept.

-ElioTony