Porsche Club Insider Jan 19, 2026

Porsche Parade 2026 – What You Need To Know

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Car

Saturn Vue

The Saturn Vue is a type of car called a compact SUV, made by a company called Saturn from 2002 to 2010. It was known for its different look, especially its plastic parts, and it even had a version that used less gas. People talk about it because it was a popular choice for families and those who wanted a small, versatile vehicle.

Company

Pirelli

Pirelli is a famous brand that makes tires for cars and motorcycles. They focus on making tires that help vehicles perform better and stay safe while driving.

Concept

PCA symposium and rally

The PCA symposium and rally is a gathering for people who love Porsche cars. It's a chance for fans to meet, talk about their favorite cars, and enjoy activities related to Porsche.

Car

Porsche

Porsche is a famous car brand from Germany that makes fast and stylish cars. They are well-loved by car fans around the world.

Concept

rallying

Rallying is a type of car racing that takes place on different kinds of roads, often with twists and turns. Drivers have to follow a specific route and time their performance, making it different from regular races on a track.

Concept

WRC

WRC stands for World Rally Championship, which is a big series of rally races held around the world. It features some of the best drivers and cars competing on different types of roads and conditions.

Car

Porsche 911

Car

Porsche 914S

The Porsche 914 is a smaller sports car made by Porsche that was popular in the 1970s. It's known for being fun to drive and more affordable than other Porsches.

Term

trailer

A trailer is like a big cart that you can pull behind a car or truck. People use it to carry things, like cars, without driving them.

Car

Porsche 356

The Porsche 356 is an older sports car that many people love for its design and performance. It was made by Porsche, a well-known car manufacturer, and is considered a classic.

Car

Porsche Cayenne

The Porsche Cayenne is a luxury SUV made by Porsche. It offers a mix of sports car performance and the space of an SUV, making it a popular choice for those who want both style and practicality.

Company

Auto Atlanta

Auto Atlanta is a company that sells parts for Porsche cars. They have been around since 1978 and can send parts to customers all over the world.

Car

Porsche 944

The Porsche 944 is a sports car made by Porsche that was sold from 1982 to 1991. It's known for being fun to drive and has different versions, including a faster Turbo model.

Car

Porsche 59 Porsche

The Porsche 959 is a very fast and special sports car made by Porsche in the late 1980s. It was one of the first cars to have all-wheel drive, which helps it grip the road better, and it was really powerful because of its twin-turbo engine. People talk about it because it's rare and was a big deal in the world of fast cars.

Term

concorded

When someone says their car was 'concorded', it means it was shown at a special event where experts look at cars and give awards for how nice they are. It's a big deal for car lovers.

Company

Tromworks

Tromworks is a company that seems to be connected to Porsche and automotive events. They might be involved in making or showcasing car-related items.

Term

TSD rally

A TSD rally is a car event where drivers follow a set route and try to arrive at certain points at exact times. It's like a race against the clock, but you don't know the route beforehand.

Term

Autocross

Autocross is a type of car racing where you drive through a course set up with cones. You go one car at a time, and the goal is to finish the course as quickly as possible without hitting the cones.

Concept

Pebble Beach entrance

Pebble Beach is a famous car show where only the best classic cars are shown. It's a big deal in the car world, and not every car is good enough to be there.

Concept

parade level

Parade level means a type of car show where you don't need a super fancy car to compete. It's for regular cars that look nice and are well taken care of.

Concept

parade competition rule book

The parade competition rule book is a guide that tells you how cars are judged in a car show. It explains what judges look for when they score the cars.

Company

HPI

HPI makes remote-controlled cars that you can drive around. They have different types of cars for racing on roads or for driving off-road.

Company

Traxxas

Traxxas is a brand that makes remote-controlled cars and trucks. They are known for being tough and fast, especially for driving on rough terrain.

Term

limiter

A limiter is a feature in some cars that stops the car from going too fast or the engine from spinning too high. It's like a safety measure to protect the car.

Concept

Woodward Avenue

Woodward Avenue is a well-known street in Detroit where people often drive their cars for fun. It's famous for car events and shows, making it a popular spot for car lovers.

Concept

Tech Tactics

Tech Tactics is a day-long event where car fans can learn about car technology through talks and presentations. It's a chance to hear from experts and get tips on car care and repairs.

LIVE

Welcome to the Porsche Club Insider, your one stop for all things Porsche and PCA.

Here's your host, Vue Gwynne, and the Insider crew.

Hello everyone and welcome to Episode 202, we're at the PCA's national office.

At the table are usual cast of characters. We have Manny and Damon here.

We have Melanie who's been at the table before, our national events manager, so

welcome Melanie and to the table that's new from the Chicago region, but also

Porsche Parade Chair, Jack Stevenson. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you very

much, Vue. It's an honor to be here amongst all of you. I know you're saying

that with a little laughter underneath because we were just together like 48

hours ago at one of our national staff meetings, but today is going to be cool

talking about an event that is what I often say is our national crown jewel,

but before we get into that of course I want to thank our presenting sponsor

Pirelli. Pirelli tires have to achieve the highest levels of performance, safety,

noiselessness, and grip on the road surface. Innovative tires that can

satisfy even the most specific mobility needs of the end consumer. And I want to

thank you all for listening. If you aren't currently a PCA member and own a

Porsche, what are you waiting for? Grab that VIN, head over to PCA.org and make

yourself a member. And for those of you that don't own a Porsche just yet, check

out our test drive program again PCA.org where we'll unlock resources and help

you find that special Porsche for your driveway or garage. Manny, in 1955, I

know the first Porsche Parade was 1956, but do you know when they thought it

might be a good idea to kind of pull people together what they were calling

the Porsche Parade in 1955? I remember hearing from RJ Wilmoth, our previous

historian, it was called Symposium of Something. It was like the most

convoluted name. It's so Washington, DC. And that's where the very first Porsche

Parade outside of DC actually was in Gaithersburg, Maryland. But it was the

national PCA symposium and rally. Wow, that flows right off the tongue. That

would have fit perfectly in a name tag. Catchy. Yes. Jack Stevenson, the

national chair of the PCA symposium and rally. But yeah, so since 1956, we've

we've only missed one year and that was unfortunately due to COVID. And where it

all started in Gaithersburg, Maryland, I think there's still a hotel at not the

same hotel, but a hotel in that same property. And listen to this, for $13,

you could have your car officially entered in to the Porsche Parade. Oh, talk

about inflation. Isn't Jack going to have retro-priced this year? Retro-pricing.

For our 70th Porsche Parade, we will have retro-priced. Right now, Richard Sturhoeder,

a treasurer just took the top right fell over. Well, we have a three in the

number. So yeah, exactly. But before we get into Parade, let's talk a little bit.

We've met Melanie before, so let's talk a little bit about Jack. How long have you

been a PCA member and how did you get to this illustrious role of yours?

I've been a member since 1994 when I bought my 87 Targa and got in it to rally and

didn't realize that rally pro rallying was a big deal in the Porsche Club. So it

worked out really well for me. And got involved with Parade when it came to

Chicago, the first time National came. I was the president of Chicago Region at

the time back in 2008 and 2009. And they came and said, Hey, we're going to do a

parade there. So I ended up putting on the corral way back when and kind of got

involved with the parade staff. At that time, did the crowd for a couple of

years, then became the National Rally Chair. Did that for six years with Rick

Larson. And then I met this guy by the name of Ron Gordon. And you're a

volatile, volatile little bourbon might have something to do with it. But Ron

asked me to take over for him and became the Parade Chair at that point. What,

for three years at three and a half years ago now, this would be my fourth

parade. Well, first of all, thank you so much for taking all of your roles in

addition to the roles that you have currently, because that's how our

organization works. We have so many events and the feel and the flavor of all

these events are from our volunteers. Many, you get this question all the time.

What's Portrait Parade? How do you explain that to someone that's listening and

has no idea what it was? Again, in our events, I have names that really don't

say what it is. It does have a parade in it, but other than that, it really

doesn't explain what parade. So I just say it's our National Convention. But then

I had to pause and say National Convention with all these cars. Because

when people recommend locations, they'll follow up with a, well, you know, I had

a conference, Apple Conference, IBM conference, whatever, or 3,000 people

at such and such place. And I have to follow up with a, but did you bring your

cars? Did you have to wash your cars? Did you go on rallies with your cars? Did

you have a banquet with all the people and blah, blah, blah. And suddenly it's

not like anything like a conference. So it's pretty unique. I think it kind of

limits really the places we can go because a lot of places think they can

handle us, but they can't. It's so hard to explain to someone that you will

have fun for a whole week of Porsche stuff. Right. It's a car family that has

seventh cousins family reunion and they're competitive. That's pretty good. The way

that I always look at it and I know the recipe for a successful Porsche parade

has really evolved in the last 20 years. You know, when you have a group of, you

know, 200 people and 200 cars, yeah, there's probably a good number of places

that you can go and make it work. But now when you're talking 800 to a thousand

Porsches, not just cars, Porsches that have to have safe, good parking. You have

to have an autocross area. You have to have good roads. You have to have car wash

stations, as Manny said. You have to have good dining venues. You have to have

decent accommodations. It's a very, very complex recipe. Oh, and by the way,

maybe some place like Las Vegas could accommodate all the things that I've

just talked about. But the problem is you wouldn't feel special in Las Vegas,

right? Like you would just be gobbled up as an event. So we want to go somewhere

that makes us feel special. And one of the examples that I love to use is

when we went to French Lick, Indiana. In fact, we went back probably the quickest

out of all the venues back to French Lick because it was so special because

the whole town knew that we were coming. And while we were there, we felt like

we were the, you know, the main business of that whole town. Like the people at

the gas station were excited and knew that we were coming. And when we were there

on a site visit, they said, oh, yeah, you're the group where we know, like on

this date, we're supposed to have extra super unleaded. We hear your cars use a

lot of super unleaded. And that's what your task with is to, you know, with

this ultra complex recipe, where are you going to suggest that we go? And I

know our northern members would love to have parade back in Canada as much as

we would love to as well. But the logistics of that is very difficult.

Right. So, um, yeah. Thank you. Thank you for taking that role and responsibility.

In one of the reasons why we went to Lake Placid this year is because it's

close to Canada and to give our friends from across the border a chance to come

down someplace that's easy to get to that they're all used to. So yeah, we're

looking forward to our Canadian friends coming this year. Absolutely. Yeah. And

people only think about the member side of it, right? Like, okay, why wouldn't

you have it in say Canada? It's easy for members to go back and forth, but we

have a lot of businesses that participate in parade. And it would be very

difficult for them to cross back. We're not, not, not impossible. And I'm sure

you're still looking at venues or trying in the future, looking at how we could

do so. But yeah, there's just so many pieces and the only person other than

you at this table that has been a parade chair before is Mr. Manny Alt.

No, just one year. Yeah. Yeah. That's back when we had parade chairs for every

parade, not a national parade chair. I had to, my, my saving grace was I knew

there was nothing else on the horizon. I was asking Jack today, how many parades

he's out forward looking at right now. What'd you tell me, Jack?

We're out looking at 2028 and 2029 right at the moment. Yeah. Yeah. That's a big

difference. And I mean, Hershey, and when Bob and I did Hershey, my co-chair, it

was a lot of work, but I cannot imagine, you know, juggling all these other

parades ahead of time. It's just, wow. Yeah. My head off here. It's funny, the

thing with going to Canada, and we've certainly tried to do that and would

like to go up, but there's a PCNA. Right. There's cars North America isn't

Canada. Right. There's a PCL. PCL. Is it limited? Yeah. Unfortunately, PCNA is a

sponsor for parade. There's a lot of small stuff that people don't realize.

Exactly. I always say parade is the, don't judge your book by its cover, because

of course, people never go will say, well, go if you do it someplace like

Monterey or someplace that I can relax. That's cool. And there's only so many of

those places you can do. French lick is a perfect example. French lick. I did not

think there was going to be anything good to do there to see and turned out it

was one of the best parades ever. Absolutely. Right. I can think of all these

other parades we've gone to that we said, what in the world are we going to do

here for a week? And it turned out that the people were great, the hotel, the

activities that were planned that you were like, who knew this was going to be

so much fun. But here's the thing. It really doesn't matter where we go. It'll

be a good time. Yeah. That we can guarantee you will have a good time no

matter where parade, as long as I've been around, every parade I've been to, it's

just fun. You're around over a thousand to 2000 people that like the same thing

that you do. Could be cars, could be the food, could be just hanging out. It's

hard not to have a good time. And if you have, if you are especially for this

year or in the next couple of years, if you have a parade that's within driving

distance, let's say eight hours, just go. Like just go because it's not, you try

to bounce around like east, west, middle of the country. And so it might be a

cycle of three years or more that there won't be one near you. So just go and

it's so much fun. There's something for everybody. And then for those of you

that where you might be the main car person in your family, like don't be

intimidated to think you can't take your family with you because there's so many

other things for the, we have a, we have a complete kids program. So if you have

young kids, we have the PCA Juniors program. The significant others don't

have to do the car stuff. They, we go to nice hotels, we go to nice venues. Like

they could go golfing, they could go play tennis or pickleball, they could go

relax, they could do some of the cooking classes, wine tasting, beer tasting. Oh,

and by the way, take advantage of some of the car stuff too. So there's

something for everybody.

Definitely.

And parade is a participatory event. It's not a common, let's watch everybody

else. We want people to come to parade and be involved in parade. Autocross, rally,

concor, tours, tours. It's about being active with beer tasting. It's about

experience in any of those. Zero experience because we will hold your hand. We

have instructors, we have ambassadors in each of those areas that will show you

how to have a good time. So if you, I've never rallied before or I've never

Autocross before. And don't worry, you don't need to never rally. We'll pay you

Cindy Jacobson. She's great for a beginner.

Wait a minute. She beat us last year.

My fear has always been the rally with Cindy. Cindy used to be our executive

vice president, but she seems to take rallying so seriously that that's why

she's good at it. It would make me cry if I was in a car with her.

That's why she, we'll get into the individual. Maybe because I bet you a

lot of our listeners, when you say rally, they don't really understand what

rallying is. I didn't know you think I, well, when I, when I first joined the

club, I was thinking the rallying we see like television, WRC, exactly.

You're going four wheels for often the dirt and everything.

Not that round. No, yeah, I wish it was, but no, yeah.

All right. So, um, like I said, if, if, if you're thinking about it, if

you're on the fence, just go, just do it. It is seven days of everything.

Porsche, right? Absolutely.

Something for everyone. You can do as much or as little, you can make it as

relaxing or as active. You want one of the phenomenons of Porsche parade.

And I've been to other Porsche events. As you said, encouraging people to be

active. And I think this is where people find lifelong friendships and will

come back to parade because of these events is because let's say we have,

um, a thousand families coming to parade. I would venture to say, correct me if

I'm wrong. Um, 70% of those families will also volunteer to be in parade to

help run something, shag cones, be in the parade store or something.

And it's, that's a cool experience.

We've had people, they come to parade just to volunteer.

Yep. And I, the first time we went to parade, oh, we have to volunteer for

something. And it turned out to be one of the best experiences because you got

to meet people from across the country.

Yep. And everybody's super friendly at parade and you're looking at their

cars and getting to know who they are. And it's turned out after all these

years that really parade is a family reunion.

It is. You, you meet people one year because you're on a tour with them or

autocrossed or rallied with them. And you get to meet them at a banquet and

then. And you pick up almost like it was yesterday.

Yeah. Yeah. You haven't seen them for a whole year and then you're just

in your back at it. It's just one of the best things about parade is the

people you meet from across the country.

And one of my best memories is a Michigan parade, Traverse City, a couple

stopped me in the lobby on a Thursday of parade and they're like, we just

wanted to let you know that we signed up only through Wednesday and we had

such a good, it's our first parade, but we were having such a good time.

When we got home, I looked at my husband and I said, I want to go back.

And he laughed. He goes, I kind of go on to also like that same parade, same

parade. So she goes, we called up the registrar and said, could we come back

and do the rest of the events? And, and, and the registrar said, sure, just come

in and we'll get you set up. And then we called the hotel and we said, can we

get the rooms from Thursday through Saturday? And they said, yeah, we got

room. So he goes, here we are. We drove all the way home six hours and then

turn around, came back because he said we had such a good time.

Yeah. And it, again, don't be intimidated. I think a lot of times when

I speak to people about parade, they feel like it's only those that are in the

know, those that are super, super duper into Porsches or they're like, you're

not going to, the people feel like they won't be able to hold a conversation

because they're not in deep enough with Porsche. And I'm like, no, no.

In fact, we love seeing newbies because, you know, the newbies will, we, we

understand, we understand like this affliction that you have, you know, why

you love your car and all this stuff. And you will certainly feel at home from

the minute you walk through the doors.

We were all there at one point.

Yeah, exactly. And here's the thing, you might come into it thinking you like,

let's say you came in with the 911, like I certainly didn't, my dad loved 914s,

but I didn't get it. I didn't really know much about 350. I was very fixated on

the 911, but coming to parades, meeting other people and other, you learn to

appreciate the other cars, you learn to appreciate the different events. And at

the end of the day, it just makes your ownership experience of the car that

you have even better. And it will probably encourage you to grow the

number of Porsches that are in your fleet.

Are you driving the parade? Are you flying up?

That's, that's a good question for those that are considering, do you drive?

And do you not drive? For us, it's a little bit different because when we get

there, we're working like the people at this table, we're working 100% of the

time. Would I love to bring my car? The answer is yes. I've talked about it.

And then my wife looked at me like a head to head. She's like, what are you

going to do? You're going to drive up there, park it, and then you're going to

work the whole time and not see your car. I'm like, well, I wasn't going to

drive it. I was going to trailer. She's like, you're going to trailer it? So you

can take two cars and a trailer. Is there a lot of parking up there? And I'm

like, well, I'll find parking. So the answer to your question is, I hope to

trailer the 356.

Well, I should say I'm going to drive and I just put some really big tires

underneath that came in and I will be out of crossing. So I hope to see you all

out there. We're taking the Makana. You're taking the Makana? Nice. So I could

either trailer 356, bring that rig up or just take the Cayenne and then do

everything in the Cayenne. Having a car at the event certainly is fun,

especially if you're an attendee and you can do all of that stuff. I will also

say though, for those of you that are maybe not within an easy drive, don't

hesitate to come to parade via air. There's so many times when the staff

here, we go, obviously we're not going to drive to those that takes two days to

get there, right? Except for Damon. Except for Damon. But there's still so much

to do. Eight hours. Still so much to do and you can have a lot of fun up

parade even without a car. And what I do when I don't have a car, I actually on

tours and stuff, I try to find there's someone there that either has a four

door or someone that has an empty passenger seat that you can still do a

lot of the stuff without having a car there. So something to consider. And if

you fly in and rent a car, you can still do the gimmick rally. You can still do

the tours. Can't do some of the competitive events. But still plenty to do.

But there's still plenty to do and just to enjoy the week in a beautiful

area of the country. Oh, absolutely. So we've been to Lake Placid before. I

think what year was that? 94. 94. And how much of that was part of the

consideration of doing sort of a remix of that and has the has the area

grown? What's changed? What goes into the decision of going into a parade

location now? Well, the knowing that it was a 94 and everybody talked very

highly about it and having been in the area, it's a beautiful area with the

mountains and all. And when we started to look at it, not a whole lot's changed

within the town itself. What was the question? The main street is gorgeous.

Yeah. When you're looking at the Olympic Center and Lake Placid, you know, the

Olympic Center, the oval, the main street is just spectacular. The mountains and

the background. In the history of the area with the Olympics. It. Yeah, I think

Damon has some photos for those of you that will be driving to Lake Placid.

Your drive to the city is that in itself, you'll be like, Oh, my gosh,

I'm like, you're in God's country. Like it's beautiful. I will say cell towers

apparently are not plentiful in Lake Placid because Jack said nothing

changed. I don't think they had cell towers in 94. We all need to turn off a

little bit more. You will disconnect at times while you drive to Lake Placid.

I haven't had that happen for a while. We went there for a site visit. I'm like,

Oh my gosh. Yeah, don't have. Well, after the rising out as yesterday, you

would have thought the end of the world is coming. I have AT&T. I was like

trying to have a conference calls and I kept dropping off. Oh, this is bad. I'm

like, I didn't, I haven't had that experience in so long. We're such city

folks now. Lake Placid is the home to the 1932 and 1980 Olympics. So it's one

of only a handful of spots that have two Olympics. And obviously the 1980 for

sports lovers. There's one person at this table that doesn't understand sports,

but Vughn anyway. Yeah. You know, the 19... What was that famous thing called

that happened in 1980 at Lake Placid? Oh God, I have no clue. Something happened.

Do you know the sport at least? There is a hint on screen right now. There's a hockey

drink. Yes. Remember, we were at the height of the Cold War against the Russians?

It's the movie about it. A young ragtag team of college kids went against the

elite of Russia. So apparently I need to watch a movie before I go to pray this

year. But this is a true story. Yes. It happened. And will be having banquets on this.

Do you believe in miracles? I've heard of that before. The miracle on ice.

So that's what we're going to have, the miracle of parade on the miracle of ice.

Banquets will be on that actual ice drink. Oh, it's amazing. It'll be called a miracle

of parking for parades. You know, one thing that would be... Cut that out, Damon.

I will leave it in for comic relief. So I envision that Lake Placid is beautiful obviously

during the winter months and skiing and hiking. And what's going to be nice for us is I think

we pretty much take over the town. I think they call it the city, but I think it's a town. To me,

it's a town. It's a town. Main Street. We have 10 hotels, but they're all pretty much, I mean,

they're all within walking distance. And we're going to be embedded with the community. The

community is very excited to have us. And it's... And I think most of the hotels,

everybody has some sort of view of the lake or the lake. Oh, yes. Mirror Lake is actually the

lake that we're on. Lake Placid Lake, which was actually not the alligator film, by the way,

found that out. Thank you for clearing that up. I was wondering. A prehistoric alligator

with that history story. It was actually filmed in British Columbia, which makes no

sense. Focus. Yes. But you can walk to everything and everyone has a great view of the lake.

All the hotels are right there. It's going to be not only are we a family having this reunion,

but we're embedded with the community. Everything is right there in the Olympic

Center for the most part, except for Autocross, which is at the Plattsburgh Airport and this

great parking lot and tour departures and obviously departures for the rallies.

So what we'll want to, for those that are not familiar with parades, we actually, as Mani and

Jack mentioned and Melanie mentioned, like we go in there years in advance and we've locked in.

The other day I signed contracts for Parade and there was a lot of them. And so we've booked

already four. No, nice try. Nice try. Nice try. Nice try. So we've blocked out

10 hotels. And so when you register, we'll talk about this in a bit. It'll unlock,

you'll get the key to be able to register at those hotels. And I would say we've got the cream

of the crop. We've got all the hotels within the city. It's where you want to be. When it's very

cool. I remember my first Porsche Parade was in, it's not Seattle, where was it?

St. Charles? No, no, no. Portland. My first one was in Portland. And it was really cool because

every time you were in the common area of the hotel, it was everybody, PCA. And so you're in

the mix of it all, all the events, all the people, all the cars. So if you want to be, you want to

be within these hotels and it's just, you will get access to that because a lot of people freak

out. They're like, well, how am I, where am I going to stay? How am I going to get their reservations?

There'll be more specific instructions in a few weeks, I think. Oh, no. On the website,

the instructions will probably be up within a day or two with the hotels. I have the links now.

Oh, cool. Well, not the links. I have the... By the time this comes out, it'll... Oh, yes. Oh,

yes. The accommodations, I have all the pictures and the descriptions. So there's a level of hotel

for everyone, whatever you need. So they'll be up by the time this comes out in a day or two.

So everything, you can pick and choose what you want. And I'm guessing that we'd be directing

people to PorscheParade.org? Yep, PorscheParade.org. And then you don't book your... Do not book your

hotel until after you register for phase one. Okay. Do not go because you will not get the PCA

rate. You don't want to jump the gun because you'll be paying more and you probably won't even find

anywhere that has any occupancy. So once you register for phase one, which we'll talk about,

is when you'll get the link to book your hotel. And speaking of the hotels, one of the questions,

because I think we've conditioned our regular parade goers, they always ask for like,

is there like a A hotel, B hotel, C hotel? Where are the activities primarily going to be?

At the Olympic Center. At the Olympic Center. So the store...

Not a hotel. It's not a hotel, but all the hotels are within walking distance. And there's a

trolley that runs back and forth. So there's access to get back and forth to the Olympic Center.

Everything... Concourse is right on the oval. That's right outside the Olympic Center. It's a

great space. And I talked to PCNA the other day and they have an amazing activation that's going

to happen in the center. We do have some changes this year for the people that have gone where

hospitality has technically been exhibitors and hospitality. This year it's a little bit separate.

Our vendors, our great sponsors and exhibitors, are going to be a separate part and they're

going to be there on check-in day and concord day. And they're going to be in areas called vendor

village. But they're going to be right with the people, direct access, full engagement. It's going

to be great for our members and them. Sunday and Monday at parade. Sunday and Monday. Now there

might be some that stick around and you know, stay for certain events. And then hospitality,

which is in this great space, which I wish every parade venue had, is now called the parade plots.

And it will be sponsored. It already has lounge seating, games. We'll have a sponsor in there.

They'll probably be an entertainment person that's going to do like daily trivia.

It does change the name of hospitality, the parade plots.

Because hospitality was joint, yes, joint between the two things.

Jack, you know how many people are going to be walking around saying, where's the hospitality?

Oh, you mean parade plots. That's how you're going to be able to tell

the newbies from the veterans. The newbies will know where the plots is. The veterans are going

to be going, but no, there's supposed to be a hospitality. What's going to be like

print, formerly known as? You should publish it that way, formerly known as.

We're going to try to have some docents, some people that walk people around, some

floor clings on the floor, directing people to hospital, to parade plots.

She's still getting used to it.

Fender Village. I'd love, I haven't brought this up to Charlotte yet,

so, but I'd love to have like a store fashion show.

Oh, okay. Through there one day. And then maybe as they leave, they direct people to where the store is.

I'm going to nominate Bogdan and Damon as your, uh.

Yes, yes. I love that.

You see, model our pictures anyhow.

Yeah, exactly.

Very true. Uh, yeah, just don't ask me to do too much.

Yeah. Each day there's new merch. So each day that, you know, you come out, your

Bogs will love it. You know, I'm going to, I'm going to say Bogdan would love this

so much more than me. You should ask him to do like 75% of the modeling and I'll do 25%.

That would be about the right percentage.

Yes. Great stuff.

Before we get into phase one, let me just recognize our corporate sponsor, Auto Atlanta.

If you're chasing down Porsche parts, maybe you're storing a 944, 914 looking for trim parts.

Either way, Auto Atlanta has you covered. They've been taking care of Porsche since 1978.

Not only do they have parts, but they ship worldwide no matter where you are in the world.

If you can find, if you can't find it, you'll find it at autoatlanta.com.

They have a team of all-star specialists that can help you with complex mechanical repairs,

full restorations, regular servicing, or even detailing your car.

They also buy and sell pre-owned vehicles. So if you have a Porsche in a garage that

needs a new home, give them a call. Or if you're looking for one, give them a call as well.

They've got you covered rebuilding a classic or looking for a single clip to finish a project.

Auto Atlanta has you covered. There's a 5% discount code.

The letters PCA, the number 5, O-F-F. Again, that's autoatlanta.com.

Porsche parts, Porsche people, Porsche passion since 1978.

All right, so now that we know that we all want to go to the National PCA Symposium and Rally,

a.k.a. Parade, and if we're changing names, we might as well change the name of the event.

I think we should make a retro shirt. A retro shirt with that-

Formerly known as. Exactly. Let's talk to Charlotte.

70 years. Yeah, 70 years. The 70th anniversary of the National PCA Symposium and Rally.

I love this. Sounds so darn official.

And a symposium means a conference or a meeting to discuss a particular subject.

It's accurate. No, it's more of a family reunion.

Family reunion. Sounds very backyard-y.

The 7 of us can say the 7 cousins and something I feel like-

And Bourbon. Like Amber Dore says, we are a social club with a car problem.

True. True. But we also- Okay.

All right, now that we've convinced everyone that they need to go to Parade,

there's an important date and there's an important first procedure

that they need to follow up with and that is Phase 1 registration. So tell us a little bit about that.

So Phase 1, last year we, from the ground up, somehow created, with the help of a developer,

created a registration platform that's custom to us and it worked very well. So with some feedback-

I'm knocking on wood. I'm knocking on the table on purpose for that one.

Yes. With some feedback, we made some tweaks this year. So it's a great site. It's even better this

year. So Wednesday, January 28th, at 12 noon, you will be able to get in-

Eastern time. Eastern time. Good call. I always forget about that.

From PortiaParade.org or do we go to PCA.org?

So on PortiaParade.org and most likely PCA.org, there'll be buttons to say register here.

And then they go in and you'll see you have to put in your PCA credentials.

And then once you do that, you'll see this- and I love some of the new graphics they put up.

You'll see this revving car and then you're there. Super easy. You're going to register

your primary entrant, then your co-entrant and just for the newbies, your entrant fee covers

both your primary and your co-entrant. So that covers both of you. You'll add some things.

You'll see now that we ask for some dietary stuff on the primary entrant so we don't have to

ask, you know, when you're on tour. So we get this upfront. We have a cart now that's new. We

didn't have that last year up in the right-hand corner. And then it's going to ask you if you're

bringing a co-entrant. And then boom. And then you go to the next and then you can register kids.

Yeah, you didn't click the allergy. So the main thing to think away is

phase one is pretty simple. Very simple. There was a reason we split this from back in a day.

Back in the day, you did everything on one day and that was pretty stressful,

even for the veteran parade goers. But now once you're in parade after phase one,

you got a little bit of time before phase two. So phase one, you're getting your info,

registering like any other event. And your big decision is the hotel, I guess.

No, your big decision is just registering. You just register, get in, and when you get the

confirmation email, pick your hotel and you have time. And also you get the confirmation email after

you register. Oh. Once you've paid. Once you've paid. You'll get email notifications. Probably

in less than a minute. Okay, so that's going to be your, like I said, your decision is what hotel

you're going to stay at. And for someone who's not sure how long they want to come for,

um, can they register, uh, if they say, well, I'll register for the whole week,

but I might change my mind and only to say till Wednesday. Are they able to go back with the

hotel and registration? You can always edit your dates. What I would suggest is read the

cancellation policies for the hotel and register for the max that you will want to stay because

it's going to be easier to take off days than to add days because these hotels will sell out.

Right. So I would overbook and not underbook. But be mindful of the cancellation clause.

Yeah. Be mindful of that. Yeah. And our cancellation is different than the hotels.

Correct. And they're all read ours and think that means the hotel too. Yep. They're all on the

website and on your confirmation email. So you'll see them in multiple places. There is one other

new thing this year. If you have a child from one to 17, they will automatically be signed up for

PCA juniors at parade. So you will see that. So you don't have to worry about missing it,

which we had a lot of people. Oh, I missed it. Can I get my kid and when they're at parade? And

unfortunately, you know, the, the juniors program is so amazing and they buy these great things for

all the juniors. They have shirts and games and trivia and legos, which I'm always jealous about.

So now every kid is going to get this great goodie bag full of this stuff. So you'll see that this

year. It's a, it's a win-win. So for those of you that have never experienced a parade or more

importantly a parade registration, the reason why we're kind of making this a big deal and explaining

to you the phase one and phase two is because in the past, it was a lot more difficult to register

and there were a lot of decisions that you have to make before you could check out. And

you know, I've, I've, I've been here when, you know, the, the load on the server would crash and

all that kind of stuff. So, and the thing is I've never been to any other event in any industry

that has a more complex registration system. And I'll give you an example. You've got a family of four

you want to come, right? The parents and the kids. We want to know what the parents want to eat. We

want to know what the kids want to eat. We want to know what the parents want to do. We want to

know what the kids want to do. We also cross check to make sure that the parents aren't signing up

for things that will conflict with each other. So if you, you signed up for a rally, but then you

also did a cooking school and then if you wanted to go to the, um, yeah, like there, there's so

many options and that's where phase two will come in. Um, but, but just to get into the event,

we made it simple and phase one gets you into the event. Some people are also, um, they, they take

pride in the number because we assign numbers with your parade registration and some people

like to try to get an early number. I have no idea why because it makes no difference when you're

going to event. If you're an early number versus a later number, but people like it because they

want a two digit number or whatever on their car. Cause you'll get, you'll get decals that you'll

place on your car as you drive around, uh, during the week. But we, by splitting this up, we've taken

a lot of stress out of doing so, and we've taken a lot of stress on the system. So you'll get in

and then you get keys to the hotel. Don't dilly dally. If you know you're coming and if you have

an idea of which hotel that you want to go to, go ahead and call them right away and make it,

make your reservations. As Melanie said, you know, know the clauses, but

book what you think the most will be that you'll need because it's easier to contract

that reservation as opposed to expand because it will sell out. Absolutely. And before phase two,

obviously the website's being updated and updated and stuff is going up and we're going to have

the bulk of it up within next week. Um, I have the tours now and everything. Once you register

for phase one, really start locking in what you want to do. So when you go into phase two, you

have a plan and you get those things locked in. Um, and can I say something? It's funny that I'm

going to say this, but it's important to read. Yes. So we have everything listed there, but I

fear it gets calls of things that are literally right in front of you. Take the time to read and

don't, don't decide to read on the day of, read it a day before even a week before. Uh, phase one,

it's not as critical, but phase two, what I would say is you would want all, you should already know

all of the questions are going to be asked and you should know all of your answers. So when phase

two opens, you're just going in to fill in the blank and then that way you can check out because

and have backups too. Yeah. And have backups because although parade itself won't sell out,

there may be some events in phase two when you register. Uh, cause there's only so many people

can be on a tour. So many people that can be in a banquet. So many people can. So that's

to a little insider tip is to make that, make those choices ahead of time. If you're coming with

a partner, uh, hopefully one of you is detail oriented.

Usually the wife, you know, you're Melanie, you're Robbie. Robbie's one of the details.

No, not at all.

Absolutely. He was a marine. No, doesn't read.

To see what, uh, um, what each event is, what it is, uh, that's, uh, something you would want to

do or not. Um, it's, it's critical that, uh, it'll just make like moves that it makes your life so

much easier. And, um, I compared to like Disney, we went to Disney. My wife, uh, she's the organized

one. She went and did all this research watching YouTube videos and this, that and the other.

So she knew exactly what we had to buy when we went to buy, you know, the fast passes and all

that. She had to range all the dinners ahead of time. I just kind of showed up and said,

where do we go next? And that made life so much easier. So what parade, can you wing it? Yeah,

you probably could. Are you going to, are you going to miss some stuff? I would think so.

So definitely read it. And we have so many resources. Um, as far as there's seminars,

webinars rather, uh, tell you about parade and about registration. Uh, there's a parade one

on one, which I think we have a video and then there's a one on one once you get there, right?

There's it, uh, yeah. And the new video be released soon with Chris Jacobs and then

and I would also encourage you more than likely someone in your region is coming to parade.

Find out who they are. Like obviously people will come to me, come to Manny and ask them

the questions. They'll, they'll, they'll take you under their wing. And if you're driving,

that's even better. If, yeah, I'm sure you could go and drive on your own, but if there's a group

of you coming up for a road trip, that's even more fun. I was gonna say, I imagine Chicago has a big

contingent that goes to parade every year. But now the big thing about phase one,

and it seems a little complicated at first, but for phase one, when you're signing up,

when you go in at that point in time, just sign up yourself. Yeah. Check out.

And then the most important thing is to get that link to book your reservation. Then you can come

back in. You can add your guests, your child, your children. That's a nice, that's a nice little

tip. You don't even tell them in phase one, how long you're going to be there, right? No.

All you're doing is saying, I'm coming to parade. And then once you've got that link,

you've paid your fee. The most important thing is to get that hotel reservation. Now,

you're not dealing with the hotels at that point. You're dealing with a company that we use called

Conference Direct. They handle all the bookings. It goes through them,

which makes it really nice because if you do need to change something, they have staff

that takes care of us. So you'd be contacting Conference Direct, talking to them to add rooms,

or to subtract rooms, or to help. And that's a great point because that makes it so,

I had to do that several times. And it's so much nicer going to people who do this every year than

to find their hotel owner, if it's a small hotel, to say, I want to switch the date.

And I get emails from people saying, hey, can I do this? And I have a contact at Conference Direct,

Mary. She's great. She's great. She takes care of it right away. So you're not actually,

the hotels don't know that you have a reservation until I think we turn our lists over a month

before. A month before, yeah. Great actually starts. So that's a good point. So don't panic,

if you call the hotel directly, they have no idea. You're not going to get anything from the hotel.

Use the contact information that's in your confirmation email. It's Conference Direct.

Use that. And they're great. They're responsive. Always use that. The hotels are reserved.

The rooms are reserved. The blocks are reserved. And no matter what status you are,

they're not going to release it to you. So I know people that have tried it.

So just a retrospective, you can tell how advanced and how complicated and comprehensive

parade has become. But I remember, even when I first started with PCA, when you registered

for a parade, you printed out like a 40-page packet and you'd have to put in all of whatever

you wanted and then you mailed it in. And it was postmarked. And it was important that

you had to read the handwriting. Yes. And someone had to read the handwriting,

but someone also had to mark down the date that it was sent on the postmark because

if things were sold out, then they would line you up based on the postmark. Oh my gosh, it's,

yeah. It's come a long way. It's come a long way. So what are the other tips that you might have

for those that are kind of on the fence, Manny? And, you know...

Phase one, like we said, I think it's very simple. Like Jack said, just get in there,

of time to see what hotels they are? Oh yeah. Oh yeah, they're on there now. They're all listed.

So you can go right now, as you're listening to podcasts, you have time before our registration

opens. Go and pick with your preferable hotels that you want to do. The more you, as Moosa,

Dilly Dally, the quicker the hotels are going to sell out. So you may have choice one, two,

three, and four. But they're all within that block. I mean, it's literally like a street block.

Yeah, exactly. I've never been there from what you guys have told me. And then you can go back

and you have, what, two months before phase two opens? Yeah. April 15th. We have a date set for it,

although it's a tentative date because... So a little over two months. Flexibility for the IT.

We'll make it in tweaks. Yes, we'll make it in tweaks there as well. But you have time to

go back and look for phase two, which is going to be much more involved as far as...

And because we have 10 hotels, I'm assuming that the pricing for each hotel varies or is it?

No, it's varied. It is varied. So that's good. So if you want a high-end experience,

you can pick whatever is the high-end hotel or if you want something that's more budget friendly.

I'm sure the range isn't that wide, but... I'm guessing the staff is going to stay at the budget

friendly one. We're going to be in a bus, I think. I've got my tent ready.

You know, I wonder at Jpeak Parade, we had those... What were they? The condos?

Yeah, those are awesome. My family still talks about those...

Again, every parade has its... I'm wondering, do they have that sort of thing at this parade?

Those were like... And also Palm Springs had those Casita things.

Yeah, those were... Palm Springs was great.

Yeah. So every parade is going to be different.

Yep. To make it fun.

Yep, exactly.

And it's all about what you put into it.

Yeah. Exactly.

It's the stuff out of it.

Like I said, don't be intimidated by it. Just go. You'll have a lot of fun.

You'll have some unique experiences and then you'll quickly find out...

I guess I can kind of... Without giving away at all, but I would say 50%. At least 50% of the

people that will be at parade are people that have been there before.

I think it's more than that.

Probably more than that. Yeah.

And then more impressively is there's some people that have been there.

What's Mr. Ross's parade?

Hey, you tell her that I will never be able to reach. That's all I know.

It's like... Is it 60? Is he hitting 60?

It's up there someplace.

58, 59, Porsche Parades he's been to. So there's people definitely that have dedicated...

Gosh, is this like...

Out of 70 of them.

That's incredible. But that's how much fun it is. I mean, that really is...

And where do you get a chance to sometimes meet some of the Porsche family?

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Not only Porsche family, but of course,

we mentioned about Porsche Cars North America. You'll meet some of our own PCA celebrities.

Melanie will be there.

Banny. Everybody wants to see Manny.

Me more than Manny.

Nathan Merz will be there.

So you can have these... You'll be sitting at a bar or going to the dinner,

and you'll be sitting next to these people that you've watched or listened to,

and you know what? They'll sit there and talk to you. They're just car people like us.

Grant Larson.

Grant Larson, yeah.

Tony Hatter.

Yeah, he's been there.

We definitely always have a long list of invites.

We don't know exactly who will come until kind of, I wouldn't say last minute, but it all depends.

You know, it's worth noting.

It'll be somebody of note.

You know, it's worth noting Grant Larson, a famous Porsche designer.

He's retired now, now I believe.

He's doing this on his free time, his spare time. He's going to Porsche Parade.

Yeah.

And he concorded his car two years ago.

Yeah, I wonder if he's going to bring another one or something across fingers, right?

All I can tell you, a little tip is always have a silver and a black sharpie in your back pocket,

just in case you run into someone because they're so good with that, right?

Mark Porsche.

Yeah, Mark Porsche.

I think, I know Tromworks has already, Tromworks who, the people, Hans Peter Porsche's toy museum,

I'm looking at the sticker that you have right there, Manny.

They've already made plans to be at Lake Placid as well,

which means if Hans Peter is healthy, you know, not only him, but his son and his grandchildren,

man, what other car club gets to do that?

Yeah.

And for those that didn't come to Oklahoma City, you missed an experience.

Yeah.

You did, really.

So do we want to talk about the events themselves?

Yeah, I think I have, we have.

And explain to people what they are.

This is really what Parade is.

And in phase two, like I said, once you register, you're going to be getting links to webinars,

to videos.

I would suggest that you watch them all, either live as they're doing them or they'll

have pre-recorded so you can go back and look at them.

But just like going to Disney, you know, if you go to Disney World or Disneyland,

you can type in YouTube and you will find a plethora of videos, how to, what to look for,

and blah, blah, blah.

Parade is very similar in that there's a lot of resources.

And that's the great thing about Parade is that you're not going to be,

anything you have a question about odds are someone's already asked it.

So you can go in there and find it out ahead of time.

But what does change every year is the location, which means the events all have a different

flavor to them.

We do the same events, but obviously because it's a different location, things change.

So we're separated by competitive and non-competitive events, it's that way.

So competitive, there's only four really official competitive that fall under our

rule book.

And they're, what are they, Jack?

Well, the week starts off on Monday with the concours and that kind of competitive concours.

And that's on Monday, well attended, the public's invited to come see it.

On Tuesday, we followed up with the TSD rally, Time Speed Distance.

So you don't know where you're going, but you've got to get there in the exact amount

of time following a set of instructions.

If you, you get points for arriving early or late.

So they still do a TSD school?

Oh yeah, we do two classes prior to let novices know how it all works.

And we use the RICT app to do all the timing on it.

Autocross?

And then on Wednesday and Thursday are the Autocross.

And then on Friday.

Presented by Pirelli, just not a pluggy there.

And then on Friday is the tech quiz, where we test your knowledge of how much do you know

about our favorite mark.

Historical and tech quiz.

So not just technical, but also historical.

So going back to the concourse, no charge to come watch it.

No charge to come watch it?

Not with the public, but there's not a, not like Pebble Beach where you get a pay to come in

to watch the cars.

We also have multiple classes.

So it's not where your car has to be a show ready, Pebble Beach entrance type of car.

There's cars that the odds are if you're showing your car at your local region,

you'll be able to compete at the parade level.

So if you go to the PCR, the parade competition rule book, it'll show you the different classes.

Main thing, if you want to participate, you can.

Don't feel intimidated.

Absolutely.

There's a different class where they just judge the interior and exterior.

So usually most people when they wash their car, except Melanie, that's what you do.

Is you clean the interior and exterior of the car.

Keep charity, that's fine.

I find it if, like you said, Manny, if you've done any kind of concourse at the local level,

you certainly are prepared to do it at parade.

And you can use it to your advantage.

More than likely if you haven't done it super competitively, like you kind of know you're

not going to do that well at parade.

However, it's going to lead you down the path of doing well in your local region.

And I'll tell you exactly what happened to me.

I thought, you know what?

I'm going to spend two weeks and clean my car before Charlotte.

Like I like, this was what 2008, I think it was, or 2009?

Eight.

And I'm like, two weeks, I'm going to trailer it and Manny's going to follow me down and

there was blah, blah, blah, blah.

I came dead last in my class, dead last.

This is stupid.

This is dumb.

However, afterwards, I found out from the judges all the places that my car did not do well.

So what did I do?

Buy a new car.

No, I came home and I addressed all of those areas.

And then I went back out at the regional level and I crushed it.

Like I learned a lot.

Maybe you're better than I that you will put in two weeks or a month that you'll better

prepare your car, but there's still a positive from it.

And most importantly is you get those photos.

You get the photos of your car amongst all these great cars on the field.

Manny always talks about regardless of how well you do, you got a great parking spot.

So I encourage you to definitely take advantage of the Concorde, no matter what level you're

competing at.

Yeah, and I hear those judges are real tough, aren't they?

So you're watching YouTube right now.

Yeah, Damon's pointing at the juniors.

The juniors come out and judge your cars all.

And I would tell you the trophy that the juniors give out are coveted as well.

I may come back into the, I retired from the Concorde circuit after winning overall,

but I may have to come back just to try to win a junior trophy because that's pretty

prestigious.

Yeah, exactly.

You can't lie to these kids.

They know what they like.

But what I always tell people, especially on newbies, is if I can't convince you to try a

Concorde, you've got to go to Concorde Prep.

Because is it indoor or outdoor this year?

It's on the 1932 hockey rink.

So that's indoor.

So that's even better because part of it will be there because we're limited on space.

We won't have room for everybody in there.

So the people who are late will be outside.

Is that what it is, first come, first serve?

Michael's working on something that would be fair to everybody.

Oh, okay.

To see like a super pack that we have to send money to them to...

Probably won't hurt.

Depending on class.

Well, either way, however these cars get inside is to come by and see the Concorde Prep because

you will have some people that take this very seriously.

Not some.

A lot of people do.

Well, I'm trying not to scare the people here.

As this person on the video here has a completely clean undercarriage.

Yeah, they will bring a lot of equipment to clean these cars.

Usually when you see the blue tarp, you know they're veterans.

And the car looks already clean like it can win any Concorde.

But to them, it's just the beginning.

They're going to prep this car.

But it's also, like Jack mentioned, a great social opportunity.

So people always go to Concorde Prep just to do the found reunion thing again with the seven cousins.

Check out the cars.

Check out the cars, exactly.

Talk to people.

So it's a great place to hang out.

Even last year, which was, I don't know, 10, 15 minutes from the hotel,

there were still a lot of people who just stopped by to see how Concorde Prep was going to talk to people, hang out.

It's almost like a tailgate.

They bring their lounge chairs.

What I love is technology on how to maintain and prep your cars has changed over the years, right?

And so when you go through Concorde Prep, you kind of get a heads up of what's the latest and greatest

and what are they using?

It could be, you know, ceramic or graphene.

How do they clean their windows with?

Was it 4-0 steel wool?

All these tips that you can learn just by walking through and looking at a car and go,

how did you do that?

Like, what do you use to make the rubber on your tires look clean but not look greasy and shiny?

Like, obviously, you didn't use, probably shouldn't say brand, we'll get chastised for it,

but you shouldn't use the spray and super shiny stuff that flicks everywhere, right?

So it's also an educational session as you walk through.

Well, and it's intimidating, but don't be intimidating because once again,

parade is for the novice as well as the expert.

And Michael Grove, the chair, does a great job with Concords 101

and just introducing people to Concords and not making it so intimidating.

And if you want to learn more about it, they have separate coaching sessions

where they'll come and look at your car and help you get tips.

I left because I went from winning overall and preservation one year

to having the lowest score, I think, parade ever gave.

It was Tampa and we took it race car down and I got 150 out of 300, I think.

Is that the one where you were spray painting in Concord Prep?

Yeah, which is a big no-no.

I kicked out of Concord Prep because I was the interior jack, not the exterior.

You think it's frowned upon to spray paint a car in Concord Prep?

Yes.

Yeah, I remember everyone else was buying wax and everything.

We were bought a case of spray paint.

A case?

Yeah, the whole interior, we had to spray paint black.

To make it look uniform.

Yeah, exactly.

So anyway, it all just seemed like a good idea.

Cheech and chalk.

But we had great memories from that and it was a great social interaction part

with all the people there.

The main thing being that if you come in last place, no one cares.

No one.

No one makes an announcement.

It's some of the best stories are not when you won, but other stuff that happened.

So give that a try.

The rally, like we said, the rally, there's schools for that.

There's two rallies, though.

The gimmick rally technically isn't part of the official competitive,

even though it is a competitive event in the sense that they have trophies,

they have to respect them.

And I got to get a shout out to Colonel Bob and Ellen who have been doing a gimmick rally.

I think that's the inception for parade with gimmick rallies.

And that is where time speed distance, you got to be somewhat good at math.

And like Jack said, your timing yourself, how long it takes you to get to a checkpoint

that you don't know where this checkpoint is.

And I am terrible at this.

And there's a reference that you need to try to match up to.

I gave up.

I know we don't have a man checkpoints anymore,

but I gave up doing TSDs and became a volunteer.

I figure better watch people that are miserable than to actually.

Hey, hey, they're not miserable.

They're having fun.

They just don't know it.

So we used to mess with them because we'd be like checkpoint two,

I think two or three.

And they would come in, I would go, welcome to checkpoint four.

And they're like, what?

I remember with the gentleman, what's the name?

Don, like you would be.

Oh, yeah.

He was a very notable character.

Yes, former parade chair.

And we had the same crew every year that worked this one checkpoint.

We all knew our, I had told them, give me the most menial job you have.

So I was the guy who pointed people into the checkpoint.

But once again, volunteering, that was, I didn't have to volunteer.

I already had my little tickets to go to the volunteer party at the end,

but just so much fun hanging out with these people.

And every year we look forward to the day we spend working a checkpoint at a rally,

which doesn't sound exciting, but it was a lot of fun.

That's a good point.

We'll get to that.

And the gimmick rally does have man checkpoints.

So if you want to work the gimmick rally,

I'm sure Bob and Ellen will be thrilled to have it help.

Don Johnson.

Don Johnson, that's right.

That's right.

Don and Sandy Johnson.

The other insider tip is when you go through phase two,

it's going to ask you about volunteering.

Of course, we already told you about make sure that you do do that.

But one of the things, if you, I think, however, is it three events you have to?

Two events.

Okay.

So two events.

If you volunteer, then you get to go to the volunteer lunch, which is very nice.

But more importantly is at the volunteer lunch,

there is a lot of great stuff given away, not only parade swag,

but gifts like set of tires from our sponsors, trips we've had in the past.

You've had cruises?

Yep.

Yeah, cruises.

So inside tip there is volunteer because it's one, it's going to be fun,

but two, you might walk home with some.

And you get a nice t-shirt.

Oh yeah.

And a t-shirt.

Yep.

Exactly.

So some of the more other competitive events that aren't part of the PCR is the 5K run.

Yes, we do that.

And believe it or not, we have a very impressive turnout for a 5K run.

We do.

Usually about 100 people or so.

Yeah.

And most people finish.

Why are you looking at me?

I always finish.

I'm always your guilt.

I didn't say anything about you.

I always finish.

I'm surprised I didn't keel over the one in Palm Springs.

So that was hot.

And my heart.

I can't believe I made it through.

And we have a golf tournament.

Yes.

This is also usually very well attended.

And this year it's going to be at the Whiteface Club,

which I've played a couple of times, a spectacular golf course right on Lake Placid itself.

Yeah.

And I will say that the Porsche folks oftentimes are in that.

So if you want to rub elbows and be with them, sign up for golf.

There's the art show, which has a consistent turnout of people who a lot of people do it

every single year.

Every year.

And this is some serious stuff that they have many different categories.

So you can look online to see everything from photography to handmade crafts to paintings

It's just, even if you don't enter, make sure you take time to go visit the art show room

where everything is on display.

And we've renamed it.

Hans Peter.

As of last year.

Yep.

Hans Peter Porsche.

Art show.

Do the family love that.

They're very close to him.

Sim racing.

We bring several Sim setups.

And we have the people who run PCA Sim Racing on hand to help you out.

Once again, if you don't have no experience doing Sim racing, have any questions,

or you're always very interested in it, you have, was it open five days, four days,

or like that?

If you need to find me, I'm usually already.

And that's included.

No extra fees.

Jack.

You just have to sign up.

You just have to sign up for it.

That's included in your registration.

Well, and there might be some other, last year we did like the fastest lap competition that

might be coming back.

So it was, that was a, people kept signing up through the week for that.

Yeah.

That was always people inside there.

Voodoo used to be great at, but I think.

Which we used to.

I think it's been upended, haven't you?

I still come home with trophies, sir.

I don't know.

I keep on herring Voodoo and Windy.

Can you believe it?

That's a radio controller.

RC RC cars.

RC cars.

The wind family were like dominant for a decade.

Yes.

It was everyone, the whole family was just.

So we have different age groups.

We have an adult group and we set up a course.

Typically we have an indoor course for cars and we have an outdoor course for off-road.

But the RC cars are provided if you don't have one.

Both indoor and outdoor.

We have, I think we have HPI on-road cars like GT3s, GT3 RSs that we will loan to you

or to your child.

And then we have Traxxas Kyens that run off-road.

Again, if you don't have one, it's not a problem.

Even if you've never driven or controlled an RC car.

Is it two days?

Like one day's off-road, one day's on-road?

Two separate days.

And then for those of you that might be a little bit into RC cars like myself,

you can bring your own car.

But we ask that you don't bring something ridiculous that might be.

Beat bro, yes.

Yeah, yeah.

Because I know there's RC cars.

It's ridiculous if he loses.

It's not because of my driving.

It's because he brought a ridiculous car that was, you know, a 70 mile an hour RC car.

What's that thing that you can take off to make it faster?

The limiter?

Maybe.

Yeah.

Anyway.

Don't do that.

It's a lot of fun.

And it is not that competitive in a sense where we don't have timing,

we don't do timing via transponders.

We do it timing with kids and stopwatches.

So if you're going to be a tenth slower or whatever faster, it's not that accurate.

So don't get too crazy.

Just we want you to come and have fun.

And the ice cream social usually happens near the indoor one.

And that's always a hit.

Everyone always loves that.

So what is this cars and community looking at the website?

Cars and community is, we started it last year.

We're not sure what day we're going to put it on, but it's just a chance.

Think of it as cars and coffee.

Is that the one they did on like Thursday night last year?

We did it on Thursday night.

We had to miss that because we did.

Everyone was like, oh man, we're missing it.

It is so great.

There's such great things about it.

It was a chance.

You come out, park your car, meet everybody.

We let the public come.

And then usually you go out and have some drinks.

It was like in the early evening, right?

Yeah.

Have dinner at the local establishments.

I regretted that we didn't go to that.

A great environment.

It was amazing.

I feel like it's almost like in the fifties movies,

like you see people going down.

What's in Detroit when they go down?

Woodward.

I feel like it's that kind of vibe.

Like I totally, that's one of the reasons why I want to bring a car.

I would love to do that.

Yeah, it was great.

So we have historic.

We have a historic display.

Alex Laurenti is doing it this year.

And we should have some great cars.

Again, cars that you may have only seen online or in books.

The connections that we have in the club and being in the northeast,

the collections that are hopefully going to be available to us.

You'll see some cool cars.

Yeah, absolutely.

So obviously we do things during the day,

but there's also meals that are not available,

but stuff we do to get together, right?

Yeah.

We do have banquets during the course of the week to celebrate the activities,

like the TSD winners and the autocross winners, the concourse winners.

And we present the national trophies for website and regions and all that.

And they're during the course of the week at night, which makes sense.

But on Monday nights, it's a free night.

So what we're doing through our events and experiences and dinners is we have places

booked to where you'll be able to have a group dinner at several of the restaurants for Monday

night, which is not a banquet night.

It's an open night.

So you'll be able to dine with your Porsche friends at like Mirror Lake Inn,

which is a beautiful spot, a buffet there.

And Liz Shaw does a wonderful job arranging these activities.

And I would say it's quite a convenience.

We started that last year and with some of the restaurants in Oklahoma City,

because they had a big restaurant scene.

And it was a hit.

Restaurant is just PCA people?

Or we'll book a room.

Yeah, a certain percentage of the restaurant.

And so we have 70 people, 50 people, whatever it might be.

You're going and you don't know anyone there.

You can still make friends.

And because there's going to be people just like you in the same boat.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Outs on Monday night.

Would you agree with me?

I think because we've done the site visit and the relative size of the town,

I would say take advantage of the banquets that we have to offer,

because it's one less thing that you have to worry about.

And you'll have a dinner amongst friends and we'll have an agenda to have fun,

especially at the Welcome Banquet and the Concord.

About this episode

Porsche Parade 2026 is shaping up to be an exciting event, with hosts Vue Gwynne, Manny, Damon, Melanie, and Parade Chair Jack Stevenson discussing everything attendees need to know. They cover the history of the Parade, logistics of the event, and highlight the various activities planned, including concours, autocross, and rallies. The episode emphasizes the importance of early registration, the unique community feel of the event, and the fun opportunities for both new and veteran Porsche enthusiasts. Listeners will learn about the venue, activities, and how to make the most of their experience.

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Original notes

Jack Stephensen, PCA Porsche Parade Chair and Melanie Williams, PCA Events Manager, join us in studio on this episode. We find out the skinny on this year’s Parade in Lake Placid, New York. From how to register, reserving a hotel room nearby, and which events are must dos. If you’re thinking of coming to Parade this year or are just curious as to what Parade is about, this is the episode to listen to.

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