The 11/4 meeting concluded successfully.
Thank you so much to everyone who participated and provided their support.
I used to boast that Dope meetings would always defy the weather forecast and turn out sunny, but this was our first time having to postpone due to rain.
I felt terrible that we couldn't meet the expectations of those who had been preparing for this event for quite some time.
However, I was deeply moved that nearly 150 people still gathered for the meeting despite the sudden change in schedule just days prior.
Shop-sponsored meetings are often perceived as being purely for promotional purposes, but we actually started this because, in our conversations with customers at the shop, we heard many say things like, "I'm a beginner rider and don't have anyone to ride with" or "I always ride solo." We realized these were common concerns among Rebel owners.
We thought, "What if we brought people with the same concerns together to solve this?" and that was the beginning.
The first meeting had 43 attendees. From there, the number of participants has increased year by year, and now we average over 200 people. However, I saw comments like, "I saw someone I knew, but couldn't bring myself to say hi," or "I came alone and left without talking to anyone." I realized that even though the number of participants grew, our original goal of facilitating interaction between owners wasn't being met.
So, for this meeting, we spent months planning and decided to introduce name tags to help link bikes with their owners.
The response was better than we could have imagined, with people telling us, "I made new friends" or "I was able to talk to the people I wanted to." Of course, it may not be perfect yet, but I felt a sense of accomplishment that we moved closer to our ideal meeting.
I still get nervous in front of crowds, and I have my shortcomings—like skipping my opening remarks to go straight into the exhibitor introductions—but I hope to continue building wonderful meetings with you all.
Thank you for your continued support.
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