2024 Year in Review | Shows | Subscribers | Highlights | Successes | Failures and more ...

Year in review 2024 | In this edition I share the numbers, some highlights, what worked and what didn't work after 1 full year of publishing the Show Junkies newsletter ...

Dec 31, 2024

Welcome Show Junkies

Welcome to the year end review special edition.

I’ll begin with some background on why I started the newsletter.

No surprise here that I enjoyed hot rods, classic cars and sports car since before I could drive.

Like many of you as a teenager my bedroom walls were covered with posters. Images of the iconic Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari 308, 32 Ford, motocross racers roosting and KISS.

The love of cars, bikes, trucks and well anything with motor is rooted deep down like the broadleaf weed in the grass … persistently poking out for attention.

Just moved to the back burner as life took over …

Fast forward to the future (today) and having raised a family and worked far to many hours and finally realizing time continues its inevitable countdown … I’d better get back to basics … rekindle the fire …

Trouble is when the weather is nice outside I’m frequently distracted, easily sidetracked and loose track of time.

And way too often time has raced by and that go car show I was planning to attend is over … all because time got away from me.

Okay, that’s way more words than needed to say I’m forgetful and need a reminder … (attention span of a squirrel (1 second to 4 minutes) and memory of chimpanzee (10 seconds) so says the google machine) pretty much sums it up.

So after bouncing the problem off friends I realized I’m not the only one with this problem … so I’m normal then.

Cool, time for a solution… a plan.

Probably should be a simple plan. You know something to help me and others like me quickly see, schedule and plan for car shows.

Oh, yea I almost forgot… so I don’t forget to got to the show… again.

But how…

First step was to identify the problems:

Squirrel like attention
Chimp like memory.

Step two was to identify the requirements:

Minimal time investment
Quick to review on demand
Just enough details to make a decision
Keep it simple so I don’t get burnt out
Get it running and driving
Keep it fun

Step three was to identify possible solutions:

Set calendar reminders : Require to much time to setup for every show
Facebook events : High time commitment to configure and review on demand
Printed calendar : Many shows have short time between publishing and the show
Email schedule : Quick review on demand, reasonable time investment, just enough details with clickable links for specifics

Step four was to draft a outline : Start simple and modify (not perfect just usable)

Step 5 was to have some fun…

Time to give it a name that conveys the idea and is memorable.

And so with some deep, deep thinking … a zap from a cracked plug wire… and the help of a notepad the Show Junkies name fit.

And the Show Junkies newsletter was born…sort of.

You know the saying… “if you build it they will come”… it ain’t true.

Turns out talking about it, brainstorming a name and slapping some words on the ~~paper~~ computer are like tearing that cool car apart, you know the car that you dug out of the farm field where it’s been abandoned for 50 years … it’s the easy part.

Putting the pieces together and getting it running and driving are a wee bit more involved… and by wee bit I mean a lot!

Just like a project car where things don’t always go as planned there where some bumps along the way but persistence is helping.

The first edition was published September 15, 2023 to my sweetheart for critique.

And she didn’t hate it, grinned but didn’t laugh out loud… so I kept going.

So after 1 full calendar year of publishing here are the results.

After hours of searching, collecting and publishing many of Minnesotas car shows, combined with some advertising on Facebook the letter has grown to 3439 subscribers!

And honestly, I’m surprised and delighted with the acceptance and feedback received.

It’s good to know that I’m not the only one with the attention span of a squirrel and the memory span of a … what was it… oh yea a chimp… I’m normal!

Just what did the Show Junkies deliver …

An astounding notice of 857 car shows in Minnesota.

Double checked and yes there were 857 car shows published in the newsletters for 2024.

Along with 14 Swap Meets.

Other notables…

The most shows in 1 week came in at 62 shows on week 37 (September 9 - September 15).

The most shows in 1 day came in at 22 shows on Saturday July 27th.

JINKIES! That’s a lot of Scooby snacks.

To put that in perspective that’s 142 shows a month during the show season of May thru October.

That works out to almost 4 shows each day… if they were spread out, which they aren’t.

Minnesota Rocks!

And now some other tidbits of interest …

In the interest of planning the “Save the Date” feature section was added this year. I’m not sure if announcing future shows is helpful but I like it so I plan to continue and intend to add a way for show organizers to submit a show (watch for an announcement and link in January).

Week 2 included a feature of the Minnesota Mustangs car club. I suspect there are many of us that would like to join a club but are unsure where to find a good club and how to get involved. If you are a club member or know of a great car club for anyone interested please share and watch for a link to submit a club (watch for an announcement and link in January).

Another feature published in week 2 was a link to a YouTube video that highlighted a Minnesota museum of Classic Gas Pumps & Memorabilia. Produced and published by PBS … which failed to generate any interest and dropped from future newsletters… RIP.

Week 3 included a feature for anyone that enjoys perusing car rags like Hot Rod, Street Rod and other magazines of interest … a great way to fight the winter blues and it’s free… again little interest and no future plans for this. RIP.

Week 4 included a section on Predictions for 2024 by Hagerty along with a bit about Top Vintage Kit Cars … both failed to generate interest. Week 6 included a reference to a Hagerty article title “5 Fantastic first project cars” that failed to generate interest. Honestly, the articles published by Hagerty are short and weak on content … guess I expected more from the brand based on the excellent “Barn Finder” video series.

Week 9 touched on the Studebaker museum in South Bend Indiana and surprisingly failed to generate interest… Museums features are also gone. RIP

I try to keep the word count low during the busy show season and focus on 2 or 3 shows in the commentary. The idea is to share details on the shows I’ve attended and interesting sites nearby because … why not grab a bite, maybe meet the locals and see some of the unique sites Minnesota has to offer… Ya sure you bet.

I welcome and encourage suggestions on subjects that interest you, subscribers may find value in reading about, and it’s easy … just mash the button below like the go pedal on a deserted back road and leave a comment and it don’t cost nothin…

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