Good news for our club: Best Buy, the electronics superstore, is going to host 13 events this season in the region that centers around
Nashville, with shows also in Evansville, IN and Bowling Green, Owensboro, and Elizabethtown, KY. The first show is in Clarksville,
TN on March 16th. The event series is titled the "Geek Squad Sound-off" and will be used to promote the Geek Squad and Autotech brands
at Best Buy. Best Buy will begin offering off-site installs for Mobile Electronics, and this is part of their promotional effort to
get the word out.
The first 12 shows are 1X Single Point events with all MECA classes in SPL and SQL on the menu. That's: SPL, DBSPL Parade, SQ, Install,
and RTA Freq Out. The last event will be held at the Madison, TN store and it will be a 3X Points Soundfest. The events are designed
for Best Buy customers and locals, but all are welcome. There is a flat rate of $20 per score sheet, with no discount for MECA members.
There will be a special BOBOS price for those who want to do all 5 contests. Best Buy has funded the events so that the 3 SPL AS classes
and the Amateur SQ class get trophies. All other classes will be awarded MECA Medals.
We will also enhance these events with a "Show & Shine" contest, with 8 classes. Chris Gregory began doing these last year and they
have worked out well. These are not "everybody gets a trophy" contests. The classes will be competitive and reflect necessary groupings.
The entry fee is $20 and we will have trophies for 1st-3rd places. The classes are: Domestic - Mild Domestic - Wild Import - Mild Import
- Wild Truck - Wild Truck -Mild SUV/Van Vintage Chris is going to handle the judging for the "Show & Shine" at all events. Thanks much,
Chris!
Best Buy is working on rewarding the most successful Competitors in the series with special prizes, most likely gift certificates, but
that is still up in the air. I will have more details on that as they are confirmed. I know that some members may not like the arrangements
that we've made to do these. Please keep in mind that MECA serves all legit mobile electronics retailers, and over the years, we have
had some events that are a little different, or customized for the needs of the retailer. All 10 Best Buy stores will be MECA Retail
Members. Best Buy will be, at this time, MECA's most involved event host, with about 7-10% of the events we will present this season.
This is a big opportunity for our club and helps to further my goal of making MECA, and all car audio sports, more mainstream and accepted
by "society".
Thanks to Ben Sams, Best Buy Installer and guy-in-our-corner, and the Best Buy regional management!