Event Planning
What makes an automotive event a Cars & Coffee Event? Here are some essential features to include in your event(s).
- It is a gathering of Sports, Super, Hyper and Classic Cars of all Makes and given quality standards.
- Proper Hospitality is provided to event participants.
- It is covered on as much social media channels as possible.
- Of course, Coffee is served!
The main value of Cars & Coffee lies in the unique selection of Dreamcars that each time gather at our events. The variety and high standard of the vehicles attending our shows is what makes our C&C brand recognizable and attractive to owners, enthusiasts and partners all over the world.
Here is a guideline to selecting the cars attending your C&C event, among the requests coming through our platform. Whether a meeting, an exhibition, a rally or a track day, your event shall be exclusively open to owners of Dream Car models from major manufacturers.
For those who are still wondering, "a Dreamcar is a car displaying certain characteristics that would make it a rare or truly unique vehicle. They are essentially considered to be extraordinarily distinct, out of the ordinary, or notably different from what most people will ever see on the road."
Let’s now take a practical look at the specific features required from cars to be considered Dreamcars and to be admitted to C&C events.
Hypercars
- Always admitted (e.g. Pagani, Bugatti, Koenigsegg, Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918 Spyder, ...).
Supercars
- Always admitted (e.g. Ferrari 458 Italia, Porsche 911 GT3, Lamborghini Aventador, McLaren MP4-12C, ...). Defined by both following features:
- Price higher than 100k €
- 0-100 acceleration: less than 4.0s
Sportcars
- Admitted providing at least one of the following requirements (e.g. Nissan GT-R, ...):
- Price higher than 100k €
- 0-100 acceleration: less than 4.0s
- Admitted in a limited number* providing the following requirements (e.g. Jaguar F-Type, ...):
- Price between 50k € and 100k €
- 0-100 acceleration: higher than 4.0s
- Not admitted if (e.g. Mazda MX-5, ...):
Suv, Luxury Cars (5-doors), Station Wagon
- Admitted only in limited editions and in a limited number* (e.g. Lamborghini LM002, Mercedes-Benz G500 4x42, Audi RS6 ABT, ...):
Classic Cars
- Admitted (e.g. Ferrari F40, Lamborghini Countach, ...) if:
- Admitted in a limited number* (e.g. Ferrari F355, Lancia Delta Integrale, ...) if:
- Price between 50k € and 100k €
- Not admitted if (e.g. XXX, ...):
*this category shall, in all circumstances, constitute the minority of exhibited vehicles.
This is all you need to know on requirements and restrictions for car admission to all C&C events. Follow these guidelines closely to pull off a unique automotive show in our unmistakable C&C style!
As an official Cars & Coffee organizer, you can choose among a variety of certified Cars & Coffee event types. Here is a full list and description:
Exhibition
- Highly structured event: Exhibitions feature a structured event program, involving different activities to keep your guests engaged. In order to create engagement, Exhibitions usually include two different locations, one for the morning and one for the afternoon, with a driving in between. You might well divide the event into a private session, with owner exclusive access, and a public session, open to automotive enthusiasts.
- Full day event: In order to accommodate this level of event articulation, exhibitions generally last fairly long after noon.
- A Visual Show: pick a location of visual impact, and arrange cars in an exhibitive fashion (for further instructions see the Event Production section). Make so as to have all of the registered cars exhibited at once throughout the central body of the event.
- Plan a full meal: We recommend you include a full meal for your guests. If possible, go for a seated lunch. Otherwise, a very rich buffet catering will do. In exhibitions, lunch is a key moment of your program, which guests should be looking forwards to as an occasion for social relation building.
- Participation Fee: upon payment.
Meeting
- No structured program: this event type is a relaxed, informal gathering. Owners are free to come and go as they please, as there is no particular activity scheduled.
- Half-day event: it is unwise to invite guests for an all-day event without providing some sort of program or structure. However, you are free to host a day-long meeting, should your client demand suggest so.
- Visually casual: car arrangement doesn’t have to be as exhibitive as for the Exhibition. Meetings are hosted in more casual venues, such as car dealerships. It is enough to provide each car with a parking spot as they arrive.
Important: it is still required to include C&C and Sponsored set up materials on the location.
- Informal refreshment: meetings do not require a proper lunch/dinner. However, make sure to at least provide your guests with a light refreshment, including some food, soft drinks, water and coffee, of course. Buffets or food trucks are ideal catering formats for this type of event.
- Participation Fee: either free or upon payment.
Track Day
- This event is held on a Track or Circuit.
- It can either be a Private Track Day for owners testing their car on track, or a public Track Day + Exhibition.
- Public Track Days must offer: a) Owner exclusive access to the track, b) A large enough area to safely arrange car display and enthusiast inflow. These activities must be coordinated simultaneously.
- All features applied to meetings or exhibitions must respectively apply to private and public track day events.
- Make sure to meet safety and insurance requirements in accordance with your chosen circuit venue.
- Participation Fee: either free or upon payment.
Tour
A rally is a driving tour for owners, generally covering more than one day. A rally is conceived as more than an automotive experience. In addition to lengthy driving throughout stunning roads and landscapes, it should include exclusive travel experiences (e.g. food & wine, nature, art, culture, sports etc.), and flawless hospitality.
Participation Fee: upon payment.
Special
New ideas are always welcome. If you would like to introduce a new event type, a hybrid event format, or a C&C special edition, make sure to submit your event proposal to Cars & Coffee International. Our team will review your proposal and get in touch to discuss your ideas!
Selecting a good date for your event is a key factor for its success. First step is selecting a date that suits your schedule and allows you time for due planning and production. Secondly, you may want to do some research and assure that:
- No major local and/or national holiday is being celebrated on that date.
- No major event is being held on that date.
- No major automotive event is being held on that date, on a national/continental scale.
- No major renovation works that might obstacle traffic circulation are being carried in the whereabouts of your events.
- The event is held in favourable weather conditions.
Your chosen location is going to be a main key to success for your event. Cars & Coffee Events require quite a lot of space, and worthy of supercar splendour. Here are some rules to pick a good event venue.
Note: the following guidelines mainly refer to Meetings and Exhibition venues. Other event types require highly specific location (e.g. circuits), although several points may also apply to Track Days and Rallies.
- Balance the size of the venue with the size of the audience: you don’t want your event to feel either dispersive or overstuffed.
- Consider your target: it’s not easy to engage and surprise individuals who are already used to a unique automotive lifestyle. Find a mind-blowing venue to match and surpass their standards!
- Find a venue that suits your budget.
- Your venue must have an outdoor space to accommodate the expected number of cars. Try and get a planimetry of your venue options to make approximate measures of its available outdoor grounds for car exposition. Count 4x6 meters per each car.
- (For Exhibitions), grass is highly recommended. Visually, it provides a unique touch to the event and to photo/video material. Your venue is a place where C&C people want to spend a day: castles, villas, parks and the likes are highly recommended.
- (For limited access events) Make sure all accesses to the location can be guarded and properly filtered through accreditation and/or security services.
You need to make sure your venue is suitable for cars to drive through and park with ease. Check the entrance: is it wide enough to let the cars in?
Is there anything that might obstacle car entrance or damage the vehicles?
What is grade line - can it obstacle car access?
You also want to make sure your guests have way and room to walk among the cars so as not to damage the vehicles and enjoy a comfortable experience.
- Check the route to the venue: grant your drivers a smooth path to the event. You don’t want to put them in the position of damaging their cars due to a bad route choice. Same goes for the driving route in between two locations.
- If you plan on a refreshment, a lunch or a dinner for your guests, make sure your location has proper areas for catering or, ideally, their own catering services and allocated spaces.
- In case of rain: some venues won’t allow cars on a muddy grass. Make sure you enquire about Rain policy when inspecting a location. If you plan an outdoor meal/refreshment, make sure your chosen location allows for an indoor plan B.
- Your venue must have conveniently located restrooms.
- If you have sponsorship deals, make sure your venue allows space for the activation items included in the sponsorship package.
- Be informed on what sorts of permissions you need to host the event in the chosen location. This is particularly valid for public property grounds.
Depending on the event type, location features and, of course, on your personal idea of event, you can choose among the following options:
- Private event: The event is open exclusively to car owners, media guests and C&C partners.
- Public event w/ ticketing: the event is also open to car Enthusiasts. To participate, Enthusiasts must register through the platform and buy an entrance ticket. Even if event participation is free, enthusiasts will still have to go through the platform and get an entrance ticket, which will have zero costs.
- Hybrid: this is the most popular and recommended combination for a C&C event. A hybrid event includes a private part and/or venue, open to car owners exclusively, and a public part and/or venue, open to Enthusiasts. There is no general rule on what should come first, but in our experience a private morning and a public afternoon work best.
Hosting a public event presents challenging organisational aspects, but it’s particularly rewarding in terms of audience response, emotional trigger and width of breath.
A private event, on the other hand, requires great attention to details, so as to satisfy the owners’ very specific standards and tastes. It is going to be a high profile and super exclusive event you are giving the chance to take part into!
You might as well reserve a part of event to owners only, and open the rest to general public. It is up to you, as long as you are aware of the different targets you are dealing with and their respective needs and expectations.
Carefully evaluate your Event venue and available workforce in order to define the exact size and numbers of the event, then apply selection filters to event registration accordingly.
Once all Planning and Production aspects have been defined, you are ready to fill in your Event Proposal. Send us your proposal to get feedback, approval and support from us.
Find the Event proposal form at this link.
Note: the Event Proposal is an absolute requirement and must be submitted within 60 days to the event. You won’t be able to get approval for your event if you fail to submit a properly filled-in Event Proposal by due date.
