I am still a semi active member of the BMW Car Club Tejas Chapter. The construction of the Circuit of the Americas near Austin was heralded as a great victory for grass roots mototsports enthusiasts. Central Texas offered little in the way of driving venues.
Early Saturday COTA abruptly cancelled their agreed contract to host BMW CCA driving schools for the entire year. There are 3 seperate chapters within 4 hours drive of COTA. Within minutes of the announcement driving enthusiasts took to social media expressing their outrage. Facebook & Twitter litteraly blew up. Our driving events coordinator contacted all of the Austin area media outlets and KXAN was going to run a piece for the 10 pm news.
About 6 hours later COTA promptly reversed their earlier announcement and agreed to honor all private and amature driving events. This is a classic example of how not to run a public affairs program. COTA essentially turned their back on the very customers who lobbied the state legislature to bring this facility to Austin on the first place.
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20121222/F1/121229952
Score one for the little guy.