Autofest in the News

Autofest garners attention Nationally and Internationally in a feature article.

Autofest is a great series that has been honored by having some top names in the industry attend its events and people love this. However, there is something else special about Autofest that people are loving and this love is spreading fast. What is special you ask, well Autofest is unique in the fact that with every new event, not only do the number of competitors and spectators grow, but so does the demographic. You see, Autofest strives to reach out to anyone from anywhere who wants to participate in anything automotive and invites them to attend. This idea is catching on quick as many people see the new breath of life it pumps into the industry. So admired is the idea that it became the inspiration for a feature article on car shows and has been published both nationally and internationally. We hope to see you at the next Autofest so that you too can enjoy all that it has to offer. Until then we invite you to read the article that takes the story of Autofest both National and International.
SEE IT NATIONALLY HERE
SEE IT INTERNATIONALLY HERE

Choctaw Casinos, Sound Creations, and MECA Create Autofest Series

Choctaw Casino promotes AutoFest with billboards like pictured in this 2009 file photo.

Durant, OK – Sound Creations in Durant, Oklahoma will be organizing, sponsoring, and judging the 2010 Choctaw Casino Challenge Tour “Sound-off” and “Show & Shine”. Tony Goza, owner of Sound Creations, is the force behind this unique series that will offer big cash prizes to winners in the car/truck shows and the car audio competitions. Plans are for $2500 in cash prizes to be divided among “Show & Shine”, Sound Pressure League, and Sound Quality League “Best of Show” winners. The promotional efforts planned by the Choctaw Casino & Resort properties are unprecedented for car audio sports contests. Plans are for free children’s activities, live music, and other entertainment during the events.

The Tour is a points series with awards and prizes for the “Sound-off” and “Show & Shine” entrants. The first event held in August 2009 featured 90 vehicles and drew 7200+ spectators. Events should display 100 or more vehicles and as the Tour builds, greater numbers are expected.

All attendees, that is spectators and Competitors, at all events, will be given 1 ticket, to be collected during the season. At the Finals in August, 1 lucky winner will win the $5000 cash prize, drawn from all the tickets. This should bolster attendance on all levels: spectator, fan, and Competitors.

Alma Gates is pictured with Steve Stern (MECA) and Tony Goza pictured on the left at last year's inaugural event.

The dates for these Oklahoma events are:

April 10 – Grant             2X
May 15 – Broken Bow 2X
June 12 – McAlester    2X
July 17 – Stringtown     2X
August 7/8 – Durant     3X Finals

Sound Creations will also host other events at the store. These include 1X points Locals nights and a MECA 2X points “Sound-off” and “Show & Shine” at the annual Magnolia Festival, which is located in downtown Durant, next to the store. The Locals nights are designed to be smaller shows, focused on helping the future Competitors prepare for the contests.

Vehicles of all makes and vintages on the show floor last August.

The dates for these Durant events are:

March   27 – 1X
May      1 – 1X
June     5 – 2X Magnolia Festival
July       3 - 1X

Goza financed and promoted his professional minor league football team, The Alabama Lightning, in Orange Beach, Alabama in the early 2000’s. As he did with his football team players, he is creating a collector card series for sound-off Competitors. Bola Adekunle, from Marion, Indiana, a MECA Member and a 2009 SPL World Champion, is the first to be featured in the series. Others to be included are Mark Eldridge, Gary Biggs, and world-famous Alma Gates. An on-line page will be created for each card, with interactive information to increase fan awareness of car audio sports personalities.

www.autofestcentral.com will be the on-line home for the Tour and is the site for information concerning the Locals shows and the Magnolia Festival event.

For information on participating in the collector card program, regarding the application, review, and acceptance process, please contact tgoza@autofestcentral.com or 580-924-2255.

AutoFest Tour Announced for 2010

Click to enlarge.

DURANT, OK – Sound Creation’s Tony Goza has announced a 5 stop AutoFest Tour for 2010. This 5 town tour follows a very
successful premier event at the Choctaw Casino in Durant last fall.

Goza told 12voltnews.com “The Autofest partnership with the Choctaw Casino is a win/win for all – pun intended. The Autofest event drew consumers to the casino property and stimulated interest in all categories of mobile electronics gear. Last year’s inaugural eventbdrew a weekend crowd of over 7500 to the Durant Choctaw Casino Event Center. The exposure AutoFest and Sound Creations realized from thebNBC television schedule and billboards in the region was amazing. We generated significant business and developed a newbbase of customers as a result of the event”.

The Autofest 2010 Tour will make stops at Choctaw Casino Event Centers is Grant, Pocola, McAlester, Stringtpwn and Durant, OK. Then tour will feature a championship points contest and the winner will be announced at the final event in Durant. A drawing will be held for a $5,000. cash prize from spectator entries submitted along the tour route.

Goza noted “This tour will create a lot on interest through out eastern Oklahoma. Well known competitors are already signing up to compete and our friend Alma Gates will be on hand again”.

MECA's Steve Stern (L) meters a competitor's vehicle as Tony Goza looks on.

Each Autofest event will include a sanctioned MECA event and car show. MECA Commissioner Steve Stern told 12voltnews.com “This year’s Autofest events at the Choctaw Casino Event Centers promise to be shining stars in the car audio sports universe”.

There will be significant prize money for SQ and SPL, as well as Show and Shine, competitors at each event.

Stern added “With the support of the Choctaw Casino the prospects for cross-promotion and tangible sales results for mobile electronics industry partners is exciting. We appreciate the hard work and vision Tony brings to the table”

In addition to the Autofest Tour with Choctaw Casino Sound Creations will host 3 local events at their store location in Durant this year.

For more info please visit www.autofestcentral.com.

Sound Creations Fills Choctaw Event Center
By: Mike Van Horn - 12voltnews.com

The arena floor in the Choctaw Indian Event Center was filled with a wide range of great show vehicles.

Durant, OK – Sound Creations is located in a relatively small town in southeastern Oklahoma -Durant, population 16,000. But that doesn’t stop Tony Goza, the company’s owner, from having big ideas. Importantly, he turns those ideas into action.

Goza told 12voltnews.com on site at Autofest 2009 “We wanted to do something really big in the market to build our brand. We have hosted numerous events at our store but were looking to really step it up several levels”. Step it up Goza did.

Indian tribe gaming is growing rapidly in several parts of the US. The Choctaw Tribe has a resort casino facility in Durant and Goza saw a tie into the new Choctaw Indian Event Center located adjacent to the popular casino. Goza approached the local NBC television affiliate with his idea to produce a car show with a soundoff competition and burnout contest as part of the car show. Together they approached event center management and a deal was struck to present Autofest 2009 in the new 65,000 sq ft Choctaw Indian Event Center.

Alma Gates is pictured with Tony Goza (L) and MECA's Steve Stern.

On Saturday and Sunday, August 1st and 2nd with soundoff legend Alma Gates in the house. 3500 spectators filled the aisles to check out over 70 show vehicles on the event center floor. The spectators in many cases were not the demographic associated with car audio. These consumers were made aware of many items they can add to their vehicles.

As an added consumer awareness bonus both area newspapers features photos and story of Autofest 2009 on the front page of their Sunday editions. That unplanned bonus was icing on the cake for Autofest
2009 and SoundCreations.

Tony Goza proudly shows the front pages of the Sunday edition of the two local newspapers.

Goza observed “We created consumer awareness for our business and products with a new group of consumers. Mobile video and Bluetooth were new to many spectators I talked with. Attracting new customers is a vital key for SoundCreations future”.

The MECA competition drew a total of 88 vehicles in the soundoff, burnout and “show and shine” Steve Stern, on hand with a full crew said “This event will deliver immediate and future business to Sound Creations. We were certainly glad to be a part of the event”.

Autofest 2009 images, like Saturday's burnout contest, were shown on big screens throughout the event center.

12volt brands represented on the show floor included Eclipse, Alpine, Focal, Kenwood, Memphis Car Audio, Parrot and Crossfire. Hats off to Jeremy Clutts, Mike Hepner, Matt Hankins, Mike Pinny and Toshi Mosby. Mark Eldridge, MSE, also drew a crowd to his Project One NASCAR demo vehicle.

Concluding, Goza said “We pulled it off – and with virtually no hitches. We are booked out for two weeks at the store and have plans to reap long term benefits from this year’s event as we plan for an even bigger Autofest 2010.”

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