All photos courtesy of Anthony Bristol.
Presentations on the history of motor racing, including a keynote by Lyn St. James, drew 65 people to Watkins Glen International Media Center on November 1st for the 8th Annual Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History. November 2nd drew 35 attendees. A month later, videos of the presentations had racked up 1065 views on YouTube. Both days were livestreamed on twitch.tv. (Details and links below.)
The Symposium was convened and supported by the International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), the Society of Automotive Historians, Grand Touring Motorsports, and the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce.
The schedule included 21 presentations, 17 in person and four pre-recorded, plus a roundtable led by Don Capps (co-founder of the symposium with the late Michael Argetsinger). We were honored with a keynote address by former racecar driver Lyn St. James.
As in the two previous years, Eric Monterastelli of Gran Touring Motorsports livestreamed the two days of presentations, and this year Eric’s sister Tania Monterastelli handled social media interfacing in real time. We thank them for their dedication and excellent work making these presentations widely available.
Eric had us “on air” livestreaming via twitch.tv for nearly 17 hours over Friday and Saturday. A peak of 50 people viewed the livestream, with sustained 20 to 30 viewers over both days. Post-event twitch.tv views were 250 for the Friday full-day recording and 144 views for the Saturday full-day recording, for a total of 394. Twich.tv access shuts off six days after the event.
Just after the Symposium, Eric converted the recordings and posted them on the IMRCC YouTube channel – one full-length video for each day and one for each presentation. One month after the Symposium, total YouTube views stood at 1056, including 69 views of the full-day videos.
The YouTubes for 2024, 2023 and 2022 can be accessed on the IMRRC’s website (scroll down on the Argetsinger Symposium page under the News & Events tab) via this link https://www.racingarchives.org/about-the-imrrc/argetsinger-symposium/ or at the IMRCC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@IMRRC
Thursday evening Tom Schmeh hosted the 17th International Reel Wheel Film Festival at the Watkins Glen Elementary School adjacent to the IMRRC. Friday evening the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a reception for attendees at their offices in town.
Please make plans to join us next year! Watch this space for information on the 2025 Symposium as plans are finalized. SAH members will receive information via email as well.