The Nissan Southeast Region cordially invites you to attend an exclusive GT-R preview event at ZDayZ 2008 in Fontana, NC this Saturday, May 17th.

This event will give you an opportunity to get up close and personal with the legendary sports car before it makes its official debut in the United States later this summer.

Special guest Peter Bedrosian, Senior Manager of Product Planning for Z and GT-R, will be on hand throughout the day to discuss the vehicle?s development and answer any product-related questions. If you plan to attend an in-depth GT-R tech session with Peter, please plan on arriving before 12PM.

The GT-R will be on display at the Softball Field near Fontana Village Resort in Fontana, NC (http://www.fontanavillage.com).

We?ll see you in Fontana!

The ZDayZ pre-registration is approaching!  Remember, if you want to get your event tee shirt for free and the special promo coffee cup for ZDayZ Year 5.  The pre-registration deadline is May 3, 2008.  After this date, online registration will be closed and you will have to wait until you arrive at ZDayZ to register for the event.  Also note, registration at ZDayZ will require payment by cash or check.  There will be no electronic or credit card payments accepted at ZDayZ this year.

We would also like to announce additional vendor sponsored events for this year!  On Saturday, Motordyne Engineering will be hosting our first ever ZDayZ Exhaust Sound Off!  Cars/Drivers will compete for honors of worst sounding and best sounding exhaust.  Prizes will be provided by Motordyne for both the worst (certificate toward their new 350Z exhaust system) and best (certificate for their 350Z/G35 plenum spacer) exhaust note.  This activity will take place on Saturday around the same time any vendor tech sessions will be happening.

We also have the ZDayZ Prize Run co-sponsored by Powdercoater.com and AMS Z Store.  These two sponsors will provide prizes that participants will have an option to win by visiting various rally stops on the provided route.  This will be similar to a Poker Run, but with raffle tickets at each stop instead of playing cards to keep things simple.  This event also takes place on Saturday, starting at 10am.

You must be a registered ZDayZ attendee to participate in either the Exhaust Sound Off or Prize Run!!!  We look forward to seeing many of you at ZDayZ!

ZDayZ looms ever closer!  For those keeping track, we are now less than 8 weeks away from one the southeast's best Z-car events!  As usual, we have received questions regarding why one should pre-register for ZDayZ.

There are two reasons this year to pre-register.  Unlike previous years, registration prices will not increase for those who register onsite.  It is $30 for general registration now and it will be $30 onsite at ZDayZ.  However, only pre-registered attendees receive a free event t-shirt.  Event tees will be available to those registering onsite at a set price in addition to the $30 registration, and only if there are any left!  

Perhaps more importantly, only those who pre-register will receive this year's ZDayZ Year 5 commemorative item.  Each person pre-registered by April 30, 2008 will receive one ZDayZ Year 5 black coffee mugs!  Pictured at right is one of two styles of cup we are considering.  We are only ordering enough mugs for pre-registered attendees and a few extra for giveaways.  There will be no coffee mugs for sale at ZDayZ.  So pre-register soon if you want one!

ZDayZ continues to inch closer and we, the organizers, are working diligently on the activity schedule to ensure there will be a little something for everyone at ZDayZ this year!  So what is in the news today?

First off, two of our long time partner sponsors, Forged Performance and Z1 Motorsports, have taken the lead in sponsoring specific activities over ZDayZ weekends.  Expect these companies to have a higher level of involvement during these activities and to also see some of their nicer prize donations to be given out at these times.  Forged Performance will be sponsoring our first ever ZDayZ Casino Night!  This is a natural progression of our previous Texas Hold'em Tournaments.  Registered attendees will received a set allotment of chips and will be able to play a variety of casino games to grow their holdings.  At the end of play, chips will be exchanged for raffle tickets and we will draw for a variety of prizes.  Z1 Motorsports will be sponsoring our Outdoor Movie Night!  This will begin around dusk and will feature a series of videos including a specially prepared video from Z1, an interesting history of the Z car, and a feature film.  We appreciate everyones effort in bringing these new activities to ZDayZ this year!

Also, at the insistance of perennial ZDayZ staffer Bryan Settle, ZDayZ 2008 will again feature a crazy shirt contest!  As usual, we invite you to bring and wear your most wonderfully unrefined shirts (please refrain from wearing shirts that are blatantly offensive or, at least only offensive to good taste).  Prizes will go to those who, by popular acclaim from the crowd, bring the most obnoxious and tacky shirts.  This activity will take place during the group dinner prior to the outdoor movies on Friday night (or Saturday night if we have to change schedule due to weather).

Last item for today... ZDayZ 2008 promotional posters are now being printed and should be here soon.  Sponsors will receive several of these to help promote the event.  Individuals interested in receiving ZDayZ posters can contact us at info@zdayzevents.com.  Individuals will be expected to cover S&H on posters sent.  Any remaining posters will be brought to ZDayZ and given away at the registration desk.

ZDAYZ 2008 REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!!!
Follow this link or click on "Registration" in the page menu to pre-register for ZDayZ 2008.  Registration is $30 per person.  General registration includes event t-shirt, eligibility to win sponsor donated prizes, and access to all ZDayZ activites including the Poker Run/Prize Rally, Casino Night, Sponsor Tech sessions, Digital Scavenger Hunt, and more.

Friday and Saturday Group Dinners are optional and an addition $15 per meal per person.  Though the dinners are optional, they are great opportunity to regroup with your Z-friends at the end of the afternoon.  We strongly encourage participation.

Please note that your registration is not confirmed until we have received your electronic, check, or money order payment for registration.  Any questions about registration can be directed to the zdayz General Information mailbox.

Why pre-register?  Pre-registering helps us do a better job of planning ZDayZ for you.  In the past, we have encouraged pre-registration by making onsite registration more expensive.  We will *not* be doing so this year.  Onsite registration will still be $30 and meals will still be $15.  However, onsite registrants will not receive a free event t-shirt or special ZDayZ pre-registrant gift.  T-shirts will be available for purchase separately onsite, the pre-registration gift will not be for sale... only available to pre-register attendees.

MORE SPONSORS!  We're happy to add 2 more club sponsors and 4 more company sponsors this week, including Nissan North America's second consecutive year of participating at ZDayZ!  Please take time to check out all our sponsors before coming to ZDayZ this year.  As we find out sponsors will be onsite this year, we will note this on our ZDayZ Company Sponsor page.

ZDAYZ REGISTRATION OPENING SOON!  We are adding the final touches to our online registration form for ZDayZ 2008 this week and expect to have registration available sometime this weekend.  Official Pre-registration pricing will be $30 for each attendee or guest and $15 for each group dinner.  The group dinners are optional, but we hope you will attend at least one (if not both) to meet with Z-friends and exchange stories, tips, or whatever crosses your mind.

ZDAYZ SCHEDULE CHANGES!  There have been a few changes made to the official ZDayZ Schedule of Activities.  We have now confirmed the outdoor movie which will take place Friday night.  Also, we will be changing the ZDayZ Texas Hold'em Tournament to a Casino Night where registered attendees can play a variety of games (blackjack, poker, roulette, craps) which may provide a chance to win sponsor donated prizes!

Just a quick update today.  The changes to the new website continue.  The sponsor pages are updated to reflect those we have verified for ZDayZ 2008.  The tentative schedule of activities has been added to the Schedule page, along with detail of each planned activity.  This schedule is not final, but highlights all the activities we hope to bring to you in 2008.

Greetings ZDayZ Fans!  Welcome to the long overdue update of our website!  Over the next few weeks, you will see many changes and updates as we refresh our look and content.  

As has been the case the past four years, staff are hard at work securing sponsors, planning activies, and building excitement for what we expect will be one of our greatest ZDayZ events yet!  This is our 5th year of ZDayZ and we are hoping all our old friends and plenty of new ones are planning to attend to make the event one of the best regional Z-car meets in the country.

You will notice we already have a start on our club and company sponsors. So far, seven clubs and seven companies have elected to sponsor ZDayZ 2008 and we expect more to be added in the coming weeks.  Again, watch these pages as we add sponsors.  Our partner sponsors' websites can be reached through the static logo links to the left (and, of course, through the company sponsor page when it is updated).  In addition, all sponsor clubs and companies can be reached through the rotating link window in the upper right of all pages.  We hope this will help you reach your favorite sponsors more quickly.  Be sure to mention ZDayZ when you visit them or make a purchase!  : )

Also, it is not just the look of our website that is changing.  There are some key changes happening with ZDayZ itself.  These will be described in more detail on the Schedule page when it is updated, but there is one everyone should know about immediately.  Some of you may have heard that there will be no car show at ZDayZ 2008.  This is 100% true.  For a variety of reasons, we have removed the car show from the schedule this year.  This does not mean the show is gone for good.  One of the reasons we removed the car show is because ZDayZ was started more as a meet, greet, and drive event.  The car show kind of departs from this philosophy since those participating must devote a lot of time to show prep.  So, we thought we would try to shift the emphasis back to the fantastic mountain roads and just hanging out with others in the Z community.  Rest assured there will be plenty of other great activities both on the roads and at Fontana Village to fill your time.  Another consideration was resources necessary to run the car show.  Whether you are aware or not, it takes a lot of extra planning and an enormous amount of people to pull off a great car show.  Instead of focusing heavily on one activity, we can now spread that planning and resource time out to more activities, giving attendees more choices of things to do.  We think the changes will enhance the ZDayZ experience and feel you will agree after ZDayZ 2008 has ended.

Finally, if you are planning to attend, be sure to book your rooms/cabins soon.  As of Monday, Jan 21st, Fontana Village was almost completely booked!  This is nearly a month earlier than normal, leading us to believe this will be the biggest ZDayZ ever!!!  To make reservations with Fontana Village, call them at 800-849-2258.  We will soon have our Lodging link updated with alternate locations to find a room that are within a short drive of Fontana Village.

More updates soon.