Club Lotus has been run as a profit making organisation for the past two decades at least so the change of ownership probably makes little difference. I always had the distinct impression it was a VERY profitable operation for some
Do the basic maths, at new membership fees of 25-30 quid a year for around 30000 members and you can see where i'm coming from - ok a lot of members were on frozen membership rates and you needed to run an office of 2 or 3 and produce a magazine 4 times a year... but it was hardly a glossy sunday supplement publication although the catering budget was probably huge
I was involved in a commercial project that was considering exhibiting 3 or 4 years ago but the costs of a stand at Donington and at Stoneleigh were so prohibitive it made a similar stand at the NEC Autosport show seem an absolute bargain although I guess Club Lotus just pass the Donington prices straight on with a standard markup.
My Sprint has made it to Donington precisely once and has never been to Stoneleigh as, like a few others I guess, I refuse to put the car on the road when there are still heaps of road salt around. Usual transport therefore has been the Elise or more usually the M100 as the boot is a bit bigger for the "bargains" Having said that these past few years I've only gone for one day and this year I was on my way home before 1pm.
A month or two later for Donington might make a difference for the less hardy but without the chance of track time there the event is still a bit dead as far as i'm concerned. If I wasn't paying 12 quid a year I'd not be joining Club Lotus, but as it is, its mildly tolerable for the adverts and the odd technical article but like a lot of people on here I guess we learn and know much more by being online.