could a kind person post the link from the first page in the backdoor fashion, as my work server blocks all links with the word "forum" in....?
Indebted...
Indebted...
My uni team generates funds by acting as an agent throught which all the departments, sports teams, halls of residents, societies, etc at the uni book there rec days through. We get a discounted rate from our local site NPF Bassets Pole, which we then pass on, in-part to the people from the uni that book through us. We take a small commission, towards club funds.
BTW everyone in the chain knows exactly what is happening, the site and the groups know we are making a small sub off this but the site gets extra buisiness through it, and the groups are getting a discount, help organising/promoting the event, as well as getting the benifit of the paintball clubs expeirnce in which are the best sites etc.
We made about a grand doing this last year, we sent a lot of people paintballing.
Also as NPF is owned by WDP, and they have there own sup'air facilities up the top end, we get assistance for our tourney team. Discounted kit, paint, training etc.
However i wouldn't describe any of the above as sponsorship, its just a good working relationship. If all these people were just going to NPF because i said yeah NPF's good then that might be different. But that wouldn't work, its the time and effort i put in to promoting them, not our teams fame and name, that brings the customers there.
On the subject of walk-on's. A model that seems to work at the moment is having twice a month walk on days, this means that all the walk on players come on the same day, so that there is enough of them to have decent games etc. And they get cheaper paint, About £50 a box i think. As they tend to fire more they tend to spend about the same as the rentals, and the profit is not significantly reduced. And in terms of turning a rental customer in to a walk on. Rental once or twice a year at £50 per time or monthly walk on at £30 per time. Plus you'll prob be able to sell the walk-on's batterys, bits of kit etc. Oh and don't forget the savings. Laundrying those coveralls, paying someone to clean the packs masks and markers, replacing lenses, baging paint into 100's. It all adds up, and the walk on doesn't need any of that.
I think that part II hit the nail on the head, in terms of increaseing the transition of players to tourney ball.
Imagine: most sites have a core of regulars that come down most weekends. Yeah they pay less per time, but see budda's example, you expect that as a regular customer, especially if you are cheaper to have there as well. So all the customers see that this is something you can do regularly, there is a group of regulars you can join. One like minded people are thrown together they spur each other on. The regulars introduce the new guys to sup air and talk to them about tourneys etc. The tourneys could even promote there events with posters in the walk-on players set up area. Soon you got people regulary playing sup'air of a weekend and feeding the tourney teams with a breadth of possible recruits.
Oh hang on, you don't need to use your imagination, its already happening in the states.
And if you want to tie in every ballers desire for free stuff, you have a home team that do most of the work, reffing etc with the walk-on's on the sup'air, and get team support in exchange.
And further if you want to bring in the localised club structured teams, you could have a resident "club" made up of the regular walk ons, that that runs the walk-on days each weekend with the team being selected from the sites walk on's. The walk on's that didn't want to play tourney would still come down and play a bit of ball each weekend, perhaps come and watch their team at the tourneys etc. So a site just out of Blogsville town, would be the home ground of The Blogsville joes, Most of them just come down a couple of times a month, but the team train there more regularly, as well as handeling most of the bull that the site can't be bothered with. The site still takes an entry fee perhaps, plus the paint sales, as well as kit sales etc.
We have more teams springing up with firm grounding and plenty of players coming through. You got spectators (The other regulars from the site). The tournament scene is not alienated from its roots preventing the transition of new players. Everyone's impression of paintball (which they get from going to sites) would include tourney ball, inproving our public image. Hell eben the one off punters might be persuaded to come along and watch a tourney if it was held in a sufficiently accessable and hospitable venue.
Halleluia! I have seen the promised land!! Bring paintball back to the woods... well kind of next door to them, at least during training.
Wonders off, humming "Imagine" by John Lennon...
"...you may say-ay-e-ay i'm a dreamer, ba bum bum, but i'm not the only one..."
EDIT that kind of trailed off in to a surreal rant didn't it. Oh well
BTW everyone in the chain knows exactly what is happening, the site and the groups know we are making a small sub off this but the site gets extra buisiness through it, and the groups are getting a discount, help organising/promoting the event, as well as getting the benifit of the paintball clubs expeirnce in which are the best sites etc.
We made about a grand doing this last year, we sent a lot of people paintballing.
Also as NPF is owned by WDP, and they have there own sup'air facilities up the top end, we get assistance for our tourney team. Discounted kit, paint, training etc.
However i wouldn't describe any of the above as sponsorship, its just a good working relationship. If all these people were just going to NPF because i said yeah NPF's good then that might be different. But that wouldn't work, its the time and effort i put in to promoting them, not our teams fame and name, that brings the customers there.
On the subject of walk-on's. A model that seems to work at the moment is having twice a month walk on days, this means that all the walk on players come on the same day, so that there is enough of them to have decent games etc. And they get cheaper paint, About £50 a box i think. As they tend to fire more they tend to spend about the same as the rentals, and the profit is not significantly reduced. And in terms of turning a rental customer in to a walk on. Rental once or twice a year at £50 per time or monthly walk on at £30 per time. Plus you'll prob be able to sell the walk-on's batterys, bits of kit etc. Oh and don't forget the savings. Laundrying those coveralls, paying someone to clean the packs masks and markers, replacing lenses, baging paint into 100's. It all adds up, and the walk on doesn't need any of that.
I think that part II hit the nail on the head, in terms of increaseing the transition of players to tourney ball.
Imagine: most sites have a core of regulars that come down most weekends. Yeah they pay less per time, but see budda's example, you expect that as a regular customer, especially if you are cheaper to have there as well. So all the customers see that this is something you can do regularly, there is a group of regulars you can join. One like minded people are thrown together they spur each other on. The regulars introduce the new guys to sup air and talk to them about tourneys etc. The tourneys could even promote there events with posters in the walk-on players set up area. Soon you got people regulary playing sup'air of a weekend and feeding the tourney teams with a breadth of possible recruits.
Oh hang on, you don't need to use your imagination, its already happening in the states.
And if you want to tie in every ballers desire for free stuff, you have a home team that do most of the work, reffing etc with the walk-on's on the sup'air, and get team support in exchange.
And further if you want to bring in the localised club structured teams, you could have a resident "club" made up of the regular walk ons, that that runs the walk-on days each weekend with the team being selected from the sites walk on's. The walk on's that didn't want to play tourney would still come down and play a bit of ball each weekend, perhaps come and watch their team at the tourneys etc. So a site just out of Blogsville town, would be the home ground of The Blogsville joes, Most of them just come down a couple of times a month, but the team train there more regularly, as well as handeling most of the bull that the site can't be bothered with. The site still takes an entry fee perhaps, plus the paint sales, as well as kit sales etc.
We have more teams springing up with firm grounding and plenty of players coming through. You got spectators (The other regulars from the site). The tournament scene is not alienated from its roots preventing the transition of new players. Everyone's impression of paintball (which they get from going to sites) would include tourney ball, inproving our public image. Hell eben the one off punters might be persuaded to come along and watch a tourney if it was held in a sufficiently accessable and hospitable venue.
Halleluia! I have seen the promised land!! Bring paintball back to the woods... well kind of next door to them, at least during training.
Wonders off, humming "Imagine" by John Lennon...
"...you may say-ay-e-ay i'm a dreamer, ba bum bum, but i'm not the only one..."
EDIT that kind of trailed off in to a surreal rant didn't it. Oh well
D
duffistuta
Guest
The main point I get from Robbo's Rant-os (Pete's Prognostications) is this:
Short term thinking quickly puts small dollars into a company's pockets, long-term thinking is risky, scary and only has the potential to put BIG dollars into a company's pockets.
Short term thinking has been a bane of the paintball industry from its inception: NSG pretty much did themselves in by insisting on high-end pricing for their franchisees - thus leading directly to the non-NSG competitors out there.
Short term thinking led directly to the PSP/NPPL debacle of several years ago, and the current split between them, which only causes both leagues to duplicate expenses and continuously presents a divided industry to potential outside interests.
Short term thinking has led to broadcasters perception of paintball as a cash-paying customer.
While it may seem, from the outside, that many US companies are engaging in long-term thinking/planning, in truth they are still short-sighted. What looks long-range from a distance is really short range masked by the availability of large promotional dollars.
In doing this, paintball as a whole is merely emulating the rest of the corporate/industrial world in the 21st century, and its easy to understand how and why this happens: you need money to make money. The problem is that after taking a decent profit from short-term goals and plans, the existing companies, for the most part, stick with that strategy instead of building something that will last and that re-invests those dollars for long-term growth.
I guess what I'm really saying is that Pete is right; he's always right, I liked the first two parts and he should keep on holdinig a blowtorch to the subject - one that spittle will be entirely inadequate for extinguishing.
Short term thinking quickly puts small dollars into a company's pockets, long-term thinking is risky, scary and only has the potential to put BIG dollars into a company's pockets.
Short term thinking has been a bane of the paintball industry from its inception: NSG pretty much did themselves in by insisting on high-end pricing for their franchisees - thus leading directly to the non-NSG competitors out there.
Short term thinking led directly to the PSP/NPPL debacle of several years ago, and the current split between them, which only causes both leagues to duplicate expenses and continuously presents a divided industry to potential outside interests.
Short term thinking has led to broadcasters perception of paintball as a cash-paying customer.
While it may seem, from the outside, that many US companies are engaging in long-term thinking/planning, in truth they are still short-sighted. What looks long-range from a distance is really short range masked by the availability of large promotional dollars.
In doing this, paintball as a whole is merely emulating the rest of the corporate/industrial world in the 21st century, and its easy to understand how and why this happens: you need money to make money. The problem is that after taking a decent profit from short-term goals and plans, the existing companies, for the most part, stick with that strategy instead of building something that will last and that re-invests those dollars for long-term growth.
I guess what I'm really saying is that Pete is right; he's always right, I liked the first two parts and he should keep on holdinig a blowtorch to the subject - one that spittle will be entirely inadequate for extinguishing.
D
duffistuta
Guest
So how did New Zealand manage to be at the top of International Rugby for years with a total population of only 3 million?
D