100 motos @ Feb's SCQ. What's it going to take?

[bnd]

I brought this up in the goals section. I thought just from past history that the RFL would push 80-90 but it didn't. The next big weekend is the State Qualifier at the end of February. I have some thoughts,

- Promotion, promotion, PROMOTION. Spread the word about BMX. Friends, family & out of State racers. I'm going to make sure all of my buds in Rock Springs is aware of this race. Idaho too.

- Time to break out the "big track" design? Melton?

- 28+ Open is a huge success. Time to get the younger opens up & running with somebody taking the lead promoting them w/ maybe some prizes?

These are ideas off the top of my head. Let's discuss.

b.

[sixstringsteve]

I love the enthusiasm. I'm trying to think of how a referral reward system could work. Like you get some kind of reward every time you bring a friend that signs up and starts racing. It could be something easy like a sticker for your helmet, kinda like the football players have when they do something great.

I know there are 3 or 4 friends of mine who would give it a shot if I brought them out, I just haven't putt my full efforts behind it. I think the key for them is:
- get them to the track to see a race
- next week, get them to race


A few limiting factors that my friends give is:
- I don't have a bike (a loaner/rental bike program would ROCK)
- I'm not good at riding a bike
- they don't even know what BMX is or what to expect


We need BMX missionaries
but seriously, if we all had a stack of cards (business card size) in our wallets that we could hand out a card with track info, race times, and a website, we could pass those out to our interested buddies. Or if you're big into Facebook, we could create a group, or send out an invite, or a poll or something (I don't facebook all that much, so I'm the wrong guy to suggest here).

I'd be willing to volunteer to make a promo video for the race, then everyone could post it on FB/twitter.

I love the idea of getting 100 motos in, but I worry about how long it takes to get through the motos. I don't know what could be done about speeding up the process so it's not 3 hours between first moto and the main.

[bnd]

Worrying about how long it would take shouldn't be a concern. We should all hope for 100 moto races in the future. When I was a teen along with alot of older people in here, 100+ motos were the norm at the old indoor Fairground races in the early 80's. I have a moto sheet that has 17 expert at 110 moto. That was with a 8 man gate, single point race.
I like some of your ideas. Greg Prawitt, who doesn't race anymore was a machine when it came to promoting BMX.

b.

[b2]

Craigslist, KSL Classifies, etc. ads there announcing free* racing (*for spectating, of course) and the family atmosphere... etc.

The shops, of course, should have fliers. The school system and boy scouts were a couple hot beds that Greg P. worked well. I don't know why we can't get some local news coverage... I keep working a friend of mine who works for KSL TV but it seems that Fox 13 is really the only TV station that does any coverage. More media exposure would help... news papers, school papers... there's a good spin for school newspaper interest stories.

Some of these things are likely too late for the SQR, but could be leveraged in general.

The IHC "Live" campaign is a good one... I wonder if there's a way to tie-in with them (of course IHC is the competitor for my work, but their Live program is good and seems to have a lot of focus and energy right now). Does anyone have a connection with IHC's marketing people? I know there are a couple people in the scene who have connections at IHC.

[ogr13]

Absolutely love the ideas! Send any potential COGs my way!
Bruce, I strongly advise you to start bringing "offerings" to the registration and finish line crew now.
They will hunt you down & harm you...
Also, could we recruit some more track volunteers? The build crew, some more folks for staging, age group practice "bouncers" and a couple more bodies to assist with Sunday's take down team.
All of these jobs can be done by anybody, you don't need any experience and it's a great way to get to know more people.
Staging does take a strong voice combined with a calm personality, but volunteering just one time lightens the load.
Thanks, in advance, for helping to making 100 motos run smoothly!

[jakesteiger]

You know I've been thinking about a small video that could run on the big screens at all the local movie theaters. I don't know how much something like that would cost but if we could get the movies to donate some space that would work out as well.

Jake

[sixstringsteve]

Absolutely love the ideas! Send any potential COGs my way!

we've gotta get that COG podcast going. We could do a FAQ for old dudes who feel silly riding "kids" bikes, and explain why a COG would ever think about racing BMX. Maybe that could help us get some new guys signed up.


Out of curiosity, is the issue that we need more people to sign up and join the sport, or do we just need to get the less active racers out to the track?

[sixstringsteve]

I think getting the local bikeshops involved would be a big part of this. Get them to announce it with flyers. and help people realize that you can race BMX on a 26" or a park bike.

[skicruz78]

In each case that I have been successful in bringing someone new to the track I have had several conversations (real conversations, not just "Hey, want to come to the races this weekend?") before they have agreed to come out. Many (even those involved in other action-type sports) simply don't have a concept of BMX racing and need a few pep talks to put things in a context they can relate to. Once they understand the context, most are excited to at least take a look. I think many of these concerns could be addressed in the new rider pod/webcasts that are being discussed elsewhere on this board. Another big hangup I see is that some people are just intimidated by the races and/or are afraid of being the "new (slow) guy". This, of course, is nothing new and not limited to BMX. Everyone has these types of hangups. I think (drawing from my own experience) that the key in getting new riders (especially parents and new COGs) is showing them how much fun this whole BMX business is. Yes, even the Novices are fast; yes, it's a bit intimidating at first, yes, there is a learning curve; yes, you might get your pants a bit dirty; yes, your kids might mop up the track with you......BUT IT'S A TOTAL BLAST! We need to convey the message that "you will get over the intimidation once you see that your class competitors will soon become your friends; you'll find the learning curve to be a worthwhile and FUN challenge; you'll remember from being a kid that many fun activities involve getting dirty; and one of these days, YOU just might mop up the track with your kid! We don't spend huge amounts of time, money and energy on some boring, unexciting pastime.....THIS IS FUN! We are passionate about this stuff because its makes us feel like we are 12 again and that is fun.

Skicruz

[sixstringsteve]

what would it take to get a class for anyone who is brand new to BMX? That might help them get over it and just have fun racing people who are on the track for the first time. I wonder if that's even possible.

[bnd]

Absolutely love the ideas! Send any potential COGs my way!

Out of curiosity, is the issue that we need more people to sign up and join the sport, or do we just need to get the less active racers out to the track?

Both.


All of these ideas have been kicked around & done before in one form or another. Some just don't work & others do. It comes down to every racer to take it upon themselves to carry the torch for the sport & take every opportunity to promote it.
I have a buddy who used to race who is on the fence about getting back into it. His daughter is interested & I know I haven't done enough to make it happen. Whether it's a loaner bike or gear, or whatever, I'm going to really try to make this happen next weekend. At least get the ball rolling.
If everyone kept one eye out to advance the sport, it will just keep getting healthier & bigger.

b.

[ibmx]

I have talked to my high school counsler about this exact thing. He said all I would have to do is come up with a flyer and get it approved from the addministration, then I could post them all over the school and maybe get an announcment out over the speaker as well. I think it would be cool if we did like the high school drags idea but at the track.

[JAlvey]

I think that in order to get this many out in 2 1/2 weeks, the main focus would have to be to get those who already race all out and people to come in from out of state. To build the sport locally over the long term, focus on getting new riders, but you're not going to find that many in this short an amount of time. We should run maybe 3 age groups of boys opens, mtb open, and a girls open to add to the moto count, although at a SCQ race, too many people may be too serious about their results to race an extra class. Hopefully everyone remembers that you only need 3 finishes and will have 6-7 races to those 3.

what would it take to get a class for anyone who is brand new to BMX? That might help them get over it and just have fun racing people who are on the track for the first time. I wonder if that's even possible.

We already have that class, it's call Novice.