Attracting Pilots to Events
07-03-2014, 01:22 PM
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Attracting Pilots to Events
Hey folks!
I'm a relative newcomer to R/C flying, having been flying and an AMA member for a little over a year. I'm a member of a somewhat small club in a more rural area of Missouri. Since it's a small club, I'm doing my best (despite an already busy schedule) to step up and help with a lot of the logistical aspects of the club.
We recently had our Spring Fun Fly. This is the second event sponsored by the club that I have been a part of (the club has 2 per year). We seem to have pretty good support from the community, with a lot of spectators coming to the events. Where we seem to be struggling is getting pilots from the other area clubs to participate in our events. Being a small club, we don't have a lot of financial resources to get too extravagant.
Would anyone have any suggestions on what we can do to attract more pilots to our events?
Here are a few details about how we conduct our events:
Many of the club members try to participate in the events the other area clubs sponsor. There are about 13 other clubs within 75 miles, with a combined membership around 425 members between those clubs.
One thing we haven't done in the past is sanction our events. This will be rectified with our fall event.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what we can do to improve pilot attendance?
Thanks!
I'm a relative newcomer to R/C flying, having been flying and an AMA member for a little over a year. I'm a member of a somewhat small club in a more rural area of Missouri. Since it's a small club, I'm doing my best (despite an already busy schedule) to step up and help with a lot of the logistical aspects of the club.
We recently had our Spring Fun Fly. This is the second event sponsored by the club that I have been a part of (the club has 2 per year). We seem to have pretty good support from the community, with a lot of spectators coming to the events. Where we seem to be struggling is getting pilots from the other area clubs to participate in our events. Being a small club, we don't have a lot of financial resources to get too extravagant.
Would anyone have any suggestions on what we can do to attract more pilots to our events?
Here are a few details about how we conduct our events:
- They are 'Fun Flies', open to any manor of aircraft (including fixed wing, heli, mulitrotor).
- We've done raffles
- We've offered pilot prizes
- We've tried games
- We have concessions
- We talk to and send flyers to all the area clubs
Many of the club members try to participate in the events the other area clubs sponsor. There are about 13 other clubs within 75 miles, with a combined membership around 425 members between those clubs.
One thing we haven't done in the past is sanction our events. This will be rectified with our fall event.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what we can do to improve pilot attendance?
Thanks!
07-03-2014, 02:49 PM
#2
!!! FREE BEER !!! That oughta do it ...
But seriously , the things needed seem to be plenty of advance notice , decent prizes to win provided by sponsors , and plenty of good food . Once an event makes a name for itself the folks will show . Bonus points for having it the same date each year , and making SURE that date doesn't conflict with things like major sporting events or holidays that would otherwise occupy the folk's time .
07-03-2014, 08:31 PM
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Marketing is the key.
Make up professional looking poster and send them to the surrounding clubs and hobby shops.
Get some decent raffle/pilot prizes by putting some effort into your donation requests. A blanket email or simple letter to every RC manufacturer in the industry isn't going to do it! Don't send a donation request to a micro airplane mfg if your event is IMAA only! You are better off putting the money you would have spent on postage into a professional looking flyer offering manufacturers something other than a good feeling in their hearts! Send along a list of customers that regularly purchase their products.
Give people a reason to attend your Fly-in and bring their families - shopping, sight seeing, spa resorts, etc.
Build a rapport with the surrounding hobby shops so they are willing to help you with marketing and product donations. Most hobby shops have a lot of advertising dollars with the big distributors for use on donations, but they are not inclined to use it if the club members buy everything online.
Offer camping - many people have RVs and want and excuse to use them.
Have a decent website - it's virtually free and you can't get better advertising.
Make up professional looking poster and send them to the surrounding clubs and hobby shops.
Get some decent raffle/pilot prizes by putting some effort into your donation requests. A blanket email or simple letter to every RC manufacturer in the industry isn't going to do it! Don't send a donation request to a micro airplane mfg if your event is IMAA only! You are better off putting the money you would have spent on postage into a professional looking flyer offering manufacturers something other than a good feeling in their hearts! Send along a list of customers that regularly purchase their products.
Give people a reason to attend your Fly-in and bring their families - shopping, sight seeing, spa resorts, etc.
Build a rapport with the surrounding hobby shops so they are willing to help you with marketing and product donations. Most hobby shops have a lot of advertising dollars with the big distributors for use on donations, but they are not inclined to use it if the club members buy everything online.
Offer camping - many people have RVs and want and excuse to use them.
Have a decent website - it's virtually free and you can't get better advertising.
07-03-2014, 11:46 PM
#4
One thing that you have to remember is that MOST members of clubs are members just so they have a place to fly. They have no desire to contribute or participate in any form of event or activity. In a club of 100 members, you might find 12 members that are actually active. The other 88 members just pay their dues so they have a place to fly their foamies.
Find out when the other clubs have their monthly meetings and go visit them. Find out what their major interest are and build an event that satisfy those needs. Our club has two pylon races and one Senior Pattern Meet each year. Turn out has never been in the GREAT category, but the participation is profitable for the club.
What many RC flyers don't understand is that the information exchanged between pilots is invaluable. The exposure to new products, modelling and flying techniques and shop talk are well worth the trouble of getting up early and getting out of bed to attend an event.
Frank
Find out when the other clubs have their monthly meetings and go visit them. Find out what their major interest are and build an event that satisfy those needs. Our club has two pylon races and one Senior Pattern Meet each year. Turn out has never been in the GREAT category, but the participation is profitable for the club.
What many RC flyers don't understand is that the information exchanged between pilots is invaluable. The exposure to new products, modelling and flying techniques and shop talk are well worth the trouble of getting up early and getting out of bed to attend an event.
Frank
07-04-2014, 03:58 AM
#5
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Looks like your club is doing everything right, and what the others have added is good advice too.
Marketing is key though. Get your hobby shops involved and get well done fliers to them to pass out. Get your sanction requests in as soon as you have your dates set. Get an ad in the AMA if you have the money as well, it doesn't have to be that large of an ad. The info will also populate on their website. Speaking of websites, use the different ones available to you as much as possible. RC Groups, RC Universe, Flying Giant, and Wattflyer all have calendar functions, and usually threads available for use as well. Put up your flier, throw in some pics from prior events as well. Contact local newspapers and TV stations, new reporters are always looking for new content. Build some buzz!
Frank brings up a good point about attending other events and clubs. Your club might also want to host new events. Participation might be minimal at first, but try something you've never done before. Our club hosted IMAC events for the first time two years ago, and it was a hit. Last year we introduced Pylon racing, and a heli event. Both were well recieved and are on our agendas this year. Make them mini, one day events to test the water. That way it's something new and different, and doesn't take a ton of manpower. We're looking into a glider event for this year, winch and tug. To another one of Frank's comments, membership. We currently have 160 members in our club, if I see more than 15 at the field at any given time, that's busy. And it's usually the same ones too. Those are the same folks who are front and center at event time to help out. Try to use new members to help, don't burn out the ones that always stick there hand up.
Food: make it good. Burgers and dogs....meh. Brauts have been a big hit. I do about 30 pounds of pulled pork for each event. Usually it's almost gone at the end of the first day. It's almost the easiest thing to make out there. I use store sauce too. Pile it high on a bun and ask $4.00. People will be thrilled. Bacon cheese burgers, again easy but different. Same price or even less. sliced chicken breast with roasted peppers/onions. Easy to make ahead of time and reheat. Do small portions to test the waters on the first day of the event. If it all sells, now you know for next time. If not, the kitchen staff has a nice meal.
I still meet people to this day that talk about food rather than the planes we had at the events. Not sure if this store is in your area, but I can't tell you how much it's saved money for our club.
https://www.aldi.us/en/
A box of 6 1/4 pound frozen bacon cheeseburgers is $7.00. A package of rolls is .79. We get 4.00 for each (2) "suggested donation" and we've covered the cost. The club clears $16.00, people love the food and feel like they got a deal. Win win.
Consider hosting a multi club swap meet too, great place to meet people from many clubs and get good deals too.
Good luck!
Marketing is key though. Get your hobby shops involved and get well done fliers to them to pass out. Get your sanction requests in as soon as you have your dates set. Get an ad in the AMA if you have the money as well, it doesn't have to be that large of an ad. The info will also populate on their website. Speaking of websites, use the different ones available to you as much as possible. RC Groups, RC Universe, Flying Giant, and Wattflyer all have calendar functions, and usually threads available for use as well. Put up your flier, throw in some pics from prior events as well. Contact local newspapers and TV stations, new reporters are always looking for new content. Build some buzz!
Frank brings up a good point about attending other events and clubs. Your club might also want to host new events. Participation might be minimal at first, but try something you've never done before. Our club hosted IMAC events for the first time two years ago, and it was a hit. Last year we introduced Pylon racing, and a heli event. Both were well recieved and are on our agendas this year. Make them mini, one day events to test the water. That way it's something new and different, and doesn't take a ton of manpower. We're looking into a glider event for this year, winch and tug. To another one of Frank's comments, membership. We currently have 160 members in our club, if I see more than 15 at the field at any given time, that's busy. And it's usually the same ones too. Those are the same folks who are front and center at event time to help out. Try to use new members to help, don't burn out the ones that always stick there hand up.
Food: make it good. Burgers and dogs....meh. Brauts have been a big hit. I do about 30 pounds of pulled pork for each event. Usually it's almost gone at the end of the first day. It's almost the easiest thing to make out there. I use store sauce too. Pile it high on a bun and ask $4.00. People will be thrilled. Bacon cheese burgers, again easy but different. Same price or even less. sliced chicken breast with roasted peppers/onions. Easy to make ahead of time and reheat. Do small portions to test the waters on the first day of the event. If it all sells, now you know for next time. If not, the kitchen staff has a nice meal.
I still meet people to this day that talk about food rather than the planes we had at the events. Not sure if this store is in your area, but I can't tell you how much it's saved money for our club. https://www.aldi.us/en/
A box of 6 1/4 pound frozen bacon cheeseburgers is $7.00. A package of rolls is .79. We get 4.00 for each (2) "suggested donation" and we've covered the cost. The club clears $16.00, people love the food and feel like they got a deal. Win win.
Consider hosting a multi club swap meet too, great place to meet people from many clubs and get good deals too.
Good luck!
07-04-2014, 06:41 AM
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Thank you all so much for the advice! This does give me some really good ideas!
I think we can definitely improve the quality of food we have. We tried brauts this last time, but it didn't go over well. BBQ is a great idea. I think that may be doable.
We've been working on the local radio stations and newspapers. We're having a static display for National Model Aviation Day and one of the local radio stations jumped at the opportunity to be there for public service. Both the paper and radio have put in announcements for us for our events, but the radio station wanted $500 to do anything on site at an event, and the paper wasn't interested.
I think the quality of our flyer could probably use some improvement to make it a little more flashy and eye-catching. Our last event was at the end of June. We started advertising and sending flyers out in March. I posted information on several websites, but didn't think about flying giants or wattflyer! I managed our e-marketing and am the club's webmaster. I can say we had a LOT of hits on the electronic version of our flyer. We had people looking, but needed just a little more to entice them to make the hour (or more) drive to come to our events!
Getting the local hobby shop involved is a no-go. haha. It's a long story, but let's just say they won't even keep simple things like fuel, batteries, or servos in stock for us, much less sponsor an event. Our club is about 1 1/2 hours from Kansas City. There are a couple of hobby shops there that helped us out this last time, but they already have themselves spread thin sponsoring the bigger flying events in the KC metro area, so didn't have a lot they could do for us. We do have a small hobby shop about an hour away that's relatively new. We've already been talking to them to see what could happen. They are a small shop though, so it may be tough. We definitely could try to hit up some manufacturers and online vendors to see what kind of support they could offer. Our members do tend to stick with a few brands.
I have been wondering whether we need to do a 'themed' event or competition. We might be able to pull off a themed event, but we'll need to put a lot of planning into it. We're already a small club, and we have a wide variety of interests. We have a few heli/multirotor pilots, a few IMAC types, and a few interested in competition flying. Themed events for us will need to be a calculated risk. Because we would only have a few folks locally to participate, we won't be able to pull them off if we don't get other clubs participating. But... I suppose there's that risk with every event, no matter the type!
A swap meet is a solid idea we can look at as well. The problem we may run into there is we have clubs an hour to our East and another an hour to our West that do swap meets (both clubs 5 times our size).
I've also thought about tying in our events with a local charity.
Once again guys, I really appreciate the feedback. Your suggestions really give me something to work towards!
I think we can definitely improve the quality of food we have. We tried brauts this last time, but it didn't go over well. BBQ is a great idea. I think that may be doable.
We've been working on the local radio stations and newspapers. We're having a static display for National Model Aviation Day and one of the local radio stations jumped at the opportunity to be there for public service. Both the paper and radio have put in announcements for us for our events, but the radio station wanted $500 to do anything on site at an event, and the paper wasn't interested.
I think the quality of our flyer could probably use some improvement to make it a little more flashy and eye-catching. Our last event was at the end of June. We started advertising and sending flyers out in March. I posted information on several websites, but didn't think about flying giants or wattflyer! I managed our e-marketing and am the club's webmaster. I can say we had a LOT of hits on the electronic version of our flyer. We had people looking, but needed just a little more to entice them to make the hour (or more) drive to come to our events!
Getting the local hobby shop involved is a no-go. haha. It's a long story, but let's just say they won't even keep simple things like fuel, batteries, or servos in stock for us, much less sponsor an event. Our club is about 1 1/2 hours from Kansas City. There are a couple of hobby shops there that helped us out this last time, but they already have themselves spread thin sponsoring the bigger flying events in the KC metro area, so didn't have a lot they could do for us. We do have a small hobby shop about an hour away that's relatively new. We've already been talking to them to see what could happen. They are a small shop though, so it may be tough. We definitely could try to hit up some manufacturers and online vendors to see what kind of support they could offer. Our members do tend to stick with a few brands.
I have been wondering whether we need to do a 'themed' event or competition. We might be able to pull off a themed event, but we'll need to put a lot of planning into it. We're already a small club, and we have a wide variety of interests. We have a few heli/multirotor pilots, a few IMAC types, and a few interested in competition flying. Themed events for us will need to be a calculated risk. Because we would only have a few folks locally to participate, we won't be able to pull them off if we don't get other clubs participating. But... I suppose there's that risk with every event, no matter the type!
A swap meet is a solid idea we can look at as well. The problem we may run into there is we have clubs an hour to our East and another an hour to our West that do swap meets (both clubs 5 times our size).
I've also thought about tying in our events with a local charity.
Once again guys, I really appreciate the feedback. Your suggestions really give me something to work towards!
07-04-2014, 07:25 AM
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Try a themed event. General events don't appeal to those who are willing to travel and stay overnight. The biggest events I attend are the war bird type events. Be careful about being too general, such as allowing 3d or helicopters to fly mixed in with war birds or scale or pattern. In the war bird events I attend, which means Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, allowing anything other than war birds is the instant kiss of death to attendance. I am sure that if you held a 3d event war birds would be the same. A "fun fly" for anything type event used to work but now attracts very few flyers in our area. The closest thing we have to that is a Big Bird, IMAA type event which will still attract a good turn out of flyers but not close to what it used to attract. Give a way's and prizes have never worked to attract fliers to events our club holds. The best thing to do is to make sure that whatever you do it's well run, friendly, and the flyers get to fly a lot. Excess demos will kill an event the next year. Most people go in order to fly and meet friends, not watch some expert fly whatever.
Larry
Larry
07-04-2014, 12:40 PM
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Everything said in these posts are true and god advice.i remember trying to get area participation it's tough .make sure your event doesn't conflict with another event that same weekend.our club found that out the hard wabeing rural offeoffe some free camping.and have a bBBQ dinner on s sat nite.we foundfound a youth group that wanted to sell burgers etc and in the morning had coffee and donouts.make the event a fundraiser for a good nonprofit cause.it just takes time and commitment from every club member.i think your on the right track.
07-04-2014, 08:09 PM
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Th
e These pertain to gaining more pilots and spectators 1. Best way to attract pilots and spectators is FREE FOOD fact
2. I have tried several things but the most response I get is from a SINGLE PAPER/DIGITAL INFO FLYER WITH ALL CLUB EVENTS FROM A 100 + mile radius -- a "schedule" per say - distribute to clubs and shops via email and hard copy I try to fit atleast 20 events on a flier and make them 2 - 4 times a year
3. I also made a website that promotes all 25 local clubs in our area very easy using a drag and drop program on (weebly) Check out WWW.RCHOUSTON.COM for ideas
4. Have an event Inviting all clubs for a CITY Flying community gathering
5. Facebook page for events brings them in as well
6. groupme apps for phones have been successful as well if you have a younger crowd - In houston there are several groups of 40 or 50 guys that can easily coordinate where they are going to fly - for instance the jet guys have a group - the 3d guys - warbirds guys etc .
7. Trophies / plaques or just a picture frame with a printout - people like winning awards and it brings them back
8. get creative try something new and remember to keep it fun !!!
Last edited by RCHS1; 07-04-2014 at 08:14 PM.
07-04-2014, 08:25 PM
#13
Once a club decides to attract more pilots and spread the word they exist in the community it becomes a small business. The club has to do a lot of work to put on events like marketing and communications with other clubs in addition to the days set up and tear down. From Ive seen over the years is that most guys in the club just want a place to go fly, get help and learn something. Beyond that with an average age over 60 your not going to get a whole lot of participation because a lot of the old timers dont consider themselves good enough to be at these events plus they dont want to be embarrassed or hurt someone. Besides these guys are retired and just want to enjoy themselves not stress or work much at the club field. Try getting mowing done at our field...
We have several clubs near us and only a small group of us travel to their events if at all and seldom do I see others come to our events. Maybe if the average age was younger in our case we would see more interest and participation.
We have several clubs near us and only a small group of us travel to their events if at all and seldom do I see others come to our events. Maybe if the average age was younger in our case we would see more interest and participation.
07-05-2014, 06:05 AM
#15
!!! FREE BEER !!! That oughta do it ...
But seriously , the things needed seem to be plenty of advance notice , decent prizes to win provided by sponsors , and plenty of good food . Once an event makes a name for itself the folks will show . Bonus points for having it the same date each year , and making SURE that date doesn't conflict with things like major sporting events or holidays that would otherwise occupy the folk's time .
But the problem with that is attracting the women to the events. So, in conjunction with an R/C event, include a Tupperware party, an Avon party, or a jewelry party.
07-05-2014, 07:10 AM
#16
1. KEEP IT SIMPLE!
When folks make the commitment to travel to an event, they want to fly, they don't want to wait for a bunch of "hot shots" fly demos. Dawn patrols, warbird gaggles, heli demos, 3D demos, etc., just make for less flying time for those that spent the time and $$ to attend. (the spectating public are just as satisfied attending an event whether there are demos or not, as long as there is always something in the air).
2. KEEP IT AIRCRAFT-TYPE SPECIFIC!
Let's face it, warbird circle-flying, 3D flying, and heli flying DO NOT MIX! Your "customers" will always be more likely to make the commitment to attend if they know they won't have to contend with other type of aircraft. Again, the spectating public won't care and will leave satisfied, as long as there is always some flying action.
3. GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE!
Make sure to provide classy, yet simple (does not have to be high $$, but not CHEESY!) awards for those attendees that have gone above and beyond to participate in your event: best aircraft, best flight, most flights, most spectacular crash, etc. We all like to think OUR plane is the best, or that we are the best pilot at the fly-in, and we like to be recognized for that! A simple computer-generated certificate in a reasonably nice frame is always a nice addition to one's workshop, office, etc.
4. KEEP IT SIMPLE!
Do not make it such a big production that you have to involve many club members just to run the event. People WILL burn out and soon you WILL run out of volunteers to help. The more members that can actually participate in the flying part of your event, the more support you will receive from your club. Remember, there are always those members in a club that will complain that "their" field is overrun by strangers for a weekend!
5. FOOD
Food is a nice addition to any event, both for the convenience of the participants (more time to fly if one doesn't have to make one's own food!) and the enjoyment of the spectators. Again, keep it simple! People don't need a gourmet meal. If you are going to rely on club members to do the cooking, burgers and dogs are perfect and can provide a reasonable $$ return to the club. Another simple and easy option is to invite one of the many popular food trucks out and ask them to donate a certain % of their profit back to the club for providing them with a venue and captive audience.
6. PROMOTE, PROMOTE, PROMOTE!!
A GOOD-QUALITY (color, detailed, NO MIS-SPELLED WORDS!) flyer, distributed to area clubs and a few strategic, high traffic areas in your community and short public-service announcements on your local radio and tv stations (most have "what's happening in the community" spots for no charge. Every online forum provides a place for event announcements - USE THEM!
7. KEEP IT SIMPLE!!!
People will have fun at your event and be repeat customers if they have fun! DON'T be a dictator and try to run the event with an "iron fist". An overly complicated schedule and structure WILL turn people off and will stress your CD out as it will NEVER GO AS PLANNED....NEVER!....GUARANTEED! So don't try! Let the event run itself, it will flow much better, have a more relaxed feel, and people will have more fun.
Unless you are running Warbirds over the Rockies, Kentucky Jets, TopGun, XFC, or another such Premier event, just chill and provide a fun, relaxed environment for folks to come out and enjoy what they are already passionate about!! Pretty simple, really!
Judge your event on the ENJOYMENT factor, NOT on the $$ factor or total number of attendees. I GUARANTEE that if the majority of attendees have fun the event WILL grow and thrive! Keep in mind, discretionary hobby $$ are few and far between for most folks these days, so don't make it a commercial event, make it a FUN event and it will be a success!
All of these suggestions come from many years of experience and involvement of many club events over many years. My local club USED to have a THRIVING Big-Bird (20+ years running) and a decent annual warbird event. This year, due to judging the success of these events on $$, as well as trying to "OUTDO" previous years by adding ridgid schedules and many complications involving a large volunteer staff, we have NO events!!! Pretty sad, really. I have heard much disappointment from the general public that looked forward to these annual events.
The bottom line? Make it FUN and people will attend!
Good luck,
Astrohog
When folks make the commitment to travel to an event, they want to fly, they don't want to wait for a bunch of "hot shots" fly demos. Dawn patrols, warbird gaggles, heli demos, 3D demos, etc., just make for less flying time for those that spent the time and $$ to attend. (the spectating public are just as satisfied attending an event whether there are demos or not, as long as there is always something in the air).
2. KEEP IT AIRCRAFT-TYPE SPECIFIC!
Let's face it, warbird circle-flying, 3D flying, and heli flying DO NOT MIX! Your "customers" will always be more likely to make the commitment to attend if they know they won't have to contend with other type of aircraft. Again, the spectating public won't care and will leave satisfied, as long as there is always some flying action.
3. GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE!
Make sure to provide classy, yet simple (does not have to be high $$, but not CHEESY!) awards for those attendees that have gone above and beyond to participate in your event: best aircraft, best flight, most flights, most spectacular crash, etc. We all like to think OUR plane is the best, or that we are the best pilot at the fly-in, and we like to be recognized for that! A simple computer-generated certificate in a reasonably nice frame is always a nice addition to one's workshop, office, etc.
4. KEEP IT SIMPLE!
Do not make it such a big production that you have to involve many club members just to run the event. People WILL burn out and soon you WILL run out of volunteers to help. The more members that can actually participate in the flying part of your event, the more support you will receive from your club. Remember, there are always those members in a club that will complain that "their" field is overrun by strangers for a weekend!
5. FOOD
Food is a nice addition to any event, both for the convenience of the participants (more time to fly if one doesn't have to make one's own food!) and the enjoyment of the spectators. Again, keep it simple! People don't need a gourmet meal. If you are going to rely on club members to do the cooking, burgers and dogs are perfect and can provide a reasonable $$ return to the club. Another simple and easy option is to invite one of the many popular food trucks out and ask them to donate a certain % of their profit back to the club for providing them with a venue and captive audience.
6. PROMOTE, PROMOTE, PROMOTE!!
A GOOD-QUALITY (color, detailed, NO MIS-SPELLED WORDS!) flyer, distributed to area clubs and a few strategic, high traffic areas in your community and short public-service announcements on your local radio and tv stations (most have "what's happening in the community" spots for no charge. Every online forum provides a place for event announcements - USE THEM!
7. KEEP IT SIMPLE!!!
People will have fun at your event and be repeat customers if they have fun! DON'T be a dictator and try to run the event with an "iron fist". An overly complicated schedule and structure WILL turn people off and will stress your CD out as it will NEVER GO AS PLANNED....NEVER!....GUARANTEED! So don't try! Let the event run itself, it will flow much better, have a more relaxed feel, and people will have more fun.
Unless you are running Warbirds over the Rockies, Kentucky Jets, TopGun, XFC, or another such Premier event, just chill and provide a fun, relaxed environment for folks to come out and enjoy what they are already passionate about!! Pretty simple, really!
Judge your event on the ENJOYMENT factor, NOT on the $$ factor or total number of attendees. I GUARANTEE that if the majority of attendees have fun the event WILL grow and thrive! Keep in mind, discretionary hobby $$ are few and far between for most folks these days, so don't make it a commercial event, make it a FUN event and it will be a success!
All of these suggestions come from many years of experience and involvement of many club events over many years. My local club USED to have a THRIVING Big-Bird (20+ years running) and a decent annual warbird event. This year, due to judging the success of these events on $$, as well as trying to "OUTDO" previous years by adding ridgid schedules and many complications involving a large volunteer staff, we have NO events!!! Pretty sad, really. I have heard much disappointment from the general public that looked forward to these annual events.
The bottom line? Make it FUN and people will attend!
Good luck,
Astrohog
07-09-2014, 09:52 PM
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Thanks for all the great advice guys!
As I said in my original post, I'm relatively new to the club. I'm reading between the lines with comments from club members and the public, but the club may not have had the best reputation within the community in years past. I'm beginning to wonder if there is a similar issue with the other area clubs regarding our reputation, though none have expressed anything like this to me. We are slowly building community support again, with a lot of spectators at the events. But.... it's hard to keep the spectators interested when we don't have enough pilots to keep planes in the air during the events. So... we're kind of between a rock and a hard place. A few members (including myself) have been trying to make it to some of the other area clubs' events, so I'm hoping that'll help our relationships with them.
Unfortunately, I think this is the boat our club falls in. In terms of club membership, we have a few retired members that (as I found out the hard way) have no interest in putting forth effort to help with the events, much less better the club. We also have a lot of members that just don't have the time to assist outside of helping on the day of the event. Being a small club, this greatly limits the number of folks willing to put forth the effort.
There are a few of us that would like to see more area clubs attend our events, but I think it's going to take us a while to muster the support. I may try to lay out a plan to gradually work up to a themed event over the course of a year or two. Moving that direction in small increments may be an easier pill to swallow for some.
Once again, thank you everyone for the advice!
As I said in my original post, I'm relatively new to the club. I'm reading between the lines with comments from club members and the public, but the club may not have had the best reputation within the community in years past. I'm beginning to wonder if there is a similar issue with the other area clubs regarding our reputation, though none have expressed anything like this to me. We are slowly building community support again, with a lot of spectators at the events. But.... it's hard to keep the spectators interested when we don't have enough pilots to keep planes in the air during the events. So... we're kind of between a rock and a hard place. A few members (including myself) have been trying to make it to some of the other area clubs' events, so I'm hoping that'll help our relationships with them.
Once a club decides to attract more pilots and spread the word they exist in the community it becomes a small business. The club has to do a lot of work to put on events like marketing and communications with other clubs in addition to the days set up and tear down. From Ive seen over the years is that most guys in the club just want a place to go fly, get help and learn something. Beyond that with an average age over 60 your not going to get a whole lot of participation because a lot of the old timers dont consider themselves good enough to be at these events plus they dont want to be embarrassed or hurt someone. Besides these guys are retired and just want to enjoy themselves not stress or work much at the club field. Try getting mowing done at our field...
We have several clubs near us and only a small group of us travel to their events if at all and seldom do I see others come to our events. Maybe if the average age was younger in our case we would see more interest and participation.
We have several clubs near us and only a small group of us travel to their events if at all and seldom do I see others come to our events. Maybe if the average age was younger in our case we would see more interest and participation.
There are a few of us that would like to see more area clubs attend our events, but I think it's going to take us a while to muster the support. I may try to lay out a plan to gradually work up to a themed event over the course of a year or two. Moving that direction in small increments may be an easier pill to swallow for some.
Once again, thank you everyone for the advice!
07-10-2014, 06:32 PM
#18
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Two things stand out there.....that you manage to get spectators (the public) to your event, and you have downtime. Simple solution....get the members of the public flying! Get some buddy boxes and a Radian, or a Bixler, Easy Star type of plane and get them flying. I love having people who have never flown before get on the sticks and give it there best. I'll have them fly my 3 channel 93" Quaker, or Carbon Z, or even my Senior Telemaster with low rates on all...it's a blast to see them exited to handle something that big. The buddy box is a fanatic tool to use at those events.
07-10-2014, 07:10 PM
#19
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Two things stand out there.....that you manage to get spectators (the public) to your event, and you have downtime. Simple solution....get the members of the public flying! Get some buddy boxes and a Radian, or a Bixler, Easy Star type of plane and get them flying. I love having people who have never flown before get on the sticks and give it there best. I'll have them fly my 3 channel 93" Quaker, or Carbon Z, or even my Senior Telemaster with low rates on all...it's a blast to see them exited to handle something that big. The buddy box is a fanatic tool to use at those events.
We've found the kids love it. One of the kids that we had on the buddy box was out at the field with his own Apprentice the next week, ready for lessons! This is a great suggestion though. Maybe we should put more emphasis on this aspect of our events. Thank you!!!
