Marketing of ISU and other skating events...

[Doggygirl]

Tee Hee Mathman...

Well, sure, the antique tractor parade. But you can't expect figure skating to compete with that!

I never miss it!! Does that mean I'm get old and life is pretty dull around here or what????

There really are lots of ways to promote events. And these days especially via the internet, lots of ways to find out why people aren't buying tickets. (don't know about it? ticket prices? etc.) It doesn't sound to me like a lot of effort is going into maximizing attendance by getting the word out and making it affordable.

HEY!! If you're ever planning a trip to Joliet IL, get in touch because I KNOW you would NOT want to miss that parade!!

DG

 

[Mathman]

Whoa, Nelly, now yer talking, DG! Check these babies out! That's me, with my Paul Revere Patriot, the third picture down!

http://www.heritagetractoradventure.com/photos.htm

But I'll have to rush back from the Bobbie the Wonder Dog Pet Parade in Silverton, Oregon, in May. Starting off from the Bobbie the Wonder Dog town mural, it goes by both stop lights and ends up at the General Store.

Bobbie, you will recall, was the dog who got separated from his owners on a trip to Indiana in 1923, and 6 months later showed up at the owners door in Silverton, 2800 miles away.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tips/getAttraction.php3?tip_AttractionNo==7528

Mathman

 

[Doggygirl]

WOO HOO Mathman!!!

Yer gettin' close. HERE is the sub-link from the MAIN link you provided that is closest to what you would ACTUALLY see in Joliet!!

http://www.chicagolandspeedway.com/cgi-bin/r.cgi/photos.html?SESSION=TykdLohGx&N=f&ParentEvent=476

Now, I could tell you a tail about a dog who travelled many miles while lost. Not sure if it was 2300 miles, but he went in a giant circle and ended up where he started 2 whole years later. I would tell you more, but I'm keeping the details under wraps for my book and movie deal.

DG

 

[Vash01]

The marketing for skating SUCKS big time. When do you ever see a commercial for an upcoming skating event, Never. Skating was making good strides in the early 90's. it was building a fan base and then it went out of control after the 94 scandal. TV became overfloaded with meaningless skating events. The fans couldn't make out the difference between one event and the other. Have you notice the paltry sum that skaters receive when they win an event. It use to be $50,000(or $30,000) for a GP event now it is only $18,000 (about the cost of two costumes). The ISU and the USFSA do not spend a huge amount of money promoting their events respectively. Then again marketing is extremely expensive. At my rink I spend alot of time telling people which events are coming up and half of them still forget to watch it. I usually follow up every event by discussing the results at the rink, and most people reply by saying "Oh was that on last night, I forgot". Or my favorite "What is Skate America?". Did I mentioned that these are competitive skaters as well? On a different note not a single word was printed on the newspaper about Angela winning SA. I guess it is up to us to keep promoting skating. The last two years I've held a nationals party and about twenty people show up for two hours of screaming for our favorite skaters.

You are luckier than me. I hosted a party for worlds. Three guests came over and they all left before the ladies LP began because they had to get up early the next day. However, all 3 accompanied me to SOI the following year. They had never seen FS live.