I know it has been discussed, but has a final decision been made on the current convo. Will it be demolished or realocated to a different purpose?

(04-27-2015 10:52 PM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  I know it has been discussed, but has a final decision been made on the current convo. Will it be demolished or realocated to a different purpose?

i believe i read in the DNR post that Bourne was quoted saying the purpose of the 30+ year old building would be determined after the new one is built.

Where's the Band going? Do they take one of those seating sections right next to the basket?

If this goes as planned, this is going to be sick. I LOVE the location - you're going to get a lot more "impulse" attendance - students who live in those eastern dorms just deciding on a whim to attend a basketball game.

And I agree - the seats must all be purple.

I like the court plan, I hope they keep it plain. Not a fan of our current court design.

The new arena looks great...

why, why, why did Jeff Bourne find it necessary to state today, in the DNR, that he hopes the new facility would put JMU in the position to hosts CAA events if the CAA ever chooses on campus sites for a tournament. Why? What benefit did JMU or JMU alum get from the CAA comment?

Comments like this created purplehazed and fuel conference/donation distrust.

Why?

Let's hope the administrators will be doing a survey like they did with Bridgeforth.
Lots of improvements have already been mentioned here and most don't require more money.

I agree that the gold seats don't show well. Go with all purple.

I agree that the baseline space is way too much. The designers need to utilize collapsible seating all the way around the court so the first row is right up against the floor, yet conventions can still come in and have their space requirements.

Let's keep in mind that despite what people say, there will be more basketball games in the arena than any other event type. By Far.
The arena should be built for basketball first and other events second, not the other way around.

Let's also keep in mind that the seating area is built for the patrons. The people that pay for the tickets, by currency or by student fees, should have a very large voice in how seating is configured.

Looks great, but I didn't see any flaps...this may be an issue.

(04-28-2015 06:47 AM)Dukie95 Wrote:  Looks great, but I didn't see any flaps...this may be an issue.

Flaps usually appear during mid construction so stay tuned!

Looks sharp guys, congrats

(04-27-2015 10:01 PM)2Buck Wrote:  

(04-27-2015 09:42 PM)jmu-fan-1981 Wrote:  We prob have 10,000 alums and that is just a guess off the top of my head. If each of those gave $200 (less than $17 a month for a year) we would have $2,000,000. Someone needs to start a kick starter campaign... Maybe JMU Alumni Association?

Are you saying 10,000 that give? That's the 7 or 10 or whatever percent that give?

I work for a large bank, they match donations for a lot of causes so I'm going to check about higher education.

Another idea is much like NPR and other "telethon" type campaigns, get Alpha Dog or some big corp or some big donor to offer to match if other donors give a certain amount by a certain date. That sort of thing could create all kinds of PR and marketing opportunities, plus create some urgency.

Get our friggin marketing students to come up with ideas, make it a friggin course project!

You can check here to see if your company matches gifts to JMU:

http://www.jmu.edu/annualgiving/matchinggifts.shtml

(04-27-2015 06:36 PM)Purplehazed Wrote:  

(04-27-2015 04:19 PM)Purplehazed Wrote:  Nice! I looked really hard, Bourne did not sneak in a CAA logo anywhere...baby steps.

Nope, I hadn't seen the video yet, it is there CAA.

Lol, you're arguing with yourself.

(04-28-2015 06:30 AM)Purplehazed Wrote:  The new arena looks great...

why, why, why did Jeff Bourne find it necessary to state today, in the DNR, that he hopes the new facility would put JMU in the position to hosts CAA events if the CAA ever chooses on campus sites for a tournament. Why? What benefit did JMU or JMU alum get from the CAA comment?

Comments like this created purplehazed and fuel conference/donation distrust.

Why?

I had to check twice to see if this was a PurpieHazed post.

Also, I'm stoked on going to the HotHam&Cheese Arena in the future!

(04-28-2015 07:46 AM)lingerba Wrote:  

(04-27-2015 10:01 PM)2Buck Wrote:  

(04-27-2015 09:42 PM)jmu-fan-1981 Wrote:  We prob have 10,000 alums and that is just a guess off the top of my head. If each of those gave $200 (less than $17 a month for a year) we would have $2,000,000. Someone needs to start a kick starter campaign... Maybe JMU Alumni Association?

Are you saying 10,000 that give? That's the 7 or 10 or whatever percent that give?

I work for a large bank, they match donations for a lot of causes so I'm going to check about higher education.

Another idea is much like NPR and other "telethon" type campaigns, get Alpha Dog or some big corp or some big donor to offer to match if other donors give a certain amount by a certain date. That sort of thing could create all kinds of PR and marketing opportunities, plus create some urgency.

Get our friggin marketing students to come up with ideas, make it a friggin course project!

You can check here to see if your company matches gifts to JMU:

http://www.jmu.edu/annualgiving/matchinggifts.shtml

Thanks for that link, I'm interviewing with a company who is on that list. Just another reason to make a little extra push for the position.

(04-28-2015 08:11 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  

(04-28-2015 07:46 AM)lingerba Wrote:  

(04-27-2015 10:01 PM)2Buck Wrote:  

(04-27-2015 09:42 PM)jmu-fan-1981 Wrote:  We prob have 10,000 alums and that is just a guess off the top of my head. If each of those gave $200 (less than $17 a month for a year) we would have $2,000,000. Someone needs to start a kick starter campaign... Maybe JMU Alumni Association?

Are you saying 10,000 that give? That's the 7 or 10 or whatever percent that give?

I work for a large bank, they match donations for a lot of causes so I'm going to check about higher education.

Another idea is much like NPR and other "telethon" type campaigns, get Alpha Dog or some big corp or some big donor to offer to match if other donors give a certain amount by a certain date. That sort of thing could create all kinds of PR and marketing opportunities, plus create some urgency.

Get our friggin marketing students to come up with ideas, make it a friggin course project!

You can check here to see if your company matches gifts to JMU:

http://www.jmu.edu/annualgiving/matchinggifts.shtml

Thanks for that link, I'm interviewing with a company who is on that list. Just another reason to make a little extra push for the position.

Everybody needs to ask their Company if they will match employee donations for James Madison, if not, ask them if they will make a donation towards the new arena.

(04-27-2015 09:20 PM)BSKB 24 Wrote:  Get rid of the gold seats on the one side. Make it all purple. Period!

I know that many have given direct feedback in regards to the gold seats and I believe that in the final plan they will not be there.

Facilities are what JMU does best. I have been impressed since UREC was built in the mid 90s with the new wave of facilties. I had my reservations about ISAT, but as that side of campus has expanded, it's turned into a much more asthetically pleasing area than it orginially started.

Friends have already started to ask, "But JMU can't even fill the current Convo." It's a loaded point that critics might use. They have a point. But the reality is that this is long overdue and the plans look great. It will raise the profile for JMU no doubt. Raising the money is my biggest concern - we build much better than we fundraise, and public funds seem scarcer by the election cycle these days.

My hope is that JMU can complete the project on schedule and financially not put the school in a world of hurt. Bravo for the many postives on here today and the constructive ideas for improvement.

Messaging - in the video, a lot of use of the terms "national profile" and "competing nationally" - I guess it's the new jargon to say we are looking for a dance partner. It sounded a bit awkward to me, but I do appreciate the subtle (but in reality not so subtle) tone.

(04-28-2015 08:25 AM)Yesolitis Wrote:  ...Friends have already started to ask, "But JMU can't even fill the current Convo." It's a loaded point that critics might use. They have a point. ...

agree - seeing that comment a lot on social media. The only thing I can think of is that we can all help dispel the size rumor; When we built BFS it was to increase capacity from 15K to 25K. The convo, while increasing capacity, is not being built for the reason (alone, if much at all) for increasing basketball attendance. I mean i guess it is a 20% increase or so, but bridgeforth was almost 70%.

(04-28-2015 06:30 AM)Purplehazed Wrote:  why, why, why did Jeff Bourne ...

Why?

There he is!

(04-28-2015 08:13 AM)huge fan Wrote:  

(04-28-2015 08:11 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  

(04-28-2015 07:46 AM)lingerba Wrote:  

(04-27-2015 10:01 PM)2Buck Wrote:  

(04-27-2015 09:42 PM)jmu-fan-1981 Wrote:  We prob have 10,000 alums and that is just a guess off the top of my head. If each of those gave $200 (less than $17 a month for a year) we would have $2,000,000. Someone needs to start a kick starter campaign... Maybe JMU Alumni Association?

Are you saying 10,000 that give? That's the 7 or 10 or whatever percent that give?

I work for a large bank, they match donations for a lot of causes so I'm going to check about higher education.

Another idea is much like NPR and other "telethon" type campaigns, get Alpha Dog or some big corp or some big donor to offer to match if other donors give a certain amount by a certain date. That sort of thing could create all kinds of PR and marketing opportunities, plus create some urgency.

Get our friggin marketing students to come up with ideas, make it a friggin course project!

You can check here to see if your company matches gifts to JMU:

http://www.jmu.edu/annualgiving/matchinggifts.shtml

Thanks for that link, I'm interviewing with a company who is on that list. Just another reason to make a little extra push for the position.

Everybody needs to ask their Company if they will match employee donations for James Madison, if not, ask them if they will make a donation towards the new arena.

Yeah, I'm going to have to research my employer. They're on JMU"s matching list but their comments state: "will allow matching gifts for athletic programs with a youth development component".

@lingerbra - do you want to create a new post with that link? In fact I think it (along with other critical fund-raising info) should be posted in the "important threads" section. Hburg, is that something you have to decide / do?

(04-28-2015 09:08 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  

(04-28-2015 08:25 AM)Yesolitis Wrote:  ...Friends have already started to ask, "But JMU can't even fill the current Convo." It's a loaded point that critics might use. They have a point. ...

agree - seeing that comment a lot on social media. The only thing I can think of is that we can all help dispel the size rumor; When we built BFS it was to increase capacity from 15K to 25K. The convo, while increasing capacity, is not being built for the reason (alone, if much at all) for increasing basketball attendance. I mean i guess it is a 20% increase or so, but bridgeforth was almost 70%.

I just don't get the concerns about attendance. 25 years ago we averaged over 6,000 a game and that was with half the student body. In fact, back then the convo was on the other side of 81 in no man's land. NOBODY went over there unless they were motivated. Now you have thousands living next door?

No reason JMU can't spark this kind of interest again. They need to engage the kids to help with marketing strategy, what a disconnect and disservice to the students if they can't make this work.