Another thought....hold it at the Holiday Inn on campus and make it a free event. Then promote it on campus and to the football fan base. That is...if you want students to attend. If you really want them to attend, offer free food. I guess it has to do with how many people you want, crowd control and if you want students to be around alcohol. There are a lot of considerations but...getting a large crowd could be easy with promotion to dorms, fraternity houses and on campus. But....then again...what kind of crowd do you want at this event? You have to weigh the options and go for the one that makes the most sense and gets the best results.

One thing we always did with any event is brainstorm what can go wrong and list them and then start eliminating those potential glitches before you finalize the event. It is an important step that most people overlook.

Then, when you hopefully get your large crowd...you have a controlled environment and audience. So, what are you going to do with that opportunity? Ah, sell season tickets to the adults. Have Youth Villages there to sell $5 tickets for kids to Tiger games. You have the audience and you know their hot button....where are there other opportunities?

(02-08-2018 10:59 AM)DallasTiger Wrote:  Marketing Strategy: If you have an event...have it where the people are located. So, if most of the MEMPHIS football season ticket holders live in East Memphis....hold the party in EAST MEMPHIS. If you want a small crowd, hold the event in a place that is far away from your membership base. I would think that the U of M Athletic Dept knows their hot zip codes (zip codes where season ticket holders live) and should use that information when planning events.

I have a marketing major and have been in marketing all my life. Usually when you hold an event far from where the potential attendees live...you have to give them a lot of reasons to come Free gifts, giveaway of a big prize, free food and drinks, etc. So, having a $30 price tag and having the event (which is on a weekday) far from the member base....may not be a great idea in order to maximize attendance. I don't have all the data but trying to draw a crowd at night on a weekday has its own obstacles and you don't need to throw in more potential glitches (cost and travel time) and expect a big turnout.

As far as promotion....focus on doing the most promotion in that hot zip code where the party will be and where the potential attendees live and give them multiple reasons to attend (you never know what the hot button is until you try several and see which ones work). Hot buttons can be, free item, free photos with coaches, contest prize, group photo with coaches, photos with cheerleaders and Pouncer, free event gift (t-shirt, decal, button, bobblehead, etc).

I have a promotions book that is about 30 pages that I created and used in the radio business and it served me well. If I ever need an idea......just go to the book....it has hundreds of successful proven concepts that work in the radio industry for drawing a crowd and creating a successful event. If we ever did a live remote from a retailers location and did not draw a big crowd....the station was not going to sell a repeat order to that advertiser. We HAD to know how to draw a crowd. We should have the same thing for our AD.

Gr8 suggs DT....It's refreshing to here solutions being offered, Ever considered publishing....I'd like to go to B&N and scoop that one up

(02-08-2018 11:28 AM)thagr82008 Wrote:  

(02-08-2018 10:59 AM)DallasTiger Wrote:  Marketing Strategy: If you have an event...have it where the people are located. So, if most of the MEMPHIS football season ticket holders live in East Memphis....hold the party in EAST MEMPHIS. If you want a small crowd, hold the event in a place that is far away from your membership base. I would think that the U of M Athletic Dept knows their hot zip codes (zip codes where season ticket holders live) and should use that information when planning events.

I have a marketing major and have been in marketing all my life. Usually when you hold an event far from where the potential attendees live...you have to give them a lot of reasons to come Free gifts, giveaway of a big prize, free food and drinks, etc. So, having a $30 price tag and having the event (which is on a weekday) far from the member base....may not be a great idea in order to maximize attendance. I don't have all the data but trying to draw a crowd at night on a weekday has its own obstacles and you don't need to throw in more potential glitches (cost and travel time) and expect a big turnout.

As far as promotion....focus on doing the most promotion in that hot zip code where the party will be and where the potential attendees live and give them multiple reasons to attend (you never know what the hot button is until you try several and see which ones work). Hot buttons can be, free item, free photos with coaches, contest prize, group photo with coaches, photos with cheerleaders and Pouncer, free event gift (t-shirt, decal, button, bobblehead, etc).

I have a promotions book that is about 30 pages that I created and used in the radio business and it served me well. If I ever need an idea......just go to the book....it has hundreds of successful proven concepts that work in the radio industry for drawing a crowd and creating a successful event. If we ever did a live remote from a retailers location and did not draw a big crowd....the station was not going to sell a repeat order to that advertiser. We HAD to know how to draw a crowd. We should have the same thing for our AD.

Gr8 suggs DT....It's refreshing to here solutions being offered, Ever considered publishing....I'd like to go to B&N and scoop that one up

It was actually a notebook I created. It was the result of talking to a lot of radio station sales managers and asking them what worked and exchanging ideas with them. Also I attended a lot of radio conventions and heard guest speakers talk about this subject and wrote down their ideas and also bought a lot of tapes on convention sales seminars that I could not attend. As a new one idea came up, I added it to the notebook. The notebook went with me whenever I moved to a new station. It just evolved. There is a lot of information out there, it just has to be gathered up, organized and used.

(02-08-2018 11:46 AM)DallasTiger Wrote:  

(02-08-2018 11:28 AM)thagr82008 Wrote:  

(02-08-2018 10:59 AM)DallasTiger Wrote:  Marketing Strategy: If you have an event...have it where the people are located. So, if most of the MEMPHIS football season ticket holders live in East Memphis....hold the party in EAST MEMPHIS. If you want a small crowd, hold the event in a place that is far away from your membership base. I would think that the U of M Athletic Dept knows their hot zip codes (zip codes where season ticket holders live) and should use that information when planning events.

I have a marketing major and have been in marketing all my life. Usually when you hold an event far from where the potential attendees live...you have to give them a lot of reasons to come Free gifts, giveaway of a big prize, free food and drinks, etc. So, having a $30 price tag and having the event (which is on a weekday) far from the member base....may not be a great idea in order to maximize attendance. I don't have all the data but trying to draw a crowd at night on a weekday has its own obstacles and you don't need to throw in more potential glitches (cost and travel time) and expect a big turnout.

As far as promotion....focus on doing the most promotion in that hot zip code where the party will be and where the potential attendees live and give them multiple reasons to attend (you never know what the hot button is until you try several and see which ones work). Hot buttons can be, free item, free photos with coaches, contest prize, group photo with coaches, photos with cheerleaders and Pouncer, free event gift (t-shirt, decal, button, bobblehead, etc).

I have a promotions book that is about 30 pages that I created and used in the radio business and it served me well. If I ever need an idea......just go to the book....it has hundreds of successful proven concepts that work in the radio industry for drawing a crowd and creating a successful event. If we ever did a live remote from a retailers location and did not draw a big crowd....the station was not going to sell a repeat order to that advertiser. We HAD to know how to draw a crowd. We should have the same thing for our AD.

Gr8 suggs DT....It's refreshing to here solutions being offered, Ever considered publishing....I'd like to go to B&N and scoop that one up

It was actually a notebook I created. It was the result of talking to a lot of radio station sales managers and asking them what worked and exchanging ideas with them. Also I attended a lot of radio conventions and heard guest speakers talk about this subject and wrote down their ideas and also bought a lot of tapes on convention sales seminars that I could not attend. As a new one idea came up, I added it to the notebook. The notebook went with me whenever I moved to a new station. It just evolved. There is a lot of information out there, it just has to be gathered up, organized and used.

Are you a HH member, if not, sounds like they could really use a good marketing person right now!

Another thought....post event analysis. After each event...you have a group of leaders who review it. The topics covered are:

1. What went wrong?
2. What could have we done better?
3. What was successful?
4. How do we fix the problems we encountered?
5. Let's plan some changes for the next time we do this so we don't make the same mistakes again.

The good part is you now have the basic ideas for the next event while they are fresh in your mind. You do this immediately, so you don't have to try to remember what went wrong a year later.

Are signing day parties big at other schools? I know the Highland Hundred has sponsored this one for quite some time.

(02-08-2018 10:33 AM)big12tigers Wrote:  I do understand this is not that relevant of a meeting. I just think that opportunities like this are chances for fans to show full support to Coach Norvell and let him know we appreciate him being our coach and staying at Memphis. I mean how often to the common tiger football fans get a chance to mingle in an open environment with the tiger coaching staff the AD and assistant AD's,

I have to way to know this, but I assume if the UT coaching staff were holding a venue hear in Memphis discussing UT football recruits and the program, there will probably be more than a loose 100 people in attendance, but I don't know.

My suggestions is to move this event to a Friday night or Saturday afternoon at more convenient location.

Go Tigers.

You can't do that. NSD is NSD. But I totally agree about moving it to a MORE CONVENIENT LOCATION!!!! That is the sole reason I did not go.

(02-08-2018 10:59 AM)DallasTiger Wrote:  Marketing Strategy: If you have an event...have it where the people are located. So, if most of the MEMPHIS football season ticket holders live in East Memphis....hold the party in EAST MEMPHIS. If you want a small crowd, hold the event in a place that is far away from your membership base. I would think that the U of M Athletic Dept knows their hot zip codes (zip codes where season ticket holders live) and should use that information when planning events.

I have a marketing major and have been in marketing all my life. Usually when you hold an event far from where the potential attendees live...you have to give them a lot of reasons to come Free gifts, giveaway of a big prize, free food and drinks, etc. So, having a $30 price tag and having the event (which is on a weekday) far from the member base....may not be a great idea in order to maximize attendance. I don't have all the data but trying to draw a crowd at night on a weekday has its own obstacles and you don't need to throw in more potential glitches (cost and travel time) and expect a big turnout.

As far as promotion....focus on doing the most promotion in that hot zip code where the party will be and where the potential attendees live and give them multiple reasons to attend (you never know what the hot button is until you try several and see which ones work). Hot buttons can be, free item, free photos with coaches, contest prize, group photo with coaches, photos with cheerleaders and Pouncer, free event gift (t-shirt, decal, button, bobblehead, etc).

I have a promotions book that is about 30 pages that I created and used in the radio business and it served me well. If I ever need an idea......just go to the book....it has hundreds of successful proven concepts that work in the radio industry for drawing a crowd and creating a successful event. If we ever did a live remote from a retailers location and did not draw a big crowd....the station was not going to sell a repeat order to that advertiser. We HAD to know how to draw a crowd. We should have the same thing for our AD.

Would imagine that this will be at the IPF, once built. Agreed that the HH needs to increase # of members and broaden appeal.

(02-08-2018 12:58 PM)fsquid Wrote:  Are signing day parties big at other schools? I know the Highland Hundred has sponsored this one for quite some time.

I went to one at Indiana. It was a morning deal with breakfast. They'd announce new players once they got the NLI like it was the NFL Draft. Band and cheerleaders were there. Only problem was it started at 8:30.

(02-08-2018 12:58 PM)fsquid Wrote:  Are signing day parties big at other schools? I know the Highland Hundred has sponsored this one for quite some time.

I think SMU had theirs at 3 different cities. Dallas, Houston and one other.

I know I rec'd 3-4 email notices of the signing day party but I had no plans to attend coming from Atlanta. I buy 4 season tickets for FB & BB. Interesting that some received notice & others didn't. I know the various departments at the university don't seem to be coordinated when it comes to contact info, maybe that's an issue...maintaining up to date contact info.

I knew about the event but did not go for 2 reasons. One is the venue. You have to walk a good bit in the cold to get there and then it is really small if you have a good turn out. I went a few years ago and it was so crowded you needed to go outside at times but it was real cold. Plus the food ran out early. The other reason I did not come was the cost. There was no way I would eat or drink $30 worth. Downtown does not bother me but parking is usually a problem anywhere downtown. The most central location would be on campus - Holiday Inn or the Hardaway building are both good choices.

(02-08-2018 02:50 PM)tiger ron Wrote:  I knew about the event but did not go for 2 reasons. One is the venue. You have to walk a good bit in the cold to get there and then it is really small if you have a good turn out. I went a few years ago and it was so crowded you needed to go outside at times but it was real cold. Plus the food ran out early. The other reason I did not come was the cost. There was no way I would eat or drink $30 worth. Downtown does not bother me but parking is usually a problem anywhere downtown. The most central location would be on campus - Holiday Inn or the Hardaway building are both good choices.

well last night there was plenty of food left

and as far as parking, we parked at tom lee, got immediately on the provided shuttle bus and road to the event

when leaving get immediately on the shuttle bus and was driven back to our car

no waiting

I got emails, but couldn't go. Wasn't a matter of promotion or cost. It was 90% location.

Working late on a weeknight does not go well with a downtown event. Brookhaven Pub, Newby's, Campus HI - all would have had much better attendance. Not sure if HH picks the location or the AD.