Albert Einstein once said...
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
-Albert Einstein
I think Al was on to something with that quote. To me it makes perfect sense.. But of course, the obverse should be true as well...
Insanity: doing something completely different, yet still expecting the same results.
-Garand69
Well I would assume that the vast majority of you would agree with those assumptions... right?
Well, here in Illinois the goal is quite simple, DOUBLE the Attendance, DOUBLE the Rifleman!! Nothing more nothing less. We believe in the purest form of KISS.... Keep It Simple Stupid. ;) Now of course, we will always try new things regarding promo or methodology, but the goal.... the OBJECTIVE... is simple, DOUBLE Attendance, DOUBLE Rifleman.
The Strategy that we used in 2010 was simple as well, Double the Shooters on the Firing Line Double the Rifleman!!! We did this the easy way. We added 50% more shoots and then filled the lines by promoting them. For all intent and purpose, we met our Objective! ^:)^
So, how do we tackle 2011??
This isn't 2007, we have some proven methods, and some proven failures under our belt. I do not repeat failures back to back. Those "Bad Ideas" may be good sooner or later, but I won't try them back to back. BUT, those proven methods that helped us meet our Objective are Golden. While you do not put all your eggs in that basket, it is where you start off. So that makes our planning of 2011 rather easy.
Our Objective is the same, Double the Shooters, Double the Rifleman
Our Strategy is also the same, add 50% more Shoots, and crank up the promotional efforts, remember... KISS!
Now some of you may be saying that I'm nuts, we had a good year and we Doubled our numbers by adding only 50% more shoots, that is impossible to do that again... I tend to disagree.
We did have some sold out shoots, but not all of them. We also have a biggie on Sept 11th 2011, the 10th Anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers. The 2010 "300" Shoot was great, it even set the Appleseed record at 200 shooters, but we were short 100 on capacity. We have room for literally hundreds more there, so the goal for the "300 II" is to at least double that line, there's 200 right there ^-^
We also had a few shoots cancelled in 2010 due to berm construction. Thankfully they were made up with new ranges being added towards the end of the year, but imagine the Durand range being full on for 2011??? The size of the line has been at least doubled if not tripled and it is only 30 minutes from a huge market... Rockford!!! So going from 2 shoots with a 12 shooter cap, to say 8 shoots with a 40 shooter cap..... that is another 300 shooters if we sell it.... Now all we need to do is raise funds to do what is necessary to get some dirt spread and seed planted so that it isn't a swamp.
At this point we are at 500 more shooters over 2010 and we are not even breathing hard!! :cool2:
Now of course, this only works if we actually reach the Potential Shooters at the gun show, and we then again reach the Shooters on the line. If we don't inspire them, it really doesn't matter how many we get to the line does it?? Since Old Al is doing good so far, I'll borrow another one of his quotes.....
Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.
-Albert Einstein
Truer words have never been said!
So lets take a step back at look..
#1, add 50% more shoots to the schedule to start for a total of 45 shoots. (this will leave room for new ranges to be added which is even more important for 2012)
#2, SELL THE SHOOTS OUT!!! While this is "Captain Obvious" material, it cannot be over stated. We all have to help with PROMO!!
#3, Have the best Instructor Corp on the planet!! We all need to be able to "Hook" the shooters with a knock out History lesson! We are currently putting together a History Boot Camp just for this purpose, please try to attend!!
#4, Relax...... Take a breath and enjoy yourself! This is an all Volunteer gig. The only way that you can get burned out is if YOU ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN!!! I'm going to relay a little story that I recently told one of our excellent Team Illinois Volunteers...
Quote....the only person that can tell a Volunteer how much is enough and how much is too much, is the Volunteer themselves. There is a reason they put governors on heavy duty trucks, and it actually stems all the way back to the good old days of Teamsters and Mule Teams. A good team of mules will work hard and get a lot of work done, but they will never wear themselves out because they govern themselves. The harder the Teamster pushes the team, the less work they'll get out of the team. This of course preserves the Team for the work load of tomorrow.
When they first put together the heavy duty work truck. The new owners thought that they had discovered gold! No more Mules governing the pace!! We will make millions with all we can do now!! Than reality set in. Those un-governed Trucks were driven into the ground, engine failures, you name it. And the problem now was it wasn't a matter of letting them rest and get back at it tomorrow, it was a matter of down time and great expense to repair.
Hence the governor was invented to prevent excessive abuse on the truck. As a Volunteer YOU have to be your own governor!!!! If you were run ragged last year, our suggestion is to cut back a bit, and relax a little.
As serious as saving the State is, it has to be fun! Does this mean you do the minimum? NO!!!! It means that you do as much as you are comfortable doing!!! Ironically, a gun show is a nice break in the Appleseed monotony and vice versa.. Shake up your routine a bit, and volunteer elsewhere within the State or maybe do a friendly Border raid to liven things up.
Another fun thing to do is shoot!!! If the Appleseed is well covered, attend as a shooter. If you are an Illinois Red Hat, consider joining the Team Illinois Service Rifle Team, it's only four shoots, it's a good place to sell the program, It's a good place to practice actual distance out to 300yd with a reduced 600, and it's a change of pace! O0
So in close I ask this simple question, who's with us? :cool2:
Service Rifle, OH yes, Im in. And very happy you brought the Idea up. Pappy
Checkmate King 2, this is White Rook, over.
Go ahead, White Rook.
Have penetrated into the land of the Illinnoying.
Studies and Observation Group has established secure RON position along with K9 contingent.
Plan dawn assault on objective "K" and will fix local elements in place as the anvil for IN's eastern hammer movement 23Jan.
Little resistance expected as locals are heavily engaged in supplicating their deities for the salvation of their Ursae unit, also facing a Northern onslaught 23Jan on their Soldiering Field.
White Rook out.
Illinois... They have taken the bait. They think we are all asleep... "Don't mind the big horse at your front door. It's just a pretty thing." Get ready to move. Oh crude, IS THIS THING ON? WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THERE WAS A HOT MIC. WELL THERE IS A LITTLE RED LITE ON IT WHEN IT'S ON. YOU COULD HAVE..... (click) **)
Thanks for the help guys we really appreciate it. Well be visiting soon enough. We promise
G.B.
Hey GB...careful when using bait. Sometimes when fishing for panfish....you get MUSKIES ! **)
and NO....you can't keep Cooper. We already lost Mogget to those sly and surreptitious Wisconsinosians. Won't let it happen again.
Sparks.. Possession is 9/10ths of the law ..:.. ..:.. ..:.. @)
Quote from: Garand69 on January 22, 2011, 01:52:57 PM
Sparks.. Possession is 9/10ths of the law ..:.. ..:.. ..:.. @)
Me thinks Cooper has escaped much worse dilemmas. You don't scare us ... :cool2:
Coop just went to gather intelligence on our future border raids and bask in a warmer climate. Of course....she may want to stay during the winter months after getting a tan down there. ;D Dang it...wasn't I just warned about a hot mike. As you were, Illinois.
Be at peace...you are well represented at Kankakee GS this weekend.
Aaaaah...duty calls. Honeydo list appears to have found it's way out of the trash can !@#) It appears that my mancave/reloading room has overflowed into common areas. To be continued....
Checkmate King Two, this is White Rook, over.
Succeeded infiltration and egress of objective "K3" with minimal resistance and no friendly casualties.
T 4F am, 21F pm; overcast at 1.5K; lt sn throughout the day, vis 2K; unable to establish contact with Covey.
K9 contingent successfully countered onslaughts from much larger units and can hold her tail high.
Indigenous agents ewald and 2thdoc assisted in subliminal messaging to Illinnoying attendees to proceed north to Objective Racine for further training.
Curiously, Rifledog attracted much more traffic to the table than the M1 Garand. I suspect it had something to do with local culinary practices, based on multiple comments regarding "isn't she sweet?" accompanied by lip smacking. No other Garands observed in the AO at this juncture.
Anticipate strong counterattack at dawn by KD expert from the King George 63rd Regt, will fix in place for AB's eastern hammer maneuver around noon. Expect that resistance will rapidly dissolve as their vaunted Ursae engage the meat processors from behind the Cheddar curtain. Will use the diversion to exfil back through the land of Red Arrows and Red Bulls to the frozen north.
RON location secured with Clays and trips. Watch that seventh step, it's a doozy.
"For those that have almost died, life has a special sweetness that the protected will never know."
White Rook, over and out.