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North Carolina Appleseed Strategy 2010, Part Three - Future Plans

Started by Stimey, December 05, 2009, 02:54:47 PM

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Stimey

Part Three:  Future Plans

This is it.  This is the Great Plan.  This is the list of objectives that I am setting for us to achieve in 2010.  Everyone in North Carolina who is associated with Appleseed should read and acknowledge this posting.  A simple "Got it!" will do, but a "How can I help? would sure be welcome.

In broad terms, here are our goals for 2010.

1)   Increase our attendance!  This will always be Job 1.  Every other goal is a means to accomplish this.
2)   Form a Statewide Promotions Team.  Everyone should be doing their part to promote Appleseed, but we need a dedicated few to take responsibility for this.
3)   Introduce Appleseed shoots to new locations.  Make it more convenient for our fellow Americans to reach us, and that's one less excuse for them not to attend and AS.
4)   Attract new instructors.  Train your own replacement to free you for greater responsibility down the line.
5)   Everyone should promote next year.  If you're an IIT now, you need to be a RI by the end of summer.  RI's need to be SB's.  SB's need to make MI.

To start, I will crunch the numbers on our state's current performance.  These numbers represent a baseline to grow from in terms of shoots and attendees and do NOT represent our goals for 2010.  Here's where we are now.

Range (Capacity)      2009 Events      Attendance      % Capacity

Ramseur (125)             12                  375/1500                   25%   
Yanceyville (20)             7                  60/140                      43%
Kill Devil Hills (30)          1                  9/30                          30%

Bottom line:  20 events got us approximately 450 attendees of a possible capacity of 1670 slots.  That means we operated statewide at an efficiency of 27%.  

That is a sobering number to me.  I'm glad that we all know this number now, but with only three shoot locations, 27% booking on shoots means that we are underperforming on our mission of promoting these shoots.  Event Promotion is part of my job, so I'll grab these data as a reminder of why the strategy I am outlining here is so important.  However, I need a statewide Event Promotions Team.  I would sure like to have about four volunteers who will help me on this.  It will be a simple job.  I just need some people to work gun show tables, pass out flyers, pass the word in your personal contacts and club affiliations, etc.  I mean, how many assignments give you a real, concrete justification for visiting the gun store?  Some great suggestions can be found in a great post that I just copied onto our state board, found here:

http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=10777.0

I can quarterback this project, but I can't play all the positions.  I NEED HELP.  Please, fellas, step up on this one.  

Two of my other major responsibilities as SC are building the North Carolina Appleseed Team (Instructor cadre, RWVA members, and other honored participants who help us) and establishing new shoot locations.  I believe it is possible to do both in one fell swoop, if one's plan is sound.  Here's what I mean.

As I look at the locations map, I am confounded by how large this state is and how far some people in our state have to travel to reach an AS event.  There are areas in this state that are 200 miles from the nearest in-state AS location.  If our attendance is to rise, we have to fix this by establishing new locations that are dispersed throughout the state.  Likewise, our instructors are mostly centered around Raleigh.  We should have a more statewide distribution of instructors, and we won't draw new instructors unless we go to where they are.  Third, all three of our locations are in very rural areas with only a small local population base to support the events there.  So, I have come up with a plan to address all these considerations in one blow.  

Early next year, I am going to visit three of North Carolina's largest cities.  These are Asheville, Charlotte, and Fayetteville.  I am going to spend time in each of these, passing out flyers, making contacts, and finding suitable locations which will support an Appleseed event.  I want to have an event in each of these three locations, along with our existing three locations, on or by the weekend of 17-18 April 2010.  That means we need six shoot bosses and a minimum of 18 instructors, three for each shoot, for a total of 24 instructors and SB's.  Now, by this time our Statewide Promotions Team should have done some fine work in the state, so it is possible that we could attract as many attendees in that weekend as we did in all of 2009.  Think about that.  Six locations, three in major metro areas, don't you all think it possible that we might have over 450 attendees?  We can do 150 with our existing three locations, after all!  Therefore, I have set a goal that we have 30 qualified RI's ready to serve on 17-18 April, 2010.

Why did I pick these three locations?  First is geographical distribution.  If we establish these three locations, no one in North Carolina will be further than 90 miles from their nearest in-state Appleseed.  Second, these areas are population-dense, giving us a greater possibility of drawing larger crowds to more capable venues (think Known Distance ranges and more developed infrastructure).  Third, we can raise and establish local instructor cadres in these areas, reducing the travel time and associated costs to our statewide instructor cadre while we increase our overall number of instructors.

So let's say we are successful.  We hold six shoots on 17-18 April, attract record numbers, spread the word, and get commitments from attendees to volunteer as IIT's (by the way, an important point here:  we should be recruiting two new IIT's per shoot if at all possible).  I'm going to recommend that we hold an IBC in May to train up all our new IIT volunteers.  That would get us well on our way to getting them ready for all the experience we can give them throughout the summer season.  After that, we rock on.  

If we accomplish all these things, we can start on a preliminary preparation strategy for 2011.  Here's a peek.  We'll add new locations around Hickory, Rocky Mount, and Wilmington.  Same process, just rinse and repeat.

There it is.  With this Strategy, we can
1)   Grow our attendance
2)   Increase our promotions
3)   Double our number of locations
4)   Increase the number of instructors in North Carolina; and
5)   Train up our new and existing IIT's to become RI's, SB's, and beyond.

That's it everyone.  I'll say it again.  I NEED HELP.  I am asking for a maximum commitment from everyone for the next six months.  I will not ask this of you again.  I'm asking now because of the goals I've set for us.  These are very ambitious goals, and it will take a maximum effort to reach them.  But just think if we do.  This could get us over the hump in a damn big way.  With accomplishments like this, the Appleseed Project in North Carolina could become a self-propagating engine of Liberty that spits out new Instructors and Patriots by their hundreds and thousands per year.

I think we can get there from here.  

Please reply to this message so I can see who is with me on this, or if you have ideas for improving the plan.  Also, let me know where in the state you live, especially if you are in the Asheville, Charlotte, or Fayetteville areas.  I already know some of you in these locations, but I am always updating my location database and would like to know where I have local boots on the ground.
"Give me an army of West Point graduates, I'll win a battle.  Give me a handful of Texas Aggies and I'll win a war!"  Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.

Fred

"Ready to eat dirt and sweat bore solvent?" - Ask me how to become an RWVA volunteer!

      "...but he that stands it now, deserves the thanks of man and woman alike..."   Paine

     "If you can read this without a silly British accent, thank a Revolutionary War veteran" - Anon.

     "We have it in our power to begin the world over again" - Thomas Paine

     What about it, do-nothings? You heard the man, jump on in...

Stimey

Keep me accountable to my own set of goals!  It will be as hard for me as for anyone else.  Fred the Helpful is a wonderful encourager and motivator. 

Also, I am convinced that with everyone's participation this strategy will reap huge rewards.  Help me pass the word.  Maybe another uplifting post like "Summer Soldiers and Sunshine Patriots"?  I meant to repost that here, because it was a great discussion of the meaning of our personal commitments to the program from a variety of POV's.  For example, there have been 20 views of these three strategies and the Local Promotions Efforts post, and yet you are the only one to respond (for which I offer you my heartfelt thanks)?  However, I don't think there are any SS's or SP's in the Tarheel State!  How can you help them to prove me right? 

That's how you can help!
"Give me an army of West Point graduates, I'll win a battle.  Give me a handful of Texas Aggies and I'll win a war!"  Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.

MCKNBRD

IBC in May...might be a good time to trade my orange hat for a red one...

O0

Byrdman
Its better to sweat in peace than bleed in war.

Guns and Ammo...between them, they get all the money my wife lets me have!