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If not us, then who, of not now, then when?

Started by vernic82, February 11, 2011, 04:23:41 PM

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vernic82

Hi CT Instructor Crew & CT Riflemen,

We have some really, really dismal pre-registration numbers for our first ever 2 shoots in one CT weekend on 2/26-27 - and this needs, no demands our attention now!

Are we posting to Forums about the shoots?

Dropping off and/or posting Flyers & tri-folds at gun shops near us or ones we pass by?

Emailing, calling, talking to friends, family, co-workers, associates, etc, etc, etc about getting to these Appleseeds coming up on 2/26-27?

Tri-folds, I have a TON of them, please PM, email, call me ASAP if you do not have any and I WILL get some to you ASAP.

Flyers you can find here:

http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=12171.0

I have some event specific flyers too that I have emailed to some and if I didn't, please email or PM me & I'll get them to you.

Remember:

If not us, then who, of not now, then when?
"To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?"
― Marcus Tullius Cicero

"You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant."
~ Harlan Ellison

"Yeah well, that's just, ya know, like, your opinion, man."
- The Dude

CortJestir

Thanks, vernic.

The major national firearms forums were updated within the past 2 weeks. But with the Chaplin move to Lebanon, I now have an excuse to bump the posts up.

We need to make sure all the gun stores in CT are restocked with flyers. I know you hit the ones in Newington/Berlin. But we need folks to step up and take Milford, Orange and parts south and southwest as well as southeast.

Also, I edited the title of your OP to remove the forum code.  ;)
CT Appleseed Facebook Page

"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." - Ralph Waldo Emerson :D

The Log

Not that it's any comfort, but I suspect the pre-registration numbers are not getting updated. I registered Tom for the Colebrook shoot last week, and the number didn't change from 1. I doubt the one person who was already registered dropped out at the same time I added Tom, so something is hinky. As I said, I have promises to appear from at least one other person, who will try to bring his son and a hunting buddy. I'll ask him if he has registered yet, and that may give us a better idea of the accuracy of the pre-reg numbers.

One thing I think might help Colebrook is pointing out that we'll be shooting from under cover if the weather looks questionable. It might entice some folks who are precipitation-averse to attend. Where would be the best place to post that? I want as many potential shooters to see it as possible.

One last thing - sure, we want to get as many folks on the line as possible, and preferably sell out every shoot. Yeah, it sucks when instructors outnumber the shooters, but if we reach one new person, we will have accomplished something. And don't forget that a big part of the reason we're doing this is to see if we have the infrastructure to run simultaneous shoots, in preparation for April 16-17. We need to find out if we have enough instructors, two working target lines, backers, supplies, communications, etc. And moreover, we need to see if we have the market for two shoots on the same day. My guess is that we do, under the right circumstances (i.e., NOT winter shoot), so what we may be seeing is a need for better marketing. I think taking full advantage of the Cabela's thing will fix a lot of that, in time.

Just my cock-eyed optimist $0.02.
"The future belongs to those that show up." - hawkhavn

vernic82

7th Stepped 8 neophytes at the Pistol Course today and have 9 more to 7th Step in tomorrow's Course  ^:)^
"To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?"
― Marcus Tullius Cicero

"You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant."
~ Harlan Ellison

"Yeah well, that's just, ya know, like, your opinion, man."
- The Dude

fprintf

Well, if there are more instructors/IITs than students maybe I will volunteer to be student just to even things out.  >:D

No excuses, but I know people are waiting for Spring to get out and shoot. Many of our students at Lebanon came out because they were returning or someone they knew who had previously attended brought them there.

My friend Tony was signed up for Lebanon but got pretty sick that weekend. I am going to try and get him to come out to either Lebanon or Colebrook if he is better now.
I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and dog-gone it people like me!  ~Stuart Smalley

TOMINCT

 I had a guy say that he wanted to go but it was going to be too cold. I passed the word that I understood. Reflecting on it a couple days later I sent him an email mentioning that it was pretty cold in the winter of 1777 and that the guys at Valley Forge didn't have a warm building, hot food and other amenities that we take for granted. He's now thinking of attending. as he can't make the shoot in April. HTH.
crak's battle road IBC 10-09
Ramseur 2-12!
ninsho's battle road IBC 6-13

The Log

Good job Seventh Stepping - and nice touch on Valley Forge. I guess that shows the value of the personal touch. Getting people to take a tri-fold at a gun show or Cabela's is great, but looking someone you know in the eye and personally asking them to do you a favor is very powerful.

I think I'm going to take this lesson to heart and make sure everyone on the Colebrook crew for this shoot personally asks at least two people to come. If they can do it in person, great, but I'll take an email too. I'd love to make a NICA ("no Instructor comes alone") rule, but maybe that's too much for now. If anyone whines about the weather, first we hit them with the shooting from cover/nice warm heater/hot cocoa/Mrs. Log's AS chili/sausage patties/etc., etc. If that doesn't work, then we hit 'em with the Valley Forge guilt trip. I'm not above laying a guilt trip when it's needful - hey, I survived Catholic school. I know guilt.  >:D

So what I propose is a PM to the listed Instructors/IITs telling them that they need to personally Seventh Step at least two people, and PM me with the names (first only), the relationship (my dad, gun store clerk, some guy on the street, etc.) and the results (promised they'd come, laughed in my face, etc.) I'll lay out ways to overcome the objections (there's some salesman talk, eh V82?) to cold weather, along with the Valley Forge trip.

We've got two weeks left. If we work hard, we can sell these two shoots out. If we do a little work, we can get the numbers up to a respectable level. If we do nothing, we deserve what we get. We certainly don't deserve to be entrusted with waking up a nation if we can't even get our butts out of the grooves on our couches to make a few phone calls or send a few emails.

V-man --

I hereby lay down the gauntlet for you. Will you get the Chaplin crew similarly motivated? Maybe together we can get these two shoots packed. I'm sure your powers of persuasion far exceed mine, so you should soon be sending your Chaplin overflows to Colebrook. Let's do it!
"The future belongs to those that show up." - hawkhavn