Feedback from Harvard 8/29-30/15

[hbennett]

FYI- Got this feedback from a shooter who wishes to remain anonymous

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To be honest, they kind of flew through the basics on Saturday and now that I think about it a bit I'm not surprised that people may have been overwhelmed or not picked up everything.

I think the answer then is a .22-specific AS and one for "I wanna try" people. And a very, very basic,  one day event or even half-day. Or compartmentalize the training so you could do half-day on Saturday and pick up where you left off on Sunday.

And yeah, definitely something for the true beginners.

I was thinking a pre-seed for familiarizing with the basics of operation. Let's face it, when someone shows up with an '06 and says 'you'll need to show me where the safety is,' lots of people are thinking WT? ... at least I was.

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So, there we have it .. a suggestion  for a pre-seed.. an interesting idea..

[lupis42]

In the days when shoots were fewer and farther between, and lines were more crowded, there used to be mini-seeds - essentially just a day at the range, where one red hat would give whoever showed up an overview of the basics at the public line of a club, so that those shooters would be prepared when Appleseed came to town. 
Now, with 12 Appleseeds a year in MA, and us casting wider nets then word of mouth, there's fewer instructors free to do that sort of thing, and the shooters who might need it don't know they need it. 

[Fred]

... there's fewer instructors free to do that sort of thing...

   Which is why you need to make sure, that at your Appleseed,

      1. There is a definite "recruiting pitch" to your students. The "civic involvement" theme works fine, so long as you lead your students to understand: There is no higher "civic involvement" - no higher civic duty - than "saving the country";

    2. Make sure that recruiting pitch is as good a "hook" as you can make it. If you don't get anyone to step forward right after it, try to plant seeds which will germinate over time;

     3. Make sure you (or the SB) have appointed a "7th-Step Coordinator", someone to "take some of the load off the SB's shoulders", someone who will be on the lookout for prospects, someone who will quietly talk to students who seem to "get it" - and to any women, even if they don't seem to "get it" (yet), and personally tell them that you think they will make good instructors - and why they need to be thinking about it. Students respond to being personally approached; it's an ego-enhancer...

     Your most common response: "I haven't even shot Rifleman yet" - to which you respond: "That's not gonna be a problem; you'll do it - but what will you do, after that? Is it good for you to be the 'only rifleman on your block'?", etc.

      Your goal: Increase our recruitment rate from the current 2% (or less) to maybe 3-4% - that shouldn't be too hard - yet it will more than double our instructor recruitment.  That'd be good...