Getting more party attendance...

STuma · August 26, 2009, 11:19:15 AM

I am curious on how to get more of the fleet involved socially... If we have a 40 boat fleet with an average of 5 per boat, we could have 200-250 people showing up... I know this is a constant battle for the social director... is there a way to do a random pole?

This might me aimed more at people who do not, or are not able to attend the post-race socials... What can we do to get your attendance after the races? We need truthfull answers so we can try to accomodate... ex: domestic commimentments, burned out, tired, don't like the people, etc...

I have also wondered about boat attendance at the other yacht clubs for the bigger races...

or, does anyone have any suggestions that they think will get some more people? I personally think the photos on the big screen is pretty awesome... Thank you to who was responsible for that arrangement, you rock!!!

Burns · August 26, 2009, 04:20:44 PM

More people ='s less rum per party attendee. I'm not sure I understand the concern.

sailorjohnny · August 26, 2009, 08:12:51 PM

Scott, I have been to a lot of the parties and I have yet to meet you there. I'm not sure that this is to stir something up or not but I've seen a lot of sailors at the clubhouse. Come and
ake yourself known and enjoy the gathering as it should be enjoyed. Oops, my drink spilled!

BJSailor · August 26, 2009, 09:28:57 PM

SailorJohny has a good point! Party participation begins with getting yourself and your crew to the party. Heck, forget the owner/skipper and come as crew!!! The more the merrier!
We all look forward to seeing you at the parties Scott. Bring your crew too!

There is no such thing as not enough rum at GBCA. K-Box and I have ensured this:-)

Kevin Box · August 26, 2009, 10:06:59 PM

In case you didn?t read the August Cannon, with its link to the original 10 Commandments, or the Facebook version (rum edit) by Steve Study or the re-posting of same by Chris K here: http://discussion.gbca.org/index.php?topic=20.0

The pertinent Commandment #8, which applies to all regatta after-parties, is:

?Thou shalt always go to the yacht club afterward. Part of the gestalt of rum racing is bellying up to the yacht club bar after the race. Etiquette demands that you congratulate the winners, as well as buy a round of drinks for your crew. Besides, the bar is a logical place to see old friends and make new ones. However, when meeting new sailors, avoid the gung-ho, overly serious types who rehash the evening in such gory detail that the post-mortem (yawn) takes longer than the race. As much as we enjoy a quick romp around the cans, there's more to life.?

The very foundation of our civilization relies upon adherence to these Commandments. Thus it is written, so shall it be. Go to the GBCA party where the rum is free

ChrisK · August 27, 2009, 02:42:32 PM

After a few beers, one (two?) of my crew summed up the problems participation in the sailboat racing universe this way...(heavily paraphrased, with names changed to protect the innocent):

"Wife and I both busted tail at the office all week, 50+ hours, most on the road...and got your invite to race. Cool.
Today has been crazy...boat time: 8 am (I so needed more sleep), racing all day, back in slip at 4 (maybe), fold sails, drink a beer, drive back to Woodlands/Katy/Downtown. Would really love to stay but....*ring* wife is on cell phone, "Where are you?" Friends birthday/wedding/bar-michva/quincenara/party/reunion/theater/concert/you_fill_in_the_blank.
Take Junior to t-ball/ballet/scouts? No time to be a helicopter this weekend.
Flat screen high-def theater surround everything in the comfort of a/c, even if it is Barney or Sesame street? Oh so tempting!
Church on Sunday?. My pastor is sending me to hell because I hang out with sailors anyway, but still...
Yard work? Are you kidding?
Work work..maybe, I'm in debt up to my tailfeathers....gotta pay for the H2, the flatscreen, bass boat, titanium driver, the McMansion, and the boob job....
Wife already hacked b/c no time with kids/newborn/inlaws/outlaws/mistress/honey dos but here I am with what she thinks is plenty of time to go play with boats...
For certain, no nookie for me this weekend...no way Jose...(and a toast to that!!) Besides I'm beat up/bruised from trimming all day...
Ring..ring.ring... Gotta go, gotta go....f-n' damn these cell phones...I want to toss them all in the bay.
Thanks for the invite, but win the party for me, will ya? See you tomorrow Capt' That was fun!"

My point with this ramble is that two full days commitment to sail a regatta weekend is alot for the modern man or woman.

Times have changed..and not so much in ways that benefit the escapism (for lack of better word) of sailboat racing.
Read J.Howards book sometime. What they used to do to attend a race was amazing. They would do stuff like sail to Mississippi, straight to the start line, race, win, then turn around and immediately sail home, in one weekend. That's the extreme but people just don't have that kind of time or commitment anymore.

Despite this, I think GBCA has very good participation for the facilities available.
The events I have attended this year have been packed.
Plenty of free rum, free beer, free food, free popcorn, free pictures, free dancing girls (are you still reading this?, just checking)

All brought to you by low overhead, excellent volunteers and generous membership renewals.

(Insert generous membership renewal plug here) http://www.gbca.org/memberappfm.html

You can stir, but not sweeten, the pot much more than that.

Jim Powers · August 27, 2009, 03:35:56 PM

Ihink you covered it all. You should write for money, you know. Your stuff is to good to give away. Same goes for KBox

edthemainsailguy · August 27, 2009, 04:03:33 PM

An excellent essay...I miss the parties @ GBCA but I don't miss
"driving through ShoreAcres with Rum goggles on"...
certainly a factor for me as I tend to scoff at the concept of "drinking responsibly"...
that means keeping an eye on where my cup is...right?

JayZ · August 27, 2009, 09:12:59 PM

----yup that's me

. out of town at the in-laws a couple weeks ago, my son's 6yr birthday this past Saturday and another busy, fun family weekend planned this week keeps me off the water. Hope to see you guys labor day weekend! -unless of course The BANJO GIRL is mid project and therefore not regatta ready (highly likely) -anyone need crew?

I kind of think sometimes we have too many regattas and therefore the attendance may be low for many of them. Then again the large amount of regattas give us all a better chance of making it to at least a few throughout the year.

Quote from: ChrisK on August 27, 2009, 02:42:32 PM
After a few beers, one (two?) of my crew summed up the problems participation in the sailboat racing universe this way...(heavily paraphrased, with names changed to protect the innocent):

"Wife and I both busted tail at the office all week, 50+ hours, most on the road...and got your invite to race. Cool.
Today has been crazy...boat time: 8 am (I so needed more sleep), racing all day, back in slip at 4 (maybe), fold sails, drink a beer, drive back to Woodlands/Katy/Downtown. Would really love to stay but....*ring* wife is on cell phone, "Where are you?" Friends birthday/wedding/bar-michva/quincenara/party/reunion/theater/concert/you_fill_in_the_blank.
Take Junior to t-ball/ballet/scouts? No time to be a helicopter this weekend.
Flat screen high-def theater surround everything in the comfort of a/c, even if it is Barney or Sesame street? Oh so tempting!
Church on Sunday?. My pastor is sending me to hell because I hang out with sailors anyway, but still...
Yard work? Are you kidding?
Work work..maybe, I'm in debt up to my tailfeathers....gotta pay for the H2, the flatscreen, bass boat, titanium driver, the McMansion, and the boob job....
Wife already hacked b/c no time with kids/newborn/inlaws/outlaws/mistress/honey dos but here I am with what she thinks is plenty of time to go play with boats...
For certain, no nookie for me this weekend...no way Jose...(and a toast to that!!) Besides I'm beat up/bruised from trimming all day...
Ring..ring.ring... Gotta go, gotta go....f-n' damn these cell phones...I want to toss them all in the bay.
Thanks for the invite, but win the party for me, will ya? See you tomorrow Capt' That was fun!"

My point with this ramble is that two full days commitment to sail a regatta weekend is alot for the modern man or woman.

Times have changed..and not so much in ways that benefit the escapism (for lack of better word) of sailboat racing.
Read J.Howards book sometime. What they used to do to attend a race was amazing. They would do stuff like sail to Mississippi, straight to the start line, race, win, then turn around and immediately sail home, in one weekend. That's the extreme but people just don't have that kind of time or commitment anymore.

Despite this, I think GBCA has very good participation for the facilities available.
The events I have attended this year have been packed.
Plenty of free rum, free beer, free food, free popcorn, free pictures, free dancing girls (are you still reading this?, just checking)

All brought to you by low overhead, excellent volunteers and generous membership renewals.

(Insert generous membership renewal plug here) http://www.gbca.org/memberappfm.html

You can stir, but not sweeten, the pot much more than that.

STuma · August 28, 2009, 10:48:42 AM

Thanks Chris and Jay... It is tough to squeeze everything in... This isn't to stir anything up, not taking a stab at the way anyone is doing their job; just looking to see how we can help encourage more people... I have been on all three sides of the fence; actively racing attending everything, just getting back into racing and not knowing much of the fleet & working on people's boats and trying to encourage them into racing and becoming active... I see this as a big circle; more people at the parties, more interest, more members, more boats, more people at the parties, etc... I agree, sometimes there are too many choices on which regatta to attend and which to skip... BJSailor and SailorJohnny, I apoligize for not making the rounds when I attend the parties, if I knew your names, I will make sure to introduce myself next time we are there... I know I have been out for a while and many people have no idea of who I am; I am trying to change that...

I have been able to attend about 1/2 of the socials, all the races I have been able to attend this year... over the years, I have heard some of the reasons of non-attendance: mow the grass, spend time with family, work, not big on parties, wash the cat, etc... We all know the pulls and reasons change over the years...

just as an idea, I am sure someone already is doing this; print out a brouchure, single page, advertising the TGIF races and give it to each yacht dealer to hand out when they sell a boat... Have we considered a booth at the in-water boat show?

cheers...
Scott

Eric713 · September 01, 2009, 05:05:03 PM

Guys. If you want better attendance at the after race parties.... Start the rum races at 4pm. This would get the racers to the clubhouse by 7-730pm. I think the earlier times would encourage more participation.
It's worth a try! When the sun goes down, people tend to stay on their boats.

Bee · September 01, 2009, 06:59:15 PM

I would vote for half an hour early but living on the West side, the bay is roughly 50 minutes away and sometimes I just don't have the time even on a Saturday.

Jim Powers · September 01, 2009, 07:18:15 PM

There is no wind at 4pm.The turnout at the parties is really pretty good if one stays to the end. Its a pursuit race, so the fleet comes in based on when they start.The crowd starts to fill in as boats finish and get put away.Stay to the end and its a huge crowd over the entire night.but, stay tuned. We may have better digs soon, soon being relative

ChrisK · September 01, 2009, 07:18:57 PM

Was there really not enough people at the party last Saturday 8/29?

Unless I'm seeing triple vision (possible), it was a full house. Again.

If you need further proof, we have a fairly healthy pizza bill and dumpster full of empty rum bottles

Lots of new faces, a couple new boats (some in the points), and alot of happy people enjoying the evening.
What more can you ask for?

Bee · September 01, 2009, 08:04:08 PM

There is no finer club than GBCA. Trust me, for the yearly dues you simply can't beat it. GBCA parties are always well attended and there are enough of us old and young drunkards to make everyone happy. If you don't stop this bashing I will break out my accordion and send all of you bashers to polka heaven.