Lets try and get the club busy again

[scotty]

I've been thinking about ways to try and get the clubs profile more out there into the peoples eyes and ears.
I was thinking that the club should buy 10 ready to run cars, doesn't matter what make and so on, enough to give us 2 heats on a friday. Once we've purchased these we go to the local schools and get all interested pupils to put there names into a hat and we draw 5 from first year and 5 from 2nd year. The next week we draw 5 from 3rd year and 5 from 4th year. We do this for each school in the area of Falkirk Rcc which would take a few weeks to do. After we've did the schools we'll look at youth clubs and so on. We then offer those who are interested in racing at some kind of level a free membership to race at Falkirk Rcc. If they're interested in racing we could sell one of the RTR models at a reduced cost to get them started. There will be a lot of work to get this off the ground and running but the work i don't mind doing. I've spoke to some youth clubs and boys brigades and scouts that are on on different nights to us and them and their members seem really interested with some of their parents showing real enthusiasm. I've also been talking to groups of Kids that i see out on the street, asking them which school they attend and ask them if this is something that they'd be interested in doing and the response has been really good. We've got to get this club back up to what it once was and i'll do damned near anything to do this.
Myself and John Allan were talking about us trying to do a display at the Fast and Modified show at Ingilston showground. This i'll keep you posted on as soon as we have any more information.
I hope there's not any objections to this as i feel it could really do us a turn in raising the clubs Profile in the local community.
I've been looking at this idea for a few weeks but the backgroung research is what's taken the time.
Scotty..................

[mike tr]

I was up at Stonehaven last weekend. I had not been for a few months but to my surprise they had 7 new members racing. Most of these were father and son racing together.
I think it’s a very good idea to introduce racing to the kids but we also have to get the parents involved. After all it’s them that have the money to enter the hobby.
I think the Ingilston show would be a good addition to the school visits.

Regards,

[orinoco]

Brilliant idea Scotty, i completely agree that we need more youngsters introduced to rc. I think that this is a good way forward for raising the club numbers. Im sure that once the kids start some of the dads will follow as will the friends. We need to be able to show that this does not need to be an expensive hobby to start.
I would be happy to help out in any way to get this idea off the ground.
Col.

[Alex Lindsay]

Great idea. However 10 ready to run kits and batteries would be very expensive. How would maintain these kits and look after the charging etc. Dont think the club has funds for this at the moment. Dunfermline tried this a few years back and it was a total loss to the club. The demonstration at Ingliston is a good idea but should be discussed at committee level as well.

[scotty]

Yes Alex i think you're right with regards to the cars, 10's just too much but i feel we really need to do something.
Scotty

Have tried to get a committee meeting on the go for months and only you, Malcolm and Dave Small replied.

[Colin Rose]

Think the idea of the Fast and Modified show is good, not so sure about the schools.

I think the real question should be what has put the members that used to attend off coming on a Friday night? There are a lot of faces missing from when I started in Jan/Feb this year. It's like in business you will loose 10% of your customers each year but I think more than 10% have gone since Jan.

[k3rm1tt]

The exhibition race is just one potential venue for all the scottish clubs, its indoors, has tarmac and its huge so we could run mod indoors and buggies too. Plus there is truck fest too as well as classic car shows. I for one can't think of anywhere better as it is right next to the airport etc and is fairly central.

I think that at such an event it would be important to make it as high profile and professional as possible similar to the Union Square meet i.e getting sponsorship of some sort. It would also be beneficial if we had RTR cars for the public to try and had organised sessions throughout the day for them to do so.

What ever happened to the F1 cars from Union Square? Can they be used?

Much More seems to be about the only company visibly encouraging things (correct me if I am wrong) but this way gives the sponsor(s) exposure to a large car crazy crowd and lets us race without the clubs needing to be concerned too much with the cost.

[Alan L]

I was at the Club on Friday night as I was through visiting and I thought it was a practice night going by the very low numbers. I know I haven't been for about 3 years now, and every time I come down I wish I still raced but the main factor for me giving it up was the nearly 80 mile round trip on a Friday night. It was always a rush job to try and get there in time and then getting home after 11pm. Not good when you have a wife and family. I do miss it and wish I was still going. I still have my TRF415MS on a shelf and all the rest of the gear up in the loft. Now that I see the East Kiilbride club are only 5 mins away from the house but only run buggies. It would be a case of having to start from scratch from buying the car to all the electronics, Brushless, lipo etc - not cheap. IF EK were running TC's then the 415 would be getting dusted down and being run again, but unfortunately there not.

Anyway - it was good to see some of the old faces again. Never know maybe in the future I will get back.

[Alan L]

On another point of the above - what if local businesses (Car related ones, garages etc) sponsored a car and get it liveried in their company colours - like Union Square. Get their staff to come along and drive. Put up banners in the hall

Just a thought.

[Colin Rose]

What about some sort of outdoor GP at a local car main stealer? Would they be up for the extra publicity in exchange for the use of (tarmac permitting) their carpark?

[Colin Rose]

Sorry car main dealer.

[scotty]

Lots of great ideas guys but i still want to try and do something that involves young people eg kids and such as i feel that these are the future of the hobby.

[Colin Rose]

Agree that the kids are the future but how many would be allowed or have £300-£400 to get them started? Or am I way out of touch with kids pocket money these days?
I think if that is the way the club want's to go then a cheaper class needs to be found, even then a couple of Lipo's, charger, radio gear adds up before you even think about a chassis. :cry:

[Malcolm Williams]

I've been thinking about ways to try and get the clubs profile more out there into the peoples eyes and ears.
I was thinking that the club should buy 10 ready to run cars, doesn't matter what make and so on, enough to give us 2 heats on a friday. Once we've purchased these we go to the local schools and get all interested pupils to put there names into a hat and we draw 5 from first year and 5 from 2nd year. The next week we draw 5 from 3rd year and 5 from 4th year. We do this for each school in the area of Falkirk Rcc which would take a few weeks to do. After we've did the schools we'll look at youth clubs and so on. We then offer those who are interested in racing at some kind of level a free membership to race at Falkirk Rcc. If they're interested in racing we could sell one of the RTR models at a reduced cost to get them started. There will be a lot of work to get this off the ground and running but the work i don't mind doing. I've spoke to some youth clubs and boys brigades and scouts that are on on different nights to us and them and their members seem really interested with some of their parents showing real enthusiasm. I've also been talking to groups of Kids that i see out on the street, asking them which school they attend and ask them if this is something that they'd be interested in doing and the response has been really good. We've got to get this club back up to what it once was and i'll do damned near anything to do this.
Myself and John Allan were talking about us trying to do a display at the Fast and Modified show at Ingilston showground. This i'll keep you posted on as soon as we have any more information.
I hope there's not any objections to this as i feel it could really do us a turn in raising the clubs Profile in the local community.
I've been looking at this idea for a few weeks but the backgroung research is what's taken the time.
Scotty..................

Thats a really good idea Scotty, I would back you on that Mate, I have some old tamiya spares that I could donate for the purpose if needed too.

[John Lindsay]

I think we need to chase the members who used to come, and now don't.

Malcolm for example, I know you still have an interest as you still post on the forum but you've not been at the club for a while, also people like Derek Grogan, I've not seen for a while either, I don't know whether people are losing interest or doing other things on a Friday night or whatever but I think we should focus on bringing back all the members we used to see regularly!


John

[k3rm1tt]

Agree with John there as this would hopefully see a quicker increase in numbers.
As there are not that many club members that active on here I would suggest as a first instance that the committee generate a questionaire to send out to previous members asking them discreetly why they no longer race and any suggestions that they may have to help the club aswell as what they liked/disliked about racing etc.
Could we offer an incentive to complete the questionaire for them to come back racing i.e. a few weeks free or discounted racing? Its all very well turning up to see what is going on but if you are not racing then its not as much fun.
Summer is nearly over so we may have lost out for this year in regards to doing exhibition races but this does give plenty of time to organise next year.

[scotty]

By all means we need to try and get some of the existing members back to the club but we also need to attract new blood no matter which way you look at it, this is the future and if the current members aren't appearing every week that worries me, hence the idea that i'm looking at new ways to get new people through the doors on a friday night. I feel that all the work i did researching this looks to some of you on here like a waste of time. Nobody really wanting to give it a chance when it could work. We also need to get away from the idea that to get started in this hobby you need to spend £300-£400, that's just nonsense. Each member can get started for a lot less than that, yes i can hear you all say but they'll spend that in the long run but that is then up to the individual to gradually get to that level. To just turn up on a friday night and race doesn't cost the earth. This is one of the reasons when people come along to the club and speak to people with different views on what's needed, they then go away thinking, No we're not doing that hobby as it's far too expensive when really it isn't if researched correctly. I've seen ready to run brushless cars for £150- £200, that includes batteries, charger and all radio gear so it can be done. That's a car at a great level for anyone looking to get started in the hobby.
Can i just say that Kevs idea for us doing something at an exhibition or so on next year is a great suggestion.
Scotty......

[k3rm1tt]

How about we create a beginner's guide to the racing and add it on the site as a sticky. I am sure with all our knowledge combined this is achievable.

For this we should include the following;

Spec an entry level car c/w everything required to race for a realistic budget and what to look out for on Ebay etc when buying equipment.

Create a technical section with glossary to explain things i.e setup, build tips, painting shells etc. Nothing too fancy or in depth that might scare folk off and we can use links from other sites.

Perhaps the club could purchase an RTR car and have it available for hire on the night for a small fee i.e £5 for a night's racing.

Hopefully if we can generate enough interest we can run a beginner's session using RTR cars.

I have thought in the past about having different levels of competition i.e beginner, intermediate and advanced because for some folk its all about the fun and for others its seriously competitive.

My thinking here is that we limit the technical capabilities of the car in terms of lipo capacity or C rating, motor turns, and have old school forward reverse speedos.

The reason being is that folk can still be competitive but within their class. I agree with Scotty in that people view the initial startup cost as being too much because they want to be competitive and are possibly speaking to the 'fast guys'. When I started I got everything off ebay for £150 i.e. car, shell, radio gear, motor and gradually worked my way up from there having spent loads since but its fun and keeps me out the pub.

[Malcolm Williams]

I think we need to chase the members who used to come, and now don't.

Malcolm for example, I know you still have an interest as you still post on the forum but you've not been at the club for a while, also people like Derek Grogan, I've not seen for a while either, I don't know whether people are losing interest or doing other things on a Friday night or whatever but I think we should focus on bringing back all the members we used to see regularly!


John


You obviously have not read why I have been absent, or even asked others.
Both I and Derek have ill health and have missed only because of this.
Unfortunately its a symptom of old age - the minds willing but the body is not.
Malcolm

[Colin Rose]

Don't think anybody was knocking your efforts or saying you were wasting your time Scotty, just trying to come up with different ideas.

The thing that almost stopped me coming back was the amount of tech kit that people seem to have including lap tops. When I dropped in as a stranger it almost had me running back out the door.

I now realise that you don't need all the kit to have fun but this point needs to be put across to potential members.

[John Lindsay]

You obviously have not read why I have been absent, or even asked others.
Both I and Derek have ill health and have missed only because of this.
Unfortunately its a symptom of old age - the minds willing but the body is not.
Malcolm

Malcolm,

It was in no way a dig, just trying to get you back, I was aware that you had been unwell, however I was hoping that it may have been on the mend and was looking forward to seeing your return to the club.

Best Wishes,


John

[Dave]

The banning of laptops, additive and or warmers then?

[Colin Rose]

No not saying ban anything, that would be a backwards step I think. These things need explained to potential members or perhaps a different class?
A bit like full size where you have "works teams" and "privaters". Perhaps this would allow rtr cars or beginners to have their own class championship perhaps even on foams, then they can progress to what we are currently running.

[scotty]

Yep Colin that's what i was thinking, the last thing we want to be doing is banning members from using anything they may feel that they need. To be fair i've not seen anyone using warmers or a laptop for a long time. A beginners class is looking like a good thing.
Scotty.....

[derekk]

Getting back to the Dunfermline hire cars, we did buy 10 Mardaves to promote the sport and the club.

We visited various gala days, schools during the summer holidays (you wouldn't beleive it but kids went to school during the holiday to learn about full size motor sport and have a shot of the r/c cars). Being honest we found it VERY hard work to keep 5 cars on the track at same time, we split the 10 cars into 2 groups of 5 just like heats. We since sold the cars, and overall did not lose any money on this idea.

It's hard to say if we gained new members this way, but we certainly had more guys racing after it than before.

We've now decided to use the club laptops and the VRC game to do the same promotion. It's far easier, less breakages and almost as much fun.

Just so you are aware, we hope to be back at the Scottish Motor show at Knockhill in 2011, this is a great opportunity to promote the sport, and with you being fairly local you will be surprised how many people are interested from your area. Watch out on the BRCA website for the invite going out to all clubs to come along and promote themselves.

If you need any of the BRCA getting started leaflets let me know, might still have some available, if not will get them at the next meeting I go to.

Anyway, just thought I would share the above with you, hope you gain the members you are after.

[k3rm1tt]

The banning of laptops, additive and or warmers then?

A point I made in that thread before that got out of hand and deleted recently. Laptops and warmers are not necessary, but addititve helps.

Agreed on a beginner's class. I think we need to spec a list of RTR cars suitable for the novice and a list of where to buy them so that this can be available as a handout from race control for anyone interested and added as a sticky to the FRCC homepage.

Derek, did not even know there was anything at Knockhill as I missed it the last two years anyway but I agree this is a fantastic opportunity to pull in a large crowd as is the Modified show at Ingleston.

[Alex Lindsay]

It would certainly do no harm to attend Knockhill or Ingliston. We would need to have flyers made up with the clubs details to hand out to prospective members/interested people. We already have 1 pop up banner and some more could be obtained.

Again some posters could be printed and, with permission, put up in schools, youth groups, scout halls and churches etc etc.

This would be, in my opinion, more cost effective than providing RTR cars at this stage.

I like the idea of a beginners RTR class. Who would be allowed to participate in it? Only new members, or would it be open to some existing club members?

[k3rm1tt]

An RTR class should be open to anyone wishing to join whether a new or existing member but we need to discuss what would be the correct route for them to advance if they so wish.
The obvious choice is for this to be determined by driver skill and results, however there is nothing stopping anyone buying the best of everything to try and compete against the top drivers because they do not want to run RTR. Common sense is sometimes not so common :-D.

[k3rm1tt]

How about an old school stock class instead i.e. 27 turn or 19 turn brushed, no fancy ESC's etc.

[Dave]

I think we need to split the championship by ability or formula.

Each person is given a Formula F1, F2 or F3 and then there are 3 championships within one.

[Maxxed_Ross]

The biggest problem I've had the few times I've been down this year is the pace that things have moved on.

Compaired to the days I used to race regularly (I think that must have been 2008) the motors have changed, speedos, batteries, tyres, classes and even the track markers!

I've certainly found it a struggle to remain competative as an occasional racer... and due to my attendance rate I always seem to be stuck in a lower heat getting 7 shades knocked out of the car by the more junior members who aren't used to having a quick car in their midst.

Add all that up, and it's very off putting



Saying that, I am hoping to become more regular again next year now that work has settled down and I have a bit more free time on my hands these days :-D