HOW CAN WE HELP PRO AM S GROW

[ray koziatek]

Sorry I cant help there shade as i dont have anything to do with the derby other than participate and try to spread the word to others not only to help the derby grow, But to introduce others into a Fun Event they may have of never heard of,not to mention all the great poeple I have meet at the derbys and new friendships formed.....Tho some of them have been spotted latly doing some unheard of things (bring their wifes and GF's to the fishing dept. at bass pro) now we gotta explaine the little price tag thingies arnt what we really spent on our tackle..

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=14965

[A-TOM-MIK]

These are most if not all

http://www.lakeontarioproam.net/sponsors/

http://www.lakeontarioproam.net/wayne/

http://www.lakeontarioproam.net/oswego/

[Shade]

The only reason I asked is I do not see many local businesses on the list, for example Tackle Shops, Marinas,restaurants, etc. During the 3 days of the Pro/Am you can not find a room, restaurants are packed as are the Marinas. I am sure these places have been approached in the past but maybe it is time to knock on their doors again. I know in Olcott and Wilson during the Pro/Am Motels, Hotels, Cottages are booked, Restaurants are full and marina dock spaces are prime. Lot of money exchanges hands for gear as well. I do not know what the sponsor pack looks like but even some discounts would expand the prize packet.

Just a Thought!!!!!!!

Shade

[Fishtails]

Now is the time to act on the sponsors. Strike while the iron is hot and we should be capitalizing on the national TV show that recently aired. Paul says there are more in the works, and if I recall some (if not all) of the sponsors of that event got mention! All the sponsors should get a credit at the end of a show, that would be a good selling point.

Just think, if every team got one good lead to hand to the committee, what a difference that would make!!!! Not that we have to pull in the likes of Ford or Budwieser just yet....how about marinas, tackle shops, stores like Gander or Cabelas, lure companies (anyone call Baitrix, Fish-on, etc. yet?) motels, campgrounds, restaurants, etc, etc....places that benifit from our stay but don't yet contribute!! The big tackle companies and equipment manufacturers are a no brainer....we need more to come aboard!

Just my opinion, but I think everyone waits for someone else to do it.

[Fishtails]

As far as getting more teams involved, I think we need to start with ourselves. If we could stop bickering about the rule changes some of us would like to see, and replace them with good stories of our past Pro Am expierences and the reasons we are all so passionate about our beloved Pro Am series in the first place, I think we could get some of those people who are on the fence to take the plunge.

We may be generating a false image to those fishermen who only have what they see on-line to go by? We regulars know...fish it once and you're hooked. They're awesome, and the passion shown in these threads supports how much we care. So I'll say it again...let's start hearing about the good. I know there are 1000's of good Pro Am stories out there.

We need to generate a positive image, and ignore the few who want to keep harping over the same old stuff !!!!

[Silver Fox]

The open division will not grow if it is not treated like the other divisions. The results of the open division are only posted on the niagara part of the pro-am website. I'm sure everyone @ the other ports would have liked to of seen the results also. We fished the Sunday of the Orleans last year and I couldn't get Mike to respond to my e-mail about posting the results. We couldn't commit to both days and it was nice to at least do some competative fishing one day.Their were 9 teams each day of the niagara and about 10 teams the sunday of the orleans. I don't know about any of the other ones, but I think that's a decent start. Give the open division equal time on the website and it will probobly grow.

[spoonfed-1]

Scott,

How did you like the open division other than the websight thing?

Have you tried clicking on the photo show on the websight? LOL

Didn't do much unless I'm missing something.

Glen

[Silver Fox]

I did like the open division. Not having to fish out of the same port was nice. Just run your cooler down to the weigh-in. Maybe adding a couple more fish would be cool. I don't like the amount of "prizes" that is givin to you as part of your winnings at all. Cash $ rules and that is one reason we fish the kotl in wilson instead of the niagara pro-am.

BTW: Your not missing a thing.

[ladyblugill]

As far as getting more teams involved, I think we need to start with ourselves. If we could stop bickering about the rule changes some of us would like to see, and replace them with good stories of our past Pro Am expierences and the reasons we are all so passionate about our beloved Pro Am series in the first place, I think we could get some of those people who are on the fence to take the plunge.

We may be generating a false image to those fishermen who only have what they see on-line to go by? We regulars know...fish it once and you're hooked. They're awesome, and the passion shown in these threads supports how much we care. So I'll say it again...let's start hearing about the good. I know there are 1000's of good Pro Am stories out there.

We need to generate a positive image, and ignore the few who want to keep harping over the same old stuff !!!!

sorry for chiming in.thought ray's topic was what could be done to get more boats entered. if you don't like the answers maybe you should quit bringing up the topic every year.just keep taking care of yourself.didn't realise i was on such a liberal forum. surprised you didn't call me a tea bagger.as far as a bigger boat, don't think so.as much as i enjoy the competition it's still just the fishing i enjoy most. living just 5 minutes from the lake and being able to fish any day i want i can pick and choose when to go out.the rough water doesn't bother me a bit and been out there during tournament/derbies plenty of times over the past 25 yrs. while much bigger boats never left the dock. but i wouldn't want to put an observer, especially someone i don't know thru it....by the way i did fish one last yr. and had a good time,the observer was a good guy and the boat that i joined in on was plenty big enough to accomodate all of us comfortably. that wouldn't have been the case on my boat.

[ray koziatek]

SCOTT I AGREE ON THE MONEY opps ,is better than "another rod for the winners" as most in the winners bracket have more than enuf rods ,lures ect...Ill bet a observers only door prize pile would be a cool idea well recived by the guys who observe (most are starting out and trying to learn) ,,,,this process could be sped up by having a table set up with 20 or more prizes pre draw numbers(tickets) and assign to gifts ...then at end of captians meeting display a board with winning numbers .the observer wouldof been given a ticket at regerstration table if their number matched then hand out matching gifts ,,,this would eleminate the long process of calling #305604 "hello 305604 um you guys in the back talking keep it down #305604 you get the pic. then the Quality observer line might get longer and a little more excitement for the derbys "HINT,,HINT" Door prizes for teams could be done the same speedy way ,at weigh in each day for NON placing teams after weighins, non placing teams captians draw numbers (quickly) this would keep the crowd alive till end of weighins then uncover the prize number board and some of the newer or off day teams still walk away with something ...we didnt place in the money but we got 4 cool rod reel combos ,,to some (like me and musky) this would make our derby experience cooler tho we didnt place "HINT" # 2..(but my arm is still down)

[Fishtails]

Yeah, I hope the committee does more to promote the open division this year. I remember you saying that last year and it was a good point Scott. I made mention to Dave Turner. He said they admit they did not promote the open well and intended on doing a better job in 10. Maybe we should make that a point to remind the committee.

We'd all love more cash...eh? Some sponsors want to give merchandice though. More entry fees would be more cash. That's why we need the Pro Am to grow

[ray koziatek]

10 DAYS AND STILL NO SPONCER PACKET? COMON GUYS IM TRYING TO DO MY PART HERE,,,,,,IM SHURE THERE MUST BE ONE MORE OPENING FOR ANOTHER SPONCER,,,,,AT LEAST E-MAIL ME AND SAY "SORRY PACKETS NOT READY YET "----"PACKETS IN THE MAIL" --------"WE RAN OUTA STAMPS"----,,,,,,,,,, Time is money and by the time i get back from florida (april) it will be cutting it close ..............Hello,,(tap,tap,tap) is anyone home???

P.S. or just pm me and say we got everything under control , Thanks for mentioning the pro/ams on this tiny site with over 6000 potential entrants......

[Gill-T]

Ray, it has been one year and I am still waiting.......don't hold your breath. If sending packets is a problem, maybe packets should be made available to all teams AT THE PRO/AM events.

[Paul Czarnecki]

Ray,

I sent Dave another email on your behalf. Please keep in mind that Dave is a County employee and can only do what his bosses tell him to do. If they have other projects he needs to work on he might not be able to jump on something as quickly as we think he should. The same goes for Bill Hilts. However, that does not excuse not getting packets out promptly---especially since it is THAT county that benefits. This is something that needs to be worked on and we are working on it.

Perhaps you could try calling him--his number is on the website.

Thanks for what you're trying to do.