Sponsors

[luvtoride]

I don't think that I understand Travis. Why does advertising at a meet go against FJRForum policy?

 

[thompsonian]

If I understand what Travis said, he goes against the FORUM policy, meaning he doesn't want the board to turn into one big commercial area, right? now advertising at a meet is much different I would think and therefore that's what he explained what he did. Not taking sides, but that's how I read into it. He's got his forum policy and then personal thoughts also.

And as for EOM, I'm still new to all of this, so if everyone is agreeable to maybe have a "sponser" for the meet, and not just door prize people, like the dealership which slips my mind right now, that is doing the tire thing, would be cool with me.

You must forgive me. Been up all night working. Brain no function well at this time. Hopefully all of that made sense.

 

[twistedcricket]

That's the way I'm interpreting it. I don't want to see the forum "go commercial" either.

The meets, especially the NAFO rally, could be as commercial as we allow them to be. I don't know how many people did not ride or go away from the hotel to do some sight-seeing.

Maybe we focus on two things that we might all need at a rally and ask for discounts on those items. Things like oil changes and tires. Wouldn't a majority of pilots be after those items if they left home with marginal tread or get to the rally and discover the tires are worn down further than expected?

I like reading what others have done in the past. Getting down to the detailed numbers is what we have to do. I can't just walk in and say "uh, well, there are 55 registered right now" 3 months in advance of the rally.

We might also have to start small. Ask the local dealership to offer 10% off oil changes and tires in exchange for the banner. They may not get any business, but by offering the discount, they aren't losing money if only 2 people take advantage of it. The other side to that is getting the people from the rally to go to the dealership, if only to show off their badges and increase the foot-traffic. The presence might influence the dealer to offer more the following years (even if the rally location changes). Or, along those lines, state that the longer we have support in a certain area the more likely we are to return.

I don't know if everyone's preference for SFO remain in Eureka Springs or for CFO to stay near Custer, SD or move to Wisconsin....Does anyone think that would matter to a local dealership?

 

[thompsonian]

Maybe once the location is decided, ask the CLOSEST dealer if they would like to participate. Maybe cite how the one for EOM worked and try to swing a deal. It might be enough to encourage them to particpate or maybe if the response to the area is good, like EOM being in the same place 2 years in a row, would also motivate said dealer to "bump" any discounts up of offer something else that migt be wortha riders while. I do agree on the tires/oil change idea. I'm sure most of us do our own, but wouldn't it be nice to leave the meet with a fresh oil change before you ride to your home? Especially if you have a long way to go!

 

[luvtoride]

I don't know if everyone's preference for SFO remain in Eureka Springs or for CFO to stay near Custer, SD or move to Wisconsin....Does anyone think that would matter to a local dealership?

Of couse it would. I don't feel that it is realistic to have a local dealer put up a large sponsorship based on the fact that we'd be in the same locale next year... the group will realistically be going elsewhere in the future.

I think that it's realistic for them to put out as much effort as they might expect back for the weekend. I like the idea of offering discounts to attendees at reduced prices.

You need to have a realistic estimate on your number of attendees. Orangevale's effort for WFO6 went as far as to chart FJR owners average spending habits for accessories, and talked up the captive audience part. It's all a shill game to some point, but you gotta be the used car salesman. You obviously don't want to come off flaky, but you have to justify the expense of their donations with potential future revenue. I'm certainly not the world's best sales guy, but I can work a phone well enough to ******** a marketing guy into a couple hundred dollars worth of swag. Look at what companies you've bought stuff from for your FJR, and call those places. Offer to put up company banners, pass out fliers with registration packs, etc. If they have an "in" for advertising that you can do easily, this is the best way to accommodate their needs.

Absolutely, I could make an educated guess about how many attendees there will be. History of the meets has shown that the EOM meet grows quite a bit each year.

As far as charting spending habits for accessories? Well, I seriously do not have any idea how that could be done w/ any accuracy. Definitely a shill game, for sure.

Travis, Dave & I have taken almost all of the tactics that you mention & incorporated the info into a letter that was sent to a bunch of perspective donors.

So, we shall see how things turn out.

 

[twistedcricket]

Travis, Dave & I have taken almost all of the tactics that you mention & incorporated the info into a letter that was sent to a bunch of perspective donors.
So, we shall see how things turn out.

Can you share that letter with Jackson/CFO RallyMaster please? He can point it in the direction of the Official Swag Collector for CFO.

Thanks!

 

[luvtoride]

Certainly meester Cricket. My suggestion is to only use it as a go-by. I am making the same assumption that you would ask some of the same vendors to donate. How embarrasing that would be if they received the same letter form different meets.

I will PM you w/ the letter. Please do as you see fit with it, Heidi

Edited to add: Cricket, check your mailbox.

 

[thompsonian]

I have sent a copy of the letter to someone as well, don't know if it was for CFO or not tho.

 

[slapnpop]

I don't think that I understand Travis. Why does advertising at a meet go against FJRForum policy?

I meant commercializing the forum. I've been getting more and more "isolationist" as the forum is commercially concerned. I have no issues with commercializing a meet as the organizers seeing fit, and even mentioning who the meet sponsor are (so long as they are not in violation of the guidelines, i.e. Motorcycle Larry)

As far as charting spending habits for accessories? Well, I seriously do not have any idea how that could be done w/ any accuracy. Definitely a shill game, for sure.

Andrew put up an open poll on the forum for a while, and pulled the numbers from that. You might even be able to find it if you dig through the history enough. I wish I had a copy of the flier he used to recruit sponsors.

 

[Jackson]

Travis, Dave & I have taken almost all of the tactics that you mention & incorporated the info into a letter that was sent to a bunch of perspective donors.
So, we shall see how things turn out.

Can you share that letter with Jackson/CFO RallyMaster please? He can point it in the direction of the Official Swag Collector for CFO.

Thanks!

I just discovered this thread.

We have plenty of swag for CFO, and don't need any more.

About the letter to potential sponsors and donors...Someone (from EOM?) sent Devanator a letter a couple of weeks ago and I took some ideas from it and wrote a letter of my own.

I wrote this on August 10 in the NAFO thread about "did anyone else notice" (that Yamaha did not show)

But, yes, I noticed that Yamaha was missing in action. At WFO last year in Park City, I talked to the lead Yamaha person there and got a commitment from her for Yamaha to supply a little swag for CFO 2007. I followed up with several e-mails, none of which were answered, and they sent nothing.
On Wednesday of last week at Sturgis I talked with Yamaha's Assistant Division Manager for National Events and again received a commitment for a little swag for CFO 2008. Today I followed up with an email to her. We'll see what, if anything, they supply. I'll be giddy if we receive a couple of caps for CFO.

A couple of days ago I received a bunch of Yamaha swag in the mail. Caps, key chains, large Yamaha banners, neck coolers, carabineer/flashlights, and multi-driver screwdrivers w/light. So after getting promised and stiffed at CFO 2007, I am very pleased with their response this year.

I wonder if Yamaha read the posts about "did anyone else notice"?

 

[thompsonian]

Who exactley was your contact at Yamaha? I tried sending them letters and have gotten no response. I imagine it's too late for EOM, even if I get the right person. Dammit

 

[Jackson]

Who exactley was your contact at Yamaha? I tried sending them letters and have gotten no response. I imagine it's too late for EOM, even if I get the right person. Dammit

I'll send you the contact information in a PM.

Bill

 

[luvtoride]

Who exactley was your contact at Yamaha? I tried sending them letters and have gotten no response. I imagine it's too late for EOM, even if I get the right person. Dammit

It may be too late for them to get a truckfull of bikes to us... but probably not too late for swag if they'd like to send a trinket or two.

 

[spklbuk]

Who exactley was your contact at Yamaha? I tried sending them letters and have gotten no response. I imagine it's too late for EOM, even if I get the right person. Dammit

It may be too late for them to get a truckfull of bikes to us... but probably not too late for swag if they'd like to send a trinket or two.

Isn't there national dealers meet in Las Vegas soon? I doubt they will hear much of anything being distracted with that.

 

[thompsonian]

Bill, got your PM, email sent. She is out of office until Monday. Hope she gets it.

 

[twistedcricket]

Does anyone keep a list of vendors? I was poking around the vendor area and came across HVMP in NY who donate/sponsored 2005 EOM.

https://www.hvmp.com/default.htm