Team Trilogy

[AndyJB]

Bfowler with some serious, applicable insight into TEAM Trilogy. Thank you. Great points, and I feel could end the discussion right there. Truth without criticism...you're a better man than I, bfowler. Thanks for the post.

 

[spicybird6]

Team lat64° is the real deal, team trilogy is not a real team. Not that hard to understand, people who think they are sponsored pros because of the discount are funny

 

[scarpfish]

I work in media and advertising as part of my job. Building your brand is lot like building a cult. You want your customers to be cult like in spreading your brand and thus increasing your brand awareness and thus sales. When a company can "trick" or "convince" their customers that being walking, talking billboard that are exclusive to them is the thing to do it's a big win.

I wish a lot of the media and advertising folks would realize that there's a point where the walking talking billboards start to turn off potential new customers to their products with their zombie cult like behavior.

Apple is a genius at this.

Precisely the company I was thinking of as an example. Thank you. Proud to say that I've never bought an iAnything and probably never will even if I live to be 300, and Apple can largely thank the hipster tools that compose 80+% of their customer base and their snotty elitist attitudes for that.

 

[VictorB]

so what I'm understanding here is that Team Trilogy is the AmWay of disc golf?

 

[AndyJB]

so what I'm understanding here is that Team Trilogy is the AmWay of disc golf?

Am Way is a pyramid scheme. Team Trilogy is more of a club with good perks.

 

[dusty5150]

Never said "have to". I said you ask your members to do those thing. Actually you define it as a responsibility.

Good feedback! thank you. I'm working on changing some wording in our documents, and this helps a lot.

 

[HyzerUniBomber]

Whether or not the team-member status is on par with a true sponsorship, to me is not really that big of a deal. I've seen guys in the ski industry get floated skis for photos, for running demos, for basic promotion. I've gotten skis at cost for a few years because I work with a photographer that will shoot me and our ski crew (this has stopped recently as I'm a lazy skier)... but I very much appreciated any pro-deals or hookups, even though I don't compete - I'm not EVER going to get sponsored by The North Face or Moment or Patagonia... but getting $800 skis for $200 is still awesome.

I have seen a couple of guys around here who bust their asses playing tournaments - but not necessarily winning very often, who have never been sponsored - that are finally able to get a little bit of help. As far as I've seen it's really just trilogy that's hooking people up around here and for that I'm grateful, my buddies are stoked and maybe it'll catch on and other mfg'ers will start trying to do something similar.

 

[SteezeOG]

I'll say again, what your perception is and what the reality is do not mesh. I have yet to meet a single person who is on team trilogy that is under any impression they are sponsored. In fact I bet many of them applied for the lat64 team recently just because they knew they weren't currently sponsored in anyway and wanted to be. No one is under this illusion of sponsorship that many of you have invented in your minds. It's funny to me because you're saying these people are under this delusion and you're actually the ones creating a false story of these people to back up your assumptions.

Why you choose to hate or care what people think they are doing or who they are "representing" is something you should ask yourself. Why do you care so much what these people use and say? How does it change your life? I see people currently and since Prodigy started making discs who instantly wanted to switch over. No idea what those plastics or molds were about but they wanted to throw what their favorite pros were throwing so they just made a personal choice to buy up all the prodigy discs they could and use an all prodigy bag. Very little doubt and hatred was put forth to those people and that's good. They didn't deserve to have their choices questioned by people who weren't them.

On the flip side of that you have some players here who have been throwing lat64 and westside for years and continue to replace a few molds from others as they can find new things from DD or Lat64 that they like. Those people should be questioned, called names, and told they're cult members or elitist and pretending to be sponsored? How ridiculous. Instead of asking why they like a brand so much maybe you should ask yourself why you hate that brand so much that you would care enough to complain and poke fun. Stop being miserable and just be happy with what you do and throw and leave it at that.

 

[bradharris]

I have more questions!

I'll start simple: How did Team Trilogy get started, and why?

It's already been established that the three manufacturers were not at all involved in creating this club, so what motivation did the creators have?

We've already discussed, at length, the discounts from DD. But certainly the club was not formed simply on the hopes that they could get cheap plastic as a result.

The creators are certainly not earning any profit, and Dusty has made it clear that he's not getting any sort of personal gain off this endeavor.

There's been a lot of talk about being able to network with other Trilogy throwers. But the FB fan page existed before Team Trilogy, was it really necessary to create another club with even more exclusion??

Of course, I ask all these questions despite the fact that I think I already know the answer...

The club is entirely focused on PDGA play. You have to use your Trilogy lineup in PDGA tournaments, and you have to be a PDGA member. There's been mention of some sort of competition between members. It seems likely that this is done through some sort of comparison of PDGA performance. The club's leadership can track PDGA play much more easily than league or unsanctioned, so that's the focus.

So how does this aspect of the team work? What sorts of prizes are the winners getting? What does it take to be competitive within the team?

If this is really the main focus of the team, and the reason it was created, why not publicize it better?

 

[bradharris]

Why you choose to hate or care what people think they are doing or who they are "representing" is something you should ask yourself.

I think you're confusing good old fashioned teasing with hate and caring. Most of the negativity is not because people are offended by, or hate, or care about the team. They're just making fun of the team because the entire concept seems silly. By getting defensive, you only fan the flames further.

 

[The Hammer]

There are two local guys that I know of that switched out their entire bags so that they could join "Team Trilogy". They did this so that they could get on a "sponsored team". They had shirts made, and even posted an acceptance speech of sorts to thank their new sponsor on Facebook. For months they were constantly gushing about their discs, and their team.

Both, while not very good golfers to begin with, struggled in competition even more than previously. After several poor showings both proclaimed on the book that they were going back to mixed bags, and that the whole "Team Trilogy" thing wasn't what they were expecting, and was a silly pipe dream.

This story wasn't meant as an argument one way or the other. I just thought it was pertinent to the conversation at hand.

 

[SteezeOG]

I'll start simple: How did Team Trilogy get started, and why?

It's already been established that the three manufacturers were not at all involved in creating this club, so what motivation did the creators have?

We've already discussed, at length, the discounts from DD. But certainly the club was not formed simply on the hopes that they could get cheap plastic as a result.

The creators are certainly not earning any profit, and Dusty has made it clear that he's not getting any sort of personal gain off this endeavor.

There's been a lot of talk about being able to network with other Trilogy throwers. But the FB fan page existed before Team Trilogy, was it really necessary to create another club with even more exclusion??

Of course, I ask all these questions despite the fact that I think I already know the answer...

The club is entirely focused on PDGA play. You have to use your Trilogy lineup in PDGA tournaments, and you have to be a PDGA member. There's been mention of some sort of competition between members. It seems likely that this is done through some sort of comparison of PDGA performance. The club's leadership can track PDGA play much more easily than league or unsanctioned, so that's the focus.

So how does this aspect of the team work? What sorts of prizes are the winners getting? What does it take to be competitive within the team?

If this is really the main focus of the team, and the reason it was created, why not publicize it better?

You're pretty much right on every account except another major reason to ask that people who join are in the PDGA is because a goal of the team is to promote the growth of disc golf all over. Not brands but the sport. Kind of a conjunction of the DD motto of grow the sport. It's not "grow the trilogy" it's just getting more people out there to become bigger. The pdga is really the only sanctioned body that helps promote that so that is a big reason it is part of membership to team trilogy. Along with the tracking of performance like you said.

I'm sure Dusty can say why that is not being "rammed down people's throats" like people claim the rest of it is but for me it's simply a few reasons. It's year one. Not even a full year yet. The website is being built. More info will be out there to people so they know what it's about. It's not being pushed out to everyone because look at what you people already assume about it? The people who already post on the fan page are likely the target audience so it's talked about there and info on how to join is shared there. Everything else about the competition and points between team members is on the actual team facebook group and there is no reason to make that public to anyone who isn't on the team and participating. It's not heavily advertised because of reasons you see on this very thread and because it's completely OPTIONAL and not about selling discs to anyone.

 

[SteezeOG]

There are two local guys that I know of that switched out their entire bags so that they could join "Team Trilogy". They did this so that they could get on a "sponsored team". They had shirts made, and even posted an acceptance speech of sorts to thank their new sponsor on Facebook. For months they were constantly gushing about their discs, and their team.

Both, while not very good golfers to begin with, struggled in competition even more than previously. After several poor showings both proclaimed on the book that they were going back to mixed bags, and that the whole "Team Trilogy" thing wasn't what they were expecting, and was a silly pipe dream.

This story wasn't meant as an argument one way or the other. I just thought it was pertinent to the conversation at hand.

lol those guys are fools and I think I know at least one of those you are talking about. He was told by more than one person it wasn't for him. If it's who I think he completely bought up a bunch of discs and starting entering tournaments without even knowing what he had. He played two tournaments less than great, although I don't know if he had played great the year before, had a meltdown, and left. That's not any fault of anyone but him.

So I get what you're saying and that's going to happen with anyone. I know a few guys who did that with legacy and prodigy.

 

[Stardoggy]

There are two local guys that I know of that switched out their entire bags so that they could join "Team Trilogy". They did this so that they could get on a "sponsored team". They had shirts made, and even posted an acceptance speech of sorts to thank their new sponsor on Facebook. For months they were constantly gushing about their discs, and their team.

Both, while not very good golfers to begin with, struggled in competition even more than previously. After several poor showings both proclaimed on the book that they were going back to mixed bags, and that the whole "Team Trilogy" thing wasn't what they were expecting, and was a silly pipe dream.

This story wasn't meant as an argument one way or the other. I just thought it was pertinent to the conversation at hand.

Like I stated earlier, plenty of people like that in my area as well.

 

[SteezeOG]

I think you're confusing good old fashioned teasing with hate and caring. Most of the negativity is not because people are offended by, or hate, or care about the team. They're just making fun of the team because the entire concept seems silly. By getting defensive, you only fan the flames further.

I'd say the ones who are confused are the ones who speak in absolutes who don't even know what the guidelines for membership are or the perks. Those people who spout for a page about 10% and math that doesn't add up or what people must say and wear.

The concept you speak of is not really that new. I have known clubs, teams, or bag tag groups that are full of people who have many similarities and play among each other for competition. They are often times sponsored by a shop or retailer and that group can get a discount on discs. That's been happening for years yet team trilogy is now a new and stupid concept? If I'm defending anything it's the right to do what I want with my own money and time and defend against baseless stupidity that propagates across this forum like a wildfire.

 

[bradharris]

You're pretty much right on every account except another major reason to ask that people who join are in the PDGA is because a goal of the team is to promote the growth of disc golf all over. Not brands but the sport. Kind of a conjunction of the DD motto of grow the sport. It's not "grow the trilogy" it's just getting more people out there to become bigger. The pdga is really the only sanctioned body that helps promote that so that is a big reason it is part of membership to team trilogy. Along with the tracking of performance like you said.

If the focus is on competition and not the Trilogy, why require all Trilogy bags?

I'm sure Dusty can say why that is not being "rammed down people's throats" like people claim the rest of it is but for me it's simply a few reasons. It's year one. Not even a full year yet. The website is being built. More info will be out there to people so they know what it's about. It's not being pushed out to everyone because look at what you people already assume about it? The people who already post on the fan page are likely the target audience so it's talked about there and info on how to join is shared there. Everything else about the competition and points between team members is on the actual team facebook group and there is no reason to make that public to anyone who isn't on the team and participating. It's not heavily advertised because of reasons you see on this very thread and because it's completely OPTIONAL and not about selling discs to anyone.

Assumptions are made because there has been no real information. That's where the cult references come from. You keep talking about target audience and "it's probably not for you" but no one has any way of knowing that before actually crossing the threshold and gaining access to the secrets of what Team Trilogy actually is.

If you don't want people to join and then find out that Team Trilogy is not what the think it is, then make sure they know what it is well before then.

It sounds to me that the competition between members should be the main selling point. Get that info out there publicly to attract those members that it should appeal to.

 

[dusty5150]

I'll start simple: How did Team Trilogy get started, and why?

It's already been established that the three manufacturers were not at all involved in creating this club, so what motivation did the creators have?

We've already discussed, at length, the discounts from DD. But certainly the club was not formed simply on the hopes that they could get cheap plastic as a result.

The creators are certainly not earning any profit, and Dusty has made it clear that he's not getting any sort of personal gain off this endeavor.

There's been a lot of talk about being able to network with other Trilogy throwers. But the FB fan page existed before Team Trilogy, was it really necessary to create another club with even more exclusion??

Of course, I ask all these questions despite the fact that I think I already know the answer...

The club is entirely focused on PDGA play. You have to use your Trilogy lineup in PDGA tournaments, and you have to be a PDGA member. There's been mention of some sort of competition between members. It seems likely that this is done through some sort of comparison of PDGA performance. The club's leadership can track PDGA play much more easily than league or unsanctioned, so that's the focus.

So how does this aspect of the team work? What sorts of prizes are the winners getting? What does it take to be competitive within the team?

If this is really the main focus of the team, and the reason it was created, why not publicize it better?

It got started through discussions on the FB fan page. The basic idea was to come up with something for the existing trilogy 'uber-fan' average joe disc golfer to feel part of - so yeah, a fan club, with some competition. We're working on a website, that will include a "how did we get here", story, if you will.

There is a points system that we created and it is based off of performance in PDGA events with respect to the field size of the division you compete in and the Tier level. It's designed to reward activity and performance, regardless of division. All prizes are donated by the people behind it, like me.

We don't publicize the Team because we don't want people joining for the wrong reasons. The intent was never to "get a deal" from any of the companies, and that fact that they have chosen to support us is great, but it does create these motivation problems. The uber-fan that the team was designed for, will find it.

 

[goody]

I'll start simple: How did Team Trilogy get started, and why? One guy dreaming how cool it would be if Lat64/WS/DD fans could be on a team together regardless of skill level (why and motivation - I think you mean the same thing there). He brought on six other people to construct a platform and outline to see if it was feasible after getting an okay from the three companies so as to not offend accidently (how).

It's already been established that the three manufacturers were not at all involved in creating this club (I still prefer team), so what motivation did the creators have?

We've already discussed, at length, the discounts from DD. But certainly the club was not formed simply on the hopes that they could get cheap plastic as a result. Correct, discounts were never what the basis of the team would be, that was community of throwers who could support each other while working to grow the brands and game. Discounts were just a nice bonus.

The creators are certainly not earning any profit, and Dusty has made it clear that he's not getting any sort of personal gain off this endeavor. correct

There's been a lot of talk about being able to network with other Trilogy throwers. But the FB fan page existed before Team Trilogy, was it really necessary to create another club with even more exclusion?? If the only exclusion is, we want the Team to be 100% throwers and the fan page to be open to anyone who wants to talk about any trilogy disc then yes. Those are two different things.

Of course, I ask all these questions despite the fact that I think I already know the answer...This is always a dangerous statement, deciding you know several peoples intent better than they do.

The club is entirely focused on PDGA play no. You have to use your Trilogy lineup in PDGA tournaments, and you have to be a PDGA member true and true. There's been mention of some sort of competition between members not just mention, there is. It seems likely that this is done through some sort of comparison of PDGA performance we track PDGA performance, but constructed our own points based system to stress qualities that we thought were more in line with the goals of Team Trilogy. The club's leadership can track PDGA play much more easily than league or unsanctioned true, so that's the focus false. The reason we stress PDGA involvement is because PDGA is the largest organizing body in disc golf. Yes, we want to help the PDGA grow, so the PDGA can keep pushing for more growth in the sport (I should say that is my interpretation of the idea)

So how does this aspect of the team work? What sorts of prizes are the winners getting? What does it take to be competitive within the team?

If this is really the main focus of the team, and the reason it was created, why not publicize it better? Because it isn't the main focus of the team, in fact it's a very small focus of the team. It's like a fun side game.

And Brad, I'm still hoping you'll give me scoops on which courses to play in New England, you never did respond to my PM.

 

[goody]

There are two local guys that I know of that switched out their entire bags so that they could join "Team Trilogy". They did this so that they could get on a "sponsored team". They had shirts made, and even posted an acceptance speech of sorts to thank their new sponsor on Facebook. For months they were constantly gushing about their discs, and their team.

Both, while not very good golfers to begin with, struggled in competition even more than previously. After several poor showings both proclaimed on the book that they were going back to mixed bags, and that the whole "Team Trilogy" thing wasn't what they were expecting, and was a silly pipe dream.

This story wasn't meant as an argument one way or the other. I just thought it was pertinent to the conversation at hand.

This should be told over and over again.

 

[dusty5150]

There are two local guys that I know of that switched out their entire bags so that they could join "Team Trilogy". They did this so that they could get on a "sponsored team". They had shirts made, and even posted an acceptance speech of sorts to thank their new sponsor on Facebook. For months they were constantly gushing about their discs, and their team.

Both, while not very good golfers to begin with, struggled in competition even more than previously. After several poor showings both proclaimed on the book that they were going back to mixed bags, and that the whole "Team Trilogy" thing wasn't what they were expecting, and was a silly pipe dream.

This story wasn't meant as an argument one way or the other. I just thought it was pertinent to the conversation at hand.

Thanks for sharing this.