Shawn's a quality guy who'd make an excellent board member. I just might need to pony up and renew my membership so I can vote for him. (well, that and so I can play the Outlaws this fall
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What about enforcing the equipment specs more? One of the biggest complaints I read is manufacture consistantcy, etc...
You are exactly right! We have tech standards that are not enforceable. The only enforceable tech standard is the weight. However, do we require all TD's to carry a scale? Then do we expect them to weigh every disc in play? A TD barely has enough time to get scorecards filled out let alone time to weigh all discs.
Now what about the nose radius of a disc, the diameter, and the flexibility? With the nose radius and the flexibility you need very specific tools. As far as the diameter it's easy to measure, but over time it's very possible for a disc to lose a couple millimeters.
I think a better solution than putting the responsibility on the TD's would be for the PDGA to do spot checks. Kind of like random drug testing. I don't know how the logistics would work but the idea would be to just randomly pull discs from each manufacture and retest them. There would then need to be some type of system in place if a disc doesn't meet the standards. Maybe x number of months to fix the problem then retest. The harder problem comes when a 2nd or 3rd problem arises. Do you make it so all discs by ______ manufacture are not legal for tournaments for 6 months? That's a hard question to deal with.
You are exactly right! We have tech standards that are not enforceable. The only enforceable tech standard is the weight. However, do we require all TD's to carry a scale? Then do we expect them to weigh every disc in play? A TD barely has enough time to get scorecards filled out let alone time to weigh all discs.
Now what about the nose radius of a disc, the diameter, and the flexibility? With the nose radius and the flexibility you need very specific tools. As far as the diameter it's easy to measure, but over time it's very possible for a disc to lose a couple millimeters.
I think a better solution than putting the responsibility on the TD's would be for the PDGA to do spot checks. Kind of like random drug testing. I don't know how the logistics would work but the idea would be to just randomly pull discs from each manufacture and retest them. There would then need to be some type of system in place if a disc doesn't meet the standards. Maybe x number of months to fix the problem then retest. The harder problem comes when a 2nd or 3rd problem arises. Do you make it so all discs by ______ manufacture are not legal for tournaments for 6 months? That's a hard question to deal with.
Here is my first big question.
If you have not joined the PDGA or decided not to renew your membership, how come?
I want to start compiling a list and see what the major reasons are for not joining or renewing. I will get the list started.
- To expensive
- I don't play any tournaments
- I only play 3-4 events a year so I just pay the $10
- I don't know what I get for my membership fee
- I don't care about the magazine or a rating
I really want to hear from players on DGCR that are not members. Members feel free to chime and tell me what might get you to renew.
Here is another interesting membership issue, retention. Where are they going and how do we keep them?
PDGA # 2012 2013 % change
19001 - 20000 161 160 0.6%
20001 - 21000 151 167 -9.6%
21001 - 22000 172 173 -0.6%
22001 - 23000 183 188 -2.7%
23001 - 24000 159 184 -13.6%
24001 - 25000 177 201 -11.9%
25001 - 26000 209 239 -12.6%
26001 - 27000 216 248 -12.9%
27001 - 28000 221 248 -10.9%
28001 - 29000 236 284 -16.9%
29001 - 30000 237 291 -18.6%
30001 - 31000 214 238 -10.1%
31001- 32000 235 284 -17.3%
32001 - 33000 256 301 -15.0%
33001 - 34000 287 335 -14.3%
34001 - 35000 340 414 -17.9%
35001 - 36000 321 380 -15.5%
36001 - 37000 293 350 -16.3%
37001 - 38000 315 380 -17.1%
38001 - 39000 351 429 -18.2%
39001 - 40000 299 382 -21.7%
40001 - 41000 314 406 -22.7%
41001 - 42000 384 496 -22.6%
42001 - 43000 426 544 -21.7%
43001 - 44000 419 524 -20.0%
44001 - 45000 403 521 -22.6%
45001 - 46000 463 735 -37.0%
46001 - 47000 557 990 -43.7%
47001 - 48000 545 988 -44.8%
48001 - 49000 513 965 -46.8%
49001 - 50000 535 941 -43.1%
50001 - 51000 862 1037 -16.9%
Hi Shawn, what's up?
Here's something I posted a couple-few weeks ago:
"
In whatever year I studied it (probably 2003), I found 2222 new members from the prior year, 1395 of which renewed, for a NEW MEMBER retention rate of 63%.
It broke down by rating as:
Unrated (30% of the new members) - 41% renewal rate
Rated <900 (49% of the new members) - 68% renewal rate
Rated 900+ (21% of the new members) - 82% renewal rate
So,
30% of new members were unrated after 1 year, and 4/10 renewed.
21% of new members were rated 900+, and 8/10 renewed.
"
My impression is that tournaments cater to those rated over 900.
Does the magazine generate advertising revenue?
Here is my first big question.
If you have not joined the PDGA or decided not to renew your membership, how come?
I want to start compiling a list and see what the major reasons are for not joining or renewing. I will get the list started.
- To expensive
- I don't play any tournaments
- I only play 3-4 events a year so I just pay the $10
- I don't know what I get for my membership fee
- I don't care about the magazine or a rating
I really want to hear from players on DGCR that are not members. Members feel free to chime and tell me what might get you to renew.
So what is the trade off if we introduce a supporting only membership $20, then reduce the membership fees down to say...$35 for everyone? That's a $350,000 + hit! We would need +/- 13,000 additional members.
I agree, but I think the PDGA can shoot themselves in the foot with too many memberships/more comnplicated structure. But I like the lower tier membership idea. Although the 25+5 would convince some players, it will also create a new "$30 for one event?!" crowd, unfortunately
i find that number way excessive. I am a proponent for a magazine but i don't think the Org. should be paying for it. especialy to the tune of the number above. Print media is dying a miserable death. which i feel is a bad thing. But plain and simple from a business standpoint if the magazine can not pay for itself through advertising dollars then it should be discontinued or gutted to get the cost down.The magazine costs +/- 200k a year.
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If you believe that disc spec enforcement is a priority, what program(s) would you take the money from to pay for that kind of testing and enforcement? Also, if a disc already in production doesn't pass, how would you differentiate that run of discs from other runs of the same disc already in circulation?