Ed Hearn Listen Up!

[AOFoffice]

The USTS promotes a 4 hour show and is successful at it.
I used to help promote an offshore race in Dubuque Iowa that had about 5 offshore boats. It was promoted as a "boat racing extravaganza". Tickets were sold and could be bought for $300 a week end or by segments of $100. Morning show, afternoon, evening. In the evenings there wasn't even any racing going on. Not much during the rest of the time either. The truth is, I never even saw a boat race that week end. But boy, was it a success. Why? Because it was promoted as a 3 day, all day and all night extravaganza. Now what really is an extravaganza? I have no idea, but I sure enjoyed what I thought it was.
There was a great announcer that was making the one boat at a time, exciting. Autographs were being given at certain times. There were a hundred food booths and 3 bands playing at all times. I think you even had to pay extra to look at one of the boats up close. I saw lots of people pay the extra because looking at an offshore boat up close was hyped up to be a pretty important accomplishment. Every young woman in the state of Iowa tried out to be the Princess of the Water Extravaganza.
My brother has a rodeo company called Worlds Toughest Rodeo. This isn't your ordinary rodeo. It is a 5 series rodeo playing places like Madison Square Garden, Houston Astrodome, etc. It is a 3 hour show and it isn't even real. It is a bunch of cowboys and horses doing a show. In between rides you have some professional clowns, some cowboy skits etc. The announcer makes it exciting and real. It really isn't even tough, it is just promoted as tough and the general public thinks it is the best rodeo they ever saw. Why? Because it was promoted as the Worlds Toughest Rodeo, of course.
My point is, why not use the 8-10 hour races and just promote them? Have other things going on at the same time. Get yourself a good announcer and have the racers sign autographs, visit the pits, etc.
Who is going to promote them is the next question? SORC? APBA? or the club who wants to stage the first stock extravaganza or Worlds Fastest boat race?
Hopefully it will be the club who wants to do it.
Connie

[Don11m]

Local clubs listen up .......

Connie is telling it like it is and most of the posts are not for Ed Hearn but for the local clubs to learn whats working for other clubs. Why would someone give us money to put a boat race on in thier town ? We would entertain the crowd so that our sponser could make money off of the crowd. Paying to get on the site or making money off selling food and drinks all can work. In fact beer tents can be big money makers. If you have a long show make it work for you and your sponser by starting to race a couple of hours before the advertised start time , so when the crowd arrives you are on the water racing. Make sure you know what your sponser wants for thier money ,if you dont know ASK. In 2006 my club put on the World Championships for sst45 and sst120 in Trenton Michigan with the local Rotary Club as a partner. The Rotary Club in the next town up the river gave $5000. to a APBA club , thought they were getting same show that we put on in Trenton but they got Vintage boats making 1 at a time runs. Remember if our sponsers are unhappy it will take years to heal the damage at that site.....

[Blackhawkguy]

The Don speeketh

Excellent post Don, excatly to the point of what allot of us are saying, if you are unhappy with the boat races your club puts on, look at the ones that are good, copy them, and get involved. There are plenty of suscessfull boat races put on every year, the formula is simple, it does take some work though. The first year is the hardest ,after that you go back to who helped you the year before and build from there. The Trenton race is a perfect example of what a boat club, a charitable organinization, and a community can do.

Kerry

[Steve Johnson]

Region PROMO funds

I would like to see a better disbursment of the promo funds.
it would seem to me that the regions that most need them, region 8 being a prime example, are VERY short changed with the current system. The areas that need the most help get the least. the strong regions get the most. Quite frankly Region 6 could do without for a year or so until a BASE Level of support is reached in our weak areas.
the four of us that have been carrying the torch over here are getting tired and could use some help. APBA is one steve j or Mike f away from extinction.
And since I've spent 2000.00 out of my own pocket this year for just that, Promotion of kneeldown racing I feel I have a RIGHT to B****H about it.

Maybe, MIDWEST POWERBOAT could be the flagship/MODEL for a regrowth program that can be duplicated.

[RLR]

Listen up Ed

Kevin,
Great post and a great turnout of 140 entries. I am not picking at anyone, just want to see the greatest sport in the world have an opportunity to get new blood into the mix.

This is the kind of racing that everyone is trying to get to. What are you guys doing that is successful? Share your ideas. You must be doing something to get 140 entries to a race that makes sense and would be advantageous to other clubs.

I know that not every club is having the success that you are having and just want folks to think about what they can do locally or regionally to move the ball forward.



Share the wealth Kevin and my congratulations to you and your club.
ray

[kws]

Steve I comend you for your hard work and cash outlay to help build the sport. I believe you are on the right track as to ONE of the best ways to start building things back up. I dont think its the only avenue that needs to be done either. I think we need to push for the ORG. (APBA) to match funds for promotional use only with funds the club puts out for promotion(NOT sanctions ect. )but true spectator based advertizing

[Ron Hill]

Two Questions....For Connie

1. Does your brother do the RODEOS for PROFIT???

2. Are US Title Series under AOF Sanction?

Our Region 12 racing seems to be VERY STRONG....not in kneeldowners, but Ross, the Boss, has made it clear, when he puts on a race, he wants to make SOME MONEY (Which is OK with me, as at this stage of my life, I like going to good races and RACE....)

Boat Racing needs promoters that want to make money....The problem, 99 per cent of boat racers are HOBBYIST.....and probably would get angry with a promotoer who wants to make some money...I know that the Forumla One Tour Group, sure revolted against Garbrecht when they thought he was making money.....

Insurance shold be sold by the hour, which encourage shorter races. Or at least charge more for any race lasting longer than 4 hours...

[AOFoffice]

1. Does your brother do the RODEOS for PROFIT???

2. Are US Title Series under AOF Sanction?

Our Region 12 racing seems to be VERY STRONG....not in kneeldowners, but Ross, the Boss, has made it clear, when he puts on a race, he wants to make SOME MONEY (Which is OK with me, as at this stage of my life, I like going to good races and RACE....)

Boat Racing needs promoters that want to make money....The problem, 99 per cent of boat racers are HOBBYIST.....and probably would get angry with a promotoer who wants to make some money...I know that the Forumla One Tour Group, sure revolted against Garbrecht when they thought he was making money.....

Insurance shold be sold by the hour, which encourage shorter races. Or at least charge more for any race lasting longer than 4 hours...

Ron, The rodeos are done for profit. He now has Dodge and Nissan fighting to give him trucks. The point is, anything can be promoted. These are has been cowboys and has been bulls and broncs. They get a paycheck, and not much of one to put on a show. But, because this rodeo is promoted correctly, it makes you want to attend, and when leaving you think you have been to the best wild west rodeo in the world. (World's toughest rodeo).
What this professional show has done is to enhance the local rodeos from the professional finals you see on TV to the dirt pasture rodeo. They all want to be like the "stars", the ones in the show of the worlds toughest rodeo. It has even helped high school and college rodeos and scholarships because the SHOW has made it cool.

2. AOF is not the sanctioning body of the USTS. However, since AOF is also an APBA club, those who are also AOF members can get AOF points. This alliance has increased racers at both AOF races that run pro and USTS has picked up several new racers because of the AOF points and alliance. One really sees the difference at the PRO nationals. This alliance continues to grow the USTS and I just have word that even another "only AOF" racer has put together 2 125 rigs to race with the USTS next year. This helps out APBA also.

A comment on insurance by the hour: Good luck getting that one. In our sport we are lucky to get insurance period. Have you tried? I even worked with Ed one year to try to find something better for APBA. We are not considered such good risks and we pretty much need to be thankful for what we got.
Luckily AOF has a policy that has been in effect for so many years we somewhat grandfathered in to keeping what we have. We also get it because AOF remains truly non profit. It is not the cadillac of policies, but it covers the spectators, which is what the sites want covered. And at $200 a race, we at least can afford a race that might not otherwise happen. What it is lacking is better off bought separately for even more savings.
I would just love for you to call an insurance company and ask them to cover our races by the hour. I may be wrong, but I am thinking they would get a good laugh from your request. Good idea though.
Connie

[AOFoffice]

Steve I comend you for your hard work and cash outlay to help build the sport. I believe you are on the right track as to ONE of the best ways to start building things back up. I dont think its the only avenue that needs to be done either. I think we need to push for the ORG. (APBA) to match funds for promotional use only with funds the club puts out for promotion(NOT sanctions ect. )but true spectator based advertizing

I am wondering how sincere anyone really is about promoting racing with Midwest Powerboat. I am an old Midwest member and have as a prized possession a "Man of the Year" trophy that is georgeous from the 60's. (Not for me, but my father in law).
A couple of years ago I came to Minneapolis as did Jay Roesner and Pete Gryz (I can't spell his name!) for a meeting. We were going to resurrect Midwest. That year and even last year AOF was able to offer FREE SANCTION AND INSURANCE to help get a club rolling. Ok, get it rolling so Midwest could eventually put on APBA races down the road. I even had a site all ligned up, but it was in Iowa and not Minnesota, but still within 5 hours of MN and in region 8. I needed enough racers to pay for the ambulance.
Guess what? Nothing happened because the upper region 8 drivers needed APBA points and any week end I would have planned this free race was in conflict with Wisconsin or Illinois races of another club. Pete even felt he could get some pro drivers to race again with Midwest and some of our local races.
So, the race wasn't APBA. But it was a way to get the region started again. My theory is that you have to make a strong foundation and work up. Grass roots racing. Do I still love all of the Miswest racers? Of course. Am I discouraged and did I give up. You betcha. Promoting free racing to the club and I was shot out of the water.
I am not bitter, I just feel sorry for those who can't look beyond their own interests and do what is best for our sport in the long run.
Hopefully the alliance that APBA and AOF signed through the hard work of Ed can put an end to all of this and we can work together toward a better boat racing world.
Connie

[Blackhawkguy]

We are lucky

Kevin,
Great post and a great turnout of 140 entries. I am not picking at anyone, just want to see the greatest sport in the world have an opportunity to get new blood into the mix.

This is the kind of racing that everyone is trying to get to. What are you guys doing that is successful? Share your ideas. You must be doing something to get 140 entries to a race that makes sense and would be advantageous to other clubs.

I know that not every club is having the success that you are having and just want folks to think about what they can do locally or regionally to move the ball forward.

Share the wealth Kevin and my congratulations to you and your club.
ray

Ray,

As has been posted several times we in Mich, Ohio, Wisc and that general area have always been able to run stock only races. MHRA was a club formed from several Mich clubs that run out of people, and funds to continue to run their own races. This took place in the early 80's. MHRA is fortunate enough to have people that step up to the plate and continue the tradition of runing good races. It also helps to have three good places to race that we have been going to for over 20 years (I raced in Big rapids in 1979, not sure how much before that was the first time). As long as people continue to keep what has been started, it will last forever. It helps to have a base of stock outboarders to work from also, obviously if your area does not have enough stock outboard boats it cannot turn these kind of numbers. Combining stock, mod, and even pro classes to make a schedual is fine ,the problem is when you try to run them all it makes for a long day.

Kerry

P.S. I would be more than happy to give you any information on running a race, getting sponsors or whatever you need to help you.

[race4kaos]

Ray-

I wish I could share our magic formula, but the truth is we are just fortunate. There is nothing I or any one single member have done to make us successful. The MHRA is just a well oiled machine with many key people that make it all work. And luckily our entries ($25/class) easily cover all of our expenses. But I will mention some of the reasons I feel with have such good turn outs:

-Our race sites are established. We have been running at all 3 for almost 20 years on average.
-Our race dates are established. They are always the same weekend and other clubs try to respect that (except my good friend Jimmy Robb of the IOA, but that's another story)
-We keep the same core classes - all of SO!
-We have sites and dates that rarely get blown/rained out and we always make it through the full schedule.
-All 3 have the best of competition (something R6 is blessed with).
-All 3 have camping.
-Maybe the Key... our races are FUN for all. Saturday night of each race has a WELL attended party. By WELL, I mean Everyone.
Constantine has an American Legion - cheap food and beer.
Grass Lake has the Grass Shack and Vic Brinkman's Party.
Big Rapids has the Pot Luck.

One last key may be that we only try to run 3 races a year. We don't spread our key people too thin that way. I personally MUCH rather have 3 races w/ 140 entries/day than 5 races with only 85 entries/day. It's better competition, better financially, better to get volunteers, and NO 4 boat heats! (I don't know... maybe if all the clubs in R6/R7 just put on their best 2-3 races a year, they could experience the same thing. Everyone might travel a little further to these 'big' races, but it could be a bigger/better experience).
That's just my opinion. I'm sure the other clubs will argue with this all day long since it would require some change...

BUT I will say that it would be very difficult to take our [MHRA] racing to 'the next level'. Our races aren't in populated areas. Spectators are few and far between. A big $ sponsor would have very little to gain helping us out. We hosted Divisionals with nearly 200 entries/day and our pits are pretty much maxed out. So it would be difficult to get much bigger or bring in much more $.

Kerry,
FYI, the IOA has been putting SO on their schedule along with MO for the past few years. So we now have 2-3 other races we can get to within 3 hours of your old stomping grounds. That's 12 days of racing ['in' MI]...

[Blackhawkguy]

You filled in the blanks

Kevin,

Kinda knew IOA was doing that, and great post as far as the formula. Keep up the good work!!!! see you in the spring

Kerry

[AOFoffice]

Kerry,
I just have to tell you about RLR. While your offer to help him was admirable and just plain a nice thing to do, I doubt if Ray needs any help.
Ray Rodda IS the reason a lot of races are successful. He has secured more sponsorship for boat racing in his long career than any other person in history. (That is a guess, but I would be willing to bet my life on it).
He secures sponsorship for most of the USTS races and has done the same for AOF.
He is also the VOICE of boat racing. He is the main announcer for all USTS races, some IOA races and some AOF races. He could make the proverbial bath tub race exciting and keeps the 100,000 spectators at DePue each year clamoring for a spot on the bank.
We need more RLR's in boat racing. I am proud to say he is a long time midwestern boat racer turned sponsor getter and announcer, and my friend. I am sure that he also would share secrets with you.
Connie

[Blackhawkguy]

ok

ok, make is a generic offer then. I think Kevin added his post just after mine and it coved just about everything that makes the MHRA races successfull. It does help to have the boats available in the area. It's hard to make a race where there just are no boats.

Kerry

[Steve Johnson]

Whoa

I am wondering how sincere anyone really is about promoting racing with Midwest Powerboat. I am an old Midwest member and have as a prized possession a "Man of the Year" trophy that is georgeous from the 60's. (Not for me, but my father in law).
A couple of years ago I came to Minneapolis as did Jay Roesner and Pete Gryz (I can't spell his name!) for a meeting. We were going to resurrect Midwest. That year and even last year AOF was able to offer FREE SANCTION AND INSURANCE to help get a club rolling. Ok, get it rolling so Midwest could eventually put on APBA races down the road. I even had a site all ligned up, but it was in Iowa and not Minnesota, but still within 5 hours of MN and in region 8. I needed enough racers to pay for the ambulance.
Guess what? Nothing happened because the upper region 8 drivers needed APBA points and any week end I would have planned this free race was in conflict with Wisconsin or Illinois races of another club. Pete even felt he could get some pro drivers to race again with Midwest and some of our local races.
So, the race wasn't APBA. But it was a way to get the region started again. My theory is that you have to make a strong foundation and work up. Grass roots racing. Do I still love all of the Miswest racers? Of course. Am I discouraged and did I give up. You betcha. Promoting free racing to the club and I was shot out of the water.
I am not bitter, I just feel sorry for those who can't look beyond their own interests and do what is best for our sport in the long run.
Hopefully the alliance that APBA and AOF signed through the hard work of Ed can put an end to all of this and we can work together toward a better boat racing world.
Connie

BACK THAT TRUCK UP RIGHT THERE SISTA.
plenty of discussion was made about putting on a FREE AOF race. It would have been nice .HOWEVER we are racing for free then and now, with tcpba UNDER an APBA Sanction. That we can rule out as one of our problems. The prospect of KILLING any spot other than Cedar Rapids with a kneeldown turnout of five or six trailers is something I just cannot sign on to. Last $ midwest race I signed , Had exactly 9 trailers. I WAS **** LUCKY TO GET OUT OF TOWN WITH OUT BEING BEATEN UP. If we put that race on for free I would still be in trouble. Excuse me for not wanting to be put in that situation again. At least TCPBA is doing the hard work in finding and signing races. And some kind of a show can be put on , in areas that do get some crowds. Also we have been working with MRC and BSOA to mutually support each other They're APBA clubs, and they are much closer than St. Louis. IF Iowa had more races under any sanctioning body I'm sure we would have been there. So thats why most of us race In wisc/ ILL . I'll admit that the support back has left a lot to be desired, but we get some. A judgement call was made. I MADE it and I don't apologize for it. All things considered I don't think any other options work well here. WE DON'T HAVE ANY LACK OF RACES. We do not have enough drivers to put on any more than a DEMO on our own. The AOF offer was grand. Just not the fix that is needed here. It sure isn't personal. But trying to fly before you can or selling something to a town that is going to bomb ( 10 drivers racing even for free looks HORRIBLE) is just counter productive. Remember we can race HERE 8-9 weekends, IF we can find someone to race against. Far as the points chase thing goes WHAT THE H##L. I got an ego to feed like the rest of you. It isn't loyalty to APBA but BSOA /MRC races are the easist for most of us up here to reach. Well when you get most of points with one group thats where you put your efforts. Not very many chances to races were missed up here to go points chasing. Thats where the racing was. The sincerity to race is here. Discouragment, well plenty of that to go around, Mostly frustration. very different issues here, I cannot understand them all myself. If MIDWEST WAS A BETTER DEAL I'm sure you all would still be around. SO what could make this better? Not trying to be Neg toward PRO, love you guy's, just MISS you when your are USTS/ points chasing. AS well you should. Maybe Midwest should just fold into BSOA and call it good.

let's keep talking - I dearly want to fix this area. Tell me how. Best I can tell it fell apart about 1978. Man, water under the bow. you ex racers all had very good reasons to race once. Why not now? Or your kids? Hey, I started going to the races about 1978 Is it ME? What happend to Hawkeye?