I guess I was thinking more about individual, grassroots sorts of things rather than official team stuff -- a float at Pride is not an individual grassroots thing in my book. Individual actions that can be done relatively cheaply is making sure to comment on any article on the ATL Beat found in online publications, calling/emailing the local sports news staff (all forms of media) to ask them about coverage of the ATL Beat, repeatedly telling your own rec teams/book clubs/drinking buddies about the Beat, etc. The repeated emails & calls to local sports folks in all media by many people will help local news stations know that there is a demand for info on the ATL Beat. One email by one person will not. All WPS teams need to increase both ticket sales and local sponsorships to improve their financial situations.
Hey kool-aide Thanks for the input. I agree that we need to contact all the groups for ideas, etc. I have checked twitter pages, FB and web pages as well for a couple. It is all about the grassroots and what we can do as a group. Anyway - thanks again.
Kat and i checked up on Pride - it s $600 just to have a small booth/tent, and that's for a non-profit/civic group rate. It's substantially more if they consider you a "vendor". That kind of cost doesn't seem to jive with the limited/no budget of the team, nor the non-existent budget of the Rhythm. i'm dubious on "charging membership" for the Rhythm, but could be convinced if provisions were made for students/seniors/lower income groups. Kool-aide - are you local ATL? Have you joined the yahoo group yet?
i emailed Kat today to suggest that perhaps we could form a group and walk in the parade, it's very minimal cost there - i forget atm, maybe $50 per organization if you're nonprofit and just walk in it. regarding membership fees - i haven't done a huge amount of work on it or anything, but i did kinda have in mind a tier-system as well as a discounted membership like you suggested for seniors and students, or a family membership or whatever. tier-based meaning, you get more bennies if you want to pay more, but one basic fee across the board will get everyone something. (a t-shirt and a koozee or something similar - we can hash out those ideas later if we go this route)
I'm not in ATL or you would have already seen/heard me at games. I'm just a big fan of the league and clearly spend way too much time on the internet. I think I have convinced the 1 person I know in ATL to check out the USWNT game on Sat and that might lead them to check out a Beat game next summer. I'm sure you're covering all your bases but if you charge dues but register as a non-profit then you'll have to be pretty clear on how you're using the money brought in and deal w/ all the gov't registration legal stuff. Frankly, I'd think twice (or three times) about charging any dues. Folks that join might want to have money left over to spend on team tix & merch and you might want to make/sell your own shirts or hats (I'd suggest scarves but it is Atlanta. In the summer. A hat/visor might be better for the heat) or cowbells.
• Charge something nominal. $5-20. The small price get you a membership card. The higher ones a t-shirt, scarf, etc. Not only will this give you a little money to do things, it will also be an instant gauge of how committed someone is. Putting even a small price on a product or service and its value doubles, if not triples. • Make members sign a form that X is expected of them, and if they fail to abide by these rules, they're out. This could be everything from not allowing underage drinking to not cursing in the stands, you must attend x-meetings, etc. Also note what they can expect in return from the club. • Keep everyone's names on file and for what year(s) they're a member. Like Kool, I'm sure everyone's thought things through, but keeping all of it somewhat professional will assure not only the potential member, but the front office as well.
lisab - we are meeting after the game in the VIP box/suite area. the super suite is the 1st suite on your left, and the suites are located behind the stands that are to the left of the stage (the west sidelines).
Thank you all for coming to our first official meeting last night. It was evident that we all have a plethora of great ideas, as well as the talent and motivation to execute them. Special thanks to Shawn for making the suite available to us, and for making himself available to patiently answer all of our questions. I look forward to getting to know all of you. Best, Kat