Basketball Jones wrote:

I didn't notice a lot of students in the audience

 

I think George's Army had an event for students on Thursday night.  Not saying this accounts for everything but may be a small reason why current undergrads were missing on Saturday afternoon.

Last edited by GW0509 (10/02/2022 7:22 pm)

Marketing to students wasn't great. I know a bunch of people who didn't even know the event was happening

xAC wrote:

Outreach by GW seems ridiculously bad. Why a school that has graduated thousands and thousands of people can only muster 1,022 donations for the Buff and Blue Fund (28% alumni and 16% students) is a major embarrassment. 

This pathetic marketing strategy probably also effects the numbers of those that attend games and follow the other sports. Whoever is responsible for the outreach (as far as athletics goes) is doing a horrible job.

It's because for 20-30 years, GW did ZERO outreach to their alums OTHER THAN for $$.  We will deal with remnants of that for years.

GW0509 wrote:

Basketball Jones wrote:

I didn't notice a lot of students in the audience

 

I think George's Army had an event for students on Thursday night.  Not saying this accounts for everything but may be a small reason why current undergrads were missing on Saturday afternoon.

Yea the event we had on Thursday was sole for students because the main focus of Saturday was families who were in town for parent's weekend and alumni hence why a lot of the stuff was oriented for younger kids. We were just there to help out/talk to any students who showed. I don't think the weather helped either with attendance. 
And if anyone thinks this event was haphazardly put together that's just wrong. I know it might not have seemed like the most fun if you were there for some serious basketball talk or hard-hitting questions, but the point of the event was more just to give the families in town for the weekend some activities that might lead them to go to more games this season and give any alumni who wanted to interact with the teams a bit the chance to do so. I remember seeing some people just sit in the bleachers the whole time so I guess it could have been communicated a little better that the QA session was only a part of the event, but I saw a few folks take advantage of the time and speak with the players and play some cornhole with them. It was really what you wanted to make of it if you ask me.

The Hatchet settling the donation rate discussion
https://www.gwhatchet.com/2019/10/31/gw-records-lowest-alumni-giving-rate-among-peer-schools-for-second-consecutive-year/

RyanPuleo wrote:

GW0509 wrote:

Basketball Jones wrote:

I didn't notice a lot of students in the audience

 

I think George's Army had an event for students on Thursday night.  Not saying this accounts for everything but may be a small reason why current undergrads were missing on Saturday afternoon.

Yea the event we had on Thursday was sole for students because the main focus of Saturday was families who were in town for parent's weekend and alumni hence why a lot of the stuff was oriented for younger kids. We were just there to help out/talk to any students who showed. I don't think the weather helped either with attendance. 
And if anyone thinks this event was haphazardly put together that's just wrong. I know it might not have seemed like the most fun if you were there for some serious basketball talk or hard-hitting questions, but the point of the event was more just to give the families in town for the weekend some activities that might lead them to go to more games this season and give any alumni who wanted to interact with the teams a bit the chance to do so. I remember seeing some people just sit in the bleachers the whole time so I guess it could have been communicated a little better that the QA session was only a part of the event, but I saw a few folks take advantage of the time and speak with the players and play some cornhole with them. It was really what you wanted to make of it if you ask me.

Seriously, the weather????? What, somebody might have had to walk two blocks with an umbrella? Somebody might have felt a few raindrops?

It wasn't that long ago (late 1990s) that the students ventured through a record setting snow storm to watch GW basketball play URI at the Smith Center.

This is one of the problems with a good majority (not all) of today's kids that if they have to expend a little energy or if it isn't put on a platter for them, not interested. God forbid they ever have to go to war. Softer than Charmin at GW.

Poog wrote:

BM wrote:

The Hatchet settling the donation rate discussion
https://www.gwhatchet.com/2019/10/31/gw-records-lowest-alumni-giving-rate-among-peer-schools-for-second-consecutive-year/

That’s a 2019 article but probably indicative of what we already believe - GW has not engendered a giving mentality from its alum.

I won't comment on the giving mentality of our alumni. What I was trying to point out earlier (maybe not too precisely) is that as far as the Buff and Blue Challenge goes, had more people known about it, we would have crushed the numbers even more. Imaging if we could have gotten 10K donors, which is still a miniscule number relative to the overall GW population.

If I wasn't visiting this site and the GW Athletics site on a regular basis, I would not have any idea this was going on and missed the opportunity to contribute. That goes for two others I contacted to let know about it. I don't know if the strategy was to focus on just current/former athletes, their parents, coaches and staff and those close to GW athletics etc., but if it was, well, it just seems like a missed opportunity.

Gwmayhem wrote:

xAC, do you suppose the school did not want to incur the expense of sending out direct mail or emails to its alumni, letting them know about the campaign?  Or, do they just not think to do this? 

I really don't have the answer to this and I'm too far removed from GW these days to know who is responsible for all of this. Do we actually have a full-time Sports Information Director (SID)?

All I know is that while I monitored the BandB challenge, I cringed every time I looked at the participation numbers-- if it weren't for our own athletes and their parents this would have been a bigger embarrassment. Who set a goal of $100K? After allocating that to our 15 or so sports teams, how much would it even help? Just hard to explain.

Basketball Jones wrote:

MY Opinion
- not facts - 

I thought the event was a waste of time. Seemed to be haphazard and thrown together.
Event seemed to be part of a larger Alumni weekend so the initial part was walk around the court, meet the players, get autographs and shoot baskets.
  
I didn't notice a lot of students in the audience
I would have preferred a more structured approach
Coaches
introduce staff and players
players introduce themselves and a reflection of last season - or why they came here if transfers and hopes for the season - both personal and team
a  simple walkthrough
    1)  daily practice drills /routines
    2) Offensive sets
    3) defensive sets
    4) transition theory and simulation
b) from coaches
    what are the goals and expectations for this years team
    what does the team expect want from the fan base
    what is the team doing to increase turnout from both students and non student fans
c) missed an opportunity for NIL sales for the players
d) raffles for some new gear, signed basketballs
e) should have offered something like a GWU BBall Supporter t shirt for a $50 donation to  the teams
or a box lunch for a $25 donation to the team

f) nothing was mentioned about when tix actually go on sale, various packages and pricing
some open seats were marked with a price tag but  there were no salesmen nor staff there to finish a sale

g) could have raffled off a trip to Hawaii with the team and made money for the program

that being said - i still plan on attending 9 or 10 home games this season
 

I too was unimpressed with Fan Day. I thought the fan parties they had in years past like the ones before the Howard game last year and previous editions in the student rec center were much much better. At least those events had lots of free food. That's basically the entrance requirement.

I noticed a bunch of people hanging out in Tin Tabernacle and I asked the guys how to get it. I was told it was only for people who put down season ticket deposits. I asked if I could get in if I bought my tickets right there and was told no. :/ Nice eagerness there, guys.

I was only there from 4-430, but I was not impressed at all with Fan Day.

Maybe I missed it - sorry if I did.  Did anyone from Athletics give an ETA for final balance payment for season tickets?  Have not received email yet but witching 3 weeks of first game RIGHT?