FromBendThree

From the club Twitter: King’s Lynn skipper Josh Pickering is ready to book his flight back from Australia to the UK for the new season. That really is wringing every last ounce out of a story. He's ready to book. Do people expect in February that it has never crossed the rider's mind to book a flight?

Ablitt could be a dark horse from the little I saw of him last year. Not sure what his gating is like.

If I was a promoter, I wouldn't let anyone stream my meetings unless they paid. That would go for video stream or audio stream. You can't give it away.

Makes sense. Worry is that the clubs already in existence might not see the big picture and want to hang on to what they have, which would be a shame to say the very least

One suspects the price of a match will be near to the cost of stadium admission. That would make sense. You still save on travel, cost of programme and cost of warm beer and cold chips.

Yes you are right about what the course covered. It is a pity that someone called it an apprenticeship when it wasn't. It gave people totally the wrong impression. Don't get me wrong, I think what Poultec did was excellent and very valuable for the riders but it was never intended as an entry-point for young speedway riders; more a way of teaching the lads business, fitness etc. But it was never - and wasn't intended to be - an apprenticeship. Eastbourne wrote about Tom Brennan and Jason Edwards at Poultec in one of their flying high magazines last winter.

They were widely called apprenticeships but they were not apprenticeships in the official use of the word. You won't find a speedway apprenticeship on the government website, for example. They were really diplomas in speedway business skills. Yes, they learned a bit on track but the whole purpose was to help the youngsters with running their own business - not how to ride a speedway bike fast.

It appears to be a Ltd which makes it a private limited company. That doesn't make it a PLC A PLC designates a company that has offered shares of stock to the general public. The buyers of those shares have limited liability. Meaning, they cannot be held responsible for any business losses in excess of the amount they paid for the shares.

Which shows the ending is Ltd not plc

SpeedwayGB website shows last Glasgow home match on August 5. Leaves room for cup progress and play offs. One imagines Glasgow will challenge for honours in all competitions.

Told the new promotion ditched the club's long-serving programme editor and press officer. Is that true? Why?

OK, let me know of one great bit of creativity and innovation in 2021 from your volunteers which reached people who had never heard of speedway before. AND, most importantly, how successful was it? That means, in plain language, how many new fans did it bring into the stadium and what was the retention rate?

That's a fair point. I will watch with interest to see what these volunteers come up with to reach a new audience. At the moment they are only reaching the current (dying) audience. Perhaps you will enlighten us to what their plans are to reach all the people who have never heard of speedway and persuade them to give it a go.

Team reveal doesn't need a great deal of creativity when your are talking to your own fans. Just tell 'em what the team is. Reserve the creativity/skill for reaching a new audience. What Edinburgh did and others is the wrong focus.

They didn't get it on SPOTY but they did get it on BBC Breakfast and quite a lengthy piece to. Team GB got their message across.

Yes, well received by Edinburgh fans but the message did not reach the hundreds of thousands of non-speedway fans who live within easy reach of the track. They need to think about growing their business.

Exactly my point, if you look through the thread. A team reveal can be straightforward. Be creative, inventive, innovative and come up with content which will get a buy-in from non speedway fans. It was not time well spent by Edinburgh and all the other teams who have done similar things.

In my original post, in which I criticised Edinburgh, my ire was directed at the club for not addressing the key issue of reaching potential new fans. All they were doing was talking to existing fans where, in fact, "a wee article on their website would have sufficed", as long as social media was used to support. In effect, they have not moved forward and nor has any club, as far as I can see, in addressing the issue.

There's too much 'amateur hour' about British speedway which is supposed to be a professional sport. Sends totally the wrong message; or, in fact, any message at all to those it needs to reach. Monarchs are not alone in all this self-praise of their 'innovative thinking' when all it shows is a weak and poor marketing strategy.

Excitement? If that counts for excitement, good luck. It's not an odd thing to moan about. It goes to the very core of the future of speedway in the UK, at least in terms of league racing. Every club needs more (new) supporters. Putting on a self-indulgent show doesn't go anywhere near doing achieving that aim.

Not even one clap. Not really innovative at all. The effort should have gone into creating a story that would reach non-speedway people in the central belt of Scotland. Like most speedway PR, including stunts, they are preaching to the converted. Tell it straight; put in on your website and social media at the same time. The fans will then know - and yes the Speedway Star on a Thursday. But, if you have the time and ability, find something really innovative to reach people who never go to speedway.Grab their attention.

Another example of a speedway club trying to be far too clever when releasing news. They should remember the KISS rule.

Thanks - I will look out for that when mine comes.

Makes sense to work with what you have in terms of planning. The planning department in that part of Kent tied the Central Park operation down to a very narrow period of time.Noon start on a Sunday would also mean fans could move on to one of the north Kent seaside places later in the afternoon, if the weather was ok.

Thanks. Midday on Sunday is an unusual time but I could well see that working for many; especially if you pay for a NDL match and can see junior racing after. Would appear to offer value for money. Saturday afternoons are, I suppose, carved up by football but would there be a possibility of some Saturday action in the summer? Could start at 5, I guess, and still get a meeting in before darkness falls.