bigeddiechek

Just like you said sow.

Same could apply to a few Berwick Speedway folk, except add a decade or so on to that, plus unpaid. Your point about cheap shots is spot on: but, this is the home of the cheap shot.

What a haver! Or is it hayver? Jim, well spotted, how did I no you would get it? I think the best one from the Bandits' newsletter has to be the appearance of Jorgenson's twin brother.

It's quite interesting how the required immediacy of the Internet has pushed aside proof reading. Even the BBC website has typos. This phenomenon often provides a source of great entertainment, as we all no!

You've lost me with that one Taffy!

Great bit of media coverage

Great to read about the good crowd and decent racing. Hopefully a good start for the Panthers (result aside), we need them in British Speedway!

I mis-read your post. I get your point now!

Likewise on Saturday, not quite sure what your point is!

Surely not a bad thing though?

I don't know much about VIP and Supporters Clubs, something that I've never really got into in any sport I follow: but a free bus to Glasgow is a pretty good move for the fans, I would have thought?

Heard reports that Doolan has picked up where he left off last season. Very encouraging. Less than a week to go!

I think certainly the polyfoam fence has saved a lot of potentially nasty injuries since its introduction at Berwick. I've heard a few comments from various people that the silencers cause a lot of problems. I'm not going to try and relay as I don't fully understand it. I'm not sure that the delays themselves can be stopped, so maybe when the gasp do occur something needs to be ready to drop in. I don't know what though, nothing I can think up really excites me.

I agree, and it was the one thing that newer fans find really difficult. I don't know what the answer is to that.

I really think the camps are a bit of a dead end. People go to the camps wanting everything on-site, and the camps want all the customers to want to stay on-site. Making sure there is coverage in Hotels and B&Bs could attract some more, it really depends on the reason for a visit to Berwick. It will be interesting to see what interest Peterborough get from their local sports club offer. I tried to organise it with another sporting club that I am involved with last season, and not one taker. The Sky meetings have converted a few regulars that come with me, and a few occasional visitors. There was a much bigger crowd, so that perhaps says that there are more people out there to get. The only thing I can think of is the profile of it being live on Sky. That would say to me that speedway as a sport maybe needs to be presented to the public differently. A former rider maintains that it should be sold as an extreme sport. I think he is right, not necessarily change much on the track, but change the perception of the sport. That, however, would take a LOT of resource to do. Still one of the biggest problems I have is the moaning that goes on. A few people that have come with me were really put off by that, it completely spoiled their night

The holiday camps - although would seem a good target in principle - are not a fruitful target. There have been initiatives before. I know for a fact, but I cannot divulge further!

Also on Radio Borders, live pre-meeting interview with John Anderson.

I did have a wee laugh when I read this, a recent post of yours springs to mind. Nice of you to share your wisdom. Now, to respond to some of Taffy's comments. I think holiday camps are not really a strategic target. If you are lucky you are going to get a one-off hit from the occasional person. Unless they are visiting Berwick for speedway, it is unlikely that you will pull them in to speedway on their holiday. A longer-term strategy would be to encourage adults to bring their kids and get the fans of the future engaged. As far as I can see, Berwick is the only club to offer under 16s free admission with an adult, and have been doing for a number of seasons. TV and radio coverage always seems to be pretty decent to me, I really don't think Taffy's claim that we are under-represented on TV is correct. One of the most effective marketing tools is the good old-fashioned banner. Something I was taught by the Marketing Director of a very successful beer brand. Berwick do that well. Quite a remarkable claim from a self-proclaimed business guru is that there is no point in promoting to your current customer base. Quite an extraordinary comment to make Taffy! First and foremost you must retain your loyal customers and never - ever - take your eye off the ball with them. The suggestion of posters is a good one, but not A4, they need to be posters, not leaflets. A3 minimum, and they need to be current. I guess it is expensive to do multiple runs of posters to keep them current, but more posters is a good idea. I'm not quite sure what your point is when you refer to Berwick Rangers doing this, as they get much smaller attendances. Are you trying to disprove your point? Screm's point that the rest of the word might not be interested in our wee sport is a very interesting one. I kind of agree with you on that, Screm. You really can't force people to like something. This then brings me back to promoting to families so that kids can get bitten by the bug. With regard to admission prices: when admission was dropped to £10 it made no difference to crowd levels, so must have whacked about 30% off takings! However, the tickets books are an interesting variation on season tickets. It offers a discount for bulk purchase, but avoids the problem of a conventional season ticket where holidays, illness, weddings, etc., make them a bit risky. It also offers an opportunity to buy tickets as gifts. To me this is all part of the promotion/marketing mix, and another example of something being done well. My points are not to be read as the sun shines out of their backside, it is merely to show that there is a considerable effort made to promote the sport, and many of the suggestions are either being done, or have been tried. This effort is often done by people who have work and family life in addition to their speedway work. So be fair with any criticism, offer it in a positive way, the club is always open to suggestions and looking to improve things. If you have something to offer, why not get involved? If you have time to come on here and air your opinion, why not use some of it to offer a hand? After all, we support the club and all (I think) want to see it survive and flourish. Oh, and one final point, is signing Ben Barker not a big deal in terms of the wee team in one of the most poorly paid parts of the country?

Agree with most of that. I think you have to agree that the Promotion have worked hard and kept prices comparatively low compared to a lot of other PL tracks. They ever tried £10 a meeting and it made no difference whatsoever - I still can't figure that one out. So dropping prices is risky as hell as you can very easily end up losing even more money. Dropping costs to riders and clubs looks to be imperative to me, as sponsorship in the current climate is very difficult to secure. I don't know anything about the supporters club changes, other than Lisa's post shed some light on it for me. But the VIP offering looks to be a reasonable way of offering something extra for fans that want to pay a bit extra for a VIP experience, and purely individual choice, not forced in any way. It's all a tough one, and I certainly don't have the answers!

Wrong.

Looking forward to the first Barker/Cook heat at Berwick, and the 3rd bend reaction! Good thread you've kicked-off here Robin, I've had to un-block you =D

You know that I am pretty balanced with my views Taffy, you know when we chat that I appreciate you (and other guys) who support behind the scenes. It's one of the reasons why I get a bit peeved when people take cheap shots on here. Getting sponsorship is a difficult one, as is getting in sales "professionals". Businesses are very tight for cash and sponsorship really has to be either from a passion for the club and the sport, or part of a large organisations overall marketing plan. It is a very difficult thing to sell. I think if you look at the number of adverts in the programme and the number of associate sponsors, the club does pretty well. I'm sure they will be the first to say that they would like it to be better still. I have had highly variable results when buying in sales generation, my overall conclusion was that it is ineffective. It's a difficult thing to buy in. Cutting overheads, which is I think what you are getting at, is crucial. How it is done, where the responsibility lies: I really don't know. Probably in a number of areas. Riders, machinery, flights, travel: but, I'm really just guessing. I certainly don't see a lot of obvious overspending and decadence in the sport. I also strongly agree that all you can ask of the fans is to come along every week and support the club. My £20 was just a little bit of Devilment on here, I think the cost of speedway is fair, probably pitched at the right level. The £12 for the footy match I went to was about right, but nowhere near as entertaining as the speedway. Interesting points Taffy.

Hoy!

I'm going to come to the aid of Taffy here. He does more than a lot to financially support speedway in Berwick (I include myself). Great to see he is supporting 2 local youngsters this season. To question his support is a bit insulting really.

That's the answer I get from friends who won't even come and try it. I keep telling them that they don't know what they are missing!