Curl Troy World Headquarters
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
- 7:00pm - 9:00pm
This is confirmation of e-vote on 1/3
I have received an invoice for our payment on the third set of stones. Our payment for the loan is $1000 CAD. To pay off the loan it is $2800 CAD. At this time, I motion that we pay off the loan based on that we have the funds available and the loan will have to be paid in full next year anyway.
We have managed to pay off the other sets early and this year is no different. The amount comes to about $2082 USD if we pay off today.
Standing committee updates from venues and other ventures currently going on.
E-Motion to cancel Bonspiel carries. This serves as confirmation of the cancellation vote.
Learn to Curl Success - ~90 participants over 4 nights.
League Updates - Completely sold out! Only a couple of people playing both nights, lots of unique participants in each league.
Background on 1/3 Cancellation
Other thoughts
Membership for 2016/17 Season has closed. Rosters are Due to USCA and GLCA by the end of the month.
Total Members - 19 Full and 1 Social
This is a 25% increase over last year.
Arena Nationals will be held at Notre Dame University April 24-30. Registration for participants happens early February. We are permitted to send 4 primary players and an alternate. The 4 primary players must be registered in February. The alternate can be registered in February but can also be registered on site. We will be registering an alternate on site and not in February. This is because registrations can not be changed once they are submitted. So if one of the 4 primaries cannot curl for some reason (injury, illness, or personal) the alternate is the only replacement allowed. USCA recommends that we wait until the event to register the alternate to allow for the most flexibility in case of emergency.
The selection of each Arena Nationals team is at the sole discretion of the club. The regions are allowed to implement selection rules, but at the moment GLCA does not have selection rules in place. Participants must be a member of an arena curling club, and participate regularly in their league play. It is at our discretion to determine what "regularly in league play" means. Participants must also not curl in league play regularly at a dedicated ice curling club.
Selection is done differently at almost every single club. Some clubs provide a playdown where people register full teams of eligible players and those teams play down for a spot in the event. Some clubs do a completely random draw to determine participants putting names in a hat and drawing randomly. Some teams pick their team individually based on interest, and other factors.
On 12/30 Members were notified and given until January 8th to submit their interest and availability in playing in Arena Nationals to myself. I will then present that list to the board on the 9th of January for initial consideration. We will need to finalize our decision at this meeting or develop a timelined plan for finalizing this decision.
James Brickey has offered to pay for the individuals selected for nationals entry into the event.
Proposed method for selection was based on records from last years league. This considers the Clingan and Haus 18 teams. After looking at league results from 2016-16 team Clingan would attend Arena Nationals using this method.
This method was brought to an evote.
If we want to grow at Springfield we need a 4th set of stones.
Cost analysis added by Bruce:
Springfield Money Scenarios:
1 Night a week for 10 weeks - $5,000
2 Nights a week for 10 weeks - $10,000
Break Even Income at $30 a night
1 Night a week 17 people total ($5,100)
2 Nights a week 34 people total ($10,200)
3 Sheets is 24 People 4 Sheets is 32 People
If we fill 3 sheets on one night we bring in $7,200 If we fill 4 sheets on one night we bring in $9,600 If we fill 4 sheets on one night our risk is only $600/10 weeks to start a second night. We could completely cover this risk for almost 38 weeks of curling if we run one league at 32 players. So the risk is easily made up in one league at 32 people. A fourth sheet of stones pays for the growth needed. With three sheets if we fill a first night and start a second night we will be $2,700/10 weeks from breaking even. Lots of risk. That amount of risk covers over half the cost of a 4th set of stones. If we are going to spend $2,700 it would make sense to spend it on assets not empty ice.
James Brickey has offered to donate up to $5000 USD for a 4th set of stones.
Total Cost about $5100 CA or about $4000 US. We would need to consider whether we have enough brooms, and would need to purchase additional hacks.
From Last Meeting:
Marketing:
1. The club talked about five key topics for marketing, but these were generally broken down into two areas; inward and outward facing.
• Inward:
1. The club would like to more consistently communicate with club member. After discussing with Eric, he will continue to do the standard Facebook posts; league nights photos, upcoming events, etc.
2. Bruce will be implementing a new Blog on the Curl Troy website. The purpose of this will be to provide timely content on a variety of issues that may be of interest to both members, and to help passively solicit interest from those who would like to find out more about curling in Dayton. Some examples that were given were write-ups on recently attended Bonspiels, curling technique tips, did-you-knows, upcoming bonspiel information, and general club information. Content will be provided by members at regular intervals (tbd) and access to posting information will be worked out as the Blog comes online. Completed BC
3. Regularly scheduled newsletters to members to continue. Discussed to be on either a quarterly or even monthly basis. Ideally, most content for the newsletter will be provided by the aforementioned Blog and organized to help provide more succinct and direct information to members. The newsletter will be continue to be managed by Eric, though further discussion on process will be had once the Blog comes online.
4. Manage contact list.
• Outward:
1. Create a more consistent social media presence across different platforms to help reach people who might not be looking directly at our Facebook page, which could include some paid advertising. Social media is complex, and much more discussion is warranted on building this strategy so that it is effective.
2. Targeted outreach: identify opportunities to build relationships with other organizations and get them curling. Corporate events, universities, youth organizations, etc. These should be demographics that could help create a pipeline of future curlers, but also help raise awareness of the club in the Miami Valley.
3. Optimize searches for curling in "Dayton" "Miami Valley," etc.I think that this is completed as well we rank pretty good BC
To Do:
• Finalize the details on Blog/Newsletter processes and move forward with it.
• Have a deeper discussion on the Social Media strategy how it may fit in with outreach and awareness
• Think of a few outreach opportunities for the club to pursue.
We need to be thinking about getting to a new building and long-term growth as well as short-term growth. If we aren't looking this far down the road we won't be able to accomplish the goal of being in our own building. We need to determine a plan for making sure that this stays in the forefront of our conversation. We need someone in the club to spearhead this plan.
First steps are determining costs for items needed for the facility, or outfitting the facility, and starting to formalize the search for a building or location and determining costs associated with the physical building.
The following items need estimated before moving forward.
I had planned to step down from the board at the end of the 2018 Season after three years. Alot of uncertanty at work and with my family in the next year I am going to step down a year early at the end of this season. If there are thoughts on a transition time that is different than the end of the season I would like to briefly discuss.