Extended T-Shirt Idea Extended....
Amorak
members and keep new ones participating in tournaments. One of
the things that might turn off players is that they realize
it would be difficult to win money. In most tournaments, any
event under 1800-2000 has no cash prize.
Players drive a couple or more hours to get to a tournament, they
pay $8-12 per event typically. Then what happens if they lose
in their round robin? Money gone... 2 or more hour drive home.
Nothing to show for it. I just competed in a tournament and I
was VERY disappointed that they weren't selling any t-shirts.
They didn't want to get stuck with extras....
What if something could be worked out like this? The USATT makes
a variety of T-Shirts for $5 a piece. (Rough guess, more or
less). They can then sell them to the tournament directors for a
$2 or $3 profit. The tournament directors will then make them
available at the tournaments for $12-15. HOWEVER....
Some tournaments work on % intake of entry fees for prizes. 70%.
50%. 25%. What if a tournament offered prizes for ALL levels
of competition based on % intake from t-shirt sale profits?
So when a novice player walks in with his/her family to the
tournament, they can be offered several nice T-shirts at $14
a piece (for instance). Let's see. The USATT made these for $5.
They're selling for $14 at the tournament. They're worth the
price either way BUT.... There's $9 to play with. $4 of that
$9 can go towards the winner of the novice final . A portion
can go to the the other second place finisher, other rating
events or the open finals, and a portion can go to the TD or
equipment dealer selling the t-shirts. So with 5 or 6 novice
players buying t-shirts, the t-shirt intake pot will grow to a
decent size, especially if their families also purchase. Why not?
They're good t-shirts.
So what happens? The novice winner and/or the finalist can
go home with a chunk of change that will cover the travel costs,
the entry fees, and how much they spent on the t-shirt. What
happens to the people who lose? Well, if they bought a t-shirt
they will have a damn nice t-shirt at a decent price to wear
around! But they'll also leave with the realization that if they
practice and work hard, they can win some money in this sport.
Now if you scale the $9 towards the other events proportionately,
then the open winner has the possibility of going home with
hundreds or possibly $1000 for a relatively small tournament plus
the regular % intake on entry fees and trophies.
Now isn't that a motivation to enter tournaments and compete?
For everyone - nice t-shirts at a good price that advertise the
USATT, top coaches, and top clubs. For the winners (or first
and second place) you get cold hard cash.... The USATT will get
some money out of it. The TD or equipment dealer will get some
money out of it. And the TDs won't get stuck with a bunch of
poorly designed t-shirts that wouldn't sell at that particularly
event. These will be USATT t-shirts that will STILL be good at
the next tournament.
A flyer could be sent along with the tournament entry form to
tell people how it works.... And the money can be sent along with
the entry fees in order to make sure there is sufficient stock of
t-shirts. But when people find out they can leave this tournament
with a wad of bills, do you think more will enter and more will
buy t-shirts? I think so....
Everybody wins.
Heck... I just won a trophy at the PA Closed. I'd look stupid
carrying around a trophy all the time, but it'd be nice if I
had a good T-shirt to wear around at least! And if I could
have won a few bucks, cool... If not, it just means I need to
practice more and enter again.
Of course, some details need to be worked out and the numbers
played with, but I think this might be a workable, viable system.
The USATT: Profits, increased advertising via t-shirts, more
tournament entries. Higher membership retention. More new
members. Improve TT's image as a sport.
Tournament Directors: More Entries. More profit. (I'm not sure if
they MAKE money, but they will have MORE coming in to use for
what needs to be done). Bigger/Better tournaments with better
prizes. Will probably attract more fans (and potential local club
members).
Equipment Dealers: Mo' Money...
Players: Better prizes... Good variety of t-shirts that are
tournament legal. Something to go home with even if they lose.
Motivation to get lessons, practice, improve, and enter more
tournaments.
Spectators: More matches to watch. Better competition overall
with people wanting to improve. TT will look like a sport.
Opportunity to support family, friends, the USATT, and the sport
itself by simply buying a t-shirt and wearing it around!
Okay... That's another idea in a nutshell. I'm sure some of you
will just say I'm a nut without the shell, but I think the idea
has some potential....
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Nettadave
Sometimes, even when an idea may have some flaws, it might inspire someone else
to an even better idea or version of the original.
Two things I would say while mentioning that the idea of public recognition
(t-shirt vs trophy) are good and the idea of well executed 't-shirt'
advertising is also a good one.
#1 I have reservations about the sweepstakes/ jackpot aspect of attracting
('mass' ) participation through prize money. As mentioned recently on a
ratings related thread, if any significant amount of money is offered in any
but the 'open/championship events, it just encourages ratings manipulations/
dumping etc.
And it has an element of 'luck' in that a 1999 player has a better chance
to win money than one who is 2001.
Also, given the amounts of prize money we can offer, it doesn't seem
likely to be cost effective, even as far as attracting enough added players to
pay for itself.
Of course the top event should have some money to attract and reward the
'semi-pro' players who add excitment to any tournament.
And I appreciate a little prize money in a 'class B' type event, only
because the players competing for it probably have a shelf full of dusty
trophies already and may prefer a little money to defray thier typically higher
travel costs. (They are fewer and often travel farther and more often to find
competition that may be limited at their level 'at home'.)
But unlike some games/sports we are sometimes compared to, all but the most
highly rated (or foolish) participant knows his chances to 'honestly' win 'big'
in a table tennis tournament are slim to none -leaning towards NONE.
In Billiards, Bowling, and maybe Golf, larger prize pools are sometimes
created by charging higher entry fees. The 'neighborhood' champ feels that if
he has a well timed 'carreer' game - running racks of balls or a few extra
strikes, he could become the 'surprise' underdog tournament champion, winning
the exciting cash prize.
And with the higher entry fee, even finishing short of the finals can
bring some money back. But TT competition doesn't and shouldn't lend itself
well to such participant delusions.
As for the T-shirt idea, while many would prefer the professionally
produced shirts that can be done at a decent price only in quantities such as
going through USATT could allow, we now also have the computer printed 'iron
on' alternative.
A T-shirt design could be posted on the internet where local clubs or
players can download it ('free'!) and print it to an iron on sheet for
application to the shirt of their choice.
Of course doing this through the clubs as a fundraiser has advantages too,
particularly since the transfer sheets ar packaged in 'tens' at a price of $15
or 20 per package.
Particular designs could be 'designated' for different 'markets' and
purposes.
All designs should remember the 'billboard' (readability) and 'image' (olympic
sport not 'basement' game' ) issues incorporated.
These (computer transfer) shirts can look just as good as many others,
though they MIGHT need a little more careful handling to hold up through
repeated washings over a long period, compared to silk-screen painted
professional shirts.
I've been planning to substitute such a shirt, or at least the iron-on
supplied to the event winner for use on the size and type shirt he prefers, in
some upcoming tournament for awhile, maybe even my next if time allows..
CT. Table Tennis
(appropriate logo or photo)
"Event Winner'
(or Finalist)
This is the kind of REALLY grassroots thing USATT could facilitate, if it
thinks (WAY)' outside the box' of traditional organizational type thinking.
My suggestions for a short 'really cheap' teaser type 'super Table Tennis
highlight tape' is along the same lines Maybe $5 'for shipping and handling'
for a 10 or 20 minute video designed to sell the sport (not the organization as
before) with info on joining clubs & USATT and buying other videos or equipment
perhaps 'bundled' with the tape.
An order form describing this 'free' (almost) tape could be supplied with
tables or rackets sold through stores.
Or package the tape along with with a 'free' dynamic t-shirt (or just the
iron-on transfer) also promoted and offered for a modest 'shipping & handling'
fee by a flyer tucked in with the rmerchandise.
'nettadave' Dave S.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Connecticut Table Tennis Club Info Web Address is:
www.members.tripod.com/netta_ct/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Iskandar Taib
Nettadave <nett...@aol.comno-spam> wrote:
> As for the T-shirt idea, while many would prefer the professionally
>produced shirts that can be done at a decent price only in quantities such as
>going through USATT could allow, we now also have the computer printed 'iron
>on' alternative.
>
> A T-shirt design could be posted on the internet where local clubs or
>players can download it ('free'!) and print it to an iron on sheet for
>application to the shirt of their choice.
> Of course doing this through the clubs as a fundraiser has advantages too,
>particularly since the transfer sheets ar packaged in 'tens' at a price of $15
>or 20 per package.
I've been looking into this, actually, for other purposes. In
quantity, you can actually get T-shirt transfer paper for inkjets for
as little as 65 cents a sheet. At more reasonable quantities (50
sheets) go for 75 cents a sheet. A major expense you'll run into is
inkjet ink, but you can refill cartridges for much less than what new
ones cost (yes, it does work). Software wise, no problem - I've just
used plain old Microsoft Word to make/print T-shirts. You don't need a
high end printer, either - I find that 600 dpi on my Lexmark 5700
(refurbished, $38 after rebate!) actually looks nicer on T-shirts than
1200 dpi does.
> These (computer transfer) shirts can look just as good as many others,
>though they MIGHT need a little more careful handling to hold up through
>repeated washings over a long period, compared to silk-screen painted
>professional shirts.
Yeah, they do look gorgeous, and stand up well in the wash. Just
follow the instructions. The MAIN drawback to these is that they only
work on white T-shirts (though there is a way around that). No matter,
play with orange balls. Ironing on the transfers is pretty time-
consuming, though.
Here's a source for inexpensive transfer paper:
http://www.transfertechnology.com/inkjetpaper.html
and here is where I bought my inkjet refill ink:
http://inkjetsaver.com/kits.html
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Iskandar Taib | The only thing worse than Peach ala
Internet: nt...@steel.ucs.indiana.edu | Frog is Frog ala Peach
Home page: http://bigwig.geology.indiana.edu/iskandar/isk2.html
Nettadave
(good ideas snipped)
and also:
.>The MAIN drawback to these is that they only
>work on white T-shirts
my responce:
Of course white shirts ARE legal and fine when used with orange balls, but
actually I've had success with these designs on various (selected) colors of
shirts.
Obviously, really dark colored shirts leave little visual contrast with the
design, especially since a computer printer usually has no white ink.
Tan (light brown) and other pastel type colors like light green can be light
enough for the design to stand out but dark enough for use by players using
white balls.
Some of the transfer papers would show up as a white or light beige
semi-transparent background to the design on a non-white shirt but this can be
trimed to within a fraction of an inch from the outline of the design.
This (the 'background' color), and the ease of application, vary from brand
to brand.
Of course you need a program or printer software that allows 'reversing' the
design, if the original has readable non-reversed letters. These are pretty
commonly avaialable
nettadave -dave strang
Iskandar Taib
Check out that web site I mentioned - they have some kind of paper
that allows you to put transfers on dark shirts. I wrote to them, and
got a sample. They'll also send you a sample of their transfer paper
if you ask for it. I haven't tried the stuff yet - supposedly, you
iron the transfer onto the special paper, and then cut around the
design. Then you remove the backing sheet, and iron the whole thing
onto the shirt. I'll let you know if it works as advertised.
Reversing turns out to be fairly easy - the printer driver software
does this when you specify iron-on media. For the Lexmark, the drivers
work great on NT, not so well on 95/98, but then again, I was trying
to print over a network, not to a local port.
Iskandar
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Iskandar Taib | The only thing worse than Peach ala
Internet: nt...@steel.ucs.indiana.edu | Frog is Frog ala Peach
Home page: http://bigwig.geology.indiana.edu/iskandar/isk2.html
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