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Location: Berlin | Hey guys, the Mayor of Oshkosh is coming to talk with me tomorrow about tournament fishing. From what I can gather he has found out that Oshkosh could really care less about drawing the major circuits here. He wants to know about the sport in general and the role that Oshkosh does/could play.
I am looking for any ideas especially if there any tournament directors reading this. Not sure if he has any pull as far as the media goes but I am always dissapointed in the local coverage these events get.
Not exactly sure what all will be discussed but am lookikng for any ideas you might have. Thanks! |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | Rich
A word that the mayor will relate to is "Economic Impact". It is the reaction from a action. Some one puts a event on and all participants spend money in HIS town. HIS town sells rooms and HIS chamber of commerce members recieve added buisness that they would have not normally recieved. He says that oshkosh could care less about the circuits, maybe he should spend a buck and do the study on what a average guy will drop in 3-7 days in his town. The MWC and cabelas national will have a economic impact of Millions there. I know oshkosh probably does not need that kind of cash, or maybe they do.
Where the ball is dropped in every location we visit is the lack of communication within the community. How many times you stop at the gas station and there 10 boats there and they had no idea we were coming to town. The best prepared community's get lots of our cash.
The media is a added bonus but who will really benefit from these events are the business'. He can use the media to get more people at the event to spend more money in his community, but it should not BE THE FOCUS. They need to just tell the area business' what is happening in the neighbor hood so they can do what they do. |
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Location: Berlin | Thanks Denny! Maybe I will just print out all these suggestions and give them to hm on paper so he can read through them. If you would rather email me, it is:
[email protected]
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Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | Denny did a great job. The only thing that I would add is the "Economic Impact" after the tournament leaves. People tell other people of their experience both good and bad. If the fishing is good and locals are friendly, people come back and/or their friends come into town to spend more money while fishing.
Think of the times you read about a tournament in a location you never fished. Did you ever consciously put that fishery on your list of places to visit because a major tournament was held there? I know I have. I always felt that major tournaments do their homework and go to locations that are prime fishing spots. Their choice of locations always gets my interest.
The Mayor of Oshkosh must also realize that he needs to talk with other communities in the area. This isn't just about Oshkosh. All the surrounding towns/cities will benefit too. |
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Location: Berlin | Thanks Dennis! I think it is great that the guy actually cares enough to listen to the fisherman in effort to make things better. Hopefully some good comes of it.
Keep them coming guys, getting some great info here and through email! |
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Location: Menasha, WI | Rich, I work in the same department with one of the Oshkosh City Council members. If it would be useful for me to pass any of this information in his direction let me know.
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Location: Berlin | That would be great. The more we can make them aware the better the chances of this improving. Any help is appreciated! |
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Location: Appleton | Rich
I have been involved with some meetings in Oshkosh recently. The visitor and convention office has some figures on the economic impact tournaments have on the community. I would think they would share this information. They are going to send it to me however I have not seen it yet. I'm sure these figures would impress the mayor. As Denny said this does include the impact return trips by anglers or thier family visits.
From my own experience the way organizers and anglers are treated has a major impact if circuits return to a community.
Rich please send me an e-mail I need to contact you on another matter
Jim Coon |
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Location: Berlin | Thanks Jim. Any chance you could send that info to me once you get it? Email sent! |
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| impact after... good point... city of clayton back many years ago gave every angler a $2.00 bill (300 anglers in an event) told to use in the town during the visit... after the businesses could check the $2.00 bills for impact...
worked well and the town still shells out money for tournaments...
have the mayor call the mayors of Ticonderoga, clayton and Plattsburgh NY for info on economic impact... |
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Location: Berlin | The meeting went well! If things go the way I think they are going to we should see a huge difference in how the city handles/promotes these events. I will keep you posted but so far so good! |
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Location: Elgin, Illinois | Rich,
Look nat info from the Spring Valley Walleye Club (Spring Valley, IL). That community ()All of them, LaSalle, Peru, Spring Valley, Utica, etc.) really rolls out the welcome mat for tournaments. They can tell you how much impact there is from anglers.
Also, Sonny Reynolds may have some info that could be useful.
Average per day times number of anglers is an impressive number, but those dollars are multiplied every time they are spent... In terms of economic activity it is probably a multiplier of over 2 or 3 times the dollars spent. |
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| It would be a good thing...but the economic impact view is totally different from a city with a population of 2,000 to 20,000 people compared to one that has a population of 65,000. The council members look at things totally different. |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | 3 to 5 times the amount spent is the formula used for economic impact. Lets say that the mwc and cabelas that will be in oshkosh in june have full fields which means there are 450 team and 900 anglers here for 6 days total. If each angler spends very conservatively 250.00 on gas and food and beer and tackle and bait and entertainment over the 6 days, that is 225,000 dollars. The 775,000.00 to 1.2 million in impact was achieved. Bump it to 300.00 and the numbers read 270,000, 810,000, and 1.35 million. It all started with money that was BROUGHT INTO OUR AREA, not just local people swapping money. That is huge and that is what local chambers aspire to do everywhere. Bring money into the area.
Edited by stacker 1/7/2010 9:39 AM
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | RNT - 1/7/2010 1:13 AM
It would be a good thing...but the economic impact view is totally different from a city with a population of 2,000 to 20,000 people compared to one that has a population of 65,000. The council members look at things totally different.
Can you take the time to explain what it is you are saying. |
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Location: Berlin | Right on Denny. The more thought I put into this the more I am convinced the city/community should be the ones doing the majority of the promotion for these events, NOT the circuit organizers. The two need to have communication obviously but the city benefits FAR more then the circuit itself. How cool would it be to have "Welcome MWC" or "10% off for MWC anglers" in resturaunt and hotel windows all over the city. Tie it in with the taverns, a gas station, bait shops etc. People will leave here and tell everyone they know how great the fishing AND the town were. Can you also imagine how big the weigh-in crowds would be?? If the city could get the people there, I am sure the organizers would have kids clinics etc to further promote the sport. Am I living in a fantasy world here?? |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | Rich S - 1/7/2010 10:28 AM
Right on Denny. The more thought I put into this the more I am convinced the city/community should be the ones doing the majority of the promotion for these events, NOT the circuit organizers. The two need to have communication obviously but the city benefits FAR more then the circuit itself. How cool would it be to have "Welcome MWC" or "10% off for MWC anglers" in resturaunt and hotel windows all over the city. Tie it in with the taverns, a gas station, bait shops etc. People will leave here and tell everyone they know how great the fishing AND the town were. Can you also imagine how big the weigh-in crowds would be?? If the city could get the people there, I am sure the organizers would have kids clinics etc to further promote the sport. Am I living in a fantasy world here??
Well Rich, That seems to be the problem, the gray areas of this business. I am sure that the circuits are asking for hand outs to bring THE SHOW to a town near you. However, they, the circuits and the towns, are not doing a good job of telling the business' and such in these communities what is going on. I can tell you when the PWT was in winneconne, that town was jumping. The locals had there ducks in a row as well. The reprocussion from that event is still being felt.
With all that said, the weigh ins for AIM that are on the inter net are pretty cool and the host communities oughta have a advertisement that runs periodically during the weighins. The host is paying so they should get this. I expect the viewership will expand greatly this year. As far as I can see, that is the only way to watch a weigh in, CRR.
As for kids events and other deals to draw more spectators, I just feel that you are wasting resource monies. I think you have to tell the fishing world how great of a destination there towns are. Maximize the return on investment. If the host would look at the monies they spend to get the circuit into there town as advertising dollars and treat them as such, they would get a good ROI. Force the fishing world to acknowledge that the area is what drew them there and that it is a great place to fish.
As far as the circuit benefitting, they allready did when they were paid to bring the show to town. Now, its all about the circuit living up to the expectations set forth for the event. They cannot or should have to advertise to the local public about the event. Thats where the towns take over.
I am rambling but I feel strongly about many items in the walleye world. |
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| stacker - 1/7/2010 9:31 AM 3 to 5 times the amount spent is the formula used for economic impact. I'm not sure I can buy into that. If that were true, the streets of Oshkosh should be paved with gold from the cash EAA brings in. Or at least the tax rate should be lower than a comparable city with no EAA. Do you think that is the case? Obviously there is a positive impact...I just don't think it's as significant as that from the city government's viewpoint.
Edited by thumper 1/7/2010 11:46 AM
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Location: Berlin | Big difference between the EAA and tournaments. Air show is only once a year but you can go fishing all year long. That is why it is 3-5 times that. Make Oshkosh a tourist destination by way of these events and the money will continue to flow. |
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Location: Menasha, WI | stacker - 1/7/2010 9:35 AM RNT - 1/7/2010 1:13 AM It would be a good thing...but the economic impact view is totally different from a city with a population of 2,000 to 20,000 people compared to one that has a population of 65,000. The council members look at things totally different. Can you take the time to explain what it is you are saying. I don't want to speak for RNT, but I assume he's saying that the impact of equal $ spent between two communities will be more significant on the smaller of the two relative to their overall economic activity.
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| "A new economic impact study conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh shows that EAA AirVenture Oshkosh brings an estimated $110 million economic impact to Oshkosh-area counties each year. The university's Center for Community Partnerships conducted the independent study during last summer's event, surveying visitors from every U.S. state and 15 other nations about their length of stay, daily spending, overall impressions of the event and other demographic information.
The study indicates a direct economic impact of $84 million, with $26 million in multiplier or "ripple" effects in secondary spending and job creation."
This study would seem to discount the "3-5 times" theory.
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| Sure I’ll explain my thought a little more. Thumper has a good portion of it correct. A tournament has a good economic impact for smaller communities, but Oshkosh has things that that go on that dwarf the size and scope of a fishing tournament…EAA is one of them. When you approach a city that has an event that brings in over 100 million dollars, has it plastered all over the news within the state and out, and then try to tell them about the economic impact of a fishing tournament that in most cases will more than likely not produce major news for the city…honestly I think it is a bad move. The city probably will not care.
The state bowling championships are being held in Oshkosh over the next 2 months and the economic impact from that is estimated at over 3 million dollars…but the city does not roll out the red carpet for that event…in fact it probably does not show up on anyone’s radar.
I would drop the economic impact of a tournament argument when it comes to Oshkosh and concentrate on a long term goal with the city to make Oshkosh a must stop for fishing and use the tournament to explain how it will help to achieve that goal…make it a long term project, not a short economic impact argument. Show how by having a tournament in Oshkosh will, over time, help build the city into a draw for fishermen. Show how the economic impact will happen over time with the increased usage of their boat launches and local businesses. Even aid the city with ideas to help make the city a bigger draw over all. Try approaching them as a “city development” instead of an “event organizer”
The one thing not to do is over play the impact of the event to the community you are presenting it to. The economic impact argument alone will work with smaller communities…but with cities the size of Oshkosh you need to take a different approach.
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | From one economist to another you will have various opinions. If i wanted to go searching the internet I could find studies backing my theory. 84 million is spent in oshkosh and the surrounding area? Now that seems steep.
remember that a dollar brought into an area will be spent 3-5 times before its drizzles out. If 84 million is brought in, there are more than 26 million in respending dont ya think? Otherwise someone has an awful lot stacked up somewhere. Remember that the over time that is payed to the foor service workers is bonus money for them and is surely spent on tvs and stuff and remember the guy who sells tvs will sell more because of the over time the waitress got so he is making extra money and he decides that he wants a new atv so I make money extra that I did not expect because he bought something from money he did not expect so I go out and I spend it at Tews too because I want new baits and they benefit from it...... see where this is going.
84 million is one hell of alot of money. |
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