University/College Skydiving Club help!

[pilotdave 0]

The website is definitely critical. I designed the maryland site (http://www.umdskydiving.com. We decided to purchase a domain name so the address would be easier to remember. That just makes fliers more effective. To save myself a ton of work, I set up a web-based signup form for first timers to sign up to jump. I also created an access database to store all the information. Saved HOURS of work for each trip (one a month) to the DZ for first timers.

Maryland is located about 2 hours from the nearest DZ, so it was really a big trip for the first timers. We'd carpool down, so making sure everyone had a ride was very time consuming. The database really simplified the process. And after all rides were worked out, I could send out an email to everyone on the trip with the list of who is riding with who with only a few clicks of the mouse.

The new president doesn't know how easy he has it...
Dave

[WrongWay 0]

I was involved with the OSU club, and am now in the OU club. There's an unforunate percentage that kills all hopes of having a college club with the same running members every year.

Only 3% of all tandems become skydivers.

Enough said. Sorry pal.

Wrong Way
D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451
The wiser wolf prevails.

[airtwardo 6]

This is a letter that was published in "Parachutist"
a few months back....
It was in answer to a letter from a student
about the high cost of going to the nationals...

May spark some thought~
*********************************************

I took special interest in the ‘Who Foots the Bill’ articles in Februarys “Letters and Viewpoints” section.
Like the author of the first letter , I went to Southern Illinois University. And like the author of the second, I went to my first Collegiate Nationals in 1980.
Reading the letter from SIU’s Mr. Lee, I question which has changed in these 20 some years, the University or the Student.
I actually decided upon Southern Illinois University as I was told they had an active parachute team. Unfortunately I was to later find out that if there was to be a team, it would be up to me and another rookie jumper to start it. We did, and in the process learned more than any business class could hope to offer.
Perhaps a few ideas on how we got to the Nationals back then, would be of some help to the current club.
You might start by thinking big, endeavor to be the top sports organization on campus. Become visible, generate interest. We advertised like crazy for members, experienced jumpers and hopefuls alike, all were welcomed. We gave presentations in the Student Union, Dorms, Frats, to other athletic clubs and student organizations...anywhere, anyone would have us. In no time, we had one of the largest club memberships on campus. Join the club and get a cool skydiving tee-shirt, and your picture in the club newsletter to send home to Mom. Soon our team/club Name and Logo were everywhere. There is power in numbers, especially if you work toward a positive goal. Our goal was to take ten team members to the Nationals, and the club worked toward it, from every angle we could think of.
We volunteered our people for food drives, Special Olympics, City-Clean-Up day. Skydiving generates media interest, press releases to City and Campus Television, Radio and Newspapers ran often, mentioning what we were up to ‘this week’. All proceeds our volunteer efforts brought, went into the competition fund. I made a deal with the local DZO for a donation of $20.00 for all 1st jump students the club brought to jump at the dropzone. Half went into the fund, half was the club members discount. As a Jumpmaster and Instructor, I taught the static-line course on campus weekly and jumpmastered them the following weekend. We never had a class numbering less than ten.
The DZO made money and the club made money.
Upon invitation, members of the Golden Knights came to an on campus meeting to school us on relative work competition, as well as do a bit of ARMY recruiting. Bill Hayes, then the regional director came to our dropzone to give instruction on Style and Accuracy. Club member’s motivation and morale was unbelievable.
We quickly became one of the more popular sports organizations on campus, with both students and faculty.
The positive press became leverage on our behalf when we approached the university for funds to “assist” us in representing our university in National Collegiate Competition. We researched all aspects of our proposal. We assured the board maximum benefit for a relatively minimal fraction of their activities budget. We represented ourselves in a professional manner, handouts from USPA, DZ photos, press clippings and testimonials were part of the presentation package.
We found the university to be very receptive to our approach.
They agreed to supply us with a transport van and fuel, camping equipment, entrance fees, and enough jump tickets for a few weekends of team practice prior to the nationals.
There was enough extra money in our club fund to pay all expenses for a weekend of inter-club competition to select the top ten that would go to Arizona.
Upon returning to school following the national meet, we gave the school board our written report. In addition to the Parachutist article covering the event, we included our observations, recommendations and goals for the following year. They were impressed enough to contract the team to perform demos into home football games. When I graduated in May of ‘81, there was over a thousand dollars in the club fund, and what the other officers and I believed to be a successful blueprint for a continued involvement in State and National competition.
Recently I visited the SIU skydiving club’s website, and I have to wonder if the club’s officers are utilizing their available resources to the fullest.
In college you are literally surrounded with smart, talented, energetic individuals looking to add achievements to a resume. Take that available labor pool, and build a company. Create a mission statement and break into teams, use the marketing people, the communications people, students of public relations and business.
Be creative, think ‘out of the box’ for ways to achieve your organization’s goals. College is a great place to start developing those kinds of skills, trust me it won’t be any easier once you hit the job market.
It appears as though the relative cost to take a team to the Collegiate Nationals really hasn’t changed much in the 20 years since I competed. I’m hoping my old club’s desire and determination to do what it takes to get there hasn’t changed either.


Jim Twardowski
D-13077
Liberty Parachute Team

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[JumpCrazy 0]

thanks for that information airtwardo!

It sounds like we have a lot of work ahead of us if we want to make our club great!
-edit....can't spell

Flying Hellfish #470

[airtwardo 6]

Quote

thanks for that information aritwardo!

It sounds like we have a lot of work ahead of us if we want to make our club great!

***
You bet!

If there is anything I can help you with..
or answer any questions....let me know!!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[panzwami 0]

I was the President of the Sport Parachute Club at Georgia Tech for a while, and we dealt with many of the same issues that you are dealing with.

Since you have an established club already, you are way ahead of the game. Most of the time, the hardest thing to do is actually get the club established, since a lot of schools think it's too large a risk to associate with an organization of people that do what we do. Since you already have the club itself established, you are already doing well. Just don't do anything that would endanger your relationship with the school.

Probably the biggest thing you can do, as has thus far been aptly explained, is get yourselves known. You would be amazed how many of your own students don't have the first idea that your club even exists ("You mean there's a SKYDIVING club, too???"). It's not a typical sport club activity, as soccer or ultimate frisbee would be, so people don't even think to look for it. As such, the club has to provide an avenue for people to first learn about, and then experience, skydiving. So, take every opportunity to publicize. Set up a table at the beginning of every term when they have "club awareness day" or whatever they call it, but also at random times during the term. Put up fliers EVERYWHERE, in dorms, dining halls, classroom buildings, anyplace that students go. (Having an informative website is a huge help here, because you can put the URL on the flyer and people can check your club out.)

The next thing to do is actively recruit people to jump. There are definitely enough people at your school to sustain a club, but a lot of times you have to pester them for a while until they get serious. Split the cost of a few club t-shirts with all the active jumpers, and have everyone wear it one day and stand in the middle of campus and talk to EVERYONE that walks by. Get a TV and roll some vid, bust some techno, make a lot of noise, and demand peoples' attention.

Next, go talk to other groups on campus. Schedule times to talk to fraternities, sororities, residence hall groups, OTHER CLUBS - they are always looking for things to do with their groups. A lot of times, they have their own sources of funding, so the club or residence hall may be able to pitch in some of the cost for each person who wants to jump. Residence halls are especially good targets, since often times the school will provide money to the Resident Advisor to plan events for the students, and the RA will be receptive to your idea because it's something cool he or she can do with the kids.

Skydiving is the sort of activity that is most often spread by word of mouth. You don't usually get a group of 50 people who all decide at once that they want to jump. Instead, you convince three or four people who want to go, and they get their friends to do it, and they get their friends to do it, and so on, until suddenly you have a large group. In a lot of cases, DZ's will charge full price per tandem for groups up to 5 people, but will start knocking the price down more and more as the group gets bigger. It gives even more incentive for people to get their friends to come along. I remember one time in particular, we had a group of 75 or so tandems that all came to jump one weekend. The DZ had given them some insanely low price (like $115) per tandem, so people couldn't sign up fast enough. Only a small percentage of tandem students will actually stick it out and get certified, but if you get more tandems to jump, you have a better chance of getting upjumpers.

There are also some things you can do for people who want to become upjumpers. Again, there may be upjumpers there who don't know you have a club, so publicity is big. But I think the best thing you could do is figure out a way to get some club gear for members to use. Most poor college kids don't have a couple g's to drop on gear, so having rigs that students can jump is a HUGE draw. I know it seems like a tall order, but it might not be. The most obvious thing to do is ask the school for the money. Section 10 of this document says that your school does give grants to clubs and outlines the procedure for applying for one. Usually it involves speaking to the student council and trying to get them to vote for your grant, which is good, because students get excited when they find out you're asking for skydiving gear. It's a lot easier to convince them than it is to convince a bunch of old profs. If you can show that there are students who would benefit from having the gear, and that you have shopped around and found the best price for quality gear, you might have a good shot at it. The idea is for the school to provide activities that the students want, so if you can show that people want this, you might get it. It also helps if you can find a specific DZ that will give you good deals on student jumps and upjumper tickets in return for your bringing all your business there.

Also, as club execs, it's a big help if you are willing to give your own time and effort to help get people jumping. For example, if there's someone who wants to do an AFF but doesn't have a car, someone from the club should suck it up and drive him or her out to the DZ. Sometimes you may have other stuff to do, but it goes a long way toward keeping people interested.

Basically, anything that you can do to make it easier for people to get out and jump will help. Get your club out there, get the word out, and do anything you can think of to get someone else to cover the bill. It may seem crazy, but you never know what will work. The worst they can do is say no.

Matt

[sdgregory 0]

Hey Jim! I knew you would post here! Thanks for that! Thanks for being so willing to help all our clubs as well.




To all other clubs:

One thing that will definitely help all our clubs is getting together. It is a big bonus when you can say "We meet with OU, PSU, etc. We get together, compete and then party together and maybe even do inter school dives."

We all need to think about getting to gether a few times a year to jump together. It helps build a public-profile. It also helps get money from your prospective athletic funds.

[airtwardo 6]

Quote

Hey Jim! I knew you would post here! Thanks for that! Thanks for being so willing to help all our clubs as well.

***

Sean~

Like I told you on the phone, it's a brotherhood!

The greatest extended family one could ever hope to have.

My intentions in helping college clubs are,
as with doing demos...

To create interest in our sport, and increase membership
in our organization as a whole.

As stated in my letter above, with numbers
comes power.

I firmly believe we all should be doing whatever we
can to assist in the development and progression of
the Skydivers of tomorrow!


Editorial done...(soapbox broken)

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

• Quote

[panzwami 0]

Quote

We all need to think about getting to gether a few times a year to jump together. It helps build a public-profile. It also helps get money from your prospective athletic funds.

There are at least a few collegiate-themed events during the year. Obviously, Collegiates is one. There's always a good turnout for the competition. The Collegiate Boogie at Williston is another. After Williston a couple years ago, the clubs at UFlorida, Georgia Tech, and others each had large articles printed about them in their respective school papers. It definitely helped create some good publicity for the clubs. School papers love to write about this stuff.

Matt
-----

[Kennedy 0]

ahem, Terps were there, cough cough

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[panzwami 0]

Oh yeah, there were at least a dozen or so schools at the boogie. I know a bunch had articles in the school paper using some pictures we took on a 6-school 6-way. I couldn't remember all the schools that did, tho.

But yes, Maryland was represented famously. Tink1717 (from UMD) is on the bottom of that picture, in the middle. I'm in the black suit with yellow grippers on his left. I think the other schools on the jump were UFlorida, FIU, ERAU, and Auburn. Incidentally, as you can probably tell, that photo was snapped half a second before the dive funneled completely.

Matt