DZ recruiting...your opinion please

[justaflygirl 0]

In the approx 18 months Ive been jumping, skydiving has totally consumed my life. I am defintily not the same person I was in May of 03 when I started jumping. Heres what Im wondering: I grew up in central Florida minutes from Z-Hills, Lakewales, and about 1.5 hrs from Deland. However, i never knew that skydiving was something I could just go do. What I am wanting to pursue is somewhat of a DZ recruiting job, going to colleges, different businesses etc, and encouraging them to jump, (Yes I think it is that great, and everyone should do it at least once). I wasnt going to approach this half-assed either, I was going to get videos, facts and other important tid bits together and educate the non-jumping world and attempt to get more people interested in jumping.
I was wanting some opinions from the board on weather or not, you think something like this could work? I have had people tell me several times in the past, that the excitement I feel as ajumper totally over flows me and it is very obvious that I am very passionate about skydiving.

[peregrinerose 0]

I don't think this is necessarily a great idea. Accidents happen. How will you feel if someone you 'recruited' got hurt?

Anyone who has voluntarily left a plane is not the same person as they were the moment before exiting the aircraft. I agree it is valuable experience, and changes the perspective of how one looks at things. But it isn't for everyone.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[Tailgate 0]

I do not recruit people but those that know me know that when asked about skydiving, I will start talking a lot. I do not "recruit" people, but if they ask me I will tell them about my experience and also about the hazards.

There are a couple of folks at work who are interested in doing a tandem. I only talk skydiving to them when they ask me about it, and always let them know that it is their choice.One individual, has a very young child and I pointed out the possible dangers when he asked me about tandems and AFF.
I try to not encourage or discourage people, just tell them of my limited experience.

if you are going into being a DZ recruiter, your job will be to get people to the DZ to jump at least a tendem. Not a bad gig.

_________________________________________________
Let me live in my house by the side of the road and be a friend to man- Sam Walter Foss

[elfanie 0]

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I don't think this is necessarily a great idea. Accidents happen. How will you feel if someone you 'recruited' got hurt?

*snip*
But it isn't for everyone.

Nobody would get hooked into a tandem harness and jump out of an airplane unless they wanted to. If I talked to someone and "recruited" someone and they jumped and got hurt..I'd feel bad, of course...but certainly not responsible. they are adults, they are making an informed decision..

it's not for everyone...and everyone isn't going to jump just because one of us said, "it's awesome!". Nothing wrong with advertising and spreading the word...which is all that person was talking about doing.

--------------------------------------------
Elfanie
My Skydiving Page
Fly Safe - Soft Landings

[skybill 18]

Hi Fly,
Just let your own enthusiasm do the job. When confronted by a whuffo about your jumping, with all your cool and debonaire just asy,"Why yes, I skydive!!" You don't have to "talk" anybody into jumping. Your lifestyle will do it all!!!!!!!!

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[AggieDave 6]

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You don't have to "talk" anybody into jumping. Your lifestyle will do it all!!!!!!!!

Trying to talk a whuffo into jumping will pretty much get you no where. If they're interested, they'll say something that will tell you their interested in going. Trying to convince a whuffo...it gets old and you'll hear the same old bullshit cliches over and over and over again. You'll get to a point where you want to kick them in the face for being idiots.

On the flip side, a skydiving shirt will bring folks to you, they'll be excited and ask questions and will really want to know how to get started.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[crotalus01 0]

recruiting? dont bother. my whuffo friends constantly give me shit, one even told me if i bounced he would laugh because thats what dumbasses who jump out of PGAs get. Aggiedave is right on target - wear a skydiving teeshirt around...if someone is interested they will ask.

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...

[DZJ 0]

In my limited experience, just mentioning that I skydive is enough to excite people's interest. The vast majority of people have never even met a skydiver, never mind chatted to one and discovered that we aren't suicidal, deathwish-crazed maniacs. There have been a couple of people that have been fascinated, and grilled me about every detail of a jump, almost to the point of going to second-by-second detail. And there are others, of course, who aren't interested. I don't seek to recruit, but I do encourage those that show an interest to pursue it.

[President 0]

Speaking of which - where do I get a good skydiving t-shirt ?

My dropzone offers rather lame white t-shirts with the name of the dropzone on it - unlikely to ignite any interest.

[pilotdave 0]

I dunno what everyone is talking about. Recruiting is another word for advertising. Dropzones need to advertise. Tandems are how they stay in business. Any DZ would love to have someone recruiting lots of tandems.

I don't think you could make a job out of it, but I bet you could get some free jumps. I bet you'd quickly get tired of it though. 99% of the people you'll meet will fit in 2 categories. There are the people that get all excited and can't wait to do it but then never actually show up, and the people that think you're crazy or stupid and won't hesitate to tell you.

At least that's how it went when I was the president of a collegiate skydiving club. It was worth it though to see the smiles on people's faces that actually did do it.

Dave

[AggieDave 6]

There are a good handful of shirt companies out there.

I can't remember all of them off the top of my head, but I know there was a thread about it a while back. Try a search and I'm sure you'll find it.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[algboy 0]

My personal experience is that the more I jump, the less time I spend--or care about--recruiting. Maybe there's some kind of ego-need in the early stages, but after awhile I just got tired of the whuffo BS and excuses--I just jump for ME.

Anyone who finds out that I jump will get plenty of info from me (even back issues of skydiving mags & videos) but only if I sense a genuine interest. The dyed-in-the-wool groundhogs aren't worth the effort.

"It's not for everyone . . ." (with an indifferent shrug) has become my standard line to those who seem more interested in dissing than discussing the sport I love. I suppose it'll only get worse as I acquire some real jump numbers.

“Keep your elbow up!"

[freeryde13 0]

do it , do it , do it. i got recrited myself. i got asked for about 4 years to do it. and kept being like ...blah blah blah. but finnally the persistance paid off and i'm glad the girl who recrited me did.

_________________________________________

people see me as a challenge to their balance

[justdumi 0]

Sounds cool and im sure with your enthiusiasm you will make a great marketer for the sport. Things is it can really be frustrating trying to approach people and talk to them about the sport. The average whuffo knows very little about the sport to the point of irritating ignorance...eg "hey how do those skydivers manage to float in the air like that?"

Thing is the it seems skydiving affects people in different ways at different times. Whenyou start and it hits you have the excitement to talk to everyone you meet about it...then the more adverse encounters you have with the less informed the less you care about them and start to keep your excitement to yourself and those who also skydive. Then you become a professional in the sport and see the need to interact with the greater world once again..but by this stage you have experience on how to approach non skydivers...or even better..how to get them to approach you.

It sounds like a great idea but have a game plan ready. Speak to some of the more experienced jumpers and those that have been around for ages and see if they can give you tips. You will probably get lots of support from your DZ or skydiving community because they just probably dont have the energy to chase anymore but if you chased and brought them onboard for talks, presentations...demo jumps etc...it could just work!!

Good luck..and stay strong.

oh and if someone gets hurt it can weigh on your mind a bit but by no means is it your fault for telling them to skydive. Everyone is told about the risks involved whether they are tandeming or AFF.

..and the way the world is shallow...you will find being a woman skydiving marketing operative produces more positive results than when us dudes try it...im not too sure why.

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[gordy 0]

Wish you all the best with it, but in my experience speaking to whuffos you generally get a couple of responses....
1) No.
2) Always wanted to try that....
3) Hell yeah

2 and 3 are most common, 3 will occasionally bite, but excuses such as "can't afford it just now" or "just don't have time" are common...

So if this is a career move, I would have another way of making $$ to supplement it. Please don't think this is meant to be negative as its just my observation.

[bigway 4]

I do marketing for a dz in new zealand and am currently in the Uk offering packages to learn to skydive in new zealand by flying to new zealand and back doing the aff course for 100 pounds cheaper than it is to do it here. Sounds good but i am a traveller and do this on my own expense, i have great packages to offer and you would think i could live of this......but.......i also work a 70 hour week in a pub.
Back home when marketing, i also need to do camera or pack. I can offer 200 jump packages for cheaper than anywhere i know of in the world but the reality is...well i belive....you can not make a living of this so i am not trying to. I belive the only way to make a living of this is to be employed by a dz as a full time marketing manager with a salary. There are under half a million people that skydive as a sport in the world. Most people that do tandems in my country come from organised tour operators that are well established and take 15-20% commission per jumper. I belive if you have a passion for getting other people to skydive like i do, a way to see this through is to bring ideas to a dz for a year while working elswhere and prove that you can bring 1000 jumpers a year (tandems or students) and take commission and then ask for a marketing position in the company.
Or , get your jump numbers up and teach students. The reality is a lot of people get by working in the industry and it is not easy to get enough people to skydive that do not already want to do it. I offer packages that make skydiving affordable and even give free accomodation and beer but only sell these packages on average one every couple of weeks. Good luck and maybe you will find what you are looking for in the states but realise you will need around a 1000 new jumpers a year to make enough to live of( working on a 15% commission)

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
.

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Some of the best passive advertising one can do is wearing skydiving t-shirts and having DZ logos on your car with the phone number. Bumber stickers don't do much in my opinion, but nice vinyl graphics really get attention.

Chuck

[GravityGirl 0]

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Speaking of which - where do I get a good skydiving t-shirt ?

My dropzone offers rather lame white t-shirts with the name of the dropzone on it - unlikely to ignite any interest.

Grrrrrrr.

Um. I mean. Kindly come upstairs to the Pro Shop, and if I don't have any shirts you like, I can point you in the right direction to a vendor that carries your style.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[diablopilot 2]

Bon-bon, put the large heavy blunt object down, and back away from the customer, they know not what they've said.


For those who don't know, Bonnie has more style in her little finger than most people can expect to have in their life. Now if she could just swoop, she'd be cool.

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[flyangel2 2]

It's okay Bonnie, I like your girly shirts and bought enough of them at WFFC.

I'm so glad that more and more vendors are making girly shirts.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[Stacy 0]

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I'm so glad that more and more vendors are making girly shirts.

Yeah. Deuce likes them better.

__

[flyangel2 2]

But I like him in a thong better

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[GravityGirl 0]

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Bon-bon, put the large heavy blunt object down, and back away from the customer, they know not what they've said.


For those who don't know, Bonnie has more style in her little finger than most people can expect to have in their life. Now if she could just swoop, she'd be cool.

Now that sounds like a challenge! You. Me. Chix Rock. Swoop 'n Chug. Bring it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[smiles 0]

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What I am wanting to pursue is somewhat of a DZ recruiting job, going to colleges, different businesses etc, and encouraging them to jump,

Get goin with your accurracy skills and become a demo jumper. I think demo's promoting the sport you love with class- is a great way to recruit people.

SMiles

[flyhi 24]

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It's okay Bonnie, I like your girly shirts and bought enough of them at WFFC.

My favorite:

"Does this canopy make my ass look fast?"

Shit happens. And it usually happens because of physics.