• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

Military Bowl Roll Call + Logistics & Tailgating Thread

Driving up day of the game and have 11 Pikas going to the game, spending the night at Annapolis Courtyard Marriott I believe and dinner after the game at Osteria 177 near The Harbor.
 
i'm sure $40 is a fine price for maximizing revenue, i just think its short sighted. my main point of comparison is when i went to the rose bowl when fsu played auburn and fsu hosted their official tailgate that was priced really well and was super well attended / generally set the mood well -- was an awesome experience that id like for us to emulate, better than having fractured tailgates imo.
 
DrG41 said:
The Franklin folks frown at this.
Click to expand...

Which is why Fellowls is the term I'm pretty sure.

But seriously, we're complaining about the cost of a catered event by the stadium that includes a couple of drinks and BBQ, sides, and dessert options? I'd guess the BBQ is probably from Red Hot & Blue, given their connections to Wake/Winston and the fact that they have a location in Annapolis.

There's a free tailgate where I'm sure you can get plenty of hot dogs and frozen burgers on a pay-as-you-go basis if that suits the budget better. http://militarybowl.org/tailgate/
 
PM please. said:
Which is why Fellowls is the term I'm pretty sure.

But seriously, we're complaining about the cost of a catered event by the stadium that includes a couple of drinks and BBQ, sides, and dessert options? I'd guess the BBQ is probably from Red Hot & Blue, given their connections to Wake/Winston and the fact that they have a location in Annapolis.

There's a free tailgate where I'm sure you can get plenty of hot dogs and frozen burgers on a pay-as-you-go basis if that suits the budget better. http://militarybowl.org/tailgate/
Click to expand...

Welcome to this message board.

MFF.
 
TheReff said:
Driving up day of the game and have 11 Pikas going to the game, spending the night at Annapolis Courtyard Marriott I believe and dinner after the game at Osteria 177 near The Harbor.
Click to expand...

Osteria is really, really good Italian, but it seems like a weird place to have a dinner with your old frat brothers - white tablecloth, fairly quiet/classy when I've been. I might suggest calling Lewnes' Steakhouse instead and seeing if you can get a private room.
 
DCDeac said:
You are? You're sure?
Click to expand...

yeah, i'm sure it's reasonable since they have plenty of historical data to work with.

ultimtely, this is a business problem with fairly simple structure:

1) what is the goal of the tailgate? probably several -- short-term, making money / preventing monetary loss; perhaps getting people to attend the game. long term, it's deepening relationships which should turn into more donations down the line. there's a balancing act between the two.

2) what's the best way to promote the tailgate (i.e. whats the marketing mix).

my personal opinion is that trying to have a "definitive" deacon tailgate would have the biggest positive benefit to the program based on what i've seen at other bowl games. probably accomplished with lower prices and more resources spent on marketing the tailgate. obviously a bit of a philosophical issue, short-term vs long-term, etc. but i'd be concerned if our AD weren't thinking about events (and fairly major events) in this framework.

fyi, temple's official tailgate (http://www.alumni.temple.edu/s/705/alumni/16/interior.aspx?sid=705&gid=1&pgid=8932&content_id=11060) is $20 for essentially the exact same offer (food + 2 drink tickets). so clearly their approach is slightly different from our AD.
 
ReplacementDeac said:
yeah, i'm sure it's reasonable since they have plenty of historical data to work with.

ultimtely, this is a business problem with fairly simple structure:

1) what is the goal of the tailgate? probably several -- short-term, making money / preventing monetary loss; perhaps getting people to attend the game. long term, it's deepening relationships which should turn into more donations down the line. there's a balancing act between the two.

2) what's the best way to promote the tailgate (i.e. whats the marketing mix).

my personal opinion is that trying to have a "definitive" deacon tailgate would have the biggest positive benefit to the program based on what i've seen at other bowl games. probably accomplished with lower prices and more resources spent on marketing the tailgate. obviously a bit of a philosophical issue, short-term vs long-term, etc. but i'd be concerned if our AD weren't thinking about events (and fairly major events) in this framework.

fyi, temple's official tailgate (http://www.alumni.temple.edu/s/705/alumni/16/interior.aspx?sid=705&gid=1&pgid=8932&content_id=11060) is $20 for essentially the exact same offer (food + 2 drink tickets). so clearly their approach is slightly different from our AD.
Click to expand...

So you think Wake needs better relationships to solicit donations with people who aren't willing to pay $40 for a tailgate with two drinks? Really hard to argue with that logic.
 
Miserable Fucking Fanbase.

Don't like it? Do what we're doing and make your own food in the parking lot. Guarantee what we're cooking will be better than whatever warmed over BBQ buffet Wake puts together. Stop relying on the same athletic department run by Ron Wellman to make your game-day perfect and do it yourself.

Having a good time with fellow Deacs is what keeps me and our crew coming back, even when the football is hot garbage.
 
JDawg said:
Osteria is really, really good Italian, but it seems like a weird place to have a dinner with your old frat brothers

Thanks, I was actually hoping it was good Italian as we have several with us and this is our normal travel bunch who go to an away game every year and have some nice meals. This is also our some of our normal tailgate bunch. Places on the water were booked around 8:00 but this one looked great.
Click to expand...
 
ArsenalDeac said:
Miserable Fucking Fanbase.

Don't like it? Do what we're doing and make your own food in the parking lot. Guarantee what we're cooking will be better than whatever warmed over BBQ buffet Wake puts together. Stop relying on the same athletic department run by Ron Wellman to make your game

Exactly what we are doing. One of our MD guys is coming with his van full of tail gate goodies! Ready to roll with 11 of us and we are going to meet at the Courtyard parking lot and go over together so we can find a parking lot near the stadium together.
Click to expand...
 
ArsenalDeac said:
Miserable Fucking Fanbase.

Don't like it? Do what we're doing and make your own food in the parking lot. Guarantee what we're cooking will be better than whatever warmed over BBQ buffet Wake puts together. Stop relying on the same athletic department run by Ron Wellman to make your game-day perfect and do it yourself.

Having a good time with fellow Deacs is what keeps me and our crew coming back, even when the football is hot garbage.
Click to expand...

Yup. TITCR.

People just look for reasons to complain. If you don't want to go to the tailgate then do it yourself and quit bitching.
 
I just can't get over Replacement's logic about scaring away potential donors. I just imagine someone being like "You know, I was strongly considering a $10k gift to the Annual Fund over the next 5 years, but $40 for a tailgate seems a little too high".
 
Deacfreak07 said:
I just can't get over Replacement's logic about scaring away potential donors. I just imagine someone being like "You know, I was strongly considering a $10k gift to the Annual Fund over the next 5 years, but $40 for a tailgate seems a little too high".
Click to expand...

I don't think it's scaring away donors per se, but actually Arsenal's exact point:

"Having a good time with fellow Deacs is what keeps me and our crew coming back, even when the football is hot garbage."

So I probably misspoke when I said the long-term benefit was just donations, but really deepening relationships with Deacon fans in general so they'll keep coming back (donations are part of that). A couple people mentioned how to make gameday perfect -- for me, that's bringing every single possible Deacon fan together in a single tailgate. Obviously the lower the value of the official tailgate, the more people will end up doing their own thing -- as several people on this thread have already mentioned. On the other hand, if the tag ends up being right and 6 people show up, well that would be pretty lame for everyone.

So ultimately, I do like the passion from everyone, and I don't want to come off as complaining (I already bought several tailgate tickets), but rather just questioning what I see as short-shortsightedness from the AD. Why do you think Temple's tailgate half the price as ours? I'm sure there are a bunch of factors, but I'm guessing part of it is a conscious effort from their AD to build a really good bowl atmosphere for fans.

It's really the same concept that has the Deacon Club doing tours around the country, saying hi to donors, setting up meet & greets and meals with high profile people in the AD, etc. Clearly this tailgate is not being considered the same tier of event, but I think it should get similar thought.
 
Last edited:
ReplacementDeac said:
I don't think it's scaring away donors per se, but actually Arsenal's exact point:

"Having a good time with fellow Deacs is what keeps me and our crew coming back, even when the football is hot garbage."

So I probably misspoke when I said the long-term benefit was just donations, but really deepening relationships with Deacon fans in general so they'll keep coming back (donations are part of that). A couple people mentioned how to make gameday perfect -- for me, that's bringing every single possible Deacon fan together in a single tailgate. Obviously the lower the value of the official tailgate, the more people will end up doing their own thing -- as several people on this thread have already mentioned. On the other hand, if the tag ends up being right and 6 people show up, well that would be pretty lame for everyone.

So ultimately, I do like the passion from everyone, and I don't want to come off as complaining (I already bought several tailgate tickets), but rather just questioning what I see as short-shortsightedness from the AD. Why do you think Temple's tailgate half the price as ours? I'm sure there are a bunch of factors, but I'm guessing part of it is a conscious effort from their AD to build a really good bowl atmosphere for fans.

It's really the same concept that has the Deacon Club doing tours around the country, saying hi to donors, setting up meet & greets and meals with high profile people in the AD, etc. Clearly this tailgate is not being considered the same tier of event, but I think it should get similar thought.
Click to expand...

I don't know what their goals are for their tailgate. I don't think a cheap meal before an overpriced game is what is standing in the way of Wake expanding its fanbase though.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
I don't know what their goals are for their tailgate. I don't think a cheap meal before an overpriced game is what is standing in the way of Wake expanding its fanbase though.
Click to expand...

Expanding a fanbase is about building a brand, and little things are really important in doing that -- the same way that holding an "official" gamewatch in a random city helps, the same way that Randolph Childress meeting people for Happy Hour helps, the same way that getting breakfast from your Deacon Club rep every few months helps, etc.

I don't think it's too much to ask that the AD (which is managing a ton of money + resources) to be critically thinking about it's actions, both short and long-term.
 
I think it's got to be asked: did Temple get the goods from L.Rod?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top