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Clawson pleading for a big deacon turnout on Saturday

Tobacco Road said:
Marketing the team is definitely part of a coach’s job description. That’s why there are coach’s shows and why they speak at athletic club and other alumni events.
That was one of Skip’s strengths as a coach.
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Skip and Grobe used to attend some alumni events together- good times.
 
Tobacco Road said:
Marketing the team is definitely part of a coach’s job description. That’s why there are coach’s shows and why they speak at athletic club and other alumni events.
That was one of Skip’s strengths as a coach.
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That stuff is definitely part of the coach’s job but overall fan engagement, ticket promos, etc falls within the AD.
 
Of course those things are important responsibilities of the AD. I’m responding to the comment that it isn’t Clawson’s to share.
 
DeacAssured said:
Few suggestions:
- personal outreach by Clawson in the Triad at all levels; attendance to winning football can be good for business just as golf can be; use to be true for basketball
- improvements in the lots for tailgating and more emphasis in marketing for tailgating
- WF needs to triple size of band and select simpler music; use high schools, etc. (not impressive as is)
- improvements getting people in their seats at the gates which work well now but can be improved
- Deacon Club needs something similar to IPTAY (I pay $10 a year) because it works. That approach brings in a larger base.
- Recognize this takes years to build a culture unique to our circumstances and that winning alone does not bring out NEW fans which is the goal.
- others have better ideas for certain but they’re not being used currently.
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I totally agree with this post especially the part about the band. The student body is as big as ever and the band seems smaller. Let’s spend some money on scholarships because it matters for gameday atmosphere. Also just brass and drums until we get the numbers up. If we can’t be big, let’s at least be loud.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
I totally agree with this post especially the part about the band. The student body is as big as ever and the band seems smaller. Let’s spend some money on scholarships because it matters for gameday atmosphere. Also just brass and drums until we get the numbers up. If we can’t be big, let’s at least be loud.
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If you limit it to just brass and drums, you are shrinking the band. A woodwind player can't just pick up a brass instrument and play it.
 
Agree with all sentiments about the band. They are embarrassing. The Utah State game was the best because we had the WSSU band. Let former band members play and march. As bad as they sound in the stands, the worst is on the field when they are so tiny.
 
lokisapocalypse said:
If you limit it to just brass and drums, you are shrinking the band. A woodwind player can't just pick up a brass instrument and play it.
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Then pickup another player. I really think the key has to be scholarships. You can’t tell me there aren’t HS band geeks on campus that aren’t in the band.
 
The music department should be receiving a list of all incoming freshmen who took band in high school and they should be contacting all of those prospective freshmen. If so, they're obviously struggling with their recruiting pitch. If not, then it's a missed opportunity. Regardless, because Wake doesn't have a music education degree track, there are very few people coming to Wake because of the Music Department. More scholarships would help some but probably only marginally. Overall, I would guess a higher percentage of our student body participates in the band than at bigger schools like Carolina or State.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
Then pickup another player. I really think the key has to be scholarships. You can’t tell me there aren’t HS band geeks on campus that aren’t in the band.
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There are. And scholarships would certainly help with that. But where is that money going to come from? I was in the marching band a decade ago so things might have changed but we didn't go to every away game because we just didn't have the money. I can't see the athletic department suddenly deciding to pay for full tuition for probably 25-50 students to achieve what I think you'd be happy with.

The fact is that marching band is a thankless job. For game days, it eats up pretty much the entire Saturday. We have to be at the stadium 4 hours before kickoff, then spend another 4 hours at the game. That's in addition to the 4 hours worth of official practice during the week plus whatever else time you want to put in. All that to put on a show during which most people decide is the opportune time to use the bathroom or get a snack.

The low number of students in the marching band is tied directly to the low enrollment Wake has. I believe when I was there, we actually had the highest percentage of students in the band than every other school in the ACC but I don't have the numbers to back it up.

And to further demonstrate why only having brass is a bad idea, Ron Wellman had the exact same idea when I was in the marching band.
 
Rocket said:
The music department should be receiving a list of all incoming freshmen who took band in high school and they should be contacting all of those prospective freshmen. If so, they're obviously struggling with their recruiting pitch. If not, then it's a missed opportunity. Regardless, because Wake doesn't have a music education degree track, there are very few people coming to Wake because of the Music Department. More scholarships would help some but probably only marginally. Overall, I would guess a higher percentage of our student body participates in the band than at bigger schools like Carolina or State.
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I think they used to get this list, and the band grew to its largest size ever as a result of direct, personal marketing. Then the admissions department decided nit to cooperate.
 
WFFaithful said:
I think they used to get this list, and the band grew to its largest size ever as a result of direct, personal marketing. Then the admissions department decided nit to cooperate.
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When I was there, we did and averaged 125 or so. We also received 1 credit for marching and another for concert band which helped the GPA. I'm not sure how the class portion of the band is currently run, but I've heard it changed which took away many of the incentives.

Loki and Rocket, you are correct, we did (and still may) have the largest percentage of enrolled students participating in the band of all ACC members.
 
Rocket said:
The music department should be receiving a list of all incoming freshmen who took band in high school and they should be contacting all of those prospective freshmen. If so, they're obviously struggling with their recruiting pitch. If not, then it's a missed opportunity. Regardless, because Wake doesn't have a music education degree track, there are very few people coming to Wake because of the Music Department. More scholarships would help some but probably only marginally. Overall, I would guess a higher percentage of our student body participates in the band than at bigger schools like Carolina or State.
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I disagree; on senior night, they honored all the senior band members and named their home town. Fully 75% of them are from NC, and many from smaller towns it seemed. I bet scholarships would be very helpful. I don't recall a single kid from more affluent areas like NJ/NY/CT and MA being honored on senior night for the band. Give a damn scholarship to pay for board or 1/2 room, or whatever.
 
tsywake said:
When I was there, we did and averaged 125 or so. We also received 1 credit for marching and another for concert band which helped the GPA. I'm not sure how the class portion of the band is currently run, but I've heard it changed which took away many of the incentives.

Loki and Rocket, you are correct, we did (and still may) have the largest percentage of enrolled students participating in the band of all ACC members.
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As of 2008 (when I graduated), we also got a stipend for marching our junior and senior year. $500 and $750 respectively. I know for the average Wake student that might not be much, but that's still a pretty good check for cheering on the Deacs. Not sure if that is still given.

I'm also still convinced I got in to Wake because I made it a point in my application that I planned to do marching band.
 
MBDeac08 said:
As of 2008 (when I graduated), we also got a stipend for marching our junior and senior year. $500 and $750 respectively. I know for the average Wake student that might not be much, but that's still a pretty good check for cheering on the Deacs. Not sure if that is still given.

I'm also still convinced I got in to Wake because I made it a point in my application that I planned to do marching band.
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The stipend was nice, as was being on staff. A drum major that graduated in '02 said he got a call from admissions, and was on the cusp of getting in. He claimed they'd let him in if he committed to be in the band. Not sure of the validity, but he wasn't ashamed to claim it.
 
What should WF do about:
- improvements in the lots for tailgating and more emphasis in marketing for tailgating
- improvements getting people in their seats at the gates which work well now but can be improved
- Deacon Club needs something similar to IPTAY (I pay $10 a year) to expand to a larger base of INCLUSION.

Recognize this takes years to build a culture unique to our circumstances and that winning alone does not bring out NEW fans which is the goal. Others have better ideas for certain but they’re not being used currently.
 
I wonder if the basketball team sucking for 10 years is a big factor in the band shrinkage. When I was in band a lot of people committed to march on Saturday at our crappy football games because it guaranteed prime seats for basketball and a trip to the ACC and NCAA tournaments for the most committed. Now going to basketball games is punishment and marching hasn't got any easier.
 
I also heard Dave mention on the radio show how we was disappointed about the crowd size for certain games and I don't blame him. They bust their ass during the week and then jog on to the field for a Saturday night game against Louisville etc. and there's a shit crowd to welcome them. It's embarrassing to the players, coaches and the program as a whole.

So we know it's on his mind and in the longterm, those things count when it comes to perception, recruiting, and the overall health of the program. There's no doubt that Dave understood the challenges coming to Wake Forest but I think the part that probably bothers him (just speculation) is that he is building something special and doing things at Wake that have never been done before and it's like pulling teeth to get 20-25k Wake Forest fans to come to a game.

I just hope Currie, the students, and the fans can get this thing figured out. We are going to have to be creative and work together on this. We have the coach, now it's time to start developing a football culture at Wake Forest and that's something that is severely lacking. Btw, are we ever going to be able to do something with the Gold Lot? It's down right embarrassing to have a lot that close to the stadium with hardly any tailgating happening with the exception of the corner folks.

Next years home schedule:

App. St. (Friday Sept 11th)- We know this game while challenging with a Friday night date, will be sold out. That's an
easy one to fill.

Villanova (Sat. Sept 19th)- This game like Elon this year, will be a very challenging game to even halfway fill. There needs to be some damn minor league baseball promos for this one.

No dates yet for the conference games but the teams coming to BB&T are as follows:

Clemson

Boston College

Miami

Syracuse

Just my thoughts. Excited for the next two games.
 
How much did we pay DJ Hek Yeah? Spend that on the band. It’s a gameday investment.
 
Why has the band gotten so small? When I was in school they were much bigger and sounded pretty decent, and that was in the Caldwell era, so it wasn't like football was a big draw then (though basketball probably was). I am sure there has been turnover in leadership since then so maybe that has something to do with it. Whatever happened to that crazy older lady who I think was an assistant director for years?
 
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