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STAR 2018 Full survey results

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Landon:

--- Quote from: Patmo on July 20, 2018, 07:17:35 AM ---
Sending out postcard “reminders” to encourage people to both purchase raffle tickets, and to attend STAR (put pictures of the bike and/or the STAR location on them) is something we can look at too.  Postcards are much less expensive to mail out, we can get bulk rates, and it can be easily automated so that it takes little or no labor on the part of anyone in the club to get them sent out.


--- End quote ---

I like this idea (It beats the hell out of stuffing envelops and mailing stuff out). A postcard with a section that can be filled out, torn off, and sent back in with the money. But how does the info then get from the mailed back portion and generated into a ticket? I assume it will require someone to type the information into a computer so it can be printed on a ticket? I assume when a ticket is purchased online that the buyer types their info in and then Harry can automatically transfer that to a ticket? Of course that's just a guess, I'm not sure how Harry works his magic and gets the info on the tickets.

Ride4MS:
Maybe a long time member can help with this question.  The bike raffle started when it was HSTA and I believe Honda gave a bike, or at least gave a very big discount.  Is that correct?
Bike prices have gone up and the way Honda and other companies do business have changed, so I can understand why they would no longer provide a bike, especially when it is no longer HSTA.


Boy, this is getting way off the original topic, "STAR survey results".  Yea, I know, I am not helping to stay on track.  But, I am interested in trying to find a resolution for the future, when we have such great interested talent such as Nick A.

stevegrab:

--- Quote from: Patmo on July 19, 2018, 06:36:17 PM ---
--- Quote from: stevegrab on July 19, 2018, 05:28:39 PM ---
Just curious, are these number of tickets or ticket revenue?  Because I figure many of the pre-STAR tickets were sold at a discount($8 vs. $10), so ticket revenue may be a better measure.

One thing I haven't seen discussed is the Aerostitch suit (2nd prize, need to be present) I PRESUME the club pays for that, somewhere in the 800-1000 range. Would dropping that be something we consider, to help break even or make more?

--- End quote ---


Answers....


Dollars,,,because that’s what Tim can give us.  This year was the FIRST year that the sales at STAR exceeeded the pre-STAR sales.  Last year it was close to even. But the year before, and all of the prior years that we have numbers on, it was HUGELY n favor of PRE-STAR.  Sometimes as much as 10:1.

I did unintentionally misrepresent the actual ratio of pre-STAR to STAR sales.  I went back an rechecked the numbers Tim sent out last week.  The ratio was smaller, but we did have $1400 MORE in sales AT STAR, then we did in sales prior to STAR......that’s not an additional 1400 in sales at STAR, it’s that we matched the pre-sales dollars and then did 1400 dollars more.  (I hope that is clear).  At 10.00 per ticket that’s 100-140 more tickets being sold during STAR then were sold in all of the months prior.

You presume wrong.. :) .  Aerostitch DONATES the certificate every year.  The tire set certificates are also donated.


The only two years that we have lost money on the raffle were 2016/Vermont, and this past year.  The BMW given out in Vermont was by far the most expensive bike we have raffled off in recent history.  We lost $3677 on that raffle and $239 this past year. This year’s bike cost us a little over 1/2 what the BMW cost us. ( 7500 vs 14,900. ).  EVERY other year it has been a money maker for the club.

--- End quote ---
Thanks for the info Pat, I had never heard anything about Aerostitch donating that prize, so I wasn't going to assume they did. Nice to know we have some really good partners in the industry.


Rich is right, if only we could get somebody to donate a bike.


Those numbers show a major drop in ticket sales from 2016 to 2018, not sure about 2017. Wow, just read the other post with the numbers over last 9 years, major drop from average this year.


Not sure I can think of any explanation. Did the financial situation with the club, and the 2017 bike winner donating it back to the club impact sales?

stevegrab:

--- Quote from: Landon on July 20, 2018, 07:38:04 AM ---
--- Quote from: Patmo on July 20, 2018, 07:17:35 AM ---
Sending out postcard “reminders” to encourage people to both purchase raffle tickets, and to attend STAR (put pictures of the bike and/or the STAR location on them) is something we can look at too.  Postcards are much less expensive to mail out, we can get bulk rates, and it can be easily automated so that it takes little or no labor on the part of anyone in the club to get them sent out.


--- End quote ---

I like this idea (It beats the hell out of stuffing envelops and mailing stuff out). A postcard with a section that can be filled out, torn off, and sent back in with the money. But how does the info then get from the mailed back portion and generated into a ticket? I assume it will require someone to type the information into a computer so it can be printed on a ticket? I assume when a ticket is purchased online that the buyer types their info in and then Harry can automatically transfer that to a ticket? Of course that's just a guess, I'm not sure how Harry works his magic and gets the info on the tickets.

--- End quote ---

Pat said the the postcard would be a reminder about the raffle, not a way to actually purchase tickets. But that is a good idea. It would still require an envelope, and sending a check or other payment info. This may also help get some sales from those who still don't like doing stuff online. Tickets would be added the same way they did them at STAR, when I bought mine I saw Tim Macy adding them to a list, which I figure they took later and wrote out tickets to put in the barrel. (Yes that's more work for a volunteer.)


If STAR were later in the year I was going to suggest we could try selling tickets at the other events, but not sure there are enough before mid-June, or that we'd get many sales we wouldn't get otherwise (generally those attending events are involved, engaged and support the club regularly).


Hopefully we are giving Pat and the rest of the EC some good ideas, and not just spinning them in 100 different directions.


Carl,
Regarding the bike raffle and discounts from Honda, I had heard that too, in the past, the old HSTA days when the raffle bike was very often a Honda. Not sure how steep those discounts were, and that has impacted our ability to make a profit. But the bigger issue is very low ticket sales, especially this year.

RichGrab:
OK, so I'll go back to a suggestion I made back on page 2 or 3 of this thread I believe - with some tweaks. So, the postcards instead of being in a separate mailing could be included inside the STARReview say first issue of the year. Then maybe a separate mailing in April or May to try to generate additional interest. This of course would require that the raffle bike be chosen by near years end, so that in the first issue of the magazine it would be ready to go. I really think that if the magazine is supposed to be the official communication organ of the club, we should use it, since it's already an expense (and adding a page or 2 won't increase cost that much) and we all get it in the mail. Why can't there be a page of tickets printed in the magazine? And then the member just has to fill them in, write a check, address and envelope and mail it in. And then a couple months before STAR they get a postcard reminder in the mail to buy tickets.

And yes, hopefully we are giving the EC some ideas and not just making their heads spin.

As for the question on "does it have to be a bike raffle?" I think the answer is really no - but something tells me people would buy even fewer tickets if the prizes were just gift certificates for stuff, but I might be wrong.

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