Sponsors and Swordmaster Series

[blake]

I have noticed a trend on some of the discussions as to why are we putting this on TV and the old favorite why aren't we catering to the top fencers.

This is not a professional event, it is a series of promotional events for our sponsors. If you are waiting for the next PFL this is not it. If you are looking for a kick-*** epee tournament to fence in and possibly win a cool sword in you make the top eight or even a $1000 if you win first. This is your event.

I'll try to answer these.

1. We are putting this on television for the fencing schools and the other business here in Charlotte only for their business models for advertising. It is much cheaper for us to do this than the conventional, lets put some ads in the local tv, weekly free rag and the local commerical pay newspaper. Our customer bases for the two businesses cross sell well.

2. The ROI is worth is and can be written off nicely.

3. Our host is very excited to have the event in their venue. If it works well then yes, there is the possibility of having the events other places. Check out their website and see if their is a mall near you. No, we will not be hosting as the mall in L.I. I have already told them that our sponsor refuses to open a store on L.I.

4. This is not the PFL. The business models are very different. If you want to know why then come to Charlotte have a cup of coffee at Merlin's and I will tell you. I am not putting it on the web so stop asking.

5. I have heard some complains that only the winner gets the $1000 and the other placing get $0. What do you get at nationals if you win? $0 is the answer unless something changed over that last five years. How much did it cost the 200 plus Div III foil fencers to fence at nationals?

In the future events there could be changes, depends on our sponsors. Our sponsors have purchased a four hour fencing television show. One hour every Saturday in Charlotte. We only need 8 fencers to do this. That was what the Heroes and Villians show was all about proving. We thought it would be nice to have about 40 try to pre-qualify? Also a side note. The only person involved in this event that was involved organizationally in the PFL was me. That's it. So, if this one works and the PFL failed you draw your own conclusions.

[oiuyt]

If this isn't intended to be a reworking of the PFL using the lessons learned from the first iteration then why is the site and brochure filled with references to the PFL?

I'm surprised that the two questions that you start by answering are why you're putting it on TV and why you aren't catering to top fencers. I think it's clear that you ARE catering to the top fencers (winner takes all) at the expense of being able to fill the field. As for TV coverage, there was one person (who works in TV editing IIRC) who pointed out problems with the plan for making the show from a techincal standpoint (which is after all his profession and expertise). I don't recall any other issue with TV coverage. I think nearly everyone on this site would like to see fencing on TV more often than it currently is.

4. This is not the PFL. The business models are very different. If you want to know why then come to Charlotte have a cup of coffee at Merlin's and I will tell you. I am not putting it on the web so stop asking.

Would love to if it weren't 14 hours away. One of the beauties of the internet is that it allows for easy communication between parties that are widely separated. If the series is still going on after this first year I would love to talk to you at nationals when I WILL be in Charlotte. In the meantime, Q&A like that on this site is a VERY good way of answering questions from prospective entrants. What's more, it's a very good way of getting feedback, suggestions, and advice from a significantly wider pool of intelligent and experienced people. There's a huge amount of value in that as long as you don't shut down and assume an adverserial role. The suggestions in the other thread regarding a different distribution of prize money should be considered. Whether or not you choose to accept the suggestions and make changes is, in the final decision, up to you. Take the posts here, not as complaints, but rather as alternative ideas that might be better than what you've come up with. Adjust what you're doing to use the best of what we propose, and use it to further spark your thinking into making your events the best possible. If a large group of people all think "hmmmm, that's not likely to work because of problems a, b, and c, but other than that it's a really cool idea" then addressing problems a, b, and c might be a really good plan.

-B :)