"[log in to unmask]" writes:
 
>BTW, on Cornforth...if you read my post about the Merrimack fans this
>weekend, I mentioned there that Cornforth had an involvement in
>attracting fans to the game.  I found out that what he did was to get
>approval to send a campus-wide audix (voice mail) message to
>everyone's mailbox, telling them about the event being put on by the
>Program Board and asking people to come down and support the team.
>The result was perhaps the best home crowd at Merrimack in over 5
>years (more people have shown up for Maine, but they were Maine fans
>:-)).  It backed my theory that a big reason why students weren't
>coming to the games was because they simply didn't know about them.
>We'll see what happens the rest of the season.
 
Personally, I thought it was great. Student initiative is rare around
here and gets noticed. Whether or not Mark's voice mail got people to
the game is questionable--feasible, certainly, but questionable.
 
There was a concerted attempt to make the 11/4 evening an EVENT. The
Program Board had T-Shirts and everything. There was a 'tailgate'
party at the campus pub before the game and a huge video dance party
in the gym after.the game. Both events served alcohol which is unusual
for Merrimack. I didn't get to the pub but I saw the video party being
set up between periods at the game. It was WILD. Huge video screens
and a big light show.
 
Mark actually left 2 voice mail messages. One the night before the
game saying "Hi, I'm Mark Cornforth, captain of the hockey team. I'd
like to urge you to attend tomorrow night's Hockey East home opener
against PC. There's a party beforehand at the pub and a video dance
party after. I hope to see you there." On gameday he sent a short
reminder.
 
To be successful they need to do it before each game BEFORE the
'student comp' ticket window closes (Cornforth's were after). Three
bucks will keep a lot of students away. Mike Machnik is right on the
money--kids don't show up because they're generally unaware of when
the games are. Voice mail is in-your-face advertising.
 
Wouldn't it be cool if all captains took their job seriously OFF the
ice!
 
Prediction for this week at Merrimack: "Hi, my name is Eric
Weichselbaumer. The hockey team would like to thank everyone for the
huge turnout for last week's game against PC. You helped a lot! It was
an exciting overtime shootout win--I won it with the only goal in the
shootout! This saturday we're playing UNH. Pick up your tickets today!
I hope to see you at the game."
 
cheers,
rand
 
--
Rand P. Hall, Manager of Systems and Networking
Merrimack College, North Andover, MA, USA      [log in to unmask]
Hope's not in Arkansas, it's in 96.