Alma, there has been a little bit of discussion here from Wayne and others about getting corporate America involved in our sport. Being a business major and very in tune with the corporate world, I can totally understand this. You have been very successful in getting aligned with corporate sponsors. What do we (dbDrag Racing) need to do to catch the attention of the big $$$? I am referring to something like a Budweiser tour sponsorship or something like that.

Anyone else, your 2 cents?????????

I like dbDon's idea of pizza. I can't count how many pizzas we've wolfed down during a late night session.

I like your idea Alma about staying away from alcohol and tobacco. It isn't because I'm a teetotaller (I'm not ), but I agree with the age thing.

I have also thought about this and even talk about it with a few people. But was not sure how to procede from there.

Something that alma said about the sport being interesting like other extreme sports but with no blood and what not. This bring up another post here in the forum. It was on the show in Jeff City. Many post made by both compedators and a few spectators. Well the general concenus with the compedators is it was a VERY VERY well ran show. But a spectator said he was disappointed cause it was boring. I can see this being the case for some. Kinda like other sports...people see some as just hitting a ball and running around bases or hitting a ball..going after it and hitting it again trying to get it into a hole. Other people see sports VERY VERY different.

I think its important to some how make it more interesting to watch on a tv type enviroment or some how have a plan to do this when corp sponsership is sought. Cause the person you are pitching to...who might be the only change with that company might be one of those that see the sport like other see sports at I said above.

I think it is a VERY good idea to get this type of sponsherip.

Plain and simple, we have to show off our vehicles. When we are in the lanes, the competitors need to get on the mike and brag about their systems while the jigs are being set. Stuff like that. That would really really help in my opinion.

When people talk about shows being well run, they are talking from a competitor point of view. What we need is shows being well run from a spectator point of view.

And like Rob said.. I too try to be open, heck I have no "real" secrets to hide( maybe one or two upcoming tricks.. but I'll answer what I can, and for as long of a time that is needed.

any other ideas on outside sponsorships?

Gabriel

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[This message has been edited by Pegasus1 (edited 04-28-2000).]

Wrestling is cool, but if all they did is come out in tights and roll around in the ring I don't think I would still be watching.

As for wrestling, it used to be a good thing. We always watched it but then it started to seem kinda pornish and it finally came down that the kids couldn't watch that. They were getting their eyes full of stuff they didn't need to..lol

I think that is why we are so much into dB Drag. We can take our kids and you don't see anyone drunk or doing drugs. Its a fun time for all.

I think that if anyone could get outside sponsorship it would be you Alma. I believe that Pepsi owns pizzahut, taco bell, and KFC if Im not mistaken. I know if we could somehow work on the drink product it would trickle down to all the others. I will do some research on it and see what I can find out. Good luck to you Alma, and to the rest in the upcoming year.

Best wishes,

Becky
Hurricane Sound Labs

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Team Hurricane

I think a really big point that we see coming up over and over is that what we are asking for is peanuts compared to what typical companies spend on normal ad campaigns. Not only that but we give them some strong regional presence (for local competitors) and national coverage as well. Furthermore, the demographics are well known. All companies love well-targeted ads.

I am glad you have decided to join our world. First of all, I am not a queen, goddess, or anything else. I am Alma Gates, and just like everyone else - only older. This thing that happened to us was not planned - it just happened. I thing the industry was ready for something in 1996 and Patrick and I happened to be in the right place at the right time.

I have often thought that if we could unite into some type of group - we would have more selling power to get a big time sponsor. I think that is what Wayne is doing now - The young man is on a roll. I know that many of the larger companies do not sponsor small things - they go with the organizations that get world-wide exposure. And truthfully, in the car audio world - team gates is well known. but outside that small world - no one knows or cares. My neighbors dont even know about Team Gates.

So, I really dont know what the solution is, but I do know that the potential is out there, we just have keep working on it.

Oh yes, tell your husband and son hello.

Uh-oh... Pegasus, if Alma's the Goddess of Audio...
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I guess I'll have to take this off, hehe. *bows to Alma* I still love you , Ma.

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Never say 'OOPS!' Always say 'Ah, Interesting!'
http://members.sounddomain.com/pogovina

quote:

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Originally posted by Pegasus1:
Even if the goddess of audio (Alma) is too modest to admit it, I still believe in her. She will alway be the goddess of audio, at least here in Louisiana (and in my heart).

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While it pertains to drag racing, any sport wanting outside sponsorship (12 volt competition included) should read it.

Mr. Amshay also has a site at:
http://www.sponsorSHOP.com

for anyone that has interest in reading further.

Maybe we ought to hire a P.R. firm like them?

But the article tends to make me think he really knows how to position this deal with a perspective sponsor.

Maybe we ought to check him out, or somebody like him..........

I really enjoy the TV broadcasts. There is something about hearing the music that just gets my blood rushing. I love the "Are you ready to rumbleeeee" on the dB Drag site.

I think we can go farther than TV though. We should make a dB Drag movie from finals this year. LOL. ok, that might be a stretch, but it all starts with a vision. I bet people would want to watch it. Especially if we had a commentator who went around interviewing all the teams. Wayne could talk about all the rivals and get the suspense going.. lol

Wrestling has done it, we could to. I personally don't know anything about movie marketing, but there has to be a member near hollywood that has influence, or know someone who does. As for the PR on the sponsors, I think the members should do it. If we keep things within ourselves it will be cheaper in the long run. Besides, why leave it to someone who doesn't really have our interests at heart. We know that the members would give 100% to this effort. We could start a PR committee and go from there. Its just a matter of having a few people organize a proposition with literature and some magazine articles to show how big we really are.

We need to figure out in what form do we want to have the sponsorship. In what areas will it be effective and help the most. Perhaps, the sponsor could help with the movie projects? Just a few ideas to think about..

Good luck,

Becky

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Team Hurricane