Building attendance at Hobie regattas isn’t rocket science
Building attendance at our regattas is something everyone is interested in and it’s something we all need to support. Good attendance doesn’t happen on it’s own, it takes effort and we all need to do our part. Frankly we have gotten a little lazy and it’s showing.
Regatta participation starts with the Notice of Race (NOR) and advertising. Everyone typically sets their dates well in advance but we need to do a better job at advertising our events. Publishing the NOR in the right places is a fundamental step. The NOR is the document that spells out the details of the regatta and contains all the details competitors need when deciding if they will attend your regatta.
If the NOR exists, then the regatta exists.
I travel to a lot of regattas and some of them are far from home. Knowing a regattas date is fine for long term planning but until I see a NOR published I don’t really know if that regatta is going to happen. I am certainly not going to commit my time and money without a NOR. I am sure this all sounds very reasonable as you read this, yet why are we NOT publishing our NORs well in advance and in easy to find places? NOR templates are available and easy to use.
If the regatta exists then it needs to be advertised on websites and social media.
Find some energy around websites and social media. Once you do create a NOR don’t put it in a closed group that requires membership to access. Post it on your website, your social media feeds. Yes, absolutely hang it on the wall at your club, put it everywhere you can. If we want the sport to grow, we need to take more responsibility in writing more, reporting more and advertising.