CGC impact

[Silk3]

I had damn good time at Tech. Probably too much fun

 

[boger2337]

This is very well stated and supports what I have noticed over the years. My friends and colleagues (from other schools) have a different type of recollection about their college days than I do. I am glad I went but don't look back at it with any type of sentimental nostalgia. I do keep up with a handful of my buddies though.

I had the same type of experience at GT as I did when I hiked the Appalachian Trail. There were times of extreme pleasure and joy but many, many more hours of just grinding through snow, rain, heat, bugs, mud, pain, fatigue, thirst and hunger. I am glad I did it but it wasn't a picnic to be sure.

My recollection of GT - "that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger". Not exactly a sexy marketing slogan is it?

Yeah... I hear more and more of this. This is NOT the way to sell a program to players or to students in hope to get money in return. Most grads think they spent enough and want to keep their ROI as high as possible, and donation after dips into their ROI as a write off more than likely won't offset the amount given.

This is where engaging students more is key. Also creating a more "animal house" type campus life is important for students to reflect fondly of their time on campus. Surviving school is never a great slogan haha. Have to understand school is more than a catalyst to higher career earnings, but also about ones discovery of themselves.

 

[Vespidae]

My recollection of GT - "that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger". Not exactly a sexy marketing slogan is it?

I had a linguistics professor at Tech who was a pretty interesting dude. During class one day, he asked if we knew what we were doing there (at Tech). We replied "we're students" or something like that.

"No you're not", he said. "You are raw materials being transformed into products."

 

[boger2337]

I had damn good time at Tech. Probably too much funI me

I think there are plenty of people with this mentality, but its in the minority not over whelming majority... That is the issue. We also aren't a "nationalistic" alumni base. What I mean by that is we don't have students who are going to wear GT apparel every chance they can, and go BUZZ BUZZ. They don't live and die by GT football where it is the center of their personalities. The obnoxious alumni support is far less with GT than other surrounding Southeast schools.

GT football is ingrained in my personality. If someone were asked to describe me, one of the first things they would say is he is a GT fan.

I'd say that is not true for most of the Alumni, or even most of the fanbase. There are HOARDS of bama, uga, clemson fans where their whole beings are centralized around their schools football program. We need to gain more of those type of people some how. Not sure how we get there, but they usually give their last dollar to purchase that new school spirit shirt/hat/hoodie.

 

[Vespidae]

Also creating a more "animal house" type campus life is important for students to reflect fondly of their time on campus.

I was Greek at Tech and had a great time. Band parties every weekend, beer fest, intramural. Flashcards at the game. We brought girls in by the busload from Bauder, Wesley, and Agnes Scott.

Auburn doesn't have nearly as strong a Greek system as Tech. Students here are escaping small towns and find their time here to be pleasant and fun. Of course, the entire school revolves around athletics ... whether it's the Rec Center or organized team sports ... the culture here is definitely to be active and be involved.

 

[GCdaJuiceMan]

I think there are plenty of people with this mentality, but its in the minority not over whelming majority... That is the issue. We also aren't a "nationalistic" alumni base. What I mean by that is we don't have students who are going to wear GT apparel every chance they can, and go BUZZ BUZZ. They don't live and die by GT football where it is the center of their personalities. The obnoxious alumni support is far less with GT than other surrounding Southeast schools.

GT football is ingrained in my personality. If someone were asked to describe me, one of the first things they would say is he is a GT fan.

I'd say that is not true for most of the Alumni, or even most of the fanbase. There are HOARDS of bama, uga, clemson fans where their whole beings are centralized around their schools football program. We need to gain more of those type of people some how. Not sure how we get there, but they usually give their last dollar to purchase that new school spirit shirt/hat/hoodie.

The quickest answer is sidewalk fans, however difficult that may be.

 

[Vespidae]

We need to gain more of those type of people some how.

It's not going to happen. The school enrollment isn't going to dramatically increase, especially with all the new engineering schools in GA. No, Tech is a boutique school with a limited curriculum in an urban setting with a small alumni base. Hugely successful, no doubt. But highly specialized.I don't think this will ever change.

 

[boger2337]

It's not going to happen. The school enrollment isn't going to dramatically increase, especially with all the new engineering schools in GA. No, Tech is a boutique school with a limited curriculum in an urban setting with a small alumni base. Hugely successful, no doubt. But highly specialized.I don't think this will ever change.

Really wish GT would open their curriculum for more options for academics. I doubt the state would even allow it.

Just have to generate more sidewalk fans.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

I had some good times while at GT, but it was very painful - I doubt anyone had the euphoric feeling when finals were over like (at least in the old days) GT students did. I also doubt that most other schools' graduates still have nightmares about oversleeping for a final or forgetting to drop a class they haven't attended, etc., that I know many former GT alums still have.

The dread was always there during the academic quarters, and even when having fun, if not toasted, it was in the back of your mind. Even when I was doing something healthy like playing basketball or running or flag football, I felt the "dread" and guilt. I don't know that it is the same today, since professors are not being forced to lower grades to obtain arbitrary averages for students.

But, with all of that said, for the athletes with the tutors and assistance, it should not be this way, and I doubt seriously that it is, but no matter what, I still believe our student-athletes have more expected of them, in general, than 99% of other colleges and universities.

I agree that we have to generate sidewalk fans, if possible, but we have been saying that for decades, and it has not happened. I almost don't believe it is possible, but I know CGC is trying to market GT as "cool", and I hope he is able to convert some of the masses.

 

[cthenrys]

The quickest answer is sidewalk fans, however difficult that may be.

Lol.

 

[Vespidae]

I had some good times while at GT, but it was very painful - I doubt anyone had the euphoric feeling when finals were over like (at least in the old days) GT students did. I also doubt that most other schools' graduates still have nightmares about oversleeping for a final or forgetting to drop a class they haven't attended, etc., that I know many former GT alums still have.

I had a fraternity brother who had a nightmare after graduation. He dreamt he was taking a bath and Dr Desai (mechanical engineering prof) walked into his bathroom and told him he had failed his exam and wouldn't graduate. "No", he exclaimed, "I passed the exam. I graduated!" Desai, in the dream, said no, he hadn't passed the test and everyone knows it. He expected him to be in his office in an hour to take the exam.

I never slept so well after the last final every quarter.

 

[GCdaJuiceMan]

Lol.

That's actually what our report card says next to the 'generates sidewalk fans' line. Not C, D or F. Just 'LOL'. Hope it changes soon.

 

[cthenrys]

That's actually what our report card says next to the 'generates sidewalk fans' line. Not C, D or F. Just 'LOL'. Hope it changes soon.

I say LOL because this comes up every 5-10 years. It’s never happened and all the ATL hats and hashtags are likely to be just as successful.
We simply need to be smarter than the average bear. Today we are well below that

 

[GCdaJuiceMan]

I say LOL because this comes up every 5-10 years. It’s never happened and all the ATL hats and hashtags are likely to be just as successful.
We simply need to be smarter than the average bear. Today we are well below that

I don't think its impossible and some of the things we are doing now are certainly better than anything we have done in the past which is...nothing? There are large amounts of people in and around Atlanta that have the $$ and time to join a fan base. ATL United proved this and I think the demand is still there. Success breeds resources though, so it really depends on the next 2-3 years of on the field production.

 

[cthenrys]

I don't think its impossible and some of the things we are doing now are certainly better than anything we have done in the past which is...nothing? There are large amounts of people in and around Atlanta that have the $$ and time to join a fan base. ATL United proved this and I think the demand is still there. Success breeds resources though, so it really depends on the next 2-3 years of on the field production.

Weve tried all manner of marketing to sidewalk fans through the years. I don’t disagree that we should try but we also should be realistic about the chance of success. 3 win seasons do nothing to move the needle in the right direction. Multiple 10-11 win seasons would move the needle, but That’s happened so few times in our history (no comment about whos done it most recently) that expecting it on a regular basis just seems silly and there is nothing we’ve seen from current staff to believe it likely. IIWII.

 

[ncjacket79]

Weve tried all manner of marketing to sidewalk fans through the years. I don’t disagree that we should try but we also should be realistic about the chance of success. 3 win seasons do nothing to move the needle in the right direction. Multiple 10-11 win seasons would move the needle, but That’s happened so few times in our history (no comment about whos done it most recently) that expecting it on a regular basis just seems silly and there is nothing we’ve seen from current staff to believe it likely. IIWII.

So you’re just giving up?

 

[Vespidae]

There are large amounts of people in and around Atlanta that have the $$ and time to join a fan base. ATL United proved this and I think the demand is still there.

The NCAA regularly provides data on game attendance and key drivers. They are a) size of the school, b) density of the alumni base < 5 mi away, c) density of the alumni base < 10 mi away, and whether it's urban or rural location. Tech is below average in every category.

ATL United was brilliant because it appeals to a heavy international presence as well as those who do not necessarily follow American Football all yet still want a team. Unless you have a familiar connection to a university, it's very difficult to generate fandom.

I have followed Tech for 40+ years and it has never happened, despite the city being 5X larger today and the Institute larger in terms of student population. Currently, the ACC has the 5th largest average attendance (based on 2016 figures) and of that, Tech is below that average.

In Marketing, we would focus on improving the experience for the existing fans in a market that is not growing. Ours is not growing. If we wanted to grow it, we would focus on Awareness - Consideration - Trial - Purchase - Renewal (standard process). Buy reducing our SEC schedule over the years, our Awareness has also dropped as has our Consideration. The ACC, for football, is just not a big draw in GA compared to Tobacco Road.

Does it all matter? Not really. In the new age of media, we can have zero fans and still make a ton of $ from broadcast content. But try and buy a hat at Northpoint. The struggle is real.

 

[cthenrys]

So you’re just giving up?

Nope, but I’m not optimistic when the solution lies in marketing (historically shown to have limited success) and recruiting (where there is an upper bound to how good it can get) and there is no attempt to find an edge in scheme or strategy. We’re taking a vanilla me-too approach to both offense and defense (at least so far) and hoping that we can out recruit, out talent, and “out juice” the competition. I’m not optimistic about the long term opportunity even if this staff begins to show improvement in game day prep and performance.

 

[boger2337]

For perspective this years class is not horrible in the sense of avg rating of player. We just don't have the number of recruits. We rank 7th in the ACC in recruiting per average star ranking. If we remove the kicker and Biggers we are 5th in class rating quality. Just behind FSU, then behind miami, clemson, unc. This is where we should be every year. We should be in the top 5 year in and year out in the ACC on recruiting rating average. Some years jumping into the 2nd and 3rd spot.

 

[Vespidae]

For perspective this years class is not horrible in the sense of avg rating of player. We just don't have the number of recruits. We rank 7th in the ACC in recruiting per average star ranking.

Not sure of the point you're making, but 2014 was a pretty good year for Tech and yet ... our attendance dropped. Our peak reported average attendance was 2005 and in the last 10 years, we have been attritting 1.4% a year. My guess is we will report 38,000 in the not too distant future and probably have 30K-ish actually in the stands.