DJGold

jbrown157 · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 4:58 am Post subject: Disappointed in this years Relays

Well, two more relays done and finished. From my perspective, both went well, entertainment wise. I've been doing these for five years now and this is the first time that I've felt disappointed after the fact.

Prior to 2008, each of the two events I've done has grown the following year. More teams, more people and raised more money. Not this year. Both were down significantly in all three categories.

Even though things are tough with the economy around here, I blame the ACS for this. Each year they keep adding relays to surrounding communities which damage the ones they already have. It costs teams, participants, sponsors and other resources when the pool is diluted this way. There are now so many Relays in our county (Believe it or not, there are now 25!) that's it's simply not a big deal any more. It's almost impossible to get any kind of news coverage when there's a different relay almost every weekend.

I'm sure that the ACS feels they can maximize their income by having more relays, But I'm not sure that I agree. I feel especially bad for the committee people who work so hard to make their event grow, but have the deck stacked against them. I am afraid they (the ACS) are messing up a good thing and I am not sure that I will want to go to all this trouble, work and expense for this kind of event again. We'll see.

On the bright side, The amplifier that I rented was the answer. No speaker problems and the sound was better than ever. It's like I've been trying to climb a mountain in a car with a 4 cylinder engine. It made it but it was a struggle. Upgrade to that big V8 and it's smooth sailing! I have my answer.

JR · Joined: March 11th, 2004 Posts: 408 Location: Phoenix, AZ

I understand what you’re saying. Our relay in Surprise AZ was 26 & 27 April; while the next town over (Peoria) held one the very same weekend. I wasn't aware of the competition until the day I set up. Fortunately, we had a record attendance this year and surpassed our goal of $74K. I haven't heard how Peoria fared. However if the ACS continues to saturate vicinities as they are, I wouldn't be surprised to see a drastic decline here as well. Maybe your post should be forwarded directly to the ACS. They might just listen to supporters such as ourselves who can offer a slightly different perspective on what we observe.

TheBartman47 · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 10:46 am Post subject:

Glad to hear a more powerful amp fixed your problem. Your regular one must not be quite the match for your speakers, and as you can see, "underpowering" speakers is often a greater risk to blow them than using an amp that's too big. You must have been clipping your old amp quite a lot, as the horn drivers are the first to blow whenever a clipped signal goes through.

TheBartman47 · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 10:48 am Post subject:

In my area, there is only one RFL event per county. I've never seen any county with more than one, and sometimes, two counties share one event.

jbrown157

Thanks JR. I'm glad to hear that all went well in your area.

I don't have a problem with the ACS expanding, after all the whole idea is to make as much money as they can and I truly believe that they do a good job spending that money as they should. My only problem is "too much, too soon". For example, thay have added TWO neighboring relay in areas directly next to the one I did this weekend. One is in a large affluent city, next to another where the relay there had pretty much outgrown it's venue, so I think creating this new one was appropriate and a good idea. The second however, is in a smaller community located in the same township and school district as the one I do. This relay has historically never come close to growing into it's venue. I can't understand why they wouldn't allow one to grow before trying to start another new one. I would rather see them put these committees in a position to succeed but that is not the case, causing a lot of frustration and disappointment to the committee people and participants.

I wonder if they realize how excited people get when they announce that they have exceeded the goal at the end of the relay, or how disappointed they are when they learn that they fell short? It can be pretty discouraging for those folks.

I had this very conversation with our ACS rep, who strongly denied that these new relays have caused any of these problems. I am certain she is responding according to ACS instructions because I know for certain that the local committees have complained as well. This wasn't the first time someone has questioned what they are doing.

Bottom line - this is THEIR event and they are going to do what they think is in their best interests. If this is the direction they want to go, then maybe I need to reconsider my level of participation in the future. It's still a great cause.

jbrown157 · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 11:14 am Post subject:

TheBartman47 wrote: In my area, there is only one RFL event per county. I've never seen any county with more than one, and sometimes, two counties share one event.

We live in a densly populated area. We have more people living here than some states (Not Texas though! :hahaha: ) As I mentioned, there are 25 RFL's in my county (Oakland) alone, 20 more in Wayne county to the south of us. Oddly enough, Detroit, which is located in that county, only hosts one event for the entire city.