NAQT vice president for communication

[grapesmoker]

send a list of tournaments in the team's area along with the flier.

If people would use the tournament database, this would be really easy to do using the "search nearby" feature! *cough cough everybody*

If ifs and buts were candies and nuts...

Yes, people should use the tournament database. However, the NEW TEAMS that we're talking about aren't going to know that. And Jeff, I just mean that fliers should include the hsquizbowl.org address and not just say "check the quizbowl message boards." If they already do that, great.

[Mechanical Beasts]

So I think that it's sometimes a little difficult to make the leap from "yeah, I want to keep playing quizbowl in college" to "okay, I'll follow the good advice I'm getting from NAQT's page and from people on hsqb and jump through lots of activities office hoops." It's a lonely road, and it's easy, especially fall of freshman year (hell, I didn't even join Harvard's team, which would have been totally painless!) to postpone tasks that look like they might be a lot of independent work.

Pipe dream: a system that can put local starting-up teams in touch with more established teams in the area for more one-on-one guidance. (Obviously these boards do that, kind of; hell, "attend a tournament" does that, kind of. But it's not quite the same. I don't know how difficult the club-forming process is at most schools, but I know that when I encounter paperwork I tend to ask people for confirmation about minor, easy steps; I certainly would be reluctant to post fifty times in a "help I'm new" thread asking if I really should just submit this budget I drew up or if I should try to predict expenses really far into the future or argh. Having the email address of the president of Nearby College, and knowing that he or she is happy to help you out, and that you won't be a bother, might be a meaningful upgrade.)

[Coelacanth]

I think there may be two distinct target markets for NAQT here.

For ex-CBI-only schools, they should definitely contact the student activities people. These people have the names and contact info for the former CBI players on their campus, have some experience in relevant logistics (reserving rooms, managing budgets, etc) and probably have never heard of the circuit or NAQT. Certainly, connecting with these people, if done effectively, could be quite fruitful.

I agree with Charlie and others, however, that for any new clubs to be successful in the long run they must be student-based, and marketing to Union or Activities staff is not likely to be helpful at schools with no quizbowl history at all. The challenge is connecting to those potential players that must surely exist on nearly every campus. The best way for NAQT to reach those people is probably thru their experience playing NAQT in high school. HS players in their senior years should receive messaging along the lines of "If your college plans include a school on this comprehensive list of active circuit teams, we hope you will continue to play in college, and here's the contact info for the club at your chosen school. If you're attending a school with no existing club, provide us your contact info and we'll contact you in the fall with information and support you'll need to start your own club".

In other words, the two best ways to grow the college circuit are to (1) capture a few ex-CBI-only schools and (2) grow the high school circuit. The marketing and communications strategies will need to be distinct and targeted appropriately.

[Important Bird Area]

This thread is as good a place as any to note the following.

While I will certainly be reading more of this forum as a result of my new post, especially in the high school section where I've not been very active in the past, it's not likely that I will read everything, since there are some very lengthy threads around here with no direct connection to NAQT. So: if you see something (here or indeed elsewhere on the internet) that you think deserves an official response from NAQT and I haven't responded*, please use this thread to let me know.

*(Reasonable time frames, please; let's say 48 hours or so, not "OMG I posted a distribution question 5 minutes ago why can't NAQT respond to its customers??!!!1!")

If this thread gets lengthy and awkward, I may experiment with having separate NAQT-response threads, perhaps on a monthly basis ("NAQT feedback for April 2009" and so on).

[naturalistic phallacy]

This thread is as good a place as any to note the following.

While I will certainly be reading more of this forum as a result of my new post, especially in the high school section where I've not been very active in the past, it's not likely that I will read everything, since there are some very lengthy threads around here with no direct connection to NAQT. So: if you see something (here or indeed elsewhere on the internet) that you think deserves an official response from NAQT and I haven't responded*, please use this thread to let me know.

*(Reasonable time frames, please; let's say 48 hours or so, not "OMG I posted a distribution question 5 minutes ago why can't NAQT respond to its customers??!!!1!")

If this thread gets lengthy and awkward, I may experiment with having separate NAQT-response threads, perhaps on a monthly basis ("NAQT feedback for April 2009" and so on).

Don't even think for a second that you're going to be doing a shitty job. This has already done wonders for NAQT in my eyes. Keep up the good work.

[Important Bird Area]

Just a note to say that I'm going to a conference this weekend and won't be reading the board until late Sunday night.