What The Heck Is Up With The Low Attendance For The Megameet???!!!

[AGDJon]

What is going on??? Why is everyone backing out of the megameet??? You all asked for this and now you are all backing out??? Everyone here at AGD (Tom, Myself, the office gals) worked very hard to coordinate with Team Effort Events to bring you an event that was to be huge and now we are getting a lot of people backing out.

You all knew about the megameet from the original post by Tom dating back to January so there is no excuse about not having enough time to know about this. The AO NJ 2 day drew about 100, if not more, people on less than a month's worth of planning. And Tom was not even there. The SC AO day drew the same amount of people with a little over one month's worth of planning as well. You guys have known about this for over 4 months now.

The agenda is even listed in the very same thread.
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64144

It makes us feel that you don't appreciate the efforts we put forth to organize a national event for our members and their friends and families. It really feels like a slap to the face to see everyone hype the megameet only to have it shut down by everyone that said they would go back out last minute and say, "oh we can't make it anymore"

Take, for examples, the NE AO meet. There was approximately 50 people that said yes and cancelled last minute. I still had fun but was disappointed by the poor turnout, as well as the organizer Dansim, and the field owner, Jon, who limited other parties and hired more refs, to accomodate us. Look at the Indy AO day, at Manny Francia's new field, where only 15 people showed. Is there no love left?

I am very very upset. Because of this, it makes me feel that I should not even bother to attend anymore AO events and give Tom the same recommendation. I don't even feel like attending any chat parties and telling Tom to stop all of them because people whine and complain that the prizes are fixed. Well to those that say that, I AM the one who picks the winners on a random basis, while sitting right next to Tom. Like I said, you all make me, as well as everyone here at the factory, very unappreciated.

If the turnout for the Megameet turns out to be very poor, don't expect another Megameet next year and don't expect Tom nor I to attend anymore AO events, whether it has already been planned or not. We will still be at the tournaments but there may not be anything more than just a doughnut orgy. No dinners, no afterparties, no anything. Those that said yes and are backing out are really destroying it for everyone that already committed and have already made the travel arrangements.

THAT IS MY GRIPE.

[PzYcO]

if i said in jan i would be there, i would still be going. But i never said i could go... so.. sorry :( I WISH I COULD BE THERE!

[ZSigErik]

and a beautiful gripe it is...

[Cliffio]

Originally posted by PzYcO
if i said in jan i would be there, i would still be going. But i never said i could go... so.. sorry :( I WISH I COULD BE THERE!


ditto

[ntn4502]

I was thinking the exact same thing, what the hell is up with everybody, as a famous person once said, "why dont chu do's what chu say chu gonna do's?"

Edited for proper do's :D

[digitard]

hehe, ya really need a ' in those do's ... otherwise it looks like dos (two).

In any case, come on people ... im comin' out from AZ ... good GOD its far but a chance to play with all my fav AO peeps and hang out w/ Tom and his shinanigans is worth it .... so what, 6hr drive, its WORTH IT! .... hell, go 120 and you'll get there in 4hrs ...lol

Dave

[brian terry]

jon you have to understand people have to work and stuff comes up that cant be helped.i myself never told anyone i was going do to nppl psp and other tourneys going on.i thank if you are going to plan AO meet you need to look at the tourney dates and make sure nothing is going on the weekend befor or after an AO meet.i know just how much work you and joann and marcia put in to the AO meets but dont give up on the people ,some times thing happon that cant be helped.so now im off to vegas for psp 10 man talk to you later jon.

[USAF-Flyboy with a Mag]

AGD...COME OUT TO SO CAL!!!!!
Thanks =)

[AlabamaMan]

Sounds fair to me... Punish everyone. What a solution.

[Dayspring]

1) He's angry, not at the people who originally said no, but at those who said yes, and then bailed.
2) Tom looked at dates and this was the one that worked most. Yes, some people can't go b/c of tournies or such, but you can't please EVERYBODY.
3) You have to see it from a marketing standpoint. the idea is to send factory people out to get people excited about AGD products. Having the hardcore people come out is cool and all, but you'll always get them. It's the not-so-hardcore that they're trying to get. Sending somebody out for a small turnout isn't real good business sense b/c those numbers are already your hard core customers.

The solution to this? Come on out. Don't go posting "Come to this place or that place." The regular AO days are for that. This is the Megameet that is being done SOLELY by AGD people.

If AGD builds it, people will come...

[TheBigRaguPB4L]

I always thought the chat parties were mainly stupid little kids trying to get something they didn't deserve. Most of the people just went to win something and probably never came back. Obviously there were some people that were regular AO'ers and didn't care if they won anything. However, i just always thought that people got word and signed on to win something.

I always assumed you guys knew things like this. Agd was the only company that would even plan something like this with the people that support them. I don't think that people not being able to attend an event means that the work you guys do or the attention you show us is unappreciated. I'm also not in your shoes and went and planned any of these events.

I've only been to one of any of the AO events. It was a fairly good time. It would be a shame to waste days like that simply because of attendance. Hopefully people will sign up and avoid it.

[AlabamaMan]

I wasn't saying that i expect an AO meet at my house. I met Tom at the AO sacramento meet last year. I had a great time. Tom and BlackVCG are the only reason i ever bought a mag in the first place. They are the only reason that i own two now.

I was on AO for a couple months before my first chat party, i had a great time. It was fun just spammin messages as fast as i could. I won a jersey, i will probably never wear it, it came in the wrong size. I don't care i just had fun, that was all i care about.

I understand that Jon is pissed that people are backing out. Although coming on AO and threatening people that if they don't come it will never happen again isn't fair to all the people that can't make because of other commitments (work, school, the fact we live on the west coast, etc.).

Sorry if you think people don't support the company at these events. For some of us it just isn't possiable. I would like to come to all of them. I don't know one person that has ever said that they had a bad time at an AO meet.

[Jonesie]

I don't recall if I ever stated my intent to be at the MegaMeet but I was planning to be there. However, since then I came across an opportunity to purchase an X-Mag. This is the very purchase that killed my MM Fund.

I figured that the X-Mag would better benefit me in the long run, rather than the MM. I have yet to make it out to a large AO Meet, but I do have plans to be at IAO, AONJ, and AOSC.

Whatever, I agree with whoever suggested that punishing everyone is a lame idea. If memory serves, there was quite a lull in the MM discussion. I have heard very little about it aside from the two recent posts, since it's birth. Kicker is, I've been hanging around AO daily since then, so I think I'd notice.

[thegiantc]

I agree with AlabamaMan, you shouldn't just come out and threaten everyone with not coming to or planning AO events. I for one would like to come out however, my cash flow is not such that I can just drop everything and fly across the country to play paintball. I wish it was but ITS NOT.

I for one am very disappointed to read a post like this from AGD.

[dansim]

yes i am upset about aone3 turnout, but with teh rain i cant really blame them, i how ever will have a hard time bringing prices down if i plan another one:(

[Mossman]

I will be there!!! I PROMISE JON!!!

I'll be there along with Angry Man, and most likely thedeem0n (new plan). Reo5th seems to have just become aware that there is an opposite sex called females, and he's a bit involved in that, i guess. I suggest everyone PM the hell out of him and make him come.

See ya there Jon!

All you guys who are on the fence, if you don't come to this one and we get a poor turnout and we stop getting fun guests for AO days, think about how pissed you'll be that you missed the last opportunity! COME ON OUT, Meet everyone, have a blast, AND help to ensure all the great AGD guys keep doing this for us!

COMMMMMON!

[BTAutoMag]

i have to be there. i have had 3 cancelled rides, nowim being dropped at a train station, getting a ride from the tarin to pits and i still dont know where im sleeping. im mad at everyone who cancels at the alst minite too. if you say youll do something DO IT

[JAM]

well, as great as it is of AGD to set up days like this, it's just plain retarded to post like that and yell at all of us like little kids. I never said I could come and I still feel like I'm getting scolded... Everyone who can go shoudl and will go and it will be a great time... I'm sure. But jon, come on. threatening us? please. get over yourself, when did this all turn into something that is not positive and not fun?

geeze.

be mad at people who cancel, but realize it's just a fact of life and don't make therest of us feel like crap.

[hitech]

If there is a low turnout and they don't attend/plan any more meets, it is not punishment. It's because it isn't worth it. There is an event EVERY weekend that would love to have Tom or anyone from AGD attend. Why go to the low turnout ones when somewhere else there are a lot more people who actually want you to attend? Even worse, why go to all the trouble to plan it? If you have never planned something like this you probably have no idea how much work it is. I'd be pissed too if I planed it and large numbers of people backed out at the last minute. :(

If it were you, would you plan another one if most people backed out at the last minute?

[Scooter/Cootie]

The Pride boys will be there. We've got 3 definate team members going plus 2 extra's. I'd love to see a huge turnout!

Besides, my birthday is on the 17th and I convinced my wife that attending the Megameet would be a great present for me. So she caved and we're off to Pittsburg!

Don't make my birthday party crappy, come on out and lets play some ball!


Besides, I'm looking forward to meeting all the AO folks. :p

[JEDI]

Originally posted by thegiantc
I agree with AlabamaMan, you shouldn't just come out and threaten everyone with not coming to or planning AO events. I for one would like to come out however, my cash flow is not such that I can just drop everything and fly across the country to play paintball. I wish it was but ITS NOT.

I for one am very disappointed to read a post like this from AGD.
Sorry guys, but I agree. This seems like a poor attitude. I'm sure its frustrating, but such is life. I'd love to see you Jon, or Tom at the next Jersey meet. Last time was great, but I'd hate to think you guys didnt show up, just to spite us. This kinda leaves a bad taste in my mouth as far as AGD fun goes. You damn know most people here would support AGD to the death. No one wants to feel guilty. What else did you expect from a forum with members ranging from like, 10 to 50+ Sorry man...

[Dayspring]

Hitech- that's exactly the point I'm getting it. He's admittedly mad. But not at those people who said that they can't come in the first place. It's the people who said that they would come and then cancel.

It's like alot of things we want. We want an Intelli Z-Grip. Tons of people said yes. In reality, how many of those people will ACTUALLY buy it? See... It's the whole "sticking by your word" thing.

If I say I'm going or am going to do something, I damned well do it. Why? Cuz I gave my word.

If you feel like you're being yelled at, I'm sorry. But it's more aimed at those who stepped up and then folded.

[dansim]

Originally posted by hitech
If there is a low turnout and they don't attend/plan any more meets, it is not punishment. It's because it isn't worth it. There is an event EVERY weekend that would love to have Tom or anyone from AGD attend. Why go to the low turnout ones when somewhere else there are a lot more people who actually want you to attend? Even worse, why go to all the trouble to plan it? If you have never planned something like this you probably have no idea how much work it is. I'd be pissed too if I planed it and large numbers of people backed out at the last minute. :(

If it were you, would you plan another one if most people backed out at the last minute?
amen you have stated it as clear as it could be, i understand things come up but as an orginizer 18 people is disheartining, not saying we didnt have fun cause wwe did but im gonna hinkhard and long before asking for another guest from ao, its just not worth there time, there will be an aone4 later though(late summer/early fall)

[cphilip]

AO SC? A month planning? Hardly!

We spent about 6 months on ours from announcement to its culmination. Preparing it and promoting it. And we had preregistration going for over three months. And we planned everything down to the smallest detail including dinner, ref's and entertainment. And we made sure everything was included in the advertisements and announcements so you knew what you were getting.

I even traveled down to World Cup and handed out over 200 Flyers. I got Paintball Inc to include one flyer out in every order they shipped out for three months. And went on every paintball site I could find to invite people to come. Including one I got kicked off of for that.. :(

And our actualy field count for that day was 119 signed release forms and people verified at the field. And a few more showed up just for dinner.

However I can tell you that HALF the people that said they would come did not come. But some of them were made up by people we had no idea would come and had not said they were coming. So the thing is you just never know how many will or will not come. You end up taking some chances.

When we promote an event we PROMOTE it! :D

I myself still not sure. I want to come and still holding it open but I have so many things to go to and so much to do and that is a crowded time as well. One thing that we strived for was picking a time when all other events were done and things were slow in the paintball world. And that is not easy to do.

[wyn1370]

I think the problem was that we haven't heard anything until the last week since Jan. Sure everybody got excited, but without an update or schedule, many people didn't even know if it was still happening. In the original post it said more info to come, but you waited too long. Many people lost interest, or forgot.

This doesn't mean I'm not comming, just trying to help you understand what may have happened to turnout.

[Creative Mayhem]

Hey Jon, I know where you're coming from... There weren't nearly as many people at the AO Skyball meet as had said, but this is how things happen. I also explained to you at Skyball the a couldn't go the the MM due to a planned family vacation, and you responded "no prob bro, I understand" so dont get all in a huff over my not being there... ;)jk:D I would be there if i could but I will already be in FL before the weekend begins, I was trying to arrange a different schedule for driving, one that would have allowed me to be there, but seeing that im not the only one in the car (1of4) I can't be the one to set everyone elses vaction time back due to a meet. If someone could fly me down to FL after the meet i could get dropped off at the hotel and hang for a couple days b4 the meet but other than that... the timing is just off :(

Sorry, but thats my situation, if anyone can help, all the power, and my thanks to you... but otherwise I can't make it...

CM

[Load SM5]

I'm sure a lot of people backed out when I said I was going to make it.;)

I bought a no refunds plane ticket so someone better show.

[LittMag]

The only way that you'll get people to commit is by their wallets. Get a deposit from those who say they want to go.

[Mango]

Originally posted by LittMag
The only way that you'll get people to commit is by their wallets. Get a deposit from those who say they want to go.

EXACTLY!

[Wc Keep]

hey mango you still going to go??? this way we can have a full 5 man blackcell team there.

[RusskiX]

The only way that you'll get people to commit is by their wallets. Get a deposit from those who say they want to go.

That's the smartest thing anyone has said in this whole thread! LittMag, I salute you.

[krafty]

Apparently I have terrible luck. For the Indy meet I was playing in a tourney. For the Megameet I'm standing up in a wedding. Heck, for most of the events I've already had stuff scheduled.

Then again, I never committed to this... so my not showing up shouldn't be a surprise.

[Load SM5]

Originally posted by Wc Keep
hey mango you still going to go??? this way we can have a full 5 man blackcell team there.

If he can't make it you could have 4 and an honorary.:D

[adam shannon]

my perception is that although there is planning on AGD's part, most of it is on an insider level...the average AOer doesnt have a clue whats planned.

so what is a mega meet? from the official thread it says there will be something friday night somewhere near pittsburgh. saturday is AO games on reserved fields. and sunday is some sorta big game.

i have never met anybody from AO, i dont have any inside info on what were actually doing. ive also never been to any AO functions. yet ive already reserved 2 nights at the sherraton and will be there by friday afternoon. i dont know exactly where we are meeting, what were doing, or if i will even be able to hook up with any group of AOers who do know...but i still plan on being there.

i e-mailed and asked for info...the reply was its all in the thread. dates and a hotel address, ok...but a little more info like where to meet and what time would help...or i will just be the bald guy in the lobby of the hotel asking everybody who shows up if theyre with AO.

what would make this a little better was an itinerary of times and locations...at least for friday. also when i reserved the room and paid full price i was asked if i was with any group...because they do give discounts when they are expecting a group...nobody ever heard of AO or AGD. somebody knows whats going on and when...but the average newbie at AO isnt in the loop...and IMO thats why more less willing to just say the hell with it and just go people arent jumping to commit to show up.

on a related note i replied 4th in the whos coming to the mega meet thread and asked about getting permission to bring a video crew pack up 50K in equipment and produce a mega meet video/dvd. no reply. so even though i am still coming im a little put off by the "proclamations from the mountaintop with ear plugs to drown out any replies" that goes on around here.

there are a bunch of regulars around here with fancy sigs and 3000+ posts...dont get me wrong those guys/gals drive this forum and make it great, but the average joe needs to be in the loop a little also.

[dansim]

i belive as teh date gets closer an itenary will get posted, i cant say as im not on the planning end but if your there for an ao event most likely you wont be able to miss it, as for your video equipment i suggest emailing info@airgun.com and he'll get back to when he can perhaps put what you want in the topic

also alot of you naysayers saying they dont have a right to be angry please take time and think, this isnt free for agd it costs them money to send people out and bring em home, they gotta pay for hotels,entries,food,paint and whatever else they come across just keep that in mind if you say your coming and just dont show.

[Thordic]

Jon, no offense bro, but I gave you guys a warning. The location is too close to IAO, I think that is hurting your chances of good attendance.

The summer is a VERY busy season for paintball travel. People have to pick what tournaments and events they can attend carefully. You chose to hold the Megameet in the same place as IAO. People who have to choose between going to Pittsburgh twice or going to Pitt. once and LA once would be more likely to pick the more varied schedule, I'd think.

I hope you guys get great turnout, but there hasn't been much hype about the megameet. SC and NJ2 had people talking constantly, I havn't seen much hype about the Megameet.

Also, at least for NJ2, it was in a pretty AO-heavy area. Most of the attendees were locals. If you held it somewhere where lots of travel was involved, attendance would have been way less.

I sincerely hop you get tons of people, but this one could have been planned better, IMO.

[Mango]

Originally posted by Wc Keep
hey mango you still going to go??? this way we can have a full 5 man blackcell team there.

I SHOULD be there, but I will not be able to commit till after tomorrow, when I find out from my department when I get paid.

[FutureMagOwner]

im sorry neither me or mikekpball couldnt go to ne ao day II we got grounded for getting detention for protesting some stupid teacher who makes up bs rules and says shes one of the administrators(who happens to be a man and the teacher is a woman:rolleyes: )

[dansim]

Originally posted by FutureMagOwner
im sorry neither me or mikekpball couldnt go to ne ao day II we got grounded for getting detention for protesting some stupid teacher who makes up bs rules and says shes one of the administrators(who happens to be a man and the teacher is a woman:rolleyes: )

all in the past man all in the past

[pbzmag]

Originally posted by USAF-Flyboy with a Mag
AGD...COME OUT TO SO CAL!!!!!
Thanks =)

I second it!

[yeahthatsme]

sorry about indiana, but my ride fell through, its complicated so i wont get in to it but i did want to go.

and pleeeeeeeese dont stop all the great events that agd does just because a group of people are no-shows, if i could drive myself i would be at every single agd event i could go to, but i cant. i think that these people are either idiots or have something really really important that takes precidence(sp???)


but regardless, please dont stop doing these events, the chat parties and AO meets with the agd bigwigs is what makes AGD and AO what they are. without them we'd just be another internet group.

[Nobody077]

I would love to go to the MM but its to far. I started looking at plane tickets back in Jan when the date was first set. For most people on the West coast this meet is just to far and would cost way to much, for me I was looking at around $1000 for the weekend.
I realy hope that the MM turnout is better than it looks right now.
And ya when are iny of you AGD guys headed back to CA? It was great to see Tom and ARMY out here in December, and we had more people show than planed:)

[wobbles82]

Id love to go, if I had the cash I would, but I gotta get a ULE Black Body, and a Poweryte Scepter kit, sorry fellows, ill make it next time and bring the team!

[Wc Keep]

Originally posted by wobbles82
Id love to go, if I had the cash I would, but I gotta get a ULE Black Body, and a Poweryte Scepter kit, sorry fellows, ill make it next time and bring the team!

why do you HAVE to get a ule body and scepter kit???

[wimag]

Originally posted by AGDJon
What is going on??? Why is everyone backing out of the megameet??? You all asked for this and now you are all backing out??? Everyone here at AGD (Tom, Myself, the office gals) worked very hard to coordinate with Team Effort Events to bring you an event that was to be huge and now we are getting a lot of people backing out.

You all knew about the megameet from the original post by Tom dating back to January so there is no excuse about not having enough time to know about this. The AO NJ 2 day drew about 100, if not more, people on less than a month's worth of planning. And Tom was not even there. The SC AO day drew the same amount of people with a little over one month's worth of planning as well. You guys have known about this for over 4 months now.

The agenda is even listed in the very same thread.
http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64144

It makes us feel that you don't appreciate the efforts we put forth to organize a national event for our members and their friends and families. It really feels like a slap to the face to see everyone hype the megameet only to have it shut down by everyone that said they would go back out last minute and say, "oh we can't make it anymore"

Take, for examples, the NE AO meet. There was approximately 50 people that said yes and cancelled last minute. I still had fun but was disappointed by the poor turnout, as well as the organizer Dansim, and the field owner, Jon, who limited other parties and hired more refs, to accomodate us. Look at the Indy AO day, at Manny Francia's new field, where only 15 people showed. Is there no love left?

I am very very upset. Because of this, it makes me feel that I should not even bother to attend anymore AO events and give Tom the same recommendation. I don't even feel like attending any chat parties and telling Tom to stop all of them because people whine and complain that the prizes are fixed. Well to those that say that, I AM the one who picks the winners on a random basis, while sitting right next to Tom. Like I said, you all make me, as well as everyone here at the factory, very unappreciated.

If the turnout for the Megameet turns out to be very poor, don't expect another Megameet next year and don't expect Tom nor I to attend anymore AO events, whether it has already been planned or not. We will still be at the tournaments but there may not be anything more than just a doughnut orgy. No dinners, no afterparties, no anything. Those that said yes and are backing out are really destroying it for everyone that already committed and have already made the travel arrangements.

THAT IS MY GRIPE.

:rolleyes: When Mr. Kaye replies to this your rant may mean something.
Yeah maybe you should take a break from this Jon, seems like a hell of alot of pressure and you are not handling it very well or with good representation to AGD.

Oh and i do appreciate AGD as you should appreciate me every time i use my plastic credit card and order some equipment from you. Is that good enough for you.

[wobbles82]

Im really sorry, but im trying to support AGD and myself and well...I want my ULE! I promise, next meet that I have cash on hand, ill be there, guns ablazing, ill tell all the mag users in my area tonight and see if I can get any to go to the megameet, none really read these forums maybe they wanna go, who knows.

[hitmanng]

I cannot speak for everyone Jon but I can speak for myself. It all comes down to a buzy life and making priorities. I was planning on going to the Indy meet and had puking kids. I have 4 and a wife that recently had back surgery. I wanted to attend the megameet but there is an MXS event here in Indiana on the 17th-18th and I will be there. Have to work this weekend. I can only make so many events.
Sorry,
Hitmanng

[Automaggin2]

Since NJ AO day seems to be the big event, why not just make that the megameet? I mean, look, you have the most densley populated state, surrounded by 2 huge cities, new york and philadelphia. A lot of AOers are from ths area, and they have like 5 different airports that are accesible, so its easier to find cheap airfare.


PLUS you can get peole to sponsor it, Redz is in New Jersey, im sure they will help out, so is National Paintball Supply, who could also sponsor it. If you want a gigantic event, NJ is the place for it i belive.

[Wc Keep]

tom cant make nj ao day. plus the idea of megameet was to get everyone from ao on a team and put them against all comers.

[Load SM5]

That's not really fair to those of us who did make the time and finances to be there. My plane ticket is non-refundable. I'd love to make the NJ meet but I decided to go to the Megameet because this was supposed to be the mother of all meets, hence the Mega bit.

[Gambit1106]

Well I guess I am the bad guy because I had to back out. I am backing out because of family, work, and money. When I said I was going to attend I was doing OK as time progresses and there is a lack of info on the event things change. Lets face it peoples schedule and wallets will change. Myself I am picking up a second job just to make ends meet. The AO Indy event was a luxury for me and may be one of the very few times I play this year. I really guess that is not good enough though and I guess I am sorry that I can't meet the expectations to make the event because of things out of my control.

[Cristobal]

I've never organized one of these, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about...

But it seems to me that its very easy to commit to something when its four or five months out. Its only when it gets closer that you begin to realize all the little stuff that's got to get done -- and then its not so easy to stay committed.

Now obviously you'll have some attrition, but somehow you've got to get most of the people who commit to stay excited enough about its that they keep it a priority -- and probably nothing does that better than money :cool: Give people some sort of incentive to pre-register and make a deposit guaranteeing [whatever the incentive was].

[M-a-s-sDriver]

waaaa effing waaaa.
I get the feeling people don't appreciate my efforts every friggin' day.
I've learned to take it out on a golf ball.
Brent Jackson, PFB.

[bornl33t]

though everyone a x-valve and ppl will be linnning up :D

I'm too broke to buy tires on my jeep could leave Iowa if the state was under siege

[WARPED1]

Originally posted by LittMag
The only way that you'll get people to commit is by their wallets. Get a deposit from those who say they want to go. There ya go, like how NPPL entry fees are due ahead of time. Problem solved.

[Demobilized]

I can see why you are frustrated and it is rightfuly so, but don't let one bad egg spoil all of the fun! Keep up everything you guys do for us! Even if we don't always show it I am sure nearly all of us EXTREMELY appreciate AGD and its employes.

[AutomagRT1483]

So basically what your saying is that if no one shows(or get a low number of people) at the megameet that your not going to go to anymore AO days. That means you'll just be backing out like the people who back on you for those other AO days. Why would you threaten to do a thing like that?? What are you thinking???:confused: I mean, I'll be attending my 1st AO day on May 31st up here at Paintball Sam's. Why ruin it for those of us that haven't even been to one yet??

[oldsoldier]

Hey, if you can get the Government to let me outta Louisiana for the weekend, I'd be there in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, that wont happen (my mom wrote a note during the Gulf War, to no avail). Anyway, I hope you guys do get a great turnout. These things are fun; the cameraderie is great, Jon is an awesome guy; you just cant have a better time playing. It brings the fun back into the sport.

[Star_Base_CGI]

Jon, the economy is not doing that well okay. People are out of work and getting laid off.

Try to focus on the positve. The people that are there. They will get a more personel experience out of the the event. That includes you!

[Wc Keep]

ao days are planned so that ao members can "greet and meet." when we are promised so and so from the agd factory, it is supposed to excite everyone to come out. usually the workers of the agd factory come out when they know there is going to be a lot of people because they really want to meet all the members of the boards. its not cheap for agd to send someone out to wherever and im sure its not cheap to send out tom, jon, and gunga to pittsburgh for several days.

they planned this so that they can get a chance to meet a large majority of the ao community. not that jon and tom don't want to see the faces they know and see at all the other ao meets but they wanted to see some fresh new ones.

and to those that say money is an issue, if a college student, who plays competitive paintball, pays for all his tourney fees and paint, pays for all his own equipment, is going to costa rica the week before he goes to iao, and has to buy his school books, im sure many of you can find the couple of bucks to go. oh yeah as of yesterday i had no plans on going so i didnt save any money to go. well ive decided im going to go and calculated that if i actually save my money and not spend it on useless stuff, how bout that i can go!!!!

oh and if your getting laid off and unemployed then you shouldnt even be thinking about paintball or going on the internet to talk about it, you should be out looking for another job.

[Potatoboy]

The point is that this event has been in planning for quite some time. A lot of people have made commited plans to attend, and can not back out of them.

This was all done under the pretense that everyone who said "Wow! This is such a great idea, I will sell my children to be there!" was actually going to show up.

This event has drained a lot of Airgun Design's time, and has them set to come out, all of which was at the sacrifice of other events.

Also, to quote wimag: "When Mr. Kaye replies to this your rant may mean something."

Jon is an official at AGD. Therefore when he speaks about something like this it is on behalf of the company. We all know that Tom is very active on the boards. He may not post all the time, but he reads. If this had been something he did not approve of I believe you can rest assured something would have been done about it.

I for one am attending the megameet.

I decided against going to the NJAO meet so that I could.

I know that with low attendance, next years megameet probably will not exist. AO members are and will continue to be the feul for these meets. Once you remove the fuel by not showing up they will cease to exist.

Airgun Designs took the initiative in organizing a meet of this caliber, because it would have been somewhat difficult for someone else to do like the smaller reigional meets. Without the smaller meets this would not have happened, but why is everyone favoring the smaller meets as opposed to this?

An AO meet is all about meeting the people you talk to every day.

An AO meet is all about having fun playing paintball.

An AO meet is all about showing up and being there for the experience.

The Mega Meet is a logical progression of all of these things. There are literally people flying/driving/bussing in from all parts of the country. This is going to be the one not to miss, and if many people do miss it, they may not have a second chance.

[Wc Keep]

Originally posted by Heat
though everyone a x-valve and ppl will be linnning up :D



who says that tom, and jon dont bring a box of goodies to ao meets??? and when i say a box of goodies i dont mean tootsie rolls..

[RusskiX]

I think Potatoboy summed it up completely!

I agree with you 100%

[Blaster]

I may be mistaken, but aren't all the larger AO events on or near the East Coast? Perhaps if you spread things out a bit you would have better attendance (not so many events to try to attend in the same area). I don't think AO has anything planned for the West Coast. We do play paintball and support AO in Oregon and Washington too...

[Dayspring]

This is the FIRST large AO event designed by AGD. Any other AO event on the east coast has been AO member run. SC AO Day and NJ AO Days I, II & III are all run by regular members.

If you want stuff on the west coast, start planning it. If you get enough attendance, then AGD staff may show.

See the difference?

And to the people saying that it's too close to IAO- it's 2 months away. 60 days, almost to the date. That reason is BS IMO.


Originally posted by Blaster
I may be mistaken, but aren't all the larger AO events on or near the East Coast? Perhaps if you spread things out a bit you would have better attendance (not so many events to try to attend in the same area). I don't think AO has anything planned for the West Coast. We do play paintball and support AO in Oregon and Washington too...

[Blaster]

My point was not necessarily in regards to it being an "AO sponsored" event but more to the fact that AGD is not showing any representation to any West Coast events. We do have tournaments and scenario games out here. If they are not seeing the kind of turnout they would like to see perhaps they should try another location.

[Thordic]

I said that two events in Pittsburgh in the same summer was too much, Dayspring. Not that they were too close together, necessarily.

But I never intended to attend from the start.

[Dayspring]

That's untrue... Tom was at a big game out there not too long ago. If you actually look at the list of events that AGD people are attending, you see that they go all over the US.


Originally posted by Blaster
My point was not necessarily in regards to it being an "AO sponsored" event but more to the fact that AGD is not showing any representation to any West Coast events. We do have tournaments and scenario games out here. If they are not seeing the kind of turnout they would like to see perhaps they should try another location.

[Wc Keep]

i dont think enough people look at the ao events day calendar. i believe one guy said make one closer to st louis, hello there is a st louis meet. if you expect tom, jon or anyone related to agd to come out to your ao day then you cant expect to have 15 people.

blaster im not trying to shout you out or anything, but why dont you try and start a really big ao day out on the west coast. ask the folks who started ao days what they did that was successful and what failed. take everything that some people say is messing up megameet and make them right. im sure if you got 100 or so people agd will show...

whats too much about 2 events in the same city??? your there for totally different reasons. and dont say its because theres a tourney coming up that people would probably go to, because the next big tourney is chicago nppl and thats not for a few weeks later.

[Star_Base_CGI]

And to those that say money is an issue, if a college student, who plays competitive paintball, pays for all his tourney fees and paint, pays for all his own equipment, is going to costa rica the week before he goes to iao, and has to buy his school books, im sure many of you can find the couple of bucks to go. oh yeah as of yesterday i had no plans on going so i didnt save any money to go. well ive decided im going to go and calculated that if i actually save my money and not spend it on useless stuff, how bout that i can go!!!!

oh and if your getting laid off and unemployed then you shouldnt even be thinking about paintball or going on the internet to talk about it, you should be out looking for another job.

Some people goto college rent equipment and they dont get vacations. Those are the college students that sell last years books to pay for this years books. These are the coloege students that actually know how to work for a living.

As for people who are unemployed. Looking for a job is different than working forty hours a week. Looking for a job is alot harder than working a job. If you dont have your daddys friend to higher you, than your going to have to work work work to find a job. Youll be tired from Searching at Monster.com or OPM.gov and youll want to play some paintball but obviously your not going to have the money to play alot.

My opinion that is you try to make the best of things. If you have a low turnout. You use that opportunity to build a 1 on 1 customer relationship. People will go out there and talk about it. Word gets around.

If you say stuff a sock in it and Im not playing. People will say your a poor sport. Youll come off looking like the bad guy. Thats why the call it work. If we could all just sit back and let money rain down from heaven none of us would have to work or look for a job.

Im not any kind of expert at this or anything. Im just saying sometimes things arent easy.

We should'nt expect life to be easy.

[madmatt151]

Originally posted by Thordic
I hope you guys get great turnout, but there hasn't been much hype about the megameet. SC and NJ2 had people talking constantly, I havn't seen much hype about the Megameet.

Also, at least for NJ2, it was in a pretty AO-heavy area. Most of the attendees were locals. If you held it somewhere where lots of travel was involved, attendance would have been way less. [/B]

Well I must agree with Thordic. Planning these events in a densely populated area is the reason there were large turnouts. Small events like these require no planning or pre arrangements on anyone's part. When you have an event that needs hotel reservations, flights etc. then turnout will be a bit low. I never said I was going, but was seriously interested in going. Something did come up and I am glad I never gave my word to go. If it was a local meet though, I probably could come to one of the days. I totally understand the frustrations of planning events. There is a reason why fields give free admission and free cases of paint to people who plan paintball trips. Planning a trip can be aggrivating. I hope you continue to organize and attend events because I have never been to one yet, and I am looking forward to meeting up with all of you and AGD people. Just my $.02

[Blaster]

Dayspring-

Perhaps your geography is better than mine? Maybe you can point out which one of these "AGD Events for 2003" is on or even near the West Coast?

AO Texas Dallas March 15th
Ultimate Maddness Virgnia April 5th (Tk for sure)
Torricelli scenario game Tenn. April 12th (Tk for sure)
AO Meet Indianapolis at Mannys field March 26th (TK for sure)
Sams Big Game Wis. May 3rd Tk
AO Megameet Pittsburg May 17th (Tk for sure)
Twin Towers Scenario EMR Penn. May 24th Tk
AO Sams WI May 31st Tk
D-Day Ok. June 7th Tk
Super7 Chicago June 7th (no TK)
PSP Chicago June 21st (tk hunting fossils)
IAO Pittsburg July (Tk for sure)
Ron Stern Camp Aug 2nd(Tk for sure)
Shatnerball II - EMR Penn. Aug 30th(Tk for sure)
World Cup or NPPL Finals florida (Tk for sure)
Paintball Sams fall Big Game WI Oct 4th(Tk for sure)

[Dayspring]

Tom was at the last blast with Ben Toricelli last year in December.

[Reo5th]

Originally posted by Mossman
Reo5th seems to have just become aware that there is an opposite sex called females, and he's a bit involved in that, i guess. I suggest everyone PM the hell out of him and make him come.

:D

[Gadget]

If anyone has got some air miles going free that they'd like to donate, I'll head on over :)

[logamus]

jon, i hate to think that all the work and effort as far as this meet goes would be "wasted" on low turnout, but i am displeased to read your thoughts on future meets, even ones that are planned to have adg personel. i can only imagine the frustration you feel but instead of focusing on the negative realize what kind of committment some of these aoers are making to attend. airfare and hotel is not exactly cheap ya know, some people are putting fourth a serious amount of effort in attending, its annoying to see you poopooing on their efforts. frustrating or not, the "im taking my ball and going home" attitude reflects very poorly imho. if thats the kind of attitude your going to take, i say fine, stay home and build some more xmags.

[RoadDawg]

Maybe if you guys would come to the west coast or even midwest I'd go. As it is I can't afford to fly across country for a megameet.

[Wc Keep]

Originally posted by Star_Base_CGI
[b]

Some people goto college rent equipment and they dont get vacations. Those are the college students that sell last years books to pay for this years books. These are the coloege students that actually know how to work for a living.

As for people who are unemployed. Looking for a job is different than working forty hours a week. Looking for a job is alot harder than working a job. If you dont have your daddys friend to higher you, than your going to have to work work work to find a job. Youll be tired from Searching at Monster.com or OPM.gov and youll want to play some paintball but obviously your not going to have the money to play alot.

My opinion that is you try to make the best of things. If you have a low turnout. You use that opportunity to build a 1 on 1 customer relationship. People will go out there and talk about it. Word gets around.

If you say stuff a sock in it and Im not playing. People will say your a poor sport. Youll come off looking like the bad guy. Thats why the call it work. If we could all just sit back and let money rain down from heaven none of us would have to work or look for a job.

Im not any kind of expert at this or anything. Im just saying sometimes things arent easy.

We should'nt expect life to be easy.

star base cgi i think you mis understood. hmmm...its like where to start. lets try college student who sells back books to buy this years books. well see thats me. oh wait no its not i was the kid who the books changed edition and they wouldnt buy them back. so i had to put more money down to buy my new semesters.

sorry daddys friends dont like me cause they think im a punk with too much attitude. so i went and found myself a part time job that suites my needs. MY PARENTS DONT PAY FOR PAINTBALL!! they dont pay for paintball because they dont think its something constructive. they sometimes help with my soccer equipment and thats when i ask them (which is rarely) i own my own equipment and its nothing bottom of the line. sorry i got rid of the spyder a while ago. (not bashing spyders.) i pay for my paint EVERY WEEK. yes i do play every week.

so yeah after i pay for my credit card bill, and pay for my field and paint for this weekend. im going to work 30 something hours to get a paycheck large enough to go to megameet.

oh and if you guys didnt notice agd doesnt coordinate the events they go to.so why dont you guys stop complaining about agd not going to the west coast, and actually get together with your fellow ao'ers and organize an event.

[Wc Keep]

Originally posted by logamus
jon, i hate to think that all the work and effort as far as this meet goes would be "wasted" on low turnout, but i am displeased to read your thoughts on future meets, even ones that are planned to have adg personel. i can only imagine the frustration you feel but instead of focusing on the negative realize what kind of committment some of these aoers are making to attend. airfare and hotel is not exactly cheap ya know, some people are putting fourth a serious amount of effort in attending, its annoying to see you poopooing on their efforts. frustrating or not, the "im taking my ball and going home" attitude reflects very poorly imho. if thats the kind of attitude your going to take, i say fine, stay home and build some more xmags.

oh yeah and besides the fact that jon doesnt build the xmags, just remember that theres more to agd than paintball, meaning the xmag doesnt have to be made. they are making it cause we want it. everything agd does is for us. so wy dont we show them a little appreciation and hold up to our words. we were told 4 months ago this was going down, was it that hard to mark it on our calendars....

[AGD]

Ok this has gone far enough. We are going to go on with the meet and whoever is there will have a great time. We will be bringing lots of goodies that we will be selling way below retail.

I will also be bringing some prototype stuff for testing and evaluation from the people that are there (but if you tell anyone I will have to kill you..)


AGD

[ntn4502]

...and the fisherman baits the hook...;):D

[cphilip]

Originally posted by madmatt151
.... Planning these events in a densely populated area is the reason there were large turnouts...

Then how do you explain SC AO's great turn out? Not in a densly populated area and people traveled from far and wide.

Fact is when you plan these things they do not always promote themselves. It takes daily reminders. And preregistration does not solve it. What happens then is people wait as they are unsure what might come up. You can have preregistration (and we did for SC AO) but you offer a discount if they do. But this still does not insure a turn out. People come without preregistration and some preregister and do not come. There is no solution to this but to take a chance and to heavily promote it. Its work and there is no way out of it.

[wyn1370]

so you going uncle phil?

[cphilip]

I am trying to. I still not sure about my situation to go back up there so soon. It's a financial question. I had to just go up there for something that came up after this was planned that was very important so I do not know if I can now. I certainly want too! Will have to see.

[Thordic]

Phil -

I also mentioned that Megameet wasn't hyped enough. But of all the people who played at SC AO Day, what percentage were within a 2 hour drive, and what percentage actually had a long trip in?

[cphilip]

I will have to go back and tally that Thordic. I still have all the sign up sheets so I can look at the address's and tell that. But without looking I would guess at least half of them came from more than that. And perhaps 3/4.

[ShooterJM]

Personally it's a combination of factors. I really want to go. However, it's about oh...lets see....1600 miles away or so. So I could drive two days there and two days back. Or I could fly. Then there's hotel and paint and all that. Easily a grand. Or I could fly. But if I fly I'm not old enough to get a rental car. Yet another problem.

[Dayspring]

Hotel issue- Don't you worry. There's still floor space SOMEWHERE in the AO rooms. As it is, it's going to be Hotel Dayspring all weekend long. I've got 5 people in there every night, so the cost is around $23-$25/ person. If you can share rooms, the cost is DRAMATICALLY cheaper.

Rental Car- Also- no sweat. I'm making 2 runs to Pittsburgh Airport and possibly one to the train station. We can handle transportation to and from where you need to go.

If you can arrange everything else, we can handle the Pittsburgh stuff.

As you can see, some of the "issues" are really non-issues. Now get your butt out here! :D

[wyn1370]

Muz offered before to do airport pick ups and I am now offering to turn my truck into a shuttle bus service. Getting back to the airport might take some work, but PM one of us if you need pickup/dropoff assistance.

[Dayspring]

Hell, I even offered my hotel bed if that's what it took to get somebody out to the Megameet.

Yes, that's right. I will take the floor if that's what it takes to get people to come out. If we run out of room, then I'll sleep in the truck.

I think Wyn, myself and Muz are going to be designated taxi people. (which is REALLY funny cuz I don't know my way around Pittsburgh at ALL!)

[cphilip]

Using the registration sheet as an idea I see 43 people that came to SC AO from WITHIN 200 miles or more. The rest were from beyond that. But the registration sheet does not have People like Tom and Jon and the Paintball Inc guys on it. So it shows like 113 people. I have to pull the field Release forms to fill in the few gaps. There was the Refs and such need to add to that as we had our student club providing that as well. The tally we made was 119 at some point at the field from the releases signed through the day and adding in Tom and these others. We filled out one for them to keep track of those few others and get an accurate count.

And note that we had an unusual crowd at ours. By that I mean a lot of Mom's, Dads, Sisters and Brothers and even Grandma's came. So our proportion of people out there was odd in that near half were not players. It was like 56 players and then like 7 or 8 more that were players that did not play much and then the rest were spectators and there to meet Tom and chear their spouses, kids and etc on. Very much a spectator kind of day which was realy cool. Then there were some that had to leave after the play and could not come to dinner but there were spouses and friends that came to dinner that had not come to the field. So we had like 85 at dinner but some of them were new in the mix for the day. So that was cool too. All and all about 125 people attended one part or the other of the event.

But you can see that about 60% came from fair distances. Army all the way from California and a big group from NJ and PA and even Chicago area.

In the closer area we had them from Dalton and Atlanta, Charlotte and Charelston.

[Dayspring]

Hey Phil- did you realise that at the rate you're posting, you'll hit 9000 posts within like 48 hours? ;)

I think your Warranty just expired. :D

[cphilip]

Never noticed!

Heck now that I think of it I would have prolly already gone over if my home Satellite system had not gone down the other night and I have not been on from home since then... :(

Awww no matter though its only numbers.

[wyn1370]

unlce phil, you forgot the longest drive of all. Me and tater drove 15 hours from detroit.

[Dayspring]

What about the guy from Alaska though? He came the longest. (granted he MOVED there about 2 weeks prior... ;))

But how about this one- Manike came from another COUNTRY to hit up Shatnerball. Now THAT'S long distance.

Just goes to show- Distance means NOTHING to an AOer.

[wyn1370]

Originally posted by Dayspring
Just goes to show- Distance means NOTHING to an AOer.
TRUE DAT

[cphilip]

Originally posted by wyn1370
unlce phil, you forgot the longest drive of all. Me and tater drove 15 hours from detroit.

Oh well ya'll don't count... :D

No sorry about that. I was trying to remember the places when I wrote that.

Thanks again by the way!

[wyn1370]

Originally posted by cphilip
Oh well ya'll don't count... :D

ya'll this you reverse skunk:p
now I'm hurt, to make up for it I think you should have to come to the megameet so you can buy me a beer

[cphilip]

OTAY! :D

I still hope I can. I getting "the beasts" brakes checked next week and looking at the tires to see if they can make it up there or not. If they cannot then I am gonna have to cough up the moola for that instead.

[wyn1370]

just remember to drag Fatman with you
that way jon can busy himself with molesting him and the rest of us will be safe

[cphilip]

You know Fatman prolly can come... Its the end of Semester this week so classes are out. I will conoiter with him and see...

[wyn1370]

and candy for the ladies, don't forget the candy
we all know how well it went over last time

[cphilip]

I always got my "lady candy" with me... :eek:

Is that not the same hotel that IAO was in last year? If so there was a Fairfield cheapo just down the block was there not?

[wyn1370]

not sure, muz might know

[LaW]

I didn't read most of this, but I am sure I know what most of the replies are but oh well....

What can I say? I was totally for this meet, I was totally down for going. I got laid off january and have been getting by on unemployment for the past months. My job search is getting me nothing! It is bad enough that I can't even get a part time job at a local fast food place (even with Manager experience I had in highschool). I went from definately going to I will know the week of the megameet. It is a 9 hour drive, I havn't secured a new job yet and I am trying to live off of what little money I actually get right now.

BTautomag or whatever I know I said I would give a ride to but hey things happen... I cant do anything more than apologize.

I hope the meet goes well and everyone has a great time, I am sure it will be fun. Perhaps I will land a job in the coming weeks and i will be able to make that last minute decision to drive on down for this.

[Muzikman]

Originally posted by Thordic
I said that two events in Pittsburgh in the same summer was too much, Dayspring. Not that they were too close together, necessarily.

But I never intended to attend from the start.


*sniff* *sniff*...but...but...it's such a nice city:(

[Muzikman]

Originally posted by Dayspring
I think Wyn, myself and Muz are going to be designated taxi people. (which is REALLY funny cuz I don't know my way around Pittsburgh at ALL!)

Neither do I....ask Tom or the other 20 people I got lost;)

[Muzikman]

Originally posted by cphilip
I always got my "lady candy" with me... :eek:

Is that not the same hotel that IAO was in last year? If so there was a Fairfield cheapo just down the block was there not?

Phil,
Yep, same hotel the tech class was in at last years IAO.

[Mango]

If I get paid on the 10th I'll be there. :)