Suggestions to Bolster Buggy Popularity & Success

[Ben]

So there is a system in place for greek orgs to request JFC funding which Buggy is on the list for. I have no idea how much this is used, but I know there are JFC rules about non-JFC funded groups getting some allocation from JFC for the purposes of Buggy and some other things.

[shafeeq]

The amount available used to be fairly small - $500 I think. But the amount the independents get was only maybe 1-2k and lots of strings attached. So they're significantly alumni/member/sponsor supported as well. I was dead set against funding Greek buggy when it was introduced, but I've flipped on that. If interest drops much further, there's not going to be enough manpower to handle things like keeping cars off the course, so we'll have to hire people to do that. Better to spend the money on increasing participation and get "free" labor than to direcly pay for it.

Rather than charging entry fees like now, a system where you get prize money for each team that competes (and/or finishes) seems great. The amount that goes into running sweepstakes is far larger than the amount that the teams spend competing in it, so worst case, give up a weekend of rolls and put the saved permit & police fees towards the prizes to remain budget-neutral. This wouldn't help a new team, because they need their cash up front, and have no alumni to call on. The state of technology (and incoming students) means that you're stuck buying speed - working harder or smarter will make your dollar go further, but cannot overcome a lack of cash. So any money given to the teams flows through to an outside supplier. Carbon & ZE's are sexy but the top-5 push teams could probably make finals with a fiberglass or metal buggy and xootrs.

Would it help to relax the rules on Greeks to allow for two small houses to run a combined team, or for a house to have an all non-member push team?

[shafeeq]

Oh, and a daytime King of the Hill contest during the weekend formerly known as Homecoming would be awesome, and not get in the way of much.

[Carl Nott]

This wouldn't help a new team, because they need their cash up front, and have no alumni to call on.

Actually, I think there is an alumni association that supports all of buggy, not just a specific team, and which would probably be down with helping a new team.

Would it help to relax the rules on Greeks to allow for two small houses to run a combined team, or for a house to have an all non-member push team?

I worry that would just be used to create a Greek superteam (Thunderfrats ho!). Pairing frats with sororities might be doable tho. But I think folks already do this.

[bjc]

Would it help to relax the rules on Greeks to allow for two small houses to run a combined team, or for a house to have an all non-member push team?

I worry that would just be used to create a Greek superteam (Thunderfrats ho!). Pairing frats with sororities might be doable tho. But I think folks already do this.

TriDelt and DTD tried this and called it Delta Force. They lasted a year, but it's really hard to distribute chores among 2 orgs with different priorities and whose members have prior commitments to other teams.

[Ben]

We have been generating a list of project ideas aside from our Project zone and I am planning on posting it soon.

One I want to throw out there before they all go up is a program where if a team hasn't built a new buggy in ~5 years we as the BAA could help and sponsor a new build. This of course would also apply to new teams who haven't even existed for 5 years. In return we would ask for a detailed plan (giving us some places to provide advice/guidance) which we would release after 4-5 years for the general public.

[Elmo Zoneball]

The amount available used to be fairly small - $500 I think. But the amount the independents get was only maybe 1-2k and lots of strings attached. So they're significantly alumni/member/sponsor supported as well. I was dead set against funding Greek buggy when it was introduced, but I've flipped on that. If interest drops much further, there's not going to be enough manpower to handle things like keeping cars off the course, so we'll have to hire people to do that. Better to spend the money on increasing participation and get "free" labor than to direcly pay for it.

Rather than charging entry fees like now, a system where you get prize money for each team that competes (and/or finishes) seems great. The amount that goes into running sweepstakes is far larger than the amount that the teams spend competing in it, so worst case, give up a weekend of rolls and put the saved permit & police fees towards the prizes to remain budget-neutral. This wouldn't help a new team, because they need their cash up front, and have no alumni to call on. The state of technology (and incoming students) means that you're stuck buying speed - working harder or smarter will make your dollar go further, but cannot overcome a lack of cash. So any money given to the teams flows through to an outside supplier. Carbon & ZE's are sexy but the top-5 push teams could probably make finals with a fiberglass or metal buggy and xootrs.

Would it help to relax the rules on Greeks to allow for two small houses to run a combined team, or for a house to have an all non-member push team?

I'll just say that I am opposed to general funding of Buggy (or most other limited access activities) from Activities fees or similar, on ideological grounds. And since we don't want this to devolve into a political shouting match, I'll stop right there.

But here's a variation on something you suggested that might have merit and be practical: charge an entry fee, but offer a partial rebate to teams who show up for all their assigned duties and who show up and participate in FR/Race for the entire year. This creates a financial incentive for the teams to show up, do their assigned tasks, and participate. It would be based on some formula that subtracted from the end of year rebate charges for jobs missed, FR missed, etc., as opposed to a binary all/nothing rebate system.

This is in some ways similar to how local professional car racing is done: teams pay an entry fee to get into a race, but they also get back a minimum amount of money ("trailering payment") to offset the cost to dragging the race car to the track, even if you come in dead last, as long as you actually race.

So, rather than forcing the student population in general to subsidize buggy, use the money of the teams which are competing to create a financial incentive to show up, do their assigned jobs, and participate in FRs, and a rebate system does exactly that.

[aitong]

It looks like we've got some good suggestions here.

Anyone interested in taking responsibility for moving one of these suggestions from "nice idea" to "actual thing"?

[Elmo Zoneball]

AS long as no one is paying any attention, here's a REALLY easy thing to do that would make the races much more watchable for marginal fans of the sport:

ASSIGN A VEHICLE NUMBER TO EVERY BUGGY

Then require the number be visible, in much the same manner as the FAA requires an aircraft's "N"-number be a minimum size in specified locations on the vehicle.

BAA could publish the numerical/name/org correlation list, so everybody who comes out to watch can print a copy (or read it on their smart phone) and thus knows what buggy they are looking at, instead of guessing "whose buggy was that, and which one was it?"

This would vastly improve spectator accessability to the sport of buggy, and basically costs nothing to implement.

Suggest minimum of 2 locations: one on each side of a buggy. Minimum size: >4" tall.

Roman numerals/fractions/complex numbers/irrationals/Trancendentals forbidden.