So listening to the clips from last week, and I had heard her say it before, but Judy mentioned that the ODU trip taught her that football will bring out every weakness of a University.
Many of the members of this board were part of the CFI push and most everyone was there along the way for some type of support. Even still, we have not been given the respect to be on any of the committee’s. Our input has not been wanted.
So, I think it is time to help by going ahead and letting the admin know what our weaknesses are.
I’ll start.
Our merchandising is terrible. I was in the unfortunate situation of being in concord mills yesterday. I walk by the hanes store and see Appalachian and NC State hoodies. Yet again I wonder if this place selling Collegiate apparel is selling stuff of the 25k student university less than 10 miles away. I find more app stuff, and no Charlotte stuff.
Disappointed, but not shocked, i walk around to see if the airbrushed helmet is out. It isn’t but i did get to see the cool banner, however I don’t recall a Charlotte logo or NCAA logo so I have to imagine this was done on his own. Amongst the appalachian, clemson and FSU stuff, I go into the store to find 1 charlotte item, i also found 1 john lennon framed poster. John Lennon has equal or better sports marketing than Charlotte.
This really needs to be fixed. I’ve heard the troubles on this for years. I’ve heard they were trying to do stuff for years. I’ve heard different failed attempts. Why this University doesn’t understand that there is a demand for quality Charlotte stuff at a price better than Barnes and Noble in the public eye I have no idea. Honestly days like yesterday make me feel that our merchandising department is inept on purpose.
If we plan on adding to our customer base we need to get this right. There are going to be people who want to support this via their clothing both on gameday and any other day.
[quote=“ninerID, post:1, topic:24960”]So listening to the clips from last week, and I had heard her say it before, but Judy mentioned that the ODU trip taught her that football will bring out every weakness of a University.
Many of the members of this board were part of the CFI push and most everyone was there along the way for some type of support. Even still, we have not been given the respect to be on any of the committee’s. Our input has not been wanted.
So, I think it is time to help by going ahead and letting the admin know what our weaknesses are.
I’ll start.
Our merchandising is terrible. I was in the unfortunate situation of being in concord mills yesterday. I walk by the hanes store and see Appalachian and NC State hoodies. Yet again I wonder if this place selling Collegiate apparel is selling stuff of the 25k student university less than 10 miles away. I find more app stuff, and no Charlotte stuff.
Disappointed, but not shocked, i walk around to see if the airbrushed helmet is out. It isn’t but i did get to see the cool banner, however I don’t recall a Charlotte logo or NCAA logo so I have to imagine this was done on his own. Amongst the appalachian, clemson and FSU stuff, I go into the store to find 1 charlotte item, i also found 1 john lennon framed poster. John Lennon has equal or better sports marketing than Charlotte.
This really needs to be fixed. I’ve heard the troubles on this for years. I’ve heard they were trying to do stuff for years. I’ve heard different failed attempts. Why this University doesn’t understand that there is a demand for quality Charlotte stuff at a price better than Barnes and Noble in the public eye I have no idea. Honestly days like yesterday make me feel that our merchandising department is inept on purpose.
If we plan on adding to our customer base we need to get this right. There are going to be people who want to support this via their clothing both on gameday and any other day.[/quote]
I posted this a couple weeks ago, but per Sig Sports…“football will help our “merchandising” and broadcasting deals immensely”. Let’s hope they were right.
I think football should bring a re-structuring of the 49er Club. Since the media guides were digital this year, someone who joined the 49er Club today with a $49 donation would get the same benefits as someone who donates $1499. Not that we should only donate to get soemthign in return, but there is not much incentive for people to jump from $49/year to $250 and so on. I know that there will be a required donation to keep you football seats and that is good, but there needs to be more incentive to jump up.
Along the same line, I remember seeing 49er Club gear (polos) with the old logo at games when I was a student in the mid- 90s. I think adding those to one of the levels would provide a small incentive and a great way to advertise the 49er Club.
I believe that football will help, but it’s no excuse. I was in Dayton this past weekend and the Flyers and the Musketeers had a lot more merchandise at the local malls than we have in Charlotte. I don’t really count Pioneer football as being much of an incentive to buy a lot more gear. Those teams deal with a rabid fanbase in Ohio State that is even more over the top and prevalent statewide than unc chapel hill is. There was a great deal of Flyers and Musketeers gear. Probably as much in one shop as you’d find in any entire mall in the Charlotte area for us.
Along with possibly bringing back polos with this logo, they need to put the 49er Club logo on a nice Color Shock window sticker for the outside of your vehicle window and give one to every member. Most all back windows on vehicles now have factory tint on them to where the static clings cannot be seen well. I know the NCSU and ECU booster club stickers by heart on the back glass’ of vehicles because you see them all over the place. We need to make these to give to our members, and make them look nice so they will want to display it prominantly. A small magnet is also a good idea.
Along with possibly bringing back polos with this logo, they need to put the 49er Club logo on a nice Color Shock window sticker for the outside of your vehicle window and give one to every member. Most all back windows on vehicles now have factory tint on them to where the static clings cannot be seen well. I know the NCSU and ECU booster club stickers by heart on the back glass’ of vehicles because you see them all over the place. We need to make these to give to our members, and make them look nice so they will want to display it prominantly. A small magnet is also a good idea.[/quote]
I have the same problem. However, a few people on here said they put their static cling on the outside of the glass and it has held up well. I haven’t tried it yet.
Along with possibly bringing back polos with this logo, they need to put the 49er Club logo on a nice Color Shock window sticker for the outside of your vehicle window and give one to every member. Most all back windows on vehicles now have factory tint on them to where the static clings cannot be seen well. I know the NCSU and ECU booster club stickers by heart on the back glass’ of vehicles because you see them all over the place. We need to make these to give to our members, and make them look nice so they will want to display it prominantly. A small magnet is also a good idea.[/quote]
I have the same problem. However, a few people on here said they put their static cling on the outside of the glass and it has held up well. I haven’t tried it yet.[/quote]
Hmmmm. I’ll have to see that too. I figured rain would just render it useless on the outside. It’s not doing anything but wasting away in a drawer, so I may try it just to see what it does.
I went to Charlotte49ers.com to see how 49er club is marketed there and am very disappointed.
First of all there is only a 49er club link at the top and bottom of the page where there needs to be a graphic and logo. When you go to the 49er club site you are greeted with the upcoming events which currently are:
[ul][li][size=1]6th Annual Let Me Play Luncheon Monday, [b]Nov. 2, 2009[/b]; Charlotte Convention Center -- to register go to [/size][url=http://www.letmeplaycharlotte.com/?SPID=0&DB_OEM_ID=23200][size=1]www.letmeplaycharlotte.com[/size][/url] [/li]
[li][size=1]33rd Annual 49er Club Golf Outing, Sponsored by Dr. James Fleischli and OrthoCarolina [b]April 19, 2010[/b]; Pine Island C.C. [/size] [/li]
[li][size=1]27th Annual Great Gold Rush Auction Sponsored by Chartwells - A Division of Compass Group - [b]June 5, 2010[/b]; Halton Arena: $1,000 for a table of 10 or $100 per person; silent auction begins at 5:30pm and is followed by a live auction[/size][/li]
[li] [size=1] [/size]
[/l][/l]
I realize it’s nitpicking and they may not have anything on the horizon but having 2 events from last year and one from 2009 listed as your upcoming events is embarrassing. This would be a good place to include alumni events such as the one at Childress Vineyards or football town hall meetings and others that could be used as a selling point for the university and the 49er club.[/ul]
[quote=“cdsniner, post:8, topic:24960”]I went to Charlotte49ers.com to see how 49er club is marketed there and am very disappointed.
First of all there is only a 49er club link at the top and bottom of the page where there needs to be a graphic and logo. When you go to the 49er club site you are greeted with the upcoming events which currently are:
[ul][li]6th Annual Let Me Play Luncheon Monday, [b]Nov. 2, 2009[/b]; Charlotte Convention Center -- to register go to [url=http://www.letmeplaycharlotte.com/]www.letmeplaycharlotte.com[/url] [/li]
[li]33rd Annual 49er Club Golf Outing, Sponsored by Dr. James Fleischli and OrthoCarolina [b]April 19, 2010[/b]; Pine Island C.C. [/li]
[li]27th Annual Great Gold Rush Auction Sponsored by Chartwells - A Division of Compass Group - [b]June 5, 2010[/b]; Halton Arena: $1,000 for a table of 10 or $100 per person; silent auction begins at 5:30pm and is followed by a live auction[/li]
[li][/l][/l][/l][/l][/l][/l][/l][/l][/l][/l][/l][/l]
I realize it’s nitpicking and they may not have anything on the horizon but having 2 events from last year and one from 2009 listed as your upcoming events is embarrassing. This would be a good place to include alumni events such as the one at Childress Vineyards or football town hall meetings and others that could be used as a selling point for the university and the 49er club.[/quote]
Which is more embarrassing–that they do no maintain the website and have year old events out there, or that we apparently have NO upcoming events?[/ul]
we have low admissions standards. Too many people in this community view Charlotte as a glorified community college. Why? Because we let too many people in. The masses want to cling to something great. The harder our standards are, the more demand we have and the more people want to show off where they went. I feel like I see more people wearing Davidson apparel in this city than UNC Charlotte and that just shouldn’t happen.
We have awful TV and radio deals…out of sight, out of mind. For prospective fans who wouldn’t necessarily care that our admissions standards aren’t up to par with some of the other major universities in NC, being a fan of the local team is hard since our games are never on television and you have to tune into the talk radio AM channel(with minimal signal) to hear our games.
Freshmen aren’t required to live on campus…impossible to pull off as a urban campus, but it hurts. Allowing commuters leaves way to many students discounted from campus life.
Our admission standards have gone up while our enrollment has also grown. This is a weakness that is being sured up with time.
- We have awful TV and radio deals...out of sight, out of mind. For prospective fans who wouldn't necessarily care that our admissions standards aren't up to par with some of the other major universities in NC, being a fan of the local team is hard since our games are never on television and you have to tune into the talk radio AM channel(with minimal signal) to hear our games.
This is definitely an issue. With a growing alumni base, this will be sured up, somewhat, with time. However, the U needs to engage the alumni and keep them much closer to the ship.
- Freshmen aren't required to live on campus...impossible to pull off as a urban campus, but it hurts. Allowing commuters leaves way to many students discounted from campus life.
It's probably impossible to require ALL freshmen to live on campus, but those who cannot should be given a rare exception.
[quote=“CheapSeatDave, post:10, topic:24960”]Heres a few weaknesses off the top of my head
we have low admissions standards. Too many people in this community view Charlotte as a glorified community college. Why? Because we let too many people in. The masses want to cling to something great. The harder our standards are, the more demand we have and the more people want to show off where they went. I feel like I see more people wearing Davidson apparel in this city than UNC Charlotte and that just shouldn’t happen.
We have awful TV and radio deals…out of sight, out of mind. For prospective fans who wouldn’t necessarily care that our admissions standards aren’t up to par with some of the other major universities in NC, being a fan of the local team is hard since our games are never on television and you have to tune into the talk radio AM channel(with minimal signal) to hear our games.
Freshmen aren’t required to live on campus…impossible to pull off as a urban campus, but it hurts. Allowing commuters leaves way to many students discounted from campus life.[/quote]
Our admission standards arent bad. And our academics are really good, we have 8 or so departments ranked top 20 in their field. In Political Science we still away Ivy League professors. Why does no one know that we exist academically or athletically? Football. Its hard to market yourself when America only considers you a real school if you have football, minus a select few bball schools. And that perception is worse in the South. Assuming we avoid the Big South conference, by 2020-2025 we wont need a thread like this
[quote=“charlotteguy88, post:12, topic:24960”][quote=“CheapSeatDave, post:10, topic:24960”]Heres a few weaknesses off the top of my head
we have low admissions standards. Too many people in this community view Charlotte as a glorified community college. Why? Because we let too many people in. The masses want to cling to something great. The harder our standards are, the more demand we have and the more people want to show off where they went. I feel like I see more people wearing Davidson apparel in this city than UNC Charlotte and that just shouldn’t happen.
We have awful TV and radio deals…out of sight, out of mind. For prospective fans who wouldn’t necessarily care that our admissions standards aren’t up to par with some of the other major universities in NC, being a fan of the local team is hard since our games are never on television and you have to tune into the talk radio AM channel(with minimal signal) to hear our games.
Freshmen aren’t required to live on campus…impossible to pull off as a urban campus, but it hurts. Allowing commuters leaves way to many students discounted from campus life.[/quote]
Our admission standards arent bad. And our academics are really good, we have 8 or so departments ranked top 20 in their field. In Political Science we still away Ivy League professors. Why does no one know that we exist academically or athletically? Football. Its hard to market yourself when America only considers you a real school if you have football, minus a select few bball schools. And that perception is worse in the South. Assuming we avoid the Big South conference, by 2020-2025 we wont need a thread like this[/quote]
Only if we as a school learn how to capitalize on it. We have managed to drop the ball time after time. Football can be the vehicle that achieves much, but it takes someone that knows how to drive to get us where we need to be.
Somehow we went from Final 4 to an after thought in our own town in less than 5 years. Don’t think we aren’t capable of screwing up football the exact same way!
[quote=“charlotteguy88, post:12, topic:24960”][quote=“CheapSeatDave, post:10, topic:24960”]Heres a few weaknesses off the top of my head
we have low admissions standards. Too many people in this community view Charlotte as a glorified community college. Why? Because we let too many people in. The masses want to cling to something great. The harder our standards are, the more demand we have and the more people want to show off where they went. I feel like I see more people wearing Davidson apparel in this city than UNC Charlotte and that just shouldn’t happen.
We have awful TV and radio deals…out of sight, out of mind. For prospective fans who wouldn’t necessarily care that our admissions standards aren’t up to par with some of the other major universities in NC, being a fan of the local team is hard since our games are never on television and you have to tune into the talk radio AM channel(with minimal signal) to hear our games.
Freshmen aren’t required to live on campus…impossible to pull off as a urban campus, but it hurts. Allowing commuters leaves way to many students discounted from campus life.[/quote]
Our admission standards arent bad. And our academics are really good, we have 8 or so departments ranked top 20 in their field. In Political Science we still away Ivy League professors. Why does no one know that we exist academically or athletically? Football. Its hard to market yourself when America only considers you a real school if you have football, minus a select few bball schools. And that perception is worse in the South. Assuming we avoid the Big South conference, by 2020-2025 we wont need a thread like this[/quote]
73% admission rate. Doesn’t mean that we don’t have great professors, academics, and research programs, just means that way too many are admitted. I know a kid from out of state(who graduated from Charlotte in 6 years) who had a 2.4 GPA and barely broke 1000 on the SAT’s in high school.
[quote=“CheapSeatDave, post:14, topic:24960”][quote=“charlotteguy88, post:12, topic:24960”][quote=“CheapSeatDave, post:10, topic:24960”]Heres a few weaknesses off the top of my head
we have low admissions standards. Too many people in this community view Charlotte as a glorified community college. Why? Because we let too many people in. The masses want to cling to something great. The harder our standards are, the more demand we have and the more people want to show off where they went. I feel like I see more people wearing Davidson apparel in this city than UNC Charlotte and that just shouldn’t happen.
We have awful TV and radio deals…out of sight, out of mind. For prospective fans who wouldn’t necessarily care that our admissions standards aren’t up to par with some of the other major universities in NC, being a fan of the local team is hard since our games are never on television and you have to tune into the talk radio AM channel(with minimal signal) to hear our games.
Freshmen aren’t required to live on campus…impossible to pull off as a urban campus, but it hurts. Allowing commuters leaves way to many students discounted from campus life.[/quote]
Our admission standards arent bad. And our academics are really good, we have 8 or so departments ranked top 20 in their field. In Political Science we still away Ivy League professors. Why does no one know that we exist academically or athletically? Football. Its hard to market yourself when America only considers you a real school if you have football, minus a select few bball schools. And that perception is worse in the South. Assuming we avoid the Big South conference, by 2020-2025 we wont need a thread like this[/quote]
73% admission rate. Doesn’t mean that we don’t have great professors, academics, and research programs, just means that way too many are admitted. I know a kid from out of state(who graduated from Charlotte in 6 years) who had a 2.4 GPA and barely broke 1000 on the SAT’s in high school. [/quote]
the 73% admission rate has to do with wanting to reach 35,000 students. If we were a school that has a 20 year old football program we wouldnt have to admit such a high rate to reach 35,000 because we’d have more applicants. You have to look at the numbers, someone similar to us, say Georgia Southern, they have a 47% admission rate. But I bet they have twice the applicants as well. Always remember percentages can be misleading.
People can say all they want about not being known in our own city, low admission standards, bad marketing etc. etc. Take it from someone who grew up in Georgia Southern land…football football football.
Better marketing people apply for jobs at schools with football, better students apply to schools with football, hotter cheerleaders, better band geeks, better professors, people with more school spirit, local shops that sell college gear...it all revolves around football. GSU was worse off and had a lot less than we did when they added football and now they have 20,000 students, are a carnegie doctoral insitute and have 6 national titles. 100 times more school spirit and financial support. 2 cheerleading squads..you name it, it all happened and came together after football. But the one big piece to the puzzle that set everything into motion, was hiring Erk Russell as coach. He was well known in Ga, and a promoter and a winner.
73% admission will do nothing but get us laughed at. Sure we have some top notch professors and are ranked very high in some areas, but that does not boost our image beacuse no one knows about those accomplishments. We’ve had the same problems in athletics. Even when successful, no one in town had a clue.
So if success alone wasn’t enough, what is? <-Loaded question[/quote]
Good question. I’ll take a shot.
Tougher admission standards won’t hurt. Let’s quit trying to be the world’s largest community college. It does our existing alumni base no good at all.
More athletic respect and awareness from the outside. I’m not placing the blame on anyone but we seemed to always remain a secret when having almost yearly post season bids during a 20 year run.
Students need to be better informed about our recent successes.
More academic respect. No one in the city or region knows we are a doctoral university. Ask anyone to name the doctoral universities in the state and they will probably name Wake, Duke, UNC, and State. Unfortunately this is the way many of the powers that be want it.
So if success alone wasn’t enough, what is? <-Loaded question[/quote]
Good question. I’ll take a shot.
Tougher admission standards won’t hurt. Let’s quit trying to be the world’s largest community college. It does our existing alumni base no good at all.
[b]Agree long term - but I honestly think this is part of the plan to get better funding by the state. Just to be bigger. Hopefully that will change once we hit size.
More athletic respect and awareness from the outside. I’m not placing the blame on anyone but we seemed to always remain a secret when having almost yearly post season bids during a 20 year run.
AD needs to do a better job of getting that word out.
Students need to be better informed about our recent successes.
Agreed - so do Alumni.
More academic respect. No one in the city or region knows we are a doctoral university. Ask anyone to name the doctoral universities in the state and they will probably name Wake, Duke, UNC, and State. Unfortunately this is the way many of the powers that be want it.
Same thing I said about AD goes for admin. How is the school supposed to have pride in itself when it’s leaders bow to the mothership?
We need to change our name. Happy now?
For sure!
[/b][/quote]
