How to grow the future of road racing in New Zealand

[Shaun Harris]

Letter/plan/idea I wrote in 2005 or 6 I think from memory, and posted out to ALL MNZ Road race licence holders at that time>

Road Racing promoter/coordinator

Please take the time to read and respond. Your comments are extremely important and without your feedback it makes it hard to make changes that will benefit our racing and enhance the future of our sport!

I am proposing the motorcycle fraternity Employ our own full time promoter/coordinator, until all responses are returned and sifted through the full job description is not possible to outline here but I will include what I would like to see this person doing.

Job Description

Coordination of all clubs for the race format,and information for riders and communication with MNZ office.
Re Writing the rules.
Promotional work with the media, series sponsors,importers,clubs,MNZ etc.
Negotiations for group bulk purchases for race products making our purchase price lower and already giving us a ROI ( return on investment)- will work for some but not others with full finance backing.

Rome was not built in a day and neither will this be, that is why I started doing this now because there will be a few issues to arrange to make this happen.

WHO TO EMPLOY

I suggest that we nominate 2 rider reps ( Referees) from each class and let this group go through all the resumes too make the choice.

How to pay this person

This is where I need you all to think long and hard about our racing and our sport and what it means to you the competitor/employer

I propose that we all invest $250-00 into this campaign into a holding account, I STILL have a company that will invest $5000-00 into this account if I can secure 100 licence holders to invest in there own passion/future. $250-00 dollars devided by 365 days = .69 cents PER DAY!!!!!!!!!

Here is what we have if this could be arranged.

100 Riders x $250-00 = $25-000 + $5000-00 from UNNAMED company = $30-000

$30-000 paid as a base salary to the coordinator with an agreed % of additional funds bought in from sponsors, this system will allow this person to go and work very hard to grow our sport and top up there salary very well I think.

I realise this may seem to simple but some of the best scemes in the world to date are simple and succesfull, there is no need for this to be difficult.


PLEASE PLEASE take your time to think this through fully before hitting the keys and replying. If this had happened back when I first drafted this plan, we would not be where we are now, so it is up to all of you the owners of our sport to make the required changes to get our sport back on a healthy level again.


# I will reply to questions that I have the awnsers to as soon as I can, or will find the awnsers and reply when I have them, but again please remember this is an idea I thought about for a long time before acting on it, as I could see way back then that we were heading down a path of destruction.

I see this taking at least 12 months to organise proffessionaly, and IF we could nominate ONE WEB SITE and a page for each class on that web site as well as a page for the punters to post in there idea's questions suggestions questions , that make it a lot easier to coordinate, and would like to see people posting in it with there Full real name and or MNZ Licence number.

[MVnut]

Great idea and great post Shaun

[Shaun Harris]

Great idea and great post Shaun

Thankyou.



http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...-communication


PLEASE have your say all

[Dodgy]

Not too sure what caliber of promoter you will get for $30k + some maybe sponsorship, but a good idea regardless Shaun.

[Shaun Harris]

Not too sure what caliber of promoter you will get for $30k + some maybe sponsorship, but a good idea regardless Shaun.

The $30K is only there base mate, it is then up to the team to go through the resumes to choose the person that shows the best abbility to manage and sell sell sell to gain the agreed % of this towards there salary top up figure. I myself have had personell company sponsors here part with $25-000 just for there name in promotions I did for my own racing. The glass is already half full! if a positive approach is taken with this.

The naming writes alone of the series is worh good money if managed proffessionaly

[scrivy]

The $30K is only there base mate, it is then up to the team to go through the resumes to choose the person that shows the best abbility to manage and sell sell sell to gain the agreed % of this towards there salary top up figure.

The naming writes alone of the series is worh good money if managed proffessionaly

Depending on the % cut of the sponsors $'s, the promoter could make quite a bit more.....

BUT...... YOU HAVE TO HAVE A FULLY FUNCTIONING SERIES TO PROMOTE..... with great management, top riders, top teams, full fields etc......

[oyster]

Scrivvy has the key words here "top riders, top teams, full feilds. They don't come out of the cabbage patch Shaun. When you get them, there's 5 years of good honest development behind them. Our problem is we aren't producing enough of them. It makes me spew the short sighted attitude that creates comment like "we made this class and opportunity but you didn't turn up" The real work is in the model proven in every other (flourishing) sport : promote, recruit, train, support and reward - right across the age /skill spectrum. This is a club job, not MNZ's. Tell me how many clubs manage these critical matters consciously and effectively? Hard work, but these seeds sown will give depth and quality 5 years on. If you've got that, the rest sorts itself.

[Shaun Harris]

Depending on the % cut of the sponsors $'s, the promoter could make quite a bit more.....

BUT...... YOU HAVE TO HAVE A FULLY FUNCTIONING SERIES TO PROMOTE..... with great management, top riders, top teams, full fields etc......

BINGO.

Hence I said I think this will take around 12 months to implement correctly. There will be NO LOSS what so ever to MNZ as they will still be the licence issuing authority and recieving the income for that and I am very sure they would roll with this, as it relieves so much negativity of there backs for a start.


The current system of the sponsorship committee does not make them rich nor our sport any better that I can see and having the current system having to police all the dramas only costs them in money in terms of time spent on each matter, and time is money!

[budda]

BINGO.

Hence I said I think this will take around 12 months to implement correctly. There will be NO LOSS what so ever to MNZ as they will still be the licence issuing authority and recieving the income for that and I am very sure they would roll with this, as it relieves so much negativity of there backs for a start.


The current system of the sponsorship committee does not make them rich nor our sport any better that I can see and having the current system having to police all the dramas only costs them in money in terms of time spent on each matter, and time is money!

I'm sure many on here wont need reminded that MNZ has tried this approach - getting out of the arrangement wasn't the cheapest exercise either if I remember rightly

Not too many would agree that it worked as we hoped that time, but that's not to say it has no merit

[budda]

Depending on the % cut of the sponsors $'s, the promoter could make quite a bit more.....

BUT...... YOU HAVE TO HAVE A FULLY FUNCTIONING SERIES TO PROMOTE..... with great management, top riders, top teams, full fields etc......

Pull up a chair ( and a sh1tload of beer ) and settle in for my yearly lecture on "The Burger and The Box" ........ been boring people rigid with that one at every Conference for years - but I'm right

[Shaun Harris]

Scrivvy has the key words here "top riders, top teams, full feilds. They don't come out of the cabbage patch Shaun. When you get them, there's 5 years of good honest development behind them. Our problem is we aren't producing enough of them. It makes me spew the short sighted attitude that creates comment like "we made this class and opportunity but you didn't turn up" The real work is in the model proven in every other (flourishing) sport : promote, recruit, train, support and reward - right across the age /skill spectrum. This is a club job, not MNZ's. Tell me how many clubs manage these critical matters consciously and effectively? Hard work, but these seeds sown will give depth and quality 5 years on. If you've got that, the rest sorts itself.

We already have

Top Riders and good size fields

The model we use currently is fine for the next few years, but drastically needs cleaning up in terms of wording of rules and who to talk too about what and when ( here the Referee is added for a start)

Club are exactually that, full of passionate people ( NOT PAID A CENT) who have full time jobs and more important things to focus on, ie there family and morgages, so expecting the clubs to grow our sport realy is too much to ask from them I think. Hence the suggestion of our employed promoter to communicate and work with the clubs in terms of coordination and the day to day details of the correct proffessional running of our sport at the event each club will be hosting.

NOTHING NEGATIVE IN MY NEXT COMMENT


MNZ are ONLY the licence and Insurance dept of road racing, nothing more nothing less.

This is a show that can be taken on road and seriously promoted big time, starting at school visits etc for building our future racers interests, the marketing side of it would be increddibly easy to push along if " Thinking outside of the square was done with it"

SAFETY training = ACC money

School events = Manufacturers money etc etc etc

Many many many more options of additional funding out there still.

I know it all seems to easy and some will say I am talking out of my butty hole again, but believe me if you will, I know it can be done and will not give up trying untill it is done. It took me 16 years to WIN the Ilse of man TT races, some thing I said in print in 1991 I would do, tenacity and focus and a well planned Goal is all it will take! O- and ONLY 69 cents per day for 12 months from 100 People only to get the ball rolling. ( That is less than ONE cigarette per day for a smoker so no exscuses apart from appathy)

Step up folks and lets take this show on the road.

[Shaun Harris]

Please try and keep this thread on focus, as it is quite time consuming to read everything to discover that it is just some one talking shite, there are other threads for that team

[Akzle]

ill do it for free.

Conditions:
paid up bike. Maybe 3.
Cannabis will be allowed, if not required, at business meetings.
I get my own team of promo girls.

[Quasievil]

Love your Passion Shaun, we have had this discussion together a few times.
the BIGGEST issue with Bike racing in NZ (im being hard and Frank) is the Vast majority of NZrs dont give a flyin fuck about bike racing, this means neither do sponsors, this means there will never (as it is now) money in this for anyone.


I have used the term "the big show" on KB and in conversations for years, but until "a big show" is done its never going to change......................ok whats a big show Quasi ? good question my fellow KBrs, a Big show is just that, great racing with lots of extras, something for the whole family and dont be precious, bring in other forms of motorsports, bring in other attractions, bike racing on its own is just NOT enough

[Shaun Harris]

Love your Passion Shaun, we have had this discussion together a few times.
the BIGGEST issue with Bike racing in NZ (im being hard and Frank) is the Vast majority of NZrs dont give a flyin fuck about bike racing, this means neither do sponsors, this means there will never (as it is now) money in this for anyone.



I have used the term "the big show" on KB and in conversations for years, but until "a big show" is done its never going to change......................ok whats a big show Quasi ? good question my fellow KBrs, a Big show is just that, great racing with lots of extras, something for the whole family and dont be precious, bring in other forms of motorsports, bring in other attractions, bike racing on its own is just NOT enough

That we have and Agreed re the interest level to the general public but disagree with never being any money in it Brett. The problem with the lack of money has nothing to do with so called negative financuall situation we are coming out of ( Haha) it is all about the lack of planning and expecting MNZ to grow the show and breast feed it, along with typical apathy that has been in this sport since I first started in 1986 from the riders them selves! We the riders or MNZ members OWN MOTORCYCLING NEW ZEALAND but continuiously expect the office to read our minds and go and find $kz to throw at it for posters Radio television etc but how many get involved in helping clubs run the show, a hidiously small %.

With creative thinking potentuall series sponsors could be shown a genuine reason to invest in our sport, giving them a ROI for there commitment.

I know you will agree that we are living in a PC world these days, so for more extreme examples of idea's of how to make a part of this happen in terms of promotion for potentuall sponsors, Authority could be obtained from local PD ( Periodicks! detention centres and escuse my usuall crap spelling, this is not a buisness letter that I would grammar and spell check) to have select numbers of them walking around shops offering out posters to display race series dates events. OR SCHOOL CHILDREN as group bonding exercises.

As already mentioned, School days with select riders and machines giving talks to the students, put a suzuki or honda or what ever in a kids face enough and they will be interested in that brand name, subconcious memory is a very powerfull tool to use.

Radio stations are always hanging out for people on there shows, again this just need managing by the coordinator to make it happen.


WARNING EXTREME EXTREME- talk days as per at Schools at old folks rest homes, granny and grandpa appreciate it and talk about it with there family memebers and the word spreads on and on.


The grass roots need developing to build the future and with all things in life this starts with schooling and up bringing, but the above comment are jumping ahead of stages that require building in the first place to implement my long term idea's offered here re school days etc.


First up we need to commit and hire this promotor to build the plan and start implementing it, NO buisness starts and succeeds without a plan and a reasnoable cash flow.




In reply to your second part of your post, exactually man, the women need some thing to do with the kids apart from sit on a deck chair for 8 hours a day in not the best of conditions to be able to take the family for an outing whilst dad or son or daughter is doing skids having the time of there life, Simple.

WE NEED much better food suppliers than we annually get at race tracks in Nz, and that is up to negotiating with the track owners/controllers over the terms in which the tracks are hired, sorry I do not care if that is the way it has always been, it is another major thing that needs to change, and if that track will not change, we will not hire it, there loss not ours! there could be mobile hair dressers there even to satisfy some ladies and children, extreme idea;s YES, but all 100% achieveable healthy and positive.

Schools could put on life shows for the kids at these events, Hire centres WOULD supply gadgets ie bouncy carcells to promote there products and the options go on and on again, the problem again is, people seem to have forgotten we are now living in a PC modern world in the year 2014 currently with even that scarry thing called the internet where Instantly we can be in contact with the public.

To many people just focus on the past and negative issue's instead of taking a breath and counting to 10 and thinking about how to re build our sporting future, Nothing I said so far is unrealistic ( Out there creative yes) but again Rome was not built in a day and even the rolling stones took time to be accepted as a normal exciting part of life for young and old.