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Ai Community Meeting 2018


Joker

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Airsoft Indiana community meeting 2018 AAR

 

So this particular meeting was a little different than years past. Due to its low attendance, it was more open discussions and less topic driven. I don't think anyone in particular took notes due to everyone participating in the discussions.

 

Some of the main points that were brought up and discussed were:

-Stop holding on to past grudges and moving forward to better Airsoft Indiana

-Support local Airsoft fields (& field owners), events, teams, stores, etc.

-Using all available resources for event planning and hosting

-Help hype and advertise local events even if they are not your own

-Don't be afraid to ask for help with all things Airsoft

-Facebook's anti-gun policies and its continued attack on Airsoft pages and groups; use it as a tool but the focus should remain on our independent website/forum

-Players need to start thinking of Airsoft Indiana more like a team and do a better job of representing and advertising AI to players at events and on social media. Examples included talking about AI with others who may not yet know about it, info at events, inviting people to like AI FB pages and adding them to AI groups, and Echo's AI patches

-Show up to events and encourage others to do the same, commitment

-And we got the ball rolling on hosting an Airsoft Indiana event

 

If I'm being honest I'm a little disappointed with the turnout. We have had small meetings in the past but it's not been that small in years. I didn't get an exact headcount but there were about 15-20 of us. There were about 4 teams represented, a few lone wolves, two AI Mods, and two field owners (with one being private invite only). A couple AI staff and field owners let it be known they couldn't make it for various reasons but others didn't even bother. I know these meetings are not exactly the end all be all but it does make discussions of important difficult if members of the community don't show up. Plus you missed out on some good foods.

 

I'm sure others who were there can add anything I may have forgotten or overlooked. I would like to thank everyone who did show up. 2018 should be a good year for Airsoft Indiana.

 

~Joker

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I agree with what joker said above. My take away was that we need more established team involvement in hosting/attending games in order to help drive attendance and objectives.

 

For the second year in a row we discussed the need for more field support. That doesn't mean people should feel guilty for attending games hosted by public fields (i.e. MiR Tactical, Spec Ops, BlastCamp. However, players should try to make it to new fields and not be afraid to be the first to post their attendance to an event.

 

One of the topics that was briefly discussed was for the need to represent Airsoft Indiana as a team or brand. When we put games together, they should be Airsoft Indiana games and not just IMPACT game or 3G games. This is something that IAC excels at and where AI often comes up short.

 

Lastly, like Joker, I was heavily dissapointed by the turnout at the meeting. At least half of the attendees drove over and hour and a half to be there. Additionally, a lot of the people at the meeting were the same people at last year's meeting.

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Joker and Rex pretty much nailed it. More or less discussed values and that players need to start taking a little more initiative when it comes to hosting games. 

Food was good, still had fun! 

Edited by Zigg
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Some people are going to disagree with this, but unless you were at the meeting you cant say anything about this post because you didn’t care enough to show up, so no complaining. When a business model is not working, it is necessary to redesign the business model to continue growth. By the dwindling numbers of people actually showing up to the community meetings, and participating in major discussions of the community, it is obvious that the business model no longer works and needs to be revamped.

Facebook and other social media platforms need to be cross promoted and that is nothing new, but the big thing is also the desegregation of the groups that make up the community here. AI, IAC, private team forums, field owners, etc.. need to be cross promoting with each other to not only help the community grow, but to help your players. If the player has to run all over the internet in order to find a game, or details as to what is happening, then were not helping them and closing their view of the community.

Now, that being said. The Forums, the Social media platforms, and The Players are not in control of attendees or who walks onto that field. That’s is solely the field owners discretion and responsibility. If someone is going to game and you dont like it, dont show up, or shut up and stay away from that person. There are so many who have been detoured from community involvement because of what we have done in the past, and lets leave that in the past. We have to change this to keep these boards, this “community” title, and hobby/sport growing, but if we continue the same way we are destined to fail.....

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Apologies I couldn't make it. Had some personal things come up not even half an hour before I was gonna leave >:(

 

I'll lurk on this thread and see what some of the other responses are before I chime in.

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Well if it hasn’t yet been officially announced, my tenure outside the state has come to a close and I am officially back indefinitely. Many have undoubtedly known me via this forum and the IAA for a very long time, but being split between other states has kept me from attending things in person since circa 2011. I made sure to be present for the community meeting though, and you can count on seeing me in person regularly now at games and gatherings.

 

The big point that wasn’t made at the meeting that I see as a huge factor right now is activity.

 

In my time if Florida I learned firsthand a number of things, most importantly that in order to build a player base and a community, you first have to have a foundation from which you make yourself known and stay active. The most important part is to stay active. In just a few short years, two others and myself took the university organization from a club of 6 active airsoft members to an organization that was funded through the university, would reimburse travel and entrance fees for airsoft games all over the state, and had over 50 active members. On any given weekend there would be 25+ members gathering to play at our local sand pits. Granted that growth didn’t happen overnight, but it happened because we revamped and pushed the facebook page, we manned a booth at semesterly activities fairs where students would walk by and see the guns/gear and stop to talk, we advertised our events however large or small, and every weekend we would be out playing; just local pickup games and training. As people started to join, they spread the word and brought in their friends and others. Sure, a good chunk of the new players were nothing short of terrible at playing, however by staying active and playing nearly every weekend and playing with better players, they became better both on and off the field. As they became better, the good players had an even better opponent to push them harder, and the symbiotic relationship fed on itself.

 

I witnessed this happen in both the Orlando and the Jacksonville communities. By the time I left the state, 5 new fields had opened up within 1.5 hours of us. Currently, 2 new fields have opened just in the past 6 months. And the more these communities play and become better, they start to influence and make vocal what they want to see. As the EO’s and field owners watch this happen, they begin to learn how to better tailor their fields and locations and push for more fields. Combat City indoor arena in Orland went through 3 different field iterations (literal locations) just in my time in the state and opened up two large outdoor fields based on player input. DV8 airsoft in Tampa took input from my group of guys and the community and modified play styles and rules for both of their fields to better suit the field. A field in Jacksonville saw the stalemated games that occurred when the player count on the field surpassed a certain number, and brought in earth moving equipment to totally change the field and modify it to accept larger numbers without impacting the game play.

 

The common denominator of all of this is that it took the individuals in the community to stay active to drive all of this growth and change. Now, the downside to Florida is the lack of overarching adopted rule sets and concern for safety. 450-500 fps guns with no MED and no bang rule are not uncommon; leads to a lot of blood and frustration and anger when the rich kids are using the same model gun as you but out ranging you by 100+ feet. This is where Indiana shines, a true level playing field for all. Most of you take this for granted and will never understand, and I pray you never will. We have the best possible foundation to build upon, now all it takes is action and consistent activity.

 

Whether it be at paintball fields that have an open airsoft day, dedicated airsoft fields that play weekly or monthly, private fields that don’t charge, or even the neighbors back woods with friends, it is up to us, all of us, to get active and stay active, both on the field and on these very forums. This is not to put anyone under a bus, but I doubt there is a single person here that will not agree that this very forum was much more active just two short years ago, and that activity has been dwindling recently.

 

 

As has been stated, the turnout to the meeting was very low sadly. I understand that life happens for some, others are only here for the info, and yet others only want to play, but for those of you who have been around and do participate, this should have been just as important as an event (its even in the off season for convenience). Joker nailed it when he said that failure to show leads to less input on important discussions that NEED input from the majority.

 

And Rex called it out. IAC is currently succeeding where we are failing. Let’s fix that. It is this forum and this community that needs to represent this state.

 

 

 

 

Just to keep in mind, ultimately it isn’t the teams in this state that we need to focus on in order to retain the community, it is the individual player. We need to keep that in mind when pushing forward with events and the such.

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I apologize for missing the meeting, I had work come up unexpectedly and was not able to make it. Thank you for recap on the meeting and I will hopefully see you guys on the field soon. 

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  • 2 months later...

So how are the turnouts for Indiana events, by location?

I think creating and hosting University organizations is a great idea. I know that IU-sanctioned organizations don't care whether you are a student or not.

If I remember correctly they set aside a few days out of the year for people to set up booths to advertise their organization. If I would have seen an airsoft booth while I was there, I would have signed up right away. Given the fact that there are multiple fields nearby, this would work out even better.

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So how are the turnouts for Indiana events, by location?

I think creating and hosting University organizations is a great idea. I know that IU-sanctioned organizations don't care whether you are a student or not.

If I remember correctly they set aside a few days out of the year for people to set up booths to advertise their organization. If I would have seen an airsoft booth while I was there, I would have signed up right away. Given the fact that there are multiple fields nearby, this would work out even better.

 

depends on field, time of year, and days of the weeks to be honest.

 

Field - (avg min- avg max)

 

Mutual Combat - (40-80)

Jokers Circus - (15-45)

Spec Ops - (10-35)

McCordsville - (10-40)

Butler - (15-30)* 

Claypool - (10-25)*

Blast Camp - (80-100)*

 

 

*not completely sure, if someone knows for sure correct me

 

 

Also are you talking IU Bloomington?

Edited by Tomahawk 0-1
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