Zipsrifle

Has to be one of the funniest posts of the year!!!!Where did he get this info? www.meaninglesscollegerankings.com?Oh, by the way, did you know that Akron was ranked 27th nationally by Ohio high school Juniors who when polled were drunk, riding on a tractor as it chugged through a corn field at night in a hailstorm in January when their Mom was out of town? On the other hand, OU was ranked 1st by 16 year old hillbillies living in a cabin on the edge of a cliff in WV who were sitting in a rocking chair on their front porch with a gun in their left hand and a dog 13" from their right foot while reading US News and World Reports? We've got to keep this in mind for this discussion!

Oh, and lets lay off the dockers, button down shirt, and loafers....no reason to drag the Engineers into this! You should have at least added:"nothing's more fun than tailgating with middle management types in pressed dockers , pressed button downs, and loafers. A large percentage of Engineers don't know how to operate an iron. You would think one of them would have integrated it into the dryer by now!

Yea, I was really geeked and then saw $50 per person. Not going to that....can't swing $100 right now. If I had an extra $100, it would be going to the Rifle team. I loved the effort though, good job!

My favorite hat is my faded blue hat with Block "AKRON" in gold on the front. Don't know where I got it, but it's starting to fall apart and I'll need another in a year or two.

Left work at a reasonable time last night while traveling in Columbus, grabbed some grub, and sat down to watch the show. FSN was on and it was.....HS football!?!?!?!? Oh well, I should have known, in Columbus, there is only ONE University in the state. I don't have cable at home so I'll have to figure something out.

So how does the cheer officially go. I thought it was "eat'em up, beat 'em up, go Zips, GO!"? I guess it really doesn't matter in the end, it all runs together.

With the new stadium the Zip Strip is a shadow of it's former self. Even back in my day in the 90's, it didn't compare to the commerical areas near other campuses (Miami, OU, OSU, Michigan, Wisconsin, etc). I have a feeling that with the construction of 22 Exchange, things may move downtown more. Either way, it would be great to have an active commercial area near campus to make it feel like other campuses I've been to.

Already impressed with this guy. Why is the ABJ so bitter towards him??

God help us if we run the Athletc dept. We'll run up $200 million in debt building new sports facilities for every sport, we'll be giving coaches $2 million dollar contracts one week and firing them the next! You know, I doubt we'll even get that far. All my decision by comitte experience has shown me that it takes rediculously long to get anything done and when it does get done, nobody is happy with the watered down result.

You know, I really had some doubts that UA would pull this off about 60 days ago. The stadium was still far from done, the ticket sales were lacking, the marketing was no where to be seen, and we we had no idea what traditions were going to be established. I have to say that today, I am pleasantly suprised at how things have come together! The stadium is basically done, the Season ticket sales have exceeded 5500, the marketing has really stepped up and if I've read things correctly, there will be a little band activity through campus prior to what looks like an excellent pregame!!

Cool! I saw this:"Akron will host a Stadium Preview Event on Saturday, Aug. 29 from 11 am-1 pm. The public will get a feel for Game Day at the facility as scanners will be tested at the entrance gates, the videoboard and sound system will be fully operational, concessions will be available and the Zips football team will be on hand to sign autographs."Wonder if they let us "sample" some Roo Brew? Also, hopefully they bring back the bell sound from "Hell's Bells"Yea, I saw that. I was thinking of going to Akron today as I thought there was another open house, but I've delayed it until next week so I can help add to the game day experience. I might sit in my seats and yell at the "Refs" just to see how my voice carries. The wife can figure out how to cover 4 ears with two hands.

Save the money on classes. Here is all the marketing they need to know.There is a thing on the desk called a "telephone". Use this magical device to make appointments to speak to every group you can possibly get in front of to promote ticket sales for football, MBB and WBB. Further, use that time to raise money for the scholarship fund and build the donor base. Speakers should include....The AD, JD, KD and Coach Kest. Selling tools should include literature (recent literature has actually been pretty good). In the past, they have counted on literature to "sell" the program for them. Literature is a tool to help sell in person. Mailers traditionally have about a 1%-2% response rate. Following literature with face to face contact should result in at least a 10%-15% response rate. Give people a reason to buy and they will. Get in front of the community and put a face on the program.Billboards don't work. They are cheap for a reason. You get what you pay for.Stick with TV and radio. Especially TV if they can afford it. If your coaches are out speaking, customers connect the person on TV with the person in the room speaking with them. The three coaches I mentioned above are all good public speakers and likeable. Use that to your advantage. Schedule the times for them as they are very busy.Class over.Looking for a Job?No.....Own my own business in sales and marketing.Want a new client?

Oh, and the new tubas look great! Keep those lines straight!

AWESOME!! I am getting so geeked for opening day!! I hope the crowd responds!

Hi, thanks..yeah, we've done a few but it's been a while. It's difficult finding time. We both of young families. Let me know if you want to cut some and we'll put 'em up there.See you at the Info! We'll be in sect. 110, row 19Trust me k, I know what you're talking about. Never done one, but might give it a try. I'll let you know.

A monster post! Insightful, well written, inspiring. Too bad it is "isolated" here. Maybe Razor can post it on Ohio.com because I think it deserves a wider audience!

If you have not had the opportunity to tour InfoCision Stadium-Summa field yet, or have only visited certain parts of the stadium, FSN Ohio will broadcast a 30-minute show devoted solely to InfoCision Stadium-Summa Field. The show will debut on Aug. 27 at 9:30 and air a total of 10 times. The schedule for the 10 shows is as follows:Akron Zips: Welcome to InfoCision Stadium (broadcast on FSN Ohio) Aug. 27 - 9:30 pmAug. 28 - 10:00 pmAug. 29 - 1:30 pmAug. 31 - 10:00 pmSept. 1 - 10:00 pmSept. 2 - 7:30 pmSept. 3 - 9:30 pmSept. 4 - 2:00 pmSept. 4 - 6:30 pmSept. 5 - Noonwww.gozips.comThat is awesome! I wonder if that is an actual show produced by FSN Ohio or if it is a paid advertisement which we are solely responsible for?If there are no commercials, UofA paid for it. If there are commercials, FSN Ohio sold the time.I'll be watching it multiple times, dragging my friends and family into watching it. If it is good, I may need to get a copy of the program. I have this odd feeling right now, don't know what it is.......oh, I just figured it out....it's being impressed.....with the Marketing of UA! I've never had that sensation before, it feels good.

That marketing approach got the stadium built. Joe six pack wasn't going to find 61 million when the team wasn't winning. the top down approach got the yard built.Now moving forward, I think you're on to something .. build from the grassroots up. Should be interesting.Good point, didn't see it this way. We've got to figure out how to get the community behind this team, not just the alumni and students. The Cleveland media isn't going to help us out any either.

Save the money on classes. Here is all the marketing they need to know.There is a thing on the desk called a "telephone". Use this magical device to make appointments to speak to every group you can possibly get in front of to promote ticket sales for football, MBB and WBB. Further, use that time to raise money for the scholarship fund and build the donor base. Speakers should include....The AD, JD, KD and Coach Kest. Selling tools should include literature (recent literature has actually been pretty good). In the past, they have counted on literature to "sell" the program for them. Literature is a tool to help sell in person. Mailers traditionally have about a 1%-2% response rate. Following literature with face to face contact should result in at least a 10%-15% response rate. Give people a reason to buy and they will. Get in front of the community and put a face on the program.Billboards don't work. They are cheap for a reason. You get what you pay for.Stick with TV and radio. Especially TV if they can afford it. If your coaches are out speaking, customers connect the person on TV with the person in the room speaking with them. The three coaches I mentioned above are all good public speakers and likeable. Use that to your advantage. Schedule the times for them as they are very busy.Class over.Looking for a Job?

OK, think of it this way. Lets consider a "Full House" to be 25K in the stands. 6K*6games = 36,000 and lets be conservative and add in 2000 single game tickets sold so far and we come up with about 38,000 tickets sold BEFORE students. That is just over 1.5 games that are a "Full House". Factor in the students (2K per game for a total of 12K) and we are looking at 2 games with a "Full House", or about 1/3 of the way to a season of "Full Houses". Personally, I want to see some real "SELLOUTS" with the grass endzone full of students, etc. I think we have a good shot at 3 true "Full House" events to be honest and if we start winning, we may have 6!Rifle I love your dreams, but 6 sellouts ain't gonna happen I think we will exceed 7,000 season tickets and sellout Morgan State and IU. If we get on a roll our MAC home opener against OU could be next. But they travel poorly so we have to do it ourselves. Remember, though, we have to be a hot ticket then and that means beating MSU, IU and CMU. Can't has great potential to sellout. Who doesn't want to see us beat the piss out of them in the Info? That's it there. Temple and EMU are in November. Only Temple brings mild interest if we both are doing well. Still it is November and the crowds will diminish. If we pull off four games of near capacity attendance I will be thrilled. How about you? I hope I am proven wrong. I'll buy the Roo Brew to celebrate. As much as I hate to say it, I think your comments are well grounded in the facts, but hell, I can dream can't I? I never did get a chance to see the RB sold out, Man I hope I can see the Info packed this season!

I didn't know there were podcasts on the AK-Oldies site. I just got an ipod a few months ago (I'm an Oldie remember) and now am hooked on Podcasts. I've done some searching for Akron podcasts, but didn't find any related to the upcoming football season. They seem a little dated, any new ones coming out? Also, do you guys know if any more Akron podcasts out there? When does Razor graduate, maybe we could recruit him?

So what does ".....we are in the ballpark of what our final increases should be." mean? Does that mean they have a target enrollment level? If so, does anyone know what it is? Does each college have their own target enrollment level? If so, some should already be at those levels. If we reach our target enrollment, will we eliminate open enrollment? Good to hear we continue to grow. It's interesting that Can't State is waiting to comment on their enrollment numbers....must be dropping.

Read the article at Gozips.com and it sounds like we pretty much owned the field after the first 10 minutes. Exciting to read about all the young players on the team making an impact and we are still one of the top teams in the country. I wonder how the new goalie will progress as Bush was pretty much a wall back there. He allowed one goal on only a few attempts...I'm not a soccer guy so is this an area of concern? Also glad to read about the 1700 people in attendance last night, that is really high for an exhibition game right? Glad to see the guys come out and dominate, solidifying their place in the rankings. As for the light issues, I was under the impression that the "New Soccer Stadium" would be an overhaul of the existing field? Seeing the slap in the face we got last year for the field, you would think keeping it in tip top shape would be a priority this year. Hope they get it fixed for Indiana. Speaking of Indiana, what is the capacity at the soccer stadium? What is the record attendance?

Yea, I mean seriously, we actually need those now. That is a nice problem to Have!

OK, think of it this way. Lets consider a "Full House" to be 25K in the stands. 6K*6games = 36,000 and lets be conservative and add in 2000 single game tickets sold so far and we come up with about 38,000 tickets sold BEFORE students. That is just over 1.5 games that are a "Full House". Factor in the students (2K per game for a total of 12K) and we are looking at 2 games with a "Full House", or about 1/3 of the way to a season of "Full Houses". Personally, I want to see some real "SELLOUTS" with the grass endzone full of students, etc. I think we have a good shot at 3 true "Full House" events to be honest and if we start winning, we may have 6!