Why survey our Flathead Classic Competitors?
Why are we conducting a survey?
You may have been contacted directly by email or have seen the posts through facebook about a 2014 Flathead Classic Competitor Survey. This may left some of you asking why?
I can guarantee this is not tokenism, or something to make you feel better. We as a community club believe in providing the opportunity for our members and competitors to have input into the great iconic event, after all how can we improve it or change things that need changing unless we ask? Market research is best practice and we strive for our tournament to be of the highest quality. We want you to be part of the team!
The other reason we are collecting some data around expenditure is so that we can demonstrate in a rigorous method the financial benefits of this tournament to the Gold Coast. Of course this will help us promote our event and gain support from both our sponsors and Government agencies. Further it adds to a very small evidence base of the value of recreational angling to the economy, so it is our small part of adding to that knowledge.
What will happen next?
All the quantitative data will be analysed and considered then we will publish this with some commentary. The comments or qualitative data will all be considered, some of what we already have are some great individual pieces of feedback. Those with common themes will be grouped and reported back on. I guarantee we will respond to those feedback themes whether we can change things or not. Not all suggestions will be taken up but it is fair that you should understand the case or context that sits behind it. There are some things that have to happen the way they happen for a reason and we will respond and provide that clarity.
Dispelling Myths
A word on costs and infrastructure
The costs of running this event, providing the security and infrastructure, licenses, catering, shirts, prizes, trophies, Boat Motor etc etc is an expensive venture. We have looked at ways of minimizing our costs over the last few years and are always mindful of balancing the dollars out with the dollars in. However it is important for people to understand this event is not about turning huge profits, we are a not for profit club and go through rigorous audits annually. In fact 2013 was the first year The Gold Coast Flathead has made a profit in many years. Whilst we cannot afford to run at a loss and aim to make a small profit to offset the clubs annual expenditure we are in no ways making big money. Please feel welcome to attend our AGM for a rundown on our full financial postion or request a copy from our President or Treasurer.
In Closing
Our small team are volunteers do not receive any money for their efforts, we do it for the love of the iconic tournament, our club and our friends. A tournament that has been around for 21 consecutive years, which in today’s times is something to be proud of. We want to do the best we can to build on it’s success within the resources available whilst remaining an affordable, fun tournament for fellow fishos who we know love it as much as we do.
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If you competed and haven’t completed the survey please follow the link below
