January LFT Fan Club Meeting

[Dirk Diggler]

Dear Flight Crew Members,

The January Fan Club Meeting will be held Tuesday, January 26 at 6:00pm in the Rec Hall. The meeting will feature a guest speaker from the Detroit Tigers Fantasy Camp and a preview of the upcoming Flying Tigers season. If you plan to attend please RSVP via email to ryan.eason@detroittigers.com or call (863) 413-4142.

Ryan Eason
Ticket Manager - Lakeland Operations

[fyrftrjim]

Thanks for posting this, cool guess I have something to do now.

[flyingtigerfran]

I can't believe I'm going to miss the first meeting of the year. Going scuba diving in Roatan, Honduras, a little warmer there.

Could someone please ask about STH's. I'm curious if the benefits will be the same this year as last. Thanks

Maybe someone could post a few notes from the meeting.....

[Espen1978]

It should be interersting to see who the guest speaker is. They are supposed to have some new faces in caamp next week.

[fyrftrjim]

Originally Posted by flyingtigerfran

I can't believe I'm going to miss the first meeting of the year. Going scuba diving in Roatan, Honduras, a little warmer there.

Could someone please ask about STH's. I'm curious if the benefits will be the same this year as last. Thanks

Maybe someone could post a few notes from the meeting.....

I'm sure someone will have notes posted after the meeting, have fun on your scuba diving trip.

[hueytaxi]

Fun meeting tonight introducing our new interns and highlighting what looks like a well planned 2010 program. Rick Leach was our guest speaker coming over from Fantasy Camp. He led us on an enjoyable little trip of his time with the Tigers and a little of his other years.

Those from West Michigan will recognize last years intern Aaron Rambow. He has joined us here. Spent some time with him offering any help. And yes he acknowledged knowing the WM photographers and their help. It willl continue here.

Season Ticket holder prices remain the same as does the fan club pricing. Opening Day for the LFT has plans to be special with Birdzerk



welcoming the fans and players along with fireworks following the game.

A reminder that Sunday games will all be played at 1 PM this year. Last year we had 3 straight games on Sunday rained out. 18 total games cancelled and 33 affected by rain.

Daily promotions will return with added enhancements. The Zooperstars will also visit on April 23rd.



A huge amount of work is in progress to attract more of the community has already been done and many plans are still developing.

Bus trips, meet and greets, bowling and a breakfast with the team are a few of the other highlights.

[hueytaxi]

I forgot to add another intern from MSU, Chelsea Kuchta. I did not get a chance to talk with her. I would guess we will see her doing onfield promotions. Very easy on the eyes.

[Espen1978]

It did seem like a well organized meeting. The key will be putting these ideas into motion. I think they are finally starting to realize what it is going to take to get people into the stands on a regular basis, but weather is going to remain the key issue for them.

I did like that they put the fan meeting times out to vote by us in attendance, though I still feel that they are catering to a certain crown by holding a meet the team lunch at noon on a Wednesday, instead of a dinner in the evening. It was like they were talking out of both sides of their mouth. They acknowledged the fact that it is difficult for the working fans to get to a meeting at 5, but then they decide to hold a team function at noon. I guess those of us who work will need to continue to have our voices heard.

That aside, I think they are moving in the right direction. I talked to Ron privately after the meeting and discussed the need for more staff on opening night, and he agreed and assured me that we would not have to wait in line for 2 innnings this season on opening night if we wanted to purchase food of some sort.

[saab93driver]

It appears they are really focused on increasing attendance as a priority - I think that is really positive as I have always thought this should happen (way back to my first post here a couple years ago). I wouldn't want a Brighthouse day crowd for every game but it would be nice to see a decent crowd on a more regular basis as long as they are staffed for it.

On the flip side I'm a little conflicted to hear that increasing STH numbers is at a lower priority. They never said the STH program would change but I could extrapolate that this may eventually mean negative changes to the program in successive years, of course if more people get hooked it could have the opposite effect as more might want to be STH's - it could go both ways so we have to wait and see. I think their goal of getting everyone in Lakeland to come to just one game is a very realistic goal and has a good chance of paying off more quickly than just marketing the ST's - in the end I think it's a smart business decision, but I'm selfish and don't want it to effect me negatively :-)

The berm bar would have been a really cool idea had they been able to make it happen, maybe next year if attendance heats up it could happen. I like that feature in Clearwater and would welcome it in Lakeland.

With regard to the club meeting times I work in Winter Haven so 5 pm on Tuesdays is difficult and often not possible for me. It appears I may be alone in my thinking but I think Sunday after the game is better because:

1. We are already at the park for a game, no special trip needed
2. The Sunday games are early, the meeting would probably be done before 5 or 6
3. having the meetings when the team is away means no speakers from the coaching staff
4. If anyone wants to go to the away game you will have to choose meeting or game.

The giveaways planned sounded good, the AYCE sounded positve with the addition of Little Ceasers. I didn't hear if the fryer is coming back or not, hopefully it is.

Changes to the fireworks (none after 7/4) is OK for me, I like watching them after every Saturday game but it sounds like they have good plans for the money with other activities.

The Thursday night promotion additions sounded very interesting.

All in all it is clear that they spent a lot of time thinking about how to make the experience at the games more festive and attract more people, for that I am pleased and am looking forward to seeing how it goes.

[flyingtigerfran]

Thanks for the notes, it's great to hear there won't reallyl be any changes to the tickets.

[hueytaxi]

Also bring in four new people to buy season tickets and receive a season ticket for yourself.