So essentially bowlers who average less than 210 or 200 should start a whole NEWBowling association to get away from the USBC. Stop supporting the top 1% of whiny bowlers. Stop supporting the sharks. Stop supporting a dysfunctional USBC and national tournament. Start a new Organization that really benefits the average joe bowler.

I'm all for it.

That in a nutshell is my beef with the USBC...nothing has been done to try to change the existing dysfunctional model. It appears their plan is to just keep asking for more money from a shrinking member pool because, while they depend on dues revenue, it's up to a bunch of volunteers at local associations working in a vacuum to make it better and that model is not working folks.

Instead of praising mediocrity, maybe you should demand more from the governing body of bowling. You guys drone on about social shifts and other sports experiencing declines, yet no other sport has experienced the type of decline bowling has over the last three decades. Our game deserves better than what the USBC is providing.

Quote from: Steven on November 01, 2016, 05:18:45 PM

Quote from: morpheus on November 01, 2016, 03:59:18 PM

Instead of praising mediocrity, maybe you should demand more from the governing body of bowling. You guys drone on about social shifts and other sports experiencing declines, yet no other sport has experienced the type of decline bowling has over the last three decades. Our game deserves better than what the USBC is providing.

 
Mediocrity? I'm bowling in two back-to-back USBC Senior tournaments in Las Vegas that are worth far more than the price of admission. On top of that, Nationals is icing on the cake. My more than reasonable $22 annual fee makes that happen. Tell me what other organization gives you as much bang for the buck.
 
I don't know why you have such a disconnect on understanding the reasons for league bowling participation declines. I can reiterate that it's not going to be turned around by a benign national social media campaign, or by training 70+ year old volunteers to sell memberships. It's not going to happen. Ultimately, any increases will be driven at the local level by BPAA houses that want to remain in business. 
 
I'd worry less about the future and more about your bowling enjoyment in the present. Retreating into a shell isn't going to enhance your bowling life

Keep doing the same things that took us from 6 million members to 1 million? I sincerely hope there's a better plan than doing the same things expecting a different result. How do you know if my plan would work, it's never been tried in bowling and is a common practice with franchise models. Again, what are you afraid of, could it be any worse than where your solution has gotten us?

Quote from: morpheus on November 01, 2016, 05:48:16 PM

Quote from: Steven on November 01, 2016, 05:18:45 PM

Quote from: morpheus on November 01, 2016, 03:59:18 PM

Instead of praising mediocrity, maybe you should demand more from the governing body of bowling. You guys drone on about social shifts and other sports experiencing declines, yet no other sport has experienced the type of decline bowling has over the last three decades. Our game deserves better than what the USBC is providing.

 
Mediocrity? I'm bowling in two back-to-back USBC Senior tournaments in Las Vegas that are worth far more than the price of admission. On top of that, Nationals is icing on the cake. My more than reasonable $22 annual fee makes that happen. Tell me what other organization gives you as much bang for the buck.
 
I don't know why you have such a disconnect on understanding the reasons for league bowling participation declines. I can reiterate that it's not going to be turned around by a benign national social media campaign, or by training 70+ year old volunteers to sell memberships. It's not going to happen. Ultimately, any increases will be driven at the local level by BPAA houses that want to remain in business. 
 
I'd worry less about the future and more about your bowling enjoyment in the present. Retreating into a shell isn't going to enhance your bowling life

Keep doing the same things that took us from 6 million members to 1 million? I sincerely hope there's a better plan than doing the same things expecting a different result. How do you know if my plan would work, it's never been tried in bowling and is a common practice with franchise models. Again, what are you afraid of, could it be any worse than where your solution has gotten us?

You are confusing the "franchise models" concept. If you were talking about BPAA, then sure, a percentage of their gross sales for a national advertising campaign would make perfect sense. And add in another fee for the local ADI the bowling alley belongs to for local advertising. But I'm SURE that would go over just perfect with the center owners.

However, I as an individual bowler, am in no way a "franchise". What you are suggesting would be akin to McDonald's adding an additional tax on each customer bill.

And if you are curious, yes, I do know franchising quite well. Over a 10 year career at Domino's pizza, I went from a Delivery Driver, Store manager, Area Supervisor, Senior Area Supervisor, Franchise Consultant, New Store Coordinator to Regional Corporate Operations Director. So you could say I have a bit of experience with how a franchise concept works.

Quote from: morpheus on November 01, 2016, 06:38:20 PM

Quote from: milorafferty on November 01, 2016, 06:13:23 PM

Quote from: morpheus on November 01, 2016, 05:48:16 PM

Quote from: Steven on November 01, 2016, 05:18:45 PM

Quote from: morpheus on November 01, 2016, 03:59:18 PM

Instead of praising mediocrity, maybe you should demand more from the governing body of bowling. You guys drone on about social shifts and other sports experiencing declines, yet no other sport has experienced the type of decline bowling has over the last three decades. Our game deserves better than what the USBC is providing.

 
Mediocrity? I'm bowling in two back-to-back USBC Senior tournaments in Las Vegas that are worth far more than the price of admission. On top of that, Nationals is icing on the cake. My more than reasonable $22 annual fee makes that happen. Tell me what other organization gives you as much bang for the buck.
 
I don't know why you have such a disconnect on understanding the reasons for league bowling participation declines. I can reiterate that it's not going to be turned around by a benign national social media campaign, or by training 70+ year old volunteers to sell memberships. It's not going to happen. Ultimately, any increases will be driven at the local level by BPAA houses that want to remain in business. 
 
I'd worry less about the future and more about your bowling enjoyment in the present. Retreating into a shell isn't going to enhance your bowling life

Keep doing the same things that took us from 6 million members to 1 million? I sincerely hope there's a better plan than doing the same things expecting a different result. How do you know if my plan would work, it's never been tried in bowling and is a common practice with franchise models. Again, what are you afraid of, could it be any worse than where your solution has gotten us?

You are confusing the "franchise models" concept. If you were talking about BPAA, then sure, a percentage of their gross sales for a national advertising campaign would make perfect sense. And add in another fee for the local ADI the bowling alley belongs to for local advertising. But I'm SURE that would go over just perfect with the center owners.

However, I as an individual bowler, am in no way a "franchise". What you are suggesting would be akin to McDonald's adding an additional tax on each customer bill.

And if you are curious, yes, I do know franchising quite well. Over a 10 year career at Domino's pizza, I went from a Delivery Driver, Store manager, Area Supervisor, Senior Area Supervisor, Franchise Consultant, New Store Coordinator to Regional Corporate Operations Director. So you could say I have a bit of experience with how a franchise concept works.

I've already explained this. USBC (franchiser) receives revenue for every local association (franchise) membership. Just as in a franchise model, it benefits the franchiser to educate franchises making them more effective...the better the franchises do, the more money the franchiser receives. Marketing can be coordinated nationally with local franchises, just as I proposed with coordinated efforts between BPAA, USBC, and local associations to promote clinics, tournaments, etc. Membership growth benefits the USBC and the BPAA, so why don't they do a better job with education and marketing/social media coordination with local associations?

The local associations don't want help from USBC. But don't let reality get in the way of your vendetta against USBC.

So essentially bowlers who average less than 210 or 200 should start a whole NEWBowling association to get away from the USBC. Stop supporting the top 1% of whiny bowlers. Stop supporting the sharks. Stop supporting a dysfunctional USBC and national tournament. Start a new Organization that really benefits the average joe bowler.

I'm all for it.