| My New Years Derbysolution by Erick Smith, RJWorldNet |
| 2005 looks to be a great year for Derby! 2004 was a year of growth, an explosion if you will for female derby style leagues. According to my friends over at usrollergirls.com, there are now sixteen major female leagues, including one nearby in the windy city of Chicago which I must admit I am quite excited about and hope to see once they get away from Sunday night events. But when I see the rollergirls map, I see a dot perfectly located in the center of the country, specifically in Kansas City, MO which I'm told is known for its barbeque. I want it to be known for RollerDerby in 2005. It is true that derby has survived 2004 because of what I can best call niche markets, but I want it to be big! I want it to become something that it hasn't been in years. With the talent out there, spread all across our great 48 (I refer to the lower 48), we need a world series of Derby, a superbowl of the flat track, we need an event so massive that it has the capability of becoming an annual spectacular, a fan attracting experience, and an event that unites fans across the country, both in person and on the screen. Picture this with me if you will: 16 teams in a massive tournament held in Kansas City solely because of its central location, derby marketing like you've never seen before, booths with derby merchandise, and television cameras, that's right, tv cameras! If ESPN can cover sumo and little league baseball, if E can air infomercials from Girls Gone Wild overnight, if Ron Popeil can get 20 hours of airtime on my cable networks a week, if my local Fox affiliate can keep airing the Chicago Bears, then RollerDerby can get 2 or 3 hours a year! What Derby needs though is somebody that can pull this all together, a marketing genius with no pre-disposition to any local league. The ability to get 16 different organizations to agree and dozens of merchants to sponsor, host, and help carry the different leagues through a weekend of skating. Somebody, please hear my call! Please make this Derbys fan a reality. I'll be there with my flag that reads Derby Lives sitting in the front row. Some other derbysolutions (see how that could be derby and resolution put together, or if I were to separate it, derby and solutions, smart eh?) 1. As a teacher, it pains me to say this, but we need to be able to steal ideas. One of the best ideas I saw in 2004 was the ticket purchase program in California I believe it was where you could purchase tickets that would be donated to others less fortunate to witness Derby events. It would also be nice if we had a central clearinghouse where you could purchase tickets to any Derby event, and that would also have a Derby calendar available, something our 16+ leagues could desperately use. 2. It seems to me that Derby in general needs a spokesperson. Could somebody please step up and get the world of derby the attention and spotlight it desperately needs to help continue growth? Somebody step up, several people step up and the fans will pick one, heck, we'll make a reality tv show out of it. 2005 needs to be a lot about marketing and getting attention to help continue what has been a great decade for Derby. Signing off and skating away until next time! -ES |