Monday, October 20, 2008
CONTRACT KILLERS ON CONTRACT KILLERS
http://mmavideopost.com/ufc/paul-kelly-marcus-davis-ufc-89-video/
Thursday, October 9, 2008
New whips designed by Contract Killer
TODDS DYNASTY WHIP
FIRST DM9 LASERED
RANEY AFTERMATH GUN
DAVEY WILLIAMSON
New laser for Federov of Philly
FIRST DM9 LASERED
RANEY AFTERMATH GUN
DAVEY WILLIAMSON
New laser for Federov of Philly
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Being Honest With Ourselves
Ok, so I've been reading some paintball forums and sites lately and I can't help but to laugh. (which, is of course followed by extreme frustration and the smashing of the closest item on my desk) Although I have to applaud the fact that at least people are discussing the industry and what they think is wrong with it, and even giving some good ideas about what should be done to fix the problems they are discussing, no one has hit the nail on the head yet as far as what the real problem is. It's like no one gets it...really gets it. Everyone obviously sees the trouble we are in, and yet no one really wants to talk about the REAL reasons it's all happening. Does no one really know? Do they know, but are unwilling to ruffle some feathers? Have they thought about it, but think it's something we just can't fix, so why bother? Of course the economy is not helping things, but that's not the real problem. Neither are any of the other things people have brought up. One person says the high ROF and FPS is keeping new players out of the sport. Someone else says that the leagues running national events are doing things wrong and there needs to be different conferences, and more local leagues to bring team counts back up. Some have said that the cost to play is too high and that's what is keeping people from playing. I've even heard that players bad attitudes is to blame for paintballs recent down turn. While I will agree that all of those things contribute to our problem, I still have to say that non of those issues are the root of our real problem.
Maybe people are so used to having other people make decisions for them in the real world, that they are unable to think for themselves when conflict and trouble hits them in a more personal arena. That arena being our beloved paintball industry. I know so many people in this industry that have told me they agree with what I think, as far as what is wrong in paintball, but none of them have ever really said it publicly. The sad part is that a few of them had the stage to do so, but they didn't use it. For the most part, people have pussy footed around the issues at hand because if your in paintball, chances are, you are in some way connected to the problem. Whether that be from owning a paintball business, owning a team, playing on a team, or even just working in the industry in general. Basically, you just don't say anything to stir the hornets nest, because the sting could be more than something one of moms home remedies could fix. You could lose your ties to the industry and in turn, your business, your team, your sponsors, your job and in extreme circumstances, all of the above. Yes, it IS that bad. I'm not saying it's like the mafia, but it's corporate, only on a mom and pop level, which to me is much worse.
Most corporate problems revolve around the breaking of rules that were set into place by their respective industries for the sole purpose of maintaining as fair of a playing field as possible for all parties involved. Paintballs problem is that we don't have any such rules to break. It's a free for all. The only rules around, are the ones that are unspoken but avidly enforced. You've heard the old sayings, "Never bite the hand that feeds you", or "don't burn your bridges". I heard that many times in this industry throughout my years. I think those sayings hold different meanings in paintball though. They don't mean, "don't do something foolish or greedy now for your own benefit, because it may backfire on you later", or "watch the things you say because you don't want to be misunderstood and cause problems". In paintball those sayings mean, "Shut up and do what I say, or I will take away from you, what you have helped me create". I think too many people/players left in the paintball industry are afraid to to say anything about what is going on because, unfortunately, they depend on using those bridges to get to that hand that feeds them. These players have spent so much of their lives playing a sport that they love and believe in. They have been playing paintball, starting teams, opening stores & fields and helping these companies grow and become what they are today. They have put so much of their own time in for the love of this sport, their teammates, and their sponsors, that most of them haven't done anything to prepare themselves for the real world. The world outside of paintball. The world after paintball. And because of that, they are now stuck keeping their mouths shut and playing the role they were groomed from youth to play.
After all the problems last year in the NPPL, under the leadership of Shawn Walker, a lot of people were starting to lose faith in the league (more so, Shawn's ability to run it), including myself. I decided to try and see if we could help get things back on track. I wanted to see what everyone thought and if I could get support in an idea I had. I personally talked to over a dozen industry suits and players. I talked to everyone from manufacturers to team, store and field owners, sales and management at major paintball companies, to some of the authors of your favorite paintball magazine articles, to some of your favorite all star players. (all of which you would know their names instantly....that's not to toot MY horn, but to let you know that these were all people you would know) I heard so many things that Shawn had done, that in one way or another, was not on par with what someone in his position should be doing. (I'll just leave it at that). Everyone of those people were fed up with the way the season had gone and all of them in one way or another saw Shawn as the direct link to the problem. I tried to get them to get together and write a letter to Bruce (the owner of Pacific Paintball) explaining our concerns and letting him know what we knew about Shawn and the things he had done. I didn't then and I still don't know Bruce personally, but I have heard nothing but good things about him and what an ethical person he is, both personally and in business. I figured that was the best person to talk to. We hoped that at the very least, Bruce would sit Shawn down and get him back on track. Well, no one wanted to write Bruce. Everyone was unsure about the outcome. They were all very passionate when telling me in private how unhappy they were and how much they wanted Shawn out of there, but no one wanted to do more, than privately vent. They were all connected to the industry, and all of them felt that if the letter didn't get received as well as we wanted it to, then that might put them in a tight situation within the industry and with Bruce, Shawn and the NPPL. First of all, I thought they were giving Shawn way too much credit for his position, but I also thought, "Wow, it's no wonder we are where we are". The only people willing to stand up and say anything, are the ones that are lobbying for themselves to get into power positions so that they can put their own agendas into action.
Look, basically what I'm getting at is this, we have a LOT of work to be done before we can even begin to think about paintball going mainstream like the other extreme sports that are light years ahead of us. That work isn't just on our league set up, our formats. It's not just on price structuring. It's not just in media outlets. It's with ourselves and with how we work TOGETHER as a community to make this thing work. No one wants to work with anyone else because they are all sworn enemies. No one wants to speak out about the things that are wrong, because they are slaves to the hands that feed them. No one wants to give ideas or possible solutions on how to fix things because they are worried someone will either take them and make money off of them for themselves or that they will simply taint their original idea. I mean I can't blame them. Even I'm apprehensive about giving out ideas to the people in charge now. All that happens is they either outright steal your ideas and tie you up in court with their money, or they take your ideas, taint them and never do what was intended to be done with them to begin with. Without some sort of foundation laid down, without some sort of infrastructure that provides guidelines and rules to follow and consequences to those who don't......then we are destined to stay in this state we find paintball in now.
There needs to be a true governing body for paintball. A council, committee, organization, panel, whatever you want to call it. That group of people should be voted in by the entire industry which includes stores, fields, leagues and manufactures. Funding could come from a number of sources. Their job would be to lobby inside and outside of the industry for changes that would stimulate the growth of paintball and help shake this stigma we have. They need to be able to unite all the manufactures, fields, stores and leagues, so that we can make positive forward progress for once. The leagues don't need to merge, but they need to work TOGETHER in order to build new players and teams by creating nationwide leagues ran by local cities, schools, stores and even churches. The committee can work on a business model that accurately shows paintball as an industry and as a sport, so that they can take this to cities, sponsors, television stations, etc... We need to lobby at the city level for the right to put paintball fields within the cities to make it easier for leagues to form and for people to be exposed to paintball without having to drive out to the country to the closest field. Manufactures need to work TOGETHER and stop suing each other over every part that comes out. They need to work out a plan that they all can and will follow that will maintain a decent profit margin for their customers (stores and fields) and one that will stop the opening and selling of products to stores within a small radius of each other. They need to do more than MAP pricing. Both the leagues and the sponsors need to sit down and iron out a plan to separate the pros from the divisional teams, NOT to show divide between players, but to elevate our PROFESSIONAL athletes as such, so they begin to have worth. They need to be paid. The committee should work with outside sponsors and the leagues on ways to get money for the pro teams. Maybe that would mean the current team owners would have to sell a percentage of their ownership rights to a sponsor for the right to call them.....I don't know.....the "Chevorlet Paintball Guys"...., but that could be made up in merchandising later down the road. We should work with other extreme sports to help promote paintball with their demographically similar audience. What's wrong with a little piggy backing until we are recognized as a sport and accepted by the public. There are tons of other things we should be doing, but those were just some quick ideas as far as the direction of where we need to be headed.
I know it's a lot to ask for, especially with this unorganized industry, but it needs to happen. Like I've said before, I don't have all the answers and I don't pretend to, but I know we have to do something OTHER than what we have been doing for the past 25+ years. We have some people in charge of things now that not only don't know what they are doing, but they don't really care to do the right thing, because that usually means not making a quick buck. The old way just isn't working. We need to stop, rethink everything, restructure ourselves, work together for once and reinvent ourselves so that we can actually make a run at this thing the right way next time.
I know I'm not the most eloquent speaker/writer and I may not make a lot of sense to some, but I do know that we need structure.Leave a comment to tell me how stupid I am or to give your own thoughts on what needs to be done....I don't care which....just "Stand Up" and say SOMETHING!!!!
Brandon Lambertson
Maybe people are so used to having other people make decisions for them in the real world, that they are unable to think for themselves when conflict and trouble hits them in a more personal arena. That arena being our beloved paintball industry. I know so many people in this industry that have told me they agree with what I think, as far as what is wrong in paintball, but none of them have ever really said it publicly. The sad part is that a few of them had the stage to do so, but they didn't use it. For the most part, people have pussy footed around the issues at hand because if your in paintball, chances are, you are in some way connected to the problem. Whether that be from owning a paintball business, owning a team, playing on a team, or even just working in the industry in general. Basically, you just don't say anything to stir the hornets nest, because the sting could be more than something one of moms home remedies could fix. You could lose your ties to the industry and in turn, your business, your team, your sponsors, your job and in extreme circumstances, all of the above. Yes, it IS that bad. I'm not saying it's like the mafia, but it's corporate, only on a mom and pop level, which to me is much worse.
Most corporate problems revolve around the breaking of rules that were set into place by their respective industries for the sole purpose of maintaining as fair of a playing field as possible for all parties involved. Paintballs problem is that we don't have any such rules to break. It's a free for all. The only rules around, are the ones that are unspoken but avidly enforced. You've heard the old sayings, "Never bite the hand that feeds you", or "don't burn your bridges". I heard that many times in this industry throughout my years. I think those sayings hold different meanings in paintball though. They don't mean, "don't do something foolish or greedy now for your own benefit, because it may backfire on you later", or "watch the things you say because you don't want to be misunderstood and cause problems". In paintball those sayings mean, "Shut up and do what I say, or I will take away from you, what you have helped me create". I think too many people/players left in the paintball industry are afraid to to say anything about what is going on because, unfortunately, they depend on using those bridges to get to that hand that feeds them. These players have spent so much of their lives playing a sport that they love and believe in. They have been playing paintball, starting teams, opening stores & fields and helping these companies grow and become what they are today. They have put so much of their own time in for the love of this sport, their teammates, and their sponsors, that most of them haven't done anything to prepare themselves for the real world. The world outside of paintball. The world after paintball. And because of that, they are now stuck keeping their mouths shut and playing the role they were groomed from youth to play.
After all the problems last year in the NPPL, under the leadership of Shawn Walker, a lot of people were starting to lose faith in the league (more so, Shawn's ability to run it), including myself. I decided to try and see if we could help get things back on track. I wanted to see what everyone thought and if I could get support in an idea I had. I personally talked to over a dozen industry suits and players. I talked to everyone from manufacturers to team, store and field owners, sales and management at major paintball companies, to some of the authors of your favorite paintball magazine articles, to some of your favorite all star players. (all of which you would know their names instantly....that's not to toot MY horn, but to let you know that these were all people you would know) I heard so many things that Shawn had done, that in one way or another, was not on par with what someone in his position should be doing. (I'll just leave it at that). Everyone of those people were fed up with the way the season had gone and all of them in one way or another saw Shawn as the direct link to the problem. I tried to get them to get together and write a letter to Bruce (the owner of Pacific Paintball) explaining our concerns and letting him know what we knew about Shawn and the things he had done. I didn't then and I still don't know Bruce personally, but I have heard nothing but good things about him and what an ethical person he is, both personally and in business. I figured that was the best person to talk to. We hoped that at the very least, Bruce would sit Shawn down and get him back on track. Well, no one wanted to write Bruce. Everyone was unsure about the outcome. They were all very passionate when telling me in private how unhappy they were and how much they wanted Shawn out of there, but no one wanted to do more, than privately vent. They were all connected to the industry, and all of them felt that if the letter didn't get received as well as we wanted it to, then that might put them in a tight situation within the industry and with Bruce, Shawn and the NPPL. First of all, I thought they were giving Shawn way too much credit for his position, but I also thought, "Wow, it's no wonder we are where we are". The only people willing to stand up and say anything, are the ones that are lobbying for themselves to get into power positions so that they can put their own agendas into action.
Look, basically what I'm getting at is this, we have a LOT of work to be done before we can even begin to think about paintball going mainstream like the other extreme sports that are light years ahead of us. That work isn't just on our league set up, our formats. It's not just on price structuring. It's not just in media outlets. It's with ourselves and with how we work TOGETHER as a community to make this thing work. No one wants to work with anyone else because they are all sworn enemies. No one wants to speak out about the things that are wrong, because they are slaves to the hands that feed them. No one wants to give ideas or possible solutions on how to fix things because they are worried someone will either take them and make money off of them for themselves or that they will simply taint their original idea. I mean I can't blame them. Even I'm apprehensive about giving out ideas to the people in charge now. All that happens is they either outright steal your ideas and tie you up in court with their money, or they take your ideas, taint them and never do what was intended to be done with them to begin with. Without some sort of foundation laid down, without some sort of infrastructure that provides guidelines and rules to follow and consequences to those who don't......then we are destined to stay in this state we find paintball in now.
There needs to be a true governing body for paintball. A council, committee, organization, panel, whatever you want to call it. That group of people should be voted in by the entire industry which includes stores, fields, leagues and manufactures. Funding could come from a number of sources. Their job would be to lobby inside and outside of the industry for changes that would stimulate the growth of paintball and help shake this stigma we have. They need to be able to unite all the manufactures, fields, stores and leagues, so that we can make positive forward progress for once. The leagues don't need to merge, but they need to work TOGETHER in order to build new players and teams by creating nationwide leagues ran by local cities, schools, stores and even churches. The committee can work on a business model that accurately shows paintball as an industry and as a sport, so that they can take this to cities, sponsors, television stations, etc... We need to lobby at the city level for the right to put paintball fields within the cities to make it easier for leagues to form and for people to be exposed to paintball without having to drive out to the country to the closest field. Manufactures need to work TOGETHER and stop suing each other over every part that comes out. They need to work out a plan that they all can and will follow that will maintain a decent profit margin for their customers (stores and fields) and one that will stop the opening and selling of products to stores within a small radius of each other. They need to do more than MAP pricing. Both the leagues and the sponsors need to sit down and iron out a plan to separate the pros from the divisional teams, NOT to show divide between players, but to elevate our PROFESSIONAL athletes as such, so they begin to have worth. They need to be paid. The committee should work with outside sponsors and the leagues on ways to get money for the pro teams. Maybe that would mean the current team owners would have to sell a percentage of their ownership rights to a sponsor for the right to call them.....I don't know.....the "Chevorlet Paintball Guys"...., but that could be made up in merchandising later down the road. We should work with other extreme sports to help promote paintball with their demographically similar audience. What's wrong with a little piggy backing until we are recognized as a sport and accepted by the public. There are tons of other things we should be doing, but those were just some quick ideas as far as the direction of where we need to be headed.
I know it's a lot to ask for, especially with this unorganized industry, but it needs to happen. Like I've said before, I don't have all the answers and I don't pretend to, but I know we have to do something OTHER than what we have been doing for the past 25+ years. We have some people in charge of things now that not only don't know what they are doing, but they don't really care to do the right thing, because that usually means not making a quick buck. The old way just isn't working. We need to stop, rethink everything, restructure ourselves, work together for once and reinvent ourselves so that we can actually make a run at this thing the right way next time.
I know I'm not the most eloquent speaker/writer and I may not make a lot of sense to some, but I do know that we need structure.Leave a comment to tell me how stupid I am or to give your own thoughts on what needs to be done....I don't care which....just "Stand Up" and say SOMETHING!!!!
Brandon Lambertson
Friday, September 26, 2008
CONTRACT KILLA, ASR, BAD BOY UGH....
Ok so if you read our older posts, i have been ranting on what we do, where did we go wrong, how we should fix things, all that krap . The past week i have watching the news like a midget on the toilet (on my toes) on this current news on bailouts, debates, Chargers! the pbnation, the pbreserve, the view and all that. I see something brewin! If you just want to scroll down and see the video we took at the ASR with Todd, Cuba and me where we find out the CEO aka PSP event Organizer, was in fact THE Bad Boy Booty Model. Ah fun times!
ON RECENT PBN BASHER FILES
ON RECENT PBN BASHER FILES
From Lane Wright (or he call himself Lane Wright):
First, I absolutely applaud your post. That is all I ever ask for. People can hate everything we do and criticize every decision we make, so long as they back it up with reason. I may debate their reasoning with my own. But, I accept everyone has their own way of thinking.
Two of my most prized confidants today were people who totally bashed PSP on the Internet years ago. But both did it with logic and rational thought behind their rants (even though they were almost always wrong). Chris Raehl and Paul Richards wrote more BS about me than anyone. But they always included a reason why they felt like they did. They are two of the people who's opinion I respect the most, today.
The pricing structure is simple - it is there to protect us from having people only attend WC. The fact of the matter is that 3 of our 5 events are marginally productive for sponsors, at best. It could be argued that the World Cup is the only event that sponsors get true value in their sponsorship. I don't necessarily agree. But I can see the argument.
But another fact is that if sponsors decided to pull out of the year long sponsorship and only come to WC, PSP would never make it to WC. So I structure the program to discourage that. Everyone who wants to be anyone has to be at Cup. The pricing is such that it makes sense to almost everyone who is of the sponsoring level to sponsor the season, as opposed to just attending the WC.
The difference in price of "vendor booth" vs "sponsor layouts" based on the additional perks sponsors get. Logo on website, banners at events, mentions at grand stand field, announcements to our data base, etc.
Being that we had to draw a line of what we referred to as vendor level and sponsor level, and it needed to be more than just the area people used, I decided that once a truck/trailer with awnings, signage, etc were involved it would go into the "sponsor level". It seemed legit to me. At the time everyone who would be inclined to sponsor us brought traveling display trucks and everyone who had traveling display trucks were people who looked at sponsorship level involvement.
The $17,500 comes from an effort to protect the other sponsors. In this particular case, Planet and CP. They pay an amount of money to sponsor us each year. This money gets them an amount of space at each of the 5 events and various other things to help promote their brand. Obviously, this cost of space is not even/equal for all events. Certainly it is understood that WC is worth more than NEO. My breakdown allots almost $14,000 of the total money Planet/CP pays for the year to their space at World Cup. To protect them and show appreciation for their support for the whole year, when someone new comes in and wants the same space at WC, they will be priced at 25% more than a season sponsor paid for the same space.
So, this isn't an attempt to protect the owners. It is an attempt to protect the existing sponsors. In this case, a non-owner gun manufacturer, who started very small and grew, in part because they were willing to pay the price to get their stuff out in front of people, and I hope, to a smaller degree, because people who run events think ahead enough to protect them when they support us.
Just to take it a step farther - we do the same thing when people sponsor at one level and then want to increase to the higher level at World Cup. And we do it to EVERYBODY.
KEE (who is an owner in PSP) sponsored PSP at the Gold level this year. They want a Platinum size spot for World Cup. To protect DYE and SP as Platinum sponsors, KEE will pay an additional money to have that space at World Cup. An additional $12,000, as a matter of fact. That's the price charged to an OWNER, who has already paid $50,000 to attend and sponsor their own events.
And lastly, I am saying here and now - the owners who sponsor PSP (DYE, SP, KEE) absolutely pay exactly what others pay for identical sponsorship. They pay the exact same for their teams entry fees. They pay the exact same late fees if they miss deadlines. They pay the exact same additions if they upgrade in space. This is no "petty dispute" or "old grudge". I have no ill will towards Bobby or BLAST, at all. The fact that he chose not to sponsor the league didn't bother me in the slightest. I am well aware of the economics of paintball this year. People have to make decisions based on their business plans and the best interest of their company. That's what I am doing. That's what Bobby is doing. If Rennick Miller (an owner) wanted to bring Shocktech to World Cup with his trailer and asked for the same area that BLAST wanted, he absolutely would have been given the EXACT same price. I guarantee that as my word. He got a similar price for Chicago and decided not to attend. It was too expensive for his company. He's an owner and one of my best friends. But he didn't attend the event in the capacity he wanted and we didn't change the price structure. The point is that BLAST is being treated no different than some of the owners of PSP - fairly.
On that point, I guarantee that Bob didn't write a check for his personal gun. I guarantee that Opie doesn't fork over cash for a case of Draxxus paint. I am certain that Rob Staudinger doesn't pay the walk-on fee if he plays at a PBC field. I feel sure that if Dale wants a CP barrel on one of his guns he just takes a CP barrel and puts it on his gun. But, at PSP, the guys who own the company pay to attend the events just like everyone else. They also pony up when the company lose's money. They also haven't collected a single penny from PSP since it's inception, except to pay back a couple of loans they gave to cover prize money. They also sponsor, in one way or another, a good 60% of the teams who play in the league. They pay to remove one of the obstacles others would have when trying to decide to support the league.
It baffles me that no one ever seems to respect or appreciate that. But my Lord people will jump at the chance to claim they are screwing someone at every chance they get. It is EXTREMELY discouraging.
I am sure this is a bit jumbled. I am certain you could look through here and find somewhere that my math didn't make sense. I'm extremely busy and tried to explain something that took me months to come up with in 10 minutes. And I'm just not very bright. But, I think the jest of the effort is obvious. I am trying to protect PSP by protecting the people who commit - to the level that we need from them - to sustaining PSP. The fact that it benefits owners is simply because they are also paying sponsors. And there are times when this same protection policy works against an owner just as it would anyone else.
I hope the fact that I am willing to come on here and spill so much of our business shows something. I'm hiding nothing. I make mistakes. I make mistakes because I do a lot of things and, quite frankly, I'm in over my head from time to time. But I don't screw people. There are no hidden agendas. There are no schemes to keep anyone out. The fact that one or two people may be kept out because of the plan is the price we pay to keep 6 or 8 people in.
Again, I do, sincerely, appreciate your last post. I hope this reply made enough sense for you to understand what I am trying to do. Obviously, there are far more details than what I would be able to put into a post, and probably more than I would be willing to put out to the public. That's not secretive, just prudent. But, if there is a time AFTER World Cup that you think you want a little better explanation, I'll try. For now, I am busy. I am tired. And I have a lot of work to do. This will have to do.
Edit added: I just got off the phone with Bob. Straight from his mouth to me, he simply cannot afford to attend. Our price, the travel costs, the employee costs, and the missed time in the shop make it cost prohibitive. There is no inference that there is a plot against anyone, no belief that I do things anyway but fairly, no hard feelings at all. It is quite simply an economic decision. And, sadly, one that reflects the state of the industry today.
From Brandon Lambertson:
I think paintball is definitely in a slump PARTLY because of the economy, but I have to agree with New Englander, I don't see paintball going mainstream either, at least not with the way things are set up now.. Paintball isn't dead, and it isn't going to die, but it's not headed towards mainstream either. Now first, let's understand the meaning of mainstream as it relates to paintball. We obviously are not going to rival the NFL or the MLB, or the NBA as far as it's mass appeal and media attention...etc., but we can and should be able to rival the sports most like us, as far as popularity. Not just in the market place and with yearly participant numbers, but with fan base and media attention. The problem is, we don't. Some of that is because of the multiple formats, and lack of one set of rules and regulations. Some of it is because of the inability to film and show paintball properly on TV to new comers. Some of it is because we haven't sold our pro players as true professionals and built any interest in them as athletes. More importantly, I personally believe it's because of this entire industries infrastructure...or lack there of.
Paintball was never ready for the boom we had, and we aren't ready for another one if we are fortunate enough to have one. There have been too many bad apples floating around in our Kool-Aid. I think it's definitely time for changes in this industry. The problem is, no one wants to work with anyone because that could mean giving up their piece of the pie
From a guy named "New Englander"
After lurking for quite some time this topic finally got me interested enough to register and reply.
This is the same old same old in regards to discussion. Absolutely nothing has changed all that much over the years.
Paintball is not going to progress past where it is currently. This has been beat to death over the years. First it was - "Wait till it's out of the woods." Then it was "We need someone in the entertainment world to take notice." It has always been "We need to get people in the stands."
It came out of the woods in regards to tournament paintball, great. In all reality we seem to have lost a bit of the fun. You can only move an airball bunker field around so many times before it feels like - "Been there done that." After multiple use....even the airball bunkers start looking like garbage.
Dick Clark and others came and went and absolutely nothing really sustaining ever came of it.
People in the stands? How are you going to get 20 and up men to come watch a bunch of "agg" acting kids play paintball, are they going to pay and actually spend money on merchandise? 20 and up men do not want to emulate children. Tournament paintball has not traversed in a direction that is marketable to an audience that can and will spend money to view it.
There just are way too many different top teams playing too many different formats. There is way too much player jumping and guesting. What team are you going to follow now? Wait...how many of those guys play for a different team in a different format? This is all too confusing.
It's not going to change guys. Your never going to get the public to come out and watch a national paintball tournament. Your never really going to get widespread "pro's" in this game that are true to the word. As in actually get paid to play paintball - not get the winnings.
Enjoy what it is....help clean up the garbage of a mess it is now but just enjoy it.
Anyway... Not Bashing just havin fun.. these days all we can do is smile and weather the storm. On with the vid.
First, I absolutely applaud your post. That is all I ever ask for. People can hate everything we do and criticize every decision we make, so long as they back it up with reason. I may debate their reasoning with my own. But, I accept everyone has their own way of thinking.
Two of my most prized confidants today were people who totally bashed PSP on the Internet years ago. But both did it with logic and rational thought behind their rants (even though they were almost always wrong). Chris Raehl and Paul Richards wrote more BS about me than anyone. But they always included a reason why they felt like they did. They are two of the people who's opinion I respect the most, today.
The pricing structure is simple - it is there to protect us from having people only attend WC. The fact of the matter is that 3 of our 5 events are marginally productive for sponsors, at best. It could be argued that the World Cup is the only event that sponsors get true value in their sponsorship. I don't necessarily agree. But I can see the argument.
But another fact is that if sponsors decided to pull out of the year long sponsorship and only come to WC, PSP would never make it to WC. So I structure the program to discourage that. Everyone who wants to be anyone has to be at Cup. The pricing is such that it makes sense to almost everyone who is of the sponsoring level to sponsor the season, as opposed to just attending the WC.
The difference in price of "vendor booth" vs "sponsor layouts" based on the additional perks sponsors get. Logo on website, banners at events, mentions at grand stand field, announcements to our data base, etc.
Being that we had to draw a line of what we referred to as vendor level and sponsor level, and it needed to be more than just the area people used, I decided that once a truck/trailer with awnings, signage, etc were involved it would go into the "sponsor level". It seemed legit to me. At the time everyone who would be inclined to sponsor us brought traveling display trucks and everyone who had traveling display trucks were people who looked at sponsorship level involvement.
The $17,500 comes from an effort to protect the other sponsors. In this particular case, Planet and CP. They pay an amount of money to sponsor us each year. This money gets them an amount of space at each of the 5 events and various other things to help promote their brand. Obviously, this cost of space is not even/equal for all events. Certainly it is understood that WC is worth more than NEO. My breakdown allots almost $14,000 of the total money Planet/CP pays for the year to their space at World Cup. To protect them and show appreciation for their support for the whole year, when someone new comes in and wants the same space at WC, they will be priced at 25% more than a season sponsor paid for the same space.
So, this isn't an attempt to protect the owners. It is an attempt to protect the existing sponsors. In this case, a non-owner gun manufacturer, who started very small and grew, in part because they were willing to pay the price to get their stuff out in front of people, and I hope, to a smaller degree, because people who run events think ahead enough to protect them when they support us.
Just to take it a step farther - we do the same thing when people sponsor at one level and then want to increase to the higher level at World Cup. And we do it to EVERYBODY.
KEE (who is an owner in PSP) sponsored PSP at the Gold level this year. They want a Platinum size spot for World Cup. To protect DYE and SP as Platinum sponsors, KEE will pay an additional money to have that space at World Cup. An additional $12,000, as a matter of fact. That's the price charged to an OWNER, who has already paid $50,000 to attend and sponsor their own events.
And lastly, I am saying here and now - the owners who sponsor PSP (DYE, SP, KEE) absolutely pay exactly what others pay for identical sponsorship. They pay the exact same for their teams entry fees. They pay the exact same late fees if they miss deadlines. They pay the exact same additions if they upgrade in space. This is no "petty dispute" or "old grudge". I have no ill will towards Bobby or BLAST, at all. The fact that he chose not to sponsor the league didn't bother me in the slightest. I am well aware of the economics of paintball this year. People have to make decisions based on their business plans and the best interest of their company. That's what I am doing. That's what Bobby is doing. If Rennick Miller (an owner) wanted to bring Shocktech to World Cup with his trailer and asked for the same area that BLAST wanted, he absolutely would have been given the EXACT same price. I guarantee that as my word. He got a similar price for Chicago and decided not to attend. It was too expensive for his company. He's an owner and one of my best friends. But he didn't attend the event in the capacity he wanted and we didn't change the price structure. The point is that BLAST is being treated no different than some of the owners of PSP - fairly.
On that point, I guarantee that Bob didn't write a check for his personal gun. I guarantee that Opie doesn't fork over cash for a case of Draxxus paint. I am certain that Rob Staudinger doesn't pay the walk-on fee if he plays at a PBC field. I feel sure that if Dale wants a CP barrel on one of his guns he just takes a CP barrel and puts it on his gun. But, at PSP, the guys who own the company pay to attend the events just like everyone else. They also pony up when the company lose's money. They also haven't collected a single penny from PSP since it's inception, except to pay back a couple of loans they gave to cover prize money. They also sponsor, in one way or another, a good 60% of the teams who play in the league. They pay to remove one of the obstacles others would have when trying to decide to support the league.
It baffles me that no one ever seems to respect or appreciate that. But my Lord people will jump at the chance to claim they are screwing someone at every chance they get. It is EXTREMELY discouraging.
I am sure this is a bit jumbled. I am certain you could look through here and find somewhere that my math didn't make sense. I'm extremely busy and tried to explain something that took me months to come up with in 10 minutes. And I'm just not very bright. But, I think the jest of the effort is obvious. I am trying to protect PSP by protecting the people who commit - to the level that we need from them - to sustaining PSP. The fact that it benefits owners is simply because they are also paying sponsors. And there are times when this same protection policy works against an owner just as it would anyone else.
I hope the fact that I am willing to come on here and spill so much of our business shows something. I'm hiding nothing. I make mistakes. I make mistakes because I do a lot of things and, quite frankly, I'm in over my head from time to time. But I don't screw people. There are no hidden agendas. There are no schemes to keep anyone out. The fact that one or two people may be kept out because of the plan is the price we pay to keep 6 or 8 people in.
Again, I do, sincerely, appreciate your last post. I hope this reply made enough sense for you to understand what I am trying to do. Obviously, there are far more details than what I would be able to put into a post, and probably more than I would be willing to put out to the public. That's not secretive, just prudent. But, if there is a time AFTER World Cup that you think you want a little better explanation, I'll try. For now, I am busy. I am tired. And I have a lot of work to do. This will have to do.
Edit added: I just got off the phone with Bob. Straight from his mouth to me, he simply cannot afford to attend. Our price, the travel costs, the employee costs, and the missed time in the shop make it cost prohibitive. There is no inference that there is a plot against anyone, no belief that I do things anyway but fairly, no hard feelings at all. It is quite simply an economic decision. And, sadly, one that reflects the state of the industry today.
From Brandon Lambertson:
I think paintball is definitely in a slump PARTLY because of the economy, but I have to agree with New Englander, I don't see paintball going mainstream either, at least not with the way things are set up now.. Paintball isn't dead, and it isn't going to die, but it's not headed towards mainstream either. Now first, let's understand the meaning of mainstream as it relates to paintball. We obviously are not going to rival the NFL or the MLB, or the NBA as far as it's mass appeal and media attention...etc., but we can and should be able to rival the sports most like us, as far as popularity. Not just in the market place and with yearly participant numbers, but with fan base and media attention. The problem is, we don't. Some of that is because of the multiple formats, and lack of one set of rules and regulations. Some of it is because of the inability to film and show paintball properly on TV to new comers. Some of it is because we haven't sold our pro players as true professionals and built any interest in them as athletes. More importantly, I personally believe it's because of this entire industries infrastructure...or lack there of.
Paintball was never ready for the boom we had, and we aren't ready for another one if we are fortunate enough to have one. There have been too many bad apples floating around in our Kool-Aid. I think it's definitely time for changes in this industry. The problem is, no one wants to work with anyone because that could mean giving up their piece of the pie
From a guy named "New Englander"
After lurking for quite some time this topic finally got me interested enough to register and reply.
This is the same old same old in regards to discussion. Absolutely nothing has changed all that much over the years.
Paintball is not going to progress past where it is currently. This has been beat to death over the years. First it was - "Wait till it's out of the woods." Then it was "We need someone in the entertainment world to take notice." It has always been "We need to get people in the stands."
It came out of the woods in regards to tournament paintball, great. In all reality we seem to have lost a bit of the fun. You can only move an airball bunker field around so many times before it feels like - "Been there done that." After multiple use....even the airball bunkers start looking like garbage.
Dick Clark and others came and went and absolutely nothing really sustaining ever came of it.
People in the stands? How are you going to get 20 and up men to come watch a bunch of "agg" acting kids play paintball, are they going to pay and actually spend money on merchandise? 20 and up men do not want to emulate children. Tournament paintball has not traversed in a direction that is marketable to an audience that can and will spend money to view it.
There just are way too many different top teams playing too many different formats. There is way too much player jumping and guesting. What team are you going to follow now? Wait...how many of those guys play for a different team in a different format? This is all too confusing.
It's not going to change guys. Your never going to get the public to come out and watch a national paintball tournament. Your never really going to get widespread "pro's" in this game that are true to the word. As in actually get paid to play paintball - not get the winnings.
Enjoy what it is....help clean up the garbage of a mess it is now but just enjoy it.
Anyway... Not Bashing just havin fun.. these days all we can do is smile and weather the storm. On with the vid.
Monday, September 15, 2008
RIPPLE.
WALL STREET GOT NO SKEET
NEW YORK - "Stocks retreated sharply and Treasury bond prices jumped Monday as investors reacted to a stunning reshaping of the landscape of Wall Street that took out two storied names: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 300 points."
What does this mean to paintball? Honestly allot! I will explain a 2 year ripple effect that generated in paintball that I have argued before that the industry has to make legitimate stands before things go in the shitter.
Before I start off, Brandon Lambertson went on a cruise over the weekend to build brand recognition and smooch with the bigger-ups like financial wizards, models, men who have to pay there way to get laid and so on. Anyways, what an ass.
This weekend I played at the world famous SC Village to get my sweat on, watch players and see how paintball progressed in the this nature. I found it still moving but not as grand as it was in the past. People still play with no mention of sport, but camaraderie and all around good fun. As we were divided into teams, I began to try to mix with the regulars and not get picked on or typecast to help alleviated a awkward balance of how the groups are divided. As usual, I got to the side where the other group looked to be outgunned, out equipped, and out-experience. My little group of 6 ninjas decided to come out of hiding and said that we will go on the other side. I began to hear sigh of reliefs and groans as we walked to the other side. My buddies are trying to wonder why we are led to sheep-side and i said, "We all need to have fun, we all need to have a good story of paintball when they go back to their lives on Monday. Plus its paintball, we all can play again." They agreed and we let our 6 mingle in with the 75 or so to involve them in to slaughter.
Ok, back to ripples. Not allot has seen what had happened over the two past Christmas seasons, but there has been a huge explosion of online games and other game formats to help generate the "in-house athlete." Everything from Halo 3, Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and so on has making its way to help "forget" playing outside, forget paintball. Now, I'm not saying this is a conspiracy to defeat paintball, I'm stating the fact that a 60.00 game can go along way than a case of paint on a Sunday. Now seeing this, stores begin to feel the noose on their necks as people are slow to come in stores. What begins to happen next is obvious and cowardly. Stores begin to slash prices just to get people in the door realizing that it is now getting into the margin of paying the electric and employees. Industry decides to do the same because of manufacturing also needs to get paid for new products and overhead and so forth.
Then stores begin to die. They carry way too much product, not enough demand. The buyer becomes aware of cheap deals, and more stores literally giving away product to make ends meet. So now here comes a wave of great valued products at lower than wholesale prices and can be delivered with free shipping and it keeps... rippling. The stores that are surviving, are merely surviving on paint. and now there great inventory is not moving. which means more sales. I use to have a 500 dealer base around the country and now down to 200. We thought it was just us telling people we are slowing down and knowing that our competitors kept pushing the "Hybrid is dead" agenda in hope to create a better demand for their product. Call it smear tactic. Remember in high school when the girl your trying to mix- it-up with wont give it up so you later on to make your self feel better, you promote to the school that she is a whore? Yea, I'm the whore. So back to ripples!!! industry is now fighting for the same store giving them whatever to make sales and quickly for get because we are all on survival mode, to promote paintball as a sport, a sport of leisure, a sport of release, a sport of team efforts, a great sport of all ages.
So hear is a sport with their demographics wrapped around their finger. A group that expands to even senior citizens and now slowly, dying. While skate boarding is steadfast because they see future and future is bright. As skateboarders get older they stop skating. So they promote more on youth organizations and media attention. As a paintballer gets older, fuck we still play!! As other industry looks at their demographics, their future, they work on awareness and stability. Not the quick buck which will lead to countless issues of disaster. Its like paintball player of old, the sport is so great, we lose jobs, girls, even opportunity for it.
So now sales are down, industry is down. Mags cannot keep advertisers in. Magazine went from a plus size chicken grease wearing big booty model, to a 85 lb. toilet paper-eating, bulimic crack-laced wannabe 50 yr old who now cannot figure out how she got where she is now... Now the magazine dies... no media, no spectacle....ripple continues.
Now the banks you use that you put your hard earned money in, uses that money to work on special interests to help make banks make more money. This can be from real estate to private international wars. Don't believe me, look it up. For this, they give you, interest. Allot of people don't ask what happens to their money as they give it to their banks because they assume it just stays there.
Now, investors are putting money in media frenzied events and or people. More exposure more they want into what you are doing. For example: Monster.
Its all about media, exposure, fan base, news, spectacles, information, longevity and commitment
With no news, no exposure, allot of politics and no future for newer business to make money, why would anyone be part of it. Maybe the Marine corp, but they too have an agenda bigger than ours.
Where is your money now? What do we do? For now, just play.
NEW YORK - "Stocks retreated sharply and Treasury bond prices jumped Monday as investors reacted to a stunning reshaping of the landscape of Wall Street that took out two storied names: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 300 points."
What does this mean to paintball? Honestly allot! I will explain a 2 year ripple effect that generated in paintball that I have argued before that the industry has to make legitimate stands before things go in the shitter.
Before I start off, Brandon Lambertson went on a cruise over the weekend to build brand recognition and smooch with the bigger-ups like financial wizards, models, men who have to pay there way to get laid and so on. Anyways, what an ass.
This weekend I played at the world famous SC Village to get my sweat on, watch players and see how paintball progressed in the this nature. I found it still moving but not as grand as it was in the past. People still play with no mention of sport, but camaraderie and all around good fun. As we were divided into teams, I began to try to mix with the regulars and not get picked on or typecast to help alleviated a awkward balance of how the groups are divided. As usual, I got to the side where the other group looked to be outgunned, out equipped, and out-experience. My little group of 6 ninjas decided to come out of hiding and said that we will go on the other side. I began to hear sigh of reliefs and groans as we walked to the other side. My buddies are trying to wonder why we are led to sheep-side and i said, "We all need to have fun, we all need to have a good story of paintball when they go back to their lives on Monday. Plus its paintball, we all can play again." They agreed and we let our 6 mingle in with the 75 or so to involve them in to slaughter.
Ok, back to ripples. Not allot has seen what had happened over the two past Christmas seasons, but there has been a huge explosion of online games and other game formats to help generate the "in-house athlete." Everything from Halo 3, Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and so on has making its way to help "forget" playing outside, forget paintball. Now, I'm not saying this is a conspiracy to defeat paintball, I'm stating the fact that a 60.00 game can go along way than a case of paint on a Sunday. Now seeing this, stores begin to feel the noose on their necks as people are slow to come in stores. What begins to happen next is obvious and cowardly. Stores begin to slash prices just to get people in the door realizing that it is now getting into the margin of paying the electric and employees. Industry decides to do the same because of manufacturing also needs to get paid for new products and overhead and so forth.
Then stores begin to die. They carry way too much product, not enough demand. The buyer becomes aware of cheap deals, and more stores literally giving away product to make ends meet. So now here comes a wave of great valued products at lower than wholesale prices and can be delivered with free shipping and it keeps... rippling. The stores that are surviving, are merely surviving on paint. and now there great inventory is not moving. which means more sales. I use to have a 500 dealer base around the country and now down to 200. We thought it was just us telling people we are slowing down and knowing that our competitors kept pushing the "Hybrid is dead" agenda in hope to create a better demand for their product. Call it smear tactic. Remember in high school when the girl your trying to mix- it-up with wont give it up so you later on to make your self feel better, you promote to the school that she is a whore? Yea, I'm the whore. So back to ripples!!! industry is now fighting for the same store giving them whatever to make sales and quickly for get because we are all on survival mode, to promote paintball as a sport, a sport of leisure, a sport of release, a sport of team efforts, a great sport of all ages.
So hear is a sport with their demographics wrapped around their finger. A group that expands to even senior citizens and now slowly, dying. While skate boarding is steadfast because they see future and future is bright. As skateboarders get older they stop skating. So they promote more on youth organizations and media attention. As a paintballer gets older, fuck we still play!! As other industry looks at their demographics, their future, they work on awareness and stability. Not the quick buck which will lead to countless issues of disaster. Its like paintball player of old, the sport is so great, we lose jobs, girls, even opportunity for it.
So now sales are down, industry is down. Mags cannot keep advertisers in. Magazine went from a plus size chicken grease wearing big booty model, to a 85 lb. toilet paper-eating, bulimic crack-laced wannabe 50 yr old who now cannot figure out how she got where she is now... Now the magazine dies... no media, no spectacle....ripple continues.
Now the banks you use that you put your hard earned money in, uses that money to work on special interests to help make banks make more money. This can be from real estate to private international wars. Don't believe me, look it up. For this, they give you, interest. Allot of people don't ask what happens to their money as they give it to their banks because they assume it just stays there.
Now, investors are putting money in media frenzied events and or people. More exposure more they want into what you are doing. For example: Monster.
Its all about media, exposure, fan base, news, spectacles, information, longevity and commitment
With no news, no exposure, allot of politics and no future for newer business to make money, why would anyone be part of it. Maybe the Marine corp, but they too have an agenda bigger than ours.
Where is your money now? What do we do? For now, just play.
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