Registered: Mar 2006
Location: Columbus, OH
Posts: 10

We need help!!! We need new members!!!

The Columbus Curling Club that has been in existence since 2004 has taken a HUGE step forward and will be curling in a DEDICATED curling facility starting this Fall.

The members of the club helped to donate/loan enough money to get the project started this summer, along with a loan from the bank. All said and done the CCC has transformed a warehouse into a curling facility for less than $150K.

The CCC was curling two nights a week at a local ice rink and had a membership that hovered right around 100 members. With the new facility we will be cutting back from 5 sheets 2 nights a week to 2 sheets 24X7. Of course with moving into our own space we figure that we need an additional 60 members on top of the existing 100 members in order to pay the operating expenses.

Here is where you can help.... do you know anybody in the C-Bus area? Help us get the word out!!! If you know anybody then try to encourage them to come out and give curling a try. If your business has a branch office in C-Bus try to get them to have a corporate outing at the Columbus Curling Club. Do you have any affiliation with the media in C-Bus? We can use all the exposure we can get.

Next summer we plan to add 2 additional sheets to the CCC so that we will have 4 sheets set up for the tidal wave of people that we will get when the 2010 Olympics happen.

Please help our dream stay alive and get the word out to anyone you can in the Columbus area.

For more information you can check out the CCC website at http://www.columbuscurling.com

Thanks,
Andy Turner

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Registered: Jan 2006
Location:
Posts: 39

Andy, This is great news. Congrats. I wish you a ton of success. Unfortunately, all my friends in columbus have moved on.

Good Curling!!
Dorothy from Rochester

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Registered: Nov 2006
Location:
Posts: 46

Andy:
If you want more media exposure for your new club so one of 2 things.

1. Contact all the media in the area and offer them a curling day or a challege - media outlet against media outlet. Or you can offer individual radio stations a prize for a contest where all contest entrants to an existing radio station contest get a free curling session at a specific day and time of your clubs choosing.

2. Contact the media with a press release and offer FREE curling for the people of your area for one evening and one weekend day - first come first served.

You will be amazed how offering people somehting for free can attract the media.

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Registered: Jan 2006
Location:
Posts: 39

Andy, we have really good luck with our morning programs who want to come out live. The best is our "RNews" all day news station that plays the segment all day long. Curling is unique enough, we have no problem getting news coverage. Does Columbus have a "sports development agency"? They are great at getting press releases out to all the press in our area.

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Registered: Mar 2006
Location: Columbus, OH
Posts: 10

First off thanks for your suggestions and replies.

Currently we have a week of "Learn to Curl" clinics scheduled for 11/1 - 11/9 with 38 different time slots available. Since we have 2 sheets we are figuring that we can get up to 16 people per session for a total of 608 people. Of course I am sure that ALL of the clinics will not fill up but that is the max that we can get if we do happen to fill everything.

Instead of having free/open house we elected to do a clinic where they will have to pay $20. From talking with other clubs the free/open houses seem to attract a lot of people but the retention rate for those people is VERY low.

We are looking to have a media day hopefully during the first day that we have the "Learn to Curl" clinics. Our thinking is that it would be good to have media there to see people actually learning to curl. We are also looking to have time when the media can get out on the ice and give it a try themselves.

Again, thanks for the ideas and the replies. The curling community is so good at helping each other out... that is why I love the sport so much!

Attached is a "Learn to Curl" clinic sign up form if anyone is interested in signing up.

Good Curling,
Andy

Attachment: learn-to-curl_2008.pdf
This has been downloaded 119 time(s).

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Registered: Mar 2006
Location: Columbus, OH
Posts: 10

The club is now officially open and our leagues will start on Wednesday November 12th.

We were a little bit leary of the ice to begin with. When we put the ice in we simply used tap water to flood the ice. Then there was a sludge on top of the ice from all the salts and minerals that are in the water that floated to the top when the water was frozen. After scraping off that top layer of gunk we now have reasonably fast ice that curls in the proper direction, quite an improvement over arena ice not to mention the fact that we don't have to carry the rocks on and off the ice any more.

After a couple of scrapes and pebbles things are working pretty good. Now if mother nature would only cooperate and bring the outside temperature down to a reasonable level for November our ice will be even better.

We have our Low-E ceiling in and will be installing that shortly so that should help with the ice conditions also as the warehouse that we are in does not have any insulation in the ceiling and I am sure that we are getting a fair amount of radiant heat on the ice.

If your ever in C-Bus stop on over and check us out. Or better yet add CCC to a stop on your bonspiel circuit!

Later,
andy

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location:
Posts: 1349

Are there any hotels (walking distance) from your club?


Any bonspiels in the future?



Perhaps some de-ionizer bottles to purify the water?

__________________
Visit The AKCA Website!!!
http://sites.google.com/site/aksarbencurlingclub/

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Registered: Mar 2006
Location: Columbus, OH
Posts: 10

We do have a bonspiel coming up. Our first one will be an open format on December 12-14, 2008. You can download an application form here: http://www.columbuscurling.com/docu...al_bonspiel.pdf

As for hotels within walking distance there are not any but my guess is that the club would be willing to help you out with transportation if you need it. Isn't that what hosting a bonspiel is all about?

Hope to see you here in December!

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Registered: Nov 2008
Location: Cornwall, PEI and Utica, Ohio
Posts: 2

As a new CCC member splitting time between Columbus and PEI-- hope to see an Atlantic Canadian or two at the bonspiel in December. Btw-- club looks great to start and many thanks to those who came before me there who did all the work!

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Registered: Oct 2004
Location: The Valley
Posts: 621

Congratulations on your new club and I hope you have a whollopping grand time on your first day of league play.

Good curling.

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