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Introducing the
Get Involved & Get Rewarded BFC Sponsorship Program
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As the owner of BarefootCentral.com, I am constantly evaluating the
programs we have in place and asking myself if there is any way we can
improve upon them. One such program I've given a lot
of thought to over the last few months is our Junior and Elite
Sponsorship programs.
People ask me all the time what it
takes to get offered a sponsorship by BarefootCentral.com. From
the time we all start competing, we dream of getting a sponsorship to
help cover the costs of new equipment each year. My answer to the
question is always the same;
"It takes a deep desire on your part to do more off the water than on
the water."
You see, by definition, a Promo Team is there to help us promote
BarefootCentral.com by interacting with as many barefooters and
waterskiers as possible. We
expect our promo skiers to be in tune with what is going on with the
website and be able to answer people's questions about what's happening
on the website and what's going on in the sport itself. They
should be able to tell other footers where to find information on the
site and the benefits associated with becoming a BFC Team Member. So using the internet on a daily basis is a must.
Finally, we expect our sponsored
skiers to be aware of the fact that how they present themselves to
others has a direct affect on how others perceive BarefootCentral.com.
If you are late to events, impolite or disrespectful of others, then
that's how people will perceive BarefootCentral.com. So
we ask our team to be professional, courteous, and supporting of others
both in victory and defeat. You can tell a lot about an individual
and how they think by watching how they react to loosing. Do they
pout, look for excuses and become totally unsocial, or do they
congratulate the winner, celebrate with them and let them know they'll
be back stronger to face them again and again.
When you think about the time you spend at a
tournament, most of it is spent on the shoreline waiting for your run or
visiting with other footers. If you ski wakes, tricks, and jump at
a tournament, you're on the water a total of around 5 minutes.
That's about the same for Figure-8 tournaments. If you stay at the
tournament site all day, you may be there from 7am to around 4 or 5pm.
That's well over 8 hours of time hanging out with other footers and
talking barefooting. The single most important factor in acquiring a good sponsorship deal is
your ability to communicate and interact with others. We want to
see our team members socializing and getting to know as many other
footers as possible. We want them to be excited about being a part
of our team and know that they make a huge difference in our success. More importantly, we want them to listen to
what the skiers around them are saying they'd like to see happen in the
sport or on the website and communicate that information back to us.
Finally, we
ask our promo skiers to write about the events they attend.
Stories not about themselves, but about the events and the
people they meet at those events. BarefootCentral.com has become
famous for the amount of articles we bring to the world. We are
able to do that by spreading the writing responsibilities across our
whole team. I tell my promo skiers all the time that their skiing
ability may get them noticed by a few skiers at the tournaments they
attend and maybe even at a world level if they have the talent and
drive; but until that day comes, their writing skills can make them famous
much faster to footers all around the world. Barefooters around the world read the articles we post on our website to
the tune of about 2,500 people per day. If you're good at painting
a picture with words, people will remember you as much, if not more, for
your writing ability as they do for your skiing ability. Combine good writing
skills with good social skills and throw in a bit of skiing ability and
Walla! You have what we are looking for.
My challenge has been identifying
skiers that possess all the qualities I've been talking about. Through
no fault of their own, many of our promo skiers find that they don't
have the desire to write about an event after it is over. It's as
though they feel they have homework to do after each tournament.
You
can't force the issue because you can tell the difference between a
forced essay and a passionate story. We
all do this sport for fun. But the challenge we at BarefootCentral.com
face is how do we get more people
(young and old) involved with BarefootCentral without them
feeling they are agreeing to a 2nd job. We ask a lot of our team
members and we want to make sure they don't come onto our team with a
different perception of what we expect in return for all the great
equipment that is afforded them. So we are announcing the
following program:
Starting February 1, 2006, we are
opening our sponsorship program up to anyone who shows the desire to
become what we are looking for. It's fairly simple, if you work
hard for us, we'll reward you with the best gear the sport has to offer.
You'll be given an account in our BFC Pro Shop with a credit for
purchasing any gear you wish. We'll also load you up with plenty
of BFC hats, t-shirts, and stickers. Basically we'll pay you for
the services you render. Work harder and you'll earn more credit
and be able to purchase even more gear. Writing stories isn't
the only way you can earn credit, but it will be worth a significant credit.
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Ways to earn free equipment
through our new Sponsorship Program |
| 1.
Write an article that we decide deserves to be published on the website.**
Remember, just because you submit an article doesn't mean it will get
published, it must be good. |
$100 credit
+ membership upgrade to 20% discount level on all new gear purchases. |
| 2.
Submit a video that we decide deserves to be published on the site. It can be entertaining,
educational, on-site tournament interviews, cover of an event you
attend, etc.. You're limited only by your imagination.** Remember,
just because you submit a video doesn't mean it will get published, it
must be good. |
$100
credit + membership upgrade to 20% discount level on all new gear
purchases. |
| 3. Assist BFC teaching
others how to foot for a day (i.e. Camp Grady Spruce or BFC sponsored
"Come out and Try" day).** |
$50 credit
plus free food & drink |
| 4. Place a
BarefootCentral.com sticker on your Promo Boat if you are Sanger,
Malibu, Mastercraft, or SkiPro Promo Boat Owner and your boat is being
used at tournaments.** This is a one time payout at the beginning of the
season. BFC Logo must be placed on the front windshield or side of
boat just below window. |
$Free stickers for your
boat, $50 credit + membership upgrade to 20% discount level on all new
gear purchases. |
| 5. Any
Team Barefoot Central member that becomes a driver, safety director, or
judge at Class C or Record Capable barefoot tournaments and wears
t-shirts and hats at those tournaments with BarefootCentral.com logos
and logos of manufacturers we support. |
Membership upgrade to 20% discount level on all new gear purchases. |
| 6. Take pictures at an
event for us.** |
$50
credit + membership upgrade to 20% discount level on all new gear
purchases. |
| 7. Do you have a
musical talent? (guitar, singing, harmonica, etc.) We could ask
you to attend a BFC sponsored event as the event entertainment.** |
$Free
trip to event OR $200 credit + membership upgrade to 20% discount level
on all new gear purchases. |
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Not to leave out skiing ability at the
highest levels, we have decided to make the following awards available
to all barefoot waterskiers around the world. |
| 1. Set
a New World Council Approved Men's Open Pro Division World Record
wearing gear and displaying logos of BarefootCentral.com and manufacturers sold on our
website. If it is a Tricks record, you must also be using a rope
and handle sold on our website. You must also get a picture of yourself
accepting the award while wearing your Team BarefootCentral.com Hat.
(See Note below) |
$1,000
Cash prize plus
$250 Shopping Credit |
| 2. Set
a New World Council Approved Women's Open Division World Record wearing
gear and displaying logos of only manufacturers sold on our website.
If it is a Tricks record, you must also be using a rope and handle sold
on our website. You must also get a picture of yourself accepting the
award while wearing your Team BarefootCentral.com Hat. (See Note below) |
$500
Cash prize plus
$200 Shopping Credit |
| 3. Win
a Men's Open Pro Division Gold Medal at the 2006 Worlds wearing gear and
logo of manufacturers sold on our website. If it is a Tricks
medal, you must also be using a rope and handle sold on our website.
You must also get a picture of yourself accepting the award while
wearing your Team BarefootCentral.com Hat. (See Note below) |
$500
Cash prize plus $250 Shopping Credit |
| 4. Win
a Men's Open Pro Division Overall Gold Medal at the 2006 Worlds
wearing gear and logo of manufacturers sold on our website. If it
is a Tricks medal, you must also be using a rope and handle sold on our
website. You must also get a picture of yourself accepting the award
while wearing your Team BarefootCentral.com Hat. (See Note below) |
$1000
Cash prize plus $250 Shopping Credit |
| 5.
Place in the top 5 at Footstock 2006 Open Division.** This
prize will be paid out on top of any other cash prize you may receive at
Footstock. You must also get a picture of yourself accepting the
award while wearing your Team BarefootCentral.com Hat. (See Note below) |
$250
Bonus Cash prize |
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**NOTE:
You must be a Team BFC
Member to be eligible for any of the above prizes or credits, so be sure
you're membership is current or join
today.
Upon becoming a member, you will be sent a BFC
sticker kit and BarefootCentral.com hat or visor. If you are a
current member, you should already have these items. |
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Qualifying Manufacturers include:
Eagle Sports,
Intensity, Masterline, Barefoot International, US Gear, Ocean Rodeo,
Barefoot Company, ECI/Skylon, RAVE.
Note:
Logos of manufacturers that do not
directly compete with this list will be permitted. If you are
not sure, ask us first. We are also open to establishing new
relationships with new manufacturers assuming they meet the same
criteria and quality standards of our existing manufacturers. So if you
don't see them on our site, call them up and ask why and give them our
website address.
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If you are interested in getting
involved, send us an email at
cg@barefootcentral.com.
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