Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Recruit, Retain

When you fall in love with Ultimate, you start to invite everyone you know to come and play.

This is because you love Ultimate and want to see it grow. Its also because you love everyone you know, and want them to try out something you love too.

Eventually though, you hit the wall - you've run out of friends, family, co-workers and acquaintances to invite along.

So what do you do? How do you share your love?

You transition from being a recruiter to a retainer.

You talk to any new people you see down at the Ultimate field. You help them improve their game. You make them part of the group or team or a valued opponent. Get their name the first time they mark you. Make sure they get welcomed in the post-game circle - especially if its half way through the season and they've been around a bit, but its still the first time your team has met them. Invite them to your tournament or party or to join your team on another night.

If you can retain that person in Ultimate, help them love the game like you do, then they will go and recruit all the friends, family, co-workers and acquaintances that you don't know yet.

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