Burghfield Sailing Club - How they did it 

Over 500 people attended the joint Burghfield SC and Berkshire Sail Training Centre 2013 Open Day, which was held over Push The Boat Out weekend last year.

David Irwin was Commodore at the time - he explains how the Reading club maximised getting people through their gates.

Think strategically

“A large scale Open Day is a big undertaking and it simply can’t be done without the support of the membership. The biggest thing is getting the club members onside early on to act as volunteers, both in the build up to the Open Day and during it.

 “Over the preceding months we put together teams that were assigned duties across six key areas – front of house/gates, publicity, on-the-water activities, safety boat cover/beach, Sailability and the sailing school. Each had a team leader, who reported to the main committee and also acted as the volunteer coordinator for their team.

“In total we had about 60 volunteers helping out on the day. The success of the day is down to them.”

Data data data!  

“Finding out why people had come along and what they were particularly interested in was really important to us. We wanted to gather hard data to enable us to follow up enquiries and turn that into memberships and course sales.

“In the past we have written down names, contact details, areas of interest etc, when people have come through the gates, but that has then required someone to find the time to input the information, plus the handwriting isn’t always legible!

“Last year we decided to slow the process down and have two laptops at the entrance with volunteers filling in a simple data capture spreadsheet we had created to enable information to be completed there and then for all visitors.

“We captured name, email addresses and postcode; we didn’t need full addresses, we just wanted an idea of catchment area.

“We also recorded how they heard about our Open Day and what activities they were particularly interested in, for example, training, youth racing, Sailability etc.”

All hands to the pump  

"Our Open Day ran for six hours (10am-4pm). As well as free dinghy taster sessions, the sailing school was open for people to enquire about courses, our Sailability group members were about to answers questions, there were fun activities for kids shore side and refreshments were available and the bar was open all day.

"People could walk around the different types of boats we had rigged and on display, both club and Sailability boats, with volunteers on hand for visitors to learn about the differences between the various boats and activities they could get involved in.

"Of the 500 visitors, around 220 actually went out on the water for a taster. The tasters were run in a variety of classes depending on the experience of the guest, this would range from a single handed Pico to a double-handed performance boat such as Vision or Xenon and lasted on average 20-30 minutes.

"We had over 20 instructors and club members on the ‘taster’ team alone, and they made countless trips out on to the lake during the day. In addition, for non-sailors, we had an assortment of powered craft where we provided trips around the lake.

"In recent years we have introduced a pro-rata membership fee so that people only pay membership for the number of months they are actually members in a calendar year.

"We also have fleet of about a dozen club boats that members can hire, with the message that you don’t have to own a boat to sail.We are all about trying to break down barriers to, and perceptions of, sailing as a sport that is difficult to get into, elitist and expensive.  

"Having plenty of enthusiastic club members dotted around for visitors to chat to really sells these messages, and provides the true sense of what the club is about, much better than any literature ever could.  

"As a result of the Open Day we ended up signing up 25 new family memberships and the training centre secured 15 courses.  

What we learned  

“Despite producing literature, half a dozen flyers that we distributed throughout local streets and schools, and getting articles in our local paper and on radio, most of those who attended did so because of word of mouth and visiting our website.  

 “It showed us that our members are still our most powerful and effective marketing tool, and making information easy to find on our website was also very important.  

“That’s not to say the other promotional activities were pointless; they weren’t. Even if we just achieved raising the profile of the club through these various other means, or they acted as a reminder about the event, they were worthwhile. We also found 80-90% of the visitors came under the ‘RG’ Reading postcode.  

"This information has really helped us focus our marketing for our courses and membership drives this year, plus attracting visitors to our 2014 Open Day, which is once again coinciding with RYA Push The Boat Out on Saturday 17 May.”