Wednesday, June 10, 2009

MadMen


I may be a bit late on this considering Chris Botta's post on this subject today, but considering I posted a similar theory on the comment section of his blog yesterday, I'm not feeling very plagiaristic about it. Also, I have a different take on the subject.


The Public Relations/Advertising team with the Islanders are touting that 11,000 fans have grabbed their free tickets for the Islanders Draft Party scheduled to take place at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (NVMC) on Friday June 26th. This sounds like a lot of Islanders fans are very excited about the upcoming draft, which is absolutely true. But there is a catch to this public relations ploy.

Public Relations or PR men are a lot like advertising men who are also known colloquially madmen. They spin truth and facts about a product or event to show it in the best light and generate a buzz. Nothing wrong with this in my opinion. After all we live in a capitalistic society. However as a consumer, one should always be aware of this.



So "More than 11,000 Islanders fans have gotten their free tickets" Really? I find this rather entertaining. I would say that the whole reason why you need a ticket is so they can post this little factoid on the Islanders website. I assure you the number will keep going up taboot. After all it was only 10,000 yesterday.

So let's look at the reality of the situation. By going through the Islanders website, you can request up to six free tickets per customer. So let's use myself as an example. I requested six tickets. There is a chance, that I may use all six, but I consider it unlikely. To use all six, my son would need to attend the Draft Party after the Islanders Spring Hockey League "picnic" which coincidentally takes place at NVMC immediately before the Draft Party. My son is 14 and most likely would rather hang out with his friends on the first Friday after school ends. My girlfriend would have to be able to attend and that is iffy since she has responsibilities to her 15 year old daughter as well as to her aging father. The aforementioned 15 year old daughter would have to attend (see the comment about my son). Then my friend John would need to attend and bring either his wife or son or both. If all the above came we would need one extra ticket. I think it more likely that it will just be me and John. If that happens than four of the six tickets requested will go to waste. Using myself as a microcosm and assuming that most people requested six tickets just because they could, then 11,000 becomes 3,666.

That is one way of looking at it. There is also the possibility that many folks requested six (or even less) tickets for themselves and their friends not knowing that their friends have likewise done the same thing. Say a group of four friends, that always go to games together, each requested four tickets, not knowing that each of them has requested the tickets. All four friends are going to go to the Draft Party, but then twelve tickets will go to waste. Using this example, 11,000 becomes 2,750.

Both of the above examples do not take into account that some folks may have requested tickets on the chance that they might want to go to the Draft Party, but will then decide that they do not feel like going that night and being accosted by Sparky and his sweaty paws.

I think it likely that their will be approximately 3000 - 4000 people in attendance. Your thoughts? Hello? Is there anybody out there?

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