Growing the hobby

[Not Quite Nominal]

As a spinoff of another thread, let's talk about concrete strategies to grow the hobby. My thoughts so far:

1a: Hobby growth model

I'm into, and have been into, many expensive time-suck hobbies (too many, says my wife). Cars, motorcycles, guns, scuba diving, the list goes on and on. There seems to be a common thread to how people get into them:

1. Inspire millions of young people
2. Recruit thousands of single guys with time.
   
3. Wait thirty years
4. Recruit middle aged guys with money.
5. Hope they don't age out of the hobby.

1b: Examples of the model

The biggest group of scuba divers are people who remember Jacques Cousteau movies.

A certain demographic grew up in the 60s aspiring to own classic muscle cars and Harleys. By the 80s nobody cared about them. In the early 2000s prices for them skyrocketed. Now you can custom choppers and restored GTOs for half what they went for ten years ago.

Porsches were the thing to have in the 80s. In the early 90s Porsche was dying and you could pick up a 911SC for a song. Now ratty mid-70s Porsches regularly command 100k.

If you want investment advice from me (and you don't), buy a whale-tail GSXR750 and a WRX. They'll be worth big money fifteen years from now. Or wait ten years and buy a Tesla. When today's high school kids get rich, that's the classic car they'll buy.

Of course, this applies to rocketry. Watch a man land on the moon, play with rockets at 12, get into dating, college, jobs, raising a kid, and then later in life get back into rocketry.

2a: Where we are in the model:

I don't know how much we can do regarding Step 1. Middle-aged guys build small rockets because as a kid they saw big rockets. We don't have the size to reach millions, and our rockets may not be impressive enough to make a decades-long impression on young people. Outreach to today's schoolchildren may lead to more engineers (a good thing), but it will be too little, too late to keep Aerotech and Madcow in business.

USLI and TARC are good for the mid-term future of the hobby, as young engineers have the time and money to chase a few certs and light off a few motors. Once they get daycare and mortgage bills though, that will change.

Luckily, we're having a mini rocketry boom, because we're getting a whole lot of Step 1 (inspire millions) from SpaceX and Blue Origin. We're lucky.

2b: Who we can reach:

We're doing very well with Step 3/4 (wait 30 years, recruit middle-aged guys with money). The low-hanging fruit for us is Step 2: young guys with time.

Rocketry requires money, time, technical skill, and a familiarity with tools. That draws a box around the sort of people we should target. Drone people, car people, off-road people, scuba divers, sailors, etc. The target audience should already be comfortable dropping a few hundred bucks and a weekend on a hobby.

I went into a hobby shop to get an extra LiPo charger. When they asked why, I told them I was building a rocket. "Like a model rocket?" they asked, having never heard of anything bigger than the Mighty D12. I showed them a few pictures of my decidedly unimpressive high-power fleet (Adventurer, Fusion, Dragonfly) and they were shocked. By the time I showed a ThreeCarbYen video, half the store was huddled around my phone.

If I had promo material, they'd probably all be at launches now.

Three or so years ago, I had no idea about hobby rocketry. I was sitting in bed watching YouTube videos and happened to see something on the sidebar about a rocket reaching 100k (probably ThreeCarbYen or Qu8k). I figured it was clickbait, but it had so few views I decided to give it a look.

Shortly afterwards I said to my wife "you have to see this!" (perhaps a few words expurgated) and here I am.

3a: How to reach people

My preferred management model is "Decide from below, provide from above". Decisions should be made as close to the subject matter as possible. A suggestion would be to have each chapter/prefecture create a new office: Chief of recruiting. This person would be responsible for seeking out local target-rich environments (hobby shops, drone conventions, etc) with promotional material. As an incentive, or at least a cost offset, the national organization could send back to the club half of the first year dues of each new member.

3b: What to reach them with

Most, if not all clubs, don't have the resources to create promotional material. A semi-standard template of promotional material could be created, but this is an endeavor large enough it will require the cooperation of the large national organizations and funding from the major vendors. They will obviously be unlikely to join up on this merely at my suggestion. A set of basic promo materials could include:

1. Poster (hobby store, to be included with products)
2. Poster (non-hobby store such as car/bike)
3. Flyers
4. Manned booth (car show/hobby show)
5. Manned booth (university)
6. Manned booth (high school/middle school)

3c: Who to reach them

Anyone who has sold anything knows that it's easy to get people excited and hard to get them to follow up. It's important for a club to harvest contact information of prospects, and then call/email them a week or two in advance regarding upcoming launches. Standard rules of human decency and local laws regarding mass communication obviously apply.

 

[Oscar S.]

This is a great idea! I have just gotten into high-power rocketry, but I started with low-power rocketry years ago when I walked into a toy store and saw the Estes Riptide sitting on a shelf. I thought it looked cool, and when I launched it the first time, I was blown away! I don't really know anyone else who does rocketry though. I haven't gone to any clubs yet, but I would love to try to get some of my friends into it.

 

[boatgeek]

To really bump up the bottom lines of our vendors, we need to divert people into rocketry from the really high-dollar hobbies like quilting and knitting.

 

[Andrew_ASC]

Young engineer here 26. New grad... You guys and this damn hobby converted me in university at senior year project with my first high power min diameter multistage launch and scratch design back in August 2017. From then on I wanted L1, now I’m at working towards L2 this year. I had launched an Estes like a decade ago or more. High power rocketry was immensely more rewarding and challenging than anything else I’ve done in my life including soloing an airplane.

I blame SEDS competition. Chattanooga will have a NAR chapter soon. We made the local paper last year with high power rocketry placing first in the nation for engineering comp. Young college age engineer students. Mechanical, electrical, and Aeros. Disposable incomes.

 

[afadeev]

To really bump up the bottom lines of our vendors, we need to divert people into rocketry from the really high-dollar hobbies like quilting and knitting.

I wonder what inspiring movies or life events the people who are into the above two hobbies were into when growing up?


Seriously, though, I commend the idea behind this thread, but the theory proposed in post #1 is way too simplistic.

You don't really need an inspiring event to draw kids into a hobby.
I did rockets, among many other things, as a kid, because my friends were doing it. Because their parents bought them rocket kits. My kids are doing it now because their friends are doing it in Cub Scouts and as part of elementary school's STEM curriculum. Or because their parents brought them Estes kits.

You don't need a rocketry club to launch Estes kits.
In fact, we still launch far more often locally, with friends and local scouts, then I event venture out to a Club launch!

Back to kids with rockets.
So I remembered how I used to do it at their age, and rolled up my sleeves to help them out when they got stuck.
Then I went a little overboard, build a few HP models, and joined a few local rocket clubs.

I did not do rockets because of a club outreach or marketing. Or national organizations' marketing. Or a recent rocket launch on TV.
I found a club because I was doing it already, and figured I might have more fun doing it among others who might be into what I am into.
Same with race cars.
Same with Scuba.
Same with many other expensive habits and hobbies.

It is ALL about having FUN with others.
It does help if you get along with them, obviously.

I am lucky that I have a choice of 3 rocket clubs within an hour's drive of my house, and many more a day-trip away. We go to the one rocket club where folks are the friendliest, the most easy going, and most open to kids launching rockets. Which is really my motivation for sticking with this hobby, for now.

If another NAR/TRA Club started marketing to me, hot and heavy, I might drive out to check them out. Once.
But if the folks at that hot'n'heavy Club were observed taking themselves far too seriously, or there were no other families with kids, that would be the one-and-done experience for me.

Bottom line - you can market aggressively to compete over the existing tiny pool of NAR/TRA members, or you can try in attract new members and grow the hobby. The latter is far more interesting, but also more challenging.

You could target school kids (e.g.: scouts outreach; no-one will let you hang out in local schools, booth or no-booth), or find ways to target the potential BAR population who don't have kids.
The latter is a far more expensive and likely has far lower ROI.
The former requires little formal marketing, and lots of leg work. Which some local clubs are doing more aggressively than others.

You can find ways to make them to come once, but they will only come back if they hand fun.
And that comes down 110% to the friendliness and inclusiveness of the folks at the local Club level.

YMMV,
a

 

[BDB]

This is a great idea for a thread!

For me, it was the lure of HPR that hooked me. But the barrier to HPR for many is cost. Not many people have the disposable income to literally burn their money. That leaves us in the circular firing squad of trying to poach members from other hobbies.

If we want to increase the number of potential rocketeers, I think we need to make affordable entry points to MPR and HPR. Maybe certified sugar motors? There sure are a lot of people experimenting with them on YouTube.

As far as raising awareness goes, we could really benefit from YouTube influencers, much like the “celebrities” who review 3D printers.

 

[dhbarr]

My bit is volunteering through my local club for Scout & School activities. Ideally some of these kids will stick to it and/or rejoin when they're able over the years.

I try to focus mostly on no-haz far101 cpsc stuff ( without getting bogged down with those references ), which is largely A-D BP. The kind you can get at your hobby shop, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, etc.

I do show reloadables, talk about Tripoli Mentoring ( wish the two orgs would normalize the age ramp ), and show the Big Stuff with a nod to New Space.

I absolutely welcome further suggestions.

 

[cwbullet]

One thing that helps us is the new Estes Models. I have seen quite a few folks show up with mid-power Estes kits built to fly. I hope they continue the Pro kits.

 

[TimothyG]

One thing that helps us is the new Estes Models. I have seen quite a few folks show up with mid-power Estes kits built to fly. I hope they continue the Pro kits.

I’ve had more fun with estees pro kits in the last three months than I had getting level one. Although level two was an experience I’ll remember for life. Love the star orbiter. I can fly high enough on 40 bucks to need binoculars, twice!

 

[DankMemes]

I’ve had more fun with estees pro kits in the last three months than I had getting level one. Although level two was an experience I’ll remember for life. Love the star orbiter. I can fly high enough on 40 bucks to need binoculars, twice!

The pro series kits are fun, the e2x ones get a lot of flak from us builder guys but if built right will take a beating for sure. My Trajector survived 5 consecutive chute inflation failures at Bama Blastoff when I was experimenting with JLCR... I just had to dust it off...

Also pretty affordable especially with AC supply selling them in the 25 dollar range

The hard part is flying fields, even as an adult flying fields are getting harder to come by... so for most people the gateway drug is still low power, which in my area still seems to be going strong and picking up a lot according to Ron the local hobby store owner who recently increased his selection...

Also judging by all the rockets washing out of trees after the rain at the local soccer field it definitely seems that way...

Guess the most grassroots way to grow the hobby is to get out and fly... I’ve had lots of people come up and talk to us while I’m out at the park flying low power with my son... I keep a few alpha III kits around from a bulk box I got a killer deal on... been giving them to interested dads. From there they just need a rod and some parts from around the house to cobble to together a launch pad

 

[Bat-mite]

Maybe the real question that needs to be answered is: why do we do this? A fellow rocketeer that I know who launches very big rockets and spends tons of money on the hobby, has made more than one comment to me regarding why we do this. And the answer, usually, is "I don't know."

One day he told me that his wife always asks if he took any pictures, and he said, "Why? It looked the same this month as it did last month."

Another time, he said, "I really can't figure out why I like this so much. Maybe it's because not very many people do it."

I, too, have often wondered why I like it. It has to be a personality thing. From the first time I launched an Estes Athena I have wanted to do more and more rocketry. Launch weekends are the highlight of my month. Whether I am launching, or helping others with big projects, or teaching my kids, there is just nowhere else I would rather be.

My wife would prefer not to be there. She goes to more launches than she would care to, but doesn't really get any enjoyment out of it other than watching our kids have fun. Why? Why is it so incredibly appealing to me, and boring to her?

Why do some people spend tens of thousands on a boat and go fishing in the Bay every weekend, but think spending money on rocketry is foolish?

To be successful at recruiting, we somehow have to find and target people with the right personality type. And I have no idea how to do that. I am trying to instill a rocketry culture into my kids, but right now, everything is free for them. I buy the rockets and motors. I do the builds (they help, but their ability is limited by their age). All they really do is go to the launch and have fun.

What is going to happen when they have to start paying for their own kits, spending time building them, driving themselves to the launch site? Will they still do it? Do they have that thing in them that screams, "This is the most fun thing I can think of to do?"

I have done outreach events with my club, and as someone else posted, it is easy to get people excited. But as soon as that excitement wears off, there is no commitment to say, "I am going to start reorganizing my life to make room for this on a regular basis."

 

[mikec]

Why do we want to grow the hobby? The increasing popularity of drones has basically criminalized R/C with additional regulations, the growth there has been much more a detriment than an advantage.

 

[Bat-mite]

Why do we want to grow the hobby? The increasing popularity of drones has basically criminalized R/C with additional regulations, the growth there has been much more a detriment than an advantage.

I think it has more to do with "not letting it die" than "making it bigger." Although, I would love to see prices come down based on increased volume of sales.

 

[Nytrunner]

Why do we want to grow the hobby? The increasing popularity of drones has basically criminalized R/C with additional regulations, the growth there has been much more a detriment than an advantage.

Is it the increasing popularity alone, or a side effect: an increase in individuals that do foolish things by themselves "because they can"? (until regulation says they can't)
Fortunately for us, big motors for flying big rockets are regulated in a manner that isn't too onerous.

That being said, that gate doesn't stop things in the unregulated portion of the hobby. Example: I heard one dad at a scout launch remarking "Oh yeah, its real fun to put an M80 on top of the motor so the ejection charge sets it off!" For context, this was not joe redneck that likes to Make Tube Fly with Fire, this was a Huntsville engineer with kids.

The only thing I can think of to deal with that, is to encourage participation in the community with folks that can kindly and encouragingly explain the reason behind the safety code and why it exists, while pointing out all the opportunities there are to have fun within it (high power, staging, payloads, electronics, research w/ tripoli, etc....)

But if the safety code is only discussed in a preachy/book thumpy manner, then they'll be fed up and go back doing questionable things on their own.

 

[Bat-mite]

Aren't M-80s already illegal? If so, there is a violation of law occurring.

 

[Nytrunner]

Aren't M-80s already illegal? If so, there is a violation of law occurring.

Of course it is in most states and in most cases, although they can be obtained for special and specific purposes (much like blackpowder! wait....)

 

[dr wogz]

Club field access. To me, that is the main hurdle. it used to be a lot easier back when I started, but now, finding a field is difficult. Even for established clubs to find new / larger fields..

Do NAR and/or TRA have a "How to ask for field use" pamphlet? or some other literature prospective club members can use / show land owners to get fields? (or to at least start the conversion, and not come across as a few "hooligans who want to blow stuff up"?!)

 

[cwbullet]

Do NAR and/or TRA have a "How to ask for field use" pamphlet? or some other literature prospective club members can use / show land owners to get fields? (or to at least start the conversion, and not come across as a few "hooligans who want to blow stuff up"?!)

I can see this as a great idea. I am experienced as asking for access to metal detect. A pamphlet for leadership to hand out to land owners would be a great addition to our toolbox.

 

[mikec]

Do NAR and/or TRA have a "How to ask for field use" pamphlet?

https://www.nar.org/find-a-local-club/section-guidebook/launch-sites/ but don't expect the national organizations to be much help for local and state matters, in my experience.

 

[dr wogz]

Chuck, Mike, exactly what I'm after! And yes, a pamphlet to hand out would be icing on the cake!

CAR is currently going thru a bit of a "how can we grow" too phase, and I popped this idea into their heads..

it's one this to fly Estes kits at the local baseball or soccer field, that is until someone comes around and starts questioning your activity.. What do you do to 1) start a club? 2) find a suitable field 3) find a club?

 

[mikec]

Chuck, Mike, exactly what I'm after! And yes, a pamphlet to hand out would be icing on the cake!

There's a document at the bottom of the page I linked called "Launch Site Land Owners Packet"

 

[BA_Incognito]

There was one episode of the The Rocketry Show podcast where they discussed some of the challenges about obtaining a launch field.

I want to say it was this episode where they were talking about the Bama Blast-off (https://www.therocketryshow.com/the...d-power-fiberglass-rockets-and-bama-blastoff/) but haven't listened to it in a while.