First Pitch Forum

[nomar]

Ron, I read an article a while back about you being on the fence about attending next years First Pitch series that you offer in selected cities...any update on your decision on whether you will be attending any of the meetings..I know what a hassle the travel part has become..I attended Cleveland last year and thought is was great..worth the drive from Rochester....Nomar

[RAY@HQ]

I don't remember reading this from Ron, nor have I heard anything internally about the First Pitch program changing for 2010. Attendance in several cities hit all-time highs in 2009. We don't actually kick off the planning for these events until the fall, but at this point I have every reason to think they're going on as usual.

Ron's on the road, but I'll check with him about this when he gets back.

[Sleehrat]

(first, I searched for a thread on the 2010 First Pitch Forums and this is the closest I could come up with).

I know Ron has to select cities where he knows there will be good attendance, but I think it's a shame that there are no stops in any southern cities. I'm sure there's a lot of HQ subscribers living anywhere from Virginia to Texas who are out of luck attending a forum. I know Ron had a forum in FLA a few years back and it failed miserably. Would love to see one in Atlanta some year (I live in NC, so the closest would be DC - no thanks).

[RON@HQ]

Our selection of cities is based entirely on market and travel. Atlanta is a city I would probably try if there was another stop within driving distance that we could do the same weekend. We can't justify the cost to fly to one city for a 3-hour forum.

You'll note that this year we've strung together 8 of our 10 stops in one week, avoiding more than one airfare and making the whole trip drivable. Other than doubling the cost of the forums, there is really no way around it.

[Sleehrat]

I totally understand the cost effective angle of scheduling these forums. While I'm thrilled to see more forum stops, I just wish there was one closer to NC. I'd be curious to see the demographics of HQ subscribers. Probably aligns to cities with teams. Too bad for us non-MLB markets.

[PD@HQ]

Maybe start a thread to drum up some attendees in the southeast. I don't know how many commitments Ron needs to make it worth his while time/hassle/moneywise, but maybe there are enough.

[Kiwijohn]

I would certainly attend a forum in Atlanta.

[PD@HQ]

That makes two.

[Astros34]

If I'm still in SC I'll go to Atlanta.