State Of The Residency 2012

[sledge4]

Ok, I'm a little early, but I had the time to do it now. Just wanted to update everyone on where things stand with the residency.

First off, just wanted to update everyone on the "financials" of our residency. This is not an exact science and only revolves around the major financials +/-.

Year: 2010
Credits Received (via Sim) = 33475
Donations Received = 2325
Credits Given (prizes) = 7625
Cavalcade Cup = 7000
Prize Horses 27 (x 350 credits est.) = 9450

Year: 2011
Credits Received (via Sim) = 31398 (includes estimate for last week of 2011)
Donations Received = 3000
Credits Given (prizes) = 13875 (includes Q4 Div Chall)
Cavalcade Cup = 4000 (less races in 2011)
Prize Horses 31 (x 350 credits est.) = 10850

Note: Donations do not include prizes not claimed or "gifted" back to the residency. It only includes credits transferred from a non-resident NWRC stable. Also, credits given does NOT include what Roys gives out weekly with that contest. Also, this does NOT include residency sponsored races. I don't know how to get that number.

What the numbers mean...
1) We received approx 2000 credits less in 2011 via the weekly sim stipend that all registered residencies earn.
2) We gave out approx 6000 more prize credits.
3) We received 700 more in donations. (See Note: above)
4) Spent 1400 more credits in 2011 on prize horses, which means we gave away more horses in 2011.

To give a little more explanation on #1 above, we earn credits based on what our residents earn in stables marked to "support" the NWRC. Seeing as we received less credits, that means one or more of the following: We ran less horses or horses didn't run as good or horses ran in fewer higher credit earning races (stakes, etc).

What are ways we can increase credits? Mark more stables to "support" the NWRC, run more horses, add more residents.

Ok, that's about all I have for the financial speak, your feedback is welcome as always!!

On to the fun stuff...

I'm not sure if I can rate our residency as stronger or weaker than this point last year. The our active members are stronger than ever, but the "lesser"-active residents are well...less active than in the past.

However, as you can see by the numbers, it's not because of a lack of effort. 6000 more credits is a s*** load more credits for a residency that is low in activity. That's about 115 credits per/week given out. I'm trying guys/gals!!!

But something has to give, we can't keep upping the prizes, but bring in less credits. Essentially expenses outweighed revenue in 2011.

Are we still positive in credits?...Yes! Are we starting off 2012 behind last year?...Yes!

What does less revenue mean? It means less contests and/or lesser prizes.

What does less resident activity mean?
It means we bring in less credits and need to look at alternatives to give back to the active members what they deserve and that as you say recently is potentially teaming up with another residency on some contests.

Is the NWRC dying?
Not if I can prevent it. But I need help!! To be honest, I'd love to have an "active" member step-up and help me manage the forum and keep things going. Does that mean I want to be around less...absolute not!! But sometimes I can't focus on the forum activity as much as I want to, but if someone who can check every so often can help start/maintain conversations, it would be greatly helpful.

Outlook for 2012
I'd love to give out more credits in 2012 than we did in 2011. Aside from that, I am looking to restructure the TOTM and Div Challenge contests to more benefit the active members. I can't completely cutoff the less-active residents as the horses they do run help us regardless if it's in nwrc events/tracks or not.

I have some ideas in mind for this, but I'd love more feedback. Any ideas on how to distribute prizes (credits/horses) to better benefit the active members are welcome. If the end result is more credits, so be it! If you're not comfortable discussing openly, send me a PM.

I'd love to see more "new" contests. We have our favorite such as the Tour, Cavalcade Cup, Triple Crown, but we need contests that bring residents back weekly or worst case bi-weekly. I plan on running a 2nd edition of the NWRC Hold'em contest soon, but any team contests are hard to run with few members around. Plus, we will more than likely run some contests with Minnesota.

Ok, that's all I have for now. I hope the forum saves all of this, because I'd hate to have and try to remember what I typed 10 paragraphs ago, haha!!!

Feedback welcome, wanted, needed!!

Happy New Year!!

Will