John Ferguson

Candidate for Regional Director

Southwest Region

The future of Volkssporting rests upon our ability to recruit and retain NEW members – "our customers".

The AVA and its member clubs must advertise and promote itself to new customers as does any successful business.  We should use every method at our disposal to attract these new customers. We have not fully explored the methods available.

Everything we are doing in Volkssporting, from club through the AVA, must be put on the table for evaluation, change or elimination. We need to review everything from the terms we use all the way through the forms and procedures we follow. We want to make the public aware of who we are and give them reasons to want to participate. To be successful, everything must be placed under this microscope. 

Our events should be advertised by methods that have not been used before.  Our advertising tools, especially our brochures, need updating and made more appealing. Let’s take advantage of the information era. Let’s join with like minded organizations to sponsor walking and family activities.

All our participants, either paying or free, need to be treated as customers. The AVA is in competition for the time and efforts of our customers. These customers can— and do— leave, going to other providers. Our events should first, and foremost, be promoted as interesting and fun. Consequently, our events must be interesting and fun.

These are concepts that I have learned in my seven years as an officer with the West Texas Trail Walkers and my five years as an officer with the Dallas Trekkers Walking Club.

Over my 30 years as the president of a consulting engineering business in north Texas, I have learned that either you produce a good product or the customer will leave. The same principles apply to Volkssporting. In this, Volkssporting is nothing unique, it is like any business.  Or if Volkssporting wishes to be considered unique, we all must sell this uniqueness to these new customers.

One goal for this region is to make all the actions of each club from sanctioning  an event, processing a brochure, holding an event, through finishing the AVA paperwork, as easy as possible. The AVA organization also needs to revise its actions to accomplish this goal.

We all must seek new ways to communicate with our potential customers. Every club in the southwest region is encouraged to suggest and share methods and be an active participant for achieving this goal.

Advertising for new customers is listed as a responsibility of the Regional Director. Your regional director should be the leader for this region, coordinating all clubs to accomplish our common goal—selling Volkssporting to new customers.