The East Gloucestershire Club has been an important arena for sport in Cheltenham, for more than a century. It has been a centre where players of all standards and ages have been able to take part in tennis, and afterwards enjoy a friendly social atmosphere.
Why did they do it?
Simon Harmer, Club Manager, organised the Open Day so that new visitors could see what is available at the club, encourage them to join as members, and ultimately grow club membership. Simon was keen to create a fun and busy occasion for the local community to showcase the venue.
How did they do it?
The event took about 2 months to plan to ensure that it ran smoothly on the day and had enough lead-up time to promote successfully. This preparation time was used to confirm details and availability with coaches and local businesses supporting the event, and to co-ordinate timings and printing of promotional materials.
Simon planned a range of tennis activities for people to get involved in on the day including:
- A variety of drop-in coaching sessions, including mini tennis, cardio tennis, adult coaching
- Fastest serve competition
- Beat the ball machine
- Racket tests, with racket manufacturers providing a variety of rackets for people to test and see what works best for them
- Mini tournaments with prizes for children
- Wii Tennis
- How many balls competition
There were also some non-tennis related activities for people to enjoy including, a local kid’s book stall, a caricaturist, and free nibbles. Some of the club remained open so that members could continue to use the facilities as normal.
Promoting the day was very important to ensure that as many people in the local community as possible were aware of the event. This included airtime on local radio for an advertisement, door drops in the week preceding the event and flyers in schools. The club's Facebook and Twitter pages were used to spread the word as well. Simon also used his members to promote the day by placing posters in their places of work, including shops, cafes etc.
Results
Simon worked closely with local businesses to keep costs as low as possible. This included support both with promoting the day (customer mailshots and display posters) and with activities and equipment on the day itself. This included the provision of goods and vouchers for inclusion in goodie bags given out to all attendees. The on site Pro Shop suppliers were also contacted for giveaways, with the FOC goods provided ranging from a racket to a selection of sweat bands and key rings.
The Open Day created a large amount of footfall in to the club, with approximately 100 new people attending the event. Of these, 34 signed up as members.
Open Days Help and Ideas
There are templates you use to promote your Open Day on our allplay Resources area