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EOT Surveys are in... Awards update


Rattlesnake Slim

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The Arizona Territorial Company of Rough Riders would like to say a big THANK YOU to each and every shooter who completed the 2022 End of Trail survey series. We tailor each survey to the individual shooter’s level of participation with everybody receiving surveys on the Cowboy Match, Costume Contest, Sponsors/Vendors/Entertainment, Handbook/Communication, Swap Meet, and Awards. Other surveys on Long Range, Shotgun, Speed Events, Plainsman, Warmups, and Wild Bunch are sent only to individuals who participated in those events.


Out of 4864 individual surveys sent, 2338 were returned for an impressive 48%. While we wish all of our shooters would respond, we are confident that this percentage of return gives us some very useful direction for the future. And as promised, that begins with every Rough Rider reading every survey, followed by a spectacularly long meeting. 


The surveys on the awards, for the most part, reflected the sentiments expressed in the recent SASS Wire topics. Because these survey questions were written before the Wire posts brought specific questions to light, we will be sending all registered shooters an additional follow-up survey dealing with awards quality and category numbers. Please use this opportunity to give us your honest feedback on the additional topics. Again, you the EOT participant, are our most important source of feedback and ideas for improvement.


I would also like to give some background and clear up some misconceptions on category numbers and awards.  When the Rough Riders produced “Winter Range” we typically awarded 34-36 categories.  When SASS asked us to host “End of Trail”, the new contract required us to offer all possible category/age combinations. With the exceptions of Buckaroo/Buckarette, Junior, Elder Statesman/Grand Dame, Cattle Baron/Cattle Baroness, El Patron/La Patrona, and El Rey/La Reina (categories that must be honored regardless of how few enter), the remaining categories were collapsed or combined so that no open category has less than seven entrants and no ladies category has less than three.  This resulted in 55 categories for EOT 2022. This was mandated by SASS and the Arizona Territorial Company of Rough Riders must comply with the terms of the contract. Some categories actually ended up with less than the minimums, due to last minute cancellations.


The 34-36 categories awarded at Winter Range level cost close to $1000 each.  Therefore adding 20 categories with NO additional source of income had a significant impact on the awards budget.  In essence, you are cutting the same pie more ways, and therefore the amount we can spend on each category’s awards must be reduced.


We realize the need to make changes, and that brings me back to the original topic. Please, please fill out this additional survey and help us shape the future of this World Championship match. 


Thank You
 

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If awards are costing you $1,000 per category, respectfully, you may want to re-examine what you’re doing there. Having been involved in running annual and championship level matches many times awarding all categories 10 deep and giving silver buckles to the winners/champions, I’ve never seen a number anywhere near that high. 

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1 minute ago, Smokestack SASS#87384 said:

If awards are costing you $1,000 per category, respectfully, you may want to re-examine what you’re doing there. Having been involved in running annual and championship level matches many times awarding all categories 10 deep and giving silver buckles to the winners/champions, I’ve never seen a number anywhere near that high. 

 

The 1st place Remingtons that everybody was so disappointed to see go were $300-$400 each, plus second place, third place... buckles, walnut bases, engraved plaques.... 

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TW, I'd rather not fan those flames (we really do hear you, and my butt is smoking enough already). I will say that 2022 EOT's awards budget was the same as 2020 Winter Range, obviously with less spent per category. There are numerous alternatives to consider, and we will look at all of them.

 

As a World Champion award winner, we greatly value your input via the survey. Those who actually shot the match and respond to the surveys have a voice in our future decisions, rather than just an opinion on a wire topic. Looking forward to the results. Thanks in advance

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These surveys went out to everyone who shot EOT 2022, whether you returned the original survey or not. A reminder should follow today, and the survey will probably be closed by the end of this week. Thank you to all who have responded, and a reminder if you've been putting it off.

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We have now officially received more supplemental surveys than the original awards survey. Thank you all for your insight and inspiration to make EOT 2023 the best match possible. The survey closes Saturday at 6:00pm AZ time.

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