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Topic:  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?

Topic:  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
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OU_Country
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/23/2017 4:54:56 PM 
David E Brightbill wrote:
giacomo wrote:
The Convo is too big. If we lopped off half of the top bowl and got to 8-9K, that would be good.


I have to ask good for what. The several thousand parents and friends that couldn't get in for graduation. This is an academic institution that has a couple of basketball teams and other sports that use the convo. It's not a basketball program that just happens to offer a few classes.



giacomo, you obviously pushed a button here! :)


In reality, I agree, though not in a literal sense. I know it costs money that doesn't exist right now, and I know it's merely a pipe dream, but tarping the top ten rows or so wouldn't be a bad thing.
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cbus cat fan
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/23/2017 5:53:52 PM 
The Convo has many purposes, not the least of which are the perfect aesthetics for students, family and friends on Graduation Day. For visitors, there is no doubt that we are a world class university. Tarping the Convo would give the appearance of decline. It would seem like something that might occur at Eastern Michigan or Akron. Yes, I know they have small arenas, but the optics of a tarped Convo would be terrible on so many different fronts!

Last Edited: 2/23/2017 5:54:22 PM by cbus cat fan
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CA Bobcat
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/23/2017 6:13:36 PM 
cbus cat fan wrote:
The Convo has many purposes, not the least of which are the perfect aesthetics for students, family and friends on Graduation Day. For visitors, there is no doubt that we are a world class university. Tarping the Convo would give the appearance of decline. It would seem like something that might occur at Eastern Michigan or Akron. Yes, I know they have small arenas, but the optics of a tarped Convo would be terrible on so many different fronts!


+1

Tarps and curtains are for losers.
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Recovering Journalist
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/23/2017 6:16:55 PM 
cbus cat fan wrote:
The Convo has many purposes, not the least of which are the perfect aesthetics for students, family and friends on Graduation Day. For visitors, there is no doubt that we are a world class university. Tarping the Convo would give the appearance of decline. It would seem like something that might occur at Eastern Michigan or Akron. Yes, I know they have small arenas, but the optics of a tarped Convo would be terrible on so many different fronts!


Agreed, not least because tarps and curtains don't fool anyone.
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OhioCatFan
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/23/2017 9:08:39 PM 
Recovering Journalist wrote:
cbus cat fan wrote:
The Convo has many purposes, not the least of which are the perfect aesthetics for students, family and friends on Graduation Day. For visitors, there is no doubt that we are a world class university. Tarping the Convo would give the appearance of decline. It would seem like something that might occur at Eastern Michigan or Akron. Yes, I know they have small arenas, but the optics of a tarped Convo would be terrible on so many different fronts!


Agreed, not least because tarps and curtains don't fool anyone.


+1

The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

"It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right."

Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org

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BillyTheCat
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/23/2017 9:13:04 PM 
On the football board people want to expand Peden and on the basketball board people want a smaller gym....SMDH!!!
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OhioCatFan
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/23/2017 9:31:28 PM 
BillyTheCat wrote:
On the football board people want to expand Peden and on the basketball board people want a smaller gym....SMDH!!!


+1

Some people are *never* happy.

The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

"It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right."

Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org

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giacomo
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/23/2017 9:40:57 PM 
Of course we wouldn't tarp off the top of the Convo. Graduation exercises are important. But having a 13k seat arena when you average 6k or less is not good either. It's like Costco having a 100k sq ft store and only using half. I think the building is paid for by now, but I'm not sure about that. If we ever did a major renovation I would consider reducing seating capacity.
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OhioCatFan
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/23/2017 9:46:20 PM 
giacomo wrote:
Of course we wouldn't tarp off the top of the Convo. Graduation exercises are important. But having a 13k seat arena when you average 6k or less is not good either. It's like Costco having a 100k sq ft store and only using half. I think the building is paid for by now, but I'm not sure about that. If we ever did a major renovation I would consider reducing seating capacity.


The Convo has been paid off for at least a decade. There are no plans to reduce the capacity. As others have pointed out, it's not exclusively a college basketball facility. And, when Saul gets us into the top 25, we'll have 'em swinging off the rafters! ;-)

Last Edited: 2/23/2017 9:46:33 PM by OhioCatFan

The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

"It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right."

Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org

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Jeff McKinney
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/23/2017 10:40:54 PM 
OhioCatFan wrote:
giacomo wrote:
Of course we wouldn't tarp off the top of the Convo. Graduation exercises are important. But having a 13k seat arena when you average 6k or less is not good either. It's like Costco having a 100k sq ft store and only using half. I think the building is paid for by now, but I'm not sure about that. If we ever did a major renovation I would consider reducing seating capacity.


The Convo has been paid off for at least a decade. There are no plans to reduce the capacity. As others have pointed out, it's not exclusively a college basketball facility. And, when Saul gets us into the top 25, we'll have 'em swinging off the rafters! ;-)



No we wouldnt, OCF. That's the new reality of college basketball.

There's got to be a way to reduce Convo capacity to 10000 while still accomodating graduation crowds.

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Recovering Journalist
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/23/2017 11:00:43 PM 
Jeff McKinney wrote:
OhioCatFan wrote:
giacomo wrote:
Of course we wouldn't tarp off the top of the Convo. Graduation exercises are important. But having a 13k seat arena when you average 6k or less is not good either. It's like Costco having a 100k sq ft store and only using half. I think the building is paid for by now, but I'm not sure about that. If we ever did a major renovation I would consider reducing seating capacity.


The Convo has been paid off for at least a decade. There are no plans to reduce the capacity. As others have pointed out, it's not exclusively a college basketball facility. And, when Saul gets us into the top 25, we'll have 'em swinging off the rafters! ;-)



No we wouldnt, OCF. That's the new reality of college basketball.

There's got to be a way to reduce Convo capacity to 10000 while still accomodating graduation crowds.



What is the possible benefit of spending money to make the Convocation Center less effective for... convocations? This talk is insane, because it really boils down to a handful of super-passionate hoops fans wanting to increase aesthetic appeal. You can claim it's about "atmosphere," but it's really about wanting to look snazzy. It all goes back to the unhealthy obsession on this board with crowds. If it's not how they look, it's how they act or what their actual numbers are. The Convo is a great building. Sure, it was made in a different era and would never be made today, but we should embrace that and accept that it actually does fill a handful of times a year. Hell, even on off years, it comes close for certain basketball games. This is much ado about nothing that will ever happen - and that's a good thing.
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OU_Country
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/23/2017 11:53:50 PM 
BillyTheCat wrote:
On the football board people want to expand Peden and on the basketball board people want a smaller gym....SMDH!!!


The football board is a different place...lets leave it at that.
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OU_Country
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/23/2017 11:55:16 PM 
Jeff McKinney wrote:
OhioCatFan wrote:
giacomo wrote:
Of course we wouldn't tarp off the top of the Convo. Graduation exercises are important. But having a 13k seat arena when you average 6k or less is not good either. It's like Costco having a 100k sq ft store and only using half. I think the building is paid for by now, but I'm not sure about that. If we ever did a major renovation I would consider reducing seating capacity.


The Convo has been paid off for at least a decade. There are no plans to reduce the capacity. As others have pointed out, it's not exclusively a college basketball facility. And, when Saul gets us into the top 25, we'll have 'em swinging off the rafters! ;-)



No we wouldnt, OCF. That's the new reality of college basketball.

There's got to be a way to reduce Convo capacity to 10000 while still accomodating graduation crowds.



That would be my feeling as well. When they replaced seats, I felt like they could have knocked out 2,000 seats up higher somehow. If nothing else, remove the top row maybe.
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OhioCatFan
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/24/2017 12:19:10 AM 
Recovering Journalist wrote:
What is the possible benefit of spending money to make the Convocation Center less effective for... convocations? This talk is insane, because it really boils down to a handful of super-passionate hoops fans wanting to increase aesthetic appeal. You can claim it's about "atmosphere," but it's really about wanting to look snazzy. It all goes back to the unhealthy obsession on this board with crowds. If it's not how they look, it's how they act or what their actual numbers are. The Convo is a great building. Sure, it was made in a different era and would never be made today, but we should embrace that and accept that it actually does fill a handful of times a year. Hell, even on off years, it comes close for certain basketball games. This is much ado about nothing that will ever happen - and that's a good thing.


+100%

RJ and I have often disagreed, but this statement just hits the proverbial nail right square on the head. Could not agree more!

Jeff, did you note my little winking smiley face emoticon? I was speaking with a bit of hyperbole with the "hanging off the rafters" comment. For those with long memories, who are also long in the tooth, it will be recalled that this was the expression Walter Luckett with great modesty used to describe the effect his recruitment to OHIO would have on attendance. However, I will say that when Saul gets us into the top 25 that will see a significant boost in attendance and full houses on some occasions.

The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

"It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right."

Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org

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ShoreCat
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/24/2017 7:41:40 AM 
I know we've previously discussed the issue Cleveland State is having with their convocation center. Looking at their problems with basketball attendance and using their facility for other events makes the problems with OU's Convocation Center seem minor.

I agree with many of the reasons stated here for lack of student involvement. One other thing I would mention is that I attended OU during the Gary Trent years. To say he "transcended" the sport is probably over-stating it, but you got the feeling you had to go to games to see one of the greatest athletes that would ever be in Athens. I had friends who weren't huge basketball fans but went to games just to see Mr. Trent.

This is a really nice team we have this year but it doesn't have that type of player.
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GoCats105
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/24/2017 7:44:55 AM 
Recovering Journalist wrote:
Jeff McKinney wrote:
OhioCatFan wrote:
giacomo wrote:
Of course we wouldn't tarp off the top of the Convo. Graduation exercises are important. But having a 13k seat arena when you average 6k or less is not good either. It's like Costco having a 100k sq ft store and only using half. I think the building is paid for by now, but I'm not sure about that. If we ever did a major renovation I would consider reducing seating capacity.


The Convo has been paid off for at least a decade. There are no plans to reduce the capacity. As others have pointed out, it's not exclusively a college basketball facility. And, when Saul gets us into the top 25, we'll have 'em swinging off the rafters! ;-)



No we wouldnt, OCF. That's the new reality of college basketball.

There's got to be a way to reduce Convo capacity to 10000 while still accomodating graduation crowds.



What is the possible benefit of spending money to make the Convocation Center less effective for... convocations? This talk is insane, because it really boils down to a handful of super-passionate hoops fans wanting to increase aesthetic appeal. You can claim it's about "atmosphere," but it's really about wanting to look snazzy. It all goes back to the unhealthy obsession on this board with crowds. If it's not how they look, it's how they act or what their actual numbers are. The Convo is a great building. Sure, it was made in a different era and would never be made today, but we should embrace that and accept that it actually does fill a handful of times a year. Hell, even on off years, it comes close for certain basketball games. This is much ado about nothing that will ever happen - and that's a good thing.


I agree with you that the Convo should stay the capacity it is and structurally they shouldn't make any changes to make the Convo any less than what it already is. I've never bought the idea that the Convo is too big. It's fine the way it is.

However, sprucing it up a bit would make it even better than it already is in my mind, and I think it's still one of the best basketball facilities around. Scoreboards, LED ribbons, spotlights...hell, even some paint or some marketing banners in the concourse would do wonders.

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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/24/2017 8:48:50 AM 
BayCat wrote:
I know we've previously discussed the issue Cleveland State is having with their convocation center. Looking at their problems with basketball attendance and using their facility for other events makes the problems with OU's Convocation Center seem minor.



Heck, even within the MAC, of the places named "Convocation Center" (throw in Worthen as the only other big arena) ours is the one in the best shape in terms of actually drawing crowds.

CSU's problems are legion, but they boil down to the building costing much more to maintain annually than it makes in revenue. This is not an issue for our Convo. As far as improving aesthetics, CSU has taken radical steps to hide how overbuilt the Wolstein Center is, and they don't work. The arena has a full-length curtain in the middle and the court is pushed to one end, effectively making it a horseshoe. I guess it has the effect of "concentrating" the 1k-2k fans who generally show up, but it is a painfully obvious optical trick.

The Convo was designed and built for its capacity. Rip out seats and you're left with barren concrete steps and fewer tickets for parents, friends and families to watch graduations. That's pretty ironic since those graduates and their families have been paying for years to keep Ohio athletics afloat whether that's their first time in the Convo or not.

Last Edited: 2/24/2017 8:50:38 AM by Recovering Journalist
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Jeff McKinney
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/24/2017 9:06:19 AM 
Recovering...you make good points. But other similar schools have downsized facilities...Toledo and Western Kentucky come to mind. Even Marshall. I wonder how they dealt with the issue of non athletic convocations like graduations?
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GoCats105
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/24/2017 9:19:37 AM 
Jeff McKinney wrote:
Recovering...you make good points. But other similar schools have downsized facilities...Toledo and Western Kentucky come to mind. Even Marshall. I wonder how they dealt with the issue of non athletic convocations like graduations?


Really the only way to get around it would be having more sparsed out ceremonies over the course of graduation weekend. Then you're probably getting into even ceremonies or even Sundays.

https://www.ohio.edu/commencement /
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giacomo
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/24/2017 9:31:40 AM 
Recovering, I agree with you and I wouldn't change a thing either. My point was that at some point in the future we will need to do a major renovation. The building is going on 50 years. We should consider doing something with the top rung of seats. Maybe we will fill it up soon, but the trend seems to be going the other way. What other events besides graduation do we need that much capacity?
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Recovering Journalist
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/24/2017 9:58:07 AM 
Jeff McKinney wrote:
Recovering...you make good points. But other similar schools have downsized facilities...Toledo and Western Kentucky come to mind. Even Marshall. I wonder how they dealt with the issue of non athletic convocations like graduations?


Savage Arena's renovation is a poor comparison because the community is very different than Athens. They reduced capacity but they added revenue streams in the form of 12 suites, 17 loges and a large premium hosting area. I think we all know that Athens does not have the corporate support for almost 30 premium seating areas. If Ohio could sell even 10 or so loges for a large amount of money, I'd be all for putting them in and losing some capacity, but that's a total pipe dream.
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/24/2017 10:04:38 AM 
giacomo wrote:
We should consider doing something with the top rung of seats.


Like what? Do you think barren concrete steps look better? I'm not arguing that we're in dire need of those seats for basketball games. I'm saying that they're there, they get used a few times a year, and there's no good reason to do anything with them.
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OU_Country
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/24/2017 11:21:57 AM 
GoCats105 wrote:
Jeff McKinney wrote:
Recovering...you make good points. But other similar schools have downsized facilities...Toledo and Western Kentucky come to mind. Even Marshall. I wonder how they dealt with the issue of non athletic convocations like graduations?


Really the only way to get around it would be having more sparsed out ceremonies over the course of graduation weekend. Then you're probably getting into even ceremonies or even Sundays.

https://www.ohio.edu/commencement /



By no means am I the expert on how many seats are used for commencement in recent years, and the capacity that's truly needed. However, these images show a fair number of empty seats up high. The images are from 2014, 2015.


https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.ohi/1473_4517b79e3c9b89c57...

http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000Tr4Qvp4XFtA/s/...

http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000IEkIr_Fuw1w/s/...

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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/24/2017 11:40:47 AM 
OU_Country wrote:


By no means am I the expert on how many seats are used for commencement in recent years, and the capacity that's truly needed. However, these images show a fair number of empty seats up high. The images are from 2014, 2015.


https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.ohi/1473_4517b79e3c9b89c57...

http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000Tr4Qvp4XFtA/s/...

http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000IEkIr_Fuw1w/s/...



I graduated in 1996, and they limited tickets back then with a much lower enrollment. I know people tend to leave after their grad walks to stage too.

I just don't know why this is even an argument. Even if it never, ever fills up (which I don't concede), there's no cost-effective and aesthetically pleasing way to reduce seating and there's no money to do it anyway. It's at worst a very minor problem and at best there's absolutely no viable solution.
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Alan Swank
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  Message Not Read  RE: IDEAS to ENTICE more STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ?
   Posted: 2/24/2017 1:04:32 PM 
What's worse - empty seats near the top of the Convo or scores of empty seats on TV in the platinum, gold and silver sections which we have now?
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