Friday, January 16, 2009

TigerLadyJo Found!

It is official! Marie_Team_IWON posted today, January 16, that the November check is ours, and that IWON has contacted TigerLadyJo to dispose the check for 2nd place.

marie_team_iwon
Jan 16 09, 2:21 PM Just wanted to congratulate you on winning 2nd place in November! We were able to get in contact with tigerrladyjo recently and were finally able to make it official. Thanks for your patience through this and congrats on another big win! :)

That will help quiet the whisper campaign about the problems that Tigers has faced, for the largest problem has always been that whisper campaign from some of our competitors.
There are some who have played nice, and for one, ricaucoin comes to mind immediately. If I were not a Tiger, his team (Heavenly Angels) would appeal to me, largely because of ric.

This announcement will free the Tigers recruiting efforts by relieving them of the task of first disputing the blatant lie, that "TigerLady took off with the first check." That base & tired canard still confuses many of those we would wish to recruit, or at best, leaves them doubting, unwilling to commit to Tigers Against Diabetes. Sadly, although I possess copies of five or six different press releases supporting the delivery of that check to the ADA, in a variety of formats, there are none so far that I can post here to allow that truth to condemn the liars. That is why we need to ensure the widest possible publication of the news - and try to reach those who ignore all the IWON postings, in particular. Some IWONers keep their heads down, ignore everything - except the rumors and scandals that run in the game chats.

Further, we are relieved of the pall of uncertainty to which even our own players are prey. The need to make every move with contingencies accorded to all the possible outcomes of this hanging nuisance has been a dreadful weight, and a weight I gladly will shed. Perhaps the relief and joy will also shine in our recruiting, for this is a great relief. We are free now to move forward, with no issues pending, no hidden weight to slow us.

How do we move forward, then, and in what direction(s)?

Recruiting:

First, we need to spread the news. No Tiger should enter a game chat with "hello" as the greeting to the chat. "We found TigerLadyJo" would be a lot better. Or, credit where credit is due, "IWON found TigerLadyJo." Goodbye at departure should become "We found TigerLady, and we get the November check for the ADA!" If you like, go ahead and moon the crowd on the way out. Probably best that you refrained at entering. If asked, tell what you know: "The ADA got the first check, for September. TigerLadyJo is in contact with IWON & we understand that check has been sent to the ADA now."

Then proceed to recruit the crowd to join Tigers: we need help, and it is fair to say that, even if the crowd may include members of competitor teams. Let them know that you wish to focus on those who are not currently on charity teams - so that everyone can have a chance to let their coins support causes they believe in, causes that they would write a check to themselves when they could, but that this is their best chance to add a lot of zeros to the check, all for free. Remind them that it IS free - they still collect and spend the coins they win as they always have done, but that the team they choose to support also gets to count those coins in the competition to win one of the checks. Invite them to visit the blog - if you have the url available for copy & paste, that helps - but if not, simply have them google us. Either way - all one word, tigersagainstdiabetes, or "Tigers Against Diabetes". The blog shows up in both lists. Let them know that the first article is pointed at ALL new players, ALL new team players. No passwords, no restrictions on use of the material. [This way, you can both recruit for Tigers, and also for charity teams in general. It is important to add that note of having yourself made a reasoned choice among many worthy causes - an altruistic note, for the betterment of all, but with the head involved in deciding which team.]

If you find some good candidates among those whom you chat, it is OK to click their name in the player list, and add a note to their profile, too. Some may not yet know about the profile notes, but will eventually discover them. Others may be impressed by your follow-through, and come to the team page to check Tigers out. If not in the chat, then in any postings that follow, be sure to point the recruits to the team page as well as the blog.

Chat / Forum

No matter what we do in the January competition, this month should teach us a lesson or two.

Each month, the race gets faster.
Size is not everything.
Team unity is critical.
Size is still very important.

We cannot hope for any future wins unless we address those lessons. We have to get a lot better this month, if we are to have a shot at money this month. Then we have to get a LOT better with each passing week of the next month, to have a chance then.

We cannot rely on the same top-16 to carry us to victory, although I am sure they are trying. We cannot revive ALL the part-time or inactive players, either. So, we must - MUST - stop getting hammered by our competitors in recruiting. Some of them doubled our recruiting for this month so far. Those were the slow recruiters. Even Bell-Ringers grew as fast as we did, & they are not trying to recruit. If we are to succeed, recruiting becomes the first step. We have to hustle the game chats. We may need to spin a few on games we don't normally play, just to catch a different crowd, more players new to IWON. OK, they are not going to start as top-16 contenders, but we can manufacture top-16, with enough raw material. That is what the tips and the team-page competition accomplish for us.

More later.