USPSA Rate increase pushed back

[BritinUSA]

7 minutes ago, motosapiens said:

chasing TV dollars completely ruined mountain bike racing, and probably many other sports as well

Chasing TV dollars is like a Coyote chasing a Roadrunner, it's never going to end well.

 

High speed internet is killing TV, independent content creation has never been more achievable than it is now.

[whan]

11 minutes ago, BritinUSA said:

I don't think a running total of the hits is necessary, as long as the final score is available at the end of the video. And that's already feasible.
 

If you want all the editing between different cameras and as-you-go scoring then it's going to require a lot of work in post. The coverage would take days/weeks to hit the air. 
 

Camera resolution is dependent on whether you want live coverage or not though I think 1080 is the minimum.

 

As to viewing numbers, I hit over 30,000 unique IP addresses during the 2014 World Shoot. With access to better cameras and higher bandwidth a much higher quality product could dwarf those numbers.

 

I do agree with you, that the more features added, the less feasible to do live / needing more time in post. That being said, what I’m actually envisioning for the as-you-go is using software to do hit detection real-time via the cameras, and instead of showing the actual footage of the target, instead show the software’s approximation of the hit on just an image of a generic target. I recall seeing someone on instagram who has already developed software to do it that appears to have very good accuracy. For purposes of the broadcast, it would be ok if there would be a correction every once and a while for borderline shots after the scoring is complete. If you can get a reliable automated system in place, I think it could add a lot to the footage showing the hits real-time.

[BritinUSA]

It's important to start off with a simpler process and then add more functionality as technology improves. The cost could increase considerably as new functions are added.

 

The more complex it becomes the greater the chance of failure. 
 

Tracking a golf-ball is easy, there's only one ball. Keeping track of hits on multiple targets that could be facing different directions would significantly increase the number of cameras, cost and reliability.

 

Honestly, I don't see the benefit of as-you-go scoring.
 

In golf, once the player hits the ball they don't do much, unless it ends up in the hole or a hazard. But with shooting the competitor is constantly moving so the attention is going to be on the competitor, not a running count of their score at the bottom of the screen.

[Fishbreath]

There's value in a live timer, and maybe in live split comparisons—"oh boy, he's ahead of the pace after that array!"—and that's totally doable live. Time is a large part of performance, after all.

 

Leaving the hit factor/percent score until after scoring is complete is a suspense enhancer, even. "That looked quick. The timer says that was quick. Will the hits be there?"

[RJH]

6 hours ago, Fishbreath said:

There's value in a live timer, and maybe in live split comparisons—"oh boy, he's ahead of the pace after that array!"—and that's totally doable live. Time is a large part of performance, after all.

 

Leaving the hit factor/percent score until after scoring is complete is a suspense enhancer, even. "That looked quick. The timer says that was quick. Will the hits be there?"

 

That's basically how three gun Nation played out. There was some guy and Pat Kelly that did the call. It was not live though but, that didn't ruin it I didn't think.

 

Another thing that was interesting on three gun Nation was before the competitors shot the stage Pat Kelly would shoot it and they would discuss how and why he did what he did. Then the competitors would shoot and you could see how people did things different depending on their strengths and weaknesses

[Darqusoull13]

4 hours ago, RJH said:

 

That's basically how three gun Nation played out. There was some guy and Pat Kelly that did the call. It was not live though but, that didn't ruin it I didn't think.

 

Another thing that was interesting on three gun Nation was before the competitors shot the stage Pat Kelly would shoot it and they would discuss how and why he did what he did. Then the competitors would shoot and you could see how people did things different depending on their strengths and weaknesses

The discussions on how Pro's broke down then shot stages were awesome. The reason it was exciting to watch was because the average dude could follow along once stuff was broken down. 

3GN died because the leadership was...oof, there were some real pieces of work there. 

Back on track to the rate increases. USPSA has done an awful job of communicating and they've had to do damage control instead. Hopefully with new leadership coming in with this most recent election we can start at least getting more information on decisions being made. 

[Racinready300ex]

13 minutes ago, Darqusoull13 said:

3GN died because the leadership was...oof, there were some real pieces of work there. 

Back on track to the rate increases. USPSA has done an awful job of communicating and they've had to do damage control instead. Hopefully with new leadership coming in with this most recent election we can start at least getting more information on decisions being made. 

 

I don't know much about 3GN, but reading it died to to leadership in a thread about uspsa's leadership is concerning. 

[motosapiens]

1 hour ago, Racinready300ex said:

 

I don't know much about 3GN, but reading it died to to leadership in a thread about uspsa's leadership is concerning. 

uspsa membership is increasing, despite a few disgruntled podcasters. As far as I can tell at local and major matches, the majority of people aren't that interested in mud-slinging and complaining, and just want to shoot consistent quality matches.

[Racinready300ex]

38 minutes ago, motosapiens said:

uspsa membership is increasing, despite a few disgruntled podcasters. As far as I can tell at local and major matches, the majority of people aren't that interested in mud-slinging and complaining, and just want to shoot consistent quality matches.

 

Again I don't really follow 3GN, were people no longer interested in shooting that? 

[Boomstick303]

I can promise you it is not only disgruntled Podcasters that are taking issue with the way the organization is handling its business.  It does not take a club flying the USPSA banner to put on "consistent quality matches."  Many of them in our section already do and would continue to see shooters even if the USPSA component was removed.  In fact there are current discussions to do just that.  

[RJH]

20 minutes ago, Racinready300ex said:

 

Again I don't really follow 3GN, were people no longer interested in shooting that? 

 

So, I'm not sure with the leadership stuff on three gun nation. But after talking about it earlier I think in this thread, I remember that after Newtown the three gun Nation TV show got bumped off the air. And there was a huge ammo dry up, not as bad as now but pretty bad. I think both of those things hurt three gun Nation and three gun  in general. If it was run badly that might have been enough to put it out, but like I say I don't know on that part

[BMSMB]

On 8/17/2023 at 9:20 AM, motosapiens said:

uspsa membership is increasing, despite a few disgruntled podcasters. As far as I can tell at local and major matches, the majority of people aren't that interested in mud-slinging and complaining, and just want to shoot consistent quality matches.

Didn't one of your local clubs just stop hosting USPSA matches?

[JM_]

PSA: USPSA is doing prorated refunds for any unused membership if you upgrade to lifetime. They decided at the recent BOD minutes that they’ll do refunds. 

[Drell]

On 9/6/2023 at 7:33 AM, JM_ said:

PSA: USPSA is doing prorated refunds for any unused membership if you upgrade to lifetime. They decided at the recent BOD minutes that they’ll do refunds. 

I can confirm this, I just upgraded mine yesterday, they prorated 2 years of my 3 year membership I had left. They also gave me the senior discount for the life membership if you ask for it.

Edited September 26, 2023 by Drell
Forgot to add something

[outerlimits]

called uspsa today to inquire about life membership for super seniors.  they told me to pound sand.  only deal on the table, until Sunday, is $350 life for 55 or older.  super seniors or distinguished, tough sh$t.  we die a lot sooner, but they apparently need the money.

[RJH]

1 hour ago, outerlimits said:

called uspsa today to inquire about life membership for super seniors.  they told me to pound sand.  only deal on the table, until Sunday, is $350 life for 55 or older.  super seniors or distinguished, tough sh$t.  we die a lot sooner, but they apparently need the money.

 

I mean that's still $150 discount off of the normal persons life membership. And you can win a super senior trophy 

[ddc]

2 hours ago, outerlimits said:

called uspsa today to inquire about life membership for super seniors.  they told me to pound sand.  only deal on the table, until Sunday, is $350 life for 55 or older.  super seniors or distinguished, tough sh$t.  we die a lot sooner, but they apparently need the money.

 

Never occurred to me to ask for or care about a discount above and beyond the basic Senior and when I talked with Heather she was more than pleasant.

[IL-SIG]

23 hours ago, outerlimits said:

called uspsa today to inquire about life membership for super seniors.  they told me to pound sand.  only deal on the table, until Sunday, is $350 life for 55 or older.  super seniors or distinguished, tough sh$t.  we die a lot sooner, but they apparently need the money.

I strongly doubt that anyone you spoke with at USPSA told you to pound sand or tough sh$t. If you don’t like what they are offering your free not to purchase a lifetime membership and keep paying as you are. 

 

Your commentary does nothing to help and only escalates what was most likely a pleasant and professional discussion. 

[admcd]

On 9/26/2023 at 10:09 AM, Drell said:

I can confirm this, I just upgraded mine yesterday, they prorated 2 years of my 3 year membership I had left. They also gave me the senior discount for the life membership if you ask for it.

Did you have to call to get the refund? I had 3 years left on my 3 year membership and upgraded.  Paid full freight.

[truespode]

8 minutes ago, admcd said:

Did you have to call to get the refund? I had 3 years left on my 3 year membership and upgraded.  Paid full freight.

 

I emailed Heather at USPSA and she took care of it pretty quickly. 

[Drell]

41 minutes ago, admcd said:

Did you have to call to get the refund? I had 3 years left on my 3 year membership and upgraded.  Paid full freight.

Yes, I called and spoke to Heather.