opportunity of a lifetime in storrs being missed

[Dann]

and i would be joking u every day i wake up if i didn't think about how it could be a great thing and how the were letting it slip away. the post about us redoing our logo and branding was what really made me put this all together and think how sad it is with ppl in storrs and vision.

follow me for a minute
-uconn marketing has been extremely weak.
-fball has 2 bad seasons, you fire the coaches of issue and hire a big boy like cincy/usf and everyone else
-were in the middle of trying times CR wise lets just say
-geno extension
-ko contract issues
-baseball is literally becoming/on the verge of top level programs-new stadium
-soccer is soccer
-puck upgrade
-within recent memory u have kemba-bcs-girls winning bg time for uconn
-research, adacemics rankings and aau goals

all of the above can be done this winter or are just facts/goals heading towards. this school and state the past couple years has gone thru unreal highs and lows. wer talking bcs bowl, hi5tory, ships, track, supre regionals and everything else. its also for the 1st time in a while been bad at fball with no bringht future in sight, ncss issues, cuse and pitt laving and so on. its really a wacky up couple years. the result along with leadership changes and several other aspects is just scary. if this fanbase could be described as building, i would pick one in downtown baghdad. its bombed out and barely standing but there is hope only among the locals(diehards).

this is where the vision needs to happen if u take into account all of the above.
-new football staff and bball contracts. 2 of them will be largely popular things and the 3rd is a family for life thing. then add everything else that needs to get done.
-the rebranding is simple in my mind but it scares me that we could it up. susan gives me hope based of what shes down acadmeics wise but i'm not sure if shes in cahrge of this. u HAVE to brand us the following:
1) we are "Connecticut". on uniforms, in name etc
2) "UConn" needs to be the nickname. the alternat cool jersey we do each year in sports and on bottom right of tvs for games scores type lingo.
3)logo the husky dog needs a face lift of complete change. no need to get into this.
4)all needs to eb the same down to the softball team logo/brand/color wise.
5) many smaller point of notice that are not need for this thread liek the block c outline and different shaed of blue ups...

when u get the about branding picked and set up, we have the chance to rock the east coast with it and this scares me if we dont from a vision standpoint. we need to combine this all into a new "Connecticut". not. your grandpas uconn. we need to pump a "new begining as a school". to the max degree possible. i could give you 100 different aspects of this new begining marketing wise and they all need to happen toether to basically attack the market like never before. start a buzz thats unheard of here and make the school rise like never before.

i think this type of thing is extremely valueable and possible with vision but this school lacks it. its a sad time in storrs. i have a feeling many here could be rockstorrs up there given the tools they have to suceed and just dont have the balls and vision to do so. i honeslty think that i could do a amazing job in storrs in 1 year and so could about 30 other posters here and do it for 100k compared to what warde is getting. as a diehard, it makes me feel like that i care enough to have to write things like this.

some random starter thoughts
-do the unvail on 1s day of school. get 10k kids hammered at night into gampel and media everywhere and rock the new swag
-targeted billboards
-commercials
-small vids on certain targets(kids from areas vs what uconn means)
-foorptint brag rolladex(every hs, prep and juco by program)
-several d2 and d3 seed planting(this is a idea i have had that i will expalin later)
-scheduling a difference both on the field/court and in the community
-need a catchy phrase or line or #. something that capture the whole new face of theis school. bleedblue needs to be change to something else, i have an idea we will talk about later.

the bottom line is u can do all of this at once and it will get more attnetion and signifiacance then you could ever imagine. the diehards will be all on baord and casual will come flying back to the product. you effect on the new fans and prospects of students/recruits can also be huge. this is a part of a vision i have an di think it wont happen due to stupidity.

if some one wants to spread this to uconn or a newspaper, i would be happy to go way more in deoth and write like my degrees say i should be able to type and comprehend grammer.....

edit-what im talking about is rising from the perception ashes in a way that will go down forever in this states history. coming off bad football, jc retiring, contact issues, ncaa issues, a old brand/logo and so many more things and coming out of all of it at one time so much bigger and better that mother fuckers roll in graves and the rest of the college world takes notice.

you want me to top this all off? just imagine if we get a invite into a better confrence. the possibilities with this type of abmition and vision are huge.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Dan, that's a great post. I've told friends for years UConn was missing a golden opportunity to market itself as the premier public university in the Northeast. The administration couldn't have been anymore inept in promoting UConn athletics or academics.

I have no faith in the current leadership, because they simply just don't care as much as us and realistically how could they?

Warde's been affiliated with UConn for what, all of 1 year? He's a Michigan man. You think it kills him and keeps him up at night about our conference affiliation? He's making his $450K / year and looking to make his next move any second. Warde doesn't give a duck. Simply put.

I think it's really up to the die hards to try and get our ideas out to the administration, because we're the ones that care and we're the ones that it actually means something to.

UConn absolutely blew a golden opportunity the past 20 years, but the only thing we can do is try to do our best going forward. I have no clue if fans, like us, can have any impact on what the administration chooses to do going forward, but it sure as hell can't hurt.

All aboard the USS Connecticut!

 

[Dann]

Dan, that's a great post. I've told friends for years UConn was missing a golden opportunity to market itself as the premier public university in the Northeast. The administration couldn't have been anymore inept in promoting UConn athletics or academics.

I have no faith in the current leadership, because they simply just don't care as much as us and realistically how could they?

Warde's been affiliated with UConn for what, all of 1 year? He's a Michigan man. You think it kills him and keeps him up at night about our conference affiliation? He's making his $450K / year and looking to make his next move any second. Warde doesn't give a duck. Simply put.

I think it's really up to the die hards to try and get our ideas out to the administration, because we're the ones that care and we're the ones that it actually means something to.

UConn absolutely blew a golden opportunity the past 20 years, but the only thing we can do is try to do our best going forward. I have no clue if fans, like us, can have any impact on what the administration chooses to do going forward, but it sure as hell can't hurt.

All aboard the USS Connecticut!

thanks. i truly believe that there is huge potential and its doable. am i a guy with connections and expierence that fit the job? no i'm not. but i'm a guy who sees what needs to be seen and has the drive to think and dream and act on it. i think we lack that aspect so bad that its going to kill this school in the longrun. lew perkins had this type of vision and abition. what he lacked was other things for sure and looking at him post uconn is a good example. but when u have a guy with his qualities you can fill in other ppl to make up for those lack of qualities. what u can't get is that fire that he had. yoy can find ppl to put in his cabinet that understnad finance, conf relationships and other things. you can't find home grown vision and inderstnadings.

 

[HuskyFan16]

I don't know about all the NCAA rules about when kids can take their officials and stuff, but what if....

After letter of intent day: You have all the bball kids (mens and women's) who signed during the early signing period and football kids come up to do their officials on the same weekend. Have like a First Night in Gampel, but each kid gets his name called on the loudspeaker and runs out of the tunnel, goes up to the table, does like a symbolic sign on the paper, and his/her coach say things about him. It would get everyone fired up and all the fans would get to know more about the players they come to love. Maybe it would be something players would want to sign on to to be here, knowing they all have fans before they even step on to campus. Maybe it gets more bball kids wanting to sign early, or football player to enroll for January.

Just my contribution to the USS Connecticut I suppose.

 

[Dann]

I don't know about all the NCAA rules about when kids can take their officials and stuff, but what if....

After letter of intent day: You have all the bball kids (mens and women's) who signed during the early signing period and football kids come up to do their officials on the same weekend. Have like a First Night in Gampel, but each kid gets his name called on the loudspeaker and runs out of the tunnel, goes up to the table, does like a symbolic sign on the paper, and his/her coach say things about him. It would get everyone fired up and all the fans would get to know more about the players they come to love. Maybe it would be something players would want to sign on to to be here, knowing they all have fans before they even step on to campus. Maybe it gets more bball kids wanting to sign early, or football player to enroll for January.

Just my contribution to the USS Connecticut I suppose.

i like the idea. but its a no go. the OV rules and recuit rules are what they are and this just simply isn't possible from several standpoint rules wise. good thinking tho. u could have recruits in attendance for this type of thing but not on OV's nor have them involved in any way.

 

[CTMike]

Most of this needs to be done in an official capacity, but is there anything that we (UConn fans/Boneyarders) can do as a grass-roots type of thing?

-uconn marketing has been extremely weak. -This one blows me away. So, so true. Been way to content to sit back and rest on past accomplishments and just expect people to come. Think about all the MBAs and Marketing majors that UConn has pumped out in the last 10 years. Leverage what you've got! This would be a great opportunity for group projects and what not, and it would fullfil a definite need. Nevermind all the alums that would chomp at the bit to help out. Just need a plan of action...
-fball has 2 bad seasons, you fire the coaches of issue and hire a big boy like cincy/usf and everyone else -I'm with ya, but we need to accept that he's back for year 3. Now how do we move forward given that?
-were in the middle of trying times CR wise lets just say - A freakin men, brother. That's why this is SO important. We are fighting for survival.
-geno extension -Get it done.
-ko contract issues -Get it done.
-baseball is literally becoming/on the verge of top level programs-new stadium -These are good things - things where we are striving to be the best, not sitting back on past accomplishments.
-soccer is soccer -Same
-puck upgrade -Same
-within recent memory u have kemba-bcs-girls winning bg time for uconn -Gotta leverage it better.
-research, adacemics rankings and aau goals -Critical, but it seems that Herbst is on top of this.
-do the unvail on 1s day of school. get 10k kids hammered at night into gampel and media everywhere and rock the new swag -School won't go for the hammered part but yes, it needs to be a big, pumped up unveil... kids need to have basic t's with the new logo for free to wear to the games.
-targeted billboards -I see them occasionally but not often enough. More, and in more regions.
-commercials - YES. And for the love of god, don't make it suck (I'm looking at you, "Great Pick")... we have so much positive to cover in a 30 second spot, no need to make it cheesy. This will require money, but it should be airing daily from NJ to Maine on SNY and locals. Build our brand. Stand up and own the northeast. Claim it. Don't sit back and say "welllll our ranking improved two slots from last year so people should already know how awesome we are." People don't.
-small vids on certain targets(kids from areas vs what uconn means) -This can be done high quality and low cost by students and/or alumni and distributed via YouTube.

I'm also with you on Connecticut versus UConn, but either will work if you unify it and market it right....

 

[Buffett10]

Dan you said we were already invited to the ACC twice and turned it down? Im sure we could do EVERYTHING you said, but i dont think the politicians in CT would ok all that money for us advertising. We have so many ass clowns in high power that will crap on theese ideas. I hear you on all this and like it. But like that dude who blasted Calhoun about his contract, there will be so many people saying no way "to much money cant do it" That stuff gets me SOOOO irritated. We need Uconn to be successful if not we might as well use the Rent as a commuter parking lot.

 

[gioff23]

Dan you said we were already invited to the ACC twice and turned it down? Im sure we could do EVERYTHING you said, but i dont think the politicians in CT would ok all that money for us advertising. We have so many ass clowns in high power that will crap on theese ideas. I hear you on all this and like it. But like that dude who blasted Calhoun about his contract, there will be so many people saying no way "to much money cant do it" That stuff gets me SOOOO irritated. We need Uconn to be successful if not we might as well use the Rent as a commuter parking lot.

... or a staging ground for a snowstorm.

 

[storrsbred1]

Dan, good thinking. What about going over the top of Susan and getting just one politician involved to start with? Someone who perhaps is new and wants a cause to champion. Or maybe start a PAC with the objective of helping those who help UConn. Don't know if it can happen like that but just a thought.

 

[wolfman61]

They can start at the stadium, take down the lettering that says UConn, and have it say "University of Connecticut". Get rid of the small time mindset.

 

[UC990411]

Dan, have you ever seriously tried to get face to face with Susie or the donut to talk about this stuff?

 

[Dann]

Dan, have you ever seriously tried to get face to face with Susie or the donut to talk about this stuff?

no, i figure that my poster impression here which no one has ever nailed yet has prob turned off just about everyone in storrs. i mean they had ppl talk to firends to ask me to change my avitar for god sakes so i think they would rather go down in flames then deal with me. i would be open to it, but i think if they wern't serious it would fustrate me and i think they would rather pretend i dont exist in the grand look at the fanbase lol

Dan, good thinking. What about going over the top of Susan and getting just one politician involved to start with? Someone who perhaps is new and wants a cause to champion. Or maybe start a PAC with the objective of helping those who help UConn. Don't know if it can happen like that but just a thought.

i dont think politics or media ppl will take it serious. the only way to force change at schools is for major amounts of fanbases to beg for w/e they are pumping and hurt the school $ wise. 99% here are still feeding the school $ which is not my route, i can bitch about it but in the end my undergrad degree doesn't say uconn on it so my relationship with the school is a bit different then others.

 

[UC990411]

no, i figure that my poster impression here which no one has ever nailed yet has prob turned off just about everyone in storrs. i mean they had ppl talk to firends to ask me to change my avitar for god sakes so i think they would rather go down in flames then deal with me. i would be open to it, but i think if they wern't serious it would fustrate me and i think they would rather pretend i dont exist in the grand look at the fanbase lol

I honestly have no idea what you just said, yet somehow I think I know what you mean

 

[Dann]

Dan you said we were already invited to the ACC twice and turned it down? Im sure we could do EVERYTHING you said, but i dont think the politicians in CT would ok all that money for us advertising. We have so many ass clowns in high power that will crap on theese ideas. I hear you on all this and like it. But like that dude who blasted Calhoun about his contract, there will be so many people saying no way "to much money cant do it" That stuff gets me SOOOO irritated. We need Uconn to be successful if not we might as well use the Rent as a commuter parking lot.

it wouldnt be that much money. the videos can be self made thru the school as projects and so on. but as we all know u spend to make and uconn is when it comes to it. it seems like everything come sback to not being about it spending money wise for the long term and decisions from the smallest things to the biggest in the past. if a audit was ever done i bet we would find out that the ad years ago bought #1.5 pencils instead or #2 pencils and that led difference caused dove to get a math probelm wrong which cause him to get a 69.4 instead of .5 and he failed resulting in his downfall and arp issues. fml.

 

[Jarhead_1775]

no, i figure that my poster impression here which no one has ever nailed yet has prob turned off just about everyone in storrs. i mean they had ppl talk to firends to ask me to change my avitar for god sakes so i think they would rather go down in flames then deal with me. i would be open to it, but i think if they wern't serious it would fustrate me and i think they would rather pretend i dont exist in the grand look at the fanbase lol



i dont think politics or media ppl will take it serious. the only way to force change at schools is for major amounts of fanbases to beg for w/e they are pumping and hurt the school $ wise. 99% here are still feeding the school $ which is not my route, i can bitch about it but in the end my undergrad degree doesn't say uconn on it so my relationship with the school is a bit different then others.

When she first got here, she would hold open meetings with students to listen to about whatever. I don't know if she still does it but I'd kill to be a fly on the wall if you went to one of those.

 

[Dann]

When she first got here, she would hold open meetings with students to listen to about whatever. I don't know if she still does it but I'd kill to be a fly on the wall if you went to one of those.

i would be 100% down to have a meeting of the minds. maybe a susan or even warde meet somewhere and host a select group of yarders for a dinner and drink. discuss everything under the sun and send the uconn rep home with a ton of ideas and thoughts. hell if that ever happened i would go out of my way to help plan that.

 

[ZooCougar]

Warde should host a series of "Town Hall" Style events with fans around the state. I guarantee you that a good portion of the attendees would be from here.

There are some seriously good ideas out there. There are also somethings that aren't going so well that need to be addressed.

Getting out and listening to people never hurt anything.

 

[CTMike]

Is there someone in the AD who would be more in a position to meet? Not that I wouldn't want to meet SH and WM, but I'm just trying to keep it real here. Do a pilot, test the waters a bit, and if an AD rep can go back to them with good feedback, they may be open to meeting with us down the road.

I think there is at least some realization that The Boneyard has some clout with the university's fans (see Calhoun donation)...

 

[ZooCougar]

Is there someone in the AD who would be more in a position to meet? Not that I wouldn't want to meet SH and WM, but I'm just trying to keep it real here. Do a pilot, test the waters a bit, and if an AD rep can go back to them with good feedback, they may be open to meeting with us down the road.

I think there is at least some realization that The Boneyard has some clout with the university's fans (see Calhoun donation)...

It should be the AD. Look, his time is valuable. But he should be able to get out there and make contact with people. Congressmen and Senators can find the time. So can Warde.

 

[Buffett10]

it wouldnt be that much money. the videos can be self made thru the school as projects and so on. but as we all know u spend to make and uconn is when it comes to it. it seems like everything come sback to not being about it spending money wise for the long term and ****ty decisions from the smallest things to the biggest in the past. if a audit was ever done i bet we would find out that the ad years ago bought #1.5 pencils instead or #2 pencils and that led difference caused dove to get a math probelm wrong which cause him to get a 69.4 instead of .5 and he failed resulting in his downfall and arp issues. fml.

dude you almost made me spit my coffee out. that was funny stuff. Im on board with you now Dan. We need a change and we need it FAST. This conference is in the shitter, and they keep giving us whirlies.