Dave - I think it's difficult to get people to do anything anymore. People are so absorbed in a million different things and their free time is taken up by smart phones and netflix. I help small businesses find customers and put on classes and workshops and it is definitely a challenge to get people to participate in anything that requires an ounce of work. In general, people will pay money to forego inconvenience but very few will suffer an inconvenience to save or make some money. Apart from their regular job.
I saw your thread about the contest and I hoped it would draw a good number of people, but I also knew that I wouldn't be one of them. Because of all the reasons you stated (except #5, I can walk and talk just fine thank you
)
If you want my advice - which I'm pretty sure you don't
- here it is just in case there is something useful in it for you:
1) Organize some real life events where people can pay an entry fee and the best scores of the day split the pot. Also, every attempt gets entered into the online contest where the best scores in each category get cash prizes. So maybe the best in each handicap level overall + the best score for each part of the drill. I definitely do not mean showing up at a tournament and getting people to try it. This is helpful but I think an event dedicated the BU drills would be much more beneficial.
You could even organize events that are part online and part in person. So you do it at a pool hall with 10-12 competitors in person, meanwhile you could have people at home streaming in and streaming their attempts as well as watching the people in person. We do this with training seminars, we might have 6 people live in the classroom and then 25 people from around the world live online and it's just like they are there. They can ask questions, the instructors and other students can see them. It's great.
2) Instead of just having the big cash prize, you should offer a participation prize as well. Anyone who submits a video that qualifies gets a _______. Maybe a "Dr. Dave is Cool!" T-Shirt or something. You could partner with a sponsor and everyone who submits gets a cube of chalk or something. If I was on the fence and knew I had little chance of getting the prize I might be pushed over the line by an offer of a cube of chalk that I wanted to try but was a little expensive.
3) Ask for help. Be a little more forthright in why you are putting your money up for this. I'm not saying you are being dishonest at all, but everything I read about the contest was focused on what the player would benefit from doing it. No mention of how it would help you if they did. People today are motivated more by how they are helping other people or being a part of something than they used to be. It's all about the connection.
Instead of saying "Hey, you could win this prize" maybe try something along the lines of :
"I'm doing research on how well pool players do certain things and how this correlates to how well they can compete at every level. I've already learned some very exciting things which I can't wait to share with you!"
"What I really need right now though, is more people to add to my dataset. I need as many people as possible, from ALL skill levels, to do this playing test and share the results with me. This will be a tremendous benefit to all pool players because together we can learn what skills we should focus on the most during our practice sessions. What skills we can improve the fastest and which skills will help us win the most matches with the least amount of practice. So we can really focus in on building the tools we need to play our best pool."
"Oh, yeah, just to sweeten the pot we are also offering cash prizes for the best scores in each portion of the drill for each handicap level of player and the best scores overall. And everyone who submits a qualifying video will get a free piece of chalk from our sponsor, who has been really supportive of our research!"
Obviously in your own words. I'm just taking a stab at it and don't know why you want people to take the BU exams.
If you can win us over to your mission and make us a part of it, we will have a much better connection with you and your work and we will be much more willing to put in time and effort to help you.
