Practice Times and Location Evaluation.

[Cib]

Well, a lot has changed since we started Airdrie Belegarth. So I think that a review is in order to see if there might be a better way to do things (I expect we wont change anything in the near future).

Do the times still work best for you? Is there another time that would work better?

I have also wondered if there might not not a better location to hold practices. Particularly somewhere with better exposure, ether more foot traffic or better viewable to drive by traffic. Or both.

A very detailed map of the parks in Airdrie:
www.airdrie.ca/gis/recreation_map/index.cfm

And a less detailed Google Map:
maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&rls=en&q=Airdrie%20map&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl

[Cib]

If we could find a way to practice down town that would be the best I think. There is a lot of traffic both foot and car and it would be grate for exposure. Problem being that there is no official parks downtown, the only green space I can think of is in front of city hall, which would be a fine space, but I am not sure they would appreciate that.
maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Airdrie+AB&sll=55.8665,-3.973686&sspn=0.041997,0.121536&g=Airdrie&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Airdrie,+Division+No.+6,+Alberta,+Canada&ll=51.288372,-114.012794&spn=0.000366,0.00146&t=h&z=20

Another option is behind The reck-center and Bert Church. Problem with that is that the foot traffic may not be that great as everyone exits on the south sides of the building as there is only industrial on the north side of the park.
maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Airdrie+AB&sll=55.8665,-3.973686&sspn=0.041997,0.121536&g=Airdrie&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Airdrie,+Division+No.+6,+Alberta,+Canada&ll=51.284363,-113.991995&spn=0.000731,0.002921&t=h&z=19

For car traffic, the corner of Main and Veterans Boulevard would have lot of exposure, not sure about how much walking trafic we would get though.
maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Airdrie+AB&sll=55.8665,-3.973686&sspn=0.041997,0.121536&g=Airdrie&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Airdrie,+Division+No.+6,+Alberta,+Canada&ll=51.299637,-114.012779&spn=0.000731,0.002921&t=h&z=19

[Cib]

Also, does anyone know how much foot traffic Fletcher Park gets? A big problem is that it is invisible from the road, and if you don't know where it is, you might not find it...
maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Airdrie+AB&sll=55.8665,-3.973686&sspn=0.041997,0.121536&g=Airdrie&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Airdrie,+Division+No.+6,+Alberta,+Canada&ll=51.295458,-114.016349&spn=0.00585,0.023367&t=h&z=16

[Cib]

Here might be better than behind the reck center. I am pretty sure it is a park, the thin building is a fire station.
maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Airdrie+AB&sll=55.8665,-3.973686&sspn=0.041997,0.121536&g=Airdrie&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Airdrie,+Division+No.+6,+Alberta,+Canada&ll=51.284249,-113.996415&spn=0.000731,0.002921&t=h&z=19

[David of Doell]

A review is a good idea. The practice time works okay for me but not for most of my friends. Most people I know are working or in school since it's a weekday and it's in the afternoon. Saturday would probably be better. Have you thought about more than one practice?

Maybe you should try the park tour and do each desirable location for two weeks then move. So that you can get exposure in different neighbourhoods.

[Cib]

I keep thinking Saturday to, but then I remember why I didn't chose Saturday to start with was that I always have at least one thing happen on at least one Saturday of the month... It is kind of a flex day for me, catching activities and get togethers the don't fit anywhere else. Mind you, most week nights don't work to good for me ether, so maybe Saturday is not a bad option...

[Natalie]

I bowl on saturdays untill summer but the time im bowling is from 12-3ish. Umm I know that fletcher park is still kinda out of the ways, not many people walk down there unless they are residents of the area I think. As for the open field by the bowling alley/across from the rec centre, gets its fair share of walkers (coming from the rec or just walking around) and quite a few vehicles drive by as well.

[David of Doell]

It would be useful to gather some data from people about preferred practice days and times. The forum might not be a fair representation so talking to people and writing things down would be better. It could be worth having a Saturday practice if more people would come out.

[Cib]

I will asks at practice, but for the most part, the main people who show up at practices are on this forum.

[Moginheden]

I work 9-5 Monday - Friday. Every 2nd week I get a "flex day" I currently take on Fridays. I could move them to Mondays if we wanted to practice then, but I don't think that would help matters.

The current time/location works pretty well for me, (especially if I can ever get a Calgary group going on the weekend) but a move to Saturday/Sunday would work too.

As for location, I don't know enough about Airdrie, but we go get a fair amount of foot traffic in Nose Creek Park. If we were in the same place as we held the winter event, I don't think we'd get as much.