At first I was kinda jealous and wanted to be a ProTeam Member. But then I read about how a Pro Team Member must be polite to even the a**holes and I realized why I'm not suited for the distinction. LOL MM
--- DonO <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Del, > I get asked this question a lot, so I'll try to answer as concisely as > possible. > > The Whiting Pro Team (PT) is a two-way agreement. > > There is no pay, but PT members can get great disounts- below wholesale-on > Whiting products. There is also the status and recognition, which of course > are intangibles but still valuable when in the 'public eye'. PT members can > also order specific and specialized materials, such as cree, and receive > preferential status on orders. PT members are allowed to tie at the Whiting > booths at shows and conclaves. The Pro Team package is currently being > updated and hopefully many more benefits are in the future. There are hats > and shirts available, and I'm working on getting Tom to have some shirt > patches. PT members may buy 6 pelts a year at 25% off wholesale, with > wholesale usually being figured at half off the retail cost. So an $80 > saddle would cost $30 for a PT member. Large quantities for professional > tiers who are PT members can be purchased at wholesale. > > At present, there are a number of requirements in 'the agreement', of which > only a few need to be fulfilled. If a tier meets the below criteria, these > agreement criteria will easily be met. Promotion is a flexible approach. > I, like other PT'ers, use Whiting because I love the feathers. It's not > hard to promote something you already use and enjoy. > > What does the PT candidate need: > First of all, as you would guess, he/she would need to be a stand-out tier, > recognized and well thought of among their peers as innovative and creative. > This person needs to have an established record of being in the public eye, > whether through shows, clinics, books, mag articles, videos, etc. They > should be members of at least one fly fishing/tying organization. They > should be known as instructors and teachers, not just promoters. They need > to interface well with the public, be interesting, entertaining, and > informative. And one who deals with the public must be patient and always > polite- regardless. It reflects on the show owners, promoters and yourself > as to how well you deal with 'difficult' members of the public. > > PT members must also agree to promote Whiting feathers exclusively. They > may use other feathers, of course, but Whiting only must be promoted. A > good working knowledge of the history of Whiting and the genetic lineage is > a must, also the breeding and selection process. A good overall knowledge > of the Whiting products are also a must. Tom does allow PT'ers to make some > sales, but it must be specifically approved and not in competition of > retailers who must pay the full wholesale price. > > Tom puts great emphasis on innovation and design in flies, especially those > leading to great fishability, thus demand. He listens to the advice of the > PT'ers in many areas- feather qualities, packaging, marketing, etc. If you > are a show tier and give out samples of your flies tied with Whiting > feathers, along with sample feathers, Tom will supply these promotional > materials at no charge. Also, Pro Teamers have first access to new > products, to develop applications using that creativity and innovation they > were chosen for. > > I've had discussions with Tom about revamping the Pro Team arrangement with > more organization and benefits to both sides. Hopefully we'll get this > ironed out soon. Like the VFB Co-op Swap, I'm advising Tom to have more > promotional programs headed up by the PT'ers, ones that add up to great > deals for all involved, as were the co-op swaps. I'm trying to get him to > put up a Pro Teamer's page for the public to communicate with on technical > and tying questions. I'm also hoping to be able to expand the web site so > that all tiers can participate and receive benefits from their creativity. > I'd like him to put up different kinds of programs for trout, warmwater, > bass, and saltwater tying. This will all take time, but is also fun in the > process. > > Any other questions? > > DonO > > > > ===== "We do not see things as they are, we see things as WE are." Anais Nin __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! http://platinum.yahoo.com
