Feb. 19, 2019 - First day of the Paintball Extravaganza (PBX) in Washington Dc started with a Field Owners Forum, before anything else.  They started these forums last year, and they are fantastic.  The topics for discussion were Drinking & Drugs (cannabis and good signage), Airsoft is still growing (lots of buyers never play), Employee Compensation and Training (S.O.P. Manual and dealing with tips), Paintball quality (better paintballs are more fragile and hurt less, cheap paintballs hurt more, most field switch years ago to better paintballs).
While to number of vendors and attendees were down at the PBX, there was a very optimistic vibe from those here.  Maybe all the whiners didn't show up.  Most field and store owners were here to make paintball better.
Next up was SEO Optimization with Harry Brooks, which mostly helped with what potential customers were looking for on your website, because if they don't find it, google ranks that too and knocks you down in SEO.
A very good class was "Turning website visitors into paying customers from Rusty Glaze.  Rusty has a bunch of tips to keep visitors longer on your page, by making a better website, and his company can help constantpursuit.com
Next up was our old friend Greg Hastings and marketing.  Greg is an excitable guy and gets everyone around him up too.  Greg loves critical partners and Social Media Influencers.  If you don't know who Greg is, he used to own Redz and runs Greg Hastings Paintball video games.  Of course, Greg is leading the charge of the Paintball Time Trials across the globe too.
There was a Paintball Field Owners group meeting and there seems to be a good start for a Industry Group, but it will take time.
Of course, it wouldn't be the PBX without a few drinks afterwards with fields, stores, friends and manufactures afterwards.

Feb. 18, 2019 - No sleep before the flights to Washington DC, as I usually come down the night before our 6 am flights to Saskatoon.  I arrived in Saskatoon, sat for an hour and realized I forgot my passport back in Prince Albert.  So late night drive back home, get passport and drive back just in time to get up and go to the airport 2 hours early, like they ask.  I'll sleep on the plane, for a few hours on the way to Toronto.  Clear customs in Toronto, and grab the flight to Washington DC Dulles International.  I get a "good" picture of Washington DC (usually we arrive at night, so day time is cool), easy to see the Washington Monument.  Get to the hotel, lots of friends around the lounge so I drop of the bags and return for some networking.  Run into the usual organizers Rick Chard and Thomas Ghee, and met in person Bea Paxson.  Bea has been a huge influence in paintball for years, playing on the all girl team, and having many magazine cover shots.  She is getting back in a huge way into paintball, with Team FB Destiny Paintball. and Instragram.  Cool video on Youtube about 2018 and Destiny.  Back helping with the Paintball Extravaganza too.  Plus she lives in Montana.  Hopefully, she will come for a visit and we can stop by her place sometime too.  Awesome ambassador of Paintball, Bea is!
  To be continued...

 I love being a member of the Optimist Club of Prince Albert, for the last 30+ years.  Optimist International Clubs are service clubs which focus on helping the youth of the community, which in turns helps the community as a whole, for the last 100 years.
My Dad had been a active member until he passed away in 1982, and us kids always helped at Optimist projects the the P.A. Exhibition Food Booth (serving customers and collecting money) and the the P.A. Winter Festival Country North Show Canteen (selling potato chips, popcorn and such on the floor). So I already knew many members, there are always those number of members that Optimistism was a way of life.  Great friends and mentors, many passed away now, like Stan Danbrook, Ralph Smith, Phil Samson, Del Anderson, Clem Kent and Arleigh Rogers, but many still around like Henry Hanson, Vince Parker, Roger Williams and Kris Eggum (an International Vice President) and quite a few that have moved away.  Many strong friends still in the club.  Our club is spoiled with having an amazing Bagpiper and retired School Band teacher in our club Dave Monette, and we have a bagpiper for all occasions and an excellent Burns Supper in Jan. every year.
I joined in 1986, just after I came back from my first year at University of Saskatchewan, College of Agriculture.  During this University time, I was only home on the weekends and during the summer, but once I finished University, I got very involved with the club, being President in 1994-95, chairing the Bingo Committee, Finance, Bylaws, OptiMart, Website, Communications and many other projects.  I was the Lt. Governor for Zone 7 (Prince Albert, Saskatoon and Lloydminster) 1996-97.  As our club is part of a larger International District of Albert, Saskatchewan, Montana and Northern Wyoming (AMS&NW), on the few International Districts that cross borders, and now I have friends "across the line".  Clubs travel to convention held around the District every quarter.  Our club hosts conventions for the District from time to time, this last one was in Aug. 2018, which was a lot of fun, as the Governor Stuart Matice was game and we raised a few hundred dollars for the Optimist International Foundation (Canadian Childrens Optimist Foundation (CCOF) (Optimist Vince Parker from our club is the current President of the CCOF) by shooting the Governor with glow paintballs at the reception at Paintball Paradise Prince Albert, which includes a BBQ supper, bag pipers and drums, corn maze and tractor rides, besides the paintball shoot.  Optimists are still scared of Red Deer Alberta for the infamous chainsaw the door down of the Governors hotel room to wake him up for the Saturday Morning Wakey Shakey Breakfast, which was videoed.  LOL
Volunteering has many benefits, like networking, leadership training, guidance from experienced Optimists and leadership positions up through the Optimist organization.  Plus it's just fun to met new and interesting people, that all want to help children and our community.  It's been huge rewarding being part of a very successful Optimist Club, that really makes a huge impact on the local community, we do raise and give away $100,000 each year.  We help so many wonderful organizations, schools, youth groups and the community.

Community Sponsored Youth Activities, Projects & Awards

• Queen Mary Community School - Playground Improvements and a Walking Track
• Vincent Massey Community School - Playground Improvements
• St. Francis Community School - Playground Improvements
• John Diefenbaker School - Playground Improvements
• Santa Anonymous
• Discoveries Children's Festival
• School Bands
• Big Brothers / Big Sisters
• Optimist Toppers Volleyball Teams
• Irish Dancers
• Minor Sports
• Boxed Lacrosse
• Minto (boys) and Bear (girls) AAA Hockey
• Faron Chevon Memorial Children's Golf Tournament for Northern kids. Proceeds to Children's Wish Foundation
• 4-H Clubs
• 4-H Finished Beef Show
• School Safety Patrollers
• Youth Talent Search at the PA EX
• Team Uniforms
  Graduation Awards & Recognition
• Children's Haven
• Student Travel Programs: Encounters with Canada and Forum for Young Canadians
• P.A. Exhibition - Youth Sponsorship: Photography, Horticulture, Arts & Handicrafts, 4-H Record Books
• Local Charities
• Crime Stoppers
• Children's Wish Foundation

Civic & Community Enhancement

• Optimist Field Diamond #1 at Max Power Ball Parks at Prime Ministers Park $67,500

• Optimist Tourist Park $50,000
• Optimist Tourist Park Improvements $25,000
• Mair Park improvements
• Snoezelen Room (Vickers School)
• The Optimist Centre (Under the Grandstand on the PA Exhibition Grounds) $100,000
• Prince Albert Optimist Soccer Field $30,000

Join an Optimist Club or any worthy service club, become a member of the local Chamber of Commerce, volunteer and the rewards are great.

I attended a "Green Trades Conference", which is for the Saskatchewan Greenhouse Growers Association, in November of 2018.  One of the speakers had an interesting slide, about how much time we spend indoors now.  I guess I'm not the average, as most of my career has been spent outside (at least in the summer in Canada).  Days scouting fields, looking at agricultural issues and at the paintball field all weekend.  The slide is summarized below:

• 90% of people spend 22 hours per day indoors.
• Children spend less than 1 hour per day outside.
• Humans have migrated indoors and in front of screens.
• Problems from being indoors: Obesity, cholesterol, depression, anxiety and insomnia.

I just read great Facebook post from a fellow Paintball Field owner, Reiner Schafer (TNT Paintball near Victoria, British Columbia), I've never met Reiner in person but chat online once in a while.  He is a little older than myself, but he grew up in the 60's and 70's.  He had lots of freedom and played outdoors while he grew up, sometimes miles from home with his friends at every chance he got, might have missed a few meals even.  Mom and Dad didn't know where they were, but to be home by supper.  Reiner's children of the 80's and 90's, were watched by Mom (with Dad's consent) and didn't venture far, like he used to growing up.  Today's children are never bored, as they always have a handheld device to play with.  These children don't play with each other at the playground, but they play online with their friends.  The playgrounds are empty  No new forts are build in the woods.  We as paintball field operators are seeing less regular players, like the 80's and 90's every week, the old guys are quitting due to age, and there is no new young generation to fill in.  The paintball fields do okay with a fun and safe Birthday Parties for kids and 20 year olds, and bachelor parties (that the brides know their grooms can't get into too much trouble), but these are almost bucket list events, to do once in a life time, rather than every weekend.

The Hunting industry has the R3 Program.  "RECRUITMENT, RETENTION AND REACTIVATION, “R3” is an important issue for anyone concerned about wildlife management, conservation and the future of our hunting traditions."  They have noticed the same thing as the Reiner.

If you do want to get outdoors more often, the following list might help.

Here are some great reasons to spend more time outdoors.

• Generally, the outside air is cleaner inside (maybe a problem outside air issue in Los Angeles and China), but here on the prairies (unless there is a forest fire) the air is great.
  
• It's better for your eyes - Computer screens are hard on your eyes.
• Outside will reduce stress levels - relax around the fire pit and enjoy the day and evening.
• You absorb Vitamin D from the sun (15 minutes of direct sun does wonders).
  
• Being outside, gets you moving - exercise.
  
• More energy after a walk?  You bet.
  
• Helps you sleep.
• If you feel better, you'll be happier too.

Remember, outdoor Paintball, Laser Tag, Haunted Corn Maze, Haunted House, Pumpkin Music Festival, Fairy Tale Trail are all available during the summer (April - October) at Paintball Paradise Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada.

 I like our FEC Music service, which provides great music, and playlists.  These playlists can be "Mom" friendly or "Mom Approved".
http://www.fecmusic.com/mom-approved From our FEC Music website
"How Mom Approved Works. Our team of playlist specialists analyzes every second of every piece of content in our system, then assigns it a rating. If it's tagged "Mom Approved," you can be sure that it doesn't contain alcohol, smoking, drug use, profanity, coarse language, or sexual or violent themes.
Better yet: When you're playing a Mom Approved program, our system makes it impossible to play PG or Adult content. With FEC Music, you can't go wrong!"

Teenagers and young adults playing their loud music in their vehicles, with quite inappropriate lyrics, for a young crowd, and they don't realize what they are listening too, might offend anyone, so our Music Service avoids this.

We like to follow the rules and the law.  Personal Use vs. Commercial Use is important to us. Personal music at home or in your car is for personal use only, this is where Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube service is used. But when you stream music publicly (Commercial at Paintball Paradise Prince Albert over the P.A. system), it isn’t legal to stream from those Personal Use services, because these services don't , 1. Allow Commercial Use 2.Recognize or accurately compensate artists, songwriters or other rights holders when their music is being played in a business setting.  It does cost more, but it's all legal.  We like artists to be fairly compensated for their work.

Plus if you download the FEC Music App, you can request or bump songs to the top of the play list.  The Playlist is picked every day, and it is randomly created each day.  The playlist can be top hits, 80's rock, alternative, 70's, 60's, country, oldies, and many times a play list for current events like Canada Day, Halloween or in memory of an artist who just passed away, like Prince or Michael Jackson.
FEC Music is from Canada in Ontario, so we get great Canadian content too.

Advertising
We also can advertise our up coming events.  We generally have 5,000 players or customers come through every year, plus parents and rides.  If you would like more information on advertising on our video and sound system, give us a call 306-764-9444 or email george@paintballpa.com .

I've been helping a number of local and rural businesses improve their online and social media presence, over the last few years.  We now are doing consulting, to help improve your online and social media presence. Just understanding how some things work or don't, have helped these clients.  Usually the first thing, is to create a Google Business Listing or claiming an existing one.  Do some improvements there, as 64% of all searches are from Google, with Bing having 21%.  We also grab the Bing Places listing too.  With rural businesses, the map pin is difficult to get in the right spot, so we help with that too.
Metatags, within your webpage coding, are still important in delivering your message in searches.  Sitemaps are great to get your business trusted and displaying correctly too.
I could do a whole class on Facebook, but it's a super Return on Investment (ROI).  And make sure your site is mobile friendly, as 60-70% of searches are from a mobile device.  When was the last time you used a phone book?  Do you have a "Call me" button on your website?  Social media is great for developing close bonds with your customers.
My personal pet peeves? Put your phone number at the top of your page, and put your location at the top of your page.
So if you need some advice, help, give us a call 306-764-9444 or email george@paintballpa.com

We have just posted our 2019 Calendar of events on our Events page, check it out.  Below is a summary.
Events (Field Paintballs Only)

• Mar. 31 (Sun) 1 pm - 5 pm - Spring Open Day
• May 20 (Mon) 1 pm - 5 pm - Victoria Day Open Day
• June 16 (Sun) 1 pm - 5 pm - Father's Day Open Day.
  
• July 1 (Mon) 1 pm - 5 pm - Canada Day Open Day
• Aug. 17-18 (Sat. - Sun.) - 25th Anniversary Weekend of Paintball Paradise Prince Albert
  
• Sept. 2 (Mon) 1 pm - 5 pm - Labour Day Open Day
• Oct. 14 (Mon) 1 pm - 5 pm - Thanksgiving Open Day
• Pump, Pistol or Magfed evenings will continue (usually near Open Days)
  

We have a few other events beside paintball at our field.

• July 30-Aug. 3 (Tues-Sat) - Laser Tag at the PA EX in the Armouries (OptiMart) Daily from 2-10 pm
  
• Aug. 25 (Sun) - Big Game at Paintball Action Games Asquith.  We are on General George Lewko's Team from Prince Albert vs. Chris's Team from Saskatoon.  Just let me know, and I can get you on our team.
• (Sept). - TBA Zombie Hunt  Come for a ride on a wagon and blast the Zombies with glow paintballs
• Sept. 28-29 (Sat-Sun) 1-7 pm - Family Fall Pumpkin Music Festival
• Oct. 11-12 (Fri-Sat), Oct. 18-19 (Fri-Sat), Oct. 25-26 (Fri-Sat) -Haunted Corn Maze and Haunted House Event
  

Sept. 30, 2018 - There was so much to do at our 1st Annual Pumpkin Music Festival.  Friends/Friends with Bridges and The Wolfe played some awesome music with 2 sets each.  Off the Cuff Improv did such a fantastic job performing 4 times daily our "Jack and the Cornstalk" play.  We had Fleury's Frontier Adventures out with a team of horses and wagon rides around the outside of the Corn Maze, and pony rides, and a small petting zoo.  Our canteen had some amazing Carmel Pumpkin Macaccino and hot chocolate.  The outdoor kitchen was serving up burgers, fries, poutine and such.  We had Bazooka ball target shooting for the kids.  And out pumpkin display looked fantastic for some great pictures.  Plus tractor rides to and from the Corn Maze, and the Corn Maze and the Fairy Tale Trail.

Thanks to Ruby Busse for all te amazing pictures.  Thank-you to everyone who came out and had a great day of outdoor fun.

Sept. 29, 2018 - There was so much to do at our 1st Annual Pumpkin Music Festival.  Between Bridges and The Wolfe played some awesome music with 2 sets each.  Off the Cuff Improv did such a fantastic job performing 4 times daily our "Jack and the Cornstalk" play.  We had Fleury's Frontier Adventures out with a team of horses and wagon rides around the outside of the Corn Maze, and pony rides, and a small petting zoo.  Our canteen had some amazing Carmel Pumpkin Macaccino and hot chocolate.  The outdoor kitchen was serving up burgers, fries, poutine and such.  We had Bazooka ball target shooting for the kids.  And out pumpkin display looked fantastic for some great pictures.  Plus tractor rides to and from the Corn Maze, and the Corn Maze and the Fairy Tale Trail.

Thanks to Ruby Busse for the excellent pictures, and to everyone for coming out and enjoying a fun outdoor time.