HOW TO: Organize a Paintball Outing

How to Organize a Paintball Outing

by John Peters

Reservations Manager: NJ Paintball Club Inc

     A paintball outing is one of the most exciting and fun events for you and your friends, family, or co-workers to share! Paintball is great for birthday parties, bachelor parties, family reunions, corporate and church outings, and father-son days. It’s great for creating camaraderie and for team building.
     The hardest part about paintball is organizing an event!
     This article is specifically written to help you, a potential group organizer, get your event off the ground as simply and painlessly as possible.

START THE BALL ROLLING- Do you have 11 friends, co-workers, or family that want to play paintball? You need a party of 12 players to make a reservation at NJ Paintball Club, and reservations are always required. NJ Paintball Club specializes in hosting your private paintball party (you and your friends playing each other, supervised by our staff, no strangers involved).
     Usually, a group organizer will phone or email potential participants. Perhaps post a flier on the bulletin board at work, school, or church.
     Ideally, you want to invite a minimum of 24 players to your event. If you don’t know 24 people, perhaps some of your friends can invite some of their friends. Not everyone invited will be available to attend or interested in attending. That’s why you invite 24 people… to insure that you’ll meet the minimum requirement of 12 players in your party to make a reservation. If you wind up with more than 12 guests… the more the merrier.

CHOOSE A DATE FOR YOUR EVENT- The most popular time to play is on Saturdays in Spring and Autumn. If you are interested in playing during these seasons it is crucial to set up your reservation 2 or 3 weeks in advance to insure that your date won’t be booked out by other parties.
     Although occasionally a play date can be booked as little as 4 days in advance, generally the more lead time you have between when you call to make a reservation and the date you want to play, the more likely you will be in actually pulling the event off.

CHOOSE A SESSION FOR YOUR EVENT- Most players choose to play a half day session (morning or afternoon). A morning session starts at 8:00am and ends at 12:30pm. An afternoon session starts at 12:30pm and ends at 5:00.

CHOOSE THE EQUIPMENT YOU WANT TO RENT- You’ve never played before… how do you know what equipment you need? A lot depends on what you can afford. A player will spend a bare minimum of $41. for a half day (4.5 hours) session, to a maximum of $71.

QUALIFY YOUR GUESTS- Are they really interested in playing paintball, or are they just mildly interested in playing maybe one of these days? In our experience, there is only one way to make sure someone is really interested in playing. You need to collect a $20. deposit from them.
     If the people who have shown interest in participating in your event can not afford to place a $20. deposit to secure their reservation, you need to search elsewhere for people to fill out your minimum requirement of 12 players.
     50% of all people who attempt to organize a paintball outing fail to collect the required advance deposit from their guests, and their reservation gets cancelled.

MAKE YOUR RESERVATION- OK, you’ve found 12 people who are really interested in playing, can afford to play, and are willing to pay a $20. deposit. You have all agreed to a date you want to play. You know what session you want to play. You know what equipment and supplies everybody wants. Now it’s time to phone or email the NJ Paintball Club reservation office and give us the details. We’ll write all your information down, type it all up into a simple, one page agreement, and submit that to you for your approval. We’ll pencil you into the reservation book while we are waiting to receive your deposit.

SEND IN YOUR DEPOSIT or PAYMENT-
Your options?
- Credit card payment at least 4 days before your play date. Balance payable in cash the day of your event.
- Send us a check at least 14 days before your play date. Balance payable in cash the day of your event.
- Send us a Money Order at least 4 days before your play date. Balance payable in cash the day of your        event.
- Send us a Cashier’s Check at least 4 days before your play date. Balance payable in cash the day of your  event.
- Send us a Wire/Electronic Transfer  at least 4 days before your play date. Balance payable in cash the day of your event.
 - Counter Cash Deposit into our Bank Account at least 4 days before your play date. Balance payable in cash the day of your event.

CONFIRM YOUR RESERVATION- When NJ Paintball Club receives your payment, you will get inked into our reservation book. We will confirm your reservation by contacting you by phone, email, or both. You will be sent a Checklist that you should read carefully and distribute to all of your guests. If there are any questions that you have about your event, any last minute changes that need to be made, any adjustments to your plans, you need to make them now, before you arrive to play paintball at NJ Paintball Club. The staff at the playing site are not authorized to negotiate any changes or alterations of any kind to your contract.

CONGRATULATIONS! You have successfully organized a paintball outing! Now go out there and have the adventure of your life!