Help improve the club

[Kildonan]

Tell us about your direct experiences with the club.
How have they responded to you?
What have they done poorly? What have they done well?

What are your concerns and how can we address them?

Is the club internet presence up to par? What do they need to do in order to improve that?

Is the club producing enough positive media to keep us relevant and bring in new supporters?

What do other clubs do well that we do not?

 

[Nutsngum]

Win premierships.

 

[Nutsngum]

Seriously though folks, youve been great.

This year has been a remarkable improvement on the last. I have very little to complain about in regards to media these days. Selection insider, coaches message etc.. are all fantastic.

As far as getting members goes, I think taking the idea from other clubs who sell a 3 game membership for next year along with the remaining home games come round 18ish would really help get people on board. I'm planning on buying my best mate a membership for xmas/bday next year but being able to do it this year and get her to the last home games would have been great.

Also, bring back the saints march before every game*. That was fantastic.


*only sort of kidding

 

[CALL ME SNAKE]

Id like to tip my hat to the club on behalf of my Dear Old Mum
She's getting a bit long in the tooth nowdays & shes got a dodgy hip. Shes one of those eccentric old Ducks, you know the type. Drinks 175 cups of tea a day. Always from a tea pot as she thinks these new tea bag thingys wont last.
Thinks all teenagers are on drugs and if youve got long hair or piercings "your a bit of a weirdy".
Always peeping out the front window curtains saying things like " why is that man still standing there?" "maybe hes up to no good , i might ring the police". Usually its just some poor bugger waiting for the bus.
But she's also a mad Saints Supporter & Member. Went for yrs without missing a game. But nowdays she just goes to the Saints home games as she says "theres too much walking to be done at the MCG" and doesnt like the Etihad away games because " theres too many stupid opposition fans".
The problem is she constantly rings the football club. About everything and anything. Stuff like.....

"I rang up to order my membership the other day. The girl said it would arrive in 2 weeks. Well its been 15 days and its not here. Have you lost it?"

"The Scarf that came in the membership pack this yr wasnt as nice as last yrs scarf."

"I sit in a StKilda members reserved seat. Why was there a Richmond supporter sitting behind me."

"Jimmy hurt his knee yesterday. Is he OK."

"Can you please try and win this year cos i dont know if i'll be around next season."

And i could easily roll off another 100 reasons she has rung up the Club. The girls manning the phones know her by name and recognise her voice now.
Im pretty sure there would be a hand over the mouth piece and somebody saying "oh no, its her again" everytime they realise its her ringing.
Anyway my point is. The Club has always treated her with respect. They always let her waffle on for 20minutes. They always assure her that the membership will be there soon. The scarf next yr will be nicer and that Jimmy is ok.
And if they cant answer her nagging ( ooops i mean question) on the spot they always ring her back when they can.
I know our club doesnt do everything right. But i thank them for showing some respect to a crazy old lady

 

[Sir Skid]

IMO the media side has been great since we burst the bubble.

If I could change anything about the Saints it would be that people inside the club stop putting the club in the media for the WRONG reasons.
Has improved since the dwarf lighting incident but we have a trail of carnage that other clubs laugh at.

Recruit good quality people and get the culture right is key IMO.
GT had the right philosophy in recruiting this way.

 

[joop]

Win premierships.

Yep, it's that simple. Win 1 or a few and I'm a very happy camper.

 

[Sunshine Saint]

Id like to tip my hat to the club on behalf of my Dear Old Mum
She's getting a bit long in the tooth nowdays & shes got a dodgy hip. Shes one of those eccentric old Ducks, you know the type. Drinks 175 cups of tea a day. Always from a tea pot as she thinks these new tea bag thingys wont last.
Thinks all teenagers are on drugs and if youve got long hair or piercings "your a bit of a weirdy".
Always peeping out the front window curtains saying things like " why is that man still standing there?" "maybe hes up to no good , i might ring the police". Usually its just some poor bugger waiting for the bus.
But she's also a mad Saints Supporter & Member. Went for yrs without missing a game. But nowdays she just goes to the Saints home games as she says "theres too much walking to be done at the MCG" and doesnt like the Etihad away games because " theres too many stupid opposition fans".
The problem is she constantly rings the football club. About everything and anything. Stuff like.....

"I rang up to order my membership the other day. The girl said it would arrive in 2 weeks. Well its been 15 days and its not here. Have you lost it?"

"The Scarf that came in the membership pack this yr wasnt as nice as last yrs scarf."

"I sit in a StKilda members reserved seat. Why was there a Richmond supporter sitting behind me."

"Jimmy hurt his knee yesterday. Is he OK."

"Can you please try and win this year cos i dont know if i'll be around next season."

And i could easily roll off another 100 reasons she has rung up the Club. The girls manning the phones know her by name and recognise her voice now.
Im pretty sure there would be a hand over the mouth piece and somebody saying "oh no, its her again" everytime they realise its her ringing.
Anyway my point is. The Club has always treated her with respect. They always let her waffle on for 20minutes. They always assure her that the membership will be there soon. The scarf next yr will be nicer and that Jimmy is ok.
And if they cant answer her nagging ( ooops i mean question) on the spot they always ring her back when they can.
I know our club doesnt do everything right. But i thank them for showing some respect to a crazy old lady

Great story. Thanks for sharing.

 

[SaintLex]

I was initially a bit frustrated at having to hear of our re-signings from the media and not from the club itself, but now I can see we want to announce a new signing every day so fair enough. Very good initiative from the club. Good to get a bit of positive news every day.

Overall, the media side of things has improved out of sight since last year. Can't just rest on our laurels though - we can make this better again, next year.

 

[maanco]

Get us some saints Billboards!

 

[CALL ME SNAKE]

24 likes for a post about my mum thats kinda funny
And i cant even show her co's she would slap me on the back of the head for calling her a Crazy old Lady

 

[sammm]

this is not an improvement, but it is a cudo the club in improving their media.

One improvement I would make is to look at how Port introduces some pprepares pre-game.

24 likes for a post about my mum thats kinda funny
And i cant even show her co's she would slap me on the back of the head for calling her a Crazy old Lady

sounds like my mum

 

[FlyingSledghamer]

More tare tare sauce?

 

[bangerharvey]

The Paul Hudson player breakdown is fantastic.
Richo's post game member video is a nice touch but detail about specific moves, match ups etc would be more interesting than general comments about effort and attitude.
I'd like to see to a member's forum similar to the Collingwood one where you could put any question to the club that you liked.

 

[Sunshine Saint]

St Kilda are the only club without BF representation. Other clubs have a BF member principally for membership, ticketing, seating, travel, merchandise questions. Some have more than 1 (Carlton has 2 or 3 and a great system of engagement and interaction).

Its not for them to answer player, match day etc questions, but rather administrative and organisational ones. This was rejected out of hand in previous years due to our phobia with the "bubble", "inner sanctum secrecy" and the general "secret squirrel" approach. Thankfully this has gone and its surely now time for the club to better engage on this too.

 

[sammm]

The Paul Hudson player breakdown is fantastic.
Richo's post game member video is a nice touch but detail about specific moves, match ups etc would be more interesting than general comments about effort and attitude.
I'd like to see to a member's forum similar to the Collingwood one where you could put any question to the club that you liked.

didn't we do that a few years ago? I am sure I went to one at Moorabbin town hall once.

 

[sammm]

St Kilda are the only club without BF representation. Other clubs have a BF member principally for membership, ticketing, seating, travel, merchandise questions. Some have more than 1 (Carlton has 2 or 3 and a great system of engagement and interaction).

Its not for them to answer player, match day etc questions, but rather administrative and organisational ones. This was rejected out of hand in previous years due to our phobia with the "bubble", "inner sanctum secrecy" and the general "secret squirrel" approach. Thankfully this has gone and its surely now time for the club to better engage on this too.

that's a good idea. I forgot about that.

 

[Highlander35]

I thought the club said nope because they'd feel obligated to do it on SS and TS as well, and they wouldn't have the resources? Or am I pulling this out of my ass?

 

[Kildonan]

St Kilda are the only club without BF representation. Other clubs have a BF member principally for membership, ticketing, seating, travel, merchandise questions. Some have more than 1 (Carlton has 2 or 3 and a great system of engagement and interaction).

Its not for them to answer player, match day etc questions, but rather administrative and organisational ones. This was rejected out of hand in previous years due to our phobia with the "bubble", "inner sanctum secrecy" and the general "secret squirrel" approach. Thankfully this has gone and its surely now time for the club to better engage on this too.

I believe when we approached the club about this (and we have done so more than once) the reasoning was that they couldn't show favouritism to us - so that meant they would have to commit to a Saintsational presence as well.

We think this is a weak excuse. Someone from the club could spend thirty seconds on each forum just checking what the issues are and in the rare case that something is pertinent then they could get a quick confirmation of the reply and copy and paste an answer to both fora - the commitment would be a few hours a year.

 

[Sunshine Saint]

I believe when we approached the club about this (and we have done so more than once) the reasoning was that they couldn't show favouritism to us - so that meant they would have to commit to a Saintsational presence as well.

We think this is a weak excuse. Someone from the club could spend thirty seconds on each forum just checking what the issues are and in the rare case that something is pertinent then they could get a quick confirmation of the reply and copy and paste an answer to both fora - the commitment would be a few hours a year.

To busy to interact with their members and supporters? Irrespective whether there is one or ten fan sites, they should have a presence in all, thus allowing them to cater for and engage with, current and potential members and supporters.

Past Saints Administrative regime approach reeked of laziness, arrogance and taking die hard supporters for granted. A more enlightened approach would be to engage with these same people, as they are the ones who will push your brand, trumpet your achievements and assist to bring others into the club.

As you rightly say Kildonan this is a minimal amount of effort for a disproportionally large pay back.

 

[Persevering Saint]

I emailed the club yesterday about interstate memberships:

This year, I chose to sponsor a player instead of get a membership, but next year I'd really like to get back on board. One suggestion I had was, is there a way you could make an interstate membership that has an AFL media pass, plus tickets to games in that member's home state? So for me, I get to watch every Saints game live, plus go to games at the Adelaide Oval? Realistically, it's unlikely I'll get back to Melbourne very much, and so a 5 game interstate membership isn't worth much to me. I suspect the same is even more true for supporters from states even further away, such as Perth, Darwin or Brisbane.

Just a suggestion.

LOVING all the great stuff coming out at the moment online! The future fest is a fantastic idea, and really helps fans believe there's a great future for the club, despite getting the spoon this year. Congrats.

Now here's the response, less than 24 hours later.

It is great to hear that you are wanting to get back on board as a member for the 2015 season. I think your best option would still be to Join as an Interstate member.

Membership packages are yet to be finalized and released however they are likely to be similar to this year’s. As an interstate member you will receive a complimentary reserve seat to a game in your state and receive priority to purchase tickets if there is a second game S.A as there was this season. Rounds 12 & 23.

There is the option to purchase a digital membership add on which allows you to live stream all AFL games at a cost of $60. At this stage the two are not incorporated together which I agree seems like a very good suggestion and is something I will pass on for you.


Thankyou for your feedback regarding the future fest, it is a very exciting time for not only the club but all of our supporters as well. We feel that the re-signing of a lot of young talent is some great news to share with our supporters.

If you have any further enquiries please do not hesitate to contact me further.

Pretty happy with that. Obviously would like them to say "Yay! We'll do what you say immediately!" But that's pretty unrealistic. This takes seriously the feedback, and shows it will be discussed.

 

[sammm]

I believe when we approached the club about this (and we have done so more than once) the reasoning was that they couldn't show favouritism to us - so that meant they would have to commit to a Saintsational presence as well.

We think this is a weak excuse. Someone from the club could spend thirty seconds on each forum just checking what the issues are and in the rare case that something is pertinent then they could get a quick confirmation of the reply and copy and paste an answer to both fora - the commitment would be a few hours a year.

Well I think we should ask them again and explain what we want, not a lot of committment, but somewhere where the members or supporters can out in their comments and suggestions and the staff member check say once a day to answer on both sites.

 

[gringo2011]

They lost my record of membership when I signed the rest of the family up and now send me the apartheid like bronze member stickers for my car. I rang them and they said I have to get all my old cards together and sign a stat dec. I have several in a box in the roof from the old days but it involves searching. I'm not that worried about it but don't make bronze members just silver and gold. I would rather not be patronised with bronze.

 

[By a Point]

I believe when we approached the club about this (and we have done so more than once) the reasoning was that they couldn't show favouritism to us - so that meant they would have to commit to a Saintsational presence as well.

We think this is a weak excuse. Someone from the club could spend thirty seconds on each forum just checking what the issues are and in the rare case that something is pertinent then they could get a quick confirmation of the reply and copy and paste an answer to both fora - the commitment would be a few hours a year.

I agree this could be done quickly and well from within the club eg " I asked Richo and he said..." or" I asked The Pelican and he said..."

 

[lethalsaints]

My only problem over the years is occasionally they send me merchandise with "INTERNATIONAL MEMBER" instead of "INTERSTATE MEMBER". Thats really all I've got so really can't complain

 

[Sunshine Saint]

My only problem over the years is occasionally they send me merchandise with "INTERNATIONAL MEMBER" instead of "INTERSTATE MEMBER". Thats really all I've got so really can't complain

Gladstone's in Australia???