Member Forum: did anyone go last night?

[Kismet]

As it was the public debut of our new CEO, I'd be interested to know if any of our learned members attended last night, and was there any news/information?

And if none of us were there, did it really happen?

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

I didn't even know it was on

 

[ferrisb]

Inb4 Jabba73 says he wouldn't attend any forum that would have him as a member....

 

[Jabba73]

Can't beat the classics ...

 

[Bluella]

I went. No real surprises. Not much in the way of news other than the club announcing a profit for the year, and that the Etihad deal is supposedly going to give us an extra $1m a year. For the next few years prob shouldn't expect the balance between Etihad and MCG games to shift too much - the logic seems to be that when we start averaging big (50K+) crowds the AFL won't want us playing there much anyway. The club is not happy about going to Geelong and will be fighting to not go back there again.

From memory, Jarrod Garlett got the biggest cheer when they intro-ed the new players, closely followed by O'Shea and Kennedy. Mullett got a decent cheer too, and a special mention from one of the members. I think Garlett will quickly be a favourite if he can get a few games in. Tom De Koning basically volunteered himself to be interviewed by Murph even though he wasn't supposed to be. Of the AFLW side, Tayla Harris got the big cheers as you'd expect.

Some dickhead grandstanders tried to ruin the evening by ranting without really being interested in the response or by talking over whoever was trying to answer - from the Pres' reaction, they've done this before and they are a known quantity. One was threatened with being thrown out for being aggressive toward another member.

Cain Liddle speaks quite well, and seems to have the right intentions. Wasn't afraid to tell people when one of their ideas wasn't going to happen - don't expect discounted memberships for roll-overs any time soon from the sounds of it. The last question of the night was from a member wondering if we should do something with our team song - presumably to pep it up a bit somehow. That got good-naturedly shouted down.

 

[teagueyubeauty]

Some dickhead grandstanders tried to ruin the evening by ranting without really being interested in the response or by talking over whoever was trying to answer - from the Pres' reaction, they've done this before and they are a known quantity. One was threatened with being thrown out for being aggressive toward another.

Wasn’t you was it agro? Fighting with Agro Jnr....

 

[teagueyubeauty]

So a profit hey?

Well well, shocked to be sitting here.

Must admit, I think there should be a structure whereby there’s a discount on membership in blocks of 10 years that accumulates the longer you are a member for...
5% discount for 10 years consecutive membership
10% for 20 years
15% for 30 years
20% for 40 years

Do that at my local golf club and it’s nice to play with longtime members, probably retired in most cases without a lot of disposable income, being able to continue to play every week and do something they really enjoy doing

I’d be pretty stoked with a 10% discount in 2020, might even up the membership to the next level to guarantee GF seats....so they’re not really losing anyway[emoji6]

Did anyone ask about access to a bloody bar that I can stand/sit in and watch the game behind the glass? And if so, what was the response? The most disappointing aspect of not being at PP bar none, loved the social club[emoji20]

 

[blue89]

Very interesting night. Not too much info was given away which is pretty normal for these kind of events.

Things to note

-Club is tracking well with their world domination plans.
-Other clubs leadership has been closely monitoring our situation from afar for some time now. Richmond has had some serious concerns about what will hit them soon and were lobbying to get rid of rd 1 clash as they expect it will soon go back to us pants-ing them like we used to
-The big Kreuz missile has put up p.b numbers in all testing. Absolutely flying, covering a lot of kms.
-Doc's opp went well. Was not an issue with the training ground. Murph was feeling the heat of Doc's leadership challenge, so he organised some escorts to kick his knee in.
-SOS is confident of being able to fit all players within the 95% cap floor going forward. All players have been briefed in the importance of equality and communism the the best way going forward.
-Liddle is in talks to expand capacity to 200,000. This will be the largest stadium in the world. we still wont play games at Ikon park as the upgrade is purely a symbol of our wealth and power.

That's all i can recall off the top of my head, but might have more to add later.

I also got a photo with our leader

 

[Jimmae]

So a profit hey?

Well well, shocked to be sitting here.

Must admit, I think there should be a structure whereby there’s a discount on membership in blocks of 10 years that accumulates the longer you are a member for...
5% discount for 10 years consecutive membership
10% for 20 years
15% for 30 years
20% for 40 years

Do that at my local golf club and it’s nice to play with longtime members, probably retired in most cases without a lot of disposable income, being able to continue to play every week and do something they really enjoy doing

I’d be pretty stoked with a 10% discount in 2020, might even up the membership to the next level to guarantee GF seats....so they’re not really losing anyway[emoji6]

Did anyone ask about access to a bloody bar that I can stand/sit in and watch the game behind the glass? And if so, what was the response? The most disappointing aspect of not being at PP bar none, loved the social club[emoji20]

We released our annual report?

 

[LordLucifer]

Inb4 Jabba73 says he wouldn't attend any forum that would have him as a member....

I deny all allegations & demand to see the alligator.

 

[Mr_Plow]

That's A grade stuff blue89.

 

[drunkill]

We released our annual report?

Nope, but MLG did mention a few stats while clarifying the meeting was not the AGM and financial questions should wait until the end of Feb when it is held.

~1.2m revenue, ~700k profit I think it was, but still millions in debt which they plan to start paying off in a few years. The grandstands at PP were all written off the books when AFL stopped being played there so they are essentually worthless.

Career One tanking cost the club $1.1m and was a big hole in our bottom line.

A lot of spending in the football department, a lot more coaches and staff, including all the costs for the women's team (AFLW players are paid by the AFL) and I presume a bit of money going into the renovation of rooms for the AFLW.

The oval resurfacing and installation of drainage has cost the club $2m. But it is worth every penny because MLG stated previously if it ever rained it took two days to dry out for training so from now on it should be in perfect condition to play and train on the day after rain.

As of note it is still (half) covered in sand so I doubt we're getting re-seeded grass and instead it'll be strips of turf unfortunately. Given the broadcast from the China game this season saying the playing surface there was the best in the competition because it was specifically torn up and re-seeded four months ahead of the match specifically for the AFL... I had my hopes up. But hey, maybe it will be fresh seeds and they'll grow over summer.

The surface will be ready for Feb 2 for the first game, training can then take place on the surface after that match.

Other news was the expansion/redevelopment of PP, Carlton are talking to all levels of government and are really pushing the AFL for PP to be the home of AFLW. No plans, but I suspect the Heroes stand would be the one to go, given many other organizations use that as office space an upgrade with even more room for YMCA and AFL Vic and the Umpires + a community gym or something would be enticing for funding prospects from government, it is also the broadcast side of the ground so an upgrade for that makes sense.

So a profit hey?

Well well, shocked to be sitting here.

Must admit, I think there should be a structure whereby there’s a discount on membership in blocks of 10 years that accumulates the longer you are a member for...
5% discount for 10 years consecutive membership
10% for 20 years
15% for 30 years
20% for 40 years

I asked about a 10% discount if you go on auto-renew which Essendon and St Kilda have (and possibly other clubs) given the fact that die-hard members will sign up even if we've had a crap year, day 1 memberships would also reduce the need for staff to chase members each year. Cain Liddle outright said no, that'd it be $1m gone from the books. Although I suspect it would not be that much for people who auto-renew day one, I think he thought it was a 10% reduction to all members which would cost the club 1 million outright.

Either way, he obviously has plans for memberships in the future, we'll see his plan take effect for 2019 signups.

Some dickhead grandstanders tried to ruin the evening by ranting without really being interested in the response or by talking over whoever was trying to answer - from the Pres' reaction, they've done this before and they are a known quantity. One was threatened with being thrown out for being aggressive toward another member.

I figured he's a serial pest. He called for the entire board to resign because things haven't changed in a decade. He rightfully got booed and then got into an argument with MLG who retorted that we've had a reduction in the board recently from 13 to 8, an independant board member appointment suggestion signed into our constitution (the guy remarked that MLG was handpicking board members who would support him) and two new board members (juddy and kate jenkins) and the fact they don't get paid unlike some other club board members.

Cain Liddle speaks quite well, and seems to have the right intentions. Wasn't afraid to tell people when one of their ideas wasn't going to happen - don't expect discounted memberships for roll-overs any time soon from the sounds of it. The last question of the night was from a member wondering if we should do something with our team song - presumably to pep it up a bit somehow. That got good-naturedly shouted down.

He also got booed and MLG said the song won't change just as the guernsey won't change. The bloke said the words were fine but that the song was boring. Members then broke out into the song for a bit while everyone had a laugh. As it was the last question of the night MLG make some closing remarks and then the audio/visual guy ended the presentation with the themesong which got a few cheers.

Edit: Someone asked a question about the Richmond clash strip in the GF. The AFL wanted us to wear a clash against Collingwood during their anniversary game this year and Emily Pilling said the club told them to get stuffed, it was an anniversary game so we'll play in the traditional match up colours. We'd wear white shorts if we had to but no clash strip and I guess the AFL gave in. MLG said when we make a grand final and if we are told to wear a clash strip we won't, we'll cop the fine or whatever but we'll only play grand finals in our traditional guernsey.

 

[Kismet]

Thanks Bluella and Drunkill.

Bet I know who was having the argument with MLG. No matter what good things have happened, that clown will always complain.

Great that our AFLW team seems to be getting good resources and that we are clearly committed to its long term success, both as a team and the competition overall.

Agree that discounting memberships is not the way to go. Membership growth is about adding value and people feeling involved in the club if they make the investment. Once discounting starts it places too much emphasis on money and erodes the other reasons why people make a commitment.

Mostly, it seems clear that revenue generation is the priority for Liddle, and getting the balance between giving sufficient funding to the football department etc, and paying down debt will be his toughest job.

More and more I think he was a good appointment for what we need over the next few years.

 

[BluStreak]

Wasn’t you was it agro? Fighting with Agro Jnr....

More likely Thy and HBF arguing over who's turn it was to get coffee and where from.

 

[BluStreak]

Thanks Bluella, blue89 and drunkill.

The question about discounted membership cost is not a deal breaker for me.
However I do think they could put a better package together for those who renew early, renew or join.
As mentioned previously, l am looking forward to seeing what Liddle can do.

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

More likely Thy and HBF arguing over who's turn it was to get coffee and where from.

It's always thy's turn and yet HBF always ends up going..how does he do it?!

 

[ferrisb]

COFFEE TIME......

 

[CJMB]

Thanks Bluella, blue89 and drunkill.

The question about discounted membership cost is not a deal breaker for me.
However I do think they could put a better package together for those who renew early, renew or join.
As mentioned previously, l am looking forward to seeing what Liddle can do.

Even if they're considering doing something they'd probably rather say no first up here so there's no confusion. Wait until they've got it planned, put out an official release which is clear about what's being offered. That way you're not left with disgruntled members who misheard or misunderstood what was said and feel the club has done them wrong.

Even if it's a small amount, you'd think the goodwill of it would still please the members as a whole. Say knock a couple of percent off for those who auto-renew or have renewed day 1 (which reduces admin costs and staff hours chasing memberships) and then maybe chuck some further discounts for those who are have been members for a while, perhaps another one or two percent at five years, then another at 10, etc. Not necessarily huge discounts or anything but something that rewards long time members and people who stick fat with the club year in, year out.

 

[Blue Pulse]

It's always thy's turn and yet HBF always ends up going..how does he do it?!

 

[HBF]

I didn't even know it was on

Same.
That's so bloody annoying. I really would have thought about going to be honest.

 

[HBF]

It's always thy's turn and yet HBF always ends up going..how does he do it?!

I caught a glimpse inside his wallet during the season, there was still a $1 note in there.....

 

[Aphrodite]

I caught a glimpse inside his wallet during the season, there was still a $1 note in there.....

 

[katmanblue]

Very interesting night. Not too much info was given away which is pretty normal for these kind of events.

Things to note

-Club is tracking well with their world domination plans.
-Other clubs leadership has been closely monitoring our situation from afar for some time now. Richmond has had some serious concerns about what will hit them soon and were lobbying to get rid of rd 1 clash as they expect it will soon go back to us pants-ing them like we used to
-The big Kreuz missile has put up p.b numbers in all testing. Absolutely flying, covering a lot of kms.
-Doc's opp went well. Was not an issue with the training ground. Murph was feeling the heat of Doc's leadership challenge, so he organised some escorts to kick his knee in.
-SOS is confident of being able to fit all players within the 95% cap floor going forward. All players have been briefed in the importance of equality and communism the the best way going forward.
-Liddle is in talks to expand capacity to 200,000. This will be the largest stadium in the world. we still wont play games at Ikon park as the upgrade is purely a symbol of our wealth and power.

That's all i can recall off the top of my head, but might have more to add later.

I also got a photo with our leader

Ferris is that you?

 

[JustaBattler]

A subsidy of one class of member is a tax on other class of members- a really BAD idea if you want to grow memberships with new members. I'd be more in favour of a discount to all members who sign up for three years.

 

[agro]

Wasn’t you was it agro? Fighting with Agro Jnr....

No it wasn’t me.

I did go and I remained seated all night.