Official Club Stuff Essendon FC Fan Development Manager - Speak with the club here

[DaSawx]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

Welcome aboard, spent a week in Vancouver and it was a lovely place.

Love the idea you want to improve atmosphere, nothing better than a night home game under the roof at Etihad, especially when we get up in a close one.

I don't mind the air siren but would prefer it to be borderline deafening, that might be pushing it but it needs to be loader.

What are people thoughts on something like getting every single fan to wear red?

Getting everyone to stamp their feet after a goal as the ball goes back to the middle would take off IMO

 

[Ben the Gooner]

Hi Ryan, welcome aboard. Love the initiative.

A few random thoughts (I'm not sure where I'm going with this, or if there's any overarching point, but I'll put it out there and you can read into it as much or as little as you like).

- the bridge at Etihad for home games is awesome. Really gets you in the mood and makes it feel like it really is an Essendon game. I saw you said you want to try and move that into the stadium and the budget is restricting you having both. I think that could be fantastic if it's done well, but I'd hate to lose the bridge for something that's more sanitised for whatever reason. Essentially, if you can get something equally cool in the stadium that'd be great, but don't trade the bridge for something subdued in the ground.

- I couldn't care less about open training sessions if that's what the football department believes is best, but it'd be nice if the players were available to the fans a bit more often in other ways. Woosha was fantastic at that on YouTube in the past so it'd be good if someone could step up and fill the void his retirement has left. The YouTube channel is great but I reckon you could have a player interview or some other video with a player every day, and it would be too intrusive on the players (they'd only have to do it themselves every 6 weeks or so).

- the air siren is cool but needs to be louder as others have said

- I reckon it'd be awesome if there was an "Essendon pub" near Etihad and the G. You could send them a bit of merch/memorabilia, have a few events with injured players or club officials just prior to matches to get it off the ground and try and get Dons fans to gather in the one place before a game, have a bite to eat and a beer then wander down to the ground. So in Rd 1 you could put out a Facebook/Twitter post saying, for example, "Pris, Gumby and Ian Robson will be at the such-and-such hotel from 5.00, so come down and say hi". I know it's not conducive to families and such, but it could be a good way to make the area around the ground feel a bit more like Essendon's territory.

Essendon's been a real leader in this sort of stuff over the past few years and it sounds like you're keen to make that continue. Good luck and enjoy working for the best club in the country.

 

[The Prosecutor]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

An idea, which may be a bit expensive from a business perspective, would be to include in the membership package something like the Essendon media top.

Mainly for the following reasons...

1) The media polo is manufactured by Adidas, meaning it is a quality piece of clothing.

2) If it is quality, then people are more willing to wear it.

3) If everyone is wearing it, it creates a real team feel.

It doesn't have to be a media polo, but just something that is quality that would likely be adopted by the majority of members.

Preferably something red actually, it just stands out more than black, especially against the likes of Carlton and Collingwood.

 

[The Prosecutor]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

Also, whole heartidly agree with Ben's ideas.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

Ryan buddy, i'd love to see this at Bomber games. Wisconsin Badgers football team plays it at 3/4 time in their games and everyone goes off!!
Yeah yeah it's an American song but it was popular here years ago.
Very catchy.

[YOUTUBE]yKJIfwGKt_0&feature[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Mercurial89]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

Ryan buddy, i'd love to see this at Bomber games. Wisconsin Badgers football team plays it at 3/4 time in their games and everyone goes off!!
Yeah yeah it's an American song but it was popular here years ago.
Very catchy.

[YOUTUBE]yKJIfwGKt_0&feature[/YOUTUBE]

Playing something like that and then cutting it off after a bit with the air raid siren (louder than it is now) and having the players run on would be pretty cool. If that doesn't get the blood pumping i don't know what would.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

Incorporating the air raid siren is a great idea.

 

[Summer Nights]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

Hi Ryan,

Hope you are well.

Can they play the air raid siren more often?

Also a couple of remote controlled, red and black bomber planes flying around above the centre square before the game would be great.

I think you're on the right track in terms of fan participation at games. When we're loud, we're really loud, but too often we're waiting for the players to get us up and about rather than the other way around.

Can we get a decibel meter on the big screen after goals so that there's excitement around the level of noise being created? Although screaming for the hell of hearing your own voice could get annoying.

Can you also share some vids etc of the sorts of things you like that you've seen with other teams?

Cheers.

 

[The Prosecutor]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

Ryan buddy, i'd love to see this at Bomber games. Wisconsin Badgers football team plays it at 3/4 time in their games and everyone goes off!!
Yeah yeah it's an American song but it was popular here years ago.
Very catchy.

[youtube]yKJIfwGKt_0&feature[/youtube]

This video highlights perfectly what I was trying to suggest with Essendon clothing.

Everyone in the exact same sort of clothing looks bloody intimidating.

 

[daz17]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

Ryan buddy, i'd love to see this at Bomber games. Wisconsin Badgers football team plays it at 3/4 time in their games and everyone goes off!!
Yeah yeah it's an American song but it was popular here years ago.
Very catchy.

[youtube]yKJIfwGKt_0&feature[/youtube]

ha that is amazing. Same clothing really makes it such a great atmosphere.

 

[Blind Turn]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

Hi Ryan,

Welcome aboard (I'm sure you've brought along your parachute).

I, for one, cannot stand the air-raid siren. It is gimmicky, tacky, and generates very little primal Essendon pride at all. It's a horrible sound with horrible connotations.

Is it meant to generate fear in opposition supporters?

If we can generate a unified atmosphere without gimmicks it would resonate a whole lot more. The Kop at Liverpool is a great benchmark in supporter unity and their anthem of 'You'll never walk alone' is unmatched as a symbol of support. It effectively makes the crowd the 12th member of the team. What we need is a 19th player on the ground not a half-hearted roar when an air-raid siren goes off.

 

[Lord Nicholson]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

It's a horrible sound with horrible connotations.

...what, approaching bombers?

 

[Blind Turn]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

...what, approaching bombers?

Yep. Can't say it's a sound that belongs anywhere other than an actual city being raided or by the CFA. Horrible sound... Just my opinion of course. IMO a swooping magpie, roaring tiger, or ****ing crow would be equally as lame.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

Hi Ryan, welcome aboard. Love the initiative.

A few random thoughts (I'm not sure where I'm going with this, or if there's any overarching point, but I'll put it out there and you can read into it as much or as little as you like).

- the bridge at Etihad for home games is awesome. Really gets you in the mood and makes it feel like it really is an Essendon game. I saw you said you want to try and move that into the stadium and the budget is restricting you having both. I think that could be fantastic if it's done well, but I'd hate to lose the bridge for something that's more sanitised for whatever reason. Essentially, if you can get something equally cool in the stadium that'd be great, but don't trade the bridge for something subdued in the ground.

- I couldn't care less about open training sessions if that's what the football department believes is best, but it'd be nice if the players were available to the fans a bit more often in other ways. Woosha was fantastic at that on YouTube in the past so it'd be good if someone could step up and fill the void his retirement has left. The YouTube channel is great but I reckon you could have a player interview or some other video with a player every day, and it would be too intrusive on the players (they'd only have to do it themselves every 6 weeks or so).

- the air siren is cool but needs to be louder as others have said

- I reckon it'd be awesome if there was an "Essendon pub" near Etihad and the G. You could send them a bit of merch/memorabilia, have a few events with injured players or club officials just prior to matches to get it off the ground and try and get Dons fans to gather in the one place before a game, have a bite to eat and a beer then wander down to the ground. So in Rd 1 you could put out a Facebook/Twitter post saying, for example, "Pris, Gumby and Ian Robson will be at the such-and-such hotel from 5.00, so come down and say hi". I know it's not conducive to families and such, but it could be a good way to make the area around the ground feel a bit more like Essendon's territory.

Essendon's been a real leader in this sort of stuff over the past few years and it sounds like you're keen to make that continue. Good luck and enjoy working for the best club in the country.

Great idea.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

Hi Ryan,

Hope you are well.

Can they play the air raid siren more often?

Also a couple of remote controlled, red and black bomber planes flying around above the centre square before the game would be great.

I think you're on the right track in terms of fan participation at games. When we're loud, we're really loud, but too often we're waiting for the players to get us up and about rather than the other way around.

Can we get a decibel meter on the big screen after goals so that there's excitement around the level of noise being created? Although screaming for the hell of hearing your own voice could get annoying.

Can you also share some vids etc of the sorts of things you like that you've seen with other teams?

Cheers.

Really? The siren is quite good, but I reckon this would be a bit tacky.

 

[Synth]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

We have 16 flags and a whole lot of Etihad roof space.

Can we make this happen?:

 

[The Prosecutor]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

How about 8 flags hanging from each wing at Etihad?

 

[Lord Nicholson]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

As long as they're just facsimiles. But that would be cool.

 

[Howard Moon]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

We have 16 flags and a whole lot of Etihad roof space.

Can we make this happen?:

LOVE this! we hold the freaken record.. lets show it!!

Love the idea of a bombers pub close by too... can all march to the game together like in the UK.. and somewhere to congregate for interstate games.

I always like what the halfcourt fan shot does for the nba.. the crowd goes menal!

How about plucking a lanyard wearing member from the crowd at half time and giving them a shot from 50 for a cash prize...? would get the crowd right up just before the boys come abck out for the second half....

 

[Tassieboy]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

How about 8 flags hanging from each wing at Etihad?

Would be a pain from the back of tier 3.

 

[Lord Nicholson]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

Four on either side of "Fletcher" and "Lloyd"?

 

[azza29]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

We have 16 flags and a whole lot of Etihad roof space.

Can we make this happen?:

+1 to this. Great concept.

Not really specific to the Bombers, but was at an NHL game last year where they had the 'oblivious-cam'. Basically the camera would point at someone in the crowd and there was a timer to see how long until they noticed they were on screen. Record was something like 3 minutes, very funny though.

I like the idea of having skills challenges at half time, perhaps involving members of local footy clubs competing to win cash for their team?

As an overall comment please keep any of this extra stuff classy, it's very easy to be tacky when it comes to 'entertainment' during a game (cough... Renegades breakdancers). The Bombers have a proud history and strong fanbase and there's no need to manufacture hype at a game. The #1 reason people are there is to see a game of footy, anything else should support this rather than compete with it.

 

[Vancouver Bomber]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

Thanks for the feedback, this is really helpful. I'm starting to see some general themes emerge. A couple points to throw out:

- I might have been to quick to brush off the bridge stuff, so I'm going to revisit it.

- Banners and flags - essentially things that are visual - are big on people's list.

- The siren seems to be supported by the majority

- That pub concept is definitely a good one. We did this in Vancouver to much success. It might be a mid-year strategy for me, however, just because there's a lot on the go in the first half. But it's something that I'm really keen on.

- Best practices? Hmmm, I'm a sucker for cool tifo demonstrations, like the first one. I love a good chant (like the second one) and I also like simple and effective type stuff like the Cameron Crazies fingers waving thing in the third video (another one from my days at the Whitecaps: when our keeper sets up for a goal kick, the Southsiders go 'aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh' as he's setting up and backing up, then 'BOOM' when he connects with the ball. Simple and effective)

[YOUTUBE]dZhLyMhvwUM[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]lWFCh0WNk_o[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]DPmJvDNo7Oo[/YOUTUBE]

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

Thanks for the feedback, this is really helpful. I'm starting to see some general themes emerge. A couple points to throw out:

- I might have been to quick to brush off the bridge stuff, so I'm going to revisit it.

- Banners and flags - essentially things that are visual - are big on people's list.

- The siren seems to be supported by the majority

- That pub concept is definitely a good one. We did this in Vancouver to much success. It might be a mid-year strategy for me, however, just because there's a lot on the go in the first half. But it's something that I'm really keen on.

- Best practices? Hmmm, I'm a sucker for cool tifo demonstrations, like the first one. I love a good chant (like the second one) and I also like simple and effective type stuff like the Cameron Crazies fingers waving thing in the third video (another one from my days at the Whitecaps: when our keeper sets up for a goal kick, the Southsiders go 'aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh' as he's setting up and backing up, then 'BOOM' when he connects with the ball. Simple and effective)

[youtube]dZhLyMhvwUM[/youtube]

[youtube]lWFCh0WNk_o[/youtube]

[youtube]DPmJvDNo7Oo[/youtube]

Getting the crowd chanting like in the second you tube clip would be awesome.

 

[OzBomber]

Re: Essendon Fan Development Manager on BigFooty - Speak with the club here

Getting the crowd chanting like in the second you tube clip would be awesome.

Problem is that in Australia you're considered a pussy if you chant or sing in the crowd. Whereas in England you're considered a pussy if you don't sing or chant.

Would be very hard to get our fans to do. We need our games to be like the Anzac Day game last year where the noise was ridiculously loud. But it needs to be every game. To be a 19th man and provide support like that can lift a side that thinks they're dead and buried.