Meeting with Matt Finnis

[saint66au]

Wow! That's the first decent bit of off-field merch I've seen from the AFL/Club.

What plays against the club/AFL is the stigma associated with wearing AFL merchandise outside of the football. See the above is a perfect example, quite a trendy beanie, but the mere fact an AFL logo is on it may get people to steer clear from wearing it on a day to day basis, and ultimately buying it - especially young people <30yo's. Perhaps if we can have an alternative logo to put on off-field merch, something to do with lettering around St. or Stk, kinda like Pittsburgh in the above link, we might be able to pull in more merchandise sales by targeting trendy pieces of clothing and slapping a trendy non-traditional logo on it.

Im not sure what type of processing goes into merchandise, but it would be a great opportunity to give to a young/studying fashion/graphic designer, similar to what we did with the social media competition last year. AFL merch is in such a poor place compared to US merch, there's definitely untapped potential there.

Not sure you can put anything with a pom pom into the trendy category lol..plus..I know the Club makes a $...but...$40 for a beanie?? Good luck with that

 

[George]

Hey folks!

https://www.facebook.com/stkfc/photos/a.105792293182.92460.79666748182/10153514758823183/?type=3

Get on it tonight! Surely they got this from our suggestions right??

 

[Fehring]

Hey boys!!!!
Looking at the numbers, it looks as though the reason supporters weren't turning into members was because of a lack of confidence about the club. People thought (and still think) that the club isn't governed properly; as if it's a boys club and everyone just stuffs around. Matt has made it very clear that at St.Kilda they are trying to move away from that perception as much as possible.

I'm so glad to hear this from the Saints. The drop off in members since 2010 has had little to do with on-field performance and everything to do with off field sagas, many and varied. There are tens of thousands of Saints fans who aren't on here who are still disillusioned about the club. It's a very, very long road to get those people back on board.

 

[NeXus Nick]

I'm so glad to hear this from the Saints. The drop off in members since 2010 has had little to do with on-field performance and everything to do with off field sagas, many and varied. There are tens of thousands of Saints fans who aren't on here who are still disillusioned about the club. It's a very, very long road to get those people back on board.

Hey Fehring, I hope you don't take this the wrong way but you are completely and utterly wrong. We were one of the best teams in the comp in 09 and 10. If it wasn't for the 'toe poke' and the 'shocking bounce' we would have been back to back premiers. At the time we had 40,000 members. We finished last in 2014 with 32,000 members (from memory). If you go from top to last in 4 years and only lose 20% of your membership base I'm quite certain it has everything to do with on-field performance.

 

[Stillwaiting]

Hey Fehring, I hope you don't take this the wrong way but you are completely and utterly wrong. We were one of the best teams in the comp in 09 and 10. If it wasn't for the 'toe poke' and the 'shocking bounce' we would have been back to back premiers. At the time we had 40,000 members. We finished last in 2014 with 32,000 members (from memory). If you go from top to last in 4 years and only lose 20% of your membership base I'm quite certain it has everything to do with on-field performance.

The off feild rubbish would have played a significant role in the loss of members. We should have been increasing every year but instead we went backwards. I think it's a combination of both. The fall down the ladder, and at times a very bleak outlook along with the nonsense off the field both contributed.
I think the club had a lot off work to do to rebuild faith in the club, but they certainly seem to be doing all the right things.
Let's just hope that when we win the flag we make the most of it and consolidate our members base

 

[austinnn]

Hey Fehring, I hope you don't take this the wrong way but you are completely and utterly wrong. We were one of the best teams in the comp in 09 and 10. If it wasn't for the 'toe poke' and the 'shocking bounce' we would have been back to back premiers. At the time we had 40,000 members. We finished last in 2014 with 32,000 members (from memory). If you go from top to last in 4 years and only lose 20% of your membership base I'm quite certain it has everything to do with on-field performance.

Don't see how either of you - or any of us - can speak for all those ex-members. How would you know? Maybe 20 of them tops I'd guess.

Personally, the club has really erred in not researching this. During my time as a lapsed member I didn't get any communication from the club asking why, despite keeping the same address since my last membership. If I worked for their membership dept, that's the first thing I'd be doing. I'd want to know.

I didn't sign up between 2011 and 2014 inclusive and I'll tell you why, but I'm only one person. Maybe there should be a Why did you stop being a Saints Member? thread with no reproaching and so on, just so we'd all have a better idea.

I'll preface this by saying though I'm not poor, I don't have a lot of disposable income, especially for something the wife would consider so unimportant. Don't judge her, she's French. We live in France, well away from the coalface as Gringo has said.

First, I thought the clubs service to its members wascashsy. Disorganised, half-arsed and unimaginative. Everything i wanted to do was eithrr too hard or impossible. Mainly via the club website. I sent letters, emails but no reply. As a member, I felt more like a donor.

Also, this coincided with Duthiegate and then later Lovettgate, then Stalkergate, then later Dwarfgate and all this before the various scandals down the years, Joey & Milne, Gehrig pissing, Butterss and Thomas public feud, etc. I'd had it with supporting a bunch of sketchy unprofessional bogans who were trapped in a bygone era. Still happy to lend considerable moral support but not my hard earned cash.

At the same time, I'd financially supported the club when we were really struggling for members and due to the consistent finals and so on, we seemed to be doing alright member wise for a few years, and it seemed that after years of paddling around with water wings, the Saints were finally able to swim, so I thought it was the right time to stop my membership.

After things went **** up with Watters and Co, I said to myself that I'd help out again but they had to show us that they'd learnt their lessons and they were capable of sorting their s**t out in a manner befitting a 21st century professional sports club in the top echelon of a national competition.

After the impressive off season this time last year, I renewed. II wanted to thankFinnis and the team for their work. I'm happy to do so and happy to be back in the family. That's my story. I realise its particular, being that I'm an overseas member, but there it is.

I urge other lapsed members to judge the club on our present, not our past.

 

[Fehring]

Hey NeXus Nick and austinnn, thanks for your comments.

Nexus - we certainly made a big leap after the 2009 Grand Final adding about 7000 new members. However, we were smoking before Christmas and then basically stopped to a crawl after the Lovett rape allegations in December. Then we made another GF in 2010 and yet we added only 200 extra members - that's just insane - without the off field scandals we would undoubtedly have continued the momentum and smashed through new barriers. I don't doubt that on field results didn't help, but they weren't the main driver. The Lovett rape allegation was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Austinn, thanks for that post it was really fantastic but seriously you can't think that you're a loner wandering in the desert. Your experience is absolutely typical. I've spoken to a hell of a lot more that 20 Saints supporters and even many who stayed on board were incredibly disillusioned by the scandals, the 'bubble', the missteps by administration, the lack of communication. I like your idea of a thread on why you walked away, although most of the ones who walked away probably aren't on BF! And, as you say, I think it's of more interest to look forward while remembering what Saints fans went through, because the scars still remain for many people.

As I said in the Moorabbin thread, I think the announcement about going back there actually brought up some bad memories for Saints fans about maladministration, hence we didn't get the membership bump we were expecting over the past few weeks. Again, I know many Saints fans who shake their heads at the entire utensil up, even if they're happy that we're heading back to the heartland (e.g., I have defended the Seaford facility over the years because I accepted the Saints at their word, and frankly I'm pretty disillusioned about the whole exercise even though the return to Moorabbin is exciting).

 

[Keg on legs]

I hate to admit it, but I don't hold a current membership.

I used to have reserved seat on centre wing, social club, the lot.


Then the kids came.......



Like austinn, I'm not poor; but being a single income family with a mortgage something had to give. At the time the choice was simple.

I do admit though, if I had a membership when the whole dwarf thing happened I probably wouldn't have renewed. It wasn't that incident in isolation, but a seemingly never ending series of **** ups from a club that talked the talk but just couldn't walk the walk. I admit, when that story broke I didn't even have to look at who it was- I just knew it would be us. That in itself is a bit of an indictment.

However, I am happier now that I've ever been with how we are being run. The whole club feels like it's grown up and is ready to be taken seriously. Thanks to all involved.

And now I'm ready to dip my toe back in with a membership next year. I'll bring along my 4 year old son and get him into us.

 

[RoundCubic]

Hey NeXus Nick and austinnn, thanks for your comments.

Nexus - we certainly made a big leap after the 2009 Grand Final adding about 7000 new members. However, we were smoking before Christmas and then basically stopped to a crawl after the Lovett rape allegations in December. Then we made another GF in 2010 and yet we added only 200 extra members - that's just insane - without the off field scandals we would undoubtedly have continued the momentum and smashed through new barriers. I don't doubt that on field results didn't help, but they weren't the main driver. The Lovett rape allegation was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Austinn, thanks for that post it was really fantastic but seriously you can't think that you're a loner wandering in the desert. Your experience is absolutely typical. I've spoken to a hell of a lot more that 20 Saints supporters and even many who stayed on board were incredibly disillusioned by the scandals, the 'bubble', the missteps by administration, the lack of communication. I like your idea of a thread on why you walked away, although most of the ones who walked away probably aren't on BF! And, as you say, I think it's of more interest to look forward while remembering what Saints fans went through, because the scars still remain for many people.

As I said in the Moorabbin thread, I think the announcement about going back there actually brought up some bad memories for Saints fans about maladministration, hence we didn't get the membership bump we were expecting over the past few weeks. Again, I know many Saints fans who shake their heads at the entire utensil up, even if they're happy that we're heading back to the heartland (e.g., I have defended the Seaford facility over the years because I accepted the Saints at their word, and frankly I'm pretty disillusioned about the whole exercise even though the return to Moorabbin is exciting).

As a long distance member the 'bubble' always annoyed me especially when we had always had a local club feel. I understood the need to protect the players but growning up with players living down the street, visiting my primary school and bumping into Harvey and the guys at Leo's on weekends the 'bubble' just didn't feel like StKilda.

I really like the social media these days it feels like StKilda again. Schneiderman was awesome, Hickeys quick 60 and Armos Star Wars vid were great. I would love a regular StKilda video podcast and more Hamil pranks/embarrassment

 

[gringo2011]

I hate to admit it, but I don't hold a current membership.

I used to have reserved seat on centre wing, social club, the lot.


Then the kids came.......



Like austinn, I'm not poor; but being a single income family with a mortgage something had to give. At the time the choice was simple.

I do admit though, if I had a membership when the whole dwarf thing happened I probably wouldn't have renewed. It wasn't that incident in isolation, but a seemingly never ending series of **** ups from a club that talked the talk but just couldn't walk the walk. I admit, when that story broke I didn't even have to look at who it was- I just knew it would be us. That in itself is a bit of an indictment.

However, I am happier now that I've ever been with how we are being run. The whole club feels like it's grown up and is ready to be taken seriously. Thanks to all involved.

And now I'm ready to dip my toe back in with a membership next year. I'll bring along my 4 year old son and get him into us.

I did the same thing when I had my kids. We just couldn't justify paying for something we didn't use. I had a three year lapse and since have paid up a family membership despite only 2 of us making most games. My oldest is nearly too old for a kids membership so I'll have to work something else out then.

On the stuff ups, I probably wouldn't care about off field incidents because most are media beat ups, but with roll over payment plans you forget to cancel every year and the payment comes out. My wife is taking a year off to do honours in 2016 and I wish I hadn't paid for her ticket she won't use, but since i got the pack and the payment is made it feels too late to cancel it.

 

[Keg on legs]

I did the same thing when I had my kids. We just couldn't justify paying for something we didn't use. I had a three year lapse and since have paid up a family membership despite only 2 of us making most games. My oldest is nearly too old for a kids membership so I'll have to work something else out then.

On the stuff ups, I probably wouldn't care about off field incidents because most are media beat ups, but with roll over payment plans you forget to cancel every year and the payment comes out. My wife is taking a year off to do honours in 2016 and I wish I hadn't paid for her ticket she won't use, but since i got the pack and the payment is made it feels too late to cancel it.

i would offer to buy your wife's ticket; but I look terrible in a dress and I flat out refuse to shave my legs for anyone!

 

[Mindtraveller]

So although I wasn't able to pay for 2 memberships in one transaction, they are able to send both memberships in the same letter....

 

[gringo2011]

So although I wasn't able to pay for 2 memberships in one transaction, they are able to send both memberships in the same letter....

The last few years they couldn't seem to work out how to send the 4 family member tickets in one letter. This year they worked out we are a family. My wife gets the correspondence sent to her though despite me being the one who pays for it. They also lost my individual membership details when we went to a family membership and when I called them they said I had to prove it with old membership cards etc. I can't imagine how they lost it all. I gave them all my past addresses etc. Some one must have deleted me from the system. I was a member from 1995 when they had the SOS campaign until the early 2000s then had to endure the shitty Bronze membership car stickers. I think we are only now silver but fortunately the membership type has gone from the stickers.

 

[austinnn]

See, its stuff like this that is so frustrating. Its a minor thing, but it is another indicator that there's not enough thought going on, no intuition. Just going through the motions in the membership dept.

 

[Persevering Saint]

Part of me thinks - don't kill me for this - that 17 of us should take out some low-level membership with each of the opposition clubs. Then start a thread about what their departments do to keep us. That could be valuable research for Finnish and Co. Essentially, we spy behind enemy lines.

 

[austinnn]

Part of me thinks - don't kill me for this - that 17 of us should take out some low-level membership with each of the opposition clubs. Then start a thread about what their departments do to keep us. That could be valuable research for Finnish and Co. Essentially, we spy behind enemy lines.

Bags not Carlton or Essendon!

 

[felsty]

Bags not Carlton or Essendon!

I have already done Essendon for my two young brother in laws to be. Its a killer. They send me random emails every now and again and I shudder.

 

[BrianSpeaking]

See, its stuff like this that is so frustrating. Its a minor thing, but it is another indicator that there's not enough thought going on, no intuition. Just going through the motions in the membership dept.

Come on, take it easy. We are talking about 40,000 transactions, not a couple of hundred. Think about it for a minute, 40,000 transactions, there will always be stuff ups.

 

[VDS66]

Agree. People can get a bit nit-picky with these things.

The club could employ more people, but in the end, where does the money come from? Increased membership fees? even 1 extra person a a minimum $40k salary robs us of $40k we can use in the footy department. I'll have wear a few first world problems so that the club can use my money wisely.

Today's consumers are like spoilt kids... they want everything, they want it now and they want it perfect.

 

[Saintos The ITK]

I'll sign up with the NQ Cowboys and see what that's like.

 

[Big Carl]

Couple of thoughts (take them as constructive please) -
Weak as pi55 people not renewing because of "incidents"...I don't care how many. Just an excuse. Doesn't stop the strong clubs & supporter bases ...especially clubs that are WINNING...and therein lies part of the answer.
Here's my personal feelings echoed by a lot of my St Kilda friends/Members.
We were burnt out, stuffed, mentally shot after our 10 year campaign that resulted in jack shite. Throw in 1997 etc, etc if you like.
The Drawn GF in 2010 was my breaking point although it was after 2011 & the loss of Lyon that the full reality of where we were now at dawned.
For me and lots of others it was like everyone took a long pause, reflected, felt a lot of pain, cried uncontrollably & then came to the realisation that we were at the end of our window then either did one of two things.
I personally renewed my membership but my interest waned. I felt bad, like a traitor because I stopped going to as many games. Still supported the Club, watched the games on TV but was kind of in a hiatus waiting for the next charge....which is now happening.
Other people didn't renew their Mships, we all handle things differently & sometimes with money issues/kids etc the easy option is to opt out especially after all the pain & heartache we had gone through.
I hear what people are saying about administration, dwarfs & everything else but I still think the bottom line is staying the long haul & of course success on the field...WINNING solves a lot of problems.
Ask Hawthorn, Coach illnesses, deaths & rape charges make no difference.
As much as I hate to say it, we need to be like them, Club & supporters/Members stick fat.....as arrogant & pompous as they are! Easy to stick fat you say when u are winning, they still managed to build their Mship even through the down periods (not that they have had many).
Go Saints.

 

[Nutsngum]

I think you have a point when you mention the end of a 10 year stint of contention. Many supporters would have weathered post 1997, seen us drop hard but get the likes of Riewoldt, Kosi, Milne, Lenny, Goddard, Dal etc.. in a 4 year period and stayed strong. 2011 was just the final point where the drop after the cliff suddenly hit and the wagon came apart.

Frankly people do need a break from the emotions of the game to a point and being a Saints supporter is the definition of emotion laden. They will start to come back in due course.

 

[CALL ME SNAKE]

..WINNING solves a lot of problems.
.

it solves pretty much all of them

 

[By a Point]

I thought we had a strong decade, but hated the bubble, hated Butters, disliked our game style, didn't think much of our selections at times, and hated the pursuit of the club. The last one was a reaction tot he arrogance we showed. We have done away with that and generally get pretty good press.

 

[Dopey BJ]

it solves pretty much all of them

Don't kid yourself it solves all of them.
The brilliant culture the Cats had always gave me the 5h1ts, the only culture they had was winning, they had as many poor headlines as anyone else.