2014/15 Memberships

[nearlyyellow]

. ok i'll take the bait

. i mentioned last year's debacle because we did volunteer ... hubby even took a day off work and spent it in the mariners office, so i do speak with some authority - but i don't need to go into the details because that doesn't help either

. the thing that confuses me is how anybody can argue that this saves money. quite frankly they have had six months to get their shit together and they wouldn't need to rely on volunteers at the last moment if they had used it wisely

. those plastic cards cost bugger all so buying in bulk with save you sweet FA ... and all that is shot to bits when 1,000 people sign up in the last week (or whatever it has been). i would have happily picked it up from the office anytime over the last couple of months ... just as i have picked up plenty of things over the years

. to me it is not a huge issue but a massive annoyance ... but i honestly feel that this damages the brand. they are doing far more harm than the small amount they may save

You know when you go to a club to renew your membership, sometimes they take a photo and then they print the card *on the spot* while you wait.
The technology can't be that expensive. Surely CCM should look into getting a setup like that. The bar-codes and other CCM info can all be pre-printed on each card, only the member name/number/seat allocation need be added. The computers will link the bar-code to the member details.
The membership cards could then be mailed in weekly batches.
I would have thought it would be easy enough. Anyone see any holes in this?

 

[rbakersmith]

You know when you go to a club to renew your membership, sometimes they take a photo and then they print the card *on the spot* while you wait.
The technology can't be that expensive. Surely CCM should look into getting a setup like that. The bar-codes and other CCM info can all be pre-printed on each card, only the member name/number/seat allocation need be added. The computers will link the bar-code to the member details.
The membership cards could then be mailed in weekly batches.
I would have thought it would be easy enough. Anyone see any holes in this?

That only works if the club controls the ticketing system for CCS - which they don't. Can you imagine what would have happened if they had barcodes preprinted to work with the gates that were in place last season, only to have the ticketing provider change and install incompatible gates.

Council put the ticketing services contract out for tender earlier this year, and while Ticketek was reappointed in late June it could have added a delay.

 

[aussiem]

That only works if the club controls the ticketing system for CCS - which they don't. Can you imagine what would have happened if they had barcodes preprinted to work with the gates that were in place last season, only to have the ticketing provider change and install incompatible gates.

Council put the ticketing services contract out for tender earlier this year, and while Ticketek was reappointed in late June it could have added a delay.

Oh well. The last postie disappeared down the street and all I got in my mailbox was cobwebs.

Now where did I file my card from last season....

Checked email 7 am no e-ticket. ..just checked again I have them. ..thanks ccm staff for putting so much effort in over the past few days. ...

 

[VicMariner]

We are at 5300 according to the blog post they just put on Twitter.

Wow, just wow.
If we have a good season we might top 6000 next year?

 

[gull]

The delays suck but we are a club that has to keep the budgets tight and there actually a lot volunteers at this time of year needed to get the memberships out. I know for a fact a lot of these staff and volunteers have been slogging it out to the early hours of the morning to make it happen. If you're so peed off why don't you do something about it and help out next time.

We have the cheapest memberships in the competition so unless you wanna pay double like Melbourn City just to get you plastic card on time then shut up and help out.

It might be easy to say Chalsworth owns the team why should I care. He loses one million dollars per season. So I think we can forgive the club for not getting a piece of plastic out on time.

The Mariners are a community club which means it would be great if we could all get in and help out sometimes.

If you accept cash for a product you are under an obligation to deliver that product as promised. Does not matter who you are, or what you do.

I'm involved in ordering cards & promo products locally and overseas and it really isn't that difficult to get things on time.

Like many others I've also volunteered my time a lot over the years, and to be honest they're completely disorganised at that as well...

 

[nebakke]

If you accept cash for a product you are under an obligation to deliver that product as promised. Does not matter who you are, or what you do.

I'm involved in ordering cards & promo products locally and overseas and it really isn't that difficult to get things on time.

Like many others I've also volunteered my time a lot over the years, and to be honest they're completely disorganised at that as well...

As someone's already pointed out though, what you've ordered and paid for, is a membership with access to the games. You have the membership and they have offered a number of options for accessing the game while waiting for your membership card. So they're meeting their obligation and trying their best to do it in a reasonable way, in light of the current situation.
I can understand that you'd be frustrated that you haven't got your card yet etc. etc... I am too, and I agree, the club is far from the most organised entity in the world.
But, I also think that they're making great strides in improving their engagement and coordination, I think it would make sense to work with them, while they're trying. There's a big difference between the club, this time last year, and the club this year. While the issue might feel the same, they seem to be trying to resolve them.

 

[nebakke]

Wow, just wow.
If we have a good season we might top 6000 next year?

If we have a good start to the season, I reckon we're a chance of topping 6000 this year... We were only 40 members off last year, after all

 

[Roy Law]

We are at 5300 according to the blog post they just put on Twitter.

Quite incredible; remember when it used to be 3,500? Even given BG's misgivings about which types of membership people may have, this is still an outstanding number.
As for the chaos surrounding the distribution of the memberships - it is the little things that count and people like Bruce Stalder should know and understand that. The delays are unacceptable. The cards should have been distributed a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Wombat]

I left the leagues 10 mins before kick off and was shocked at the lines to get it.
I have never, ever Seen it like that before.
I was hoping....this is weird......I hope this means we are going to get a good crowd.
10.5k with less visiting bogan scum than normal is very promising.
Well done Coasties!!

 

[priorpeter]

Got my ticket at the tent at 3.30 - no line.
Sometimes it just seems like people need something to be outraged about.

 

[true believer]

That only works if the club controls the ticketing system for CCS - which they don't. Can you imagine what would have happened if they had barcodes preprinted to work with the gates that were in place last season, only to have the ticketing provider change and install incompatible gates.

Council put the ticketing services contract out for tender earlier this year, and while Ticketek was reappointed in late June it could have added a delay.

it's still a barcode . there are a zillion scanner labellers out their . for a few hundred bucks .
it's a few hours programing at best.
it's a monumental cock up that probably cost 1500 bums on seats

 

[bikinigirl]

Got my ticket at the tent at 3.30 - no line.
Sometimes it just seems like people need something to be outraged about.

. 90 mins before kick-off ... i'm not surprised ... did you notice the queues when the march ended? because that is when most people actually arrive for the match

 

[true believer]

the crowd in the ground visibly increased 20 minutes after the game started

 

[nearlyyellow]

it's still a barcode . there are a zillion scanner labellers out their . for a few hundred bucks .
it's a few hours programing at best.
it's a monumental cock up that probably cost 1500 bums on seats

Thanks, and I agree. Bar code systems are ubiquitous, easy and cheap to replicate /change. And also, *who* is the major tenant at CCS? Are Council likely to upset their major cash cow for the CCS by buggering up the ticketing electrical/mechanical systems? (Slow rent payers notwithstanding )
Nope, I don't know why they don't do the membership cards themselves. If there is a slight downgrade in the actual card quality, so be it! I'm sure members would forgo a small drop in the prettiness there to gain an efficient ticketing issue system. And it would only require a small amount of computer to computer communication to ensure compatible data re valid ticket bar codes issued.
What could be so hard about that?

 

[style_cafe]

Just wondering, "Did anyone that paid their membership miss out on seeing the game due to not being allowed into the ground?"

 

[bikinigirl]

Just wondering, "Did anyone that paid their membership miss out on seeing the game due to not being allowed into the ground?"

. it would appear at least partly ....

the crowd in the ground visibly increased 20 minutes after the game started

 

[Bex]

Obviously there's a percentage of people who expect better, including me. It's not good for future membership sales. Just fix it next year; it's not rocket science.

 

[nearlyyellow]

Just wondering, "Did anyone that paid their membership miss out on seeing the game due to not being allowed into the ground?"

. it would appear at least partly ....

the crowd in the ground visibly increased 20 minutes after the game started

Nah, probably just NJ fans late arriving because they couldn't read the directions on their maps.

Or Mariners fans who had to work on Saturdays and find the 5pm. games difficult to get to on time.

 

[Jaundice]

I took the risk only going to the game 15 mins early thinking I may be in a long wait with irritated fans.

Was in my seat 5 minutes before kick off

 

[dibo]

Leaving aside the manifold issues with suppliers f**king up*, we had a massive late rush. Remember this post?

We are at 4313 according to the FFA Today. This time last year we just cracked the 5000 mark and ended up at 5960.

Looking good for 4800 I recon.

View attachment 170

We're now at, what, 5,300 plus? So we signed up around thousand new members in a week. That's going to tax *any* system, and there surely had to be priority on ensuring everyone got in the gate above all other things, and then this week they're going to have to do fix-up work this week. I'm actually pretty impressed with how the 'pick-up' job went with the tickets and whatnot - everyone got through the gate (which is the main thing in the end).

*A little bird told me that the distribution company inserted all the letters into window faced envelopes *backwards* so they all had to be unpacked and re-done, which I know from experience takes longer than the initial job would have had they simply not f**ked up in the first place. Other suppliers managed to get their shit held up in customs for yonks! Can't possibly blame CCMFC for that - hard to plan for others to f**k up!