Mariner stuff not worthy of a whole thread

[BrisRecky]

Supporter board member you say.....at a wild guess , I put in either Erin Mariner or Serious 14 ...that would keep the bastards honest and or motivated

 

[Woollybutt]

Sorry to once again draw comparisons to Liverpool, but I do think the comparisons are useful. Liverpool have had a supporters advisory board like this for quite a while, and from memory they have twelve representatives for what they identified as key constituencies. The ones I can remember were local fans from Merseyside, families, under 25s, official supporters clubs, international supporters, disabled supporters, BME, season ticket holders, non-season ticket holders, and fans who travel to away matches. People nominate themselves and write a bio/why they should be elected (limited to about 300 words), and it's then voted on. Some are elected in an online poll on the club website, and others go to the specific groups (EG, supporters club). Representatives serve for a year and then move on, though I think they can be re-elected after a certain time away. All their contact details are listed online for anyone to contact them with issues to raise. They meet about once a month with representatives from the club to voice any concerns and hear about things from the club's perspective, and the minutes are published online.

I don't think we'd need anything as big as that, but an advisory panel consisting of something like representatives for members, the OSC, active support, travelling fans, families, and disabled fans could work. They could meet the club regularly, raise issues, give advice, etc. If any representatives are members here they could chime in on relevant issues, and they could be made admins on the facebook group to let them respond to people there. Have their contact details available online, and publish the meeting minutes online. I assume other clubs around the world have a similar model, but I know it works well at Liverpool and I think it would work for us.

 

[adz]

Sorry to once again draw comparisons to Liverpool

I think this is fair enough. I like hearing/reading about what has or hasn't worked at other clubs, or even other sporting codes.

 

[pjennings]

My understanding is that this will not be a seat on the club board as such but on an advisory board that will provide input to the club on certain matters.

This has been mooted in the past but now seems likely to actually happen. How that individual is selected and on what basis they would be agreed to represent 7k members is a whole other discussion but we do need to embrace the initiative and see where it leads.

Sorry to once again draw comparisons to Liverpool, but I do think the comparisons are useful. Liverpool have had a supporters advisory board like this for quite a while, and from memory they have twelve representatives for what they identified as key constituencies. The ones I can remember were local fans from Merseyside, families, under 25s, official supporters clubs, international supporters, disabled supporters, BME, season ticket holders, non-season ticket holders, and fans who travel to away matches. People nominate themselves and write a bio/why they should be elected (limited to about 300 words), and it's then voted on. Some are elected in an online poll on the club website, and others go to the specific groups (EG, supporters club). Representatives serve for a year and then move on, though I think they can be re-elected after a certain time away. All their contact details are listed online for anyone to contact them with issues to raise. They meet about once a month with representatives from the club to voice any concerns and hear about things from the club's perspective, and the minutes are published online.

I don't think we'd need anything as big as that, but an advisory panel consisting of something like representatives for members, the OSC, active support, travelling fans, families, and disabled fans could work. They could meet the club regularly, raise issues, give advice, etc. If any representatives are members here they could chime in on relevant issues, and they could be made admins on the facebook group to let them respond to people there. Have their contact details available online, and publish the meeting minutes online. I assume other clubs around the world have a similar model, but I know it works well at Liverpool and I think it would work for us.

This sort of wide representation on advisory board is fine. My concern was an advisory board where reps from the council, sponsors, local MPs have a say but the fans get one rep that may be completely at odds to those groups and so their views would never be heard.

 

[Wombat]

Im willing to back BIG AL for an ice cream.
After reading his comments on tonights game he is the ony one to nail it.

 

[Ozhammer]

So the latest word is that there will be a larger number of fans than just a single person (and wouldn’t it be hilarious if we had three token stooges?). The talk is about it being between 5 & 7 across the various fan groups, so the Liverpool model suggested by Woolybutt sounds like a solid starting point.

BUT, the key question is how does a disparate group like the general membership organise itself to offer up one or more representatives?

For organised groups such as The OSC, YA and to a (slightly) lesser degree this forum (and I only use this inference as we are effectively a more informal group or association) selecting a representative should be reasonably straight forward but for the greater membership base, it is likely to be more of a challenge. Perhaps there would have to be a ‘town hall’ style meeting arranged at which any potential nominees could state their cases and the attendees could vote on who they wanted to represent them. This is all fine and dandy but my opinion is that only a (small?) percentage of general fan base have much interest in this side of the club, so how you could say a meeting involving even one or two hundred members could be deemed representative of 7k?

I therefore believe that we collectively need to think carefully about this whole process, as it could lead to a truly beneficial outcome if it is done well but could be rendered ineffective or dysfunctional if too little thought and effort went into the formation of the representation.

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

I'd anticipate that email would be used a lot. Initial voting would probably be done this way, and information gathering. Yes, there are issues with not everybody responding via email. Maybe the occasional meeting as well (North and South, possibly?).
Between those, if a member then chooses not to engage in the process, then they've elected not to have a voice. If somebody is electing to not contribute then they won't be represented.
Well, there is the issues of people who simply don't check email, though I don't know if that would cover any particular demographic.
I like the idea of a group of members. Sure, a lot of people will have overlap between the various 'groups' - but if anybody isn't representing the group they're nominated from, then future elections should take care of that.

 

[Woollybutt]

Good points Ozhammer. I think something we'd need to clarify is whether six or seven representatives are elected by a certain subset of fans, or purely to represent a certain subset of fans. If it's the first, then the representative would be free to voice their opinion to the club on anything. EG, a representative chosen by the members would be encouraged to give their thoughts on everything from the OSC to disabled access to the stadium to pie costs, while a representative chosen by families could give their thoughts on membership packages even if they're not a member. There's the potential for issues here (EG, an active support rep may not be too happy about an OSC rep telling them to bring the band back to Bay 16), but on the whole I think it's a good model. You'd end up with a small group of representatives chosen from amongst a wide cross-section of supporters, and fans would be able to contact any of those reps to raise particular issues.

The second model would be to have representatives chosen by specific subsets of fans, and then giving advice and opinions relevant only to those groups, so disabled fans talking about disabled issues and members talking about member issues. I'm not as fond of this, as I'd rather we have a group of six or seven fans who broadly represent the supporter community and then let them get on with the job. Just as an example, I may not agree with the member rep on something about membership, so there's a better chance that my interests will be represented if the whole advisory board gets to contribute to those discussions.

I agree that choosing representatives could be tricky. I think we'd have to have some representatives chosen by a closed group (EG, a link emailed to each member, or to the OSC members, or posted here) and others by an open group. EG, someone who wants to represent families or disabled fans should obviously go to games with their family or have a disability, but anyone who wants to could vote for them. The way Liverpool do it is they post a list of each person who has nominated for each position along with a profile they've written, and then anyone can vote once in each category (or choose not to vote in certain categories if they prefer). It's not ideal, but it would be easier than trying to divide the whole supporter base into different groups with a list of eligible voters for each. I think the process needs to be as simple as possible for the club, for anyone who wants to nominate themselves for the job, and for fans to vote if it's going to work.

I really hope this comes to fruition. It's one of the more exciting things to come from the club in a long time, and if it's done well it could be a game changer.

 

[Big Al]

I think we shouldn’t bother with sub groups. Two of the best minds could come from one sub group and we only get one.

I’m sure they will use members Facebook but many like myself don’t have Facebook.
Our membership is very diverse in age and types so no one voting system will suit all.

Lets see what they come up with officially and what the role is.

 

[adz]

Some good ideas here - I like the first model you described @Woollybutt - each person's opinion will be skewed to the subset of fans they represent, but they will have thoughts on overall matters.

I wouldn't expect "the forum" to count as a subset and have a representative. The aim of this site(and it may or may not be the case, but it's the aim anyway...) is to be a place for all different types of fans to voice their opinion. The fact that some people complain everyone is too positive, while others complain everyone is too negative, kind of suggests that we are on our way to reaching that goal. The early days of this site was skewed more towards active support and organising that but as that part of it branched off and went to social media, facebook, etc, the forum became a bit more of a general representation of the fans. If anyone disagrees with this bit just hit the disagree button and let me know why

 

[adz]

As for actual voting, the club has used survey monkey in the past, and that could be used again and the link shared out in various ways - email, facebook, forum, whatever.

 

[FFC Mariner]

CCM: Hi Mike, we just had our 1st focus group

MC: Dont you mean member representative board?

CCM: Yeah right, that. Oops

MC: So how are they feeling?

CCM: They hate coming last all the time and you not spending enough to make us competitive

MC: WHAT? Really? Why didnt anyone tell me? I am going to fix this straight away

CCM: Great, who are we going to sign?

MC: Yeah funny - no, we are relocating to Canberra

 

[FFC Mariner]

As for actual voting, the club has used survey monkey in the past, and that could be used again and the link shared out in various ways - email, facebook, forum, whatever.

Great, love survey monkey, you can vote as many times as you like as long as you change devices

Im sure they are wondering why 10 people asked for Vegan food options at the last member survey

 

[Wombat]

Haha
I was in Gosford on Sat and saw all these hot young ladies in short shorts wandering around kibble park.....what's going on....where are the usual fat bush pigs with 6 snot nose kids?
I went to EB Games to get by son a PS4 for his birthday.
I asked him the hippy chick counting my money what's going on.....there were 6 people in the queue behind me?
She told me it was a Vegetarian festival and Gosford is pumping!
I had a quick look and it was great to see alternative people in Gosford.
I get the feeling this City is really starting to blossom.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

I think as long as Shaun keeps reading the crap we post here he gets a good idea of what we think and want, which is probably far superior than electing one person to be part of an advisory board. When appropriate he also replies letting us know he is here.

We have direct access to the top.

Love it.

 

[Insertnamehere]

I think as long as Shaun keeps reading the crap we post here he gets a good idea of what we think and want, which is probably far superior than electing one person to be part of an advisory board. When appropriate he also replies letting us know he is here.

We have direct access to the top.

Love it.

We do enjoy a woffle

 

[VicMariner]

I think as long as Shaun keeps reading the crap we post here he gets a good idea of what we think and want, which is probably far superior than electing one person to be part of an advisory board. When appropriate he also replies letting us know he is here.

We have direct access to the top.

Love it.

Shaun (and the board that has him here) won't be around forever.
We need to build a club that lasts beyond us.
A representation at the "big table" can only be a good thing. 50 years from now who knows what will be the issue/s? We fans need a voice because without us there is no HAL or AFC or FIFA. Don't forget, it is only our numbers that make this sport attractive to the commercial world..

 

[BrisRecky]

Saw Donny Parkes at the CCLC before the game on Saturday, looked about half the Donny I remember seeing for all these years....I know everyone gets old , but geez

 

[Big Al]

Things are back to normal. Now there mate is out they can start bagging the club again. Now on his behalf because he can’t

Slater goes whack as Okon speaks after Mariners exit
https://www.foxsports.com.au/footba...h/news-story/3fc61f1702113da303f7f432864e1d9a

 

[Insertnamehere]

Things are back to normal. Now there mate is out they can start bagging the club again. Now on his behalf because he can’t

Slater goes whack as Okon speaks after Mariners exit
https://www.foxsports.com.au/footba...h/news-story/3fc61f1702113da303f7f432864e1d9a

I actually don't see anything wrong with what was said in the article.
We are under resourced, MC doesn't spend and it does make it hard for the manager. Not so hard as to make a it impossible for a smart manager though, IMO.