It always pains me when i see innovative things done at other clubs. Example being Adam Rooney Interviewed at St Andrews yesterday and this being uploaded straight away to the Birmingham website for all to see.

Ok this isnt really Innovative but its just an example of something that other clubs do for their support that ICT dont. Im sure we could all come up with 5 things we all have seen on other clubs websites that we would love to see on our own or on here. CTO seems to have more of a finger on things that fans want, so how about it CTO?

I would love to hear what our new singings have to say! And our existing squad to be honest...lets hear them!

Update by OP as he had more to add.

I was thinking more about this as i made my cup of tea. A lot of people in the game see Football as more of a business rather than a sport...Part of running a business is looking at what other similar businesses are doing! Innovation comes from research and development, so what or who within ICT is doing this. I cant get the notion out of my head that the "Gordys" are still running this club and are somewhat fearful of developing this 'business'

If i could afford not to work i would happily spend my time working at the Tulloch for free, running the official site and trying to come up with innovative ideas to engage the supporters.

Open your arms and eyes ICT!

Edited June 30, 201114 yr by BornCaley

I guess your last sentence sums it up "if " Cameras, Editing Facilities, radio Mics, people and time cost money.

well we had someone recording match footage when we were in the 1st Division for free in their own time, so there are fans willing to help the cause.

If the club feel they dont have the money for such things well its not wonder kids support other clubs! Not having a go at you mate, im just want my club to succeed so badly!

Engaging supporters is absolutely paramount for a club like ICT these days.

I don't think it would all positive though. Gil bigging himself up would be cringeworthy and there's a lot more where he was coming from. R & D costs money to learn what we get for free now. Put money into the team not gimmicks.

Regardless of any good or bad ideas that are on the table, it's always going to come back to "Doing it for free" with noone ever actually - or well, very rarely - stepping up to the plate.

It always pains me when i see innovative things done at other clubs. Example being Adam Rooney Interviewed at St Andrews yesterday and this being uploaded straight away to the Birmingham website for all to see.

Ok this isnt really Innovative but its just an example of something that other clubs do for their support that ICT dont. Im sure we could all come up with 5 things we all have seen on other clubs websites that we would love to see on our own or on here. CTO seems to have more of a finger on things that fans want, so how about it CTO?

I would love to hear what our new singings have to say! And our existing squad to be honest...lets hear them!

Update by OP as he had more to add.

I was thinking more about this as i made my cup of tea. A lot of people in the game see Football as more of a business rather than a sport...Part of running a business is looking at what other similar businesses are doing! Innovation comes from research and development, so what or who within ICT is doing this. I cant get the notion out of my head that the "Gordys" are still running this club and are somewhat fearful of developing this 'business'

If i could afford not to work i would happily spend my time working at the Tulloch for free, running the official site and trying to come up with innovative ideas to engage the supporters.

Open your arms and eyes ICT!

Sorry, I have to totally disagree with you on this one ...... not the point you are making about innovation, which is valid, but the assumption that it is as easy as it is made out to be or that the club are not listening .....

First and foremost, running a website costs money. There is hosting, domain names, software and all sorts of other costs .... I know what it costs to run this one and thankfully through donations and our adverts we almost tick over. However, unlike a commercial website, neither myself or Don take "a wage" and between us we are on here pretty much most of the time tweaking and sorting things that can and do go wrong.

When you get to an official site (any official site) then you are taking it to the next level as the expectations are indeed higher. You need staff, staff need paid, you need people to sell ads to try and recoup the costs, they need paid too. If you want video/audio/commentary etc you are ramping up to yet another level as you not only need to pay for the equipment (and possibly the staff) but you also need to pay for additional storage space to hold the files and then the biggie ... bandwidth costs. The videos we host for the club are - on average - about 75Mb each. If you play it in full, thats 75Mb bandwidth ... multiply that by 38 videos a season and maybe 200 or 300 views (at a conservative estimate) and thats 570,000 Mb, not to mention the bandwidth used to upload them in the first place so maybe 600 or 700 Gb of bandwidth on videos alone. to run all this audio and video you are talking some serious coin and quite likely dedicated or at least VPS servers .... the most basic VPS server on a reliable host runs at about $500 per year but depending on how much memory, bandwidth, storage, and processing power you require you can be talking $100, $200 or even $300 per month

I hear what you say about volunteers, and yes, AndyCAM has always been willing to go and do stuff for free as others might be too .... and that is to be encouraged, but no matter how many volunteers you have there will always be some infrastructure or other staffing needed and thats what costs the coin! I wonder what the average crowd is at Birmingham? and how much easier it is to add a couple of media guys into the revenue model that the club generates? not so easy at ICT !!!

As to the "Gordys" .... no idea, but I can tell you that the vast majority of my dealings in the recent past have been with Kenny Cameron and he does not fit that profile. I have known KC for many years and he is definitely customer focused, will listen to ideas, and if they sound good or add value to the fan experience without being out of proportion in terms of cost, will definitely consider them. Both myself and Don are working with him and the club to improve the online offerings (as you will have seen on ICTFC.com over the last season where we added the videos and the shop) and there is more to come on that front including regular Twitter posts, a Facebook page and hopefully more additional features on ictfc.com .....

so from that viewpoint, I would like to turn the thread around and say back to you guys .... ok, some think it is not that good right now, and I would agree that many aspects of it could certainly be improved so NAME the 5 things or features you want to see on this site, the official site, or on ictfc.com and we will either do it ourselves (if it is not impractical for some reason) or if better served via the official site we will liaise with the club to see if some can go on on ictfc.co.uk or on ictfc.com ...........

Page 3

sure - no worries ... We'll get Bobby and his Mann boobs as the first one !

I hear what your saying Scotty and im well aware of the Financials in relation to running a website. We know the Birminghams of this world have more resources at their disposal. It would be interesting to know what sort of revenue the club spends on the running of the website. I know it sound like im having a moan..Im not really! Maybe im a tad bitter that we are fincially inferior to other clubs. As for my "Gordys" comment! I know there are some great people within the club who put their heart and soul into the club, and Mr Cameron is among them.

Anyway here are some ideas as requested.

1/ The ICT TV channel on the official website is great and there are a few interviews with Terry and Roy Mcbain, but i certainly would like to see ones with the new players or backroom staff.

2/ I would love to see the squad profiles given an overhall on the official website. It still looks a tad primitive and some players are still without pics. Maybe even add some backroom staff profiles, like the Physios etc

3/ I would love to see a "behind the scenes" or a "Season with ICT" type documentary..maybe in conjunction with the UHI Media students. I think Gretna did something similar a few years back.

4/ I think the Shop needs an overhall, not so much in the products they sell, but incorporate it into the stadium. That portacabin is just not suitable and the staff do a great job in there and for the club so give them a nice premises. I know there is a big cost to this. Sorry Scotty! I misread your post so ignore these for now. BC

3/ How about some supporters competitions on CTO.com or ICTFC.Com. Im sure the club can afford a club shirt once a season or some mugs.

4/ I saw an interesting thing on another SPL club's site. There was a New Fans section. which was a one stop shop for all info a new fan needs. Maybe ICTfc.com could introduce something like this, maybe even go one step further by offering a welcome pack to new fans ( Team poster, Car-flag) etc etc.

5/ I do have a great 5th Idea, but i want to do some research on it first before i put it out there. Its a rather cheap but effective way of raising the profile of the club, but im not sure it will work for a sporting club. I'll come back to you on that one.

thanks

BC

Edited June 30, 201114 yr by BornCaley

1/ The ICT TV channel on the official website is great and there are a few interviews with Terry and Roy Mcbain, but i certainly would like to see ones with the new players or backroom staff.

noted. will pass this along and perhaps shoot an email to AndyCAM if he doesnt read it here first

2/ I would love to see the squad profiles given an overhall on the official website. It still looks a tad primitive and some players are still without pics. Maybe even add some backroom staff profiles, like the Physios etc

That is in the works. The squad/fixtures pages for next season will be getting provided by a well known third party ...... US ! We will be sharing our stats, fixtures and other similar pages with the club and in return we will get better information from them within the profiles etc. Its one instance where we are working together for the greater good!

3/ I would love to see a "behind the scenes" or a "Season with ICT" type documentary..maybe in conjunction with the UHI Media students. I think Gretna did something similar a few years back.

Good idea. will pass it along

4/ I think the Shop needs an overhall, not so much in the products they sell, but incorporate it into the stadium. That portacabin is just not suitable and the staff do a great job in there and for the club so give them a nice premises. I know there is a big cost to this.

its been mentioned a few times over the years but not sure how viable it might be given the cost. I know they were inside for a long time but as the staffing levels grew and more office space was needed they kinda got pushed out, first to the window area at reception with the stock held in Charlie's office, then to the front desk and finally out to the cabin. Would love to see it as part of the stadium but just dont know where they could put it that would make sense.

5/ I do have a great 5th Idea, but i want to do some research on it first before i put it out there. Its a rather cheap but effective way of raising the profile of the club, but im not sure it will work for a sporting club. I'll come back to you on that one.

Intrigued by this one ... feel free to send me a PM if you just dont want to put it here (for now)

3/ How about some supporters competitions on CTO.com or ICTFC.Com. Im sure the club can afford a club shirt once a season or some mugs.

4/ I saw an interesting thing on another SPL club's site. There was a New Fans section. which was a one stop shop for all info a new fan needs. Maybe ICTfc.com could introduce something like this, maybe even go one step further by offering a welcome pack to new fans ( Team poster, Car-flag) etc etc.

to answer your edits .....

3. I would imagine this will not be a problem once the season gets up and running. lots of blue arsed flies right now both at the club and at CTO but we will keep it in mind.

4. Yup, another good suggestion. We do have a history section on here and other details but this sounds quite good.

Posting to say thanks Scotty! ( and to get my 900th post)..do i get a prize?

to be honest i have always found the club to be very aproachable

i have gone to them with a few ideas over the past couple of seasons and they are more than keen to talk about them. granted i am in a fortunate position in i am able to offer them a high value commodity at no cost...partly as i am a fan and i know it is of great value to them but also because its something i like to do.

the last time i did something the comments i received back from everyone were extremely high praising and to see the guys in such a good mood was reward enough for the day. point is though if you think you have an idea that could improve things then why not approach the club....you may be pleasantly surprised....although it is quite busy just now so it may take a little time to get things going

BornCaley, some really rather simple ideas.. yet they are ones that I too feel could really bring the club forward, in terms of building a bigger fanbase and in general, off the park.

Although I live in Glasgow, I'm quite into the idea of lending a hand in one way or another - web wise - and may throw in an idea or two of my own down the line.

BornCaley, some really rather simple ideas.. yet they are ones that I too feel could really bring the club forward, in terms of building a bigger fanbase and in general, off the park.

Although I live in Glasgow, I'm quite into the idea of lending a hand in one way or another - web wise - and may throw in an idea or two of my own down the line.

Go for it. As Tug says the clube are approacheble and they do have good relations with peeps from CTO. I know how you feel about being in Glasgow...Im in Edinburgh

I can probably give a little more info on a few of the points raised but won't be near a PC for a couple of days and don't fancy making a long post from my phone.

Has there ever been a fan survey from the club?

Never know until you try do you?

A polite and informative approach to the club will bear fruit, if not immediately then possibly in the future.

The important thing is to research the project, think of the pros and the cons , put it down on paper and polish it because your intention is to leave a readable piece of paper (plan) for them to refer to and mull over.Then present it in a friendly, enthusiastic and convincing manner. And, if you wish, ask for feedback witin a reasonable length of time.If they agree and don't deliver you can approach them again with a polite reminder b3caue they should kep their commitments .

As Scotty says, it's unlikely that you will ever be brushed off and you will, at the minimum, be viewed a sa thoughtful and positive fan. Even dynamic.

Good luck, sounds great.

Do the club work with Inverness TV? It would be a great way to market ICT and Inverness TV. For example, have a link to Inverness TV on the offical site, for videos. So if the club wanted to do something like Birminghams interview with Rooney, then Inverness TV film it, make it an official Inverness TV documentary, boosting their sporting journalism credentials, and for the article on the site, a link to Inverness TV on the page. That would certainly boost viewing for Inverness TV and would be a great feature on the club website. I don't know anything about the costs of this though.

Do the club work with Inverness TV? It would be a great way to market ICT and Inverness TV. For example, have a link to Inverness TV on the offical site, for videos. So if the club wanted to do something like Birminghams interview with Rooney, then Inverness TV film it, make it an official Inverness TV documentary, boosting their sporting journalism credentials, and for the article on the site, a link to Inverness TV on the page. That would certainly boost viewing for Inverness TV and would be a great feature on the club website. I don't know anything about the costs of this though.

Being in Edinburgh i didnt know there was an Invermess TV...There certainly would be a cost, but with clever negotiations, ICT could offer maybe free advertising to match the cost of I.TV maybe doing some interviews with players & staff or the aforementioned Documentary.

Great Idea CC! Makes Sense

Do the club work with Inverness TV? It would be a great way to market ICT and Inverness TV. For example, have a link to Inverness TV on the offical site, for videos. So if the club wanted to do something like Birminghams interview with Rooney, then Inverness TV film it, make it an official Inverness TV documentary, boosting their sporting journalism credentials, and for the article on the site, a link to Inverness TV on the page. That would certainly boost viewing for Inverness TV and would be a great feature on the club website. I don't know anything about the costs of this though.

Being in Edinburgh i didnt know there was an Invermess TV...There certainly would be a cost, but with clever negotiations, ICT could offer maybe free advertising to match the cost of I.TV maybe doing some interviews with players & staff or the aforementioned Documentary.

Great Idea CC! Makes Sense

Here's Inverness TV....

http://www.invernesstv.net/

Do the club work with Inverness TV? It would be a great way to market ICT and Inverness TV. For example, have a link to Inverness TV on the offical site, for videos. So if the club wanted to do something like Birminghams interview with Rooney, then Inverness TV film it, make it an official Inverness TV documentary, boosting their sporting journalism credentials, and for the article on the site, a link to Inverness TV on the page. That would certainly boost viewing for Inverness TV and would be a great feature on the club website. I don't know anything about the costs of this though.

This might work for interviews and such like but the rules about match footage mean they can only be displayed on a domain owned by the club. That is why we helped them set it up on ictfc.com and why they would likely continue to put all their videos out on that same site. I know they do want to expand the service but in all honesty, its a case of teaching them to walk before teaching them to run. ICT and technology do not always go well together but its getting there ......

match footage is not an issue IMO Scotty! Plenty of avenues to watch that. I like the idea of a link up between ICT and I.TV. Could be very beneficial to both parties.

I've been working more "on the ground" as it were, with some of these things to see how we can help the club put things in place.

First off...the club simply don't have the money to shell out on things that aren't, at the very least, going to cover their own costs. I don't like that, you don't like that and the club don't like that...but it is what it is and we have to try and come up with ways of working within that constraint. Scotty and I have been working with the club to come up with ways of providing some of the things fans have been asking for....as has been already stated, we have an online shop that is now run and controlled by the club instead of being outsourced and off the back of that we already have the online highlights sharing the same domain/resources. What's still to come (and pretty soon) is moving the rest of the website over onto that platform with a lot of things being tidied up to make it easier to find information, the addition of information that wasn't there before and a far more user friendly platform which will allow staff at the stadium to get news and information on there in a more efficient manner.

There's opportunity here for anyone who is interested in helping produce some of that website content as the club are on the look out for a match reporter and someone who could also take information from press calls and turn it into articles to go on the site. If you're interested, drop me a PM or an e.mail to donald at caleythistleonline.

In regards to video production. We already have Andy doing matchday video and we were trying to edit that down into our own highlights but it's not something that can be done quickly or on the fly and we ran into some logistical issues. We're looking at those and trying to get back to what we were doing before. With the interviews, Andy has done a couple, but preparing/performing the interviews isn't his thing and again, it all takes time to do and as people also have jobs and families there's only so much you can ask/expect of one person. If there's anyone out there who wants to volunteer to assist with doing these things then get in touch with me.

I've been doing matchday twitter updates as and when I can, but it's not always possible for me to do and sometimes it would be nice to enjoy the game without the additional duties, so assistance on this would also be welcomed.

One thing that is changing at the club is the willingness to let fans help, and as you can see, in some of the areas where they aren't performing up to what we might want/expect or where things aren't happening at all, then opportunity exists for us to step up and make it happen. This is nothing new in the Football World, it happens at clubs all over the country and some of the best "New Media" departments at football clubs are operated by fans. We can have that here if we can just get committed volunteers (companies or individuals).

I'm really not interested in the arguments about who's responsibility it is to make these things happen or that the club should be paying for this that or the next thing and providing X or Y service. I've had all those discussions and gone through all those arguments several times with several people over the years and all it achieves is another season gone by with little or no change or improvement.

Bottom line....if you want it, come get it.

Do the club work with Inverness TV? It would be a great way to market ICT and Inverness TV. For example, have a link to Inverness TV on the offical site, for videos. So if the club wanted to do something like Birminghams interview with Rooney, then Inverness TV film it, make it an official Inverness TV documentary, boosting their sporting journalism credentials, and for the article on the site, a link to Inverness TV on the page. That would certainly boost viewing for Inverness TV and would be a great feature on the club website. I don't know anything about the costs of this though.

Being in Edinburgh i didnt know there was an Invermess TV...There certainly would be a cost, but with clever negotiations, ICT could offer maybe free advertising to match the cost of I.TV maybe doing some interviews with players & staff or the aforementioned Documentary.

Great Idea CC! Makes Sense

Here's Inverness TV....

http://www.invernesstv.net/

Inverness tv with it's Irish flag colour scheme...