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Small crowds? Little wonder!


A96

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General economic situation is also bound to have a bearing on the attendance. There just doesn't seem to be as much money around these days, due to higher prices of gasoline and food for example.

If the spl stated that total goals scored would be the deciding factor in relegation and winning the league you would see an upsurge in attacking football I think and that , alone, should bring the fans back in since every team would be on the attack without fear of losing goals so much.

After all, it's supposed to all about entertainment isn't it?

Surely the SPL couds at least try it for one season?

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Dunno mate, you would have to change the fundamental rules of the game for this. FIFA would have kittens. I actually don't think the SPL is that bad, and before I get slaughtered, I'll explain. We are only a couple of games into the season, have had no disasterous results (although saturday wasn't the best) and Celtic are not running away with this league. None of our games have been 0-0 borefests. I'll call the SPL crap if it's bad in december.

edited - red wine spelling

Edited by davie
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Personally I think that small crowds in down to the whole match day experience at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. There is nothing the club can do about the football on show but there are thing which could be greatly improved the atmosphere at the ground.

Where is the match build up before the game? Big clubs tend to have a build-up from 2.30 ending with the playing of the club’s theme tune before kick-off to get the crowd singing. Why don’t we have a theme tune? Preferable something everyone knows the words to. (Nothing by 10CC and Graza please)

When we score where is the good music to celebrate with, where is the not so good music when the opposition score. Any tactic should be used to try up lift our team, we are at home. Forget this stiff upper lip rubbish.

People who when to the Northern Meeting park last weekend would have been very disappointed if there was no big stage, flashing lights, big speakers etc to go with the acts on show.

Also there is always someone collecting money at the gate. Why aren’t they ask to provide the entertainment at halftime. No free rides here. Even it is only an egg and spoon race. For example our next match is against Aberdeen, one team in blue the other in red. Gives both fans something to cheer at. All the club would have to do is veto anything suggestion which they did not like. Remember it is them who want to our money.

Personally I think that small crowds in down to the whole match day experience at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. There is nothing the club can do about the football on show but there are thing which could be greatly improved the atmosphere at the ground.

Where is the match build up before the game? Big clubs tend to have a build-up from 2.30 ending with the playing of the club’s theme tune before kick-off to get the crowd singing. Why don’t we have a theme tune? Preferable something everyone knows the words to. (Nothing by 10CC and Graza please)

When we score where is the good music to celebrate with, where is the not so good music when the opposition score. Any tactic should be used to try up lift our team, we are at home. Forget this stiff upper lip rubbish.

People who when to the Northern Meeting park last weekend would have been very disappointed if there was no big stage, flashing lights, big speakers etc to go with the acts on show.

Also there is always someone collecting money at the gate. Why aren’t they ask to provide the entertainment at halftime. No free rides here. Even it is only an egg and spoon race. For example our next match is against Aberdeen, one team in blue the other in red. Gives both fans something to cheer at. All the club would have to do is veto anything suggestion which they did not like. Remember it is them who want to our money.

You are spot on ammac. At the end of the day, Butcher can only put a team together with the money he has allocated by the Directors. The custodians of this club are responsible for EVERYTHING else so if they don't know how to make the match day experience attractive to customers it is high time they found somebody who can.

Edited by caleyboy
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What would you like to volunteer to help with in order to make these things happen?

I don't know anything about EFFECTIVE marketing so I don't see how I could help. Since inception this club has relied heavily on volunteers (workers) and they will always be needed to help where required. However, our ability to attract new customers and get old customers back is non-existant and far beyond the capabilities of someone like me. We need to EMPLOY PROFESSIONALS who are accountable, know what they are talking about and can evidence their success in this field NOT volunteers who have the club at heart but have no professional experience.

Edited by caleyboy
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What would you like to volunteer to help with in order to make these things happen?

I don't know anything about EFFECTIVE marketing so I don't see how I could help. Since inception this club has relied heavily on volunteers (workers) and they will always be needed to help where required. However, our ability to attract new customers and get old customers back is non-existant and far beyond the capabilities of someone like me. We need to EMPLOY PROFESSIONALS who are accountable, know what they are talking about and can evidence their success in this field NOT volunteers who have the club at heart but have no professional experience.

And the money to pay for all these professionals with excellent track records and experience, thus very large wages would come from...?

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This would mabye be an oppertunity to look at taking graduates from the local area. As someone graduating from uni next year I would love an oppertunity like this. The Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen do degrees in Marketing, Journalism, PR, Buisness Management etc. Even trying to set up some sort of work placement scheme which is something that university prides itself on could bring in some fresh ideas.

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Don't get me wrong I'm partial to a moan or two but the only time I shout out effing and blinding is when it's directed at the ref. Some of our fans are absolute beauts though some guy kept shouting 'Get him off Butcher' (I think it was directed at King) I really did want to point out to this guy that we had already used our three subs!

pffffttttt just spat my beer out laffin. that is quality banter

What I don't get either are these folk who after TWO home games are already saying if the team/club/manager doesn't do X,Y & Z. Then that's it I'm throwing my season ticket in the bin. C'mon FFS have a word with yourself. What's next? 'If I go to the food stall and there are no macaroni pies left I'm never going to go back' or 'If the stadium announcer doesn't play more songs I like I'm never coming back'? For the love of Jeebus we must have the most fickle fans in the league.

That said yesterdays performance was pretty rank overall.

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Its not ideas we need to attract fans to games. This will not put money in supporters pockets to be able to afford to travel and attend games. As I've mentioned before, football is fast becoming a rich man's sport and there aren't many of those around. The problem lays higher up and not with the club. A fairer pricing structure needs to be installed for the product and football, in general, needs to get a grip on things like transfer money and wages which, ultimately, have an effect on the entry fee. They also need to get a grip on some of the ridiculous rules that are in force at football grounds. We attract an average gate of around 3500 and are subjected to, sometimes, awful stewarding, petty bag searches and treated like little school children. We can't even stand up and make a noise without being told to sit down. Compare that to any Celtic match at Parkhead and you'll see hundreds standing without any fuss and they can wave flags too!!! My answer to attracting more folk to games is, rip out the seats, reducing the entry fee and get rid of all the jobs worth type stewards.

Edited by Gringo
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What would you like to volunteer to help with in order to make these things happen?

I don't know anything about EFFECTIVE marketing so I don't see how I could help. Since inception this club has relied heavily on volunteers (workers) and they will always be needed to help where required. However, our ability to attract new customers and get old customers back is non-existant and far beyond the capabilities of someone like me. We need to EMPLOY PROFESSIONALS who are accountable, know what they are talking about and can evidence their success in this field NOT volunteers who have the club at heart but have no professional experience.

You are very much mistaken if you think there's nothing you can do to help with the marketing of the club. Each and every one of us has the power at our fingertips to be an ambassador of the club...it's never been easier.

e.g. It takes seconds to share a story or link about ICT on your facebook/twitter or to post something positive and encouraging about your team. In the canteen at work, over lunch, waiting for a bus, standing in the queue at the shop, sitting in the doctors waiting room...all opportunities to strike up a conversation with someone and slip in mention of ICT.

Ok, so the club don't get everything right, but if you choose to focus only on the negatives when communicating with people then they will be left with a negative impression of the club and will likely never become another person spending money at ICT and without people spending money then we'll never have the funds/resources to undertake the bigger things.

This forum is visited by thousands of visitors/guests (not the regular users) every week. Without doubt some of these people will be newcomers to the area, tourists, visitors or whatever looking for a bit of information on the local football team. They'd be a bit naive to expect to come on and see nobody making critical comment about the not so good parts of the game....but when they come on and see endless negative content then they're not going to be rushing down to the next game.

As I said, things aren't perfect at ICT and TCS....but I believe they are getting better. How about we concentrate a bit more on that, or at least temper our propensity to whine and moan by acknowledging that (as far as is within the clubs control) things are getting better.....both on and off the park.

I've been arguing for the best part of a decade against the dangers of the business/customer attitude that took over at ICT after we got to the SPL. I strongly believe that there is realisation within the club of where things have gone off the rails and also a desire on their part to be making changes for the better. If that wasn't the case then I'd still be arguing the case instead of redirecting my energy and effort into encouraging people to work together.

The club do not need any more convincing of the need for change....and they cannot move forward with exercising the change that's needed without the help, support and backing of the fans. It's almost as if we have slipped into a parallel universe where the prior situation with club and fans is the total opposite to what it was. The club are trying hard to change, but it's the unwillingness of the support to embrace and help with that which is preventing the progress being made....rather bizarre!!!

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What would you like to volunteer to help with in order to make these things happen?

I don't know anything about EFFECTIVE marketing so I don't see how I could help. Since inception this club has relied heavily on volunteers (workers) and they will always be needed to help where required. However, our ability to attract new customers and get old customers back is non-existant and far beyond the capabilities of someone like me. We need to EMPLOY PROFESSIONALS who are accountable, know what they are talking about and can evidence their success in this field NOT volunteers who have the club at heart but have no professional experience.

You are very much mistaken if you think there's nothing you can do to help with the marketing of the club. Each and every one of us has the power at our fingertips to be an ambassador of the club...it's never been easier.

e.g. It takes seconds to share a story or link about ICT on your facebook/twitter or to post something positive and encouraging about your team. In the canteen at work, over lunch, waiting for a bus, standing in the queue at the shop, sitting in the doctors waiting room...all opportunities to strike up a conversation with someone and slip in mention of ICT.

Ok, so the club don't get everything right, but if you choose to focus only on the negatives when communicating with people then they will be left with a negative impression of the club and will likely never become another person spending money at ICT and without people spending money then we'll never have the funds/resources to undertake the bigger things.

This forum is visited by thousands of visitors/guests (not the regular users) every week. Without doubt some of these people will be newcomers to the area, tourists, visitors or whatever looking for a bit of information on the local football team. They'd be a bit naive to expect to come on and see nobody making critical comment about the not so good parts of the game....but when they come on and see endless negative content then they're not going to be rushing down to the next game.

As I said, things aren't perfect at ICT and TCS....but I believe they are getting better. How about we concentrate a bit more on that, or at least temper our propensity to whine and moan by acknowledging that (as far as is within the clubs control) things are getting better.....both on and off the park.

I've been arguing for the best part of a decade against the dangers of the business/customer attitude that took over at ICT after we got to the SPL. I strongly believe that there is realisation within the club of where things have gone off the rails and also a desire on their part to be making changes for the better. If that wasn't the case then I'd still be arguing the case instead of redirecting my energy and effort into encouraging people to work together.

The club do not need any more convincing of the need for change....and they cannot move forward with exercising the change that's needed without the help, support and backing of the fans. It's almost as if we have slipped into a parallel universe where the prior situation with club and fans is the total opposite to what it was. The club are trying hard to change, but it's the unwillingness of the support to embrace and help with that which is preventing the progress being made....rather bizarre!!!

What would you like to volunteer to help with in order to make these things happen?

I don't know anything about EFFECTIVE marketing so I don't see how I could help. Since inception this club has relied heavily on volunteers (workers) and they will always be needed to help where required. However, our ability to attract new customers and get old customers back is non-existant and far beyond the capabilities of someone like me. We need to EMPLOY PROFESSIONALS who are accountable, know what they are talking about and can evidence their success in this field NOT volunteers who have the club at heart but have no professional experience.

You are very much mistaken if you think there's nothing you can do to help with the marketing of the club. Each and every one of us has the power at our fingertips to be an ambassador of the club...it's never been easier.

e.g. It takes seconds to share a story or link about ICT on your facebook/twitter or to post something positive and encouraging about your team. In the canteen at work, over lunch, waiting for a bus, standing in the queue at the shop, sitting in the doctors waiting room...all opportunities to strike up a conversation with someone and slip in mention of ICT.

Ok, so the club don't get everything right, but if you choose to focus only on the negatives when communicating with people then they will be left with a negative impression of the club and will likely never become another person spending money at ICT and without people spending money then we'll never have the funds/resources to undertake the bigger things.

This forum is visited by thousands of visitors/guests (not the regular users) every week. Without doubt some of these people will be newcomers to the area, tourists, visitors or whatever looking for a bit of information on the local football team. They'd be a bit naive to expect to come on and see nobody making critical comment about the not so good parts of the game....but when they come on and see endless negative content then they're not going to be rushing down to the next game.

As I said, things aren't perfect at ICT and TCS....but I believe they are getting better. How about we concentrate a bit more on that, or at least temper our propensity to whine and moan by acknowledging that (as far as is within the clubs control) things are getting better.....both on and off the park.

I've been arguing for the best part of a decade against the dangers of the business/customer attitude that took over at ICT after we got to the SPL. I strongly believe that there is realisation within the club of where things have gone off the rails and also a desire on their part to be making changes for the better. If that wasn't the case then I'd still be arguing the case instead of redirecting my energy and effort into encouraging people to work together.

The club do not need any more convincing of the need for change....and they cannot move forward with exercising the change that's needed without the help, support and backing of the fans. It's almost as if we have slipped into a parallel universe where the prior situation with club and fans is the total opposite to what it was. The club are trying hard to change, but it's the unwillingness of the support to embrace and help with that which is preventing the progress being made....rather bizarre!!!

CaleyD, good post and while I agree with a lot of it I am not so sure where you are seeing the improvements on the park but I suppose that is subjective.

I think one of the problems may well be that I am not sure the improvements behind the scenes are being seeing by the everyday fan, By that I mean where have ICT improved in promoting the club within the area, it looks like the online shop has gone backwards in terms of stock rather than forwards. I see more of Clach promoting their lottery than ICT.

I agree with Caleyboy that somebody with real marketing experience needs to be taken in as the club has been very weak in this area since the beginning.

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Far more information coming out through the website, use of Facebook, YouTube...all things which, whilst fan driven, were a million miles from being viewed as priority by the club just a couple of years back.

All the stuff over the summer where the Club listened too, and supported the views of the fans on the Rangers fiasco.

A Chairman with an open-door policy who will happily speak to anyone who wants to go have a word with him.

We do not have the money to be employing marketing gurus....you do realise what a marketing expert costs right? I actually think people are confusing the need for marketing experts with the need for a communications officer or something of that ilk....and I would agree that communication, whilst getting better, is a long way from being where it should/needs to be....but when faced with the choice of doing good, or taking away from that resource and doing less so you have the time to tell everyone you are doing good then which would you rather see?

We can mump and moan about not having this, or not having that, needing this, needing that....etc etc etc. But that doesn't magic up the money that would be needed to facilitate these things. Like it or not, the only way ICT is going to move forward is if we all take what's there and do our bit to make it better. There's not going to be experts in this, that or the next thing hired, so you are as well to move beyond that idea and look at where/what we can do (for free) to assist.

It's not even about "investing" better in things...there's no money NO MONEY, NADDA, ZILTCH, FECK ALL...to invest even if they wanted to. So, once again, any idea/suggestion that starts with..."we should invest in/spend money on" is pretty much a non starter and a waste of breath unless people are willing to help resource/finance it from external sources.

It's a really crap situation to be in, we can get all upset and angry about it and change nothing or we can pull together and work our way out of it and get to the point where perhaps we can afford to invest in all the things everyone thinks we need.

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Far more information coming out through the website, use of Facebook, YouTube...all things which, whilst fan driven, were a million miles from being viewed as priority by the club just a couple of years back.

All the stuff over the summer where the Club listened too, and supported the views of the fans on the Rangers fiasco.

A Chairman with an open-door policy who will happily speak to anyone who wants to go have a word with him.

We do not have the money to be employing marketing gurus....you do realise what a marketing expert costs right? I actually think people are confusing the need for marketing experts with the need for a communications officer or something of that ilk....and I would agree that communication, whilst getting better, is a long way from being where it should/needs to be....but when faced with the choice of doing good, or taking away from that resource and doing less so you have the time to tell everyone you are doing good then which would you rather see?

We can mump and moan about not having this, or not having that, needing this, needing that....etc etc etc. But that doesn't magic up the money that would be needed to facilitate these things. Like it or not, the only way ICT is going to move forward is if we all take what's there and do our bit to make it better. There's not going to be experts in this, that or the next thing hired, so you are as well to move beyond that idea and look at where/what we can do (for free) to assist.

It's not even about "investing" better in things...there's no money NO MONEY, NADDA, ZILTCH, FECK ALL...to invest even if they wanted to. So, once again, any idea/suggestion that starts with..."we should invest in/spend money on" is pretty much a non starter and a waste of breath unless people are willing to help resource/finance it from external sources.

It's a really crap situation to be in, we can get all upset and angry about it and change nothing or we can pull together and work our way out of it and get to the point where perhaps we can afford to invest in all the things everyone thinks we need.

Far more information coming out through the website, use of Facebook, YouTube...all things which, whilst fan driven, were a million miles from being viewed as priority by the club just a couple of years back.

All the stuff over the summer where the Club listened too, and supported the views of the fans on the Rangers fiasco.

A Chairman with an open-door policy who will happily speak to anyone who wants to go have a word with him.

We do not have the money to be employing marketing gurus....you do realise what a marketing expert costs right? I actually think people are confusing the need for marketing experts with the need for a communications officer or something of that ilk....and I would agree that communication, whilst getting better, is a long way from being where it should/needs to be....but when faced with the choice of doing good, or taking away from that resource and doing less so you have the time to tell everyone you are doing good then which would you rather see?

We can mump and moan about not having this, or not having that, needing this, needing that....etc etc etc. But that doesn't magic up the money that would be needed to facilitate these things. Like it or not, the only way ICT is going to move forward is if we all take what's there and do our bit to make it better. There's not going to be experts in this, that or the next thing hired, so you are as well to move beyond that idea and look at where/what we can do (for free) to assist.

It's not even about "investing" better in things...there's no money NO MONEY, NADDA, ZILTCH, FECK ALL...to invest even if they wanted to. So, once again, any idea/suggestion that starts with..."we should invest in/spend money on" is pretty much a non starter and a waste of breath unless people are willing to help resource/finance it from external sources.

It's a really crap situation to be in, we can get all upset and angry about it and change nothing or we can pull together and work our way out of it and get to the point where perhaps we can afford to invest in all the things everyone thinks we need.

I do think Kenny is a breath of fresh air, the website is greatly improved along with the use of social media.

I was not advocating a "Marketing Guru" but someone who is a bit more savy on the marketing side, the increase in revenue would pay who ever this was. We can communicate all we want but everyone in the Highlands know that ICT exist we need someone who know the how to market things so that these people that already know about ICT are persuaded to spend a bit more cash on them, I am not talking about only the playing side but marketing the stadium better for use outside football days.

Edited by gordieict
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We have one of the best community departments in the SPL with awards coming out their ears for the good work they do.

I know...why do we not know about it...comes back to what I said above. Would you rather stop them doing the good work to take time to tell you about it, or would you rather they kept on doing the good work?

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We have one of the best community departments in the SPL with awards coming out their ears for the good work they do.

I know...why do we not know about it...comes back to what I said above. Would you rather stop them doing the good work to take time to tell you about it, or would you rather they kept on doing the good work?

We have one of the best community departments in the SPL with awards coming out their ears for the good work they do.

I know...why do we not know about it...comes back to what I said above. Would you rather stop them doing the good work to take time to tell you about it, or would you rather they kept on doing the good work?

Would it not be an idea to have a small bit in the new magazine telling what community department are up to along with the awards they won, wouldn't stop them continuing with the good work?

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We have one of the best community departments in the SPL with awards coming out their ears for the good work they do.

I know...why do we not know about it...comes back to what I said above. Would you rather stop them doing the good work to take time to tell you about it, or would you rather they kept on doing the good work?

Why is the club not screaming this off the top of every mountain to the bottom of every glen? This is a good story about the club and should be pushed hard. Why has there not been a feature in the local papers. Why is there no presentation to these hard working unsung heroes on match days?

This is where the problem lies, if allow other people to control the information around the club it will always be negative. That’s because being negative is easy. Just log on here or read the newpapers!!!

Public image is very important in any business especially if you want to expand and football is no different. A non first team story about the club with a personal touch could always be interesting to a wider audience.

Edited by ammac
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I don't disagree, but there's only a finite resource available and this is the point I am getting at.

Instead of "they should be doing this and that", how about a few more people start asking "what can we do to help the club and free up resource so these things can happen?".

If you can pen an article, great...volunteer to come in a couple of times a week to collect the info and put them together. If not, then perhaps you have a skill or can assist in some other way so as to free up time from someone who can.

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Surely this is something the Supporters Trust/Caley Jags Together should be trying to coordinate? I've been a member of the Supporters Trust for a couple of years now and rarely receive much communication. The email last week was the first I can remember recently. This isn't a negative dig, merely an observation. Maybe a 'volunteers vacancies' part on the website identifying exactly what the trust is involved with and recruiting people to do it could help in that respect?

Perhaps the Supporters Trust/CJT could identify what the members feel could improve the experience, perhaps from a members poll or online suggestion box, and then organise the opportunity, get people involved who may have the skills required and are willing to devote 5 hours a week, or whatever, to it. Surely one of the main points of having CJT is to provide the means for fans to get involved with the club and I'm sure it will in time. Maybe have an incentive for volunteers to get free tickets for matches? I used to sell the 50/50 tickets for free but got to stay in the ground to watch the game as recompense. It's not as if we're short on spare seats after all!

A few things, off the top of my head, that could be coordinated by a volunteer marketing group locally to raise awareness and would only take a couple hours of people's time if organised correctly:

  • weekly run round the local shops, tesco, asda, morrisons, eastgate as well as the hotels, bars and B&B's with posters advertising the next match
  • ticket giveaway competition running weekly with the draw live on MFR?
  • stall in the eastgate on weekends selling merchandise and match tickets and raising awareness of how to get involved with the club
  • identify local fairs, shows etc. where a stall could be taken to promote ICT and the trust

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I have to admit that KC was brilliant during the newco fiasco. Promptly responded to an email I sent him, attached a phone number and welcomed my input. I mentioned earlier about mabye getting students in on placement. You may not even need to pay them. I did a non paid placement for six weeks over an hour away just for the experiance.

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Surely this is something the Supporters Trust/Caley Jags Together should be trying to coordinate? I've been a member of the Supporters Trust for a couple of years now and rarely receive much communication. The email last week was the first I can remember recently. This isn't a negative dig, merely an observation. Maybe a 'volunteers vacancies' part on the website identifying exactly what the trust is involved with and recruiting people to do it could help in that respect?

Perhaps the Supporters Trust/CJT could identify what the members feel could improve the experience, perhaps from a members poll or online suggestion box, and then organise the opportunity, get people involved who may have the skills required and are willing to devote 5 hours a week, or whatever, to it. Surely one of the main points of having CJT is to provide the means for fans to get involved with the club and I'm sure it will in time. Maybe have an incentive for volunteers to get free tickets for matches? I used to sell the 50/50 tickets for free but got to stay in the ground to watch the game as recompense. It's not as if we're short on spare seats after all!

A few things, off the top of my head, that could be coordinated by a volunteer marketing group locally to raise awareness and would only take a couple hours of people's time if organised correctly:

  • weekly run round the local shops, tesco, asda, morrisons, eastgate as well as the hotels, bars and B&B's with posters advertising the next match
  • ticket giveaway competition running weekly with the draw live on MFR?
  • stall in the eastgate on weekends selling merchandise and match tickets and raising awareness of how to get involved with the club
  • identify local fairs, shows etc. where a stall could be taken to promote ICT and the trust

I've sent out 9 or 10 emails/newsletters in the past year to members and at least half of them have contained a request for members who wish to assist to get in touch....had a grand total of zero responses.

Like any project, there's only so much resource you can throw at something that's not working before you have to accept that time would be better spent on other things. In saying that, with the recent coming together of the two fans groups we have undertaken some internal restructuring and will be continuing with that. Part of that exercise will involve us becoming more visible and getting out there and speaking to members and fans more regularly, and perhaps that approach will prove more fruitful.

There's no shortage of ideas and things we want to be doing, but we also suffer from some of the same issues as the club, insofar as the existing resource within the society being stretched to the max (and then some).

We've doubled our membership since the start of the year, but unfortunately we've not (as yet) seen that translate into more people getting hands on....and it's definitely something we are working on, and will continue to work on.

What we have to be careful of, and we've had our fingers burned with it in the past, is committing to things on the assumption that people will step forward and help....because when they don't then things either fail (and we get criticised when they do) or the same few people are left having to pick up the slack and are left demoralised by the lack of assistance.

A prime example of that is a couple of summers back when there was umpteen complaints/moans about the state of the North Concourse and Toilets. The club agreed to provide all the equipment (and lunch/refreshments) and the (then) Trust said we would get the bodies to do the painting. We put out the request for assistance and couldn't even get a half dozen people to give up a couple of hours to come and help. The result was that the club ended up having to hire someone in to do it.

Similar situation this past summer when fans wrote in their hundreds about only renewing/buying season tickets if the club voted against Rangers in the SPL....then didn't uphold their end of the promise.

As I said above, for years I was critical of the club for being a "closed shop" and not allowing the fans opportunity to do for themselves where the club were/are unable to provide. I got a lot of backing for my thoughts and opinions on that at the time....but where are all these people now when that opportunities are there?

Easy to sit behind a keyboard and criticise whilst demanding this and that, but it is become more and more apparent that far too many people are just not willing to commit when push comes to shove. I just hope that someday that changes, and that it changes before it's too late or before the change is brought about by the need for us to be out there with the "Save our Club" buckets.

Not intended as a go at you or anyone specific, it's a general frustration and we are grateful for the assistance we do get,,,,just need more of it.

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Regarding the last few posts, Proctor has made a good suggestion regarding people gaining work experience, good for the CV.

Bridge ender has suggested a volunteer vacancy's section, From the inside looking out it may be pretty obvious where the problems lie but not so clear for the rest of us.

Where are you struggling and what can be improved.

Do the club need 2 volunteers for half an hour to speed up the service in the bar for prematch home games?2.20-2.50 for a free pie and a pint.?

Does the Caley Jags together need to have their work load reduced to create extra time to set up a join and pay online via pay pal?( i can sponsor a player online but I cant joint the trust in the same way, PS I still dont know who won the gifts last year with regards to player sponsor)

Does the club shop need to be more active in selling on ebay, amazon, especially old stock, can our suppliers ship direct instead of the product coming in the shop.

I dont know if the above is a requirement its just the things that I have observed.

The point Im making is that there is help out there but you need the right help in the right areas.

Work out how things should run, detail what is required, then at least people know if they can help or not, by that I mean do they have the skills to do the job, will they enjoy doing it and will they take pride in doing it

PS well done for all the things that are working well.

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My point was more about getting the Trust/CJT organised so that a pool people are in place to undertake projects before offers of help are made so situations where assumptions need to be made are avoided. Advertise for people to take ownership of specific projects who could then be called upon to do some regular tasks. I don't believe there isn't, for example, one ICT supporting tradesman/handyman in the Inverness area who wouldn't be keen to head up a maintenance group of volunteers/college students who gave up a couple hours a month to go in and help Tommy with groundstaff chores like painting toilets or whatever other odd jobs need done. Or that there are no ICT supporters among the Business and Marketing Students at the UHI who wouldn't be keen to add to their CV by running a marketing and promotions committee and arranging some of the things above. Free match tickets and a good reference on someone's CV would be all these things cost.

I'll take your word on the emails being sent out, I've obviously missed them, but I'd imagine that in this time of information overload most people barely glance at them. Personally I've always argued this is the biggest fallacy about the worth of direct email communication - sure, it's free and it can look great at next to no cost but it only takes 2 clicks to delete and when it's bundled in with the other 15 emails from whatever else in your inbox it simply isn't going to be read properly. Also, and again not in a 'having a go way', a generic 'who wants to help' plea is, in my experience, rarely going to gain much response. A lot of people who volunteer didn't realise initially that they have skills that are useful to others or that the opportunity to practice and utilise these skills even exists.That's why I'm suggesting that if these opportunities were created and targeted specifically there may be a better response. Then again, the traditionally apathetic Inverness response may still dominate and you'll continue to p1ss into the wind...

You're right though, it is easy to sit behind a keyboard and demand this and that. Especially when you live too far away to offer practical assistance and don't have the free time to offer anyway.

**Edit: This isn't a dig at the progress that has been made with regards to communication and how the club and those involved with it are approaching fans as that has all been very positive with some definite changes for the better. It's about how to develop it further.

Edited by Bridge_Ender
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