RFC Members Forum

[Koalalill]

As most of you know a thread has disappeared to the grey cyberspace hole. This thread was of great interest to me because it was talking about the way you as members and supporters feel about the club and the value for money you receive from the club.

I mentioned on that thread that I had been asked to particpate in a members Forum being run by the club. I thought I would give a brief overview of what it is about and what took place at our first meeting on 27/2/03.

In the August 2002 edition of the Fighting Tiger there was a census and one of the questions asked "would you be interested in being part of a RFC Members Forum. Out of 27000+ members approxmiately 500+ members answered the census. Those answering yes to the Forum question were then asked to submit a written response outlining ways you thought the club could improve in 5 keys areas.

1. Membership
2. communications
3. Events
4. Merchandising
5. marketing.

After a long wait I received a letter saying I had been successful and was asked to join the Members Forum. our first meeting was held on 27/2/03.

The Forum consists of about 35 people. All holders of different levels of membership. Some are long term members (like me ) others short term (2 years or less). One Forum member flew in from Tasmania for the day, such is his committment to this project. Another couple drove all the way from Southern NSW to be there.

The meeting commenced with everyone introducing themselves and explaining why they wanted to be involved and what they wanted the forum to achieve. The key reason that kept coming up as to why people had got involved was we wanted to improve benefits for members as well as improving the value for money of membership. Areas in particular included value for families and rewarding long term members for their committment (hence why that missing thread was so important to me).

We then broke off into smaller work groups and went through a questionaire about memberships & communciations covering a number of areas including: what incentives the club could offer to encourage people to renew, what we thought of the members pack (sticker, wallet, pin etc) and how we thought the membership department at the club did their job. For communications we spoke about Tiger TV on channel 31, the CLub show on Foxtel, the Fighting tiger bulletin, the Jungle Beat email newsletter etc. We also discussed the public perception of our club and what needed to be done to improve it.

The one thing that came out at our first meeting is everyone is committed to the same cause. We are going  to work hard developing ideas that the Club can use in improving membership for everyone.

We will be meeting again in early April and I will keep you all upto date with what goes on.

This summary may appear to be a bit vague but if anyone has a question or would like to continue the previous thread please fell free. I am happy to answer any question anyone may have about the forum.

 

[Koalalill]

So why did I want to be involved???

Because I want people to be proud of being a Richmond member and i want them to be proud of their Club. And to be proud of their Club they need to feel part of the Club. That's my main hope - I want our memberships to make people feel like they are part of our Club.

 

[admin]

Thanks for that report KL, good stuff.
It's interesting a common concern from the people who posted on the missing thread was the failure of the club to respond to correspondence.
A friendly hello, and e-mails and phone calls returned from the club would go a long way to make people feel more welcome and part of the club imo.
I think people would love to feel they are still valued around the place after they've handed over their membership dollars.

 

[Koalalill]

Thanks for that report KL, good stuff.
It's interesting a common concern from the people who posted on the missing thread was the failure of the club to respond to correspondence.
A friendly hello, and e-mails and phone calls returned from the club would go a long way to make people feel more welcome  and part of the club imo.
I think people would love to feel they are still valued around the place after they've handed over their membership dollars.

Yes I noticed on the missing thread the problems people had had getting replies from the Club whether it be emails, returned phone calls etc.

I was extremely disappointed to read that TG had the courtesy to contact the Club regarding her Uni assignment and the photos she wants to take at the family day and they hadn't taken the time to answer. I would be curious to know who she emailed (TG if your reading let me know). Situations like this are not good enough IMHO.

Personally I have never had this problem. But a number of people at the Members Forum complained about the same thing, especially regarding getting answer to Membership queries.

I intend to raise this at the next meeting.

 

[froars]

Koalalill, I love your enthusiasm for what you are doing down there.  But let me know in two years how enthusiastic you are.  I bet that enthusiasm will be frustration.  I'd love to have as many dollars as the times they've had investigations into why members don't renew, not happy etc.

The reason why the problems are never fixed is because the person generally who runs these investigations is half the problem.  She has little regard for members and in many surveys that has been pointed out; not only by myself but many people; their criticisms simply go into the waste paper basket and probably are never seen by the people running the club.  How she keeps her job is a mystery to me, but she is there year in and year out.

I too got very much involved in the club - and I was proud to do it - but you'd have to be a masochist to keep on going when you are sometimes treated as garbage.  There are real problems down at that club; they give jobs to monkeys, cos that's what they pay, peanuts, and you get people who don't care what they're doing.  

They had the greatest infrastructure of any club in the AFL of volunteers support only a few years ago.  I wonder how big it is now - I don't follow much interest these days because of how I was treated by this person.  But there are good people I know - much like yourself - intelligent and with the footy club's best interests in mind who could do the job a lot better than what they've got down there.

Good luck with trying to make changes, but it's an uphill battle.  Once the thrill of working for the club you love abates, you're gonna get a real shock me thinks.

Cheers

 

[Koalalill]

But let me know in two years how enthusiastic you are.  I bet that enthusiasm will be frustration.  

Once the thrill of working for the club you love abates, you're gonna get a real shock me thinks.

Frustration is what led me to get involved in the first place

I don't want to be like those silly blokes from Carlton (The unofficial selection committee) who wanted change but wouldn't put their hands up to try and make the place better. They just wanted to leave it to someone else. I suppose I am putting my hand up instead of complaining about things for a change.

But I understand what you are saying. I remember queing for finals tickets in 2001 and heard some ladies who were volunteers at the club saying similar things to what you have.

But I am prepared to give it my best shot and see what happens. But I am confident we as group (The Forum) will achieve soemthing for the members of the RFC.

 

[froars]

Good luck then - any change will be good. And if you can't change them - be vocal in what you see is wrong down there - but tell the right people.

 

[Dean3]

Good onya Koalalill - thanks for the opportunity.

I think the club is in a bit of no-win situation when it comes to membership. It's very hard for an AFL club to make 28,000+ members feel that they're part of some close-knit group. Clearly, we are not.
The club just can't make sure that every member is personally welcomed by Matthew Richardson, or that every member is welcomed into the change rooms or whatever. When I buy my membership, I don't expect any recognition or welcome, like I do at my local footy club. An AFL club just can't provide the grass roots 'feel' and nor should they be expected to. Yet it seems that this is what most memebrs feel they need. Hawthorn have been good at tapping into this emotion, with their 'Proud, passionate, paid up and part of it' campaigns. The slogan encapsulates a few things very neatly, including the guilt factor ('paid up') if you don't buy a membership. But I doubt that Hawthorn members get much more than Richmond members in terms of club contact.
Certainly I never use any of the silly add-ons like discount vouchers or special offers for members. They are a waste of time as far as I'm concerned.
The pay-by-the-month facility is a good innovation - I've used it this time as forking out over $600 for a family plus seats is getting expensive. The reduction in Friday night games is also a plus for families with younger children. And the blockbuster package is also a great idea, and provides more options for people. I actually wrote to the club a couple of years ago about lobbying the AFL to allow clubs to offer reduced level memberships, especially for families, so that you didn't have to commit to 11 games a season to make it worthwhile. I still think a 7 game reserved seat membership for families only would be a real winner. It is often difficult for families to get to 11 home games, with kids' sport, birthday parties, school fetes etc etc all eating into weekend time.
That's the area that I think the club should work on - more membership options to suit a range of lifestyles, not 'what pointless giveaways can we lure them with this year'.

 

[Koalalill]

I actually wrote to the club a couple of years ago about lobbying the AFL to allow clubs to offer reduced level memberships, especially for families, ....
I still think a 7 game reserved seat membership for families only would be a real winner.

We actually spent a fair bit of time on the family aspect Dean. I don't have children myself but a number of people were speaking about the cost factor for families as well as keeping kids interested. I sometimes get surprised by the number of parents who say it is hard to get their kids to go once they become teenagers. But I suppose there are so monay otherthings for kids to do these days.

I know the Club has an Adult membership of 5 home games but doesn't offer the same thing for Juniors or families. Seems they're on the right track but not quite there. I like your idea about a 7 game ticket. Perhaps they could offer it just for MCG games?

You are right when you say the Club cannot please everyone. They have over 60000+ names on their data base that dates back to 1994/5. Of those names 8000-9000 has been members for all of that period. That's alot M.I.A.'s. But I think they Club has finally realised in the last 12 months that they have been neglecting their members for a long time in pursuit of the corporate $ (just my gut feel).

Thanks for your reply Dean.

 

[MC24]

... be vocal in what you see is wrong down there - but tell the right people.

Very important point froars. I have noticed a difference in getting a response from certain people. I have received replies to all my correspondence since Clinton Casey has been President. This was not the case prior to that. Over the previous years, I had sent a number of letters, with no reply or acknowledgement. It was very frustrating and annoying.

I'm interested to hear how concerned people are about their Club. And what comes across is that, even though the Club hasn't treated its supporters very well over a number of years, people still love Richmond. That's what has kept our Club going over the time that we have basically been in oblivion, as far as good results on the field go.

I understand your frustration Koalalill. I don't know how many letters I have written, especially in the last two or three seasons. The pleasing thing is that the Club, to me, appears to finally be taking notice of what we supporters think and expect from our footy club. It will take time to turn things around, but I get the feeling that things are well and truly on the right track.

As I was saying on the other thread, that no one go to read because it disappeared, it amazes me that, following trips to England and America to see how sporting clubs over there operate, AFL Clubs returned, armed with the knowledge that the fans are a very important part of their sport and clubs.

Well, there's a surprising revelation. Good on them for making the effort, but there are times when I just wonder about the people who run this game. :-/

 

[gustiger12]

Greetings all

On a recent business trip to Oz,I finally got to see a game of footy and it happened to be at the Dome...first live game I have seen in 3 years and first ever at the dome, which brings me to the point of the post.

I noticed that a lot of the wobbles supporter were all wearing cap which had "Member 2003" embroided across the back which made me think.

Does anyone know if these are supplied free with the membership or are they purchased. If they are supplied to paying members i reckon it is a great idea. Much better than the hat badge we get. It promotes the club, is an insentive to join (albeit small) and advertises the club sponsor.

I know this is just one small aspect, but after all it is often the small things that make the difference.

 

[gustiger12]

Greetings all

On a recent business trip to Oz,I finally got to see a game of footy and it happened to be at the Dome...first live game I have seen in 3 years and first ever at the dome, which brings me to the point of the post.

I noticed that a lot of the wobbles supporter were all wearing cap which had "Member 2003" embroided across the back which made me think.

Does anyone know if these are supplied free with the membership or are they purchased. If they are supplied to paying members i reckon it is a great idea. Much better than the hat badge we get. It promotes the club, is an insentive to join (albeit small) and advertises the club sponsor.

I know this is just one small aspect, but after all it is often the small things that make the difference.

 

[Koalalill]

I noticed that a lot of the wobbles supporter were all wearing cap which had "Member 2003" embroided across the back which made me think.

Does anyone know if these are supplied free with the membership or are they purchased.  If they are supplied to paying members i reckon it is a great idea.  Much better than the hat badge we get.  It promotes the club, is an insentive to join (albeit small) and advertises the club sponsor.

Thanks for the post Gustiger.

In answer to your question. Yes the caps were given to Pie members as part of their package. ALL members received the caps. C'wood have been doing this for about 3 years.

We discussed this at length at our first meeting. The general feeling was that compared to the caps the RFC pins were "cheap & nasty" and it was important for RFC to look into alternatives to the pins. This included caps, t-shirts etc

 

[johnson2richo2003]

excellent work koalalill.i see this as a positive step by the club and everyone involved should be congratulated.
the club has fallen into the trap that for 20yrs we have been in the wilderness and we still have a strong membership base type attitude and things will just fall into place.
while the club has got its football dept heading in the right direction its time for the club to start marketing itself to the football world instead of sitting back.
make those supporters WANT to join up.instead of depending on our onfeild success.
get the past players to get more involved
get the place up and running that it feels like a feel good club right from the top to the bottom.

we have stuck by the club through thick and thin and thru our darkest hour time is now for the club to repay our faith and get this club where it belongs.

 

[Tigerblood]

Koalalill,

regarding the 'On the Bench' membership you have mentioned previously (on missing thread)... Yes, it is available to international supporters. However, my point was that they (the club) need to proactively seek international members, not just add the word 'international' to 'country' and 'interstate' alongside the box to be ticked. (Doing that hardly counts as 'targetting' OS supporters.) That's why I thought they could solicit stories and photos from OS supporters to put in the newsletter - a little feature each time on someone faraway would be a proactive gesture to encourage expats to stay involved, and, more importantly, to make them feel involved. 'On the Bench' doesn't do that currently - you just give $50 and that's it. When I was OS we'd get the newsletter and it was all about this or that family day, sausage sizzle at punt rd etc etc... which doesn't mean much when you are 20 000 kms around the globe away.

Thanks for passing the idea on.

Tigerblood.

 

[Koalalill]

while the club has got its football dept heading in the right direction its time for the club to start marketing itself to the football world instead of sitting back.

Good point J2R - our next meeting will be focusing on that very thing. Communcating & Marketing the Richmond Brand and how the club currently does it and more importantly how they can improve it.

 

[Koalalill]

regarding the 'On the Bench' membership you have mentioned  previously (on missing thread)...  Yes, it is available to international supporters.  

Tigerblood thanks for the Clarification. All points noted.

 

[MC24]

The reason why the problems are never fixed is because the person generally who runs these investigations is half the problem.  She has little regard for members and in many surveys that has been pointed out; not only by myself but many people; their criticisms simply go into the waste paper basket and probably are never seen by the people running the club.

Over the years, it seems that we have never let anyone criticise us. How do we ever expect to improve if we don't listen to what people are telling us? Rejecting criticism can be an indication that people are there for their own interests and not necessarily for the good of the Club.

There are real problems down at that club; they give jobs to monkeys, cos that's what they pay, peanuts, and you get people who don't care what they're doing.

That is a real concern if that is the case froars. And I have no reason to doubt what you say. And how else do you explain some of the things that have gone on at our Club over the years? It's time some hard decisions were made.

Maybe someone is finally listening froars. This is from Caroline Wilson's article in the Age today (March 13 2003).

"The past five months have been a chaotic time for the staff. Not only have the marketing and membership departments at Tigerland undergone a radical restructure with staff removed …"

... there are good people I know - much like yourself - intelligent and with the footy club's best interests in mind who could do the job a lot better than what they've got down there.

I really think that we supporters should make some noise about things like this. The Club should know about these things and it is a concern to think that they are, or have been, oblivious to them.

Players, coaches and administrators come and go from our Club. The one constant is the supporters. We may not know all the ins and outs of what goes on within the Club, but we probably know our Club better than anyone else.

It is up to us to speak up when we see things that are not in the best interests of our Club. If we don't, who will? Those people will move on to another Club or another job and we are left to ponder what might have been if things had been done properly in the first place.

Complacency by our own supporters is what will ensure we continue to struggle.

 

[Koalalill]

Maybe someone is finally listening froars.  This is from Caroline Wilson's article in the Age today (March 13 2003).

"The past five months have been a chaotic time for the staff. Not only have the marketing and membership departments at Tigerland undergone a radical restructure with staff removed …"

I was debating where to post this MC24. Let me say I like Caroline Wilson as a jounalist. As you said on another post she seems to have a clue as to what's going on and her stories always seem to pan out as accurate. But I sometimes think when it comes to Richmond she is in a no win situation. Is she is critical of the Tigers she is bashing them is she praises she is favouring them. No win situation.

Having said that the above comments she made that you highlighted are diappointing to me. It just appears a vague comment. Implies there has been massive changes and job losses. People read it and think "typical Richmond falling apart again - just sacking somebody else".

There is nothing wrong with restructuring if it is in the best interests of the Club. I would pose the question how many people would truly know what restructuring has taken place - with the exception of the CEO leaving? Probably not very many.

As I said I like Caro as jounalist but I was disappointed with those comments.

 

[froars]

Lill, this is a good topic and i hope it is shown to your meetings - and aired freely amongst all members of the committee.

I would like to know this time what's the percentage of renewals etc that are done over the Internet. I'm hoping that they are well advanced in this area. To me it would eliminate a lot of the handling of paperwork that goes on down there and eliminate the potential for things to go missing - thus delaying the time it takes for people to receive their memberships or not getting what they ordered.

When I used to help down there, a lot of the processing used to be done with a whole lot of folks just sitting around the boardroom table, papers and membership forms everywhere. They were really well organised (and terrific people) but that was when we had under 20,000 members. We have more members these days and with people's access to the Internet and email, i was hoping that more and more memberships were processed this way.

Cheers