Practical ways to support CCM into a better future

[Ironbark]

The purpose of this thread is to brainstorm and discuss positive, practical ways we fans can support the club in its difficult journey into next season and a strong and sustainable future.

Please contribute ideas, thoughts, suggestions. If you just want to complain or vent - please keep it to other threads or create a new thread for that purpose. Let's not stymie potential ways forward through bitterness or general negativity.

The best brainstorms are non-judgemental and some of the best ideas come from unlikely origins - so don't hold back if your first thought is that your idea is 'stupid'. Going to the moon seemed impossible until we had a crack and showed it could be done.
This should be a safe space for practical, positive ideas. Remember that the best ideas seem crazy at first.
“For an idea that does not first seem absurd, there is no hope.” ― Albert Einstein

Finally - clearly we need to critically reflect on the ideas of others. But let's keep our feedback in this thread civil and productive by using warm and cool feedback.
To clarify,
Warm feedback - highlights the positives and value in the idea or work of another
Cool feedback - is something you would change to improve the idea/piece. It's important to remember that in cool feedback, we're being constructive by thinking about how it could be even better, or altered to improvement.

We can all contribute to bringing the great in CCM to the forefront again.
Let's start by pooling our good and absurd ideas and seeing what we can do with them...

 

[Ironbark]

I'll kick this off.

I'm picturing MC's position here. Imagine you sink millions of dollars of your own money that you can barely afford - and way more than anyone else - into a club and yet it keeps not quite working.
The fans vilify you and are ungrateful and acidic. How motivated do you feel to push on for them, to try things, to commit even harder?

Maybe we should start by actually thanking Mike for his massive personal contribution and for keeping us alive when no-one else could.
I'm sure we can all agree that we're at least appreciative of this regardless of how it has translated on the pitch?
Despite some of the management decisions and gimmicks (which would have been hailed as genius if they actually worked) he has invested and tried and this should be appreciated by anyone who loves the club.

Maybe a one-off banner? Something along the lines of:
"Thank you Mike. Good times will come again' (crap I know, I definitely think there would be a better banner than this)

If he at least sees we appreciate what he has given for the club he would surely feel a bit better personally and also more energised for working for towards the brighter future.

 

[turbo]

Write to the council encouraging them to explore awarding mutually beneficial stadium management rights to our regions only top flight professional sporting team
Use sponsors products where possible and drop them an email, tweet, dm on social media thanking them for their support and explaining you buy their product because of their association with CCM.
Bring a friend to our games where possible. Even if we arent doing well its not a bad spot for a beer and pre/post game on a nice day.
Visit venues that support CCM or CCM supporters like Bay Rd. At Baker St etc.. even outside game days.
Follow the club on whatever social media you are on
Encourage your organisation to become a sponsor if in a position to do so.

 

[pjennings]

Write to the council encouraging them to explore awarding mutually beneficial stadium management rights to our regions only top flight professional sporting team
Use sponsors products where possible and drop them an email, tweet, dm on social media thanking them for their support and explaining you buy their product because of their association with CCM.
Bring a friend to our games where possible. Even if we arent doing well its not a bad spot for a beer and pre/post game on a nice day.
Visit venues that support CCM or CCM supporters like Bay Rd. At Baker St etc.. even outside game days.
Follow the club on whatever social media you are on
Encourage your organisation to become a sponsor if in a position to do so.

I have tried this previously - what seems to get a better response is to also write to State and Federal reps of both sides of politics (copying your emails) to talk to their reps on council. My writings to the Council never got a response until I went through the other tiers of government.

 

[Ads]

I'll kick this off.

I'm picturing MC's position here. Imagine you sink millions of dollars of your own money that you can barely afford - and way more than anyone else - into a club and yet it keeps not quite working.
The fans vilify you and are ungrateful and acidic. How motivated do you feel to push on for them, to try things, to commit even harder?

Maybe we should start by actually thanking Mike for his massive personal contribution and for keeping us alive when no-one else could.
I'm sure we can all agree that we're at least appreciative of this regardless of how it has translated on the pitch?
Despite some of the management decisions and gimmicks (which would have been hailed as genius if they actually worked) he has invested and tried and this should be appreciated by anyone who loves the club.

Maybe a one-off banner? Something along the lines of:
"Thank you Mike. Good times will come again' (crap I know, I definitely think there would be a better banner than this)

If he at least sees we appreciate what he has given for the club he would surely feel a bit better personally and also more energised for working for towards the brighter future.

“Thanks Mike for keeping us alive,
but what can we do, to help us thrive”?

* We keep turning up (mostly)
* Many continue to volunteer
* We have a great podcast team
* We have strong social media

My only idea is to let in industry professionals in sales, marketing, events, wellness, team building, growth mindset, etc that might be willing to volunteer a couple of days to support and brainstorm with the current office/back room team.

It would have to be moderated to make sure no conflict or stepping on toes but the more ideas and support in a professional and constructive space could be useful.

More detailed questions could be asked in this space and explanations given.
Eg.
* Why does the league not have professional cheer squads anymore?
* We had strong atmosphere and phirotecnics for Usain televised game, what cost vs attendance required to do more activity like that.
* Consult and look at sponsors.
* Is the office run efficiently and effectively
* Do we outsource or seek guidance for any products or services.
* Plus much more.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

Thank you Waspish for initiating this thread. It is heartening to see some positivity and hope in amongst all the goo feasting and negative protests that can only harm the Club.
I have noticed amongst my many contacts who follow other clubs (mostly SFC and WSW) a feeling of sympathy rather than hate towards us. They sensibly do not want to see the Club collapse or move. Whilst I find their attitude bloody patronising I am cheered by the goodwill that is out there in the wider football community. I preach confidence in the future and try to convince them that although all seems like shit there is building towards a strong future happening. I also use Charlesworth's bullish views on not wanting protection in the future A-League as a evidence of this.
Australian sports fans love to support an underdog especially one seen to be battling against the odds. Preach to all who will listen that we are building for a future when we can again take on the the City groups and others especially in the local community.

People are more likely to then respond, by attending, when results do start to improve. Which is unlikely if the true fans keep preaching that we are shit.

On a simpler note renew your memberships early and purchase the best seats you can afford. I understand if you wish to be part of the active support and be among friends. You may be amazed at how much more you can see happening on the pitch that is not apparent from cheap seats or even obvious on television. Personally I find what players are doing off the ball and watching overall team structure and how it is responding as whole to be an important part of the game day experience as well what is happening on the ball.

 

[greenlig]

I wish there was more I could do, all I can offer is the shit I do everyday.

If they are still doing presentations for property developments, proposals etc, Mariners/MC can have a free licence of my platform. It's a presentation tool for expensive/complex/large things - think property, trucks, medical equipment. Get the Porter Davis AR app to get an idea (built on our tech).

It might look like a bit of a gimmick, but we have customers like Medtronic, Hino Trucks, GE, etc making multi-million dollar deals, saving 30k per day, or selling 5x products. Not saying this to plug, just want to illustrate that it actually works getting people over the line with big deals.

If this can help MC and the club get investors or buy-in from stakeholders, someone get in touch.

 

[Big Al]

Use sponsors products where possible and drop them an email, tweet, dm on social media thanking them for their support and explaining you buy their product because of their association with CCM.

Visit venues that support CCM or CCM supporters like Bay Rd. At Baker St etc.. even outside game days.
Follow the club on whatever social media you are on
Encourage your organisation to become a sponsor if in a position to do so.

excellent stuff. I only buy Masterfoods sauces and venues that don’t have pokies that are new absolutely need support especially in hospitality. everyone is benefiting from this.

 

[Big Al]

The purpose of this thread is to brainstorm and discuss positive, practical ways we fans can support the club in its difficult journey into next season and a strong and sustainable future.

Please contribute ideas, thoughts, suggestions. If you just want to complain or vent - please keep it to other threads or create a new thread for that purpose. Let's not stymie potential ways forward through bitterness or general negativity.

The best brainstorms are non-judgemental and some of the best ideas come from unlikely origins - so don't hold back if your first thought is that your idea is 'stupid'. Going to the moon seemed impossible until we had a crack and showed it could be done.
This should be a safe space for practical, positive ideas. Remember that the best ideas seem crazy at first.
“For an idea that does not first seem absurd, there is no hope.” ― Albert Einstein

Finally - clearly we need to critically reflect on the ideas of others. But let's keep our feedback in this thread civil and productive by using warm and cool feedback.
To clarify,
Warm feedback - highlights the positives and value in the idea or work of another
Cool feedback - is something you would change to improve the idea/piece. It's important to remember that in cool feedback, we're being constructive by thinking about how it could be even better, or altered to improvement.

We can all contribute to bringing the great in CCM to the forefront again.
Let's start by pooling our good and absurd ideas and seeing what we can do with them...

We definitely need more positivity in our club and in life in general. I try to go out of my way to speak to managers praising employees when I receive good service. I like it when I receive it and every one is so quick to be negative and complain (i am also guilty of this to). Most managers are oh shit what’s your problem and the relief on their faces when it’s a compliment is nice to see but also sad that’s not the normal things they here.

We all know where a small club and no one is demanding us to be on top every week. We are just simply wanting to be competitive. Win a few and enjoy our club.

I think the structures were broken in the management and obviously they are stretched to thin and therefore exposed. I want to see those things learnt from and something implementend to stop them happening again. I think Anton is doing that and he has the expertise we need.

A little positivity could help everyone

 

[Big Al]

We could try a hashtag or something.

With the message being about our club our sponsors our community

something along the lines of the #lifeslittletreasures or #coatiegoals or some play on words I’ll leave that for others

but could be thanks to our club for the joy we have. Pictures of some one at the game
Thanks Masterfoods. Picture in your Mariners gear having a pie hot dog what ever with sauce
Thanks to the venues who support our club pictures having a beer at the pub etc

 

[Ozhammer]

As others have already said, thanks for starting this discussion thread Waspish, as the continued wallowing in depression can only lead to one outcome.

I for one have been giving a lot of thought to ways we fans might be able to effect some meaningful change to the current situation and am looking to run some ideas past other like-minded people in the hope what I have in mind might be possible. I don’t want to say any more at present, as this is in its infancy and there are a lot of things to work through but I believe that it has the potential to be something that could inspire our fans rather than crushing their spirit, so I really hope it can get off the ground.

Also, whilst I was personally very sceptical about the stadium management rights proposal at first, I am now of the view that it could be very beneficial to the viability of the club (if done properly) and so this is also something that I believe all fans of CCM should get behind.

 

[Ads]

Hey guys,

Has there ever been or is there a kids creche/daycare option for game day?

I find the 2-6 year olds just won’t sit still for whole game and it is easier just to stay home for a lot of families.

It could be a great idea and even gives couples a few hours to enjoy a nice outdoor event and also have some time away from the kids.

It wouldn’t need to be profitable, just $10 per child to cover the cost of the lovely child care team.

And a good/positive initiative to advertise and promote in relation to support families on the coast and importance of getting outdoors and mental health.

My wife and many friends are child care professionals so would be interested to know if it’s been tried in the past and what the outcomes were.

 

[Ironbark]

Hey guys,

Has there ever been or is there a kids creche/daycare option for game day?

I find the 2-6 year olds just won’t sit still for whole game and it is easier just to stay home for a lot of families.

It could be a great idea and even gives couples a few hours to enjoy a nice outdoor event and also have some time away from the kids.

It wouldn’t need to be profitable, just $10 per child to cover the cost of the lovely child care team.

And a good/positive initiative to advertise and promote in relation to support families on the coast and importance of getting outdoors and mental health.

My wife and many friends are child care professionals so would be interested to know if it’s been tried in the past and what the outcomes were.

Good thinking. My kids are 6 & 3 and they don't last a full game in the seats.
A few years back I asked management about the possibility of a grassed area for families somewhere - maybe raise the water end under the screen into a slope - but obviously without management rights it's not an option....yet...

 

[Ironbark]

Use sponsors products where possible and drop them an email, tweet, dm on social media thanking them for their support and explaining you buy their product because of their association with CCM.

This is an easy and effective thing to do I think - great suggestion, I'll do this wherever I can

 

[Ironbark]

As others have already said, thanks for starting this discussion thread Waspish, as the continued wallowing in depression can only lead to one outcome.

I for one have been giving a lot of thought to ways we fans might be able to effect some meaningful change to the current situation and am looking to run some ideas past other like-minded people in the hope what I have in mind might be possible. I don’t want to say any more at present, as this is in its infancy and there are a lot of things to work through but I believe that it has the potential to be something that could inspire our fans rather than crushing their spirit, so I really hope it can get off the ground.

Also, whilst I was personally very sceptical about the stadium management rights proposal at first, I am now of the view that it could be very beneficial to the viability of the club (if done properly) and so this is also something that I believe all fans of CCM should get behind.

Looking forward to hearing about it

 

[true believer]

without greater funding we can't progress . the cold hard reality is in the transfer window
the scum added 3 quality players and are thriving . we lost one and one other won't have a go .
we got lucky with harold .but we are just so far behind with cut edge .

without serious money there is no future . as has been said with another team next year
we'll still be here in name .but after that our licence will go to canberra or the more deserving wollongong wolves

 

[Insertnamehere]

Good thinking. My kids are 6 & 3 and they don't last a full game in the seats.
A few years back I asked management about the possibility of a grassed area for families somewhere - maybe raise the water end under the screen into a slope - but obviously without management rights it's not an option....yet...

Portable ski slope covered with astroturf

 

[booney]

Renew your membership. C

 

[booney]

Come to games and try to bring a friend.Buy sponsor's products.The creche is a great idea.

 

[greenlig]

without greater funding we can't progress . the cold hard reality is in the transfer window
the scum added 3 quality players and are thriving . we lost one and one other won't have a go .
we got lucky with harold .but we are just so far behind with cut edge .

without serious money there is no future . as has been said with another team next year
we'll still be here in name .but after that our licence will go to canberra or the more deserving wollongong wolves

Got a suggestion to turn it around TB? Sounds like what we already know.