Your thoughts?

http://www.carltonfc.com.au/portals/0/b ... eprint.pdf

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The Spirit of Carlton compels you!

Apparently this e-mail is now being sent out:

Dear <name>,

The 2011 AFL season kicks off in just over two weeks time and once again Carlton will be involved in the season opening game. This year we have a home game against Richmond at the MCG on Thursday March 24th with the match commencing at 7:40pm.

It will be the start of what promises to be an exciting and hopefully successful year for the Carlton Football Club and we are delighted that you are part of the Club in 2011.

As we have improved in recent years, the expectations have grown and this year we aim to continue to improve. Our objective is to once again be involved in the finals and to take another step and make sure we win a final. This is important for our development and once a team enjoys finals success it becomes part of the culture and gives everyone confidence going forward.

All Carlton people are aware of our wonderful history, the ultimate success the Club has enjoyed on sixteen occasions in the AFL. While we cannot live in the past, acknowledging and recognising those people that have helped create our history is important.

On Saturday March 26, the Carlton Hall of Fame Dinner, celebrating the 1981/82 Carlton premiership reunion will be held at Crown. This is a very important night for the Carlton Football Club as we honour those people who have played a significant role in our Club. During this function we will be inducting five new people into the Carlton Hall of Fame and one current Hall of Fame Member will be elevated to Legend Status.

Together with the celebrations of the 1981/82 Carlton Premiership reunion, this promises to be a very special night for Carlton people.

As part of the desire to acknowledge our history, the Spirit of Carlton – past and present, has assisted with the funding of a cabinet at Visy Park that enables us to display Carlton memorabilia for supporters to enjoy. The current display features the 1981/82 Grand Finals, including the Norm Smith Medal won by Bruce Doull in 1981.

While we must never forget what has happened in the past, it is now and the future that is most important for everyone at the Carlton Football Club. We know 2011 is shaping as a critical season in our ongoing development on the field as we strive to build a team that will win the Club's 17th AFL Premiership.

After months of discussion between the Board and Senior Management, together with consultants, we have released our five year plan – Carlton's Blue Print for now and the future. This is about taking the club forward from 2010.

In recent years we have strived to ensure we provide the very best facilities and support for the players and this culminated in the opening of the world-class facilities at Visy Park in 2010. While we will continue to ensure Carlton has the best resourced football department, this is just one element of the important strategic plan.

The Board believes it is important for everyone involved with the Carlton Football Club to be aware of the key elements of the Carlton Blue Print. This includes the Carlton Values and the Club's Strategic Objectives:

The Carlton Values:
Integrity
Teamwork
Innovation
Leadership
Excellence

Carlton's Objectives – By the end of the 2015 AFL season we will have:
Premierships – sustained success, including winning our 17th premiership, leading to winning two premierships by 2015
Supporters & Stakeholders – largest engaged supporter base
Brand – highest rating 'value for money' services for members, sponsors and supporters among our peers
People – attract, develop and retain a remarkable team of high performers
Financial – best resourced football department, sustainable surpluses for investment and a healthy balance sheet
A more detailed summary of the strategic plan has been released on the Carlton website for you to view. Click here to view the Carlton Blue Print online.

Importantly the Strategic Plan is more than words and ideas; it has true meaning and is part of the culture of the Carlton Football Club. This is a living plan, one that everyone at Carlton; the Board, Management, Staff, Coaches and players will live by. We believe it is a true blue print for our future and trust it provides you with confidence in what the future holds for your Club.

The Carlton Football Club promise is to be uncompromising in pursuit of sustained success and our mission is to win premierships and provide amazing experiences. This is part of our trademark and the benchmark for how the Club operates today, tomorrow and in the future.

We thank you for being an important part of the Carlton Football Club and look forward to enjoying a fantastic season together, commencing on Thursday March 24 at the MCG.

Yours sincerely



Stephen Kernahan
Carlton Football Club President
Member #1018328

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

They mention premierships a lot.

That's good.

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I hope Essendon* folds.

I don't understand how you all got my PRIVATE email!!
sheesh.

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That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”

DEBT target ??? ahhh forget about it, we promise Premierships: yes plural by 2015 Hooray!!!!
Jesus tapdancing.

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Green Shooter

Some of these objectives will be quite easy to measure but some are open for interpretation.

Lots of fluff - not much detail. Will be interested to see how the club works to translate catchphrases and trendy words into performance and results.

Yeah that's my impression as well woof, essentially it looks like the club has pushed out a marketing/management undergrad's idea of club goals, then tacked on two or three tangible components.

This is a very sketchy blue print, and it needs some yearly & medium-term and five-year targets set out in each category that can be quantified, eg. yearly membership numbers or growth, revenue growth, growth in certain areas of investment.

This is the managerial equivalent of a fluff piece, and will confuse (the value charts are repetitive and verbose), or disappoint (those familiar with this office waffle) most people.


It mentions working towards a healthier balance sheet, that'd be the debt target in its early form.

CFC article

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

If you want the de-fluffed version condensed into about 2 A4's....

EDIT: PDF text removed; please do not quote an entire document in future, it's easy enough to read in PDF form, and links have been provided for anybody who wants to take a look.

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There's so much I could say...

Apparently the extended version is confidential (and rightly so).
Lets hope it is less sloganistic and direct in addressing how these lofty ambitions will be met.

I am sorry, but that was crap. Hope this is not the info promised by Stephen. Absolute fluff and nothing about debt reduction. Derr so we wanna win a premiership.. Are the sure? I thought we only wanted to win one final in Melbourne.

Another amateur performance by the club.

This is expected, just like any business.

What are the measurements of success? Performance Management goals for the Executives and Board Members?

If I attend the AGM this year and ask how we performed for the year according to the Strategic Plan, how do we know it won't be fluff?

At least Richmond put figures on there strategic plan.

What are our targets for increasing revenue per year?
How much debt to we aim to clear each year?
When do we plan to be debt free?
How many members do we intend to grow by each year?
How many members do we intend to target? 60k or 70k?

PS: What the hell is "Highest rating of ‘value for money’ services for members, supporters and sponsors among our peers"

Anymore detail than that and supporters wouldn't understand it.

Not sure what you're expecting to see in there, or if you believe thats the 5 year plan the board are working off.

From a club that gives its supporters little, I think this is a pretty good effort.

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

Rubbish.

We are targeting 45k members in 2011, 50k in 2012 .... 70k by 2015
We are targeting 10% revenue increase per annum
We are targeting 2014 to eradicate all debt

We don't need depth, that's what the internal plan would have. Simple targets that layman will understand and something we can 'call out' at an AGM.

Listed Companies need to demonstrate consistent execution on business plans (example being 10% revenue growth pa), in this case we the supporter (Strategic Objective 2) are the investor.

Agree with Rafa here Brad, people can understand simple key targets like that, and it provides accountability for the board, and for Swann and his team.

You don't want everything out in the open to be dissected, but there are key points that won't shift in scope or ideology, and they can be clearly addressed in a public document.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

We've just rehashed and extended this:
http://www.richmondfc.com.au/portals/0/ ... %20pdf.pdf

Which means we need to find something else we can claim as 'INNOVATION'.

Why put down stretch targets for everyone to see and then point out when not reached?

Keep the really ambitious stuff in house, that's fine.

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Between our dreams and actions lies this world

so in essence... the boys club have just have just re-elected themselves until 2015 with this 'document'

...and you know there won't be any challengers for you to vote for until then.. don't you??

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There's so much I could say...

Not too much you can write on such a note that pleases everyone.

So you really just want to be able to sit at home and tick off a few key targets on a blueprint and that'll somehow make you think the board is accountable to you.

Anyone who's been to an AGM and sat through question time will understand the thought of some supporter wasting 10mins of time going through the blueprint one by one will make you shudder.

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010