I find your idea of what motivates you to buy a membership is one of exception and not the norm when compared with the average supporter.

I also find it ridiculous. You want your membership to have a say on what the coaches do or else you won't sign. Sounds like you want a job, not a membership to support a football club.

You might find this is dictated by the AFL and Telstra owning the website rather than something Carlton has direct control over.

Any thoughts on the cold-calling and raffles, Stephen?

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BLUES 2010: PAV AND JUDD = FLAGS. DOING IT FOR THE LOVE OF DICK PRATT.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR TALKINGCARLTON SUPERCOACH 2009 YET?

Welcome to keoghs world

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Why would someone support any organisation run as poorly as Carlton has been run over the years.
What about the run Jeff Gartlett was given last year. Played selfish football but was never dropped.
Or how supporters were kept in the dark about players injuries. Jarrod Waite's 3 week injury turned out a bit longer
Or how Jeremy Laidler was treated so unprofessionally by the medical staff
Or the peformance of our board that is old, behind the times and sacks coaches after giving them 2 year contracts then having to pay over half a mill which is equivalent to a few standard memberships
Or a reserves coach who removed himself from his 60+ hour job to run training on Friday night
Or the use of meaningless slogans like" Can you smell what the Blues are cooking or "I am Carlton" : slogans that mean @#$%&! all and dont connect members to their club unless that member is booked into the Royal Melbourne for brain surgery
Or how members are generally treated by the club in its quest for money




Generally right across the board now the AFL is not what it was. It has lost its soul.Its now a flower business with too much money involved and unfortunately folks when that happens you lose some things. Just wait till free agency kicks in and see what happens.

I still love Carlton. I love the jumper and at the very least the new coach will not give a @#$%&! what the board thinks because he does things his way but i wont be parting with my 200 bucks until I see real change. For now I am happy to watch from the comfort of my lounge with a few beers. That's what happens when you get a bit older and grumpier. You dont have to do things you thought you had to 15 years ago.


Thats my world and I am happy to be in it

You must be very old.

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dane's trolling again

50

I thought your level of grumpiness was proportionate to your age and assumed you must be older!
Haha.

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dane's trolling again

Todays Carlton shop email has a bonus offer for the interstaters.....and they thanked Grrro for his feedback

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lol

congrats to the club on listening to the feedback

cant say a free growth poster is very exciting but its a start, clearly have an abundance of them in stock

5% or 10% off would have been better and surely wouldn't eat too much into the product margins and would drive sales more than a free chart

i will buy something during the offer though - otherwise they might not continue to listen to feedback

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

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I won't renew until our players can kick straight
#keogh

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Between our dreams and actions lies this world

Does it come with a photo of a Bombers Pep Rally?

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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.”

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"I had to eat"

Dear TC members,

On Monday 11 February, Clinton Bown and Nicole Rowlings were outstanding in giving me 90 minutes of their time to discuss the various issues raised on Talking Carlton. They fully appreciate the need for continuous improvement in the service offered by the Club to its members and they appreciate the sentiments expressed by many of you.

A couple of headline issues are that the Club has to find a balance between making members feel more valued and the need to operate within the budgetary constraints under which the Club operates and the restrictions under which the Club operates as are dictated by the AFL and the venues at which we play home games.

One very interesting fact is that of all Clubs in the AFL, we have the lowest conversion from supporters to members. Research has shown that we have something like 800,000 supporters (Roy Morgan research) with a conversion to 45,000 odd members in 2012. A club like the Western Bulldogs has something like 200,000 supporters and converts 30,000 odd into members.

The Club recognises the need to make membership a sense of belonging to our great Club - for members to feel valued and respected and appreciated for their contribution.

Now dealing with the issues raised:

• No fridge magnets in membership packs : as the Club has been keen to get membership packs out as early as possible, it was not possible to send out fridge magnets before Christmas. Fridge magnets will be sent out to members in March along with the season guide. Your fridge magnets will arrive!
• On disclosing personal information without proper validation : The Club has a process for this and training but accepts that in some instances some staff may not have been following this protocol – and that that is unacceptable. The Club will review their processes to ensure proper validation is undertaken before revealing any personal information.
• As for the items in membership packs -options - no more crappy packs and water bottles in kids packs etc : Whilst the idea of giving people the opportunity to select a certain number of items (say 3 out of 10), this is currently almost an impossible option because of a lack of understanding of the required volumes for each product. These products are manufactured in China and shipping takes 2-3 months. Whilst the Club could survey members, it would only be after a couple of years that it would have a good feel for numbers of each product and at present, in a climate of cost consciousness, it is impractical (note, other clubs have surveyed members and not got it right in terms of volumes per product). The Club is undertaking a full review of it membership fulfilment programme and it value proposition and is continuing to look at options for membership packs and believes that the products included for next season (2014) will be the best we have seen.
• On receiving emails from MM asking for commitment after you have already signed up as a member : The Club is investing heavily in a CRM system to better data profile members. Unfortunately, there have been limitations due to our existing databases and the Club is working hard to improve in this area.
• On the $200 raffle tickets: This is an issue. The Club needs to constantly find revenue to meet the rising costs of football. The raffle process has been an important revenue raiser and will continue to be so. However, once a person has said no, they should not be contacted again. Clinton has confirmed that the "no call" lists are to be re-enforced with its 3rd party supplier.
• On engaging better with members : the Club is looking to have more Member's forums. Talking Carlton members have already met with Clinton and Nicole in the past. There are forums on social media, for the Cheer Squad and for Interstate support groups in 2013.
• On recognising years of membership: The Club, together with other clubs, are looking at loyalty programs. They are very expensive to set up and accordingly, a collective effort will save money by getting others on board. The Club sees this as a priority.
• On reserved seating : there were many comments about the costs increases to "Captains Club", a waiting list, how years of membership should afford a discount as to costs of reserved seats. Level 2 premium reserved seating is at capacity. One TC member mentioned his/her 6 year old son and not being able to sit together once he had reached that age and needed a separate seat. This will always be a problem when there is no spare capacity. Even level 1 seating is filling out. It is a supply v demand issue. There is a waiting list of 300 on level 2 seating. There is no easy answer when there are space limitations.
• on online renewals and authentication issues : online membership purchasing has increased from 17% to 30% of total members in the past 2 years. Our website is controlled by the AFL and Ticketmaster. To a large extent, our online membership renewal system is a slave to the AFL and Ticketmaster.
• On the Blue Print : the Club has determined that the purpose of the Blue Print was for it to be an issues forum and not a review of the previous game. Accordingly it has been decided to broadcast fortnightly instead of weekly. As well, there is no fire wall to enable member only content.
• On member benefits : by being a Captains Club member, each week 2 members will be picked from a weekly draw to have access to double passes to the rooms both before and after the game. The Club is looking for more ways to involve members and give them inner-sanctum experiences. As well, the Club is working on a "Ghost Tour of Prices Park" to be hosted by Tony de Bolfo. They will be night tours that will involve being taken into the training facilities. There will be a minimal charge to cover catering costs.
• On being able to hand back an unused seat - a la Melb Victory : apparently Essendon* were granted a trial of this last year by the AFL. the Club is looking into it.
• On Member only bays : we do have "member only" bays but what often happens is that Carlton members give their tickets to opposition supporters - very difficult to police. The tickets are not transferable but who is going to check?
• On father/son, father/daughter, mother/son, mother/daughter membership: this is an idea worth exploring and the Club will look at it.
• On building your own type of membership : this is difficult - again we are limited by the AFL and Ticketmaster to a degree but otherwise, it is about maximising a return. We are currently in the 2nd to 3rd quartile in terms of return per member (meaning we are far from the most expensive) and we need to be cognisant of the balance between value for money and achieving appropriate returns.
• On flexible options for Etihad and MCG : very difficult to arrange in light of the fact that level 2 seating is now full and level 1 filling quickly.
• On having electronic ticketing options rather than having to hand over your membership card to a friend/family member : can't be done - restricted by stadium ticketing agencies.
• On having future member days : Family Day is our major membership day, and the Club will look to increase the number of Open Training sessions throughout 2013.
• Discounts for card carrying members at matches on merchandise : can't be done - Club doesn't control the outlets on game day. This has changed from previous seasons.
• On New Home Ground : you have seen Greg Swann's letter - MCG hopefully for 8 games.
• On getting a member number on joining : this could be done and will be looked at for next season.
• CFC TV membership : tough one as they don't cover Northern Blues games apart from some limited footage and cost prohibitive.
• How do we make interstate members feel a sense of belonging? As I have said, I will campaign for the re-introduction of voting rights for Long Distance members. Introduced this season - Long Distance members will have access to the Social Club room (formerly Stephen Kernahan room) at home games at both venues and can enter the ballot for 2 passes into the rooms before and after games in their home states.
• CFC only GA bays : as stated before, there are 3 walk up bays for Captains Club members - this is an additional cost of $200 per annum rather than $40-$50 per game.
• Interstate games shown at CFC Pubs: this was looked at last year but the Club didn't feel we would get sufficient attendance to make it a worthwhile exercise.

It may well be that not every issue has been addressed but the Club is keen to hear on going feedback and wants to be better at what it does to ensure we provide better engagement with our members and create a greater sense of belonging.

Happy to take further feedback.

Cheers

Stephen M

You forgot the bar overlooking the ground :sigh:














Thanks for taking the time to fill us in. We obviously have the same issues with AFL and Tucketmaster as all other clubs - is there an opportunity to pressure the AFL as a collective or don't the others care enough?

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"I will rejoice in their anguish, delight in their failure and revel in our success"

We are Carlton, @#$%&! the rest !!!!!!

Missed any mention of making AFL Members with Carlton Club Support Memberships feel more included.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

Thank you for your efforts Stephen.

I will however have a bit of a whinge.

Today my member pack and and my son's member pack arrived. My son got a flag without a stick... which seems a little odd. He also got a scarf. I got a voucher for a scarf... again odd.

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Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.

Excellent response Stephen, thank you and please pass on our thanks to Clinton and Nicole for taking the time to respond to our questions.

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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

Brilliant.
Thanks for your efforts Stephen.
Greatly appreciated.

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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.”