Forum summary
I notice the club have posted a summary of the Q+A last night.
GA saying he would like to bring in 1 more. 500 club likely to happen again. Club looking at getting big screen operational again.
Did anyone in attendance pick up anything interesting?
Summary from the club website:
https://www.wycombewanderers.co.uk/news/2017/july/live-fans-forum-at-adams-park/
General manager Michael Davies, new club chairman Trevor Stroud, new sporting director Andrew Howard and manager Gareth Ainsworth are addressing supporters at a Fans Forum at Adams Park tonight.
That concludes tonight's Fans Forum. Thanks to all who attended and to our four panelists. See you all on Saturday for the big kick-off.
20:55: Both AH & GA have praised the togetherness of the squad, and mentioned that Adam El-Abd had said it was one of the most united dressing rooms that he has been a part of.
20:50: GA: The new changing room looks fantastic and we are thankful for everyone that helped make it possible. We want to strive for excellence on and off the pitch and they are part of that.
20:49: GA: We're all going to have a crack at it this season, and we'll start by giving it a right go on Saturday.
20:47: GA has praised the versatility of Sido Jombati and the development of Max Muller as both players compete for a place in the Chairboys defence this season.
20:40: Gareth Ainsworth has exclusively revealed that Anthony Stewart has signed a new three-year contract with the club.
20:35 GA: Nathan Tyson is fantastic character to have around. He has bought into the ethos straight away and will be a big player for us this season.
20:30: More signings
GA: I will looking to bring one more player in, but it will be only be if a player is available that can add something to our squad, not just merely to make the numbers up.
20:25: Topic - 500 Club
AH: The 500 Club is one of the best pieces of fan engagement I have seen. It would be fantastic to see it happen again this season.
It is great initiative that sees your money go straight into the playing budget.
20:20: Question: The size of the squad.
GA: With everyone fit we could get 11 v 11. The budget is a factor and there is a lot of competition for players. I made the decision to get a smaller squad of quality rather than a group of young players to make the numbers up.
28, 21, 24, 24 are the number of players used over the last four seasons and we have seen success with those numbers.
20:15: Andrew Howard has thanked all fans and staff during his time as chairman and is excited to begin his new role on the footballing side of the club, supporting Gareth and the players and helping the team push on.
20:00: Manager Gareth Ainsworth and new sporting director Andrew Howard will now face questions from the fans.
19:46: Topic - Use of Away Kit in 2017/18
TS&MD: The Club Charter will be respected and both sponsors will be consulted to ensure maximum exposure for both companies
19:45: Keith Higgins of Wycombe Sound has thanked the club for all their support for the radio station, with both the club and the station looking forward to cotinuing to support one another in the season ahead.
19:30: Topic - Big screen maintenance:
TS & MD: Watch this space. Meetings have taken place to look at the repair of the big screen to try and take it back to its former uses.
19:27: Topic - More advertising around the town:
TS & MD: Our fixture posters and cards are now in and we hope that they can be seen in shops and pubs around the town. If you would like to have our posters in your shop window please get in touch.
19:20 Question: Is it viable to have a shop back in Wycombe town centre?
TS & MD: We are looking to have a larger prescence in the town as seen in the away kit launch, but a shop would not be economically viable.
19:10: Trevor Stroud starts the evening by thanking Andrew Howard for all his hard work as chairman.
19:00- The first part of the evening sees Trust chairman and, as of tomorrow, new club chairman Trevor Stroud and General Manager Michael Davies take questions from the fans.
18:00 - The doors are open at Adams Park, with the bar open and food available. Come on down to hear what the club's management have to say
Comments
Has anyone ever thought of a reciprocal sponsorship arrangement to improve our presence in town?
What I mean is that in return for local businesses displaying WWFC advertising in their businesses in the centre of town, we would do the same for them around the ground.
Of course this would be scaled accordingly - if someone owns a building with a huge wall facing the main road and they cover it in a giant WWFC mural, they get an entire hoarding to themselves behind the goal. If someone puts up a poster in their shop window, they get an equivalent sized poster above a urinal (no offence intended).
Thanks for posting this, cautiously encouraged by the response to the change kit question.
Should look at deal with town centre sports shop to sell merchandise and match day tickets
Does make sense to be honest @Gerry47 . They'll all be flogging Tottenham and Chelsea shirts but surely its worth a punt having a few Akinfenwa kits there?
Why don't we just have a stall on the market?
If it was good enough for that woman who sold Iron Maiden t-shirts and bullet belts outside WH Smith's, it's good enough for WWFC.
It would also allow @rmjlondon to get closer to The townspeople and reel them in with his unique club insights.
I dont think we would get much luck with the big sport shop chains my guess is they give the premier league exclusive rights which helps balance the lack of rights they give their staff and those kids working in Bangladeshi sweat shops.
I would approach an independent shop looking to increase footfall maybe coffee or books something local and individual like the club
Is Mike Keen Sports still round the back of the Octagon?
@Morris_Ital It would be great to see a grassroots DIY marketing campaign led by supporters in independent shops, cafes and restaurants with reciprocal advertising at AP...but I think/know I'm in a minority who think that way.
Don't think Mike Keen sports exists, I was thinking of Sportscrest, not sure if they are a large chain or not.
Does that mean Woodward and Stalder has also gone ?
I think Sportscrest is what used to be Woodward and Stalder.
Is Hawkins Sport (think that was it's name) still going on the top floor of what was the Octagon? Used to be a decent shop that.
The trouble with all these ideas is that you send them into the club and then you get a nice email from someone usually a temp saying thank you for your idea (which they don't mean) and they've considered it (which they haven't) and because not doing anything means less work they hope that you go away and god forbid you send a second email
From my experience
What happened to the "I had a little dream campaign"
@Morris_Ital I work in sports media and advertising and and have twice offered my help, no matter how mundane, on related work pro-bono.
I once heard back from Matt Cecil but after two emails he stopped replying again. I'm sure he's genuinely a very busy man but it just seems a bit poor and a missed opportunity for them.
I contacted the trust to see if they were interested but they just directed me to Matt Cecil. Ho hum.
@bill_stickers You could try John Derben who runs the volunteer scheme PALS. It's not limited to seat cleaning and the like. Email via the Trust website I think.
I've twice offered my professional input for free. Twice never even had a polite thanks but no thanks so gave up.
To be fair a market stall seems a cracking idea....merchandise it up to the hilt, flags, posters, leaflets, advertise the fixtures, even if it doesn't sell mucheck merchandise it would acknowledge the club exists
The top floor of the old Octagon has gone.
A market stall manned by volunteers would seem to be the way to go. Not sure if the tech exists to be able to sell match day tickets from a stall though.
@Gerry47 Someone could have a tablet linked up to the club's system and simply let users purchase then and their using their card.
@bill_stickers and @EwanHoosaami this is bonkers the club has to find a way of utilising your skills maybe the PALS scheme is the way to go although I was under the impression it was for the housekeeping jobs around the ground (my greatest respect to those who give their time doing such no knocking of physical activity here) but if someone could help with marketing, accounting, law etc etc isn't that worth a separate day tea and biccies thrown in.
Sounds crazy not to utilise offered skills unless @bill_stickers pro-bono is £1000 an hour. Perhaps someone close to the heart of the operation ( @rmjlondon ) blackballed them?
I think you will find pro-bono in this context means a freebie, Wendover. Bill is not expressing his love of an Irish rock band.
Whether the club should take him up on his offer surely depends on whether they judge his skills to be NBTWAG.
sorry...I don't have the latin, you see. Seems a bit odd not to take advantage of volunteers with experience offering help for more than running a shammy over a seat. (No offence to shammy seat runners...who are doing sterling work.)
Haha, as Dev says, pro-bono means without fee. I'm not a CEO of a sports marketing agency but I've got nearly 2 years under my belt in sports specifically and nearly 5 years total advertising/marketing experience.
As I said, it can be mundane if they need it (helping print and distribute flyers) right up to marketing strategy should they need it. I'd be thrilled to help and it would benefit my CV too.
Sandwich board on the high street @bill_stickers ?
Club may have a contract with a marketing firm which gives the company exclusive rights to all similar work. I agree however, that as a SUPPORTER OWNED CLUB it should be utilising the various professional skills of its supporters. It would be interesting to know from Mr Cecil why this doesn't happen?
It's interesting to hear of people offering help free and not even being replied to.
I was quite surprised at an away game last year, to be told by a random chap that he had offered to loan a fairly substantial amount of money, but was turned down!
He wasn't asking any interest either.
Maybe more to it, but it seemed surprising, as that was at the real "cash strapped" peak
I have a little Latin (no quips please) but I don't recall NBTWAG.
To be fair...if someone offers to let some money 'rest' in your account for a while it's probably wise to avoid it. If he was giving it I suspect the response would have been different!
Here's an educated guess - No Better Than We've Already Got?>
@Malone said:
He may not have been asking for any interest in the financial sense, Malone, but you can bet your bottom dollar that he was perceived/known to have interests that ran counter to the the interests of others.