Oh, so the SG's have a large enough marketing budget where they can go outside of social media to advertise their organization? Why don't you attempt to be apart of the marketing team for an SG, or are you just going to continually sit on your ivory tower and never actually strive to accomplish anything other than being a useless uninformed trolled? You are literally clueless.
The SG's post it on their pages, the members then share that same information on their pages or through twitter, or through a variety of social mediums. What else should we do exactly? Please tell us how each of us should spend more of our personal time?
Nope, its not. Nor is it a citizens job to help an old lady cross the street. Sometimes you just have to do stuff just because you know no one else will. Kraft is apathetic. We can either sit around and complain about what's wrong, or we could do our best to make things right. And in the end, if we don't make a difference, we try harder. You're clearly not reading what people are writing.
The SGs, by virtue of their love of the team, promote the team. I recall posting a photo or video of the Cauldron marching as a group in a St. Patrick's Day parade. Boston has a HUGE St. Paddy's parade. Obviously a good showing there would go a long way to promote the new season and build interest in soccer in the region. Bands often do promotions using street teams that are volunteers and aren't getting paid either. If the Revs SGs are taking the position that they have no responsibility in promoting the Revs brand, then what is their function?
Talk to other Revs fans. Setup a booth just beyond the entrance at the stadium before the stairs/ramps. Have another group chanting at the top of the stairs. There's so much animosity towards the ownership and FO, that there seems to be this barrier to working with the FO on simple things. Maybe the PA announcer can throw out a shoutout or 2 to the Fort during the game, or a "don't forget to visit the Riders' membership booth . . ."
I haven’t been as involved in the Supporters Groups in recent years as I once was, but I think those blaming the fort need to understand a few things about the evolution of these groups. First, let me say that Mike has a valid point that it is indeed “lame” when there isn’t a unified effort, and people are just goofing around. On the other hand, when the Fort is in full voice, it truly is a special atmosphere that you won’t find anywhere else in this region. There has always been tension between supporters groups and club management. Always. Even though the Midnight Riders worked with the FO months upon months ahead of the first game and were assured that it was OK to stand, chant, sing, etc., lots of people weren’t used to it and didn’t like it. It took several years for ticket reps to acknowledge that “regular” cheap seat ticketers should not go in the fort. Whenever that happened, no one was happy, and certainly the “soccer mom” who was unknowingly put in the fort probably never came back. The whole uneasy relationship persisted for several years. Yeah, they’d pay lip service when they saw other newer teams embrace supporter culture, but it was always a one-way street. Then there was Fortgate. An absolutely despicable moment on the part of the FO, where they let sub-humans run roughshod over their most ardent fans. And then lied through their teeth about it, and even spun things to the point that Don Garber himself said that they “handled” it. Is it any wonder that there was a loss in enthusiasm after something like that? Can the SGs do a better job of outreach? Sure, but that’s like saying you should plant new azalea bushes in the yard when the house is falling down, because the pretty colors look nice when they bloom in the springtime. I’m not one for analyzing % of blame, but any way you slice it, the Revolution organization as a whole deserves the lion’s share. They are in a position to do things about a bad situation. Supporters Groups can only do what they are allowed to do. We’ve seen what happens when they try to do more.
The only place we can have a booth is where we've put one up. They used to announce it for a few years, and then they stopped doing it, probably because they were trying to avoid having to name 3 groups or whatever.
An old lady needs help crossing the street because there is literally no service available to do that for her. The Revs have a service in the form of a billionaire owner. The two situations are not analogous at any extent. The only difference we can make is to hold the ownership accountable for failing so miserably on delivering on it's product. All the efforts in the world by SG's cannot overcome the abject failures and disinterest by an ownership that has all the means to be able to fix the problems.
And as was noted, the groups already are reaching out. It's not like they're standing still and content with what they have, which was what Jd said.
You are cherry picking specific things that other SG's do that the Revs SG's don't, or possibly can't (even though you would have no idea about that). You literally have no idea what the SG's do or don't do. They've held plenty of charitable and promotional events. You chose to ignore them, because they aren't convenient for your argument. You are just a troll.
This post just proves how utterly clueless you are, and that all of these criticisms that you have are not based in any sort of factual account of what actually happens. Happy trolling.
So, work with the FO to get it back. It's not rocket science. So, the FO stopped promoting the SGs during the games. What should we do about it? Complain online!
Let me just ask this simple question: Will the SGs be a part of the Southie St. Patrick's Day Parade? Yes or No
You seem to be doing a lot of complaining online about the SG's. It's not rocket science, join one and try to enact change.
Like away game viewings when you're reaching out to existing fans already? Will those "dozens of other events" have the same number of people? The parade is a huge event 1 week prior to the home opener. The timing is perfect.
You keep complaining that all we're doing is complaining on message boards, while all you do is complain about us complaining. So what's your point exactly? I've given you multiple examples of things the groups do, you've chosen to ignore almost all of them. So I'll ask again? Do you sell out your section? Do you do enough for the atmosphere? Maybe it's not the SGs that are failing, maybe it's just you? I give up ... someone who does absolutely nothing is trying to those that have spent years trying to make things better ... that they didn't/don't do enough.
Do you even have any clue as to the logistics of marching in the Southie Parade? Obviously you don't based on your uninformed comments on here. You're a clueless troll complaining on the internet. Congratulations.
Ya, You don't just show up. There is a vetting process, like you can't be gay and stuff, and a board vote then a contract.
It's more like the crossing guard is drunk and useless, so you help the old lady across the street. There's really not much I can do from where I live, but I think we should start a thread where we brainstorm ideas. All I ever hear is that "this can't be done because reason 'A'." Anything can be done. Everything is possible.
Complaining about the SGs not providing atmosphere is like the farmer who chased all the bees off his farm, then complained that his crops weren't pollinated. You really think the SGs in Portland and Seattle are vibrant just because they try harder? NO! It's because they have owners that embrace what they bring to the team. Makes a huge difference.
You know, at the end of the day, it's their team, it's their stadium, and it's their rules. We can either keep bashing our heads against the brick wall, or we can look for a way around it. Yeah, it stinks that we're not allowed to do the same sorts of things that other supporters around the league can do. But from something of an outsider's perspective, I think we let that paralyze us at times. For instance, surely the Revs wouldn't object to using red, white, and blue pieces of paper/cardboard for a tifo display: Any reason we can't start by trying something like this and see how it goes?