Arsenal America Elections.

Discussion in 'Arsenal' started by antifan, Jun 28, 2010.

?

Have you voted in an ArseAm election?

Poll closed Jul 28, 2010.
  1. Yes

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  2. No

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. antifan

    antifan Member+

    Aug 14, 2004
    The Scottie
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If i remember correctly, didn't that conflict with Josh's "roadtrip" to Wigan? :rolleyes:

    Anyway, what are you still bitching about? I went! ;)
     
  2. Barciur

    Barciur Member+

    Apr 25, 2010
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Poland
    Arsenal were here for Dallas Cup recently ;)
     
  3. WoodDraw

    WoodDraw Member+

    May 29, 2007
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't mean to get involved in something that everyone else has much more experience with, but shouldn't the goals of the organization be to:

    1. Provide a national group that organizes meetups, coordinates between all the regional groups, and offers support to local supporters with no regional group or clear idea on how to support the club (ex. get tickets, get involved, etc.)

    2. Help support regional groups, especially the new ones setting up (ex. here's what we've found works best, here's a nice person close by we know who can give you advice, we'll announce you on our twitter/homepage, here's how to get started with tshirts/scarves, etc.);

    3. Create some merchandise once a season we can all get/buy?


    I'm looking at the website right now, and I can't tell wtf they do? I'm lucky enough to have good sources of tickets to Arsenal, so I've never had the need for it. But I'd gladly pay every season if I thought it was providing a good resource to fellow supporters here, especially those that aren't bigsoccer posters. But from what I can tell, they make a podcast. Full stop.

    Make a link at the top to "Arsenal on TV". Make it a link to a blogpost with the fixtures, updated as TV schedules are announced. Isn't that something that everyone would find helpful? All anyone has to do is take it from here. Epi has done most of the work, and other's pitch in occasionally. Someone wants to be in charge? Good, give them a free scarf or beer or a random ticket, for all I care. This is how these organizations work. No one cares, it's expected.

    And link to a forum. Give people an immediate path to interact with fellow supporters as soon as you're there. Make it to BigSoccer god forbid, since there are a lot of already involved Americans here. Although it sounds like egos are too involved for that (I checked the links, and there appear to be none to BS).

    Those might (do?) sound stupid and small, but there are one hundred little things like that that make a group website so more inviting and draw people in. As it is, save the bandwidth and just say, "Check payable to: xxx". You'll never draw people into paying money with a group set up like this.

    The excuse is always, "become involved then". But how? From what I can tell, the national organization is a mess with no clear path into the hierarchy. Perhaps I'm wrong (and I hope I am). Perhaps I should make a better effort to say hello and meet people when I'm in London, and to visit more of the locals here. I do visit quite a few, but I just go in and have a beer, talk with whoever is around, and leave. I'm going to pay more attention now, but it seems pretty lost at the moment.
     
    antifan repped this.
  4. antifan

    antifan Member+

    Aug 14, 2004
    The Scottie
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    In Philly?
     
  5. Barciur

    Barciur Member+

    Apr 25, 2010
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Poland
    I misunderstood what Dallas Gooner was getting at.
     
  6. Kanuuuu

    Kanuuuu Member

    Apr 2, 2003
    US
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I'm just stating the obvious, but the work Rick did was incredible. He certainly went out of his way to help me out with tickets on more than one occasion!
     
    Detlef repped this.
  7. Shincansen

    Shincansen New Member

    Sep 30, 2013
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    1) agree about true Gooners! (I missed this group)
    2) We (Philly Gooners) tried asking for financial statements--questions posed by the Philly leadership as well as by our members. We did this on the AA website as well as via the Branch Managers Facebook group. Nada. We even asked "what does my $25 get me?" a smaller scope question. Responses were not satisfactory. Apparently, the AA website costs trillions.

    Some of our members have experience with other groups--friends in the Polish Arsenal Supporters Club leadership, for example--and these groups are quite clear about their money and where it has been. They heard about AA setup and were, according to our contacts, shocked.
    3) Related, our independence is going very well--and our group is thrilled with it. Aside from a link on the AA website, we don't feel we've lost much.

    Also, Rick is part of why I'm an Arsenal fan. He got tickets for me and my family back in my first days of following Arsenal. Further, the discussions on Big Soccer were superb. I said it before, and here I go again--I loved those days.
     
  8. Bluto11

    Bluto11 The sky is falling!

    May 16, 2003
    Chicago, IL
    Big Soccer was the official forum for Arsenal America. I'm not sure why that changed.
     
    DougG_ATL and WoodDraw repped this.
  9. DallasGooner

    DallasGooner Member

    Apr 16, 2003
    Dallas, Texas
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Josh did not want it to be so he ended that relationship. I don't know the reasons behind that.
     
  10. Bluto11

    Bluto11 The sky is falling!

    May 16, 2003
    Chicago, IL
    How dictatorial
     
  11. antifan

    antifan Member+

    Aug 14, 2004
    The Scottie
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Josh obviously wanted complete control over what information comes out about ArsenalAmerica, and so now, no information comes out about ArsenalAmerica.
     
  12. kanonier

    kanonier Member+

    Nov 7, 2005
    Bloomington, Ind.
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I sit on the board of a national non-profit organization, and this type of shit happens everywhere. It's an unfortunate fact of life. The strangest thing to me about ArseAm is where the lines of accountability run -- legally or otherwise.

    The non-profit I sit for is incorporated in Wyoming and does business in a number of states, in which we have to register our offices. We have bylaws, and, as board members (or exec members) have a legal accountability for the financial health and fiduciary operations of the organization.

    Where does the line of accountability with ArseAm run, if not to the club itself? What's to stop me and a couple of friends from saying "Screw it. We're Arsenal America now, and the other guys don't count" (An exaggeration, but you get the point).

    I don't understand why there would be more than 50 members of ArseAm at this point. What's the benefit?
     
  13. antifan

    antifan Member+

    Aug 14, 2004
    The Scottie
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Unfortunately, that really isn't an exaggeration at all.

    If things don't change soon, i'm going to start looking into the legal ramifications, because until there is financial transparency, i have to view ArseAm as an ongoing fraud.
     
  14. ArsenalTexan3

    ArsenalTexan3 Member

    Arsenal
    Sep 24, 2002
    Jakarta
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I tried to give josh ideas in what Arsenal Scotland did and I am sure it is posted here some where..

    I think Dallas Gooner asked me about back in the day.

    As for Arsenal Poland, ASSC played them in the supporters tourney Arsenal ran. If Arsenal still do this, it could be a perk for being a member. A shirt would be nice or a scarf.
     
  15. DallasGooner

    DallasGooner Member

    Apr 16, 2003
    Dallas, Texas
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    A shirt would double or triple memberships.
     
  16. WoodDraw

    WoodDraw Member+

    May 29, 2007
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    How's arsenal America organized legally? I hope along with their nda's they're being indemnified too. What a mess.
     
  17. WoodDraw

    WoodDraw Member+

    May 29, 2007
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I always see them getting these big names (in the arsenal world at least) on their podcasts. If people want things to change, reach out to these bloggers and tell them what's going on.

    If there is one thing a club like arsenal hates, it's bad press. They might say fix it among yourselves, but get one important person involved and they'll pull the plug immediately.
     
    antifan repped this.
  18. antifan

    antifan Member+

    Aug 14, 2004
    The Scottie
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah, this has gone on too long. It's lucky for the current officers of ArseAm that these issues have mostly been confined to the relative backwater that is BigSoccer. This story could easily be spread across the plethora of Gooner blogs and websites. If i was President of AA, i wouldn't want my name all over the internet associated with a story like this. The issues of elections and financial transparency need to be addressed, and quickly, or this could get ugly.
     
  19. DallasGooner

    DallasGooner Member

    Apr 16, 2003
    Dallas, Texas
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Well

    Of course most who try get tickets are disappointed, the occasional discount is now 100% dead but hey, we get usernames!

    I think most paid just to have their branch listed since they require that now.
     
  20. WoodDraw

    WoodDraw Member+

    May 29, 2007
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    What tickets do they have access to now? What do they pay for? I'm interested now?

    Please, raise you hand, especially those of you involved, if you've taken advantage of anything I put in bold. These are some great benefits people are paying you to have. How have those free yearly meetings and tickets gone? Having fun?

    [edit]

    Source: http://www.arsenal.com/supportersclubs/setting-up-your-own-club
     
  21. WoodDraw

    WoodDraw Member+

    May 29, 2007
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So the tickets are provided through Arsenal now??? What do the membership fees go to? Who votes on player of the year? Has any AA representative attended any club function? Why have you not taken advantage of the FREE license to provide us fun AA things?

    I can have no respect for anyone involved until those question are answered. Including those "changing things from within"
     
  22. WoodDraw

    WoodDraw Member+

    May 29, 2007
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #747 WoodDraw, Oct 2, 2013
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2013
    So I wrote an email to Jill. I'll post it here in full disclosure first to see if anyone disagrees with what I'm saying. If you do, please tell me. I'm happy to change anything that I got wrong, and if anyone has answers to the questions I asked, tell me! I don't want to embarrass myself. And please correct my typos!


    I'll keep it in my box for a day or two, unless you people tell me I'm crazy.

    [edit]I said supporters/support/blah too much now that I've reread it. I'm not the best writer. :( I'll edit
     
  23. antifan

    antifan Member+

    Aug 14, 2004
    The Scottie
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    First of all, there were elections about 2 years ago, when Josh was (re)elected running unopposed. I was fine with that, because at least they created a process for elections. I don't know why that process was abandoned.

    Secondly, Jill is the coordinator for hundreds of supporters clubs, and doesn't have time to micromanage AA's internal affairs. If you want to inform her of your concerns do so, but don't quiz her with a bunch of questions that AA's leadership should be answering. If you want to answers to the questions, i would encourage you to email Charles Belle, it's his name on the door now.
     
    WoodDraw repped this.
  24. WoodDraw

    WoodDraw Member+

    May 29, 2007
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I disagree, but thanks. I'll correct the email. :)
     
  25. antifan

    antifan Member+

    Aug 14, 2004
    The Scottie
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Do you mind me asking what you disagree with? I've met Jill many times at away matches, and i can assure you, she is a very busy woman. As I said, Charles is in power now, and he's going to have to decide quickly whether he wants to reform AA as an organization, or continue on its current path. I hope he chooses wisely.
     

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