Alert: 1st Annual New England Revolution Supporter’s Summit

I'm excerpting just this one sentence because it perfectly captures the negative bias IMO. They plan something that EVERYONE seems to agree is a good idea, but the time planned for it is "inconvenient for some" (as though *any* time is not going to be inconvenient for someone!) - and that amounts to "bungling". Okay, sure.

When I hear some of the complaints about the team on this board, I think dedicated Sox, Pats, Bruins or Celtics (not to mention thousands of other pro sports team) fans would be laughing hysterically.

 

fixed your post . I do hope they push it back to 7pm as it makes it much easier for a 9-5'er with 1 car and a family like me to get myself there.

Back on task, I would really like to be able to do 2-stick flags, and be able to bring them in on game day. I don't particularly like the idea of leaving a flag at the stadium and then waiting on Garret to showup (not trying to bust your balls, I do appreciate what you have done for us) to get the flag.

I would also like to have clarification on the early tailgaiting.

Also, wasn't there supposed to be some sort of beer garden last year? Did I miss something, or did I make it up in my head?

I am 100% down with asking the FO to put away supporters in crappier seats. I think part of the fun of going to an away match is being treated like unwelcome guests, and we shouldn't be denying our visitors that treatment.

 

I don't know if it is possible to setup some sort of independent TIFO committee and just work off of donations. I really can't say whether people would donate, but I would certainly pitch in some money towards a well presented plan for a new, larger banner or some flags, or some crazy tifo display.

 

Yes... bungling. Plain and simple.

Revolution management scheduled a long overdue supporters' summit in an effort to engage their core audience in a discussion of key issues impacting the franchise. Brilliant! Clearly, as you have touched upon, everyone in the team's fan-base seems to believe this is a good idea.

So, given that so many people are in favor of such an event, it stands to reason that a lot of Revolution supporters are going to want to attend said event. I'm going to go out on a limb and presume that the vast majority of said supporters are engaged in some sort of gainful employment. I'm going to take it a step further and presume that these employment responsibilities tie-up the vast majority of said supporters until at least 5:00 PM on weekdays - Thursday, February 18th, 2009 included. Factoring in the godforsaken state of rush-hour traffic in and around Greater Boston, it stands to reason that unless one happens to be a New England Revolution supporter who actually works in the immediate vicinity of Gillette Stadium, the odds of successfully making one's way from one's workplace to the stadium in the hour between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM are remote. Thus, it seems apparent that a significant number of supporters who might really like to attend this event would be forced to arrive late or, dissuaded by the prospect of fighting the aforementioned traffic, skip the event entirely. Either way, said supporters aren't reaping the full benefit of the event.

Granted, any time that was eventually settled upon for this event was going to be inconvenient for some people. That said, I find it hard to believe that any prospective time-slot was going to prove as inconvenient - if not downright impossible to deal with - for as many people as 6:00 PM on a weeknight.

Bottom line? While Revolution management is moving in the right direction by recognizing the need for an event such as this supporters' summit, a common sense understanding of commuting in and around Boston says that they dropped the ball if they were trying to schedule it to accommodate as many people as possible. The devil is in the details... and that is something that Revolution management needs to get much better at recognizing in order to avoid the "bungling" tag that they've earned to date.

The question is, would they be laughing at the complaints... or at the "been down so long it looks like up" mindset that renders some Revolution supporters more than willing to accept the sub-par treatment this franchise's ownership and management team foists upon the fan-base?

 

Have you met any Bruins fans? We are a cynical, sarcastic nasty bunch that makes rkane look soccerdoc-esque optimistic! Sox fans aren't much better in the optimism-meter, a trip to SoSH will prove it. Being critical isn't bad if there is a reasonable argument. In this case it's very rational to question the logistics of the majority of Revs fans that don't work in a 10-20 mile radius of Gilette Stadium making it to the summit between 5-6 on a work night.

Great post Brian.

The Revs have DTF. Why don't they host live webcasts with fans able to post questions real time to Brian, et al? The time frame isn't ideal but if that's a constraint they're working in, if they did a webcast on DTF during the 5-6 pm time frame it may work much better than logistically trying to make it to the stadium in that window. People may be in front of a computer at work anyway, why not?

They're pretty easy to do; it's possible to set up a live chat session for them in less than 10 minutes.

 

Brian are you done yet? people have been making positive comments and helpful comments as to what to discuss... you have not. I look forward to you joining us

 

I take that back Brian you have offered up the questio as to whether or not team ops will be there i apologize however we all know the ineptitude of the FO can we just please move on to try to make some good out of this.

And revsliverpool you have a point about the webcast that is a good idea but there is still nothing like people sitting down together face to face and talking, but it would be nice to incorporate that in as well

 

C'Mon how can you not love a Brian in Boston, War & Peacesque post???? IDK it must be my ADD kicking in but I've actually never read one of his epic posts!

If the entire post doesn't fit on the screen I just skip the whole thing....Let me know if I miss something good!!

 

If you didn't read something I've posted, you've missed something good.

 

Can't make it due to work/time however I'd be interested if they could begin putting away supporters in the furtherest, most remote section of the stadium as we get when visiting the Scum. Additionally, allowing the majority of revs supporters to leave the stadium prior to letting out the away supports would also be a good idea (not sure if they do this already or not but i suspect not).

Bri, I think you touched on this, but I'd be interested if the flag/banner policy could be relaxed a bit. My understanding, and correct me if i'm wrong, that flags must be brought in and stored at foxboro. Not as bad as not being able to use them at all but that is still a hassle. I'm sure that the folks working the gates could easily procure a tape measure and read four letter words prior to allowing them in the gates. This assuming it's not team ops doing this.

For a supporter to supporter discussion it may be useful to work out some sort of communication method (besides bigsoccer) for organizing prior to a match. For example -Hey we are trying out this new chant, here is the tune and lyrics - want to try it at the 30th minute - can you get this to your group that type of stuff. We try to do some of this during the match with mixed results.

Lastly, and sorry for the long post, could we request that at least in the fort we get less vendors with coors light and more with margaritas and Guinness.

Oh and keep "red bull" girls or whatever the f they are out of the supporters area.

thanks
tommy

 

I loved that!! I got at least 50 free cans of Red Bull. Saved me about $300 on it. I hope they come every year. Plus they were great heckling targets and apparently awful luck, cuz we killed them 4-0. I just don't want parachute crews.

 

Your heart hasn't exploded yet? Congrats! That stuff is painful to think about ingesting. People here mix it with vodka and the thought makes me want to yack.

 

Some people at the tailgate refuse to drink it because it says Red Bull and I even saw some people get mad for Revs fans taking them. Being loyal to the Revs is one thing but not using products because they sponsor a rival is quite ridiculous. I wonder how many Revs fans would stop playing XBox?

 

Is it? There is a very good reason why Celtic and Rangers end up having the same shirt sponsors; the sponsor doesn't want to piss off half of the soccer fans of Glasgow. You may find it ridiculous, others may see it as passion for their club.

I haven't bought or drank a Red Bull since they bought the Metros.

 

Some people gave me a hard time because I was interviewing for a sales job with Red Bull. I agree Steve it is quite ridiculous. I am not going to stop shopping at Best Buy because they are a sponsor for the Fire.

 

Did I say anything about the New York Red Bulls?

I was commenting on the drink. It's f'ing disgusting and wouldn't drink it even if they sponsored the Revs.

That said I agree with Monty and Wolf on brand/team loyalty in many instances being a factor in purchase decision making. All things being equal if the Revs are sponsored by Staples and the Fire by Best Buy I'll go to Staples first. I'll admit I got a bank acct at Barclays in the UK (initially, til they proved they suck ass) over similar banks based largely because they sponsored the EPL. This type of decision making isn't an anomaly either, it's serious business. You think Newcastle fans acknowledge Boylesport? Spurs fans fly Emirates?

That's why these advertisers plunk down $$$ on sponsorship deals because of the ROI coming from unique soccer brand loyalty along with worldwide brand recognition.

Great post. However on your comment re: Apple (bolding mine), there's always Linux! (couldn't resist!)

 

As knowledgable MLS fans I'm shocked to find out some would boycott a sponsor because they sponsor a rival team, knowing full well that it's a single entity system and that sponsorship dollars help out all the teams. Glidden, VW, and XBox Live 360 are team sponsors and league sponsors. Red Bull is a corporate sponsors. Boycotting their product is actually hurting the league.

But perhaps this is a topic that should be discussed in another thread.

 

couldn't agree more. that stuff is terrible.

 

I wonder if Red Bull "activated" (Lizz Summer's term) at any other stadiums last year? They seemed pretty surprised when people (and I admit to bringing it up, but I was far from alone) went on DTF and commented negatively about the parachute team. I felt a tiny (very tiny) twinge of sympathy for the Red Bull girls. They ended up sitting at some point near the Barra and whenever I saw them walking around they were getting heckled and were very confused as to why. The massive emptying out of Red Bull cans around the truck was hilarious, and kudos to whoever draped their Revs scarf around the terrified driver's neck. I also loved how the local Red Bull distributor didn't allow the RB fans into their party and called FPD.

At least they took the RB logo off the team website, they were a sponsor of one of the final pre-game concerts. The Rev Girls seemed confused as to why those of us at the McGreevy's viewing (myself, shanary, few others) expressed displeasure when they handed us little cards with the concert info, the Revs logo, and a big RB logo on it. Oops.

I still don't understand why there was a fireworks show after a game we lost (KC).

ANYWAY sorry for the threadjack, back on topic:

Have we gotten any word on TeamOps participation and whether non-SG fans can come?

 

No word on TeamOps yet but yes non-sg affiliated fans may attened

according to the event page on facebook

"This event is open to all members and prospects of New England Revolution Supporters groups ( Rebellion, Rev Army and Midnight Riders)"

As I have said earlier if your a not an SG memeber you should still show up... i's the supporters summit... not the Riders Army Rebellion summit.

 

So I've put together some points as I was talking about... thoughts? What should we make priority? I'd like to print this up and have it on hand at the summit as well as submit it to the FO to help possibly guide the agenda at the meeting. I want to write up an intro/conclusion but I would also like to add in some more commentary on these issues as well as try to see if we can offer up some constructive solutions.

1. Non-participating fans sitting in the fort, how do we encourage them to participate or sit elsewhere? Can we?
   
   1. The fort has seemed to be the 'cool part' of the stadium where kids got to escape their parents and groups
   2. Non-participating fans sometimes prevent those who do want to from sitting in the fort with other participating fans or at least in a reasonable proximity
2. TeamOps, TeamOps, TeamOps
   
   1. looking for opportunities to show their authority
   2. Their general distrust of the Fort leads to our general distrust of them
   3. consistency in their actions
   4. Poor relations and respect
   5. shutting down of tailgates
3. Atmosphere... we cant compare to Seattle or Toronto but, will you let us try?
   
   1. Tifo- Banners, Flags and 2 sticks
      
      • can we do this without having to jump through hoops to get things approved? This stifles creativity and willingness to do it.
      • Can we be allowed to bring in and remove these things on game day? If I spend my own hard earned money and time to create, make, commission something I don't want to have to worry about entrusting it to someone else and having restricted access to it.
      • How do we co-ordinate Tifo between the groups
   2. Is the FO willing to offer financial support to aid in Tifo production and improving the fort.
      
      • If so what's the catch?
      • How do we balance the supporters wants needs and wishes vs. the FO if there is funding to be had
   3. Tifo committee?
   4. Co-ordination of songs
      
      • Capo stands?
      • Designated bullhorn capos?
4. Will the Fort be tarped off this year?
5. Drums... driving the passion or just a big headache
6. Why are away supporters treated to sit behind the goal when we are treated to the worse possible seats when we travel
7. Supporters union/alliance/council
8. FO supporter liaison?
9. How in touch is the FO with MLS's person in charge of supporters relations