1. Who has a terrible image of us? Back in the day, we weren't "hardcore" enough for some folks, and some of the people that make up the "Misfits" had problems with me personally that never seemed to have any basis in anything. Other than those two groups, who don't matter, who are these people out there with this awful image of what goes on in the Cauldron? Is the language bad sometimes? Sure. Is it occasionally overly negative? Yeah. It's because we care. Not that other people don't, but there's a place for people who care like we do. 2. People who are at the games are either in the Cauldron, or they aren't. They know we're there, they know what we do there, they know they can come over there. It's up on the JumboTron. Our growth is going to come as much or more from people that we bring in ourselves as it is trying to win people over.
Man Sam, two posts in one day that were over one sentence. Impressive. I think you're right about how our group is going to grow. As long as we continue to have face time, and we advertise ourselves to the crowd people will come over. Thats why I say that the two most important issues we need to deal with are a constant relationship with an understanding and helpful security presence as well as a better understanding throughout Arrowhead of what we are and, most important, what we are not. We still have to realize that there just are some people who don't care to do what we do. Thats why ideas (and not to pick on you Aaron) like the whole stadium doing what we do are unrealistic. There just will always be a majority that arent passionate enough or energetic enough to do what we do. Now get everyone you know in the Cauldron for this weekends game!
No complaints here For what it's worth, not me. I've been a regular attendee of Wizards games since 1998, but I have never set foot in the Cauldron. I certainly don't have a bad image of the fans that congregate there; in fact, I like the energy they bring to what would otherwise be a pretty quiet crowd overall...except during the magic minutes, of course. Actually, my perception is that the Cauldron, while vocal, is really quite well-behaved; there have been incidents (and no, I'm not trying to push the conversation that direction), but as far as I know, they have been few and far between.
For the most part the Cauldron is pretty well behaved. It's a little on the edge but what else would you expect from the most passionate supporters of the Wizards. There is the occasional expletive but it's a lot better than most Chief's or college games I've attended. I'm old enough to be a parent for a large percentage of the Cauldron but wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I hope to be there Saturday night standing and cheering the Wizards on to the Western Semi's. Let's fill up the section and be loud!
The point I'm trying to make is that as long as media time in KC is limited on the Wizards, the front office will use every bit of publicity they can to get people out to a game. Once they are in the parking lot that's where the Mystics come in-Don't worry about credit and all that crap-The most important thing is to get people out there. If you have a marketing idea let the front office know and let them use it. Odds are that they'll just find out and beat you to it. If you can't beat 'em-join 'em or get a bigger stick!!!
Absolutly not. As I pointed out earlier in the thread, our job and goal isn't (or shouldn't be) simply to get more people out to games. That's the FO and the Crusader's jobs. And they have been doing a great job of it, as proven by our outstanding attendance this year (5th overall.) Our job is to get the most passionate fans togerther in one place to consolidate all the noise, passion, and excitment. And cultivating our image is part of that. And to cultivate our image, we need to take credit for our contribution to the team and the fans. If the fans know that we go out of our way to serve the fans (watch parties, WC viewings, etc.) then we look better, and perhaps can draw them into our section/group. I don't give a gawddamn about media time, I give a crap about the messages that the FO is realeasing to the fans. And it wouldn't cost or hurt anything for the FO to give some credit here and there to the effort we put in.
In truth, the limited media time is a DIRECT result of our image. Sports which are awarded media time are those that directly influence consumption of the media and its advertisers. The Big Three and one-half (Football, Baseball, Basketball, and Hockey) get media coverage because they've cultivated an adult fan base. The Wizards, through the DIRECT, DOCUMENTABLE actions of the Front Office have cultivated a fan base skewed more towards kids and families and less towards passionate adult fans. I do not fault them for this at all. Without that focus, we don't see the increases in season-ticket sales that we saw. Where I fault the Front Office is in their single-mindedness. It is NOT impossible to cultivate a family atmosphere and a passionate adult fan base at the same time. There needs to be a change... It needs to come next season.
I'm unsure if I'm traveling from Columbia or Lawrece. If columbia, I'll only be bringing myself, if Lawrence, I'll try to bring a van load. We'll see.
Well.... The most important game since the KC/LA game of 2000? Get every single person you can to 114. Lets kick the crap out of the Crapids!
How can you get more people to YOUR section without having them in the stadium? That is MY point. It would be a pretty lonely section seems to me if the FO didn't take some of YOUR ideas and use them. Again it all comes down to getting people in the Cauldron and so on-Got to get them to the stadium FIRST and then to your section SECOND.
Maybe we should just let the Mystics be the front office since they seem to know what's best for the team...
Uhhhh.....unless I'm totally clueless, isn't BigSoccer the place for fans to question things going on with the team they support? Sure, I agree that some people are unfair in their assessments of Curt Johnson. But this is a forum for discussion and opinion. No one is saying (although John just might be considering his aspirations) they they would do the job better. They're saying they think someone else could do the job better and most importantly that the current GM isn't doing a good enough job.
To wit: A very small percentage of all people who come to games sit in The Cauldron. (oh, 225/40,000) A small, but significantly larger percentage of people who come to *all* games sit in The Cauldron. (60/3000) A large percentage of those in The Cauldron at every game have either *never* sat anywhere else, or haven't sat anywhere else for a long time (regularly, for more than a year). (40/60) A significant percentage of "every game" people in The Cauldron did not become part of the "every game" subset until they started sitting in The Cauldron. (20/60) My point is that our success rate for getting people to become regulars in The Cauldron is far higher for individual efforts than it is for the team telling people that happen to be in the stadium to go over and join us. Our efforts are better spent there.
Very valid points, Sam. But think about this, the Cauldron has really grown this year by leaps and bounds due to increased attendance. Then the attendance at the stadium and the number of people in the Cauldron are DIRECTLY related. IMHO, then the more people that you get in the stadium, the larger the number of people will most likely go to the Cauldron. Whether you want to separate out your goals or not, people still have to do what to get into Arrowhead? BUY A TICKET. So it would be in the Mystics best interest to get more people into the stadium therefore increasing the attendance in the Cauldron, right? People come to see the Wizards FIRST, then they might venture over to the Cauldron ONCE INSIDE.
FO/Crusaders job: Increase Wizards attendance. Mystics/Cauldronites job: Increase Cauldron attendance. Yes, obviously the more people in Arrowhead the better chance we have of having more people in the Cauldron. But Sams best point for me is that once people who don't always come to every game come to the Cauldron, they start coming to most/all of the games.
Ben said it, and he was right. I applied for the PR position when it was vacant. I was interviewed, and the decision was made to go with promoting Justin and Stacy from within. But don't let that influence you into thinking I'm cultivating some sour grapes. Most of my criticism comes from the fact that this is what I'm studying, and I see many things that the Front Office could do a lot better. I see things that have worked in other cities, and even in other sports, and I think they'd work here. Just so it's known, I do the same kind of analysis with other club's front office decisions as well. And to piggybacck off Ben and Sam: The primary job of the Front Office staff is to make money for Lamar. To break it down into its simplest components, there are two aspects - advertising and attendance. (Parking, souvenirs and the like go into attendance) Sam's assertion, which is provable, can be used to directly prove the necessity for the Front Office to help the Cauldron if it wants to affect the bottom line. As concluded, most, if not all, of the people who sit in the Cauldron become every game attendees. This is GUARANTEED revenue at a minimal cost. I'll say it again. GUARANTEED revenue at a minimal cost By taking a more active role in promoting the Cauldron to the 18-40 demographic, the FO can create a guaranteed stream of revenue. To achieve the same kinds of attendance increases with a season of one-off promos creates huge opportunity costs. Between the expense of advertising and the human costs of the sales staff wages, the price tag can get outrageous. As silly as the Zardmeister is, it proves that the Front Office DOES realize the connection. I really don't want this to be an Us v. Them discussion. I joined the Crusaders to do what I can for the Front Office. I'm offering suggestions for what we can do because I love the Mystics and the Cauldron. It's unfortunate that through design or coincidence, some of the Front Office actions have directly contravened our best interests. It's also unfortunate that some of their actions have left us feeling out in the cold. The Front Office has done some wonderful things for us, I just think there's a lot more they could do.
Make this point Saturday to Curt (you may have already done so privately, but let everyone hear it) and ask something along the lines of: The proof is there, what are you going to do about it now? Now, is the house gonna be rockin' Saturday or what?! Its gonna be cold. Our scarves can actually become useful for a game.
Idea [sarcasim] It could be skimask night at the head and we could look like turkish fans and put the fear of god into the lettuce that we are going to do something bad. [/sarcasim]