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Topic-icon Lack of Communication, Poor website updating etc..

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11 years 11 months ago #6988

Diom wrote: S_P, a lot of work goes into these things and as a young (in terms of experience) committee, and all of us being volunteers you have to appreciate that mistakes and slippages will happen. You also have to realise that there are very very few of us and we have been organising 4 events for this weekend.

OS: Yep of course we'll find a team for everyone if we can. It won't be too rugby focused (only a few questions that people with a passing interest could have a stab at), so we're hoping there'll be a good scope for everyone involved.


Diom

Quite aware how much work goes into organising event thanks, I've done lots of both committee and volunteer work in my twenty odd years in rugby. I'll be succinct, my one criticism is that the committee are not doing anywhere near enough in terms of communication which is critical to get people outside of the committee to step forward as volunteers to share the workload that you are obviously all struggling to manage effectively.

I said this before the supporters club was set up and when the supporters club was set up, the supporters club is a resource with lots and lots of skills within it's membership, the committee is the ideas and project management team that pulls the appropriate skill-sets together for specific projects/events. Your role as a committee is to identify/plan what as a group the Club should be doing, then to communicate to the membership to get volunteers on board to help achieve those targets, not for all the work to be done for everything by the same three of four people.

If you don't ask people to help they will sit back and assume that everything is under control.

I would recommend sending out a monthly email newsletter detailing what the forward looking plan is (but it needs to be regular minimum bi monthly updates), list any upcoming events and (have in mind what resource and numbers are required to support and implement them) assign someone to coordinate/head up each project initially, and when a suitable volunteer steps forward encourage them to take on the leadership.

Use the tools and support you have at your beck and call, you have a website and a Twitter account to promote events or request volunteers to help (I said right from the start that I wanted other Clan committee to use the Clan twitter account to help promote the Clan and offered to share the password details so you could login and post as necessary).

You can get the branch website to promote your events, and the likes of Rob Murphy will gladly help get word out through his contacts and GBFM are always promoting events for sports clubs as will many other of the regions radio stations if asked.

www.connachtrugby.ie/2006092572/media-contacts

I would also suggest getting a set process/plan in place for all regular events (so you have a sort of template to work with), which will make a structure to be followed by anyone who volunteers so that they aren't stepping entirely into the unknown.

For me this site for example is stagnating, there is little or no content other than the forum. Updates are few and far between and there is no attempt to enlist contributors either, and as a consequence there is nothing to draw new users. We have pretty much the same group of posters contributing on the forum that used the forum I was running on Sportnetwork.net.

To be honest I'm at the stage where I'm thinking I might just re-activate the old site and just get on with adding stories and content and leave this to run itself, there's not much by way of moderation to be done on here and there seems a reluctance to share editorial access here never mind the formatting/content adding issues within the forum that were identified but haven't and won't be rectified....

Last edit: 11 years 11 months ago by sea_point.

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11 years 11 months ago #6989

i live in the city most of the year but past few weeks gone home for small bit of work.
im in town this weekend and going home monday morning.
what i dislike about this table quiz and also last month which the dail bar had a supporters night, is that they are set up on a week night to bring in money on quiet night. i feel really strongly against that, we are pushed out of the weekend and expected to come into pubs again mid week to spend the money we dont have. please stop trying to rip connacht supporters of and have the next thing on friday or saturday.

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11 years 11 months ago #6990

Sea Point,

There is <strong>no</strong> reluctance to share access to this site.
I have asked <strong>regularly</strong> for people to contribute. I have asked you to contribute many times. I have tried to get you setup on this but for some reason the guy who set this site up won't give me access as an admin, and I'm finding it hard to find him.

I have tried to get other people involved in the site as well but they just won't do it. What am I supposed to do? I cannot force them to help.

As for media contacts, we do send out press notifications of our events, as does Martin. They do not put them up. Again, I cannot force them to do that.

To be honest I do not remember you offering to share the password but I am sure that you did. I am glad to have you on-board and helping with this site and the twitter account. I realise that we don't have our system working as we would like but that is due to change next year, as we have already began to look over what we have done this year and draw lessons from it.

I am glad for you that you have lots of experience with things like this, but we do not. None of us are involved in this type of thing before. It's been a steep learning curve and it's been very difficult for us, especially in the face of a large amount of apathy or outright negativity at our efforts.

I will be trying again to get more access to the site so that I can create editor accounts for people (something I have been trying to do for ages), and you are top of the list of people I would love to see more involved as obviously you care a lot about the success of this. I also will be helping other committee members learn how to do this so that I am not the only one updating the website (you'll notice by the way that a good few articles have gone up recently... some at 5am as that is the only time I have left to do this).

Swift: We did not organize the Supporters Night. Nothing to do with us in fact. This is something we want to change as well.
The reason it is on a Monday is because it was the only night that the players and the venue were free at the same time. It is not us trying to rip anyone off. We have nothing to gain from this except trying to help other supporters and Connacht.

A Connacht is not just for the Xmas Inter-Pros...
A Connacht is for Life
Last edit: 11 years 11 months ago by Diom.
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11 years 11 months ago #6991

diom im not saying connacht clan is taking money of us, but if supporters go out before and after the match on saturday for afew and maybe 1 or 2 sunday to relax, where are supporters ment to get money and time on a monday night to also go out even more so if they are working tuesday

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11 years 11 months ago #6992

Totally appreciate that Swifty. It will be changing next year as we will be gaining some more independence in terms of venue and our own space for events.

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11 years 11 months ago #6993

cheers diom. i wasnt giving out but only giving my own view. i wont be able go monday in which id be able on the weekend, your doing good work as it is.

pity there isnt a space near the ground where it could be held, after the match and connacht rugby being in charge of the drinks to have 100% profit rather than a sponsor pub.

pity that place under the main stand isnt for connachts use

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11 years 11 months ago #6994

As I understand it there are plans to expand the Clan Bar, and we will be trying to use that more often as it is very handy for fans and we can make it a place for fans of all ages as well. It also does not require people to give up their usual post-match pub which is always a plus.

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11 years 11 months ago #6995

Thread springing from S_P's criticism of the Connacht Clan. IMO he's spot on in a couple of points so I will move it here so we can expand on it.

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11 years 11 months ago #6996

Hi all,

So a fair few criticisms have been leveled in the direction of the Connacht Clan today so I would like to open it up and make sure that we take on board any criticism in an open way. Remember we're the lads beside you all in the Sportsground and on the plane/ferry on away trips, so constructive ideas would avoid major depression etc... :)

So first the criticism that the committee has already raised from within:

  1. Lack of clear calendar of events
  2. Only Dennis (me) doing any graphical/video/website work
  3. Lack of clarity on areas of responsibility between members

Points that S_P and Swifty have raised
  1. Lack of clear communication on the events that are upcoming
  2. Not enough involvement from non-committee club-members
  3. Planning of events need to take more account of member availability to attend
  4. Extra notice should be given for paid events

Now actions planned:
  1. Pre-season full-day planning meeting outlining ALL targeted events for the Connacht Clan, which will take into consideration the events that Connacht Rugby are also organising
  2. Training session on how to use the article manager on the Connacht Clan website (being run at next meeting by me for the other committee members)
  3. Access for all approved members (committee or not) to Connacht Clan outlets (Twitter, webpage, newletter accounts)
  4. Have more events in the Clan Bar, and on match days
  5. Early warning for paid events

Anyone have any more suggestions?

Relating to the cause of some of the problems:

Regarding the lack of website updates... This is entirely my fault. I am the only one with an account.
There is a bit of a story to that. We originally had a website custom designed by me. That meant however that seeing as I am the only one who know javascript and HTML that I was the only one who could write articles. So I wanted to move to Joomla which has an editor like on this forum, and have everyone contribute.
A fella with experience in that area ( a member ) volunteered to help us out and I gladly accepted. We got a new site, but only I was given an account and the account is only an editor account so I cannot add people to it. I asked him to add S_P and the other committee members but I have not received any response, to email, text or phone calls, and it appears that he is actually moved to Australia.
SO... I will be providing access to MY account to anyone who is interested in writing an article for the main site for now, until I can contact him.
The lack of updates was down to the fact that I am doing all computer related work alone, including graphics, slides, posters, handouts, newletters and articles. This is fine if I was not also working full time and planning a wedding and a honeymoon at the same time, and I was working overtime at work up until a week ago. I apologise for letting the website slip but I honestly was trying to keep it going.

So I hope that that goes some way towards explaining some of the issues we have been having and highlighting the areas where improvements are being targeted.
We honestly would love more involvement from the members of the Connacht Clan, so anyone interested please let me know.

Ummm, has volunteered and obviously S_P has been doing a great job looking after the forum and the twitter account. The only reason these guys are not full committee members is that they are not available for the meetings. So thanks lads.

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A Connacht is for Life

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11 years 11 months ago #6998

Diom

I am really glad to see these issues (good and bad) being given the light of day. Far too often things are just left to simmer with everyone getting frustrated and eventually disinterested.

Yes maybe there could have been more proactively on behalf of everyone, committee and clan members alike but we can learn from this year and move on at least we all more aware of the reasons now.

Running a voluntary committee is not for the glory seekers and with your other work loads (wedding planner) I am surprised you have had any time for the Clan at all.

I live in Drogheda and work in Dublin so can only usually get one night in Galway so hopefully there will be more Clan activity next year at the weekend. I would be happy to help in any way I can.

As a suggestion, I would like to see someone on the Committee coordinating the away matches, not the actual travel or accommodation booking but more along the lines of the Clan Travel Guide that were sent out for Toulouse. Someone who could make contact with the opponents supporters club and get info on where to go in their cities, what pubs and restaurants to use and more important, what to avoid.

Can't make it today but here's to a 3rd win in a row.

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11 years 11 months ago #6999

Yeah this was something that was meant to have been done a while back but got left at the wayside. Will try and get it into our plans for next year. The Toulouse guide was S_P so gratitude to him on that one.

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A Connacht is for Life

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11 years 11 months ago #7014

First of all fair play to diom and all the lads making a contribution. Its the first year of it, everything isn't going to go smoothly and everyone involved in this is doing it for the love of Connacht Rugby. The Clan is an important addition to Connacht Rugby and can form the basis of a very strong core support and a link to Connacht Rugby, not just locally but throughout the province, Country and outside these shores.

I think the main thing the Clan needs is Connacht Rugby driving promotion of Clan events a bit more. I saw Connacht were recruiting under the placement scheme a few months back. While having mixed feelings about that scheme, it makes great sense for Connacht and if they could take on an extra person in that capacity who would assist the branch in developing the Connacht Clan it would be a major help at little cost.

Ultimately this site has "only" 215 members, now I'm sure others drift in and out of the site without logging on but a piece on the Connacht site and Connacht newsletters promoting Clan events has a far greater catchment audience.

Like others I would like to be able to help the Clan with events where possible, whether its putting up flags or manning a season ticket stand (imo this is where the clan could come in with assistance from the branch, the new promotion for season tickets is great but can only be got at the Connacht office between set hours which for most Connacht Supporters just isn't accessible).

I think a Connacht stand in one of the main shopping centres in Galway, Tuam, Loughrea, Athenry, Castlebar, Westport, Sligo, Boyle, Carrick-On-Shannon say on a Saturday would be a major asset to Connacht Rugby, leaflets could be distributed on season tickets etc. and get details from fans for the Branch to follow up and enable the people who can't get to the Galway office to benefit from the offers also).

I think the Clan committee have done trojan work but looking forward the burden needs to be shared. I think all parties need to sit down for a few hours during the summer and plan out the season ahead.

Who will have time to send out regular e-mail updates to clan members?
What events are we planning, what events will volunteers be needed for? Details on all this should be posed out with the season tickets and get the information directly to everyone.
What support can the Branch provide the Clan with in organising and promoting events?

I think everyone just needs to know what amount of time they can contribute and leading on from that, what help will be needed throughout the season.

There is plenty of people ready to volunteer, I was at one of the Connacht phone call evenings organised last summer to contact people re: season tickets and we had 30+ people there to help and that was with little promotion.

So my two recommendations would be:
1) getting things ironed out with Connacht Rugby in terms of generating publicity, providing support etc. and
2) not being slow to ask for volunteers.

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10 years 9 months ago #18156

There is a bit of a story to that. We originally had a website custom designed by me. That meant however that seeing as I am the only one who know javascript and HTML that I was the only one who could write articles. So I wanted to move to Joomla which has an editor like on this forum, and have everyone contribute. I think a Connacht stand in one of the main shopping centres in Galway, Tuam, Loughrea, Athenry, Castlebar, Westport, Sligo, Boyle, Carrick-On-Shannon say on a Saturday would be a major asset to Connacht Rugby, leaflets could be distributed on season tickets etc. and get details from fans for the Branch to follow up and enable the people who can't get to the Galway office to benefit from the offers also.



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10 years 9 months ago #18221

@paultim374... Huh?

I setup the original site and then Mike Monaghan helped us to transition to Joomla.

Regarding your idea about the stands... This is something you should suggest to Connacht Rugby, not to us. Unless you mean that the Connacht Clan should get out to set up stands etc.. ?

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10 years 9 months ago #18225

Diom wrote: @paultim374... Huh?

I setup the original site and then Mike Monaghan helped us to transition to Joomla.


I'm loving Paul's work on the clan app

Justice 4 Faruk
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