Right To Reply...Reader's Edition. Plus a link or two.

Just to follow up on the "PR People must Die" epic-my single most commented-upon post with the princely total of four, by the way...a link/idea or two which are related..

Dan at Four Point Four Seconds laments the missed opportunities of EIHL playoff weekend...

Becky's reply to "PR People Must Die (read it in full by clicking on the comments tab below the post) contains this interesting statistic: a rough breakdown of season-ticket holders at the Phoenix which shows that families are not the biggest audience by a long way. In fact, she works out (taking u16's and 20-50 year olds as the groups most representative of a "family" that only a quarter of the audience can be considered that way, with 41% being in their late teens or (if we take half of the 20-30 age group as unmarrieds without children, nearly half of the crowd being in the 16-25 age group. Which begs the question, as Becky asks "why the obssession with families?" Doubtless someone will claim that the Phoenix are atypical, but let's be honest, if you go round the rinks of the UK nowadays, the phrase "wow, this crowd is full of families sat together" never enters your head. The only thing I can think of is that families are targeted mainly because they're the ones that have the most "pester power", and clubs find it better economically to have a thousand families who will spend 50 quid a season (often much more) on merchandise than 2000 young people who may only spend a tenner each.

Remember, these are not figures I've made up, but official figures used by the Manchester Phoenix in order to show their sponsors. So-the question is-why are clubs concentrating on a quarter of their market rather than nearly half-especially when those families are arguably going to come anyway?

Merchandise Mayhem: It has been said that I'm willing to criticise, but not come up with ideas. Well, OK then...leaving the in-game atmosphere/music etc well alone-here's a brief blueprint for the EIHL clubs:

Fan events are great-but they don't get newbies in. Advertising does that. As Dan says on Four Point Four Seconds, make your team a permanent presence. Forget the odd "Club x supports Council Initiative Y" PR's, laudable though they may be. They give a positive image but don't make people wonder "wow, what's that?". Posters on bus shelters or in town centres do, or. memorably, the huge picture of Johnathan Phillips which used to be draped over the side of the WNIR with "Home of Devils Hockey" or some such underneath it. Stands at season's beginning in the City Center, stalls at markets or fairs (eg Coventry's Godiva Festival) , and even people handing out free tickets in the City Centre-that works. Tie-ups with other local sports (you plug us, we'll plug you". Ticket deals with them. Deals at places where young people go-clubs and the like. Yes, it may mean that there's a little less champagne at the end of season do, but boy, do they work...and there's enough passionate people out there to staff the stands.
Radio ads. Expensive but they work-and don't just use city stations, use regional ones. Speculate to accumulate....

Then there's the shirts. Make them mean something-if you want more than just a home and away kit forget "Christmas" shirts or "Halloween" shirts. Retro (alternate) shirts are the way to go-you simply put in a league rule that you wear them (home and away) for half the games. games, home and away. You don't even have to have both teams wearing at the same time as long as the colours don't clash. All the teams in the EIHL have enough history to appeal to the nostalgia of longtime fans and the pockets of new ones, simply because the shirts are different. Then there's the extra money from those who have it to burn at the shirt auctions-as well as giving more people to own a (well-worn) gamer of their favourite player...

Basingstoke: Beavers design
Belfast: (possibly the dodgiest, but the first-season shirt, maybe)
Cardiff: (Rhapsody in Red)
Coventry: Solihull Blaze-all you need is to remove the "Coventry" from above the dragon. Imagine Adam Calder in this beauty.
Edinburgh: Murrayfield Racers. Enough said...
Hull: Humberside Seahawks. Kingston Jets. Hull Thunder. One of the most storied teams in British hockey? Spoilt for choice there...
Manchester: Return of the Storm!
Nottingham: 60 years? There's a shirt in there somewhere....
Newcastle: Cobras. Riverkings, Jesters. Even (dare I mention it) the Durham Wasps...tell me THOSE shirts wouldn't sell in the North East.
Sheffield: Jody Lehman wearing this? Squint and Nathan Gillies could be Ken Priestlay...

There you go-you combine nostalgia AND a nod to the past-and it means that some of the great teams in British hockey will return to the ice-at least in shirt form. It works in the NHL, so why not here?

We will return to on-ice matters soon...I promise..:)

Right to Reply....

It seems my last post has ruffled feathers at the Blaze, with people there accusing me of not responding to them but simply continuing to attack them on here, even though an email was sent twice AND a PM was sent on the Elite forum advising them of the fact. So I shall now put it on the blog for all to see, in a straight open letter, as an example of the club's side of the story when it comes to such things. Italics are the club email, responses are mine from the email that was sent...if this doesn't get seen, there's no hope for the Internet...

Hi,
Be warned-essay coming up. The character limit on the EIHL forum would have meant this message would have been several parts long, so I thought an email would be easier...There has been a lot of thought put into this reply and I shall be as honest as possible as that is one thing you've always been with me...

If there was indeed no dig in that post then I do apologise. However in a world where posts tend to be peppered with digs about the club or me where we are either "ramming down throats" or guilty of spin (even when what we're putting out is actually true) I do tend to believe there is a dig in most of them

Thanks-and fair enough-I get my fair share of digs from people too based on third-hand opinions of stuff that happenened a long time ago, and it winds me up the same way. There genuinely was and never has been no personal digs at you or anyone else within the club-as far as I'm concerned you do the best job you can (and I include everyone behind the cluib in this) and while I may (quite often) disagree with you on the best way to put on a hockey night, I don't dispute the effort put in by anyone either behind the scenes or on the matchinight team-I've seen it first-hand, remember..

Defending myself, the club and the unbelievable amount of hard work we do trying to please as many people as possible is, in my opinion, in fact not boring but my right to not have untruths, fiction and third hand rumours bandied about.

Hey-it happened to me-you should have heard some of the stuff I was told as fact. Did you know you were going to sue me for libel (after I pointed out on forums afte the much-ballyhooed Theo Fleury incident at the Skydome in 2006), I've got contacts in the Canadian press I used on purpose, and I openly threatened you with violence after a game? All things people have said I've done...

I genuinely wouldn't mind if you had any facts or reason for what you're talking about with regard to many of the things you comment on or believe. Despite the things you've had issues with in the past, that I have sat down, explained point by point why things are the way they are you still choose to not believe what i'm saying

I don't necessarily not believe it-I just question it-particularly as I'm getting told different things by people I'm friends with who've done things for the club in the past (and still do in various roles)-and the common theme is that there is a lot more emphasis on the commercial side of things then the hockey. Especially as I do firmly believe that the success over the past few seasons has meant that the atmosphere at the hockey has changed for the worse. Certainly it's not as fun for me even as 04/05

I have sat and listened to the opinions of more fans that I think you will ever believe and I have tried my damndest to please as many people as possible.

That I do not doubt. However, this was the case also in 04/05 and people still constantly mention that as the best year for atmosphere, music etc-and that year I will freely admit that I simply did my own thing up there-there was never any need to nick stuff from other teams, come up with gimmicks or whatever else-so I wonder if, as soon as people become aware that they're trying to please everyone and actively do so, the whole enjoyment goes out of it and it [I]does [/I] all seem forced-as I and seemingly others feel now. The fact that the sample on a forum of Blaze fans of all ages have gone for rock must count for something, however small it is-maybe it's time to stop trying so hard to please everyone through the presentation, just go for rock and let the game speak for itself-that's what I did....

We've tried to do more fan events, more stuff for kids, more season ticket benefits (launching monday) easier ways of booking tickets, different music (see other thread) gamenight ideas and a hundred other things that people have an opinion on.

And you'll notice that I've not been critical of them-I personally don't attend most of them through choice but I don't deny that they are much enjoyed by those that do...

When asked what people want to see on matchnights and people suggested player songs and dances etc you accused us of being "too choregraphed"

Only because they're now made up (this is a problem at several teams) or it's "quick, let's play a player's song/Fratellis after every goal"-or it's being initiated by the club rather than organically-e.g shouting of the players surnames at goals. I first saw this in Cologne and what was noticeable there was that there was no "when I say this, you shout" in it-it was something the fans had developed themselves.
What exactly do you want me to do. Play every single of your choices of songs.

That would be nice. But I'm fully aware it isn't going to happen. What I would say though (and again, this is coming from my experience up there) is that if you're doing the job you don't want to be feel restricted (as I did occasionally, but then, being a stubborn sod nine times out of ten I just stuck stuff on anyway)-tell James on Thursday "look-forget getting the crowd involved, forget not playing something because it's too cheesy or too heavy, forget creating an intro people can clap along to-just pick songs you like. Pick stuff that SOUNDS like it belongs at a hockey game". God knows he's got enough knowledge of hockey culture and enough experience doing the job to know what goes where. That's all I did-played songs I liked or thought belonged, when I liked. And hopefully you'll agree it worked pretty well.

[quote]Get rid of MOTD (even though we had lots of emails asking us to sotp playing music so they could do that - so we listened and thought we would try it) get rid of Fratellis - which was exactly what we wanted it to be when it started - a spontaneous pee-take at Panthers expense.[/quote]

Yes. Not because they weren't good, but because they've gone on too long-the moment's passed. It's stale.

[quote]And come up with new things - wouldn;t that make a matchnight "too choreographed" wouldn't we then be "ramming it down peoples throats" to do certain things at certain times?[/quote]

Play new songs. You don't have to come up with the dances etc. We never had to. And for hell's sake don't borrow from other teams even if it does work...that robs the Blaze of a unique identity. [quote]We're just asking for suggestions and people to start doing silly things. If people have ideas they think will work and ask us to stick a song on the box to give it a whirl of course we'll try it...whether it looks choreographed or not. Our fans have asked for it and we've listened.[/quote]

Honest opinion-no dig at you personally...It doesn't feel like it-at least musically. It feels like there's a lack of willingness to try anything risky or non-mainstream now in case it offends Mr and Mrs Smith and their kids in row C who've got used to the same songs in the same order. Even the goal song is years old, for heck's sake...

[quote]Something I really do try and spend time doing. Yet I don't think whatever I do or try and do it will be rignt with you.[/quote]

Honest question-does my opinion matter that much to you? Especially as you've clearly built up a view of me which goes contrary to everything you experienced in 04/05, based on one argument and me being portrayed as Public Enemy Number one and personally attacked on forums by people who don't know me from Adam-I have offered on many occasions to still be helpful but if even someone you've worked with and knows otherwise is attcking you and calling you bitter and negative in a public forum you tend to take it the wrong way. That hurt far more than you or anyone else realises. And so does the crap from people on the forum who've never me before also relying on third-hand rumours and stuff that happened four years ago...Especially as I don't think I've ever resorted to open personal attacks on any member of the organisation. I may have had a go at some of the changes or some of the press releases because I disagree with either the tone or the way things were handled (the fallout of the Fleury incident being one, the Challenge Cup controversy last season where the organisation went publicly after the Elite League etc beign another)... If I had, maybe I could understand some of the vitriol....If I don't like a song or a period-break entertainment I might go "oh, God" around my friends, but I'm still there watching the hockey, the 15 quid is still going into the coffers, and I still cheer when Blaze score.

[quote]Ask for suggestions because people want more rock - worked quite well, got lots of ideas.[/quote]

Fair point.

[quote]People start suggesting clappy songs, audience participation songs so we'll look at them.[/quote]

Fair point. But if I could give one thing for you to change it would be "tell the matchnight crew to stop trying to please everyone, stop focusing so much on keeping a crowd happy and concentrate on creating a proper hockey night-full-on rock and all. It works for the NHL...[quote]As I do not know from one day to the next what is the right thing to do according to you.[/QUOTE]

Again-honest question-does it matter that much to you what I think? Or at least any more than the other 2,500 people?

There we go-just to prove that I'm not just one to sit on a blog and take pot-shots...

Tomorrow, we go back to discussing the hockey with Vipers making a massive signing in Tyler Willis....

Keep keeping your eye on the puck...