Meet the players event today

[Mr Popodopolous]

55 minutes ago, Mad Cyril said:

So, just so I am clear.... Bristol City have given access to meet the players at a time that is popular and accessible for most young supporters and have done so for free.

At a rough guess, 91 other football clubs have not run such an event (or have done so on another continent).

Let's hope refunds are issued quickly and we follow the model other clubs have. The sooner this community spirit pif pof is put to the sword, the better.

Are we really the only one of the 92? I mean I don't know either way but that would be quite unique.

Either way, I don't think anyone is arguing with the intent but the logistics and organisation..required better planning and perhaps staffing.

I'd have given up to 3 hrs for player signings then Q&A after. Perhaps stick it on a Sunday when even more can make it in which case a day can maybe be made of.it, school holidays or not most still work during the week.

Edited July 27, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[redkev]

3 hours ago, Tinmans Love Child said:

You can't say Tea Lady these days, it's Hot Beverage Technician

Brilliant 

[Lrrr]

59 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Are we really the only one of the 92?

We’re not, various other clubs do things like open days where a meet the player/player signing sessions are part of it. Still a good initiative by the club though 

[phantom]

1 hour ago, Mad Cyril said:

At a rough guess, 91 other football clubs have not run such an event (or have done so on another continent).

Probably better to have said 91 other clubs that have done this have not faced such disaster

[petehinton]

I really don’t know how their excuse is basically ‘we didn’t expect this to happen’ when it was literally free to all 14,000 odd ST holders, and right at the start of school holidays….?! Surely you just ask people to submit a free RSVP to say they’re coming to gauge interest and footfall numbers, and plan from there. Not exactly hard. 

[RedM]

27 minutes ago, Lrrr said:

We’re not, various other clubs do things like open days where a meet the player/player signing sessions are part of it. Still a good initiative by the club though 

Just out of interest my daughter has been to several music signing events recently (you buy a record/cd and the artist/group autographs the cd for those of you who are unclear what I mean). It is now very common that photographs are not allowed. It's not that the group/person is sensitive about having their photo taken, it's purely to speed up the queue.

I'm not saying kids shouldn't get their photos at events like this, but by the time a player has signed a shirt, signed a book, ball etc then had several different photos selfies etc, no wonder it takes bloody ages!

Maybe 1 photo and 1 thing signed and then to the back of the queue?

[spudski]

13 hours ago, Rudolf Hucker said:

Presumably Tommy is standing on a specialised ruptured Achilles support?

Amongst all the negativity...just look at the face, eyes and smile on that young fan. 

Full kit, shirt fully signed...a fan for life now. They'll never forget.

It's what footy is really all about. 

Making dreams come true. 

[italian dave]

2 minutes ago, spudski said:

Amongst all the negativity...just look at the face, eyes and smile on that young fan. 

Full kit, shirt fully signed...a fan for life now. They'll never forget.

It's what footy is really all about. 

Making dreams come true. 

Looks like she didn't have to queue - so still has a lot to learn about queueing and moaning about queuing 

But seriously - yes, spot on - great post!

[milo1111]

15 minutes ago, spudski said:

Amongst all the negativity...just look at the face, eyes and smile on that young fan. 

Full kit, shirt fully signed...a fan for life now. They'll never forget.

It's what footy is really all about. 

Making dreams come true. 

Conversely, when a child is getting knocked about in a rugby scrum of mass disorganisation. Then gets to meet barely any of their heroes ….. what does that do to their dreams and the potential longevity of their support?

[spudski]

1 minute ago, milo1111 said:

Conversely, when a child is getting knocked about in a rugby scrum of mass disorganisation. Then gets to meet barely any of their heroes ….. what does that do to their dreams and the potential longevity of their support?

I wasn't there, so can't really comment on what happened.

Why are children being knocked about?

Did the parents accompanying allow their children to run ferel?

Did the parents control their children and try to stop it becoming a mass scrum?

Did the parents try to take some responsibility when they saw it could become a free for all? 

Just asking.

I only ask...as it's becoming more prevelent, where people can't be trusted with their actions and need to be controlled. Penned in, directed, told where to go, where to wait etc etc etc. 

Do we no longer take responsibility for our own actions?

People want freedom...don't want to be controlled, but often prove by their actions that it's required, as they can't be trusted to behave responsible and in a respectful manner. 

[Selred]

3 hours ago, Mad Cyril said:

So, just so I am clear.... Bristol City have given access to meet the players at a time that is popular and accessible for most young supporters and have done so for free.

At a rough guess, 91 other football clubs have not run such an event (or have done so on another continent).

Let's hope refunds are issued quickly and we follow the model other clubs have. The sooner this community spirit pif pof is put to the sword, the better.

Let's make it clear, Bristol City put on an event to inspire the next generation, and organised it badly. From the sounds of it it wasn't accessible for most there due to the organisation, and many were standing around for hours without meeting players, which isn't inspiration. 

I thought it was a great idea, but also needs to be executed correctly. We are a professional unit, or at least should be.

[Davefevs]

58 minutes ago, spudski said:

Amongst all the negativity...just look at the face, eyes and smile on that young fan. 

Full kit, shirt fully signed...a fan for life now. They'll never forget.

It's what footy is really all about. 

Making dreams come true. 

It’s the other way around, it’s Tommy looking at delight at that spherical thing in her arms that he’s not seen all pre-season! 

[KeithWelch'sTash]

-Yes it was poorly organised and naive from the club not to expect that amount of people.

-yes I could of spent 2 and a half hours doing something else rather than stood in a q

-yes it should of been ticketed (like last years open training session was)

but fair play to the club for providing this access to the players, and fair play to the players for hanging about for an extra 2 hours when they could of easily left after their one hour shift had ended . All of the lads were polite and spoke to us 

there will be people that say that’s the least they can do with the money they are in but

 

 

[Bristol Rob]

Just as a general point, I saw yesterday that they were advertising for a Project Manager with Events experience.

If the advertised salary is an indication of the type of person they're hoping to employ, it's no wonder there are no many obvious flaws in things that get done in BS3.

It's a peanuts monkey situation.

Which when you consider the money lumped at players who might, or might not, contibute anything - either because of form, injury, ability or falling out with the manager, you have to wonder where the logic is. 

[JerrySLO]

On 26/07/2023 at 16:45, Henry said:

@JerrySLO I see you’ve appeared online in recent days. I’m sure you’ve seen all the feedback on the merchandise, website and todays event. 
Is this being fed back to the club? What is the clubs response? Can you do a bit of liaising with supporters please?

100% everything gets fed back.. We have a meeting today with representatives of the SC&T with our CEO Phil, Head of Media Dave Barton and myself to chat through issues being raised on all social media platforms.

[italian dave]

15 minutes ago, Bristol Rob said:

Just as a general point, I saw yesterday that they were advertising for a Project Manager with Events experience.

If the advertised salary is an indication of the type of person they're hoping to employ, it's no wonder there are no many obvious flaws in things that get done in BS3.

It's a peanuts monkey situation.

Which when you consider the money lumped at players who might, or might not, contibute anything - either because of form, injury, ability or falling out with the manager, you have to wonder where the logic is. 

I think there's probably a logic in there! Whether it's the right one is another matter!

I know what you mean. And to a point football clubs have been able to get away with it because there's a certain 'glamour' to working for a football club that means they're often able to pay less as a result. 

And, to a point, us fans contribute to that. Or at least have done in the past. I've a sense that might have changed a bit more recently as some of the excesses (not specifically talking Bristol City here) have become more blatant.

[Nogbad the Bad]

On 27/07/2023 at 09:52, Mr Popodopolous said:

Are we really the only one of the 92? I mean I don't know either way but that would be quite unique.

Either way, I don't think anyone is arguing with the intent but the logistics and organisation..required better planning and perhaps staffing.

I'd have given up to 3 hrs for player signings then Q&A after. Perhaps stick it on a Sunday when even more can make it in which case a day can maybe be made of.it, school holidays or not most still work during the week.

In other words the old Open Day!

Thousands of fans there but coming and going during the day so never a rush or too overcrowded.

No idea why they ever stopped it, it was a real occasion and very well supported, and the Q&A at the end with the manager, SL and Colin Sexton or whoever was well organised, well attended and really got you in the mood for the new season.

[DOZZYBCFC]

Didn’t want to post a new thread but does anyone know how to get hold of @JerrySLO on Twitter?

To add specifically to this thread I want to say that despite being lovely to see and engage with the players, the organisation was shambolic. I don’t see how they can say they didn’t know this many would turn up. They know how many season tickets were sold (plus there were some that entered without having season tickets ?!) and it’s school holidays. They didn’t have a plan before and plans changed throughout which was the most frustrating. I was told to do one thing then after 20 minutes of no movement, told to do something else. The events staff were more concerned with greeting and hugging  each other rather than dealing with the task in hand (appreciate another comment which says about pay they may be on but they should still have personal pride). There was also disconnect between events staff and stewards/H&S.

I was there 3.5 hours and managed to see most of the players who attended. Thanks to those players who stayed on.

 

[OneTeamInBristol]

2 minutes ago, DOZZYBCFC said:

Didn’t want to post a new thread but does anyone know how to get hold of @JerrySLO on Twitter?

To add specifically to this thread I want to say that despite being lovely to see and engage with the players, the organisation was shambolic. I don’t see how they can say they didn’t know this many would turn up. They know how many season tickets were sold (plus there were some that entered without having season tickets ?!) and it’s school holidays. They didn’t have a plan before and plans changed throughout which was the most frustrating. I was told to do one thing then after 20 minutes of no movement, told to do something else. The events staff were more concerned with greeting and hugging  each other rather than dealing with the task in hand (appreciate another comment which says about pay they may be on but they should still have personal pride). There was also disconnect between events staff and stewards/H&S.

I was there 3.5 hours and managed to see most of the players who attended. Thanks to those players who stayed on.

 

Message @BristolCitySLO on Twitter.

[JerrySLO]

6 minutes ago, DOZZYBCFC said:

Didn’t want to post a new thread but does anyone know how to get hold of @JerrySLO on Twitter?

To add specifically to this thread I want to say that despite being lovely to see and engage with the players, the organisation was shambolic. I don’t see how they can say they didn’t know this many would turn up. They know how many season tickets were sold (plus there were some that entered without having season tickets ?!) and it’s school holidays. They didn’t have a plan before and plans changed throughout which was the most frustrating. I was told to do one thing then after 20 minutes of no movement, told to do something else. The events staff were more concerned with greeting and hugging  each other rather than dealing with the task in hand (appreciate another comment which says about pay they may be on but they should still have personal pride). There was also disconnect between events staff and stewards/H&S.

I was there 3.5 hours and managed to see most of the players who attended. Thanks to those players who stayed on.

 

Thanks for this post we have a debrief meeting on the Event scheduled and I've copied this message and forwarded it to all the attendees.

[phantom]

1 hour ago, JerrySLO said:

100% everything gets fed back.. We have a meeting today with representatives of the SC&T with our CEO Phil, Head of Media Dave Barton and myself to chat through issues being raised on all social media platforms.

Looking forward to it later, I am hopeful we will get some positive outcomes

See you later 

[beaverface]

23 hours ago, spudski said:

Amongst all the negativity...just look at the face, eyes and smile on that young fan. 

Full kit, shirt fully signed...a fan for life now. They'll never forget.

It's what footy is really all about. 

Making dreams come true. 

My wife took our son down, and he queued with her for over 3hours patiently.

For any other event, he would be constantly fidgeting, complaining, asking when to leave, is there a snack, when's lunch etc.., but he didn't mutter a single thing as he could see his heroes up ahead.

When the time came to meet Nahki Wells, he was actually shaking as he held out his autograph card, whereby Nahki reassured him saying "no need to be shy".

Mark my words, this event meant so much to our son, and I expect the same for thousands of other children.

[spudski]

3 minutes ago, beaverface said:

My wife took our son down, and he queued with her for over 3hours patiently.

For any other event, he would be constantly fidgeting, complaining, asking when to leave, is there a snack, when's lunch etc.., but he didn't mutter a single thing as he could see his heroes up ahead.

When the time came to meet Nahki Wells, he was actually shaking as he held out his autograph card, whereby Nahki reassured him saying "no need to be shy".

Mark my words, this event meant so much to our son, and I expect the same for thousands of other children.

That's great to hear. 

I remember the same feeling getting autographs from my hero's as a kid. It stays with you...fond memories

[RedM]

1 hour ago, DOZZYBCFC said:

Didn’t want to post a new thread but does anyone know how to get hold of @JerrySLO on Twitter?

To add specifically to this thread I want to say that despite being lovely to see and engage with the players, the organisation was shambolic. I don’t see how they can say they didn’t know this many would turn up. They know how many season tickets were sold (plus there were some that entered without having season tickets ?!) and it’s school holidays. They didn’t have a plan before and plans changed throughout which was the most frustrating. I was told to do one thing then after 20 minutes of no movement, told to do something else. The events staff were more concerned with greeting and hugging  each other rather than dealing with the task in hand (appreciate another comment which says about pay they may be on but they should still have personal pride). There was also disconnect between events staff and stewards/H&S.

I was there 3.5 hours and managed to see most of the players who attended. Thanks to those players who stayed on.

 

I appreciate your point, but saying "I don’t see how they can say they didn’t know this many would turn up. They know how many season tickets were sold" is a bit wide of the mark.

You do realise that only a fraction of ST holders attended, what if we ALL had turned up?!

[bcfc01]

Yay ! got my season card in the post today.

Surprised it came in such good time tbh, given the number that they have to produce and send out.

Credit where its due.

[Henry]

On 28/07/2023 at 09:59, JerrySLO said:

100% everything gets fed back.. We have a meeting today with representatives of the SC&T with our CEO Phil, Head of Media Dave Barton and myself to chat through issues being raised on all social media platforms.

That’s great. I assume the general fan base will hear about lessons learned? It be good to hear back regarding the kits and badge change too.