Youth Summit

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

I registered after the close date, but I'm fairly sure it still went through.

Anyone else from here going?

[Sir Why You Little 36,963]

I would Love to but i am too old!!

[mikeod 21]

I'm heading in. Should be an interesting morning.

[Pates 9,659]

Yep you can count me in.

[deanox 9,897]

i'll be there...

[Yencks 8]

i was going to, but had to pull out cos i have other commitments that i cant get out of. can we please get a report fellas of some of the ideas that come through?

cheers

[Mousey 47]

let us know how it all goes guys! wish i could be there but i live in brissy!

[praha 11,232]

Was interested in going but can't because of work. I expect a full report though!

[e25 5]

I'll be there in the morning.

Doing a bit of prep tonight while watching the footy.

Luckily i'm right on the cusp - by 5 days!

Can't wait

[Supreme_Demon 3,746]

Good luck to all those young Demons supporters going to the Youth Summit.

I would love to go but I'm too old as well.

Either way, I hope that there are a lot of good ideas and brain-storming going on during the day.

If anybody could find out ANY news on what is happening with our Major Sponsor that would be fantastic too.

[Gouga 566]

Anyone back yet?

How did it go?

[Pates 9,659]

I'm sure someone here will give a much more thorough rundown of the day's proceedings but this is what i remember:

- The day started with the player hanging around and mingling with the supporters, there was a lady roming around taking polaroid photos which was also nice.

- Once everyone was settled we watched two video packages, one which was made by the leadership group and given to all the new players. Jimmy spoke about what the day was about and why they're doing it, then Moloney spoke on behalf of the leadership group, and then the players in attendance did a bit of trivia to give some stuff away.

- We then broke up into three groups focusing on Website and communication, Image, and Match day, and we basically just started brainstorming.

Things that stuck in my mind were:

- Website is going to get an overhaul, personalised settings for a members login, more prominant multimedia, and more photo galleries were the major suggestions for that. Plus chat rooms and forums where you can communicate with the players were also strongly looked at.

- One of my favourite suggestions of the day was the get kids walking out with the players, much like they do for soccer in England. Probably Auskick kids, the hope is that by getting them wearing the top and assosiating with the players, we may be able to turn their impressionable minds to Melbourne.

- The cheersquad split was again brought up today, Jimmy and Watts couldn't believe it.

Spoke to Watts, boy he is mature! A really nice guy as well, and he's itching to get out on the G. Also spoke to Rivers and he's confident he'll be playing in the NAB challenge match next week.

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

...

You need to clarify that these are only suggestions and won't necessarily be implemented.

The day was really good and I'm glad I made the effort to go.

The video at the start was really good and it would be great if it could be uploaded for everyone to see. It was just your standard highlights with music but it was very well made and edited.

I won't go into too much detail now, but basically everyone was split into three groups and each group spent 30 minutes in a 'Communications' section - looking at how the club communicates with supporters and members, a 'Match day' section - which looked at things such as before and after game functions and events and a 'What's cool' section that focused on the branding of the club and the use of logos and alike.

[LeBron James 41]

- Website is going to get an overhaul, personalised settings for a members login, more prominant multimedia, and more photo galleries were the major suggestions for that. Plus chat rooms and forums where you can communicate with the players were also strongly looked at.

I bloody hope so!

[e25 5]

I bloody hope so!

It also was explained to us that the website is a difficult situation - as it is now the format is set by Telstra for 15 of the AFL's clubs. The only exception is Essendon. But Telstra pays each club $500K per year for the hosting rights.

The content is obviously up to the club, but the format / layout is largely determined by Telstra.

Therein lies the dilemma...

Do we go out on a limb & have an independent (yet decent) website a la the Dons, forfeiting $500K per year that we desperately need..?

[Gandalf46 133]

A question to any young Dee fan that attended today's summit.... was there any talk of a new club logo? ie moving away from the 'cigarette packet' we currently have.

[rusty_corner 0]

A question to any young Dee fan that attended today's summit.... was there any talk of a new club logo? ie moving away from the 'cigarette packet' we currently have.

I was there this morning.

Jimmy was very happy in announcing that the DEMON is back!!!

He also took a quick poll on the alternative strip. The room was about 50/50. Judging by his reaction, i think most of the club are 50/50 as well

[e25 5]

A question to any young Dee fan that attended today's summit.... was there any talk of a new club logo? ie moving away from the 'cigarette packet' we currently have.

Today was treated like a focus group. Suggestions were brought forward, opinions were asked, no decisions were made.

A lot of positive reactions to the demon & the idea of bringing the demon back onto the logo.

One suggestion was that maybe having 2 distinct lines of merchandise - one heavy on the colours & the demon AND another line more understated subtle use of the red & blue, simpler logo like one used now.

The idea sorta being that really young kids love the colours & don't realise they look stupid. Teenagers and older are more fashion-conscious & concerned with still looking 'cool', but want to be able to support their team at the same time.

This was only an idea that culminated from the suggestions of a few participants, NOT what the club necessarily plans to do.

[mikeod 21]

It was quite an interesting morning. Having been to the original summit, and being able to compare, during the 'Youth Summit' today, the facilitators seemed to have stricter ideas of what they wanted the groups to talk about - with Communications, Branding, and Match day being the 3 specific areas each of the groups focused on at different points during the morning.

This told me that the club knows exactly where it needs to improve, and the fact that is it canvassing ideas from supporters is fantastic.

A lot of people had very similar ideas - which again, makes it easier for the club in terms of where they are going wrong. The website and emails were heavily focused on during the Communications section. "What would make the MFC site more appealing to you?"

A few of the ideas that came out here were live news feeds from all of the major news sources - meaning that for MFC news, the club site can be the first (rather than the last) place to go. More extensive player profiles, as well as more player content and player/fan interaction. I also really liked the idea that someone brought up of making the site slightly more edgy by giving fans the ability to 'customise' their own MFC site. You sign up, design the homepage you want with the type of items YOU most want to see (i.e. injury news, player video, gallery). Obviously this would be a fair way off, but this is exactly the type of thing that would make the MFC site far more appealling.

The branding section was run by the President of Globe Australia. The discussion was based around how to make the club more appealing to a younger audience - what is 'cool', and what is not. I loved a few of the ideas that came out based on making fun the MFC stereotype. Someone suggested an MFC trip to the snow which involved a massive snow-ball fight (I remember a few years ago when on a Queens Birthday game, the snow was brought to the 'G. This could be done again). The discussion covered issues like "How important is the club's history to younger people" and "What is more important [to a younger audience], the team or the individual players?".

Brent Moloney was involved in this discussion, and he pointed out that Melbourne really needed to attack Auskick kids - somehow get more involved and forge a deeper connection with more young kids - because we aren't going to get adults to change clubs, but we can influence the kids.

The final area that my group visited was the Match day section. This discussion was based what we do on match day, how to make match day more appealing, and how to make the day more of a social event, rather than just a football game. Ideas varied from official club pre-game drinks at a nearby, MFC affiliated pub. This was people who don't necessarily feel comfortable going to the football by themselves can meet other Demons supporters, and feel more associated with the club. Further ideas included interactive games for kids before the game and at half time (much like is done at the cricket), having more 'Demon' areas in the group were people know other Melbourne supporters will be sitting and actually outnumber the opposition, and also the Premier League-style idea of each player walking out onto the ground with a young kick (whether they be actual Melbourne supporters, or the Auskick team representing Melbourne that day). Anything that can give kids more of a connection with the club, and an interaction with players, can only be a positive thing.

I was really impressed by the involvement of the players. Jack Watts and Brent Moloney were both keen to add their two cents during the group discussions, and I'm sure others were too. I know its been said a million times, but I must say it again, Jack Watts is the most impressive young man to have walked into the MFC in my lifetime. He's very sharp, very polite, very sociable and certainly not too overawed. At one point during the Match day discussion the facilitator told us not to worry about a budget with our ideas, to which Watts replied (slightly under his breathe) "That's realistic...". And when the young players introduced themselves, Watts reminded us all how old he was and to "Please be patient".

Jim Stynes mentioned to us all that in his day, the players and staff were very much kept away from the supporters - and from what I can tell, Stynes wants to move away from that mentality. Every player spent time with each of the groups, in each of the different areas. While some are quite shy, it was really good to see them interacting with supporters (I'm sure it helped that many their today were around their ages). Players there on the day included Simon Buckley, Paul Wheatley, Brent Moloney, Tom McNamara, Jack Watts, James Strauss, Jared Rivers, Mark Jamar and Sam Blease (please let me know if I've missed someone.)

Hopefully the club took something out of the day. I continue to be impressed by the kind of people that Jimmy is attracting to the club both in the coaching staff and the off-field areas. The club is in a dire situation, but we really are giving ourselves the best chance at stepping up to the plate and becoming a force once again - but this of course will take time.

As Jack Watts stressed, "be patient"!

[e25 5]

Players there on the day included Simon Buckley, Paul Wheatley, Brent Moloney, Tom McNamara, Jack Watts, James Strauss, Jared Rivers, Mark Jamar and Sam Blease (please let me know if I've missed someone.)

young Jordie McKenzie was there also.

[Dee man 303]

Run by Jimmy Stynes at his nice little Reach Dream Factory, the Youth Summit invited supporters aged 15-25 to contribute ideas about the club.

I was immediately welcomed by Jack Watts (who is a mountain! Don't believe the skinny talk!) He seems like an incredibly bright young person who is modest, approachable, down to earth and a real leader. I could gather all this from just a short chat with him. Amazing.

All the other players who didn't play in Tassie were there inlcuding Jared Rivers and Brent Moloney who both spoke a bit. Paul Wheatley, Mark Jamar, Simon Buckley and a couple of the new draftees were there as well. Obviously, Jim Stynes, Cameron Schwab and some key stakeholders also made it along which was fantastic to see.

After some short videos and competitions three separate groups went to different areas to discuss three components for 30minutes: the brand, game day and marketing. I was with one of the youngest groups and was hence one of the eldest members, allowing me to contribute quite a bit.

The president of Globe led the brand session and I mentioned how the club needs more marquee players rather than just plugging Aaron Davey all the time. I also metioned how publicising Jack Watts and Sam Blease as schoolkids helped connect with the youth and make them seem more approachable and authentic. There was a strong response in favour of the Demon and promoting the club as a unity amongst all players rather than one or two standing out.

In the game day section, we discussed pre and post match functions and it was unannimous that people wanted more of them with lots of player involvement and chances to meet other supporters. I also brought up the idea about official insterstate game functions within Melbourne where fans of all ages can watch the game on a big screen and share in a community. Another idea floating around was that there needs to be distingiuishable 'MFC' area within the MCG where Dees supporters - regardless of their level of membership - can sit knowing that other Demons will be present and loud.

There were also some pretty out-there suggestions which made a few players chuckle a bit, but naivety and ignorance was definitely expected. However, it was good to see everyone take on board each and every idea and respond to them constructively.

The last area concentrated on improving the club's website and email. There's only so much we can do in this aspect as most of it is run by Telstra (however I did mention that we should seek the benchmark that Essendon has), but there seemed to be many in favour of more video content and player blogs (and less of those boring 'Player Profiles' where all you have is height and weight)

Food was provided and everyone was given free globe gear, a lanyard and a chance to sing the team song (Paul Wheatley is completely tone-deaf...) It was also a fantastic opportunity to meet players and the MFC big shots. Jim Stynes was very approachable and I had a few small chats with Riv, Beamer and Wheats.

Feel free to ask me any more questions about the day.

[Gouga 566]

Great reports.

Was sponsorship mentioned?

[e25 5]

I was immediately welcomed by Jack Watts (who is a mountain! Don't believe the skinny talk!) He seems like an incredibly bright young person who is modest, approachable, down to earth and a real leader. I could gather all this from just a short chat with him. Amazing.

uhhh.. he has a large frame to build on, but I was worried I'd hurt him shaking his hand... well, not really, but he is about Cale Morton size, definitely not 'a mountain'

[Dee man 303]

uhhh.. he has a large frame to build on, but I was worried I'd hurt him shaking his hand... well, not really, but he is about Cale Morton size, definitely not 'a mountain'

Maybe that says more about my size than anything else

[hillie 41]

- The cheersquad split was again brought up today, Jimmy and Watts couldn't believe it.

can you please elaborate on this?