if it means enough to the uni for them to go into it with us, they must see things that we don't yet. Big uni, well resourced in all sorts of ways - why wouldn't it have real potential for us? Seems to me the uni must be able to see kudos in it somehow, and I say thankyou very much fellas, glad to have you in our corner. PhD's on stuff to make MFC better - bring it on!

One of the more positive things I've heard about my old uni in some time.

  On 29/01/2015 at 06:28, sue said:

Of course I am not saying that in itself, that would prevent us being relocated. I said 'helping ensure'. If you think connections like this don't matter, I just repeat I'm glad PJ is in charge and not you blokes.

I never said I was against the MoU. It's nothing new, it's not our first and won't be our last.

I simply said it wouldn't stop a team from being reallocated.

Anything that ties us to the community and to an organisation such as a university is a great thing.

  On 29/01/2015 at 06:43, Ethan Tremblay 140 said:

I never said I was against the MoU. It's nothing new, it's not our first and won't be our last.

I simply said it wouldn't stop a team from being reallocated.

Anything that ties us to the community and to an organisation such as a university is a great thing.

Good, we are in furious agreement. The 'ties' you mention in your last sentence are just the sort of thing to help (note: help) stop us from being relocated. I'm sure there will be other benefits and hopefully the relocation issue will never arise.

Who knows, U Melb seems keen to emulate big US unis and their football teams are a big part of how they develope their communities (and alumni connections, ie. donations). If U Melb tries something along those lines pretending MFC is 'their' team, it could be quite significant.

  On 29/01/2015 at 06:21, old dee said:

Wow that is a very long bow sue.

WE will only leave Melbourne if we go broke.

I am not sure how this influences our general finances.

Look it is a no negatives idea IMO if it generates some benefits good

But I don't expect anything above modest from it.

"Modest" improvement is what most of us are expecting from our team this year, and many of us are pretty excited at that prospect. From little acorns .........................................

  On 29/01/2015 at 07:11, Deeoldfart said:

"Modest" improvement is what most of us are expecting from our team this year, and many of us are pretty excited at that prospect. From little acorns .........................................

I was trying to be a little generous Deeoldfart.

My problem is that over the years I have seen a number of these sort of arrangements and without exception 3 years down the track they are forgotten without any benefit.

I am not saying don,t do it I just think there benefits will be low.

Can anyone explain what a Memorandum of Understanding means in practical terms? I don't get what this announcement is about.

  On 29/01/2015 at 20:14, Dr. Gonzo said:

Can anyone explain what a Memorandum of Understanding means in practical terms? I don't get what this announcement is about.

A technical view: A memorandum of understanding (MoU) describes a bilateral or multilateral agreement between two or more parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action.

A layman's view (1): Memoranda of understanding are useful documents to "kick- start' an agreement. They help lessen any discomfort that parties may feel where basic parameters are not written down before a proper agreement is drafted.

A layman's view (2): A memorandum of understanding can be perfect in situations where a contract is too formal, but a handshake isn't enough

In business a MOU usually leads to a formal contract or the parties go their own way.

Of course memos of understanding can lead to nothing or close to that. On the other hand I know of one that has lead to almost 30 years of massive multi-million deals - not that I see that happening here of course. All we can do is wait and see.

Ridiculous idea to move to Melbourne Uni. The uni is already bulging at the seams and you want to jam the team in there as well? What building do you propose we move into? And the training ground? So we build new facilities or use existing VAFA facilities and "upgrade" them? So lets take a giant leap backwards in an attempt to get better exposure for potential members at the risk of on-field performance, which is what really gets you more members at the end of the day. Sounds like the MFC of old, not what this new administration would do.

Great that we have some sort of partnership with Melbourne Uni, hopefully helps the guys out with life after football, and also first access to sports science and the like in the future.

  On 29/01/2015 at 22:51, AzzKikA said:

Ridiculous idea to move to Melbourne Uni. The uni is already bulging at the seams and you want to jam the team in there as well? What building do you propose we move into? And the training ground? So we build new facilities or use existing VAFA facilities and "upgrade" them? So lets take a giant leap backwards in an attempt to get better exposure for potential members at the risk of on-field performance, which is what really gets you more members at the end of the day. Sounds like the MFC of old, not what this new administration would do.

Great that we have some sort of partnership with Melbourne Uni, hopefully helps the guys out with life after football, and also first access to sports science and the like in the future.

Agreed that physically moving to an overcrowded U Melb campus is ridiculous. I don't think this is what it is about. (Though who knows what real estate U Melb owns elsewhere - I know they own a lot but probably nothing suitable for a footy team.)

At this stage, it is all about the "Melbourne" brand. Even if the MoU is lightweight, it is very good below the line marketing.

  On 01/07/2014 at 00:23, Colin B. Flaubert said:

I would have thought that setting up at the Uni. would have been good marketing. We are establishing a partnership with the most prestigious uni in Melbourne and are close to our heartland.

Relevance is another issue but as far as marketing goes, I thought this would have been a good idea.

Im not sure that the denizens of the cbd and or Parkville are our "heartland"

I understood the demographic centre of our support base was bentleigh

I think it may have a connection between China Southern Airlines and the mention of 16,000 international students

As well as being part of the "Melbourne" family.

I don't care where we practice as long as we start winning games!!

I think this is potentially a great idea. If North Melbourne and Footscray can get first class facilities off the back of a heavy state government subsidy why not us? There are a number of advantages not least tapping into the university's state of the art research facilities and its renowned academic excellence. It is after all the only Australian university which is consistently rated in the top 50 universities in the world.

There are of course a few practical difficulties which would need addressing like parking, but the idea has a great deal of merit.,I wrote a detailed paper 5 years ago putting forward a number of ideas about improving the clubs performance off the field particularly building the membership base amoungst other things how we should tap into the overseas student market to build our supporter base. I sent this to Cameron Schwab and of course got no reply, but this move to UOM would be a great start in that journey. There are also a number of other things we can do in this direction (which I outlined in the paper). If we were smart I see no reason why we could not have a supporter base approaching 100,000 within five years. It would require though some innovative thinking. Certainly our previous administration was not up to it. Maybe this one is. Let's hope so!

And us winning some games Dees, I had taken numerous groups of overseas friends to Dees games over the last 8 years hoping to convert a few. Surprise surprise they all seem to have started following the teams who thrashed us on that day.

  On 30/01/2015 at 20:17, Cards13 said:

And us winning some games Dees, I had taken numerous groups of overseas friends to Dees games over the last 8 years hoping to convert a few. Surprise surprise they all seem to have started following the teams who thrashed us on that day.

Winning always helps. I took some Japanese friends to see Melbourne vs. Essendon and lo and behold, my one unaffiliated friend ended up supporting us.

liked the vibrancy bit (bbo special)

the last bit lost me though

  On 31/01/2015 at 01:11, Romey said:

I also love the idea of linking up with Melbour Uni and trying to tap into the student base. If successful it could bring some much needed youth, vibrancy and diversity to our supporter base - three traits that are not strongly associated with our brand today.

The challenge will be bringing the MOU to life so that our club is embraced by the students. One left field idea to make this happen could be to do an anti - Schwab and let go of control of our brand and leave it to students to reinvent our identity so that they feel a greater sense of ownership. Melbourne Dragons anyone!! :-)

No.

I also love the idea of linking up with Melbourne Uni and trying to tap into the student base. If successful it could bring some much needed youth, vibrancy and diversity to our supporter base - three traits that are not strongly associated with our brand today.

The challenge will be bringing the MOU to life so that our club is embraced by the students. One left field idea to make this happen could be to do an anti - Schwab and let go of control of our brand somewhat and leave it to students to reinvent our identity and define the future direction of the club. What better way to endear ourselves to a market than to give them genuine ownership and control into the look, feel and operations of our club. Who knows where this could take us but it would certainly generate some interesting and innovative ideas. Many of the worlds most successful brands have adopted this philosophy and I can't help but feel that the first AFL club to fully embrace a similar approach will reap the rewards.

Just an idea. Suspect many on here will shoot the it down for plausible reasons I have not considered.

  On 31/01/2015 at 01:51, Romey said:

I also love the idea of linking up with Melbourne Uni and trying to tap into the student base. If successful it could bring some much needed youth, vibrancy and diversity to our supporter base - three traits that are not strongly associated with our brand today.

The challenge will be bringing the MOU to life so that our club is embraced by the students. One left field idea to make this happen could be to do an anti - Schwab and let go of control of our brand somewhat and leave it to students to reinvent our identity and define the future direction of the club. What better way to endear ourselves to a market than to give them genuine ownership and control into the look, feel and operations of our club. Who knows where this could take us but it would certainly generate some interesting and innovative ideas. Many of the worlds most successful brands have adopted this philosophy and I can't help but feel that the first AFL club to fully embrace a similar approach will reap the rewards.

Just an idea. Suspect many on here will shoot the it down for plausible reasons I have not considered.

Cripes you are serious.

You really want to give up the clubs identity to a bunch of students.

We are the MFC Demons. Been here since 1858

I suspect the University is a similar age.

By all means form an alliance between the two but the heritage of both should not be sold or tampered with.

We are what we are, come down to the MCG and check out what we do should be the introduction to new students.

The club should not be deconstructed.

Is there a Development Academy idea in there somewhere?

  On 30/01/2015 at 01:02, Dinosaur Rover said:

Im not sure that the denizens of the cbd and or Parkville are our "heartland"

I understood the demographic centre of our support base was bentleigh

It's an interesting case DR. Our admin, training facilities and home ground are in the city but as you rightly point out, most of our support base lives bayside or in the Kingston council district. I was more talking about the Heartland of the football operations, not so much where our fans live.

We have a fairly healthy supporter base around the stonnington council area too. I see at least 10 European cars with Dees stickers on the back every hour around here.

Some higher education could be good for the players.

I myself spent time there before graduating to the bar on an almost permanent basis.