Preamble

Dee in a kilt created a thread called From anger to action: A call for constructive feedback to leadership that asked the question could the Demonland community constructively identify opportunities for improvements the Melbourne Football Club (MFC) could actively and meaningfully consider.

I think it is fair to say that many members of the Demonland community, myself included, are skeptical the MFC would take on board any such feedback, or least not in a meaningful way. To be honest that skepticism says something in of itself.

Organisations that are serious about continuous quality improvement ensure they have effective consultations processes with their key stakeholders so decisions, planning, new processes, changes etc are directly informed by those stakeholders.

Key to good consultation is having multiple consultative strategies and forums. MFC has periodic member surveys, take (very few) questions at the AGM and no doubt receive a considerable amount of 'direct' feedback in the form of phones call and emails - particularly after losses like the one last weekend.

This thread is an effort to provide the MFC another strategy to get constructive feedback from it's most important stakeholder - supporters.

It is worth noting in this context that Demonland is likely to be one of the biggest, perhaps even biggest, football cub form dedicated to a single club. More than a million posts have been made about all things MFC since its inception.

I'm not sure how many regular posters there are, surely in the many hundreds. But what i do know is that there are many, many more dees fans who read Demonland but don't post. Right now there 266 online users on Demonland which is a lot given how we are travelling and the fact its 1:30 on a Friday arvo.

I suggested we start with one issue and see if we can come up with some opportunities for improvementsand then go from there.

And my suggestion is we start with constructive ideas to improve MFC's communication and related sub elements.

I'm really thinking aloud here, so to speak, but i think we need an agreed purpose ( clarity on what it is and what it isn't), structure and process. So, in the spirit looking for consensus my suggestions for those elements are:

Purpose

Constructive ideas to improve MFC's communication

Opportunity for improvement

Communication from the MFC includes, but is not limited to, the following elements:

• Fan engagement

• Member engagement

• Communication with members

• Website

• Social media strategy

• Injury reporting

• Press interviews

• Player interviews

• Content

• Crisis management

• Other?

There is a significant body of evidence on Demonland indicating Dees fans think communication from the MFC acorrs ll tese areas could, and should be improved.

Sustained success is not possible without a robust membership which is why increasing the number of members is a key strategic goal of the club. Improving the MFC's communication would support achieving that strategic goal.

Process guidelines

My proposal:

• Interested posters choose one or more of the above elements of the club's communication strategy and provides constructive ideas to improve any or all aspect of that element

• Such posts begin with a simple statement of the identified opportunity for improvement or improvements (note: not a long rant or rationale)

• And then provide a constructive idea or ideas on how that opportunity for improvement could be addressed

• To get a sense of whether there is consensus, and also to provide some numerical data (eg 25 MFC fans support this idea) other posters indicate support, or otherwise with a thumbs up or thumbs down (noting in this context a thumbs down is not to being critical)

• Posters engage with such posts as per normal and if the original poster wants to they can edit the initial post to reflect any changes they think are warranted

• BUT we try to avoid any back and forth - the purpose is not to debate each point but to land on constructive ideas to improve that element of MFC's communication

• The focus is on constructive ideas and being solution, not problem, focused

• We self moderate and don't ask or need the site moderators to play a role (unless of course they want to)

• We close the thread in 2 or 3 weeks

• Before doing so we use an AI chat bot to succinctly summarize the entire thread and also short summaries of each element club's communication strategy

• Posters indicate approval of these summaries with thumbs up and we have focus on getting as many posters doing so as possible to increase the likelihood the MFC take the ideas seriously, or at he very least be less likely to dismiss them out of hand

• We could also possibly do a poll for each of the elements and/or identified opportunities for improvements

• Ultimately we would would generate a list of opportunities for improvements the club could consider when developing their next communication strategy (which i assume they do on an annual basis - if they don't there's a low hanging fruit opportunity for improvement right there!)

• If the model works, and posters thinks it is of value to continue we could review what worked and what didn't and repeat for another topic/area (eg Securing MFC's permanent member home, governance etc)

Thoughts?

I think this is a really great idea/ possibility for fan input. Although I also think you’re being very optimistic here re asking for “ a focus on constructive ideas” and not just complaints lol. Especially now in peak hour hate traffic.

I’d suggest that anything in this topic that is in the “ i hate this club” or “ im done with this club” etc be removed before letting AI summarise so we can stick with the constructive part”

In theory the MFC should be "all ears". As a result of the "external" governance review last year there was "a clear recommendation" to establish a Member Engagement Committee - see Brad Green's letter in the Annual Report.

I nominate @adonski to be mfcs social media meme creator/[censored]-stirrer to rival the Giants team.

2 minutes ago, Random Task said:

I nominate @adonski to be mfcs social media meme creator/[censored]-stirrer to rival the Giants team.

I'd be out of the job in 2 tweets time

Has promise

3 hours ago, binman said:

Preamble

Dee in a kilt created a thread called From anger to action: A call for constructive feedback to leadership that asked the question could the Demonland community constructively identify opportunities for improvements the Melbourne Football Club (MFC) could actively and meaningfully consider.

I think it is fair to say that many members of the Demonland community, myself included, are skeptical the MFC would take on board any such feedback, or least not in a meaningful way. To be honest that skepticism says something in of itself.

Organisations that are serious about continuous quality improvement ensure they have effective consultations processes with their key stakeholders so decisions, planning, new processes, changes etc are directly informed by those stakeholders.

Key to good consultation is having multiple consultative strategies and forums. MFC has periodic member surveys, take (very few) questions at the AGM and no doubt receive a considerable amount of 'direct' feedback in the form of phones call and emails - particularly after losses like the one last weekend.

This thread is an effort to provide the MFC another strategy to get constructive feedback from it's most important stakeholder - supporters.

It is worth noting in this context that Demonland is likely to be one of the biggest, perhaps even biggest, football cub form dedicated to a single club. More than a million posts have been made about all things MFC since its inception.

I'm not sure how many regular posters there are, surely in the many hundreds. But what i do know is that there are many, many more dees fans who read Demonland but don't post. Right now there 266 online users on Demonland which is a lot given how we are travelling and the fact its 1:30 on a Friday arvo.

I suggested we start with one issue and see if we can come up with some opportunities for improvementsand then go from there.

And my suggestion is we start with constructive ideas to improve MFC's communication and related sub elements.

I'm really thinking aloud here, so to speak, but i think we need an agreed purpose ( clarity on what it is and what it isn't), structure and process. So, in the spirit looking for consensus my suggestions for those elements are:

Purpose

Constructive ideas to improve MFC's communication

Opportunity for improvement

Communication from the MFC includes, but is not limited to, the following elements:

• Fan engagement

• Member engagement

• Communication with members

• Website

• Social media strategy

• Injury reporting

• Press interviews

• Player interviews

• Content

• Crisis management

• Other?

There is a significant body of evidence on Demonland indicating Dees fans think communication from the MFC acorrs ll tese areas could, and should be improved.

Sustained success is not possible without a robust membership which is why increasing the number of members is a key strategic goal of the club. Improving the MFC's communication would support achieving that strategic goal.

Process guidelines

My proposal:

• Interested posters choose one or more of the above elements of the club's communication strategy and provides constructive ideas to improve any or all aspect of that element

• Such posts begin with a simple statement of the identified opportunity for improvement or improvements (note: not a long rant or rationale)

• And then provide a constructive idea or ideas on how that opportunity for improvement could be addressed

• To get a sense of whether there is consensus, and also to provide some numerical data (eg 25 MFC fans support this idea) other posters indicate support, or otherwise with a thumbs up or thumbs down (noting in this context a thumbs down is not to being critical)

• Posters engage with such posts as per normal and if the original poster wants to they can edit the initial post to reflect any changes they think are warranted

• BUT we try to avoid any back and forth - the purpose is not to debate each point but to land on constructive ideas to improve that element of MFC's communication

• The focus is on constructive ideas and being solution, not problem, focused

• We self moderate and don't ask or need the site moderators to play a role (unless of course they want to)

• We close the thread in 2 or 3 weeks

• Before doing so we use an AI chat bot to succinctly summarize the entire thread and also short summaries of each element club's communication strategy

• Posters indicate approval of these summaries with thumbs up and we have focus on getting as many posters doing so as possible to increase the likelihood the MFC take the ideas seriously, or at he very least be less likely to dismiss them out of hand

• We could also possibly do a poll for each of the elements and/or identified opportunities for improvements

• Ultimately we would would generate a list of opportunities for improvements the club could consider when developing their next communication strategy (which i assume they do on an annual basis - if they don't there's a low hanging fruit opportunity for improvement right there!)

• If the model works, and posters thinks it is of value to continue we could review what worked and what didn't and repeat for another topic/area (eg Securing MFC's permanent member home, governance etc)

Thoughts?

You have given this a lot of thought Binman and I like the way that you have set it out, reminds me of the TQM process where customer focus is a fundamental aspect of the continual improvement process. We as the Members are the end customers that should be involved in the continual improvement in all aspects of our Club. I would certainly vote for you to represent me as a member. Who do you think would manage this process CEO / President - via a Specialist Team?

This is a great idea. Huge number of passionate members, a cross section that I would say provide good representation of what is a ‘typical’ dees supporter.

Club would be nuts not to take feedback if indeed they aim to improve.

Communication element:

Video content for:

• Website

• Social media

• Emails to members

• Other?

Opportunity for improvement

Successful clubs in elite sporting competitions such as the EPL, NFL, NBA, Serie A etc produce a huge variety of video content for its fans and prospective fans.

Content ranges from short videos for platforms such as X, Instagram and Tik Tok, longer form videos for platforms such as websites and you tube, feature length videos and even multiple episode series in the style of Drive to Survive.

AFL clubs do not have the same resources but engaging video content is equally important for AFL clubs and is a key part of the value proposition for members and as a tool to attract new members.

There are many examples of this key aspect of the club's communication being criticised by Dees supporters on Demonland, such as this thread from Feb 2024 started by @Dannyz.

The OP starts with this sentence: 'I think it's time to place on record how poor our media output has been since the departure of Ben Gibson.'

Since Ben Gibson's departure from the MFC in December 2022 the video content produced by, and for, the MFC has been, with some very notable exceptions (eg Koz going back home), largely underwhelming. And there has been way, way too little of it.

It has been nearly three years since Ben Gibson's left and in tge intervening period the demand for video content across multiple platforms has exploded.

The MFC is miles behind other AFL clubs in this space and addressing this opportunity for improvement is both a total no brainer and the lowest, of low hanging fruit given good quality video content can be produced extremely cheaply in 2025.

Suggested actions

• Prioritise the creation of engaging video content that can be delivered across multiple platforms

• Ensure that content is diverse in: style, tone (ie funny, satirical, educational), type (human interest, sport science, tactics, match previews, analysis etc) length, topic, audience (ie kids, fans of other clubs, fans of the dees who are not members, new members, older members. diverse communities etc etc)

Idea:

Of course the production of such content has a cost. Personally i would prioritise resourcing it and employing someone to do deliver it (perhaps we do?).

However if that's not possible, and even if it is, MFC could explore developing a mutually beneficial partnership with Monash University.

Monash's Caulfield Campus - which is only a good Harvey Langford drop punt from our proposed new training base at Caulfield racecourse - offers a Bachelor of Multimedia and Digital Arts degree, which focuses on digital arts and multimedia design practices.

And Monash Uni's Monash Media Lab, is also located at Caulfield. The Monash Media lab is 'a state-of-the-art facility for journalism, digital media production, and multimedia storytelling' that has 'purpose-built television and radio studios available for commercial use, incorporating quality recording equipment to give your production professional polish.'

Edited August 1Aug 1 by binman

On 01/08/2025 at 14:19, binman said:

Preamble

Dee in a kilt created a thread called From anger to action: A call for constructive feedback to leadership that asked the question could the Demonland community constructively identify opportunities for improvements the Melbourne Football Club (MFC) could actively and meaningfully consider.

I think it is fair to say that many members of the Demonland community, myself included, are skeptical the MFC would take on board any such feedback, or least not in a meaningful way. To be honest that skepticism says something in of itself.

Organisations that are serious about continuous quality improvement ensure they have effective consultations processes with their key stakeholders so decisions, planning, new processes, changes etc are directly informed by those stakeholders.

Key to good consultation is having multiple consultative strategies and forums. MFC has periodic member surveys, take (very few) questions at the AGM and no doubt receive a considerable amount of 'direct' feedback in the form of phones call and emails - particularly after losses like the one last weekend.

This thread is an effort to provide the MFC another strategy to get constructive feedback from it's most important stakeholder - supporters.

It is worth noting in this context that Demonland is likely to be one of the biggest, perhaps even biggest, football cub form dedicated to a single club. More than a million posts have been made about all things MFC since its inception.

I'm not sure how many regular posters there are, surely in the many hundreds. But what i do know is that there are many, many more dees fans who read Demonland but don't post. Right now there 266 online users on Demonland which is a lot given how we are travelling and the fact its 1:30 on a Friday arvo.

I suggested we start with one issue and see if we can come up with some opportunities for improvementsand then go from there.

And my suggestion is we start with constructive ideas to improve MFC's communication and related sub elements.

I'm really thinking aloud here, so to speak, but i think we need an agreed purpose ( clarity on what it is and what it isn't), structure and process. So, in the spirit looking for consensus my suggestions for those elements are:

Purpose

Constructive ideas to improve MFC's communication

Opportunity for improvement

Communication from the MFC includes, but is not limited to, the following elements:

• Fan engagement

• Member engagement

• Communication with members

• Website

• Social media strategy

• Injury reporting

• Press interviews

• Player interviews

• Content

• Crisis management

• Other?

There is a significant body of evidence on Demonland indicating Dees fans think communication from the MFC acorrs ll tese areas could, and should be improved.

Sustained success is not possible without a robust membership which is why increasing the number of members is a key strategic goal of the club. Improving the MFC's communication would support achieving that strategic goal.

Process guidelines

My proposal:

• Interested posters choose one or more of the above elements of the club's communication strategy and provides constructive ideas to improve any or all aspect of that element

• Such posts begin with a simple statement of the identified opportunity for improvement or improvements (note: not a long rant or rationale)

• And then provide a constructive idea or ideas on how that opportunity for improvement could be addressed

• To get a sense of whether there is consensus, and also to provide some numerical data (eg 25 MFC fans support this idea) other posters indicate support, or otherwise with a thumbs up or thumbs down (noting in this context a thumbs down is not to being critical)

• Posters engage with such posts as per normal and if the original poster wants to they can edit the initial post to reflect any changes they think are warranted

• BUT we try to avoid any back and forth - the purpose is not to debate each point but to land on constructive ideas to improve that element of MFC's communication

• The focus is on constructive ideas and being solution, not problem, focused

• We self moderate and don't ask or need the site moderators to play a role (unless of course they want to)

• We close the thread in 2 or 3 weeks

• Before doing so we use an AI chat bot to succinctly summarize the entire thread and also short summaries of each element club's communication strategy

• Posters indicate approval of these summaries with thumbs up and we have focus on getting as many posters doing so as possible to increase the likelihood the MFC take the ideas seriously, or at he very least be less likely to dismiss them out of hand

• We could also possibly do a poll for each of the elements and/or identified opportunities for improvements

• Ultimately we would would generate a list of opportunities for improvements the club could consider when developing their next communication strategy (which i assume they do on an annual basis - if they don't there's a low hanging fruit opportunity for improvement right there!)

• If the model works, and posters thinks it is of value to continue we could review what worked and what didn't and repeat for another topic/area (eg Securing MFC's permanent member home, governance etc)

Thoughts?

@binman, this is outstanding work transforming our earlier discussion into something genuinely actionable. Your structured approach addresses all the key challenges we identified while creating a framework that could actually deliver results.

A few thoughts on your excellent foundation:

The AI summary approach is brilliant, removing emotion and bias while creating professional output the club can't dismiss as "just fan complaints." Having numerical support data (thumbs up/down) adds credibility that individual posts lack.

Your communication elements are comprehensive but I'd suggest one addition: Internal communication processes. Evidence is MFC's external communications reflect its internal communications. How information flows between board, football department, and members. Many issues seem to stem from poor internal coordination before external communication even begins.

The self-moderation model is crucial for credibility. If we can demonstrate mature, solution-focused discussion, it shows the club what they're missing by not engaging properly with this community.

One process suggestion: Consider having a brief "impact/effort" assessment for each idea - distinguishing between quick wins (better injury reporting protocols) and longer-term strategic changes (complete website overhaul). This helps prioritise and shows we understand resource constraints.

The fact that 266 people were online during a Friday afternoon despite our current form shows the engagement level here. That's exactly the passionate, committed stakeholder base any professional organization should want to tap into.

This could genuinely become a template for how supporter communities engage constructively with their clubs. Let's make it work.

🙌🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Binman

On 01/08/2025 at 18:52, binman said:

Communication element:

Video content for:

• Website

• Social media

• Emails to members

• Other?

Opportunity for improvement

Successful clubs in elite sporting competitions such as the EPL, NFL, NBA, Serie A etc produce a huge variety of video content for its fans and prospective fans.

Content ranges from short videos for platforms such as X, Instagram and Tik Tok, longer form videos for platforms such as websites and you tube, feature length videos and even multiple episode series in the style of Drive to Survive.

AFL clubs do not have the same resources but engaging video content is equally important for AFL clubs and is a key part of the value proposition for members and as a tool to attract new members.

There are many examples of this key aspect of the club's communication being criticised by Dees supporters on Demonland, such as this thread from Feb 2024 started by @Dannyz.

The OP starts with this sentence: 'I think it's time to place on record how poor our media output has been since the departure of Ben Gibson.'

Since Ben Gibson's departure from the MFC in December 2022 the video content produced by, and for, the MFC has been, with some very notable exceptions (eg Koz going back home), largely underwhelming. And there has been way, way too little of it.

It has been nearly three years since Ben Gibson's left and in tge intervening period the demand for video content across multiple platforms has exploded.

The MFC is miles behind other AFL clubs in this space and addressing this opportunity for improvement is both a total no brainer and the lowest, of low hanging fruit given good quality video content can be produced extremely cheaply in 2025.

Suggested actions

• Prioritise the creation of engaging video content that can be delivered across multiple platforms

• Ensure that content is diverse in: style, tone (ie funny, satirical, educational), type (human interest, sport science, tactics, match previews, analysis etc) length, topic, audience (ie kids, fans of other clubs, fans of the dees who are not members, new members, older members. diverse communities etc etc)

Idea:

Of course the production of such content has a cost. Personally i would prioritise resourcing it and employing someone to do deliver it (perhaps we do?).

However if that's not possible, and even if it is, MFC could explore developing a mutually beneficial partnership with Monash University.

Monash's Caulfield Campus - which is only a good Harvey Langford drop punt from our proposed new training base at Caulfield racecourse - offers a Bachelor of Multimedia and Digital Arts degree, which focuses on digital arts and multimedia design practices.

And Monash Uni's Monash Media Lab, is also located at Caulfield. The Monash Media lab is 'a state-of-the-art facility for journalism, digital media production, and multimedia storytelling' that has 'purpose-built television and radio studios available for commercial use, incorporating quality recording equipment to give your production professional polish.'

@binman, excellent work identifying the video content gap and the Monash partnership opportunity. Agree 100% Ben Gibson's departure highlighted how much we were punching above our weight in this area, and you're right that we've fallen way behind.

Your Monash University idea is particularly smart. Leveraging our geographic proximity and their expertise while giving students real-world experience.

Building on your framework:

Strategic suggestions:

MFC should identify 2-3 signature content series. Real Madrid's "Behind the Dream" generated huge engagement. It was compelling and memorable. MFC's road to the flag series was excellent - but sadly one-off.

Also, the health of any club is determined by an ability to continually attract the kids. There needs to be strategic focus on kids content without diminishing content for the broad member base.

Additionally, members must hear announcements and breaking news through MFC social media as a trusted source, not through journalists - even when it's an uncomfortable story.

Brand identity clarity:

@BW511's post on the "Anger to Action" thread was brilliant, highlighting something crucial - we've allowed external caricatures (wine, cheese, snow) to become our identity by default rather than defining ourselves boldly. Our membership is so much than MCC members.

An image of adult men and women MFC supporters in the general admission seats crying after the 2018 Mitch Hannan goal in the first final against Geelong needs to adorn the Board room wall.

The solution is to own our heritage proudly, making it aspirational for ALL supporters.

We're Australia's oldest professional sporting organisation - some have said the oldest in the world. That's extraordinary. Own that boldly.

The Monash partnership could deliver this beautifully - high production values that match our standards, authentic storytelling that reflects our real supporter base.

Hey @binman, in line with your suggested process, do you want to do your AI thing to arrive at a draft feedback to Steven Smith and Paul Guerra focused on Communications?

As a next step, I will propose to our Demonland brothers and sisters the next topic to tackle.

for starters, how about not having yr comms director also working as the aflw general manager

we currently cannot get the basics right - like the day that a game is played