Opinion Collingwood Board Nominee Sean Callanan talkback.

[Markfs]

SeanC


But I wonder if there are also other ways?

Some examples …

Consider the CFC members who are secondary school teachers. They are at the front lines of understanding the world of 11 to 18 year old kids.

Consider your own background in the digital technology space.

But the lunchtime chat with my fellow business and industry leaders was just as interesting.

1, Sit down the young recruits and ask them how they like to communicate
2. Hire media people who know what they're doing
3. Get business people in who can tell the tricks of getting money out of governments to reduce risks in making profits.

 

[BEEG]

Massive board concerns obviously, I feel the football department is back on track with Graham Wright now in charge.

Hearing you speak alot about members is great SeanC

My real main concern is the treatment of members, player sponsors etc over the past 3 years.

In my opinion, it feels like the club can't do the little things right, small issues but just so many.

I'm an AFL member have been for 13 years, I know 2 player sponsors and a small club sponsor.

Took a while to get my membership pack last year and I got a great looking box with not much in it and a sticker on it saying (No Hat). I laughed at this because being a Vic member, i really haven't seen any games. And the pack was not only late but has a sticker "No Hat". I'm sorry, but seriously why would you let your members know they aren't entitled to a hat? It sounds stupid but these things continue to happen. Why didn't they send the boxes out with a sticker saying hat included? Seems like the smarter option, couldn't care less about a hat, I just thought under circumstances not watching games paying alot of money the least you could do is be a little less insulting and just overall smarter how you do things.

The morning tea for the player sponsors was held at the Glass House, sponsors walked in had no real direction were told they had to write the name of the business or individual name on a sticker then were offered water no coffee (freezing morning people were out the front for 15/20 minutes) they then got a small amount of time to speak to the players and handed the packs on the way out which involved them sending through the size and items they wanted prior to the event. They both player sponsors got the wrong product or sizes.

Ticketing issues in the first couple rounds where the members seats, dedicated seats were changed, members not notified.

Honestly I could go on, but you obviously get my point. If the club members department can't get these type of things right what faith do we have in them to get anything right?

Are the club aware that members, player sponsors and even sponsors are unhappy and pretty bemused by how that departments are run day to day?

 

[Markfs]

5 minutes of research on the net tells a story but what do i know....

Borussia Dortmund is a soccer club in germany that has revenue of $750m a year. Thats about 10 times the Pies or probably closer to 20X at the moment. It has 145K members, almost twice the Pies but not quite.

On a pro rata basis, I wonder what sort of membership experience the Pies could provide if revenue was $400m.... of course I understand that they throw a lot of money at players but I said it was only 5 minutes research.

 

[Trickster]

I got a great looking box with not much in it and a sticker on it saying (No Hat). I laughed at this because being a Vic member, i really haven't seen any games. And the pack was not only late but has a sticker "No Hat".

Its a good point as I got the same. Seems its a convenience thing from their end to distinguish distribution but agree its sloppy and not considerate of those receiving them.

Maybe the club can offer discounted hat / polo top packs to AFL members if they don't want to provide free hats. Not sure if they've done this before but surely that's reasonable. Or even, an incentive to take up a social club membership and offer the polo top / hat free. Basically be a donation but at least you'd get something back.

I think we as a club were reasonable before in valuing members but probably a bit stale now.

 

[sr36]

Its a good point as I got the same. Seems its a convenience thing from their end to distinguish distribution but agree its sloppy and not considerate of those receiving them.

Maybe the club can offer discounted hat / polo top packs to AFL members if they don't want to provide free hats. Not sure if they've done this before but surely that's reasonable. Or even, an incentive to take up a social club membership and offer the polo top / hat free. Basically be a donation but at least you'd get something back.

I think we as a club were reasonable before in valuing members but probably a bit stale now.

A simple code rather than "no hat" would be just as convenient, but more polite.

 

[Trickster]

A simple code rather than "no hat" would be just as convenient, but more polite.

Seems like No Hat is their code

 

[SeanC]

SeanC

I wonder if the club could improve its (1) membership engagement and (2) competitive advantage by tapping into its membership as a resource?

You and some of the other candidates have obviously identified this, you have day jobs that give you skills that are potentially of benefit to the club, and serving on the board is one way of putting your specialist skills to use.

But I wonder if there are also other ways?

Some examples …

Consider the CFC members who are secondary school teachers. They are at the front lines of understanding the world of 11 to 18 year old kids. They see how they are communicating on social media, their pop culture, where their influences are coming from, and what the latest effective teaching techniques are (pedagogy). Every year CFC probably recruit somewhere between 1 and 2 dozen of these kids across the whole club. Imagine if CFC ran an annual conference for a day or so with CFC member secondary school teachers and other teaching professionals to prepare the club for receiving the new cohort. Maybe it’s presentation format? Maybe it’s round-table format?

Consider your own background in the digital technology space. You’ve probably come across fellow CFC member conno (Con Frantzeskos) who is in the digital marketing space. The mods and admins on sites like this one have a good perspective across social media engagement. There are no doubt many other resources across the membership that can be drawn upon to provide input into the club in this area. UX, UI folks, media folks, etc, etc. Obviously I’m not talking about them necessarily doing work, just sharing ideas and professional perspectives, share the latest tools, tips, trends and techniques, etc, etc. Sometimes it only takes a seed of an idea to create something valuable. This could be in some appropriate format such as conferences, or round tables, or sub-committees, or advisory boards, or mentoring programs, etc, etc.

Years ago I used to pay the club a sack of cash to attend the CFC leadership forums. It was interesting to hear from club leaders like Nathan Buckley, Gary Pert, and Nick Maxwell. But the lunchtime chat with my fellow business and industry leaders was just as interesting. And as far as the information flow that day, it was only going in one direction: from the club to the participants. I thought at the time that it was a bit of a shame - whilst the club did get our money, they might have missed out on getting something far more valuable.

There might be other areas where the members have professional skills that might be of great assistance to the club. I’d imagine that’s how Peter Murphy and his 2017 review started out.

Obviously there are risks with these things but those risks can be managed. Pre 2016ish it felt like the club had a moat around it filled with crocodiles and the drawbridge up. Then around 2016ish CFC let down the drawbridge annually for the post season members’ forum. Things improved again in 2021, although it’s too early to tell whether it was about listening to the members, or making the members feel like they’re being listened to. Regardless, I think there is enormous potential to tap into the resources of the membership beyond simply accepting our dues. How to mine that effectively is the challenge, but in the competitive industry of AFL then surely it’s about the club mining every advantage it can get?

All great ideas 76woodenspooners I think club is doing some of that with the new fan groups they are consulting, totally agree we will have some smart people who are members who would be more than willing to help the club, it's about opening up those opportunities.

 

[SeanC]

Massive board concerns obviously, I feel the football department is back on track with Graham Wright now in charge.

Hearing you speak alot about members is great SeanC

My real main concern is the treatment of members, player sponsors etc over the past 3 years.

....

Are the club aware that members, player sponsors and even sponsors are unhappy and pretty bemused by how that departments are run day to day?

Speaking with people I know (inside and outside the club) there is an awareness and definite appetitive to repair that disconnect with members.
COVID accelerated the issues (in my opinion) with staff shortages and difficult WFH logistics for club staff but we are well-positioned to rebound but iwe must do that with a focus on members.

 

[SeanC]

I've been at the Past Players function today at the club, it was great to catch up with some club greats but even better hearing from Craig McRae

Craig Mcrae

Age

51

Ht

176cm

Wt

73kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.9

3star

K

9.0

3star

HB

3.9

3star

M

2.4

3star

T

1.9

4star

G

1.2

4star

No current season stats available

D

16.2

4star

K

10.6

4star

HB

5.6

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

1.2

3star

G

1.4

5star

wanting to bring the whole club together. He showed a video that he played for the players on the first day back and even though I have no footballing ability I was ready to run out for him. I hope the Pies digital team share the video with members.

I'll be hosting a Twitter Spaces AMA (Ask Me Anything) tonight at 6PM AEDT - it's effectively talkback radio without all the ads - would be great to hear from some of you there, happy to discuss the election or just chat about the young draftees coming to the club

Link to join -->

 

[76woodenspooners]

Speaking with people I know (inside and outside the club) there is an awareness and definite appetitive to repair that disconnect with members.
COVID accelerated the issues (in my opinion) with staff shortages and difficult WFH logistics for club staff but we are well-positioned to rebound but iwe must do that with a focus on members.

Not necessarily, and appreciate that you have acknowledged interstate and overseas members and that I am banging on a bit …

… but one of the silver linings that has come out of Covid is that the connection with interstate members is now the best it’s ever been. Perhaps if the club had previously had a better connection with interstate and overseas members, then it would have been better able maintain a good connection with all members during Covid lockdowns?

But that’s all now past (fingers crossed, touch wood), and this election is about looking forward to the future. When the club transitions to a post Covid lockdown world, we shouldn‘t just discard the lessons and advances that have come about due to Covid.

 

[SeanC]

Not necessarily, and appreciate that you have acknowledged interstate and overseas members and that I am banging on a bit …

… but one of the silver linings that has come out of Covid is that the connection with interstate members is now the best it’s ever been. Perhaps if the club had previously had a better connection with interstate and overseas members beforehand, then it would have been better able maintain a connection with all members during Covid lockdowns?

But that’s all now past (fingers crossed, touch wood), and this election is about looking forward to the future. When the club transitions to a post Covid lockdown world, we shouldn‘t just discard the lessons and advances that have cone about due to Covid.

I think we are in furious agreement here. Many sports, not just Collingwood focussed on engaging fans not in the stadiums over the past 18 months because they were not allowed in the stadiums. The balance will be to not revert back to a "stadium only" focus but realise the opportunity to engage fans outside the stadium. Now don't get me wrong I want large crowds at the MCG but the opportunity to engage Collingwood fans that are not at the MCG is a massive one. That is where the growth opportunity lies for the club, developing membership products and strategies to keep that fan base engaged and in Black & White for years to come.

 

[The Dawes]

Seems like No Hat is their code

 

[SeanC]

View attachment 1291534

That's it I'm changing campaign strategies...

 

[Pie eyed]

5 minutes of research on the net tells a story but what do i know....

Borussia Dortmund is a soccer club in germany that has revenue of $750m a year. Thats about 10 times the Pies or probably closer to 20X at the moment. It has 145K members, almost twice the Pies but not quite.

On a pro rata basis, I wonder what sort of membership experience the Pies could provide if revenue was $400m.... of course I understand that they throw a lot of money at players but I said it was only 5 minutes research.

Slightly bigger market.
There are 83,783,942 German nationals world wide.
Soccer is a European cult.
They have a market of 747,000,000 people just in Europe.
Their income comes from merch and TV rights.
Roughly 1 third of Australias population identifies as European.


There are 25,499,884 Aussie nationals worldwide and we split our sports, AFL, NRL, ARL, NBA etc including soccer.

 

[Markfs]

Slightly bigger market.
There are 83,783,942 German nationals world wide.
Soccer is a European cult.
Lets see your figures per capita?
There are 25,499,884 Aussie nationals worldwide and we split our sports, AFL, NRL, ARL, NBA etc including soccer.

I just checked and there are 25,499,885 Aussie nationals outside the fence..... one more must have got out.

 

[Pie eyed]

I just checked and there are 25,499,885 Aussie nationals outside the fence..... one more must have got out.

Shit...Skye Vermont-Shaslick just whipped out a set of triplets....
But on the down side Murtle Armstrong and Daphne Rogerson just passed. (not Covid related though, shame at the goings on of S. Morrison)

 

[SeanC]

Bumping this thread as I stand by all things I said last year, and I am happy to take on any more questions members may have.

Especially from members who now are allowed to vote as the definition of an ordinary member was expanded to allow more members to vote.

More detail on me here - Get to know Sean Callanan - Collingwood Board Nominee

 

[Pragmatic Shill]

What are your thoughts on Collingwood's logo, and should a Board member be making gripes about the logo part of their personal platform to "improve" the club?

On SM-G981B using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Stronzatello]

I’ll be voting for Ganley. Great ideas, balanced and very concise in his views to improve CFC in multiple ways!

 

[SeanC]

What are your thoughts on Collingwood's logo, and should a Board member be making gripes about the logo part of their personal platform to "improve" the club?

On SM-G981B using BigFooty.com mobile app

The logo isn't my fave one I'm fond of the retro 80s one of my youth. With 100K members, you'll get varied answers for similar personal reasons.



But as a board member, I don't expect to be asked to approve logos or graphics prepared by the Collingwood media department. Or any department for that matter. A sound board will ensure the best people are in place and let them do their job.

Being on a board isn't as glamorous as some people may think.

The board’s responsibilities are to (reference - Duties and responsibilities of boards and board directors | boards.vic.gov.au)

• establish a governance framework, including a compliance framework to ensure the organisation meets its obligations
• set the strategic direction to help the organisation achieve its purpose
• oversee financial performance of the organisation
• oversee a risk management strategy and risk management performance
• play an active role in building a culture of integrity by modelling the behaviours based on the public sector values and standards
• oversee the performance and remuneration of the organisation head
• operate within its statutory powers and policies
• oversee the occupational health and safety of the organisation
• manage stakeholders.

I expect to build digital literacy amongst the board members and ensure they see what the world's best sports teams are doing to stay ahead (of rival teams & growing entertainment options for fans.)

 

[SeanC]

I’ll be voting for Ganley. Great ideas, balanced and very concise in his views to improve CFC in multiple ways!

Good to hear you'll be voting. I'll provide one counter, as much as fans dislike Marvel Stadium there is no way anyone will be able to get us out of playing some games there.

The sports business is built on multiple deals that are very hard to unwind. Jeff promised to play all games at MCG in last year's campaign as well. It won't happen. If it could've happened then, Eddie would have made it happen, but he understood the deals in place.

What can help is getting members to turn up to games. Low show rates are an AFL industry-wide issue.
When Collingwood members (and fans) turn up in large numbers, it unlocks so many benefits for the club.
Better stadium deals, our deal with MCG has got worse as we didn't have the crowds to support it.

My focus will be helping the board to maximise membership revenue and engagement. That is something I know very well, and I can help the board drive that strategy.

 

[Markfs]

Sean, there was a lot of talk in this forum that the collingwood board should have basically approved the player contracts signed that lead to the so-called "firesale" regarding Treloar etc.

There were many who thought the board should have effectively overseen Ned Guy's list management job. There were many who said that Mark Korda should take some responsibility in his role as a board member.

Will you be seeking briefings on the dollar rates for each player contract and the overall salary cap? In some ways this is old news, but as a perspective board member, I'm curious how the board should overview these things.

 

[SeanC]

Sean, there was a lot of talk in this forum that the collingwood board should have basically approved the player contracts signed that lead to the so-called "firesale" regarding Treloar etc.

There were many who thought the board should have effectively overseen Ned Guy's list management job. There were many who said that Mark Korda should take some responsibility in his role as a board member.

Will you be seeking briefings on the dollar rates for each player contract and the overall salary cap? In some ways this is old news, but as a perspective board member, I'm curious how the board should overview these things.

good question (without knowledge of what actually happened at the board level, just media reports like most members) but I would expect the board to sign off on any significant project the CEO and the exec team present to the board.

In football, many player contracts represent significant projects, but I'd expect the football department to present its vision and strategy to the board in the same way the marketing or operations team would.

As a board member, I would review and provide insight for the debate and vote when asked, but the board room is not the place for list management or selection decisions.

I've been on the other side of the board table, presenting the case for a new digital direction for a sports team and I've answered the questions from board members to get sign-off. I'd ask the questions from my experience and what I know the members would want to be asked.

I've also worked on sub-committees on boards that help with specific strategies or pillars the board is tackling.

I hope that gives you some insight into how I'd perform as a board member especially out of my primary skillset.