I joined Essendon as a member in 1984. Would regualarly head out to Windy Hill on a Tuesday or Thursday, meet other members in the Social Club and watch the boys train. Have a few drinks and a bite to eat then afterwards have a smoke with Vanda or Daisy who would always pop in to say hi.
It was brilliant and nothing comes close at the sterile, unfriendly place that is the Hangar
Wasn’t the club advertising all these sorts of positions a week or two ago?
Hopefully that explains things somewhat.
The club is a steaming pile of sh-t.
It’s shameful this is a thing for the club.
But the best way is to win a ■■■■■■■ final.
I really don’t want to hear from the club until they have done this. It’s all just bullshit words. Need action.
They absolutely need to invest heavily in this area. I’m just stating that Campbell left the club in an absolute mess, and they are only beginning to address the findings from the review.
This area is not football department related, so it’s not considered urgent.
In my work, I’ve been partnering with North Melbourne and Western Bulldogs. The amount of community related work they are committed to in their communities is impressive.
North Melbourne are running after school drop in centre at Arden Street, for disengaged youth that live in the North Melbourne area.
Western bulldogs are doing the same from Whitten Oval, and also investing in youth leadership programs right across Rural townships in Western Victoria.
These programs aren’t even football related, it’s about building the community.
What have we done for the community of Tullamarine/Gladstone park?
Winning would go a long way to improving spirits around the club, including the supporter base. But we can’t do that tomorrow, or early next year.
What we can do is stop treating fans and members with contempt. The way this club has been run and the results delivered over the last 20 years, they should be doing everything possible to keep members engaged.
I reckon it was about 4 years ago, they held a Christmas family event at the Hanger and it got a decent crowd. Why we don’t annually pencil this stuff in is beyond me.
put some bloody chairs in at the hanger FFS
I have a paver with my name on it out the front of Windy Hill, I donated to the flight plan, but i’ve never felt less welcome at the club than i do in its current configuration.
Put in some damn chairs so i can sit down while i watch training. It’s not that hard
They would if they wanted you there
Of course winning helps.
But as I’ve said previously, most Essendon supporters want to feel part of a community (obviously not all). We go to games to watch Essendon win, but we go with mates and family. We make friends while going to games & training.
I mean, we all spend alot of time on this forum talking about lots of random sh*t. Which is a community.
But the club has done a lousy job of being part of this community. People have lost trust, not just because of performances…. But because the only interaction we get from the club is a ‘sales pitch’, or begrudgingly drip feed us information so we don’t complain.
I understand your points. But I’m so disenfranchised from endless promises that I actually don’t want to engage with the club until they put the words into action.
I take your point about finals but our season starts have been appalling, the coast to coast goals are embarrassing and the red time concessions can be better and achieved before a final win. Do that, I might get engaged but until I see some actual progress, wallpaper, family days and the like are meaningless to me.
They sell chairs at the Bombershop, so buy one and use it. Oh and use your voucher towards it.
That is the EFC thought process.
FFS
I think the review also highlighted Club needed to reinvest in its community programs too. Covid certainly had a toll on footy clubs. Perhaps prior to covid, Essendon probably lost some of its renowned focus on being an industry leader in how it was investing in its community programs.
There’s our now recognised lost connection with the NT and connecting with our fans and ‘roots’ up there. Then before covid, they were investing heavily in that NW corridor out Keillor way with particular focus on the Indian community. There was a game that supported Indian culture only a few years back. That seems to have fallen by the wayside post covid.
The last few years, at least on the surface, they supported some community programs via home game activation: Cancer game, country game, Dreamtime etc. however, apart from Dreamtime and the ongoing commitment to The Long Walk and AFLW and AFL preseason games, many of these programs appear on the surface one week wonders in essence. If they’re not, then their efforts aren’t cutting through to me!
Now, when we played to huge crowds in Perth and Tasmania the Clubs eyes were reopened to a seemingly almost forgotten asset: A huge national following. Its current strategic plan aspires to achieve 125,000 members by harnessing this following. So how are they progressing on this? Credit to Club for celebrating its 150 years (you know what I mean!) by having legends visit interstate and regional Victoria to share the clubs history with the Cups. We need more of this. What does the follow up look like in 2023 beyond? How can interstate games be activated in and outside the stadium? How can membership packages be recalibrated with this in mind? This all feeds into fan engagement on a national level and what the club is doing to engage our national fanbase. An engaged fanbase and winning football games will solve membership targets.
So regarding community, Club needs to reinvest and I hope it’s genuinely focussing on this aspect of its strategic plan with feedback from the external review. We need to get back on track with our indigenous programs and engagement, build a robust fan engagement plan to connect and reconnect with our national supporter base, focus on NW corridor for growth in our backyard and bring it all together in a plan that includes game day, socials, media & membership etc.
Contrary thought. Let’s sort out the VFL side of things as a priority over connection with fans.
Football first.
No, let’s do it all at once. Why not? Other clubs do.
And you certainly aren’t on your own by being disenfranchised… we all are. I have 3 under 4 years who I’m trying desperately to keep them in the red and black but it’s tough when other members of the extended family are following more successful and more engaged clubs. And that’s when the kids can’t even think for themselves… if the club wants to keep its distance and remain disengaged from the fan base, I don’t give the next generation much hope of sticking fat.
Great posts @dmaplestone
The club has been talking better fan engagement since Barham stormed the palace and took control.
But what actions have we seen?
The multimedia coverage has been underwhelming of late, with the exception of the great clip the club took in Darwin(?) of Davey draft night.
As a high mark member I have seen or heard nothing to suggest what extra the club will do this year compared to previous years.
I’m probably biased, but we really need to pump up our schools program.
I’m a teacher, with good experience in Essendon’s area. I’m surprised, for want of a more accurate word, of the lack of presence we have in schools in our zone, where there are a large number of kids who are not yet overly familiar with footy, and there’s a great opportunity for education. A schools program which provides resources for health and PE in our zone should be a priority.
Footscray has a great model. I’ve also been a part of and seen first hand the benefits of the schools program that Footscray run. It’s excellent, and they’Annualally making an impact in the western suburbs.
I may raise this at the Annual Meeting.