Fans Forum Meeting – Britannia Stadium
March 2010 - Membership Scheme
Attendees
Bryan Shaw, Tony Tams, Gareth Ekin, Angela Smith, Malcolm Clarke
Tony Scholes, Steve Buxton, Andy Billingham, Nick Lucy
Apologies
Terry Hughes, Darren Smallwood, Louise Smith
1. Membership Scheme summary of meeting by the Fans' Forum
The meeting began with Tony Scholes opening the discussions by asking for a summary of the issues how they stand right now.
The Forum then summarised the issues that were noted in the previous minutes
Tony Scholes then explained that the club had wanted to bring in a membership scheme initially when we made it into the Premier League, but time constraints meant that it had to come in at the point that it is now. It was a means of growing the supporter base and was not a price increase, rather than the different categories meant that a supporter could choose which membership suits them best.
Tony Scholes apologised that the Forum had not been consulted and said that this was not done on purpose, but rather tunnel-vision due to the price freeze and this membership scheme work going hand in hand.
Andy Billingham then stated that there may have been some miscommunication at the last meeting and that the focus group that had partaken in the market research for the scheme was an internal focus group and did not want to give the impression that research had taken part with non-staff members as it had not. Gareth Ekin then stated that he had asked specifically at the last meeting whether the focus group was made up of staff only and we had been told no.
Malcolm Clarke also pointed out that membership schemes amongst supporters are largely unpopular with fans and that the club would have known this if we had been consulted beforehand.
Gareth Ekin then stated that to bring in a scheme that affects over 20,000 supporters with absolutely no market research with any non-staff fan was disgraceful and that a very, very poor marketing job overall had been done.
The discussion moved on to tickets and the main issues discussed were allocation of tickets and the fact that people can effectively buy their way to the top of the priority list. The club stated that in the majority of cases there would be tickets available for those people who want to go. The Forum asked for the breakdown of the priority lists checking that what was said at the last meeting was accurate.
The Forum explained that it had concerns that tickets would not get to go on sale to Gold memberships as with some small away allocations and the fact that you can link up to two junior membership children to a Platinum Plus membership the number of tickets left is dwindling. Tony Scholes was surprised to learn that you could link two children to a Platinum Plus membership and Andy Billingham confirmed that this was the case. Tony said that he would take this discussion offline out of the meeting with Andy.
The Forum also then made the point to Tony that if he was expecting the supporters who qualify for the Platinum Plus memberships free this season to pay next season then they should be informed as soon as possible to avoid the issues we have had this season with premium seating. The Forum also disagreed with the decision to charge those supporters next season providing they maintain the same qualifying level of games attended.
The Forum also pointed out with the ticketing system working as has been explained, what measures with the club put in place to prevent touting. The club said that they are already doing what they can to prevent this.
The club said that it would be working with the Forum regarding ticketing levels.
The club and Forum both agreed that other benefits of membership could not be seen by supporters. The forum said this was due to the fact that no offers/deals/discounts were in place for launch. Tony Scholes said that the scheme was not fully formed but wanted it to launch with the early bird season ticket mailer as it is the largest mailer that Stoke have done in one go. The club said that due to competition rules they could not have run the World Cup competition without a membership. Tony also said that he wanted supporters to look back in twelve months and say that it was value for money.
The club said that they wanted the Forum to get involved in conveying the message about the benefits of being a member. The Forum stated that at the moment there are no benefits in place, it is akin to "shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted" and the Forum will not be getting involved in anything to do with the scheme as it stands.
The forum made the suggestion that the club use the local media to explain to fans what Stoke feel that membership is about to at least give people the opportunity to make an informed decision before purchasing.
The agreement was to meet again on Thursday 18th March to discuss ticket allocations with Andy Billingham and Steve Buxton. The discussions that were taken offline the conclusion would also be communicated back to the Forum.
2. Membership Scheme Minutes Written By Stoke City
Members of the Fans’ Forum met with representatives of the Club ahead of the Premier League match against Aston Villa to continue discussions about the new Membership scheme and some of the issues that have been raised by supporters.
Chief Executive Tony Scholes opened the meeting by inviting the Forum to summarise the key issues so that they could be addressed at the meeting.
The Forum reiterated that the main issue concerned ticketing priorities for the different categories of Membership and due to the lack of information about benefits to Members, it was perceived by many fans to be a means of revenue generation by the Club in terms of getting people to pay for their continued loyal support.
In relating to matters discussed at the first meeting, concerns were also raised about:
*The priority given to Platinum Plus members and any of their children who were Junior Members for away tickets.
*Delays in the distribution of the mailer with many supporters receiving it days after the launch of Season Ticket sales.
*The lack of a consultation process with the Forum that had set them back because fans were questioning their validity.
Tony Scholes responded by stating initially that the main priority of the Membership scheme was to grow the supporter base and that the real benefit in that respect was the chance to form a stronger affiliation with non Season Ticket Holders, while also recognising and rewarding the loyalty of current Season Ticket holders.
In covering some of the issues raised, he said that the different categories and upgrades to higher levels were not a means of price hike for the most loyal fans, but giving people a choice of what category suited them best.
The Forum were assured that it was not the intention of the scheme to deprive loyal supporters of access to away tickets unless they paid for upgrades to higher categories. It was stated that in the vast majority of cases there would be tickets for away matches available for those who relied on their purchasing history and the fact that they were first in the queue at the Ticket Office. The Club assured the Forum and that they would work with them to ensure there was the opportunity to obtain those tickets.
The Club also said that they would be working with the Fans Forum on defining the ticketing priority levels in light of the issue raised regarding children of Platinum Plus Members, but their research in developing the scheme left them confident that there would not be a problem in terms of availability of tickets.
Tony Scholes commented that one of the problems was that supporters could not see many of the benefits yet because they were not in place.
He said that the Membership scheme was not fully formed, but it was important to launch it with the Early Bird Season Ticket campaign and to take advantage of the fact that they were sending out a mailer to 24,000 people on the database. With the Membership scheme set up, the Club could now obtain benefits through associations with Club partners and potential new ones who were interested in such affinity schemes.
The Club also stated there would be exciting announcements about benefits to Members concerning end of season events shortly and they couldn’t have run the offer to send two fans to the World Cup Final without the Membership in place.
Many of the exclusive offers to different categories of Membership would be included in the packs sent out before the start of next season.
Tony Scholes told the Forum that it was the Club’s job to ensure that in a year’s time any fair-minded supporter would look back on the scheme as excellent value.
In answer to the Forum’s comments about delays in the delivery of the mailer to many people after the launch of sales, the Club said that they would look into the matter, but in terms of communication it had been sent out to 24,000 people on their database and had been covered extensively on the website, in The Sentinel and on BBC Radio Stoke.
In addressing the issue of a lack of consultation with the Forum over the Membership scheme, Tony Scholes said that this was nothing more than tunnel vision due to the strong focus on the freezing of Season Ticket prices at the same time.
The Club stated that they wanted the Forum to play an active role in conveying a strong message about the benefits of being a Member.
While it was agreed that communication, mainly through the Club’s website, about Members’ benefits would be done as soon as possible, it was also decided that a further meeting would be held to carry these discussions a stage further.
