Former CEO David May

[DIEHARD]

Really love having David on our Titans Forum. He really seems like a great bloke and well suited to the job. Coming to the fans is the best thing you can do and you will find plenty of ideas here as well as a great knowledge base.

[Coaster]

Hi David,
Just a couple of things.

I get upset when I watch the club spend millions of dollars each year, on acquiring new memberships, but very little on retaining the current memberships.
It seems to me that the club is resigned to the fact that to get the membership numbers needed to be financially viable, the answer is to gain new members, when in reality the answer IMO, is to create raving fans out of your current members, and create an environment that makes the people of the coast want to be a part of, rather than ridicule.

I hear terms like "fickle", and "Gold Coast crowds" all too often, from even inside the club itself. This culture is devastating as it turns current fans into elitist, and makes it difficult for new members to feel welcome.

Your membership department do a good job but seem to be completely under financed, when compared to other departments. This is the front line for current members to communicate with the club, yet seems to be the least important.

As an example, a while ago, I met 2 crazy fans who called themselves Titas and Aluminium boy, after speaking with the club, we organised some tickets for them as there involvement was a fantastic addition to the overall footy experience.
Over the next few months the boys grew in popularity and the club took notice, which then decided to give them more exposure.

The Titans decided that the best way to utilise these 2 was to hide them in a XXXX tent, and let 6 adults that WON tickets enjoy there company. This is a classic example of trying to acquire new memberships, instead of cherishing the current members.

What you should have done, is get 2 x sponsored quad bikes, and 2 x shirt cannons, and let them loose on the entire crowd, where the kids and families are.

On top of that, I now hear that the 2 space boys are leaving.

So hears a question I would like to hear your thoughts on, if you could please.

Q, What systems are you putting in place to increase the current members communication with the club, to involve them and turn them from a member into a RAVING FAN.

[david may]

Thats a very very good question.

If you're ever having a conversation like this over a beer or at work, the general equation (studied over many years) is that is costs between 10 to 15 times more for an organization to find a new customer than it does to keep a current one.

So your question is one we are looking at right now. The reality is that thclub spends more on retaining and regaining members than it does out in the general community trying to get new ones. So our thoughts are in the right place, but is it perfect - probably not.

I spent most of my first day with current and prior members. And the rest of the day talking about memberships with my team. So I can't evidence that this is an important area to me in a more real way than that. We have some really exciting things coming up for members, so stay tuned. Probably shouldnt announce them right at this second. Great question though.

[david may]

David if you think where amongst the best teams now do you honestly think we can win the comp this year

I think we are right now in the top 4 teams in the competition.

And that's where we would want to be at this stage of the season. Finals football is something else though.

In my humble opinion you need to stay injury free, have a bit of luck on important decisions, get the kind bounce when you need it... It's hard to know if we can win it. The bulldogs and souths look good. But so do we. If we get all of the above why not? I can't guarantee it but will happily claim it if we do.

That last bit is meant to be funny by the way.

[david may]

David ... this a very good start for the new face of the club. Quick responses and the merchandise people getting involved = all good.

Most of us on here are footy people in some form or other, would it be too much of a stretch to have someone from the footy side of things looking after a footy Q&A thread too? Pre-requisites: think-skinned, articulate, informed and did I say think-skinned?

Ps. How is the link from the Titans website going? We would like all of our liked-minded mob commenting, as I'm sure you would.

Oh yeah and Karnage, how could you ask that question when we all know that's you :-)

Will ask someone from the football dept on Monday.

Not sure what you mean about the link. Was I supposed to have done something? Will ask the web guys Monday too...

D

[DavidBouveng]

Will ask someone from the football dept on Monday.

Not sure what you mean about the link. Was I supposed to have done something? Will ask the web guys Monday too...

D

Hi David,

i think Titanic was referring to a tab on our website that directs you to this forum, to help get more fans involved and talking titans.

Currently on our website the main tabs are: News and Video / Team / Tickets / Membership / Shop / Corporate / Community / About.
Adding one called Forum, which takes you to this site, would be helpful in building the community.



On membership and ticketing, what are the chances you can talk turkey with the government to make the stadium costs cheaper to allow you to price the tickets at a more competitive cost?

I know that pricing is a prime reason most give when asked why they dont attend, along with parking.

im definitely not as smart a person as you and have no idea of the logistics, but is 20,000 people at $35 av ticket price better than 15,555 people at $45 average cost. both scenario's equal $700,000 in takings or so, but one has almost 5000 more people in the stadium buying food drink and merchandise, creating atmosphere and helping supporting our players to play their best.

I know its not as simple as dropping prices and watching them waltz in, but im sure it help crowd numbers to some degree.

Sorry if that ended up a bit long winded, and see you on sunday!

[david may]

Another good question.

Job before last I worked at Jetstar and we spent a huge amount of time understanding how to get full planes through price.

And it's very much like you deacribe. With all the costs we have to pay - transport levies, stadium costs etc etc - we have to make sure we get price absolutely spot on. At Jetstar and the titans it's very similar. Full = better in simple terms for many reasons but most of all for the impact it has on the players on the field to have support in the stands.

Yes we are looking very hard at the issues and we are close to our first answer.

D

[david may]

I will ask about the tab but I wouldn't expect a huge amount of traffic from it. From my experience a tile or a banner on the homepage would be better than on the nav at the top.

But I haven't had a chance to look at our web stats too? Do you guys try to get involved in the facebook community and
Try to get traffic from there?

[DavidBouveng]

I will ask about the tab but I wouldn't expect a huge amount of traffic from it. From my experience a tile or a banner on the homepage would be better than on the nav at the top.

But I haven't had a chance to look at our web stats too? Do you guys try to get involved in the facebook community and
Try to get traffic from there?

yeah whether its a tab or banner or or a tile, some form of 'click to get to forum's' would be helpful.

as for facebook / social media, im not actually too involved in any of that so i couldnt help you, but some of the forum Moderators might be in a better position to talk about where we draw traffic from.

Thanks again for you response, it still blowing my mind that you are willing to wade into the marsh and chat with us,

Cheers,

[The Mole]

Mr.May I don't mean to be pushy or rude but you haven't answered any of my questions, I'm sure the question about improving junior development is difficult to answer but if you can at least acknowledge the problem then i and many supporters will be assured that one of our club issues will be resolved.

btw i think it's great you are connecting with the fans, transparency between club and it's supporters is a wonderful thing.

[Toads]

Attempt Number 2..

With no disrespect intended, just firing off a e-mail to make purchases is a bit below par these days. If anything, the online store needs a major overhaul and kept up to date on a regular basis. Apart from a few items, the website hasn't been updated since early 2010. What I feel we really need is something that resembles other clubs. If you'll look below, you'll see what I mean to what other clubs have..

Newcastle Knights
West Tigers
St George Dragons
Penrith Panthers
Melbourne Storm
Brisbane Donkeys
Nth Qld Cowboys
Sydney Roosters
Sydney Rabbitohs
Parramatta Eels
Cronulla Sharks
Canberra Raiders
Canterbury Bulldogs
Manly Sea Eagles

Now this is what we have. We can't even purchase this years basic jerseys from the site.
Gold Coast Titans

As I mentioned earlier, this isn't intended to have a shot at anyone. This is about trying to highlight one Department of the Gold Coast Titans that could do with a bit more polishing, to help improve the experience for the Fans/Punters, and simplify the purchasing side of it. As the Titans do have Fans beyond the Gold Coast.

I for one would rather see our funds go directly to the club as possible, even if the Merchandising side of it is leased out or not. Having spent $1000 of dollars at places like Goodscore, Rebel Sports and eBay over the years, isn't a great experience from my point of view. But if we had a 'One Stop Shop' surely that's gotta be better for everyone that is passionate about our Club.

[Supergoose]

Raiders twitter account links many of their threads and stories posted on their forum to tweets.

[DIEHARD]

I will ask about the tab but I wouldn't expect a huge amount of traffic from it. From my experience a tile or a banner on the homepage would be better than on the nav at the top.

But I haven't had a chance to look at our web stats too? Do you guys try to get involved in the facebook community and
Try to get traffic from there?

Hi David

1. We used to have a link on the Titans.com.au website, which wasn't carried over when the site was redesigned. Alot of people used that link to access the Titans Forum.

If we could get that replaced, that'd be lovely.

The Legion has a facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TitansLegion

It has 4,300 users which is pretty good. I used to post links to the Match Threads on facebook to attract new users. This is something I can put my hand up and do again.

But we get no mention on the Titans facebook or email communication.

I beleive that the Titans Forum is a great and unique asset. Not many clubs have them and over the years it has really helped network fans, build support, make ideas come to reality and make supporting the Titans alot more fun.

While we dont have a 100,000 facebook users, I consider us gourmet food and facebook and twitter fast food.

2. It'd be lovely if we could get some one from the footy department to come on. While we sometimes go ape on selections that is part of footy. But we'd love some tips and love some decisive info on injuries and signings/resignings.

3. Coaster is absolutely right in what he says. I don't feel that some Titans fans are being looked after. A little goes a long way. The Space Boys were the most amazing fanbased effort I've seen in Rugby League. Coaster's idea of quads and t shirt cannons and letting them go wild is on the money. They got awesome coverage on Channel 9 going around high fiving all the kids during the Broncos game. It's authentic and supporter based, not rent a crowd.

I'm not just alarmed by the drop in members and supporters, Im alarmed by Titans supporters not being as bigger fans as they used to be. I've seen people drop off the map.

Another example is Mick who used to do the amazing LegionTV show on youtube with me. He stopped because he felt that he wasnt getting support from the club. At the end of the day these types of people donate their time.

But you being on the Titans Forum is a good step forward.

4. Toads' point about merchandise is a good one and if we keep getting feedback like that, your time here will be well spent.

5. I also believe that the Membership Department is under resourced.

[C-Whiz]

Welcome to the forum Mr May.

As others have said, the Titans home page should have a direct link to the forum. We have been raising this simple issue for months. It should be very visible and easy to find.

There was a time, a few years ago, when we were like family on here, organising ourselves as supporter groups and bonding well. It would be awesome to get that back again.

Secondly, take some time to meet Brad/Diehard and listen to what he has to say. He is passionate, has no agenda other than wanting to see the Titans evolve, he understands media and he can bridge the gap between boardroom execs and fans. I sincerely suggest you should give him some of your valuable time, because he will repay it ten-fold.

Finally, my personal issue has always been a club song. I have made several suggestions in the past, and we have resurrected the old song/chant thread many times to try and get something us fans can all bond over, and sing as a victory song. Is this something you consider relevant to the club? Would you consider having a fan based contest to write a club song, with all entrants forgoing any rights and royalties to the song, just the honour of knowing they contributed to something so intrinsic to the club?

Thank you for your time.

[Hail Sezer]

With reference to the above, we have currently received new stock which aren't currently on online to purchase, to follow this up please email the following ians@titans.com.au who will be able to advise you as to what is available in sizing etc.

Many thanks

Emailed pretty much as soon as this was posted and am yet to receive a reply, has anyone else had this?