Sons' sorrow

[BallochSonsFan]

We're active on social media. 

As for advertising - are people really staying away because they don't know when the next home game is?

And a bigger name signing. We need money to sign better players. We don't have money partly because our crowds are really low. It's a vicious circle. We can't fund a better squad without people coming to games but the poorer our squad is then the less likely people are to come to games. Short of somebody giving us some money to spend? We need people to get along to games regardless of the perceived lack of quality in the squad because we absolutely won't sign better players if we continue to see crowds shrink.

[Boghead ranter]

26 minutes ago, BallochSonsFan said:

We're active on social media.

We are to an extent, yes.  I'm active on social media, but my friends/followers aren't lining up to come and see me do what I do for 90 minutes each week.

I'm not a social media expert, but (imho) our social media is speaking to people like us, people and followers who are already fans.  That's not going to get more of us into games.

For me, there's 2 things needing done on social media - one is that we need to take those messages to OUR friends, if everyone going to a game manages to convince ONE person to go with them, we double the crowd. Two - and this is even harder - the club needs to get creative, producing content that drives apathetic locals to give us a chance, and come and see what goes on.

All the above needs backed up by a team that either wins, or plays attractive, competitive football even when losing.  Only complete masochists are going to watch shite performances more than once, and all the local masochists are  probably all on board already.

EDIT : as an example, when's the last time fans of other teams spoke positively about our output? We used to get comments around the Klaxon type posts (among others), we don't get that any more. Not decrying the effort being put in, but when's the last time we produced content that figuratively "got our knickers wet"? We produce functional output yes, but we need more than that.

Is  Alan Findlay involved any more? His own personal social media had been deleted. Just wondering of he's stepped away from all things online.

Edited August 11, 2019 by Boghead ranter

[charlie king mvp]

5 hours ago, Angus of the Mo said:

It’s a bit early to say, and judgement can only be taken when the season is well under way, but Montrose went through similar issues which ended when there was a clear out at the board and the new directors and chairman had more brains and a passion for the club than the old school has beens.

Seriously don’t want Dumbarton going the same way as Brechin. Last time I went to the glebe, few weeks back, the Mo brought 3 or 4 times their number.

Where Montrose has had huge success is the community trust, which has boasted the towns interest in the club. Periodically the schools are given free tickets which means accompanying adults, grandparents, parents etc are paying to get in and also rekindling their interest in the club. Last season in a game against Stenny, there was more than 2,000 of a crowd on one of the school ticket days.

The trust has also helped the down and outs in the town. At Christmas they put on a huge spread for folk who have hit hard times.

Scottish football suffers from lack of funding due to the TV being about the English leagues only, Linnekar gets more cash than Scottish football, it’s a pish situation, but then many English clubs are in a huge financial mess.  Nothing any of us can do about that, except refusing to pay a tv license.

Brechiners deserted their team, and you wonder where it all went wrong from a club that punched far above their weight for the last 20 years.

Should Dumbarton fans should stick together and demand changes in the way the club is run?

 

Angus you are not half prone to exaggerating. There were 405 people at the recent game between Brechin and Montrose, are you seriously telling me that there were 300 plus Mo fans to around 100 City fans? Nonsense.

There were only 1244 at the game with the free tickets you are on about as well.

However I came onto this thread to see what was happening with Dumbarton and I seriously  worry for any team that has signed players that played for Brechin recently. Connor Brennan was not up to much and McGeever made a lot of errors in his time at Brechin for someone who hardly played in two seasons.

One of the things levelled at Jim Duffy when he was at us was he just didn’t seem to get part time football and the different sort of demands it placed on players.

Sad to see the club struggling given they were doing so well in the Championship recently. 

[Jan Vojáček]

21 minutes ago, Boghead ranter said:

We are to an extent, yes.  I'm active on social media, but my friends/followers aren't lining up to come and see me do what I do for 90 minutes each week.

I'm not a social media expert, but (imho) our social media is speaking to people like us, people and followers who are already fans.  That's not going to get more of us into games.

For me, there's 2 things needing done on social media - one is that we need to take those messages to OUR friends, if everyone going to a game manages to convince ONE person to go with them, we double the crowd. Two - and this is even harder - the club needs to get creative, producing content that drives apathetic locals to give us a chance, and come and see what goes on.

All the above needs backed up by a team that either wins, or plays attractive, competitive football even when losing.  Only complete masochists are going to watch shite performances more than once, and all the local masochists are  probably all on board already.

On the social media thing, we're on it. The new GoalCam is one thing that came about pretty quickly based on an idea my brother had that went from a suggestion to an irl thing in about a week. Just a shame we haven't seen a goal with it yet, but I'm absolutely loving how it looks.

There's definitely a desire to do more with social media - but ultimately it all comes down to folk having the time. If this had happened over the past four years then I'd have been all over it, but this full-time work thing doesn't half take up most of your week - so I've had to hand over to wee Jan.

 

 

3 minutes ago, charlie king mvp said:

However I came onto this thread to see what was happening with Dumbarton and I seriously  worry for any team that has signed players that played for Brechin recently. Connor Brennan was not up to much and McGeever made a lot of errors in his time at Brechin for someone who hardly played in two seasons.

One of the things levelled at Jim Duffy when he was at us was he just didn’t seem to get part time football and the different sort of demands it placed on players.

Sad to see the club struggling given they were doing so well in the Championship recently. 

That is very interesting.

[Boghead ranter]

12 minutes ago, Jan Vojáček said:

On the social media thing, we're on it. The new GoalCam is one thing that came about pretty quickly based on an idea my brother had that went from a suggestion to an irl thing in about a week. Just a shame we haven't seen a goal with it yet, but I'm absolutely loving how it looks.

Ok, good. For 90+4 minutes per week, we have creative/different output.

What else can we do for the other 9990 minutes per week?*

 

*Not a question specifically for you @Jan Vojáček, more to all of us.

Edited August 11, 2019 by Boghead ranter

[pleslie99]

We're active on social media. 
As for advertising - are people really staying away because they don't know when the next home game is?
And a bigger name signing. We need money to sign better players. We don't have money partly because our crowds are really low. It's a vicious circle. We can't fund a better squad without people coming to games but the poorer our squad is then the less likely people are to come to games. Short of somebody giving us some money to spend? We need people to get along to games regardless of the perceived lack of quality in the squad because we absolutely won't sign better players if we continue to see crowds shrink.

We're not as active as we could/should be. Glad to hear from Jan that we are working on it though. You see lots of imaginative stuff on social media which gets lots of retweets etc from other club but ours is very much same old same old. Plus as pointed out we are aiming our social media stuff at the folk who are already fans and go to games.
With regards to fans staying away because they maybe dont know when games are, maybe not the only reason but go into the high street or asda and ask 100 people when the next game is, how many will be able to tell you? Single figures I reckon! So could the club do more. IMO yes!

[Jan Vojáček]

6 minutes ago, Boghead ranter said:

Ok, good. For 90+4 minutes per week, we have creative/different output.

What else can we do for the other 9990 minutes per week?*

 

*Not a question specifically for you @Jan Vojáček, more to all of us.

By all means, good people of P&B, fire ideas out there. However mental or weird they sound, that's the sort of stuff Twitter audiences love!

[C'mon_the_Sons]

2 minutes ago, Jan Vojáček said:

By all means, good people of P&B, fire ideas out there. However mental or weird they sound, that's the sort of stuff Twitter audiences love!

Not social media related but design a billboard. Get it up at Dumbarton East and Dumbarton Central. Probably missed the ideal window which is when we're selling season tickets but could do something pre-Christmas for half season tickets?

[super-son]

1 hour ago, BallochSonsFan said:

We're active on social media. 

As for advertising - are people really staying away because they don't know when the next home game is?

And a bigger name signing. We need money to sign better players. We don't have money partly because our crowds are really low. It's a vicious circle. We can't fund a better squad without people coming to games but the poorer our squad is then the less likely people are to come to games. Short of somebody giving us some money to spend? We need people to get along to games regardless of the perceived lack of quality in the squad because we absolutely won't sign better players if we continue to see crowds shrink.

It's not that they don't know when the next game is. It's more to keep a presence in the community.

It may catch the eye of someone who wouldn't necessarily think of Dumbarton FC when thinking of something to do and if that person has no plans for that particular Saturday, who knows, they may decide to give it a go and actually enjoy themselves. They could then convince a few friends to come along. It can be very easy to get hooked.

You can't make complaints about no fans coming along without actually trying to create a presence in the local community.

Is there any entertainment before the games this season? I know there were some singers/musicians last season occasionally.

FWIW I think the comedy night has been a fantastic idea and that could well prove to be majorly beneficial to bringing a few extra fans in.

[super-son]

Are we handing out tickets to local schools/colleges etc?

And when I say handing out tickets, I mean physical tickets. Not a note telling you to call up the club and have to request free tickets.

People are much more likely to go if they have an actual ticket in hand.

[Boghead ranter]

Selling a home game package to Stag Parties to be part of a stag weekend? 

Take in a game, couple of pints (& maybe even a hospitality package) as part of a Saturday afternoon. Advertise the fact that we're only a 30 min train journey from Glasgow (& handy for Dumbarton East) so groups coming into Glasgow for a stag could pop down to us on the afternoon, take in the game, then be back in the city by 6pm.

The local go karting centre here advertises itself as an option for stag parties hitting both Glasgow and Edinburgh the same way - something else to do other than just sit in the pub on Saturday afternoon. 

[peternapper]

Have not been down to Dumbarton for a couple seasons but for visiting supporters it never seemed particularly welcoming (the bowling club was no problem) think I did notice that away supporters were maybe going to be allowed to use the bar at the ground but a few years back it was a no go area. Don't know how busy your hospitality is but check our out next week it is full every home match with about 150 folk @ £40 =£50 a head. A opposition manager said to me last season that Peterhead were by far the best set up for that in our league & with mainly business paying for tables would like to think some guests return on their own in the future. We also have a bid board up near the road going past the ground showing when & who the next game is. Everything at the ground is used for various events apart from the pitch. All simple things that need someone to drive them to generate income out with just gate money. 

[C'mon_the_Sons]

From memory all the hospitality tables are large round ones that seat 10-12. 

Would be good if there were smaller tables for those of us in smaller groups / treating  (punishing?!) the missus  who don't necessarily find it appealing to be sat at a table with randomers!

Edited August 11, 2019 by C'mon_the_Sons

[spratte]

Off to[pic slightly, but you guys have a much better squad this year than you did last.
The team you have now wouldn't have toiled in the Championship the way last year's team did.

Our team that started the league last year would have toiled in any of the divisions tbh

[peternapper]

3 minutes ago, C'mon_the_Sons said:

From memory all the hospitality tables are large round ones that seat 10-12. 

Would be good if there were smaller tables for those of us in smaller groups / treating  (punishing?!) the missus  who don't necessarily find it appealing to be sat at a table with randomers!

The other good idea we have is in return for a donation when possible towards signing players or the like our supporters club get hospitality for 2 members at each home game, both have to be members of the supporters club but it benefits both parties, encourages folk to join the supporters club & the football club know if funds available for signing on fee or the like they will get it.  Usually there are tables set for 10-12 for sponsors & bigger parties but also a long table for smaller groups of 4-6 & the supporters club has a couple seats on it, but sure they would accommodate couples etc. Not trying to interfere but having used our hospitality a number of times think its something we do very well.  

[Poet of the Macabre]

When I was at university in Stirling I was always amazed the Binos never did *any* advertising or promotion on campus or around the city. Most of the people I knew had absolutely no clue there was a football club nearby and unless you're a total dork like me, why would you? I remember suggesting running a shuttle bus from the campus to Forthbank on matchdays but never heard back. 

What I'm trying to say is a lot of people actually don't know games are being played and it doesn't hurt to remind them. Your die hards know the fixture list but a few posters in key locations or a targeted post on FB/Twitter can help. Too many clubs look for reasons not to do things, either out of cynicism or sheer laziness.

[Broken Algorithms]

7 minutes ago, Poet of the Macabre said:

When I was at university in Stirling I was always amazed the Binos never did *any* advertising or promotion on campus or around the city. Most of the people I knew had absolutely no clue there was a football club nearby and unless you're a total dork like me, why would you? I remember suggesting running a shuttle bus from the campus to Forthbank on matchdays but never heard back. 

What I'm trying to say is a lot of people actually don't know games are being played and it doesn't hurt to remind them. Your die hards know the fixture list but a few posters in key locations or a targeted post on FB/Twitter can help. Too many clubs look for reasons not to do things, either out of cynicism or sheer laziness.

Rovers were pretty poor with their social media up until the beginning of last season, but since then they've been absolutely on the ball. A lot of clubs are having to become a lot more savvy, and there's a clear difference between the clubs who do it well and the clubs who have been left behind.

[DumbartonTheSons]

I tend to agree wholeheartedly with BBPF after reading the above. Everyone will have their own opinion but there is definitely some who will be trying to hide from the reality of the situation.
One thing that gets me is I keep hearing we have no money, we are skint etc etc. Obviously money isnt flush, I can accept that, as can most fans outwith the elite clubs in the world. Are we realistically any more skint than other clubs in the division/league 2? Surely Stranraer, Montrose, East Fife etc are not "minted" in comparison to us!

I wouldn’t presume that Stranraer, Montrose and East Fife are minted in comparison, however, I’d wager that they all may have at least a smidgin of investment from their owners/benefactors etc which we don’t.

They may also not still be on a ‘come down’ from significantly dwindling gates over the last two years, and resulting in a reduced playing budget.

They may also have a core season-ticket base which they can rely on, whereas we can’t, given the massive reduction in sales over the last two years as well.

[optimistic]

What ever happened to the expected two signings before the raith game?

[microdave]

Last week my mate suggested that we should be putting free tickets through all of the doors of the houses that have been built near the Rock since we moved there. There probably wouldn't be a big uptake but it could attract new fans.