Sent a message to the gent/lady running it. Agree with above, can't see how splitting the fan base is a positive, but the Clan doesn't hold a monopoly on supporters clubs.

phatguerilla wrote: Just noticed that someone has set up a Connacht rugby fans facebook page less than 24 hours ago (they posted on the mils news). Its only small now but perhaps it would be a good idea to get in contact if it grows, see what their plans are? I don't think it would be good to have two competing fan groups, unless they intend to be a facebook presence only.

Anyone knows who is behind this new FB page. Connacht Rugby have a FB page, the Clan has a FB page, there is this Forum. Can't see the point.

Not technically to do with the clan, but they need to stop blaring the music over the speakers during the game. It was ridiculous on Saturday

Just noticed that someone has set up a Connacht rugby fans facebook page less than 24 hours ago (they posted on the mils news). Its only small now but perhaps it would be a good idea to get in contact if it grows, see what their plans are? I don't think it would be good to have two competing fan groups, unless they intend to be a facebook presence only.

First off its great that the clan is looking for new ideas and ways to improve.

We need to take baby steps to get where we are going and to use the resources that we have to the best of our ability.

I like the name Connacht clan but agree that on its own it doesn't stand out, id suggest that on the logo we lose the est 2011 and replace it with supporters club.

We need to get more people visiting the site, a simple email from the branch every so often with a link to the site would be great. getting a mention at half time from james heaslip would also point them in the right direction. it would help if we had giveaway or promo to shout about at these times.

hand out some flyers at games extolling the virtues of becoming more involved in the clan. again if we could have a raffle (simple quiz on the forum) to entice people to come on here all the better.

we sponsored Matt Healy this year, I felt that our "return" from him was poor, as SFP said maybe we should have got some match gear from him that we could have sponsored or a few more after match interviews etc from him. Im not having a go at him and realise that us sponsoring him was designed to show our support for him and Connacht.

a few mentions on the official twitter and facebook pages wouldn't go a miss.

Im sure that the branch and blk would organise some gear to raffle off so that a few euros could be raised to run a bus to each interpro away match.

its good to hear that the lines of communication are open between the branch and the clan, I appreciate that its a bit mad there at the moment but as soon as it settles down we should be in there like a shot, we are after all singing from the one hymn sheet and maybe we can help them with stuff as well.

The away trips have been great, well done to all involved esp 4dogs and pinky, a lot of spade work makes the road simpler for everyone else. we need to keep this up and I would suggest that we keep it simple. Id forget about charters and concentrate on trying to keep everyone together and if we can get a few deals thrown in from pubs restaurants and hotels we will be on a winner.

what the claddagh ring did for the Saracens games is something to aspire to for all away games.

Im also will to help out committee wise in any way you want, only caveat is im over an hours drive away but am willing to help out if you want.

It was something to do with the authorization with the bank and us not having a debit or laser card (for obvious reasons!).

That said, I do know that for the sponsorship, most people were able to do a straightforward EFT. PayPal would be easier for all involved (except, of course, for the cut they take).

Hey Guys,
I can setup a travel@connachtclan.com email address no problem at all. Just let me know where to point it. Regarding the payment yeah there was some reason why we couldn't get a paypal setup on the official connacht clan account. I think it may have been related to Connacht Rugby being a co-authorizer on it. Will have to talk to Treasurer Shane to find out what that problem was again.

pinky wrote:

Fourdogs wrote:

pinky wrote: ......... rather than just sounding like a random rabble of riff raff.

An official title :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: I feel sooooooooooo appreciated :woohoo:

Foreign policy chiefs ...
You can be Sergei Lavrov, I'll be Catherine Ashton.

Russian and British/EU working together, that would be a first. If you want to be a women why not Federica Mogherini the Italian Minister.

FYI It is Putin that runs Foregin policy in Russia not Lavrov

Fourdogs wrote:

pinky wrote: ......... rather than just sounding like a random rabble of riff raff.

An official title :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: I feel sooooooooooo appreciated :woohoo:

Foreign policy chiefs ...
You can be Sergei Lavrov, I'll be Catherine Ashton.

pinky wrote: ......... rather than just sounding like a random rabble of riff raff.

An official title :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: I feel sooooooooooo appreciated :woohoo:

Diom wrote: Regarding membership: Tracking paid membership and sending out membership cards/prizes takes time and effort. In the first season we used a crowd who provided a platform for signing up. These guys cost money and charged for all transactions as well. On top of that we needed to chase them up to get the money transferred to setup merchandise options etc... This took a good amount of time. Plus we had to mail out the membership letters and pins by hand.

Good point. Whether or not we ever charge for membership, I think the ability to accept payments online would be a really useful feature for selling merchandise, etc. There are some Stripe plugins for joomla so I might have a bit of a look at that and see if it's feasible to include something when we do the upgrade.

Diom wrote:

pinky wrote: Away travel. This improved a lot this season, mainly due to Fourdogs. It will be a greater challenge next season without the Heineken Cup. I would re-iterate the need for an away travel co-ordinator to try to work with the branch and with Keller's, etc. re tickets, charter flights and so on, drum up numbers for away trips, organise ground transport at the other end, contact incoming supporters, etc. If Fourdogs won't take the post, <strong>I'd volunteer to be his puppet</strong>.

That would be great and you guys would have pretty much free rein on that. If you want both of you can be "official travel coordinators", no probs. Email me about it and we can see if we can't get you setup with contacts in Connacht Rugby directly.

Sound. I'll be on you about that later. I think it would just add a bit more weight when dealing with people if we could mail them from a travel@ cclan.com address and call ourselves by some official-looking title rather than just sounding like a random rabble of riff raff.

I'll vote for Fourdogs and Pink, great work done this season and it's not over yet!!

Jennifer kiernan manages mrsc and has two fulltime assistants. I dont know who pays them but was always of opinion that they were mrsc employees.

I've always been partial to 'Hell Is The Soft Option' myself.

Very brief point in MRSC and the Leinster Supporters Club: as far as I'm aware both of those clubs are 'managed' by a employee of their province, and have committees drawn from season ticket holders or other interested parties. It means more time and financial resources to get things done, not to mention closer ties to their respective province.

Again, not to throw Connacht under the bus: in the main they've been as helpful as time as logistics allow. As Dec has said, if we're somewhat down the pecking order it's not out of contempt for the Clan, but they're a small enough body themselves who are working to the limit. I know there's been a good few times where our contacts have been working 7 days, working late etc.

It's also worth bearing in mind that they have their own commerical stuff to work through. Massimos supply the bar staff for the Clan Bar (at least) and I'd assume that's why the events there are mentioned.

Diom wrote:

ConnachtCows wrote: Seems to be a theme here. The Branch need to get behind us, or its going to be a much larger struggle to get numbers up. How often do you see someone new post, and then continue to post?

These are just off the top of my head, and probably terrible ideas, but no harm in throwing them out there

Thanks CC. There is a need for closer cooperation between us and Connacht Rugby alright, but to be fair to them they are pretty under-staffed themselves, and as Dec pointed out they have some bigger fish to fry than getting the supporter's club sorted out. I agree with him that perhaps we can re-engage with them once the new CEO is in and the current headlessness has abated.

That's fair enough, I can understand where you are coming from, but it would be great if they were happy to organise one, one hour meeting a month with the Clan. Ideas could be shared. They could explain to you that they are thinking of putting on a bus to a game, and you could respond and tell them that you've already organised a bus amongst Clan Members (or there is talk of it)
All it would take is one morning, on a match day. Meetings could be even shorter. You could email them a week in advance, with bullet points of what you would like to discuss, and then no time would be wasted in the meeting.

Another idea I have, which probably doesnt fall with the Clans capabilities, is to copy Leinster and Munster. You know when you see their games on tv, they have hoarding along the stands, with such slogans as "D4tress", etc.
Is there anything we could do, to have similiar stuff along the wall in front of the Clan, or on the front of the roof of the Clan. It looks good from a TV perspective. I know they have stuff at the back of the Clan wall, but it's hard to read/see on tv.

We could all give ideas for potential slogans, and pass them on to the branch, to see what they think


*Apologies for the bad word. I've removed it. Forgot myself again