Notes of OxVox meeting on Monday 13 August 2007

Present: Trevor Lambert, Neil Carter, Ray Whittaker, Graham Hilsden, Bob Scholes and Chris Davis. Geoff Millward was present by invitation.

Apologies for absence: Received from Martin Brodetsky, Tim Rosser and Jenny Cuff.

Matters arising:

The financial compensation being paid to clubs in lieu of expected lower attendances due to Setanta coverage is not being disclosed. Consequently, the Trust cannot make a balanced decision on whether or not the League management struck a good deal. The consensus was that the fixture changes were disappointing and bad news for the supporters. A PR will be issued stating the committee’s view.

The Trust’s forum is now up and running and expected to be well used.

Pete G has been invited to write a weekly column for the web-site and boost interest with his personal take on some light-hearted and/or controversial subjects to stimulate discussion.

A poorly attended members’ meeting took place on 16 July and has been reported elsewhere. The next meeting has been provisionally arranged for Saturday 15 September and the Club has offered to try to find an available room.

Discussion with TVP:

This did not take place as the Football Intelligence Officer did not turn up. E-mails were clear about the date and time of the meeting. On checking after the meeting it appeared that DPC Huw James was under the impression that we had been told he had a prior commitment. He confirmed that he or a deputy would be present at the next meeting.

Prediction League:

Take up so far has been poor and a second e-mail will be sent to members advertising the competition, which will go live on 1 September. Leaflets will also be produced and distributed at the next home game.

7-a- side competition:

Now that the BSP early season fixtures have been confirmed or changed, action is required before the next meeting to ensure the competition arrangements are progressing and advertising is in hand. Martin is to proceed and seek assistance from committee members where necessary.

Fundraising:

1. The auction of the framed picture is to be hastened with the Club.
2. Fixture posters/wall charts are being sold (80 required to break even; thereafter, the Trust gets 50% of revenue.) This was an excellent idea from member Rob Newton. The Trust will seek to sell these on 23 August prior to the Fan‘s Forum.
3. A draft statement announcing the commission-based link with a local car leasing company was considered and approved. A web-site link will be set up and the Trust will receive commission for each deal via the link.
4. Steve Daniels is supplying photographs for a calendar. Inset photographs of, for example, turnstile operators, stewards and grounds men would also be considered to widen interest. The intention is that the calendar is available from early October.
5. Mugs are still being sold, albeit slowly. This has been a long duration, but profitable, project.
6. The buy.at service has not been widely used despite bringing this to the attention of members on several occasions. The Trust needs to look at ways of increasing usage.

Membership renewals:

Around 30% of the memberships due to expire at the end of September have been renewed. There are still 57 outstanding but, so far, only the 3 year special offer deal has been promoted. Contact will be made to encourage further renewals and to bring into play the standard 1 year option. The Trust has 263 fully paid up members at present.

Any other business:

The charges for buying match tickets from the Club via the telephone have changed. There is now a £1.50 booking fee and 50p delivery charge. There is no cost saving compared with buying a single ticket on the day of a Saturday game. In fact, the “on the day” cost would even increase by £1.50 if ordered by telephone. The benefit of this is to reserve a particular seat but more than one supporter has fallen foul of an unexpected charge. The Trust asks supporters to beware of hidden costs and order tickets prior to match day whenever possible.

Geoff Millward was co-opted to the committee until the next AGM.

The committee wished to place on record the excellent service provided by caterers Bailey-Farr over the past 5+ years. The manner in which contract negotiations were carried out appeared to be another example where cost became all-important with little or no regard paid to quality of service. The Trust will again seek to meet the stadium company to try and ensure the management is aware of the poor customer perception of its business and that it has a remedial plan.

Date of next meeting:

A reminder that this is on Thursday 13 September 2007.

Chris Davis
Secretary
15 August 2007