Notes of OxVox committee meeting on Monday 7 July 2008 

1. Present:   Trevor Lambert, Neil Carter, Tim Rosser, Bob Scholes, Simon Bradbury, Matt Derbyshire and Chris Davis. 

2. Apologies for absence: Graham Hilsdon and Graham Cripps. 

3. Matters arising:  Denis Smith has been invited to a members meeting on 1 November prior to the York City match subject to any fixture changes. Denis had written an autobiography and the Trust had been approached by his publisher. (sec note: The Club has been approached about a room for 1 November. However, the publisher will also be approaching the Club about selling Denis’ book in the Club Shop. It is possible that the Club will want to organise an event itself. See any other business).

The committee welcomed Barry Phillips appointment as the Club’s Sales and Marketing Manager, noting that an appointment was long overdue. 

The issue of the e-zine had been delayed pending the release of the CRM software. The revised target for issue is 20 July. 

The traffic had doubled on the Trust’s forum since the last meeting .   Each of the committee needed to  contribute and raise issues to spark a debate to further lift the interest level.

The Dean Whitehead shirt was still in our possession due to a late change of mind about events at the Fun Day. Consideration will be given to auctioning this off at a future meeting (1 Nov?).

4. Fun Day:  The Trust ran a busy stall and kept youngsters (and adults) entertained with 4 different activities and games. There were 9 new members signed up on the day.

The lucky winner of the new OUFC shirt was Dominic Shingleton. 

A thank you must be recorded to members Devena Rae, Sally Lambert and Fern Davis who helped out with the activities on the day and fellow member John Crellin for his assistance in producing literature and hand-outs beforehand.

5. Membership 500: The number of members had now reached 349. 

The new member offer of £15 for 3 years has had limited success so far and the offer period is due to continue to 31 August.  

The request for existing members to try and sign up new members has not worked and will be reviewed or modified in the future. 

There are 32 members due to renew at the end of September and those with email have been approached and invited to take out a discounted 3 year deal. In addition, there are another 32 members who pay the £10 single year rate by standing order and with various frequencies of payment. They, too, are to be invited to take out a 3 year deal with the subscription paid in advance. 

Pre-match meetings will be attempted for 16 August, 20 September and 1 November, subject to fixture changes and availability of accommodation. 

6.  S & M manager meeting: The first meeting with Barry Phillips took place immediately before this committee meeting and involved 4 of the committee. Barry has plenty of ideas  and it was clear that he had a footballing background. He was aware that certain things could improve at the Club and that he was in a good position to try and do that. The committee was pleased to learn that he intended to involve the Trust and supporters in general whenever possible. 

The opportunity existed for some early simple success stories and fixture posters outside the ground, downloadable fixture lists and wall-charts and static displays in supermarkets were high on the list. 

Barry was happy to attend any of our committee meetings to raise or make progress on a project. The committee later agreed to invite him to members’ meetings as well although it was appreciated he may be pressed for time pre-match.

7.  Corporate Partners: The committee will seek members’ approval to go ahead with the project outlined at the last meeting. The Club had now accepted that it no longer considered  the Trust’s project as a conflict of interest and that the Club and Trust would not be chasing the same sponsors.  

The Trust has anticipated 6 companies signing up initially and the monies received will be ring-fenced for specific Club departments, eg Youth Development, as decreed by the members. 

8.          Any other business: A match day draw and golf day will be parked and reviewed later. 

The promise of a programme article was highlighted and a regular columnist was required and would be sought. 

A further Q & A evening with Denis Smith was on offer and was to be considered for a date nearer to Christmas, perhaps at The Priory and ? 

Chris Davis 
Secretary 
9 July 2008 

Next committee meetings scheduled for 11 August and 8 September.