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Post by mievl on Oct 26, 2008 20:46:04 GMT -5
first of all I like this site a lot. I think it is well ran, and I think the posters here are all pretty cool. that being said, most of you don't seem to have much to say. the last two game threads have had a max of 3 replys each. the one I started tonight hasn't had a reply yet. id write more on it myself and other away games too if it wasn't for the fact my computer is down and im only able to do this via cellphone. now im not trying to be mr. perfect here, im guilty too. but im willing to admit it and start trying to get more conversations going here. again I like this site, I like all of you who post here and I don't want this site to shut down due to lack of activity. take care everyone, and I hope to talk to you all soon.
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Post by eric8199 on Oct 26, 2008 21:27:09 GMT -5
I was a big poster last year, but have since moved further north to West Branch...plus My fiancee and I are getting married this weekend, so we've been planning wedding stuff rather than going to hockey games. I'm still following the Spirit, but the new 100.5 doesn't come in in West Branch, I have a Mac so I can't figure out how to listen to the online feed, and I have only made it to two games this season so far, so I don't have much to say. Hope to change that for the second half of the season though, so hopefully I'll have more to say then. haha.
Good to see the Spirit doing well (despite the losses this weekend), and good to see they seem to be making some good moves on and off the ice.
Can't wait to get back to the Dow to catch another game.
Go Spirit!
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Post by mievl on Oct 26, 2008 22:04:00 GMT -5
let me be the first here (hopefully not the last) to congratulate you on your upcoming wedding. I understand also your reasons for lack of posting, and understand that daily life obviously takes prescedence over a forum on the internet. still it jus seems to be a general lack of interest for this site and I hope it changes. there are some very smart, knowledgeable people that post here and I myself learn a lot from their posts.
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Post by MidlandSpiritFan on Oct 26, 2008 23:49:46 GMT -5
A couple of weeks ago for some unknown reason, the IP address for this site was blocked by the ISP at my apartment in Shanghai. This is still being investigated but I am not holding my breath that it will be resolved anytime soon. ln the meantime, I can only read and post during lunchtime at work. As a matter of fact I made this post at ~12:50 pm Shanghai time.
EDIT: The IT technician at our apartment complex figured out a way for me to access the forum from home again. I'm back in business outside of just lunch time Monday through Friday.
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Post by Sparky on Oct 27, 2008 10:25:30 GMT -5
A couple of weeks ago for some unknown reason, the IP address for this site was blocked by the ISP at my apartment in Shanghai. This is still being investigated but I am not holding my breath that it will be resolved anytime soon. ln the meantime, I can only read and post during lunchtime at work. As a matter of fact I made this post at ~12:50 pm Shanghai time. EDIT: The IT technician at our apartment complex figured out a way for me to access the forum from home again. I'm back in business outside of just lunch time Monday through Friday. Maybe discussing hockey is banned by the chineese government and you were being censored?  To fix this problem is simple, ask for a PC for a wedding present. |
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Post by eric8199 on Oct 27, 2008 17:05:51 GMT -5
Nah, I just got a new Macbook. I like the macs a lot better than PC. I do design and stuff at work, and that's what we use there.
Thanks for the congrats on the wedding.
I do still visit almost daily, I just visit to find out what is going on with the Spirit, because I know I won't get any fluffy PR responses on here like I might on the Spirit site. haha.
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Post by newguy on Oct 29, 2008 8:57:36 GMT -5
The poor team website does not help fan interest. I've said it a million times, and only the stauchest defenders of the team disagree.
Hopefully Leigh Cunningham has some internet skills and can take over this department, but with Minister of Information Goslin at the helm, it's not easy to get stories out there that for some inexplicable reason the team has always tried to cover up.
As for the team, I can't explain it...but there's no buzz about them. Why I don't know. But can you honestly tell me that this team is an exciting team? I can't right now.
Wish I could offer more, but with attendance being down 13 percent from last year, which was a down year, and the economy in the tank, this team has lost a great degree of its buzz, some of which I thought would return with Combs being back. At least it gives the team one star player. We were certainly spoiled two seasons ago when it seemed like we had 6-7 legitimate "star" players.
But I sense apathy out there, and I'm not sure what the solution is, given that I'm feeling some of it myself.
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Post by Sparky on Oct 29, 2008 9:56:23 GMT -5
I think with attendance the way it's been the past two years, it's time the Spirit start some TV advertising. They could partner to share the cost. I think the first spot should be the covenant spot they used to play on the big screen "you break em, we fix em". The community knows the Spirit are here, but a lot of people really don't know the fun and excitement of what's going on at the games. Granted, I agree, this team does not have the "buzz" right now, I think it's a lack of solid checking which I thought for sure Watson would have escalated by now. People like the hard physical play.
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Post by donjohnson on Oct 29, 2008 10:46:55 GMT -5
interesting point Sparky...if you remember, they used to have some TV ads to buy tickets with Cameron Knowles as the background voice...those have been absent for some time (maybe due to Cam's departure) but I definitely agree.
I think your break'em/fix'em idea is a really good one and since the spirit probably aren't in a financial position to be constantly advertising on TV, maybe they can split the cost with businesses as cross-marketing to generate more interest in the team while providing solid advertising for the company.
the other question I have is...how much do the local TV stations promote games? I rarely watch the local news/sports but I know that a lot of people do. I'm pretty sure they typically throw a score/recap/clip on the news but do they ever say "Potential NHL #1 pick is going to be in town Saturday night, so everyone head down to the Dow to check it out." Seems like a simple thing to do and I would guess a handful of people would go to the game simply based on hearing that.
also, what is this thread supposed to be about? It is all over the place and with a subject line of "problems" it's just asking to go fourteen more different directions.
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Post by Sparky on Oct 29, 2008 15:43:40 GMT -5
the other question I have is...how much do the local TV stations promote games? I rarely watch the local news/sports but I know that a lot of people do. I'm pretty sure they typically throw a score/recap/clip on the news but do they ever say "Potential NHL #1 pick is going to be in town Saturday night, so everyone head down to the Dow to check it out." Seems like a simple thing to do and I would guess a handful of people would go to the game simply based on hearing that. I never see anything promoting an upcoming game, just a recap of what has already taken place. Some radio stations don't even give the Spirit scores whith the rest of their sports coverage. |
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Post by MidlandSpiritFan on Oct 30, 2008 1:48:02 GMT -5
Sounds like you need ShanghaiSpiritFan to return to lower level section 18 to create a "Buzz"!!  ;D ;D |
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Post by newguy on Oct 30, 2008 4:56:11 GMT -5
the other question I have is...how much do the local TV stations promote games? I rarely watch the local news/sports but I know that a lot of people do. I'm pretty sure they typically throw a score/recap/clip on the news but do they ever say "Potential NHL #1 pick is going to be in town Saturday night, so everyone head down to the Dow to check it out." Seems like a simple thing to do and I would guess a handful of people would go to the game simply based on hearing that. I never see anything promoting an upcoming game, just a recap of what has already taken place. Some radio stations don't even give the Spirit scores whith the rest of their sports coverage. I will say this: Cameron Knowles was very good and very dilligent at doing this, keeping in touch with other media outlets and doing everything he could to promote the team. Without naming names, or hammering on those too incompetent, or inadequate, or lazy to defend themselves -- no one has truly replaced Cameron Knowles in this department. It's a real weak spot for the Saginaw Spirit, and hopefully, again, Leigh Cunningham will see fit to be a difference-maker in this capacity. This team, don't forget, also had loads of free publicity on the Colbert Report, that they really kind of fell into. Mancini's personality worked for being on that show, or they wouldn't have had him on as often as they did. If you don't think it wasn't a sore point with Goslin that HE was never on the Colbert Report, guess again. It ticked him off tremendously, and was one more reason ownership started to feel the resentment and jealousy that Mancini was getting credit for building the program up to where it got to. |
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Post by donzz on Oct 30, 2008 17:32:00 GMT -5
I miss Cameron, he was a great guy. I'd like to add more to the sight myself but my knowledge of hockey is limited as I am a relatively new fan (4 or 5 years now). I really like this site and I learn a lot about our team. I may not post a lot but I do read it all the time. It's interesting to read the different opinions. I also like reading the posts from our "insiders". Thanks SGF!
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Post by Sparky on Oct 30, 2008 18:02:50 GMT -5
I never see anything promoting an upcoming game, just a recap of what has already taken place. Some radio stations don't even give the Spirit scores whith the rest of their sports coverage. I will say this: Cameron Knowles was very good and very dilligent at doing this, keeping in touch with other media outlets and doing everything he could to promote the team. Without naming names, or hammering on those too incompetent, or inadequate, or lazy to defend themselves -- no one has truly replaced Cameron Knowles in this department. It's a real weak spot for the Saginaw Spirit, and hopefully, again, Leigh Cunningham will see fit to be a difference-maker in this capacity. This team, don't forget, also had loads of free publicity on the Colbert Report, that they really kind of fell into. Mancini's personality worked for being on that show, or they wouldn't have had him on as often as they did. If you don't think it wasn't a sore point with Goslin that HE was never on the Colbert Report, guess again. It ticked him off tremendously, and was one more reason ownership started to feel the resentment and jealousy that Mancini was getting credit for building the program up to where it got to.So in other words, the truth hurts? Cam was obviously the best off ice talent this team had. He had a great career in radio before coming to the Spirit. Plus he was extremely knowledgeable about almost everything. Add to that his out going, personable attitude. It would be difficult to replace him. |
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Post by wkonesko on Oct 30, 2008 23:51:38 GMT -5
Hi newguy Hope all is well and that you, and everyone else on the board, is enjoying the great season we are having right now. Everything has been pretty exciting lately with not just the performance on-ice, but off-ice as well. We’ve had an ‘epic’ event in the Pink Out end with considerable success and hype and we look forward to similar success with the upcoming Casino in the Crease and Guns and Hoses events. Everyone on this chat board has been an avid fan of the team and we GREATLY APPRECIATE that. Many people on here contribute great insights and ideas that I enjoy reading about and our organization does weigh the opinions expressed on the board heavily. I actually make a point of swinging by the chat board and seeing what’s up whenever I am eating lunch/dinner at my desk - it’s a nice breather from all the paper work! newguy - Your statements about the website and our flow of external communication is a BIG concern of mine, however before we can start working on any solutions we would need some specific examples and we would need to pinpoint specific instances where something should have/shouldn’t have been communicated. With that said, I am afraid that other commitments and obligations prohibit me from posting on this chat board on a consistent basis, which would make a constructive discussion and brainstorming session very difficult on here, as far as my participation is concerned. As such, I would like to invite you and a couple of guests to dinner to discuss these elements in person, with the meal being on the team of course. We won’t be cheap either! Promise! Feel free to pick/nominate a few others on the chat board that might like to join us for dinner as well. I would love to chit-chat about the website and the flow of communication externally, to see how we can implement some of your ideas and address some of your concerns. It could also be a good opportunity to pick the brain of a passionate fan on other elements, like game day events/activities, community involvement, etc. Unfortunately as I am not involved with the decisions made on the hockey side of the team, we wouldn’t be able to delve into that. That’s actually kind of funny because if we were able to talk about that I am sure ShanghaiSpiritFan would be on an airplane right now to join us =  I feel that your thoughts and opinions expressed in a constructive and in a face-to-face meeting, would be ideal for creating solutions to your objections. I look forward to your acceptance of my offer, not only to sit down and have a great discussion about the things the Spirit can do to improve your experience, but also to get a tasty meal on the team! Feel free to contact me either via email at wkonesko@saginawspirit.com or on my cell phone at 989-598-4797 to set up a date and time – I look forward to it! As mentioned earlier, getting a chance to log onto this site is difficult so if you accept my offer via this board, it might take me a bit to get back with you, so again, email or cell phone works best. On a similar note, email is always a great way to get a hold of me so if anyone ever has any suggestions, comments, etc., feel free to contact me! Thanks for your time, and here's to a fun two-game weekend! Bill Konesko Saginaw Spirit |
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