Category: Meetings

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Meetings

Meeting Recap: March 2016

Democracy in Sports photo from The NINETY

photo credit: Karl Picard

By Karl Picard

March 14, 2016

Our last Alliance Council meeting was on 3/1.  We had 15 members attend the meeting and one member that called in.  The meeting started with the AC chatting with Taylor Graham.  The main focus of the discussion was how things went for the Club America match, which was the first home game using the mobile app tickets and other changes.  Overall the feedback from the Council members, based on conversations with fellow fans and season ticket members combined with what we saw on social media, indicated entry and use of the app was pretty smooth.  We did share some isolated issues with Taylor as well.

Security at the Club America game was another matter we discussed, mostly around inconsistencies. This is an area that we are starting to hear more about and are making sure the Front Office is aware of fan concerns.

We also discussed the changes around MatchPass and the fact there are no longer points but rather random drawings or buy it now options for rewards.   They are also using the info gathered from the users of the app and mobile tickets to send targeted emails to Season Ticket Holders (STH). The direct messages were sent prior to the home opener, so you should have seen one prior to  the KC game.  We discussed how there are language options on the Sounders App, including Spanish. Fans who have set their phone to Spanish saw the app in Spanish. Many commented how this was a step in the right direction coming out of the November Annual Business Meeting.

The council spent time discussing app features with Taylor, including the ability to reach your ticket rep during games from the app’s MatchPass Profile page.   The “My Rep” area contains your rep’s email and phone number and even a quick way to add them to your phone contacts.

A question was raised to Taylor about the capping the resale of GA tickets via the Ticket Exchange. He clarified that capping GA resale is not in affect this year but that is being looked into for next year.

A few other items that we’ve made progress towards were around dynamic pricing and the women’s jersey.  The dynamic pricing was discussed and Taylor clarified that this practicehas been in place for a couple seasons now.  Craig Dillon on the Council called out that the ADA tickets seemed to be mis-priced as they were more expensive than those seats around them.  Taylor looked into the issue with the sales team and it has been resolved.  One note, Taylor mentioned that if you are a fan in need they will do all they can to accommodate you.

Stephanie Steiner brought up the subject of our women’s jersey, citing concerns we’ve received over the years regarding the neckline. This  issue got a lot of attention and you should read more about it on the blog.  (We appreciated all the feedback we got via social media around this subject too!!) The Club and adidas™ have heard our concerns and we will keep pushing on this subject to create positive change.

After finishing with Taylor we moved onto the work groups for the year.  The following list captures the areas we are currently focused on but we’ll continue to refine as necessary as the season progresses:

  • GM Recall and Alliance Council Membership Eligibility – finalize the Charter, Bylaws and Constitution so they can be voted upon in 2016.
  • Support Group – clarification on the bylaw and how Support groups are recognized
  • Visibility Group – social media, blog, outreach and charity involvement to ensure the Alliance Council Members know what is happening and that we are positively impacting area charities.
  • Scarf Vote – ensuring the tradition of our Scarf Vote continues for 2017
  • Kit/Jersey – working with the Front Office to ensure fans have a stake in kit designs
  • Annual Meeting – end of year business review operations
  • Seating Expectations – addressing the sit vs. stand concerns voiced by STMs with the FO and Stadium Operations
  • Women’s Attire/Jersey – working with the Kit/Jersey team, but focused on ensuring there are more options for female fans.
  • STM giveaway – explore options to provide to season ticket members including the traditional scarf vs other items

If any of the above areas are of interest to you or you feel like you have something you want to address as part of fan and game day experiences, we encourage you to run for council. The voting and nomination site is up for the Alliance Council; the more people we have the more change we can impact.

That’s all for March.  Continue to provide feedback via Twitter, Facebook or comments on this blog (scroll down to “leave a reply”).

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Meetings

Meeting Minutes: February 2nd 2016

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC ALLIANCE COUNCIL

MEETING MINUTES

February 2, 2016 – 7:00 PM – The NINETY

 

Present (14 of 23): Martin Buckley, Cameron Collins, Craig Dillon, Michael Dollard, Bill Kaczaraba, Thom Kephart, Angelica Germani, Jeremy Monsivais, Jerry Neil, Mark Nesteroff, Daniel Roe, Stephanie Steiner, Hans Ulland, and Kristina Vaughn

Via telephone (4): Roberta King, Brian Prouty, Jeff Randle, Brendan Vaughn

Absent (5): Samuel Chesneau, Paul Cox, Eric Flatness, Nick Gibson, Karl Picard

Next meeting: Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.

  • Introduce Taylor Graham, Megan West, and Mikaela Purvis – Stephanie Steiner
  • Roll – Angelica Germani: 14 of 23 Present
  • Call to order – Stephanie Steiner (Executive Committee President)
    • Taylor Graham – New App
    • No Matchpass or paper tickets, mobile only
    • Announcement next week, although already teased
    • Sounders building their own new app – digital content, loyalty of ticketing, seat designation, voting, real time data and communication re: date/time changes (push notifications), matchday magazine in digital format, S2 incorporated and partner offers
    • There was 100% attendance for playoffs using the Ticketmaster print option, so the club is confident that this will work.

 

  • Mikaela Purvis – Service Teams
    • Service teams Monday-Friday & matchdays
    • Now neighborhood model based on where you sit – share rep with seat neighbors
    • Present on matchday to help mediate issues
    • Contact rep through app
    • Block of neighborhood parties in the works

 

  • Megan West – Matchpass
    • Addressing feedback and issues
    • Mobile Matchpass w/ no points going forward
    • Free enter to win options
    • Buy now option; every dollar goes to charity or enter to win
    • Reciprocal arrangement w/ fan engagement
    • Charity plan: 1/3 to Rave Foundation, 1/3 to Community Partners, 1/3 to AC Community Partners. Rotate community partners per match or periodically. Will report midseason how it goes.
    • May add inventory to Matchpass as it becomes available (e.g. vacant suites). There will be a range of cost of items. The shift away from points program is something they believe other teams will do as well
  • AC will work in partnership with TG, MP, MW on AC needs. Will engage in corporate partnerships (one hour focus group? Date/time to be announced)

 

  • Taylor Graham – Voting
    • Designation process → cannot collect new data until app is online. AC Voting needs STH and designee info. Primary account holder and assigned designees being able to vote. Info will be uploaded in to new app.
    • Should we only allow primaries to vote at this point and not designees
    • Designees are wiped if seat location is moved or no. of seats changes
    • Must input different email access for each account to designate

 

  • Approval of Minutes from November Meeting – Stephanie Steiner

Approved as drafted

 

  • Old Business: Stephanie Steiner

Cameron and Stephanie went thru entire Constitution & Bylaws and formatted and fixed typos. Nothing substantive was changed. But, based upon the review, a lot of changes need to be made.

 

  • New Business: Stephanie Steiner
    • Elections
    • President – Stephanie Steiner nominated. Elected unopposed.
    • Vice-President – Kristina Vaughan nominated. Elected unopposed.
    • Secretary – Cameron Collins nominated. Elected unopposed.
    • Executive Committee – Cameron Collins, Dan Roe, Martin Buckley, Bill Kaczaraba nominated for EC. CC elected as secretary of EC. MB elected at-large. DR and BK tied for final at-large position 7 votes to 7 votes. BK withdrew and DR elected at-large to EC.

 

  • Work Groups: Stephanie Steiner

Two ways to create a workgroup → (I) AC can vote workgroup in to place and (ii) Executive Committee can do so (in years past, the executive committee has done it because we don’t always have quorum to do so at AC meetings)

  • Existing Work Groups
  • Council Bio
  • GM Vote
  • Member Eligibility – Do we want to charge people to join the Alliance? Purchasing Alliance Memberships? Is $125 too much or too little? What about S2 season ticket holders.
  • Supporter Group recognition
  • Alliance Council Visibility
  • Charity Partnership – MB proposes renaming the charity group to Community Outreach. Seconded and passes unanimously.
  • Scarf Vote
  • Matchpass
  • Jock tag and Necktape (we are done thru 2017, next chance to be involved is 2018) – By unanimous vote group renamed to Kit
  • Annual Meeting Questions* – does this need to be a workgroup or just take volunteers?
  • End of Year Meeting
  • Season Ticket Holder Giveaways
  • Presentations from the FO

 

  • Proposed Work Groups
    • Constitution & Bylaws (passes unanimously)
    • Budget (passes unanimously)
    • Sitting vs. Standing (came from end of year questions) – After discussion, this group is proposed as Seating Expectations and passes unanimously. Will discussed all issues related to seating in stadium.

 

  • Publishing vote results by council member: Stephanie Steiner

Some people have asked for transparency in terms of who is voting for what. They want to see how each councilmember voted (yes, no, abstain)… they also want to see more blog entries and to be heard from us giving the different sides of the issue

This is coming from STMs during the Sonar Feed interview that Stephanie did.

Discussion of pros versus cons of doing this.

  1. Con issues are privacy, harassment, that there is no why behind it as they won’t be able to hear our reasons, we are speaking as a council.
  2. Pros are transparency, the ability for people to respond to the way specific people vote,
    Some discussion on 6.2 of the Constitution where it says President can only speak on behalf of the Council and how this rule only applyies to when the President speaks as the public face of the Council.
  3. what is the value to individuals outside this organizations? Discussion on the negatives outweighing the positives since we are not a governing body. Discussion on not allowing fellow councilmembers to be bullied if votes are public.

 

  • Adjournment – Motion to adjourn passes
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Meetings

Meeting Minutes: November 3rd 2015

 

November 3, 2015   7:00 PM    The NINETY

Present: (14 of 32): Cameron Collins, Paul Cox, Craig Dillon, Roberta King, Jerry Neil, Karl Picard, Dan Roe, Stephanie Steiner, Kristina Vaughn, Mark Nesteroff, Mike Dollard, Lee White, Kelly Weiler, Sam Chesneau

Next meeting:  Tuesday, February 2, 2016 at 7:00 PM

  • Call to order – Stephanie Steiner
  • Roll call – Kristina Vaughn – 14 of 32 members present
  • Approval of minutes – Motion to approve October minutes seconded by Craig; motion passes.

 

  • Jock Tag, Neck Tape Update – Likkit (via phone) & Jerry
    • SSFC are coming up with some designs
    • AC submitting some designs – Orca, Mt. Rainier
      • Due Nov 16th
    • 2016 – 1st & 3rd kits; 2017- 2nd kit
      • 2018 – one suggestion: AC 10 year anniversary

 

  • Bylaw Update – Cameron Collins, Paul Cox, Angelica Mendoza
    • Bylaw 1
      • voting on revision bylaw
      • Passes by unanimous vote
    • Bylaw 3
      • revision to be voted on
      • Passes by unanimous vote
    • Attendance Bylaw
      • Vote on amended bylaw: tightened up language and added “special perks” to what a member cannot receive/participate in if they don’t attend meetings– 1 yes, 11 no; bylaw stays at 3 missed meetings
      • Vote on overall amendment – 11 yes, 0 no, 1 abstain

 

  • Scarf Vote – Kristina Vaughn
    • Participation low this year
      • Communication lacked during the process
    • Looking into new process/format

 

  • Questions for Owners – Stephanie Steiner
    • Took suggestions including communication, training CenturyLink staff, match scheduling, ticket reps

 

  • End of Year Business – Stephanie
    • Timeline
    • Questions
  • Adjournment – Dan moves to adjourn meeting, Cameron seconds – motion passes
Categories
Meetings

Meeting Recap: February 2016

Tweet credited to Likkit Pocinwong

By Stephanie Steiner

February 20th, 2016

This was the first meeting with our new attendance bylaw in effect – four people called in.

We started our meeting with a presentation from Taylor Graham, Mikaela Purvis, and Megan West to cover mobile ticketing, Matchpass rewards, the new mobile app, account representative restructure, and voting.  The news:

  • Sounders invested heavily and built their own app.
  • Matchpasses for entry and pre-printed tickets were going away – entry was mobile only.
  • Matchpass points were going away. For a loyalty program they never really worked, and were a cause for constant frustration.  Charitable support was more aligned with the brand and with the priorities of Sounders Season Ticket Members.
  • Voting: delayed. All efforts being focused on start of the season. Once everything was ready, Primary Account Holders would be able to designate voters from within the app itself. As of this writing, it appears as though voting is still not yet turned on. Primary Account Holders will be able to vote now and start designating voters as soon as it is. The FO is concentrating their efforts on making sure mobile entry works to get people through the gates before they take on anything else.
  • Mobile App: heavy investment into communication with STMs and entertainment options.
  • Account Managers: restructured and reassigned by “neighborhoods” within the stadium. Since they’ll know which seats are vacant on matchday, they can go sit within their sections and be available.  Neighborhood parties being planned.
  • Buy It Now option within MatchPass to generate funds for charity, 1/3 of those funds directed by the Alliance Council to a cause.
  • Mikaela Purvis, Megan West, and Taylor Graham will partner as liaisons to the Alliance Council going forward.

It’s important to note that although several Alliance Council members had been beta testing the app for a little over a week by this point, this is the first we’d heard of ticketing being moved to mobile only.  The November meeting with owners included conversations about mobile ticketing, but not from any perspective of “only.”

After they left, we approved our minutes from the November 2015 meeting and then went around the room and briefly highlighted for each other why we nominated ourselves for the the Alliance Council.  We held our annual elections:

President: Stephanie Steiner (unopposed)

Vice President: Kristina Vaughn (unopposed)

Secretary: Cameron Collins (unopposed)

All three of the above are on the Executive Committee – President and Vice President are automatic.  Also elected to the Executive Committee were Martin Buckley and Daniel Roe.

We then moved into a conversation about our workgroups, we changed the names of some and added a few more.  I left one off inadvertently (women’s attire), but since it’s already been created we don’t need to vote it into existence – it already exists, we just need someone to lead it.

We have far more workgroups than our twenty-three members will be able to manage, we will have to prioritize them as the season goes. Our groups are:

GM Vote – write our language into Charter and Constitution

Member Eligibility – Do we want to charge people to join the Alliance? Is $125 too much or too little? What about S2 season ticket holders?  Partial Seasons?

Supporter Group recognition

Alliance Council Visibility – blog, social media, Pre-match table: all included here

Community Outreach – also included here is charity partnership

Scarf Vote

MatchPass – program has been entirely restructured, not sure what will be needed here

Kit (we are done with jock tag thru 2017, next chance to be involved is 2018)

Annual Meeting Questions – does this need to be a workgroup or just take volunteers at the time?

End of Year Meeting – already have a full team here

Season Ticket Holder Giveaways – scarf or?

Presentations from the FO – doesn’t need to be a workgroup, can just work with Stephanie to get onto the agenda when the agenda can accommodate the time

Constitution & Bylaws – rewrites, what language and concepts should change – get out to Alliance for a vote in ’16

Budget – build awareness of the Alliance Council, members stop spending own money

Seating Expectations – will discuss all issues related to seating in stadium.

Women’s Attire – Sounders attire still not right for women fans

Our last conversation of the meeting was about Season Ticket Members’ request for greater transparency, specifically the request that we publish our votes by member. The greatest complaint was about the number of people who have abstained. In the end, we have decided not to publish the votes.  The reasons surrounding that are that we are not a governing body, we don’t get to decide what the Sounders do.  We can merely make recommendations.  And our members have been harassed – sometimes even from other council members.  We had a lengthy conversation regarding the desire for more information and more perspectives being made available to the Alliance.  It’s too early to say if that will result in more views being expressed in the Opinions section, I hope so.

That summed up the first meeting.  We got feedback later from our call-in members that the Batphone worked fine, so that’s good.  We moved it up and down the table to keep it near the person who was talking – not always convenient, but not impossible to maintain.

And then a week later I went to bed and forgot to turn my phone off.  Like any girl from Italian lineage, when a phone keeps blowing up into the wee hours of the morning, I got up and went downstairs with heavy heart to learn the dreaded answer to the only question that could cause an iPhone to dance explosively across the countertop: Who died?  Luckily, I learned no one had.

What happened instead is that last December, some ditzy broad (who looks exactly like me) thought it would be an awesome idea to introduce season ticket members to the Alliance that they’re a part of. What a novel idea – an introduction!  That introduction went out in the season ticket member packages that also introduced the words mobile only.  I turned my phone off.  I went back to bed.  I did not sleep.  In fact, I didn’t for several nights.  Most of the mail that came in was absolute vitriol – not helpful in any way, shape, or form.  I answered those emails anyway, at least with “I’m sorry this is frustrating,” and an explanation of when the Alliance Council was informed of the decision.  After a few days, we (the Alliance Council) learned that we had an inaccurate talking point at the Front Office that declared the Alliance Council had vetted or enthusiastically endorsed mobile only or something like that.  There were several emails along those lines – I got that corrected.  We didn’t endorse the decision.  Several council members tested the app, that’s it.  Mobile only remains another story.  A couple of the emails that came in outlined the impact of the decision to go mobile only and the authors requested that their emails be elevated to the proper personnel for replies.  I was copied on those, and I’ve shared them below because I think they’re helpful to everyone.

I can’t help but be reminded of how far we’ve come in three years.  Yes – only three years ago, my group still had to deal with tearing paper tickets out of a giant book.  The rest of the stadium had been moved to these cool new plastic cards.  I made this huge color coded grid for the whole season (still do), rounded up as many people as possible, and we headed to brunch at Senor Moose in Ballard where we’d dive into awesome sopes de tinga with horchata lattes, and start separating our tickets and parking passes by person.  Some people drove in from Spokane for it.  Ticket trades had to be completed a week in advance so that the paper tickets could be dropped into snail mail.  Remember snail mail?  I forget about it too.  Sounders hadn’t even created tickets by pdf for us yet.

Here are the questions and answers I promised you (answers are from the Front Office Staff):

Hi Rob,

I appreciate you reaching out to both Alliance Council and myself. I apologize for the delayed response as I wanted to ensure I was provided you all of the answers that you requested. First of all, I want to thank you for taking the time to provide us feedback regarding our mobile app. I believe that some of the new features of the app provide you with a viable ticket solution and can ensure you we have taken precautions to make sure your concerns are addressed.

 Rationale for change? Business decision, cost, convenience

There were multiple reasons why we decided to make a switch to a mobile platform, cost was definitely not one of those. Integrating mobile tickets into the native app experience provides more flexibility for fans. The app will improve the ability to manage seats in the way that works best for each fan. Whether you’re sharing a seat with one person the entire season, splitting between multiple people or deciding last-minute on what to do with your tickets, the app will provide an improved solution to help with those needs. In addition, MatchPass rewards will also be available in-app, so fans can redeem rewards and manage tickets within the same location, anytime, anywhere.  In addition, we are excited the app will continue to support news, videos and additional content and can serve as the first-choice for fans when looking for the latest from Sounders FC.   

 Are you looking to enable an Opt-In for physical tickets or enable “print at home” with “matchpass and season tickets” privileges?

Similar in the past, you will be issued a MatchPass, instead of a physical MatchPass, you will receive a digital MatchPass that you can manage through the Sounders FC app. You will still have the full functionality of My Account Manager, now even easier to access through the Sounders FC App. My Account Manager gives you the opportunity to print, forward, resell or donate your tickets. Therefore, if you prefer not to use mobile for entry, you still have the ability to print.

 Will you enable contest entry for each ticket purchase?

No, for the history of the MatchPass program, all enter to win contests have been one entry per account. This allows for all season ticket members to have the chance to enter for prizes. If you do not want to take the chance of the enter to win, there is also a buy now option to secure a spot where all of the money raised will be donated directly to charity. I strongly recommend you check out the new MatchPass informational video on the matchpass.soundersfc.com website for more information and to check out the cool rewards already posted.

 The MatchPass loyalty program has completely changed this year. There is no need to swipe at concessions or the pro shop or work to earn points, so you do not need to provide your kids your phone at concessions. With this new program, we want to simply reward you for being a season ticket member, not to have you to worry about earning enough points to redeem. We hope your phone doesn’t die getting to the match, but just in case if it does, we will have Sounders FC staff available with phone chargers to get you some battery to get into the match. If you do not want to charge your phone, you could also visit the customer service window located on the NW corner of CenturyLink Field for assistance with your tickets.

We had some issues with the Android launch, which is most likely why your wife was unable to log-in. However, we released an update Wednesday evening, which should fix those issues. Therefore, if you would like both you and your wife to have the ability to scan into the gate, you can designate her a couple of passes to download onto her device, so you do not have to swipe through all 5 passes at the gate. Below are some tutorial videos, just in case if you need them, to explain how to share a season pass with your wife or simply download the passes to your phone. In addition, you can add those passes to either Android Pay or Apple Wallet, so you do not have to worry about downloading them on matchday or using Wi-Fi or data.

Share the Season: http://www.soundersfc.com/mobilize/manage-season

Download to phone: http://www.soundersfc.com/mobilize/get-all-passes

If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to reach out me directly. I would be happy to walk through this with you, so we make sure you have a great matchday experience. If you would like to read any more information, I would recommend checking out the STM Benefits Website or the Mobilize Website for more information. Thanks again for your support and look forward to your response.

Later follow up:

Thank you for your email! One thing I do just want to note is if you save your season pass to your “wallet” on the phone, you can actually delete the app afterwards. As long you as you have the default setting, the pass will update itself to the next home match on its own. Also, the wallet doesn’t use Wi-Fi or Data, which should help the battery issue. 

We do still have our Sounders FC Pub Partnerships, and expect to expand them for the 2016 season! We are working on creating a form of Season Ticket Member ID for those who do not have access to smartphones.

Again, I really do appreciate this in depth feedback. If anything else comes up or still does not work (Android should have gotten an update after you sent this email).

At the March first meeting, we will have Taylor Graham and Bart Wiley coming in to discuss some of the hot button topics (Mobile only, variable single match pricing, etc.).  We can’t reverse their decisions, but we do want to know how they’ll take care of people – I’m confident there must be an answer, so what is it?

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Meetings

Meeting Recap: End of Year Business Meeting

Photo from soundersfc.com

November 17, 2015

By Karl Picard

I have attended a couple of these events in the past; last year I came with my 4-year-old so it was totally different.  This year was my first year as an Alliance Council member and it was quite different.  I found myself way more interested in what the owners and staff were saying about our team and the future. Maybe it was because I was running the Twitter feed for the Alliance Council, but I think it was because I got a glimpse over the season of how things run. As a fan I cared less about that, just give me wins and trophies, but now it’s about respect for the fan base as well as the Alliance Council and what it stands for. And maybe more, there is a lot the team represents besides just the product on the field, as Roger Levesque would gladly fill you in on. As you heard, if you were there or have watched the edited video, there are families, community outreach, and running a business that is independent from the Seahawks.

My evening began around 4:30 with an early arrival to set up a table for council candidates and help out where I could. Then it was on to the pre-meeting the Council members had with the owners and senior staff.  I found this to be one of the best things I’ve gotten to participate in since getting elected.  We had a direct line to over 20 folks on the Sounders staff.  We talked about several issues that have been pointed out to the council by the Alliance, including delegating season tickets for voting purposes, customer service of ticket reps, changes that the club has gone through as part of the split from the Seahawks, to MatchPass and a few thank yous from each side.  The main theme was how can we all help each other make the fan experience better.  Based on some of the ideas for the coming season I am optimistic it will get better.

Then it was upstairs for the main event.  I sat maybe 15 rows back to get a good view of the stage and allow me to take some pictures.  I spent a decent amount of time tweeting or monitoring Twitter to help those who were on stage as I could.  Joe Roth definitely got things going with his comments (which if you missed them, just look back on social media or anyone who covers the Sounders) for which I immediately thought that will have an apology the next day, and it did.  As I was following Twitter, I got a really good idea on the backlash the comments would bring. After that was some big news on Adrian becoming the majority owner. He talked about doing right by the club. Next up was Bart talking about the business. The biggest thing I took from this was new turf is coming, which and while that won’t stop the conversation around grass, maybe it will result in fewer questions on that topic around that area (we got a lot).    About that time MatchPass came up and the club presented an instant delight reward, and Craig (who was right next to me) won a signed jersey delivered by our captain Brad Evans. I thought that was pretty cool and wish there were a few more of those throughout the night.

Then it was our time to shine, Stephanie covered what Council did this year. While I was sitting there I was thinking, does this crowd appreciate it? Based on the applause, while not the same that turf or some of the player mentions got, it was a little satisfying. Twitter comments also helped validate our efforts. While, as Stephanie said, they weren’t sexy, and I may not fully agree with all of them, it was something myself and 20 other folks changed over the year. Cameron hopped up on the stage for his first appearance. He got the short end of the stick covering the details of the GM Vote & Recall. This part got edited out of the video of the night that the Sounders posted, but really was a big part of our year-long efforts. It laid the ground work for the Alliance to make a difference should they feel the team was headed the wrong way. In my opinion, it put some teeth (like baby teeth, but better than none) into the democracy in sports idea that Drew Carey set forth as soon as he became part of the organization. This is why making sure Alliance Members (season ticket holders) get a vote for every seat they own is important and we’ll be working with the club to ensure that happens over the next year, as was discussed earlier in the night. After that, Paul Cox talked about S2 and the Community Trust. I heard less of this as I was dealing with some of the questions that had come in via Twitter and was discussing some of them with Jerry (sorry Paul and S2 folks).

Garth got up next and talked about the team. This was probably what most folks were there for. He made it clear that Sigi would be back for another season. Most people cheered, there was even a Sigi Sigi Sigi chant. But I heard a few sighs and Twitter didn’t seem as excited.  Me personally, I don’t think there is a better alternative, but I also don’t think he has a long leash without a better playoff performance next season. I think the most important thing Garth said was around player development and the academy system. Getting young kids in, building them into the community and club to make them role players will be how this team has the depth in the future to survive injuries and suspensions like we had this season (and in most seasons based on the data Garth presented).

Then it was on to questions. I had seen most of these either prior to the meeting or on Twitter. I was excited to hear about Copa America possibly coming to the Clink and the next day MLS reported that Seattle looks to have made the cut). I appreciate the club takes questions from the Alliance. Most of the answers from the club are predictable as they are mentioned in blogs, tweets, Facebook, or on the official Sounders website in some format already. I’d love to have a way for the Alliance to see all of the questions submitted, because as Stephanie pointed out that night, folks want the club to spend money, but at the same time, keep ticket and concession prices down. Now, I am by no way rolling in money, but I understand that it is a business and they try to balance as best they can (most of the time).

If you missed it, be sure to catch the video online; as mentioned, it is edited but covers a good portion of the meeting. This is my last recap of the year. Our next meeting will be in February 2016.  That doesn’t mean council won’t be working on stuff. The front office has asked us to help them with some things for next year and I know people will be helping as they can.  If you haven’t, be sure to vote someone for Alliance Council, the more people we have on it the more we can do and the more we can influence.

Happy Holidays and can’t wait to see our Sounders play Club America in the CCL in late February.

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Meetings

Sounders Edit GM Vote & Recall Out of Alliance’s Annual Business Meeting Recap


Photo from soundersfc.com

by Stephanie Steiner

November 14, 2015

Maybe someday the Sounders’ Front Office staff will learn to avoid stepping in it. But for now, that crap they’re tracking across the carpet stinks.

“Follow the Live Tweets of the Alliance’s Annual Business Meeting” and then they don’t bother to tweet a damned thing the Council presented – especially General Manager Vote and Recall – the reason the Alliance exists.

Video recap of the Annual Business meeting held Thursday, November 12th, 2015: click here .  They left my Council update in, how generous of them. Cameron’s General Manager Vote and Recall presentation was edited out, as were my answers to questions (granted those weren’t terribly exciting – but they were inclusive and supportive of the Front Office).

Disappointing isn’t strong enough of a word. I thought we’d come much further than this in creating partnership.  If the General Manager portion suddenly gets posted as a separate video, I’ll post it, but that would be a huge surprise (and likely a result of this post, and not planned ahead).  Below is the comment I posted on their Live Tweet thread:

I have already submitted my answers to my portion of the questions that the Alliance sent to us.  I sure wish I could have a do-over.  Does the Alliance need to step up to make this work?  You bet. But guess what, Front Office?  After you.

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Meetings

Meeting Recap: November 2015

Photo by Stephanie Steiner

By Stephanie Steiner

November 7, 2015

Not a whole lot to report this time around.  We amended the last of the bylaws that we’d been working on for 2015. Whew! That is D.O.N.E.  Soooooo sexy (not!). But it needed to be done so that the 2016 council can start fresh – you know, because having fun is way more fun than not having fun.  Oh wait, that’s my dating site headline.  No wonder I gave up on that. I’ll be here all week, tip your servers well.

Most of what we talked about was our plan for the Annual Business Meeting, the questions we’ve received so far, our meeting with owners, and trying not to get nervous for the presentations we’ll be making in front of all of you (it’s so not working).  We also let everyone know that Q13 will make a TV special out of the event. That means that anyone who will make a presentation who wasn’t nervous previously (or pretending well) isn’t bothering to pretend any longer. We’re toast. On the plus side, the Paramount Theater now allows grown up sippy cups for grown up beverages.  That will help most of you, but I’m a total lightweight. If I try to calm my nerves at this point, I’ll be comatose – so be nice, please – it’s hard to be me.

See you Thursday!

~S

Categories
Meetings

Meeting Minutes: October 2015

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC ALLIANCE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

October 6, 2015 7:00 p.m.

The Ninety Present

 (11 of 32): Cameron Collins, Paul Cox, Craig Dillon, Roberta King, Angelica Mendoza, Jerry Neil, Karl Picard, Daniel Roe, Stephanie Steiner, Brendan Vaughn, Kristina Vaughn Via telephone: Likkit Pocinwong

Next meeting: Tuesday, November 3, 2015 at 7:00 p.m

I. Call to order – Stephanie Steiner

II. Roll call – Angelica Mendoza – 11 of 32 members present

III. Approval of minutes – Stephanie Steiner

IV. Old business

  1. Scarf vote update – Kristina Vaughn
  • Committee narrowed to top five designs with two alternates and provided to Taylor Graham

o 41 submissions this year (compared to 160 last year)

  • Ruffneck sponsoring design contest this year · Voting begins October 12 and continues through October 23 o Only STHs received email announcement re voting opportunity

o Question re seat designees not receiving email notifications

  • Winner announced at October 25 match
  • Committee role complete at this point; Club takes over from here
  • Considering future opportunity for design competition for kids
  1. Constitution and bylaws – Stephanie Steiner
  • 2013 vote

o Constitution posted on website is not up-to-date

o Added Bylaw 8 in 2013, which created standing committees (e.g., work groups)

o Articles gave us ability to create Executive Committee

o Planned to include in Alliance-wide vote for approval with GM voting procedures

  • AC voted and approved in 2014; agreeing to adopt Constitution as a working document
  • 2015 new bylaws o Passed presumed Bylaw 8 at last AC meeting; now to become Bylaw 9

o What exists on the website now has not been approved by vote of Alliance

o Fix and clean-up to put out to Alliance-wide vote in 2016

o Start 2016 AC year with cleanest, most up-to-date version of Constitution as a working document

  1. Council minutes and documents – Stephanie Steiner
  • Website archives are now up-to-date

o Very few meeting minutes for 2011

o Contact Stephanie, if aware something is missing from the Archives

o Existing archive structure difficult to search

V. New business

A) Proposed amendment to attendance bylaw – Angelica Mendoza

  • Attendance bylaw amendment passed at last meeting
  • Two changes proposed with current amendment

o Members who have missed the previous three meetings in a row are ineligible to attend meetings with owners

o Members with non-voting member status are ineligible to participate in any perks or incremental activities as a Council member or guest of a Council member

  • Cameron Collins proposal to amend amendment to add “or receive” between “or participate in” and “any Council member perks or incremental activities” passed unanimously

B) Proposed amendments to Bylaws 1 and 3 – Cameron Collins

  • As bylaws are written, AC votes do not hold power
  • Anyone may bring something to AC, regardless of voting status (e.g., non-voting or ex-oficio)
  • Any additional changes should ensure that references to bylaw numbers are correct
  • Two proposed amendments unanimously passed

o Phrasing “Council members present” to be replaced with “quorum”

o Strike phrasing between “of” and “quorum” in 5.1 and 5.2

  • Consider adding time limit to Club discussion during AC meeting; otherwise “discuss issue fully” is sufficient as loose definition allows for greater discretion
  • Cameron will draft updates for discussion at November meeting

C) 2015 Annual Business Meeting – Kristina Vaughn

  • Set for Thursday, November 12
  • Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and meeting begins at 7:00 p.m.
  • AC meeting with ownership beforehand
  • Unable to announce emcee at this time
  • Cash bar and light snacks available (suggest special lids to allow drinks inside of the theatre)
  • Players and trophies planned for preshow o Suggest a request to ECS to bring Cascadia Cup

o Propose large team photo with cutout to allow fans to put their head in and take photos

o Propose players in different configuration than last year as it bottlenecked

o Suggest giveaway items for MatchPass holders or a raffle ticket on your way in

  • Suggested program

o Drew Carey – welcome and video (previously democracy in sports)

o Bart Wiley – business report o Stephanie Steiner – AC report o Cameron Collins – GM vote and recall process

o Adrian – team update

o Q&A

  • Jerry Neil and Cameron Collins to manage Q&A
  • Hashtag #sfcbiz
  • Begin compiling and categorizing questions via email and social media

D) 2017 jock tag and neck tape – Likkit Pocinwong

  • 2016 first and third kits will include COS logo as jock tag (second kit is white again)
  • Duwamish Tribe did not officially bless, but authorized use
  • No information available on 2016 neck tape at this point
  • Option to design both jock tag and neck tape for 2017 season (phrasing and/or imaging)
  • No hard deadline to submit yet, but the sooner the better
  • Suggested that we select a new design; Cameron Collins and Jerry Neil will lead on soliciting ideas

E) Annual Business Meeting format change – Kristina Vaughn

  • Is there interest in changing the format of the meeting for future years?
  • Do not eliminate Q&A portion
  • Push AC recruitment during AC report and show examples of what AC has accomplished (e.g., jock tag design, GM voting procedures)
  • Offer AC, SCT and supporter groups table space
  • Keep lines minimal and moving
  • Photo booth with one photographer who posts all for download rather than fans utilizing smartphones
  • Consider change of venue
  • Difficult to encourage attendance on a weeknight
  • Expo or “Sounders Summit” rather than “End of Year Business Meeting”

o Similar to organization of Mariners FanFest

o Start of season in conjunction with first week of practice at Starfire

  • Hold event before season is over to ensure players are in town and emphasize player appearances well in advance
  • Work group to present proposal to AC, then to Megan West and Club VI. Open discussion
  • Feedback from last match

o Sold out of HALO jerseys by noon

o Opportunity to purchase online was not well-advertised

o Size Large only as part of giveaway

VI.  Adjournment – Motion to adjourn passed

Categories
Meetings

Meeting Minutes: September 2015

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC ALLIANCE COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
September 1, 2015
7:00 p.m.
The Ninety

Present (15 of 32): Samuel Chesneau, Cameron Collins, Paul Cox, Craig Dillon, Roberta King, Angelica Mendoza, Kris Mydske, Jerry Neil, Karl Picard, Daniel Roe,
Stephanie Steiner, Hans Ulland, Brendan Vaughn, Kristina Vaughn, Kelly Weiler
Via telephone: Kyle Boyd
Next meeting: Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.

I. Call to order – Stephanie Steiner

II. Roll call – Angelica Mendoza – 15 of 32 members present

III. Approval of minutes – Stephanie Steiner – Motion to approve August minutes passed

IV. Old Business
a) Scarf design – Kristina Vaughn
• To be announced September 8 in a press release and call for designs
• 18 will be selected and then narrowed to final five
• Committee will have six participants determining final designs for voting
• Voting period will be October 2-9 with the winner announced in October
• SSFC to select summer or winter weight

b) Season Ticket Member renewal calls – Paul Cox
• Craig Dillon and Paul Cox participated and each called 12-20 members
o Most intended to renew
o None referenced price as prohibitive
o Praise for six-month over five-month payment plan
o Partial season packages helpful for those who cannot attend all matches
• General confusion about Renew for Life option
o Uncertainty about opting out versus opting in every year

c) Bylaw updates – Stephanie Steiner
• Supporter group recognition (Bylaw 7)
o Line struck providing option to eliminate supporter group
o Bylaw reworked; last two paragraphs removed
o No need for renewal as there is no mechanism to do so
o Motion to vote to approve modification of bylaw passed (14 for and 1 against)

• Leave of absence (Bylaw 8)
o Historically, AC attendance has been between 33-51%
     Bylaw passed previously to help make it easier to meet quorum
     Difficulty meeting quorum resumed after approximately two meetings
     Necessity for bylaw amendment prevalent during voting regarding GM recall procedures
o Leave may be necessary due to work schedule, life changes, etc.
o Temporary non-voting status for those who miss more than half of five meetings or more (running total)
o Non-voting status lasts for two months (60 days)
      Unable to attend ownership meetings
      Ineligible to receive special invitations
o Two ways to stay involved with AC without impeding ability to get business done
      Ex-Oficio status for entire term; still active, but unable to attend meetings
      Leave of Absence status for finite period of time
i. Not included in quorum count and able to return to full-fledged voting status upon return
ii. Previous two absences start leave of absence
o Neither Ex-Oficio nor Leave of Absence status extend AC term
o No notice regarding absence constitutes a resignation; Executive Committee is not responsible for following-up with those who do not provide notice
o Call-in is an acceptable form of attendance
o Consider including voting status on website in the future, so that those voting know status/attendance history
o Include attendance in published meeting notes
o Regular meeting day and time should be included on website when someone considers running for AC
o Concern regarding inability to participate in meeting with ownership after missing the two prior meetings
      Would rather see it limited to non-voting members only
      Ex-Oficio and voting members able to attend
      Argument that attendance at previous two meetings allows for active engagement in current topics
      Predisposed higher attendance at ownership meetings given that they are held on a match day or prior to the EOY business meeting
      Motion to amend amendment to bylaw and strike “who have missed the previous two regularly scheduled monthly meetings” failed (3 for, 7 against, 5 abstained)
o Modification does not apply retroactively; only moving forward beginning next year
      Note that per Bylaw 5, any modification will take effect immediately, unless language of amendment is changed to begin in 2016
      Motion to add language noting beginning in 2016 passed (10 for and 5 abstained)
      Bylaw would not apply to those who don’t receive meeting notice two weeks in advance
o Motion to pass proposed amendment to Bylaw 8 passed (9 for, 2 against, 4 abstained)

• Alliance-wide voting
o Currently restricted on when we may put votes out to entire Alliance
o Appropriate that we call for an Alliance-wide vote at any time for any reason
o Will continue to work with SSFC to strategize timing, reach, etc.
o Motion to vote passed (unanimous); motion to amend the bylaw passed (unanimous)

d) GM vote and recall update – Stephanie Steiner
• AC proposal submitted to SSFC and agreement was reached; Maya Mendoza and Taylor Graham approved
• No additional feedback from owners, so will present to ownership at next meeting
• Procedures only; not a bylaw, charter or article, but will eventually be broken up into those elements as appropriate
• Timelines for four year calculation were cleaned-up; vote will always happen at end of season (October)
• Suggestion to create a simple infographic for every day fan to understand general concept and process
• Need to define whether percentages are all members or all voting members
• Final, legal document will be fine-tuned further and properly worded
• Unanimous vote accepting the proposal

V. New Business
a) Media updates
• New Sounders app will be tested for 6-8 weeks
• AC to have opportunity to test

b) Ticketing updates – Stephanie Steiner
• Executive Committee had a phone call with FO ticketing representatives
• $.50-3.00 increase per seat per match next season
• SSFC has been successful in getting lower bowl seats back that were owned by ticket brokers for resale
• Upper 122 STHs were polled and prefer assigned seating as opposed to GA

VI. Adjournment – Motion to adjourn passed

Categories
Meetings

Meeting Recap: October 2015

Photo by Angelica Germani

By Karl Picard

October 13, 2015

The October Alliance Council meeting took place on the 6th at The NINETY.  We had a pretty full agenda as this was the second to last meeting of 2015.

Our first order of business was an update about the Scarf vote, we looked over the finalists that the scarf committee had submitted to the front office.  Voting has already started and will run through the 23rd.  Here are the finalists and voting site. The winner will be announced at the last home match.  While we did get a decent number of submissions it was down from previous years.  We think this is due to a lower level of publicity, but we’d like to hear from the Alliance as to why you think we have fewer entries.  Feel free to send an email to ssfcalliance@gmail.com or comment on our Facebook page.

The next order of business was working to close out some of the Constitution and Bylaw work we’ve had going on all season.  We’ve been working to ensure all our documentation is the most up-to-date version and that our storage drive has all of our historical minutes, and documents. The goal is to get all of our new work voted on at our November meeting and start the 2016 season will the cleanest version of the Constitution and Bylaws.  This would also provide the foundation for us to get all changes out to the Alliance for a vote in 2016.  The updated constitution and bylaws will include General Manager Vote and Recall (once all of that is written into articles and bylaws) as well as support group bylaw changes and alliance council attendance and voting status changes.

We then moved into covering the details on this year’s business meeting.  In case you missed it, it will be on Nov 12th with doors opening at 6 and the presentation starting at 7.  We’ve moved it to a weekday this year.  You can, as in years past, get your questions in for the panel to address. There are a couple ways, at the website link above, via email to ssfcalliance@gmail.com, or using Twitter and the hashtag  #SFCBiz.  We are exploring ways to get more people to attend the meeting in 2016.  We’d love to hear input on what the Alliance would like to see, add, or change, so please send us an email at ssfcalliance@gmail.com, post something on our Facebook page, or send us a tweet at @AllianceCouncil.

Lastly, voting for Alliance Members for 2016 is still open.  Head over to https://vote.soundersfc.com/Login.aspx and vote for someone to represent you, or nominate yourself to be on the Alliance Council.  Being part of the Alliance Council takes dedication, time management, and a commitment to see projects through to the end. Click here to learn more about the Alliance Council.