Tag: Seattle Sounders

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Why Don’t our Radio Stations Love The Sounders?


Photo from SoundersFC.com

By Kristina Vaughn

October 9, 2015

It’s been a lingering question for me, mostly this season, why is soccer (and the Sounders specifically) talked about so much less on sports programming on TV and radio? Even with the USWNT winning the Women’s World Cup, there was very little chatter about soccer.

I asked a friend of mine who works for a sports radio station to answer a few questions that I had about why this may be:

Soccer/futbol/football is played all year long around the world, why is it broadcast so much less than other sports that only play for half of the year?

Basically, there are three major sports that are covered by most conventional sports radio- Football, Baseball, Basketball. Hockey used to be a 4th, but has fallen off in the last decade and a half, fueled mostly by the labor dispute that led to a lockout. 

When the national teams (both Men’s and Women’s) are successful, do you see an increase in interest from listeners?

When the men’s and women’s teams are successful during the World Cup, and the Olympics (More so the World Cup) there is a genuine interest from listeners. The fever sweeps the nation, and everybody catches the wave for those couple of weeks.

What do you think it would take to get more airtime for soccer both in Seattle and across the US?

I think in the Northwest, it gets about as much airplay on radio and TV as you’re going to see. We have shows that have Adrian Hanauer and Sigi Schmidt on as guests when Sounders news breaks, and have had Sounders players on occasionally. In most of the other reaches of the country, you’ll find that MLS soccer takes even more of a backseat to bigger time local teams than it does here. The Northwest is the region that has more interest than any other in the US.

With the recent scandal involving FIFA, did that increase the soccer conversation?

It was a brief headline on our top of the hour updates, but didn’t change the conversation.

What is your favorite aspect of covering the Sounders (when you do)? What do you notice is different about our Club from other local sports teams?

There isn’t really a way to answer this; I produce the morning show, and we don’t spend any time on MLS soccer.

What is the biggest reason why soccer isn’t as entrenched in mainstream sports as football, baseball and basketball?

I’d say there are several facets. First, when you look at sports like football, they’re successful because of the dollars they generate (more than 7 BILLION dollars in the last year) and can market themselves accordingly. Football’s meteoric rise of the last 20 years can almost directly be tied into fantasy football, and the effect it’s had on the popularity of the game throughout all demographics.

That said, soccer fans often don’t do themselves any favors. The perception of soccer fan is that they’re standoffish to new or less educated fans, meanwhile, from the other side of their mouth, complain that those same people who would be casual observers don’t hold them highly in the mainstream.

I know that’s the case with me; soccer fans have ruined any interest I would have had in watching MLS soccer. 

In the Seattle metro area there are three sports radio stations; KFNQ-AM (The Fan), KIRO-AM, and KJR-AM. I’m not even sure that any of them have true soccer specific programming.

If we want more coverage, more Sounders news and conversation, on our local sports radio stations, we’ll have to show that we want it; that we’ll listen to it. You want more Sounders? Go after it! The only way we can make a difference in the air time of these stations is if we call, text, tweet, Facebook, Instagram the hell out of these radio stations to talk more about our Sounders.

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So You Really Want to Recall Garth Lagerwey? (No. No, I certainly don’t.)

By Stephanie Steiner

September 24, 2015

In a meeting with Adrian Hanauer in February of this year, when discussing the very first vote he was asked “what were those results – ninety-four percent ‘confident?’” to which he replied with genuine sheepishness, “I think they were ninety-seven…”  This man has set a very high bar.

That meeting in February between the Alliance Council and Adrian Hanauer was held to meet our new General Manager and President of Soccer, Garth Lagerwey, and to initiate the conversation of the General Manager Vote in general.  When our Charter was written, the authors didn’t anticipate the need to change the person in this role between voting cycles.  The Alliance Council was invited to weigh-in on the topic and propose a solution for voting now and going forward that would accommodate a new General Manager.  For instance, an important question that needed to be answered was: should the new General Manager get a minimum number of years before facing a vote?

We’ve also had the ability to recall the General Manager sort of.  I say “sort of” because the notion of a recall was always understood to be available but never written down. No process had ever been mapped out and agreed upon.  Discovering it was missing was a lot like reaching into the spare tire compartment and finding it empty – in this case, we were lucky to determine it was missing before we needed it.

The task of determining what the GM Vote and Recall process should be was not an emergency, but certainly we felt some sense of urgency to get the process completed during this season – Season Ticket Members could be expecting a vote next year and they should have an explanation of a new procedure if there was to be one.  Then our season got underway, and by the time we had a workgroup tasked with working on all of this, it was March. Throughout the spring, we polled fans via social media whether they thought the General Manager should have a minimum amount of time from their start, or if a General Manager vote should be every four years.  Responders were overwhelmingly in favor of giving a General Manager enough time to make a difference.  By late May, we had agreed upon our GM Vote language with the Club representatives, and had the GM Recall language still ahead of us to negotiate.

Then the June USOC match happened and our July performance was worse.  Early August made us think that July was forty days long.  There were a lot of hashtags in social media with the word “out” attached.  I showed my own Italian temper and German stubbornness in social media with a fan who refused to accept the facts in chronological order.

Losing isn’t supposed to make us nasty.  It should make us committed to righting the ship, and that’s exactly why having our General Manager Vote and Recall process finalized is so important. But for crying out loud –we need to give Garth Lagerwey the opportunity right this ship himself.  I can’t speak for every decision our owners and General Manager will make, nor do I understand everything a General Manager faces.  Any General Manager will make tough decisions, and in Seattle, a General Manager will answer for them.  Had I met Garth Lagerwey in other circumstances – if he’d been an Alliance member instead of our General Manager – I would have recruited him for Alliance Council.  Seriously, I would have been that pain-in-the-backside who bought him beers and nagged him to nominate himself (with my tablet ready for him to say “yes”).  You think I’m nuts? Well I might be for many reasons, but I’d love more legal minds on council, and soccer management experience as well? Yes, please.

I am not kept up at night worrying about our owners, but some might be.  I don’t know what’s in owners’ heads nor pretend to be included in their strategy.  I am comfortable saying that Adrian Hanauer has a strong sense of doing what is right, and Joe Roth wants to win (he isn’t a guy to waffle).  Their job is to build and enhance the Club, including their own prosperity along the way – let’s face it, this isn’t supposed to be their donation to Seattle.  My job is to build and enhance Democracy in Sports – or specifically, Democracy within the Sounders – in perpetuity and specifically for the Alliance.  Luckily for all of us, these jobs are not mutually exclusive and we respect this in each other.  The Season Ticket Members of the Sounders FC are lucky to have owners who believe in the Alliance, in fact, they created it.  The ability to vote out the General Manager was the contribution of Drew Carey as a condition of joining the ownership group.  Without his commitment, there would be no GM Vote, no recall option, and no Alliance.

Now here we are, several months after that February conversation with a lot accomplished.  Garth Lagerwey has gotten us players who are making a considerable difference, and our big time players are getting healthy.  The Cascadia Cup has made its way back to Seattle and our standings in both the Western Conference and the race for the Supporters’ Shield look tremendously different than they did only a month ago. Everything feels better. Five weeks is a lot in soccer-time, and that is a concept that we’d remind ourselves of often as the Alliance Council took on the task of updating our GM Vote and Recall processes.  Throughout this year, Cameron Collins and I have been in negotiations with Taylor Graham and Maya Mendoza-Exstrom regarding these very processes.  After there is agreement all-around, it will all have to be translated into legalese, built into the Charter, and then into our Constitution and Bylaws.  I’m so glad I’m not one of the lawyers, and very grateful for their contributions.

So blah blah, why does it really matter then?  Because, damn it: by creating a GM Vote and Recall policy that is workable and has “teeth” to it, we support the Sounders’ legacy – correction – our Sounders legacy.  It’s not just about the threat of a recall or vote of no-confidence.  It’s our stake in the matter at hand.  It’s our stewardship of our Club, and it’s an assurance that we will have the best General Manager in the MLS. Our continued involvement drives loyalty.  It’s that loyalty that keeps us chanting long after a loss and the referees have been escorted out by police.  And our kids? By God they are Sounders.  Not just ‘til they die, but from their first breath.  This is a tie that needs to be strengthened, always.  This is what makes us unique, makes us strong, and makes us successful.  We get to have a say – I know, I wrote half of the agreement that grants it. This is not our just our entertainment.  This is our Club.

This may not finish up as our easiest season: it’s been full of moments we refer to as “not our best,” but also full of moments which should be our considered among them.  I’m proud of our Club, proud of our owners, and honored by their commitment to Democracy in Sports and the Alliance.  I hope you are too.  When all of the “legalese” is completed and handshakes are behind us, I’ll going to put my feet up, raise a glass, and watch Oba’s Goal of the Week (again).

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Meeting Minutes: July 2009

ALLIANCE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES:
7/23/09 posted

A report from the July 8th Alliance Conference Call with the Sounders own Bart Wiley

First In-person Meeting of the Alliance Council
Date to be set in the near future, prior to a home game near, or at, the stadium (several hours prior to pre-function activities, so all can attend).

Improvements to the Council Voting system
While not perfect, the vote system this season has sufficed. Whether a “one seat=one vote” model is possible or preferable is still up for debate, both logistically and in terms of balancing corporate, ticket broker, individual or other group purchaser’s representational power…while still allowing individual fans to feel they are getting value from their Alliance Membership and Season Ticket (personal vote, discount card, email communication).

There have been some limitations to the current vendor voting software, in that season ticket holder access was processed in batches causing some access problems. Next year, the possibility of a streamed feed is being looked at. Unfortunately, there isn’t a public access point for the software to allow public access to vote standings.

Section Preferences for Next Season
Many fans this season found themselves in sections that were non-conducive to how they hoped to enjoy the game…whether preferring to sit, stand, wave flags, blow horns, proximity to the band, beer consumption…or otherwise. Ticket reps will be calling season ticket holders soon to discuss renewals, and will be asking about fan experience this year, and asking what they’d hope for next year.

The Council heard from many fans this season who felt they were in the wrong section…also, many were still accessing section preference tools available at Ticketmaster and Sounders FC. The Council recommended updating these tools with current preferences and profiles for sections so renewing season ticket holders can make more informed decisions.

Plastic Horns
Under consideration…as there’s a range of strong opinions regarding their use/sale…both pro and against. Council members reported hearing from many dissatisfied fans and hearing of several confrontations arising from disagreements over horns at games.

Vancouver and Portland preparations for 2011
Sounders FC has been in contact with Vancouver and Portland. There will be reserved sections for visiting supporters at both Qwest (section 203) and the rival cities. Their season ticket holder sales may impact how many extra seats will be available for traveling Sounders fans. The Council also strongly suggested preparing now for strategies to keep fan separation between teams at games…as a way to head off conflicts, and commended the good work done so far at Qwest and gave some suggestions for improvement. The Sounders FC is also already in discussions with the other teams regarding this issue. Regarding traveling supporters. At this time Sounders FC will not be organizing travel arrangements, but will assist supporter groups as they are able. This may be reviewed next year to see if changes are needed.

Partial season ticket holders from the band move
Discussed previously…it was felt value/alliance status should be given to those who put money up early for season tickets. Also, many moved from other areas of the stadium and already enjoyed STH status.

International Supporters Clubs
The front office will be focusing on building the club for the immediate future, and encouraged Council members or those hoping to help support international clubs to put together a plan for review/consideration. One suggestion was for international groups to consider the successful ECS model, putting together a package for international fans (scarf, pin, membership card, etc) and letting it grow organically.

Council Impact and Responsibilities
The Council heard back that they are indeed having an impact, and Sounders staff have been pleased with the feedback they’ve been getting. They assured us that they are hearing the fans. The Council is also acting as a sounding board and stewards for the club/brand, and the Front Office is working to take our initiatives under consideration and into action. In the future, the Council would like to continue to have their discussions available on the Sounders FC site blogs, to better keep the fans connected and informed. And keep an eye out for more issue threads on the forum.

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Meeting Recap: September 2015


Photo from SoundersFC.com

By Karl Picard

September 15th, 2015

There were no guests at this month’s meeting. We mainly discussed current events like the scarf design contest and season ticket renewals as well as business around the bylaws. The meeting took place at The Ninety with 15 people in attendance.

Hopefully, most of you have seen the scarf design contest is open for submissions. Final day to get them in is today.  The Alliance Council scarf committee will then review the submissions and determine the finalists. The voting for the scarf is scheduled to be 10/2 – 10/9, not much time so be sure to get your vote in. The weight of the scarf will be influenced by the design and ultimately the club has that final decision.  This is to ensure that the final selection meets all  of the criteria for the production and legal standards.

Season ticket renewals are also currently in full swing. The last day to renew is 9/18.  You should have noticed the opportunity to “renew for life” – Sounders ‘Til I Die. This is really a minor change and hopefully for the better. Since most renew each year, you may now auto renew, and if you decide that you no longer want to do that, just notify your ticket rep and you can opt out of the upcoming season. There were a few from the Alliance Council that reached out to current season ticket holders to discuss their renewals; they were able to help with any questions.  Hopefully they got to some of those reading our recaps.

Then it was onto bylaw changes, for the Supporter Group bylaw (bylaw 7), language around the removal of support group recognition by the Alliance Council was removed.  There was also removal of language on the need to renew, as there is currently no process to support renewal. There is still language in the bylaw around recognition and who can participate to have fan involvement in that process.

There was also discussion around adding a bylaw allowing a leave of absence for council members. This is to ensure those voting on issues and attending meetings with the front office are aware of the topics being discussed within the council and to support some potential changes with the GM voting. There is also a status for council members who cannot attend meetings (they are always on the first Tuesday of the month) but can still provide value to the Alliance Council and ultimately the Alliance as a whole; there are no voting rights with this status.

The final discussions of the night were on the GM vote. While we can’t get into too much here as we are still working out the details with the front office, there will be some changes coming and better definitions on the voting options. We’ve also proposed a change to timing of the Alliance-wide votes.  We hope to be able to supply more details in the near future. This has been a big effort this year for the council and we feel it will strengthen the commitment the club has to democracy in sports.

Feel free to drop a comment or reach out to a council member.  You can always find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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Meeting Recap: August 2015

Photo by Stephanie Steiner.  From Left to Right:  Hans Ulland, Cameron Collins, Kristina Vaughn, Paul Cox, Craig Dillon.

By Stephanie Steiner

August 14, 2015

August’s Alliance Council meeting was designated exclusively for council business without presentations from outside guests.   We had three main areas to cover:  changes to Bylaw 7 (regarding recognition and withdrawal of recognition of supporter groups), updates about our negotiations around GM Vote and GM Recall, and then finally we needed to discuss some of the things that we’ve identified that we’d need to change in our Constitution and Bylaws as a result of these negotiations.

First up was Old Business: In July, a change to Bylaw 7 was proposed (by Stephanie Steiner). The change redacts the lines which allow for a 2/3 vote of the Council members present to withdraw recognition of a supporter group, and redacts the line regarding annual renewal if it is requested.  The original bylaw more than likely was written with assumptions that “Council members present” would be equal to or greater than quorum.  Council also needs to invest time into rewriting other aspects of this bylaw:  create a system for Supporter Groups to request renewals or eliminate that as a requirement, and clearly define where the Council is or isn’t to be involved. In the meantime, this new proposal eliminates any possibility of a very low-populated Council, or one populated with an aggressive anti-supporter group agenda, from damaging the supporter group culture.  The vote was to be held in August, but had to be tabled as we did not meet quorum for the August meeting.

Next, we went through the updates regarding the GM Vote and GM Recall negotiations.  We have been at tentative agreement with the Club regarding GM Vote (granted to us in our Charter) for a few months now, but GM Recall procedures are still in conversation.  Maya Mendoza-Ekstrom had submitted a re-structured proposal immediately prior to the meeting to Cameron Collins and Stephanie Steiner, but neither had the chance to read it prior to the meeting.  The purpose of her re-write was to include the MLS’s definition of a General Manager (one universal definition for the league), and to clarify some elements of the proposed recall process.  Cameron read this definition aloud to the Council members. The Council members present were updated on the last meeting with Taylor Graham and Maya Mendoza-Ekstrom, as well as concerns that have surfaced within our existing Constitution and Bylaws: currently there are too many limitations on when we can send a vote to the entire Alliance, and we are regularly unable to vote on needed changes because we don’t meet quorum.

This brought us to the proposed changes to the existing Constitution and Bylaws:  Firstly: Bylaw 2 limits the Council’s ability to send something out for an Alliance-wide vote to only two periods in one season. In order to have an effective GM Recall procedure, barriers to an Alliance-wide vote need to be removed, which is the reason why new language was presented.  Secondly: the Alliance Council has an attendance challenge.  Historically, once the size of Council doubled at the start of 2013, it hasn’t been uncommon for attendance to range from 30-45%.  In late 2013, Council passed a bylaw changing the calculation for quorum to make voting and forward momentum possible.  This helped us for a few months, but when attendance dropped again, it was no longer helpful.  Language was proposed (by Stephanie Steiner) which allows Council members to take leaves of absence, become Ex-Officio members if they cannot attend meetings but will contribute in other ways, and gives council the ability to remove members who don’t attend meetings but don’t take a leave or move to Ex-Officio status (the ones who don’t participate and don’t withdraw on their own).  This proposal will allow Council to eliminate members from the count that prevents Council from meeting quorum and prevents us from voting.  Without voting, there cannot be a democratic process.

Aaaanddd… That’s a wrap!  Because only 8 people attended the August meeting, there were fewer people in the discussions.  No voting was possible on any of the agenda items.   Until next time…

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Meetings

Meeting Recap: July 2015

Photo Credit: SoundersFC.com

By Karl Picard

July 20th, 2015

July’s Alliance Council meeting was designated for Council business, without outside guests.  There were four main areas of discussion for the night: the visibility team and promotion of the council, supporter group recognition and the role the council plays in that process, community involvement, and the GM Vote and Recall process negotiations (ongoing).

On the supporter group recognition front we focused on Bylaw 7 of the Alliance Constitution. The discussion focused around the fact that with the current language, the Council could remove recognition of a supporter group without cause or criteria.  It was explained that Bylaw 7 was originally added to provide criteria for recognition, so that the Club could recognize “supporter groups” consistently. This was a concern since supporter “groups” wanted access to Cascadia away match tickets. There will be more fine-tuning of the bylaw changes with a vote on those changes scheduled for the August meeting.

Next up was the visibility group, which is focused on ways to promote the Council.  We have been working on being more active on social media outlets as well as publishing some blog posts and these Council meeting recaps.  We are in need of more people willing to help out as Alliance Council is a volunteer effort, check out a recent blog post on this request.  If you have some ideas on what we can do to improve our brand and work better for the Alliance let us know on Twitter, Facebook, or in the comments.

Within the area of community involvement, we discussed the scarf vote and the Rave Green Run . The 2016 scarf competition:  design submissions will be in September with voting on the finalists in October – so it’s time to get those ideas fired up! The Sounders have a few community efforts coming up, the big one is the Aug 9th  Rave Green Run, complete with viewing party afterwards for the LA game.  Be sure to look for these and other community events on Twitter and Facebook.

Lastly, our main discussion was centered on the GM Vote and Recall Process negotiations. We are working with the Front Office on updating the Charter regarding the vote to ensure the terms are clear, and the Alliance retains the power to recall a current General Manager. We also strive to ensure that what we create will never be in the way of the Club to recruit top talent for that role.  Look for more to come on that in the coming months.

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Lawyers and Writers and Prayers, Oh My!

Photo Credit: SoundersFC.com

By Stephanie Steiner, Alliance Council President

July 8, 2015

As people become acquainted with the Alliance Council and learn a little about what the Council is and does, members of Council are asked questions like, “Why can’t the Council post surveys a few times each year?”  “Why can’t the Council get old minutes posted?” “How come the Council never has one open session?” “Why does the Council still meet at Sounders Headquarters?”  and so on…

The answers are all pretty much the same:  The Alliance Council is without any financial resources,   meaning: our resources are made up of the ideas we create and the efforts we contribute.  We simply don’t have enough resources currently to get to everything.  We have barely started creating our own mailing list.  We don’t have access to the Club’s mailing list of Alliance Members. If money is needed, it’s currently coming from our own pockets.  Luckily, what we have needed to take on so far has been inexpensive. Meeting space has been generously provided by the Club, and as far as ideas go – we often collaborate and brainstorm back and forth.

So why would I write about lawyers and writers and prayers?  Well that’s how we get by, and in a way, that’s what we need.  It’s time to recruit for the Alliance Council.  For example, the Council has a Constitution with bylaws, but not enough people to be operating a rules committee.  We need a rules committee to be looking at those bylaws and making necessary adjustments.  The Constitution and bylaws are a relatively short, but tedious document that people are tired of dealing with.  With a couple more good attorneys on the Council, we could make really light work of this – one or two sessions at most to get some language updated and clarified.

The Council needs more writers so that we can divide that work, but more importantly: share the spotlight.  More people writing would give more of our alliance members the opportunity to get to know more Council Members and the topics that drive us.  We are great at tweeting, and we like the idea of having blogs for our members.  But even though writing a blog is a short task, it’s one that people have to work into their busy lives – and that kind of task needs to go to people who are comfortable with it.

As far as prayers – well I’m not actually religious, so maybe that’s a fib.  But I do worry about the number of times I call upon the one attorney we have on Council, or the one community organizer, or the one other writer.  They are all fabulous, but we need a few more.  Alliance Council should be about fifteen to sixty minutes of work per person, per month, between meetings.  If it’s more than that, then it’s a strong indicator that we need people with specific sets skills and experience – and that’s where we are today.

Last year we made a significant schedule change and voted to meet exclusively on first Tuesdays. It was the day that worked for the most people, and when we enacted that step we knew we’d leave some behind: it’s not uncommon for only ten to make it to a meeting.  We wear many hats, and can’t get to everything we’d like to or to everything Alliance members would like us to.  But when I look at what the supporter groups have been able to accomplish, or at what owner-groups have done in clubs around the globe, I know that building this up is certainly within our capacity. Next up for us to take on: building a budget.

That’s where you come in:  we have a stadium full of amazing and incredibly talented Sounders Season Ticket Members. We don’t just need random people, we need you, with your skills, your voice, and your contribution of knowledge.  You have the ability to make a difference. The Alliance Council could greatly benefit from people with strong backgrounds in the areas of:  finance/money management; project management, event planning, writing, marketing, community outreach, legal: lawyers, legal aids, law clerks; web design/production, video production, content management, and volunteerism. To nominate yourself for Alliance Council, you’ll need your login email and your account number (it’s on your match pass): https://vote.soundersfc.com/Login.aspx.  Thank you for considering it!

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When Will You Limit Supporter Groups on Alliance Council?

By Stephanie Steiner, Alliance Council President

The question I’m asked most frequently since becoming President of the Alliance Council is, “So are you finally going to set a limit on the number of supporter group people who can participate?”

The short answer is “Nope.” The much longer explanation is worth your time, I hope you’ll grant me the courtesy:

Firstly, it’s not up to me, nor should it be.  For the Council to make any changes such as limiting the participation of any particular type of person or group of people, we’d have to create the language, discuss it, and vote it into effect.  It wouldn’t be up to any one person.

Yes – the Alliance Council is made up of quite a few people who are also part of supporter groups.  That’s accurate.  People who are involved in Seattle’s soccer community are exactly that:  involved.  The Alliance Council needs people who can make commitments and keep them.  We need people who know how to stay organized and get things done.  Many of those people are organized and get things done for other groups – it’s true:  supporter groups are part of them, but also charities, soccer clubs, PTAs, neighborhood associations, and the Sounders Community Trust.  But people only get bent out of shape about supporter groups.

I think the reason some people have issue with “supporter group people” is that the person in question has made a negative mental association with the idea of “supporter group people.” I did it too. Back in 2010, when I learned about the Alliance Council, and later when people were getting elected, I was irritated that nearly everyone on the council was from the south end of the stadium. Then when their profiles were added to the website – I was really ticked off.  Everyone was young!  Insult was sufficiently added to injury.  What kind of garbage was this? I was so mad it took me almost two years to get the ability to vote (long story – some other time), and then I got myself elected – there was no way those young, good looking, jumpy-ass singing people were any good at representing me.

………we pause this middle-aged-woman tirade for a truth-in-advertising commercial break: I am now a paid-in-full member of every single supporter group which will have me……

Why such a change of heart?  Well, I met them.  The real them, I didn’t just stick to my idea of them.  I paid for memberships in every group out of respect for the commitments they make to the community at large, not just the soccer community. I also joined because the membership payments are the mechanism by which I can contribute financial support for the awesome tifo work that I love in the stadium and the charitable work that the SGs promote. I am not going to contribute my time to those endeavors – to that I am resigned. But I have a little bit of money I can give, so to that end, I will give. But as far as my attitude shift regarding “those supporter group people on council:” the Alliance Council is made up of moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, singles, and married people.  Some people are experiencing divorces, some already have.  Some have diagnoses to deal with, some already have.  Some are transitioning jobs, some are done with those transitions. Some are executives, some are laborers, some are unemployed and there is everything in between.  We might actually be over-representing parents as our population shifts away from parenting. We could use some better racial integration, we would benefit from members of the LGBTQ community, and we could use the perspective of some folks in their sixties and seventies. Considering that the trials and tribulations of a normal life will not stop for anyone who chooses to join the Alliance Council, we really need the Council to be about twice the size that it is currently so that we can all cover for each other when the going gets tough – because it will. But mostly what we need are people who will commit to getting a little bit done, and then stick with their commitments.

So now here I am in my third year with the Alliance Council.  I don’t see how we can represent the voice of any particular group or every type of person by limiting participation of another.  I believe the only way for anyone to be heard is to build their voice.  If you really think there are too many people from supporter groups on the Alliance Council, OK. Let’s say you’re right.  Change the ratio by nominating yourself. Participate.  If you think there are too many people from the west side of the stadium on the Alliance Council, OK. Let’s say you’re right.  Change the ratio by nominating yourself.  Participate.  If you think there are too many people with noses on the Alliance Council, OK. You’re absolutely right.  Every single person on the Alliance Council has a nose. Nominate yourself.  Get your 25 votes, and participate.

I’m not trying to be ridiculous, I’m not.  I’m trying to get your attention.  Since the Council was created in 2008, there have been fewer than one hundred people pass through. It’s hard to hear our group of volunteers criticized for not representing nearly 14,000 season ticket member accounts when we’re the only people stepping up to do it. We need people to participate and contribute meaningful effort, and that includes you.  I haven’t voted yet – will you run?