Ideas for Mr Candy

cambgull · Post by **cambgull** » 09 Sep 2013, 17:29

Perhaps the club should put in a Stannah Stairlift and be done with it...

taxilady · Post by **taxilady** » 09 Sep 2013, 18:41

I still think that a cover for the Disabled Section in front of the Bench is a top priority.........

Bloggy · Post by **Bloggy** » 15 Sep 2013, 14:01

Did the rooftop tour of Bath Abbey yesterday which happened to also be halftime for the rugby! From the roof we could see right down onto the Rec and they had two zorbs on the pitch that were being raced both lengths (around the posts). Not sure how the particiapants qualified to be in the race but judging by the reception it was well received by the crowd. I guess there must be a cash incentive (how do the cross bar challenge/penalty shoot participants take part?) and the zorbs could be hired for the odd game rather than the club investing in them.

It just looked like a bit of fun to fill half time. Apologies if such a thing has already been suggested... not read back through all x19 pages!

ferrarilover · Post by **ferrarilover** » 15 Sep 2013, 16:24

Oooh, Bloggy, is it still being run by the plummy girl with the funny name?

Matt.

lucy6lucy · Post by **lucy6lucy** » 16 Sep 2013, 21:14

Hi Mr Candy. With reference to the varied support of us forum members demographically, could the club arrange a night for us all to meet. This being a Torquay hotel, with a meal and a chance to mingle and meet the players. It would certainly be a great occasion to look forward to, I for one would attend, how many others would be up to it, if given a realistic date to plan in?

AustrianAndyGull · Post by **AustrianAndyGull** » 16 Sep 2013, 21:40

lucy6lucy wrote:Hi Mr Candy. With reference to the varied support of us forum members demographically, could the club arrange a night for us all to meet. This being a Torquay hotel, with a meal and a chance to mingle and meet the players. It would certainly be a great occasion to look forward to, I for one would attend, how many others would be up to it, if given a realistic date to plan in?

It's a great idea lucy, I also canvassed opinion of a BIG NIGHT OUT which would have been something similar but soon learned that people weren't bothered about it. It's a shame as i'd be up for it too, be a right laugh once I've overcome my anxiety!

A few drinks would solve it.

Maybe if something is arranged FOR us by somebody from here or the club then maybe more would sign up. Hey we could have like a Torquay mini break for exiles with a meal, hotel, ticket, programme, chance to meet some players and maybe we could all chip in and sponsor the match ball or summat. I'd be up for it anyway.

ferrarilover · Post by **ferrarilover** » 16 Sep 2013, 22:04

Hmmm, needs to be more in it for the club, for me. They'll do it, but the price includes entry to a match, it needs to be held in No. 10s and there needs to be a kick back from whichever hotel is chosen. Otherwise, the Candyman is acting as a party planner for a group of grown men to have a jolly boys outing. Fundamentally, a decent idea, just needs tweaking, I'd say.

Matt.

A Candy · Post by **A Candy** » 17 Sep 2013, 07:48

The Club could certainly make Gulls Nest/No 10s available but the results of the demographic poll show that supporters are based everywhere in the country and whilst predictably the majority are Torbay based do you think exiles will travel to Plainmoor? The Club will arrange an end of season party if there is a demand but as Matt implies I do not have the time and resources to be a party planner. Sorry, but I can help with a venue and catering if someone else wishes to take this on.
Regards,
Andrew

AustrianAndyGull · Post by **AustrianAndyGull** » 17 Sep 2013, 10:11

A Candy wrote:The Club could certainly make Gulls Nest/No 10s available but the results of the demographic poll show that supporters are based everywhere in the country and whilst predictably the majority are Torbay based do you think exiles will travel to Plainmoor? The Club will arrange an end of season party if there is a demand but as Matt implies I do not have the time and resources to be a party planner. Sorry, but I can help with a venue and catering if someone else wishes to take this on.
Regards,
Andrew

Thanks for responding Andrew and your response is just what I expected. You are a busy man with more pressing matters to attend to and you cannot expend effort and energy planning what would be effectively a 'massive p*ss up' for exiled Gulls.

It is good to know that something may be available in terms of the Gulls Nest and catering etc but I like you do not want the responsibility of taking on organising such an event. First of all it's not in your remit and you haven't got the time and secondly I have the time possibly but I'm not prepared to do the organising as i'm sh*t with anything like that and if it was down to me then 3 people would turn up and it would be held in a bookies.

As always Andrew, thankyou for the reply and if someone else wishes to do the organising then i'll almost certainly be interested.

AustrianAndyGull · Post by **AustrianAndyGull** » 17 Sep 2013, 10:16

Also, thanks to Lucy for showing she wants to get involved and I think it's a great idea but there just wouldn't be enough interest to make it viable. Maybe if we created a thread about which games exiles were planning to go to at Plainmoor this season then perhaps we could select the one when most of us will be travelling and arrange to meet before the game , maybe even after? That way it is not really 'organised' and everyone knows they can pop their head in for 10 minutes if they want to say hi and introduce themselves and if they feel bored or aren't getting on with people or indeed if they have other things to attend to then they can do this without feeling pressured to stay like if it were an 'event'. That's the best alternative I can come up with all.

chardie · Post by **chardie** » 17 Sep 2013, 11:34

Interesting what Barnet are doing. They have basically done away with season tickets and introduced a monthly payment scheme.

This weeks non league podcast covers this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/nonleague

The barnet website explains how it works.

http://www.barnetfc.com/news/article/be ... 21701.aspx

http://www.barnetfc.com/tickets/memberships/

According to the gentleman being interviewed on the podcast, before introducing the scheme they had a few hundred season ticket holders. Since introducing the scheme they now have 1100 memberships.

Could this be the way forward?

Should TUFC go for it?

brisgull · Post by **brisgull** » 17 Sep 2013, 21:25

brucie · Post by **brucie** » 17 Sep 2013, 21:53

What an absolutely farcical situation that is but thats the way it is at the moment but noone can actually see the problem (they just congratulate themselves on what a fabulous system it is)

ferrarilover · Post by **ferrarilover** » 17 Sep 2013, 23:10

brisgull wrote:Hi Andy,
Please can I bring to your attention some frustrations in buying tickets and Yellow membership.

Currently Yellow members are not allowed to buy tickets at the turnstiles although we have a membership card with our photos on it. (Season tickets don't of course.)

When I want to come to a home match I have 3 options.

1) Come down to the ground at queue at the ticket office behind all the old timers and families whilst they painstakingly (and slowly) choose their seats in the family stand/B.Bench.

2) Buy a ticket over the phone and then queue as above. - Neither of these are very helpful when by definition you will have had to travel over 100 miles to get to Plainmoor.

3)Buy a ticket over the phone and then (as I did yesterday) AGREE TO PAY £3 postage. OK the helpful man promised me the ticket would arrive to day and to be fair, it did. But why the extortionate postage please?

Solutions

1) Allow Yellow members to buy or collect tickets(if that is easier to prevent fraud) from a nominated turnstile. Or ask us to provide extra proof of identity and address such as a utility bill or bank statement.

2) Allow Yellow members to collect their ticket from the office or club shop where the queues are less.

3) As a last resort, only charge Yellow members £1 or £1.50 for postage (still allowing the club to cover costs) at the same time keeping the goodwill of loyal fans.

When I come down on Saturday my train and bus fares will be about £40 and add a meal and a few beers before and after the match makes my outlay about £60 even before I add the cost of my ticket, so it won't be cheap day out.

Please Andy there must be a better way!

Best regards,

Mark

The three quid postage is a small charge for you to pay for the convenience of not having to wait in line behind all the "painstakingly slow" people in the queue. See it is a queue jump fee. Given that you're "having a few beers" after the match, maybe have half a pint less to drink and pony up for the postage?

Collecting tickets at a turnstile would be absolute pandemonium, can you imagine, really, just how much havoc would be wreaked upon Plainmoor were this to happen?

Perhaps charging a lesser amount for postage would appease some fans, but given that the Yellow membership (or whatever it's called) is designed for fans who will only attend infrequently and it gives money off tickets anyway (I think), it seems a bit petty to be griping over what would probably amount to about £5 over the course of a year.

Matt.

A Candy · Post by **A Candy** » 18 Sep 2013, 07:39

I understand some of the frustration about having to queue for tickets whether this is at the Ticket Office or the turnstiles but this is not uncommon at most sporting/leisure events and having monitored the situation it does not seem to me to be excessive. Fans complained about the queues to get in to the Family Stand so we have now changed this to experiment with 2 turnstiles for the FS and 2 for the Bench. It seemed to go OK last game so we will stay with it for a few more games.
It is a condition of the Membership Scheme that tickets are bought in advance at the Ticket Office partly because of needing to show ID but also because the different categories of membership ( there are more than just yellow) have to be recorded on the till for cash reconciliation and audit purposes. As Matt correctly points out they would simply not cope on the turnstiles which would create even bigger queues and more complaints.
Postage may seem high but we go for next day delivery to ensure people get their tickets. Again this is in keeping with what happens if for example you want tickets posted from the theatre.
Maybe not the answer you wanted but hopefully an explanation as to why we have to do things a certain way.
Regards,
Andrew

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