All about the CCMFCOSC

[FFC Mariner]

Do they publish their accounts to members ?

 

[bikinigirl]

Do they publish their accounts to members ?

. tabled to members at the AGM and sent to Dept of Fair Trading

 

[Ancient Mariner]

Just my two bobs worth on Fans organisations.

The most successful fan group this Club has had was the Marinators at a time when being a Marinator was a plastic shirt from Mick and a state of mind.
Anyone who wanted to be a Marinator became one. And the Club did not want to know us (scared of social hooligans, no doubt we would bring the Club into disrepute).

The group collapsed when it became formalised.

I also think this is why the forum is one of the enduring fans groups of all those attempted. All it needs is a poor bastard to do all the work (thanks Dibo for the long past service and Adz past and now) and the rest is anarchy. The individuals make contact with each other as they see fit, support the Club and have a good discussion. What more is required?

 

[Wombat]

What have the OSC ever done for us?

What do you need them to do for you? and what have you done for them?

 

[FFC Mariner]

What do you need them to do for you? and what have you done for them?

 

[Wombat]

 

[Insertnamehere]

Just my two bobs worth on Fans organisations.

The most successful fan group this Club has had was the Marinators at a time when being a Marinator was a plastic shirt from Mick and a state of mind.
Anyone who wanted to be a Marinator became one. And the Club did not want to know us (scared of social hooligans, no doubt we would bring the Club into disrepute).

The group collapsed when it became formalised.

I also think this is why the forum is one of the enduring fans groups of all those attempted. All it needs is a poor bastard to do all the work (thanks Dibo for the long past service and Adz past and now) and the rest is anarchy. The individuals make contact with each other as they see fit, support the Club and have a good discussion. What more is required?

If that's all you want, then nothing.
I see the OSC, which all clubs have, as a union for fan representation.

 

[Erin_Mariner]

Just for the record, since I might be part of the “podcast” reference made in an earlier post in this thread -

I was part of the original group who formed the OSC and a member of the inaugural committee. I remained on the committee for the first few years before withdrawing to involve myself elsewhere, primarily club volunteering but also the Podcast, among other things. I have also always been, and remain a paid member of the OSC.

For what it’s worth - I have always been a believer in the concept of the supporters club, but importantly I have felt it cannot meet its objectives unless it can represent every member of the CCMFC. I could be corrected, but I think the OSC’s objectives remain (broadly) to enhance the match day experience for fans and provide a fan representative communication method with the club. I left the committee at the end of a sitting period having unsuccessfully pushed during that year, for the removal of the fee because I felt it wasn’t possible for the OSC to truly meet those objectives while it is in place. Its presence falls short of allowing the inclusion of every CCMFC member. I accept the view of some that feel it is necessary for certain operational things (insurance etc) is believed by the committee, but I have always felt those needs could be serviced by obtaining the right sponsor or sponsors to offset those costs. I also think getting such sponsorship would be easier with the entire football club membership base included.

In my opinion, it is beyond question the amount of time and effort that has been put into the OSC by those who currently act on their committee. At the same time however, because of the fee, it does remain an exclusive group for only those fans who have either the means, or are motivated to pay. It is only a small fee, but unfortunately it remains an obstacle for many of our football club’s members.

I have never disparaged the OSC concept. My views both publicly (on the podcast) and privately have remained as above. I wish the OSC well, and hope that in the future the committee will see fit to find another funding method, allowing everyone the opportunity to be a part and also removing the ammunition from those who want to (someone else’s word) “bait” them.

 

[adz]

I was hoping this could become a bit of a "sales pitch" for the CCMOSC - explain the benefits, what they do, what they have done, basically push some positive "vibes" out there... I could be reading this wrong, but what I see is very defensive and doesn't explain much at all. I guess the defensive bit is understandable, considering the opening post was a bit of a pot shot taken from Twitter, but there is an opportunity here to set some things straight.

I know zero about the OSC, what they do, what they are trying to achieve, what they have achieved, so only have this thread - and the ccmosc website, facebook page, to go from.

On the website this states the club's objectives as "... to give you a voice and allow you to connect and socialise with other Mariners fans". I think this was the original reason the club was formed, pre-social media really taking off? Social media really makes this redundant; there are plenty of ways to communicate directly with the club and the club to communicate with fans. The club has gotten really good at this over the years and we have updates from time to time on here from Shaun, and plenty of great interviews on the podcast.

I would love to say I support the concept, but I don't know what the concept is. Going by this thread all I am getting is there are a lot of members, the committee works hard, and insurance is expensive. (I don't mean to offend anyone and this is over-simplifying what I am reading, but my take.)

On the insurance part, what type of insurance is it? Public liability? Not sure why you would need that if you're just organising events like an away trip or dress like a pirate day. Surely the airlines, stadium, whatever other venues have public liability insurance that would cover any groups visiting? Happy to be corrected.

Just seems like there is a lot of work involved in the CCMOSC but not a lot to brag about. I was hoping this thread could include some "bragging" from the CCMOSC about how much they have done.

 

[Erin_Mariner]

I would love to say I support the concept, but I don't know what the concept is.

I agree with your post. I am neither supporting or explaining the current instance of the OSC nor disparaging or defensive about it. My post was purely to explain my own involvement in it - which was alluded to in an earlier post - as far as I know, no other podcast member has been part of the OSC.

The concept that has always interested me however has been the ability for all fans (every single club member) to be able to collectively engage the club on any specific issue or idea. The OSC is a long way from there at this point in time, but the power of all fans as a group could be beneficial to all.

Where you are hitting the nail on the head in your post is that the club (via Shaun among others) currently engages individuals and small groups freely (long may this continue), but for the club to understand the wishes of the majority of members is where I have believed the OSC could fit if it were fully inclusive.

 

[Josho Howe]

I remember attending a few meetings with the OSC members and l was enthusiastic to help in any way l can but l 100% agree that the fee to join is an unnecessary obstacle for some people. I was also confused as to what their actual purpose was. I am not here to take pot shots or shit on them for anything, they're all dedicated members and fans the same as me, but l feel like there's not a lot of explanation to what they do or what they've achieved.

The communication with the club aspect can be done by all our fans, there's no exclusivity to it. The pirate day is a fun initiative but in my opinion, was not properly advertised and not enough people knew about it. If there was no fee to join, more people would be involved, more people would know what's happening and more would care.

I understand there's costs involved in running this entity and of course everything needs money to function properly, but other ways to make profit like a sponsorship as Erin mentioned above rather than charging members of our club who have already paid a substantial fee for their club memberships should be avoided.

That's just my take on the whole thing. Happy to be disagreed with and happy to see any further elaboration on the OSC's function.

 

[Ozhammer]

I was hoping this could become a bit of a "sales pitch" for the CCMOSC - explain the benefits, what they do, what they have done, basically push some positive "vibes" out there... I could be reading this wrong, but what I see is very defensive and doesn't explain much at all. I guess the defensive bit is understandable, considering the opening post was a bit of a pot shot taken from Twitter, but there is an opportunity here to set some things straight.

I know zero about the OSC, what they do, what they are trying to achieve, what they have achieved, so only have this thread - and the ccmosc website, facebook page, to go from.

On the website this states the club's objectives as "... to give you a voice and allow you to connect and socialise with other Mariners fans". I think this was the original reason the club was formed, pre-social media really taking off? Social media really makes this redundant; there are plenty of ways to communicate directly with the club and the club to communicate with fans. The club has gotten really good at this over the years and we have updates from time to time on here from Shaun, and plenty of great interviews on the podcast.

I would love to say I support the concept, but I don't know what the concept is. Going by this thread all I am getting is there are a lot of members, the committee works hard, and insurance is expensive. (I don't mean to offend anyone and this is over-simplifying what I am reading, but my take.)

On the insurance part, what type of insurance is it? Public liability? Not sure why you would need that if you're just organising events like an away trip or dress like a pirate day. Surely the airlines, stadium, whatever other venues have public liability insurance that would cover any groups visiting? Happy to be corrected.

Just seems like there is a lot of work involved in the CCMOSC but not a lot to brag about. I was hoping this thread could include some "bragging" from the CCMOSC about how much they have done.

Thanks for organising this thread Adz and I have been asked to compose a response on behalf of the OSC that will hopefully provide the information that people are seeking.

I am working on this presently and hope to post it shortly, once I have been able to put something together that covers as many points as possible. Truth is that there is a fair amount of subject matter to get through, so I will try to be as concise as I can with the response.

It is fair to say that the group doesn’t promote itself enough, so perhaps this will be a useful start to improving that perspective.

 

[Hammo]

Idk why the supporters Club has taken so long to share what it is they do but ok maybe we’ll actually get some answers this time, eventually

 

[FFC Mariner]

The fact that it has taken so long to try to work out why they exist says it all

 

[Ozhammer]

As this will be a statement on behalf of the OSC, it needs to be agreed by the committee, which is what is happening at the moment.

Apologies if the slight delay is a concern for some but we believe it is better to put something out that is correct and informative rather than quick and incomplete.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Looking forward to it. Confess I’ve always been mystified though I did join (or at least think I did) for the scarf many moons ago.

 

[Hammo]

Not sure why we have to wait for an entire committee to agree but ok.. so far it seems like ya pay $20 for a walk round the stadium, an annual bbq, and the shawn’s Email address. Will see what comes out of the “statement”........

 

[Ozhammer]

Not sure why we have to wait for an entire committee to agree but ok.. so far it seems like ya pay $20 for a walk round the stadium, an annual bbq, and the shawn’s Email address. Will see what comes out of the “statement”........

Because that’s what formalised groups typically do. Individual statements can and sometimes do lead to misunderstandings, so with anything formal like this, it gets proof-read and critiqued. Sorry if that irritates some folk but it’s how the group has always operated.

 

[adz]

Because that’s what formalised groups typically do. Individual statements can and sometimes do lead to misunderstandings, so with anything formal like this, it gets proof-read and critiqued. Sorry if that irritates some folk but it’s how the group has always operated.

All good mate no need to justify that (IMO). There's no rush and we're just opening up a bit of discussion here and see where that goes.

 

[Big Al]

it gets proof-read and critiqued. .

That’s why I post on the forum, so the spelling nazi’s have something to do