Forging a recognised link with MFC

[Downsouth 6,326]

Morning everybody!

 

Due to the comments made by Tony Mowbray yesterday in the EG in reference to social media sites/fans forums and not allowing himself to be swayed by comments (in my opinion rightly so) this prompted me to take the following action this morning and having discused the matter with VB I would like to report to oneBORO members what has occurred and their response to it.

 

It also gives food for thought as well regarding who we as a forum are perceived and perhaps the way we go forward.

 

Anyway enough of my waffle lol!!

 

I spoke to this morning Mr Mike McGeary who is involved with community liaison/pr department of MFC and after introducing myself and letting him know which forum I represented various aspects were discussed with the intention of our forum being recognised by MFC itself and perhaps starting a real relationship with both parties. I am sure VB will allude to this further.

 

Mr McGeary mentioned that the PR department normal policy for information going out into the public domain was through press channels and official announcements which is of course understandable however and again I hope VB will go into further detail it does seem that a rival forum does get invited to press conferences and the like and it would be great if the same priveledge could be afforded to oneBORO.

 

The saying from acorns oak trees grow and I hope that after reading this thread opening that other members will agree that this indeed could be possible between MFC and oneBORO forum.

 

Ok moving on and this aspect made me smile because Mr McGeary mentioned to me about the speculation about one of our first team players moving onto pastures new about one month ago. I can only assume he was referring to Jason Steele because he mentioned that this had been the first he had heard about it when it was pointed out to him.

I did not ask him to confirm or deny it because all I wanted to do was try to establish a early relationship between us.

 

He did mention however how accurate we have been on certain other speculation(again I did not press this) I asked if this grated him at all and he responded to this by saying that there were times that they wished information could be kept quite until the business of players was concluded which is fair enough in my opinion.

 

This goes to show very clearly that we are being monitored by MFC and I am sure Mike will expect this thread,I mentioned that it would be going to be a forum topic due to my initial reason of contacting him which i will be discussing with you all shortly. Maybe we should consider at times the harshness and negativity that we have on the forum at times and try and rise above that to an extent however I accept that sometimes the truth hurts.

 

Moving on with my conversation what really pleased me and has perhaps aided to the reason for the thread is that Mike knows that we are sponsoring the home shirt for Dean Whitehead and congratulated the forum for doing so and also made comment on last years shirt sponsorship and I feel rightly or wrongly has assisted us to perhaps become a recognised body of fans of the Boro.

 

So taking into account what I mentioned earlier about press releases and official lines of communication Mr McGeary has agreed in principle for oneBORO to submit a series of questions that will be answered by the likes of Neil Bauser and perhaps Mike himself.

 

I assured him that they would be non controversial questions and that to begin with would number about 10 in all and that we would accept that perhaps some will not be answered if MFC feel that this is their prerogative not to do so for business reasons.

 

I feel that we have been given an olive brach by the club that could possibly grow if good intentions abound and though early days yet I must admit that I am quite excited by this.

 

We need to discuss this regarding moving ahead and bewteen us agree as to the questions to be forwarded to the club. It may take a while before we officially submit and I dare say a while before a response if indeed this happens but as I said early indications are good and I se no reason why it should fail if we are sensible about this.

 

Anyway that is my report to you all constructive debate is very welcome and please remember this thread and everything else is being scrutinised:)

[Batmalan 50]

Brilliant news DS, A partnership with the club can only benefit both parties.

[DanFromDownSouth 1,706]

I agree Batmalan! Can only do good for both!

[jamesp 125]

come on then own up, which user is secretly mowbray ;)

 

 

would be great to get the club to answer a few questions

[boroinbishop 65]

Great news, building a good relationship with the club would be great and allows further afield members feel more a part of the club while not living in the local area, fantastic work.

[estonpidge 1,449]

Great to see that the Club are aware of the feelings of our members and let's face it divided opinions expressed on these threads.

 

Cracking prospective piece of business DS, hats off to you.

[Humpty 3,261]

Well done DS. Great work. I'd like to help us garner as much information from this exercise as possible and if any questions are posed by forum members that were asked and answered by Gibson in the "opinion formers" meeting last April I'd like to put his answer forward so we're not doubling up if that makes sense?

 

Edit: I did a brief write up at the time...

 

http://mathewcevans.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/the-gibson-meeting/

[Batmalan 50]

The chance for someone to attend press conferences is again an absolutely brilliant incentive for the forum gives us access to information that we wouldn't normally get, or only get bits and pieces from.

 

Also my question would be " Are there any plans to improve the highlights quality on boro+? trying to watch it in full screen mode is terrible, blocky picture where you struggle to make out faces"

[Humpty 3,261]

If I lived at home I would love to do this :(

[Downsouth 6,326]

Well done DS. Great work. I'd like to help us garner as much information from this exercise as possible and if any questions are posed by forum members that were asked and answered by Gibson in the "opinion formers" meeting last April I'd like to put his answer forward so we're not doubling up if that makes sense?

 

Edit: I did a brief write up at the time...

 

http://mathewcevans.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/the-gibson-meeting/

 

Thanks for that input Humpty a very sensibe suggestion:)

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As I said we need to be selective with the questions but hopefully it will allow us to forge a real link and certainly the question posed by Batmalan is a very good idea as it is non confronting at all and perhaps an easy question that Boro would happily answer

[chimpy07 20]

Great work guys, must feel like real progress has been made, could potentially lead to some informative write-ups/interviews and interesting reads for all us!!

[Humpty 3,261]

as its Bausor/McGeary answering the questions posed should our questions be more geared towards the operational side of the club?

[Prowler 197]

I wouldn't mind knowing what steps were in place to help increase income. For example, would stadium sponsorship be an option etc...

[holgater 6]

if the forum did go into some sort of partnership with the club, would it not have any affect on what people such as Magooder and VB post? 'Inside Info' so to speak.

[Prowler 197]

Yeah, there's an issue, I wouldn't want certain things to be censored on here or what not "for the good of the relationship". If that happens then I see not point and won't be in support of it.

 

The part about "rising above the negativity" etc... If things are going bad and I want to be negative about it, I will be negative about it.