Perhaps the club would benefit from having a Director of Communications: someone responsible for managing relationships with supporters, the public in general, sponsors, potential sponsors and the media. We seem to be a bit rudderless in this area. Too many news items are released on social media, which, for me, dilutes the message since not everyone uses social media and because it's usually accompanied by infantile, semi-literate responses from people who never progressed beyond the school playground ("Should
of bought <insert player, club, whatever here> instead.").
We need someone to ensure that the website is usable; that offers are properly communicated (I went to a gig at the Bridgewater Hall once - I now get regular mailings from them); to make sure the club are visible in the community (I went to the Ordsall Festival over the summer. It's run on a budget that wouldn't even stretch to a shoestring, yet there were hundreds - maybe more than a thousand - people there. A stall with a couple of players doing basic skill stuff would, I feel, have been a major attraction, and I'm sure the festival organisers would snap their hands off if they offered); to drip feed information to the media on a daily basis so that Neil Barker doesn't have to rely on rumours. For example, we supposedly have the players going out to local schools on some promotional activity, yet I've not seen anything in the local press about it (notwithstanding the fact that the timing of it is barmy: "Yes! I'm interested! I really want to go! When's your next match?", "Errr, dunno. Some time in February probably." That's something else you'd hope a Communications Director would be involved in.)
