[SuperJon]

As far as the meeting and pre-game dinner on Mon, 2/12, at 5:30 in the Men's Basketball Team Room (middle level of the Vines Center):

We will have a meeting to discuss the future of the Student Flames Club. We are almost finished with our first year and are definitely excited about what lies ahead, but we need your feedback. This will be a relatively open meeting where we will answer questions, take suggestions, and use your input to help make some decisions that will influence the future of the SFC.

Some things to think about before you come:

- What was your favorite thing about the Student Flames Club this year?

- If you could change one thing about the group (how it is run, benefits, cost, etc.), what would it be?

- Would you like to be more actively involved next year?

We hope to see as many people there as possible and we are looking forward to your input and suggestions! See you all then!


Allen, Josh, and Lynea---Your SFC Leadership Team

Make sure you're there. The only way we can get this club out of the toilet and halfway decent is if we show up with some ideas about how they should run this thing because it's 100% obvious it hasn't been run with crap this year. Everyone in the entire school knows that.

Plus, I could use the backup.

[Sly Fox]

Positive influence is a great idea, SJ. Hopefully you guys can get this flying again.

[SuperJon]

The only way it'll be halfway decent is if they listen to people with ideas and take advice from people who have done it before.

I know it sounds cocky, but the SFC went to crap after I stepped down. Since then it's done absolutely nothing.

[LU'sbestmanager]

i think we should be more like a student section and have meetings before games to have organized chants and stuff.... i think we only met about 3 times

[bigsmooth]

SJ, please go into this with a good attitude and not one of being cocky and overly aggressive. go in with a cooperative and go get em spirit that i know you have and it will take off again!!

[SuperJon]

That's how I'm doing it. I want this thing to be halfway decent and if they're not going to let me do it, I figure I'll try to help out with whoever is.

I'm going to lay out completely how this thing should be ran because I'm 100% sure I've had more personal interaction with the members of the SFC than any of the "leaders" of it. I know what they want. I know what will make the group succeed. If they'll just listen to my suggestions then they'll have a halfway decent club on their hands.

[PAmedic]

We will have a meeting to discuss the future of the Student Flames Club. We are almost finished with our first year and are definitely excited about what lies ahead, but we need your feedback. This will be a relatively open meeting where we will answer questions, take suggestions, and use your input to help make some decisions that will influence the future of the SFC.

LU-Speak for "don't disagree with us or you get tossed" ??

I certainly hope not, but the cynic in me knows better.

good luck, SJ! BE NICE

[SuperJon]

So far I've typed up over a page of what needs to be changed.

[SuperJon]

I'm not 100% sure if I'll be able to make it to the meeting (I'll be at the game), so I went ahead and typed up suggestions. I'm going to post them here, and if anyone has any suggestions to add, let me know, and I'll add them. After everything is added, I will e-mail the list to Barber/Good in case I'm not able to make the meeting.

Warning: it's long.

The SFC was created to “establish a better home court/field advantage.” Part of that is being loud at games, but you have to get people to the games before hand to have that advantage. There has been absolutely nothing done by the SFC to advertise for games. There have been no meetings, no flyers, or anything. The only thing that has been done was a weekly e-mail that 75% of the members delete without reading it. They treat it like SPAM e-mail because essentially that’s what it is. We get constant e-mails from campus pastors or LU Dining or other things that look like mass generic e-mails and just delete them. Luckily I read them occasionally or I wouldn’t have known about the meeting.

Something needs to be done in regards to getting the word out to students. It is the responsibility of the leaders of the club to organize this. However, from talking to other members, none of them have any type of relationship with any of the leaders. The leaders of the club, who are in charge of establishing this home court/field advantage, are rarely, if ever, sitting with the students at games. They are involved in other areas (Allen working with the Flames Club, Josh working with Media Relations, and Lynae working with Student Life) and are unable to even be a part of the students. There is no way to foster a better environment when the leaders aren’t there.

That comes back to the whole issue of a personal connection. The SFC failed miserably during football and basketball because there was no personal connection. Johnny Freshman and two guys on his hall may be members of the club, but they don’t know anyone else in the club so they would rather hang out with people they knew at games instead of with other members of the club. This is why we have Baker’s Bunch, the Brew Crew, and the Russell Monroe Fan Club at games. People have congregated with their friends. A lot of these people have met through groups on Facebook and become friends that way, and are now sitting together at games and cheering together. This is on a scale of 10-20 people. Imagine if a group of over 500 people got to know each other and grew together to the point where they sat with each other and cheered during a game. A 500 person “Let’s Go L-U” chant has the ability to catch on much faster than a 6 person led “Ty-ler Ba-ker” chant.

I have been to four away arenas in the Big South: Winthrop, Coastal Carolina, High Point, and VMI. In each of these arenas, there is an organized group that does what the SFC was intended to do. At Winthrop it’s the WU Crew, at CCU it is SCREAM. HPU has the 6th Man, and VMI has the Red Hats. I have also been to Elon and seen the Phoenix Phanatics, along with Wake Forest and Tie Dye Nation. It is obvious that these students all know each other and are united through sports. It is also obvious that in every group, there are leaders who are there during games to help keep the energy level up.

As far as cost goes, $25 was way too much for the SFC. I understand it covered the catered tailgating, but that went over about as much as Rosie O’Donnell in a bikini. For next year, there should be a $10 charge for football season. Make a t-shirt with a slogan for football season (i.e. “The Time Is Now” at Wake Forest, “We Believe” for LU basketball, etc). At the beginning of the spring semester, when conference play for basketball is starting up, have a 2nd $10 charge and a new t-shirt. Most clubs at most universities charge a few on a per semester basis. This allows more students to join because a $10 fee is a lot easier to pay than $25. It is easier to come up with $20 over the span of 6 months than it is $25 at one time. It may not sound like a lot, but to some students, $25 is an extremely large amount of money.

The catered tailgating was a great idea. But, once again, the club members did not feel a connection to other club members so they had no desire to come up and get the food and sit around by themselves for a few minutes before going into the stadium. Instead, for next year, encourage student tailgating. Make lower P1 (by the religion hall) the student tailgating lot. Make it a party atmosphere. Let the kids have fun, play music, eat, throw a football around, or any other thing they want to do. This year we had kids tailgating at LaHaye and in Lower P1, but some just didn’t because they didn’t have a place to do it at. This saves a ton of money in terms of getting the food catered, and it also creates an environment that makes people who don’t even like sports excited. As fans, alumni, parents, etc drive on campus, they’ll see a couple hundred kids (hopefully more) wearing red and tailgating. It’s a great recruiting tool for the university, and it shows that the students care.

Last year while we were recruiting members to the SFC, one of the “company lines” was that members would get first dibs on any bus trip taken to an away game. While I understand why the bus trips never happened from a financial standpoint, something has to be done to get kids to away games. If we can’t take buses, the club should organize a caravan/carpool to the games. There are two games next football season within three hours. There are three basketball games remaining that are within two hours. The clubs at HPU, WU, CCU, and VMI organize things to help turn a road game into a home game atmosphere. If we can’t pony up for a bus like HPU, CCU, and WU, then we should at least organize a caravan to these games. The players love it when they turn around and see familiar faces in the crowd.

In a club like the SFC, there are some people that would just want to show up at games, but there are others who enjoy doing more. They are the type that would help advertise for a game around campus or help organize the caravans to away games. They are the ones that would come to meetings. However, the meetings can’t be as dry as the Sahara Desert. We’re college kids, and we like to have fun. The meetings have to be informative but can’t be scripted like they were at the beginning of football season. The kids just want to show up, hang out for a few minutes, and find out what’s going on and if they need to volunteer for anything, and then go play video games or get something to eat. Meetings are where the members get to know each other, and I’ve already described where that would take the club. The leaders should not be the only ones to do anything. There are people that are willing to give their time to make this club a success, especially since that time can count for Christian Service.

I said this back in September and I stick by this statement: as it stands now, the Student Flames Club is really just the Flames Club. It has forgotten what the first word of the group name is. It has failed for the same reason that a lot of teenagers and early 20’s don’t go to church: it’s too old people oriented. It has been presented exactly like the Flames Club, and that does not appeal to 18-24 year olds. It is not centered on the students and, to be successful, it’s going to have to be. Make these changes, and I guarantee the club will be successful. Keep it like it is and the results will stay the same.

[PAmedic]

I liked the Rosie O'Donnell line

[Fumblerooskies]

Instead of the threatening sounding "Something needs to be done..."
...how about changing it to something like...
..."What types of solutions can we come up with to stimulate greater student interest in, and active participation, at the games..."

Reading what you wrote, you pointed out ALL the problems...
...that will put them on the defensive and the letter in the trash can.

I would suggest trying to be more solutions-oriented...
...in order to promote a more positive atmosphere about the meeting. Part of good manipulation is making the people think that your idea is their idea.

If that fails, start an underground movement.

[SuperJon]

Reading what you wrote, you pointed out ALL the problems...
...that will put them on the defensive and the letter in the trash can.

I would suggest trying to be more solutions-oriented...

Every problem I outlined, I also offered a solution for. I hate people who point out problems but have no way to fix it.

If that fails, start an underground movement.

Believe me, I've thought about it. I love the SFC like nothing else and wanted it to be the best student organization in the Big South. However, a club like this will only work with the athletic department's blessing.

Edit: I'm trying to stay positive.

[ATrain]

I believe the current issues with the SFC are why I never joined in the first place (I've been here long enough to know that virtually nothing happens the way its supposed to) and hopefully it gets fixed.

[thepostman]

very good letter SJ...I don't think it was too negative, but maybe something that needs to be handled in person, but if you can't do it then I think this letter is fine...I have a crazy schedule (work, radio station, school, homework, fiance) so therefore it leaves little time to particpate in things like this aside from going to the games with a couple friends I always go with..but there are plenty of students that are just looking for something like this, and if put together right it could work.

I always feel bad because I say all this stuff yet I don't do anything myself which is why I have a whole lot of respect for the stuff you have done this year SJ...I don't know you or anything like that but you seem to always be willing to go the extra mile, and that is cool to see....

anyways, i hope things go well...let us know how it goes...

[JDUB]

don't you have a group on facebook? send a message to everyone and ask for support. thats the easiest way to get the word out

[SuperJon]

That's not the way our school works. To get the support that a group like this needs, it needs the backing of either a) the athletic department (which is preferred) or b) student life.

[Schfourteenteen]

Yeah but if you make a group resembling the change to the new facebook that everyone hated im pretty sure itd get theyre attention

[SuperJon]

That would burn every bridge that I have with the athletic department, and that's not something I want to do.

[Fumblerooskies]

That would burn every bridge that I have with the athletic department, and that's not something I want to do.

Good job...
...think long term. You may need to utilize the athletic dept for references at some point down the line.

For your internship of whatever its called...
...could you do it with the marketing arm of athletics, or with the Flames Club? Helping coordinate the SFC would be a great project...