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tjpavlik
(Been Here Awhile)
USA
552 Posts |
 Posted - 11/27/2016 : 12:44:46 PM
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I'm giving up on the Cyclones. I've been a season ticket holder since they came back (06-07) but they have finally broken me down. I will attend a few games this season to use up what tickets I have but i'm done.
Why? The reasons are numerous, and in no specific order:
The Logo.
I've tried to like the new logo and given it 2+ years. I still hate it. It doesn't mean or symbolize anything. As one of my friends call it: the bloody toilet flushing. Most importantly, I only bought a single jersey and regret that purchase. I won't buy anything else.
Security/Staff.
Entering the building is like passing through from East to West Berlin. Very inefficient and S L O W. The clear bags were given out to facilitate entry. It hasn't helped. When you do get inside the red coats/shirts sneer at your very entry. I'm here for the game; you're not a bouncer at a trendy dance club.
Sean Lynn hasn't smiled as far as I know since I met him in 06-07. He always seems short and distant with me.
The rotating ticket staff seems nice but inflexible. Last year I ate the two playoff game tickets because I was out of town. I couldn't even give them away! This year I asked for a full season, minus the playoff tickets. I would pay the same price, I just no playoffs. No can do, you HAVE to get those tickets with a full season. Fine, I bought a half season instead.
The one exception is my usher, Tom (130). We always welcomes me to the game and goes above and beyond. He also does a pretty good job of keeping the stairs clear during play.
The Fan Club.
There was one? For the briefest moment I was on the fan club board. While I disagreed with some of there stances, overall they were there to promote the team, and they did a great job doing that! The team wanted each fan club member to be a season ticket holder so when that didn't pass they terminated the club. There were a few other reasons, but that was a big part.
Puckchop.
I don't get him, and I don't think others get him either. He's not fearsome, engaging, fun or likable. He's a big pink blob that doesn't represent anything remotely related to hockey. He skates about as well as I do, which is to say not very well. Mark my words, he'll replace Twister in the future.
Giveaways.
How do you screw up a giveaway? How about not having the giveaway on the night you are actually giving it away. Or having 2000 items available when you know you'll have a crowd of 6000+. It doesn't create scarcity, it pisses people off. How many people are there to simply watch the game and don't care about the giveaway? 500? Give the people what they want, which is the cheap Chinese trinket you promised them. I have given my give away item to a crying child at least six times in the last few years.
The latest season ticket jersey fiasco (which not being a full season ticket holder, I don't recieve ) with the late shipping and the wrong numbers is typical. If you remember in 2014 all the STH jerseys came in child sizes? Or the snowglobes that didn't arrive? Or the bobblehead that would be available at a later date due to "Customs".
The missing jersey giveaway announcement is typical. I don't know, but am willing to bet there was no actual jersey given away on those nights.
I could go on, but i'm tired of it all.
The hockey is still VERY enjoyable to watch. Players come and go and the team is sometimes good and sometimes not good. That was OK. I'll miss that.
I enjoy the fans, for the most part. I could do without the people who sit behind me from Sporty's Pilot Shop who somehow after attending nearly every game for the past three years still know nothing about the game.
I enjoy this board, and the topics that were discussed here. I'm sad it is a shadow of its former self. I'll still do first/last and enjoy the Section 60 fantasy hockey.
Thanks, Jim. You've done a great job.
See you around.
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Susan
(Been Here Awhile)
USA
986 Posts |
Posted - 12/02/2016 : 4:12:27 PM
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I have to agree with everything you have said. My husband & I are very less than impressed with all the bulls(*& this year. I'm really not sure if we will continue with the season ticket package we have (24/12). Apparently that survey that was sent to all STH has not done a damn thing.
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Hockey is life. All the rest is just small stuff.
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tjpavlik
(Been Here Awhile)
USA
552 Posts |
Posted - 12/02/2016 : 6:35:09 PM
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I'm fairly sure the league was the author of the survey. Hopefully the Cyclones will get the results and affect some change.
A few disgruntled fans may or may not change the outlook of the team but a few non renewals of season ticket holders may get the point across.
I don't know who I'm trying to kid. I believe the management finds it easier to recruit new fans rather than keep the old. |
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Susan
(Been Here Awhile)
USA
986 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2016 : 3:36:25 PM
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| Totally agree about new fans. It's like the long time STH who have been through the fantastic & not so fantastic years don't mean diddly squat to them any more. |
Hockey is life. All the rest is just small stuff.
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tjpavlik
(Been Here Awhile)
USA
552 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2016 : 10:57:59 AM
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It seems that someone from the Cyclones reads this board. When I arrived at my seat Saturday night I noticed Sean Lynn waiting for me at my seat. He was cordial and asked me why I felt the way I did. I explained my reasons for my dissatisfaction.
His biggest concern was my statement about trying to sign up new season ticket holders and ignoring the old STH. He said to let him know any ideas about engaging the long time STH.
He should have stuck around me the rest of the night! I was stopped by numerous long time STHs who gave me there reasons for dissatisfaction. The Cyclones may have bigger issues than they realize.
Here are some of the reasons given to me with possible solutions:
Security
My biggest complaint is the getting into the building. It's slow, inefficient and invasive. I would think you could move security out onto the plaza (at least on the east side) and that would eliminate the bottleneck. Only having two doors open is a problem. I've said many times if any arena in the world should be experts at getting people into a building it should be ours.
The second problem with security is the attitude. Security isn't friendly. At all. That's a culture problem that has to be addressed at the top. I'm sorry, we pay your salary. We're your bread and butter. Smile. Manners. De-escalate. Be helpful. Offer solutions. And take the scowl off your face.
Cost of Tickets
Several people commented to me about the price of tickets. Yes, they have gone up. Everything has gone up, however. (Except my take home pay!) if you look around the league we have some of the cheapest tickets out there. Buying a season ticket plan helps but there could be more flexibility. Let me buy what I want (I don't want the GD playoff ticket package!).
Give me an incentive to buy! How about no playoff package, no STH jersey. I do like the trend of experiences instead of give aways (Paint the ice, skate with the team, etc) make it worth my while. Raising the prices should be coupled with some incentive (grab bag of old merchandise? Locker room tour? Meet and greet?)
Give Aways.
Full Season ticket holders should be guaranteed a give away item (regardless of age restriction). Without having to pay $50. Let's get real, you were going to give it away anyways! Incentive!!! So you hold back 150 items. Or you order 150 extra. It's not that hard. What is the point of a give away anyways? To PUBLICIZE THE TEAM! So you have 150 extra winter hats with the logo on them. STH tend to wear the giveaways (when they're not stupid....{you're a bobble head t shirt} ) so that actually helps the purpose of a give away, doesn't it?
Logo/Puckchop
The team did this to themselves. One person commented to me that the logo was "too corporate for minor league hockey". Yep, that sums it up. You wanted "professional and corporate " and you got it. Major fail for minor league hockey and it made your long time fans scratch their heads in puzzlement.
Look at Toledo. Major rebranding, they took a completely stupid idea and made it fun, fearsome and likable. (And sellable, I would love to know how much merchandise they sell vs what we have) I would say they have one of the best logos and jerseys in all of the minor leagues. We had a similar logo that needed updating. Instead we threw it down the (bloody) toilet.
If we're sticking with Puckchop, give him a personality. Thin the costume down, give his face definition and get someone to play him with some spunk and swagger. Give him a trademark move or trait. Look at Twister for inspiration. He has all that.
As far as the logo, start looking at a secondary logo that could compliment what we have. Incorporate something different! Horns? Flags? Wind effects? Flying Puckchop?
Just my thoughts. I'm still in the camp about not renewing but I do appreciate Sean coming to talk to me. Perhaps a STH forum would be in order (think Festivus airing of grievances).
I want to be a season ticket holder as do others. Come on, it shouldn't be that hard. |
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tjpavlik
(Been Here Awhile)
USA
552 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2016 : 11:47:16 AM
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| For those folks that asked me... Sean confirmed to me that the STH survey was produced by the league and that the team would receive the results in March. Hopefully everyone took the survey and was honest in their responses. That's how change takes place. |
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Susan
(Been Here Awhile)
USA
986 Posts |
Posted - 12/05/2016 : 3:43:46 PM
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| March?!? Yikes. I too received a call from my ticket rep today. I also told him my thoughts on the security & the ushers plus a few other things. Will see what happens. |
Hockey is life. All the rest is just small stuff.
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elvis77
(Loves To Post!)
1435 Posts |
Posted - 12/06/2016 : 12:49:55 PM
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I hear a lot of what you're saying and a lot of it is water under the bridge...
The logo is what it is. Personally I don't like it, it has really grown on my but I'm indifferent; I still have hockey to go watch. It was the way they went about it that burned me; the full on change. The Blue Jackets wrote the book on updating logo's years ago when they developed the current "Star Flag" logo. They introduced it as a 3rd jersey, when it flew off the shelves and they got feed back that the fans loved it, they tweaked it and made it their full time logo.
Puckchop, meh, not my thing but again, I'm indifferent. If they get rid of Twister however, that just might make me join you.
My biggest issue is that they've replaced actual value with perceived value. What do I mean? Simple, I commit to buying 36 home games and I get the lowest rate, period. There should never be a special rate of promo that offers tickets for less than what a full season ticket holder pays (I'm talking face value, fees not included. That simple low ticket price (value) has been replaced but a higher price with cheaply made promo its; but hey you get an over-hyped, under-delivered season ticket jersey that doesn't even look remotely like what the team actually wears, a special ticket book that will be in pieces by January. The last time I did the math, you could by a season's worth of voucher packs where you get ball caps, hats and decent looking t-shirts for roughly the same price as season tickets. I'd rather have a $10 ticket on regular ticket stock and the $1 beverage cup. That's all I need. Oh, and a halfway functional product on the ice. |
"PBR can do that to you....1,2,3,12 beers and you're f**ked"
-oscar
"and i don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation" - joan jett
"beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy." - benjamin franklin
"is that a pulled pork sandwich i smell?"
"some things are just better without pants...."
www.cycwords.wordpress.com |
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cloneinator
(Been Here Awhile)
USA
597 Posts |
Posted - 12/14/2016 : 07:42:03 AM
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| This is the first time I have posted on here in over a year, and have not been to a game in well over a year and a half. The Cyclones lost me last season the way they (mis)handled some things I won't go into detail on, and I also noticed back then things were deteriorating within the organization. To me, it seems they just got to big and started forgetting about the little guy. I went from a full season ticket holder, to a half, to a partial, to none at all. Even then, I organized some nice groups and easily brought 300+ people a year down. Now, I boxed up all my memorabilia and will get around to disposing of it. They successfully alienated me and I see now they are doing it to their most loyal customers. I would not be surprised to see this become the beginning of the end. And no, I don't have sour grapes, I've just become like them, apathetic. There is to much to do in this city sports wise and entertainment wise, to waste my money on them. |
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Donnie Hockey
(Loves To Post!)
USA
1514 Posts |
Posted - 12/15/2016 : 11:19:42 AM
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I have only been to one game this season and agree about the process trying to get into the building. At the same time, it is an old building -- the same age Cincinnati Gardens was when the Cyclones first touched down in Cincinnati in 1990. The arena opened more than four decades ago with that design flaw, being able to handle getting people into the building in a quick and efficient manner. The need to check bags and go through metal detection has made it an even slower process, but it's a necessary measure in today's world.
The logo and uniforms? I like it. It's a more professional look. Someone watching a Cyclones game for the first time would take the product more seriously with the new logo versus the former one. It looks more like you're watching professional hockey from the stands, which it is.
The ECHL is a league comprised of young players who make mistakes on the ice. It's also a league with a lot of young people in the front office. For most, it's their first job in professional sports. Like the players, they're going to make mistakes. Same as the players, they want to get better at what they do so make sure you talk with the Cyclones when you experience an issue or have some suggestions that would enhance the experience based on your years as a fan. I don't know a lot of people involved with the organization, but the ones that I do know are people that seem listen.
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www.twitter.com/donhelbig |
Edited by - Donnie Hockey on 12/15/2016 12:02:40 PM |
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...and i'm done.
