Extraordinary

I emailed (somewhat presumptuously) Leeann Dempster a couple of hours ago with some, what I thought were constructive suggestions relating to improving season ticket sales and the atmosphere at Easter Road. I made it clear it did not require a reply. I didn't actually expect her to read it with at best some vague response from a minion a few days later . Extraordinarily, particularly given hat happened in the last hour or so, she has sent me a nice personal e-mail, literally within 90 minutes, or so, of receiving it which clearly shows she has bothered to read it and has taken it seriously.

This is an attention to detail and a treating of supporters with respect that is hugely impressive. :top marks

Good to hear :top marks

ggtth

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Originally Posted by Islington Hibs

I emailed (somewhat presumptuously) Leeann Dempster a couple of hours ago with some, what I thought were constructive suggestions relating to improving season ticket sales and the atmosphere at Easter Road. I made it clear it did not require a reply. I didn't actually expect her to read it with at best some vague response from a minion a few days later . Extraordinarily, particularly given hat happened in the last hour or so, she has sent me a nice personal e-mail, literally within 90 minutes, or so, of receiving it which clearly shows she has bothered to read it and has taken it seriously.

This is an attention to detail and a treating of supporters with respect that is hugely impressive. :top marks

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Care to share the email or your suggestions?

In the short to medium term i would prefer she was not making a direct response.
I think a bland reply from her sec would suffice until the priorities are addressed.

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Originally Posted by Sammy7nil

In the short to medium term i would prefer she was not making a direct response.
I think a bland reply from her sec would suffice until the priorities are addressed.

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Lol.

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Originally Posted by Aaron

Care to share the email or your suggestions?

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I wouldn't normally do so as it was a personal email but as there was not anything sensitive in it , and the thoughts are merely my opinion, here goes. My comments on Butcher were uncanny!

I am genuinely impressed she responded at all and with around 2 hours and especially today.

Dear Ms Dempster

Firstly may I congratulate you on your appointment. Every good wish and I have to say your initial interviews, I believe, have come over with authority, dignity and understanding of the challenges ahead.

Secondly I am a Hibs fan who rarely attends games, as I live in London, so I am not a season ticket holder, I am, however, a keen distant supporter and certainly I am well aware of the state of affairs and attend when I can. So that said I have no axe to grind but equally as a non regular I may not be in the best place to offer sensible advice.

That said I would make the following observations (some of which I think, from your interview) you will agree with.

Firstly there remains massive untapped potential at Hibernian. despite all the failure the club has a very large latent support. That said I think the support is ageing ( more 40 year olds, like me, than 15 year olds.) The club has taken its supporters close to breaking point and some will take a lot of tempting back. The failure to consistently perform against Hearts, over the last 30 years (literally) has sucked confidence and just when the tide seemed to be turning lasts season was perhaps too bitter a pill to swallow. Re-building will not be easy. The way to do that (apart from the obvious of a winning term) is to make people feel part of the infrastructure and loved. I think you understand that.

I would abolish season tickets. Make people who pay their whack Members. For membership you get, for example access to games, a couple of 'free tickets' to take a mate to a category B match, discounts in the shop, perhaps a cheap upgrade to corporate, or a stadium tour etc. Given the disappointment last season and the fact that I guess season ticket numbers are well down and pricing not cheap you might consider the following. Offer all early birds who want it their money back (suspect 100, at most will take up the offer (good-will offering which I doubt would cost much) second have a two tier price structure i.e full price £405 with a discount of say £75 for those that want it. Every penny of the excess goes to managers fund. I guess fairly few of those signed up will ask for it back (good-will again) and it might encourage a few more to sign up. It is a big ask to get newbies through until the team is more fluent otherwise. Targeting of lapsed people too seems pretty critical. I believe we had 11000 seasons at the peak, and I would guess as many as 13/14000 different people have had a season in the last decade. Contact these people. Ask them what it would take? Perhaps even offer them a free ticket or a discount to help them back. There are lots of ideas could help.

One of the failures, I think, has been the playing shorterm-ism. I believe the club has signed well over 100 players in the last 7/8 seasons. There is no continuity and it is a costly failure. While it takes time, and there are no guarantees, given resources, or lack of, developing our own talent is the only sustainable solution. A much tighter use of playing resource is essential to build a bond with the support and get some bank for the buck. In terms of the manager- that is a tough call- but the individual needs integrity, consistency, desire and ability to motivate etc etc. good luck! It needs to be some one (and it may, or may not be the current incumbent) whom you can work with as a joined team.

Atmosphere- Easter Road has become a volatile and lets just say its a subdued place. The atmosphere can be excellent but generally only occasionally and the support are very quick to turn. The fuse is short. If the season starts badly and let's hope it does not come to that but and frankly who knows, things could get very ugly- you have my best wishes and I think most reasonable supporters too. This is not Motherwell and expectations for quick results are far too high- so a cool head (which you clearly have) may be required!! Also, on a normal Saturday with 8500 in it looks pretty empty. It should be possible to not sell peripheral seats to bunch people up a bit and perhaps close south stand, outside bigger games?

Finally this is about entertainment. Football is supposed to be fun. people who part with their hard earned cash need to feel they have had a good afternoon out. That has not often been the case, Lawrence Olivier always put his heart and soul into every performance as in his words 'there was always someone in the audience who had not experienced the magic of theatre before.' I often ask if I was 7 attending for the first time would I want to go back? We need to change that and I wish you every success in trying to do .

There is no need to respond to these random musings.

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Originally Posted by Islington Hibs

I emailed (somewhat presumptuously) Leeann Dempster a couple of hours ago with some, what I thought were constructive suggestions relating to improving season ticket sales and the atmosphere at Easter Road. I made it clear it did not require a reply. I didn't actually expect her to read it with at best some vague response from a minion a few days later . Extraordinarily, particularly given hat happened in the last hour or so, she has sent me a nice personal e-mail, literally within 90 minutes, or so, of receiving it which clearly shows she has bothered to read it and has taken it seriously.

This is an attention to detail and a treating of supporters with respect that is hugely impressive. :top marks

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I also received a personal reply to an email I sent yesterday to Leanne Dempster after being totally blanked for weeks by Petrie. She has offered to call me personally to discuss my concerns. I am going on holiday for a week but she is calling me on my return.

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Originally Posted by Dublin07

I also received a personal reply to an email I sent yesterday to Leanne Dempster after being totally blanked for weeks by Petrie. She has offered to call me personally to discuss my concerns. I am going on holiday for a week but she is calling me on my return.

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pretty amazing really.

IH - Membership on a Rolling basis has been discussed at WT meetings before. So in effect no need to renew as you are a 'Member' and pay your monthly 'fee' like many do for golf clubs etc...and not then having to ask people whether they wish to continue...many are used to DD's for all sorts of things..

I think this will come in time - reason not yet is the need to have new IT system bedded in (print at home / self scanning etc being priorities) it does have potential to manage more complicated things. The major reason is the business model relies on ST monies in a lump to get through closed season when costs roll on (Hibs have no overdraft facility at bank and in effect we require ST monies to remain 'liquid')

She really seems like a breath of fresh air at ER, and deserves the full support of all Hibs fans.

LD is not a miracle worker, but I think she can make a difference at HFC, all for the better. It's such a shame she has had to start from a base where the club has been relegated. Nobody, and I mean nobody, could have anticipated the club would be relegated, and this has probably thrown a lot of her plans into disarray, at least temporarily.

Been really impressed with her so far. Obviously she knows she is under a lot of scrutiny by the fans but she seems to have a lot of respect and obviously is willing to make big decisions which we need in order to move forward.

Well Done Leanne - I have a lot of confidence that you are the person to take the club forward. A breath of fresh air IMO :thumbsup: