Will Barrett - Trust Election Thread

[WillsBarrett]

Good evening, Exeweb.

Following on from my fellow candidates, Yasmin and Ed, I have opened up this thread to answer any questions that you might have as the Trust election campaign gets underway.

I am delighted to see such a wide range of talents and experience up for election this year, and am sure that whatever the outcome of the election, our Trust and club is in good hands.

My manifesto, along with those of the other candidates, can be accessed by clicking HERE

By way of further introduction for those of you I have not met, I am one of the founders of the Grecian Archive and ECFC Museum, having worked with colleagues to raise more than 150k over the past few years to deliver initiatives relating to stadium displays, ground improvements, films and events, as well as educational and wellbeing programmes.

By profession I have a PhD from the University of Exeter (my hometown uni), and work there as a research services manager, alongside my roles as museum officer and programme editor at ECFC.

I also have coaching, scouting and safeguarding qualifications from the FA, although this is more to do with my obsession with football than anything else.

Anyway, that's quite enough about me, so I sincerely look forward to your questions.

 

[elginCity]

Hi, I'm a strong believer in increasing engagement with the youngest supporters, those in their formative years open to the 'magic' of it all, with the potential of gaining a fan for life.

The Junior Grecians is currently doing sterling work in that area, what initiative would you suggest to attract even greater interest ?

 

[Matt Phillips]

Hi Will

• Were you to be elected, which of the sub-groups would you be looking to be a part of?
• What in your view would define success for both the Trust and the Club?
• Should there be any change in the way in which money is passed to the Club, or any change in the level of funding to the club?
• What material changes would you realistically like to see by the end of the three year term?
• What would be your first priority upon being elected onto the board?

 

[WillsBarrett]

Hi, I'm a strong believer in increasing engagement with the youngest supporters, those in their formative years open to the 'magic' of it all, with the potential of gaining a fan for life.

The Junior Grecians is currently doing sterling work in that area, what initiative would you suggest to attract even greater interest ?

Couldn't agree more... the growth of the JG over the past few years has played a really important role in engaging with children and their families, while also promoting our values as a community club, and, like yourself, I am also hopeful that this will also bode well for the future of our club and community.

In terms of building upon this, and believing in win-win scenarios, I would propose that we look at projected attendances and utilise some of that empty seating to provide direct opportunities for additional groups to come and experience the magic of the park with their friends and peers.

Through working with schools and youth groups in the local (and regional) community, I would hope that we could offer a full match day, that includes a stadium tour, a visit to the JG lounge, other entertaining (and dare I say educational) activities for pre-match and half-time, and, of course, the match itself.

As noted, the JG as well as the City Community Trust already do wonderful work in this area, and I would love to work with them (further) in order to identify and reach out to children and young people who may not be in to football, or their local club.

Building our fan base and providing that feeling that live local football in a proper stadium is more enjoyable and rewarding than other activities, or watching the PL or UCL on the TV, is so important on a number of levels, and I feel that this approach could be an initial step towards creating that connection, as part of a more broadly developed strategy.

I myself experienced that magic (although in less engaging terms) in the Old Grandstand as a nine year old, and have been hooked on football ever since!

I am also planning to produce a matchday feature for the Grecian next season that will involve the direct input of children in co-creating the content, but this itself is not dependent on me being voted onto the Trust board.

There is much, much, more to be said and explored in relation to this topic, and so I hope to be able to do just this and implement some very positive and well constructed plans with colleagues over the coming years.

 

[WillsBarrett]

Hi Matt,

Thank you for your questions, which I will now attempt to answer as succinctly as possible...

• Were you to be elected, which of the sub-groups would you be looking to be a part of?

Having already contributed to the comms group, working on content for the Trust 1000 and Stars campaigns, as well as the well as the club and Trust websites, I plan to continue with this, working closely with Pete Martin and the rest of the Trust board to devise and deliver a new comms strategy.

I would also plan to engage closely with all of the Trust sub-groups, as in my working life I am fully aware that a broad understanding of all groups in context is key to strategic planning and delivering goals and targets effectively.

Currently I am working on a newly designed Trust website for the 2020/21 season, which I plan to integrate more closely with all club related news and discussion in the stronger together mentality.

• What in your view would define success for both the Trust and the Club?

In a word - Growth! This can be defined as both on and off the pitch. The obvious indicator of this would be to gain promotion and compete at a higher level, and so we need to understand what we can do to support those who are aiming to deliver this on a day-to-day basis.

This also applies to our Academy, which is the lifeblood of our football club, and so continued positive development of that department must be a clear priority to all involved at ECFC. Continuous development of young players, who make their way into first team football, would represent success on that front - as would developing/maintaining our reputation at the forefront of peoples thinking across the whole of football in the UK, and promoting our ethos to the whole of football both here and abroad.

Off the pitch I would like to promote the activities of all fan groups more effectively; respecting their efforts andprovidng support for them to develop their own initiatives in relation to the club and its community, allowing them to grow and feel as much a part of the ECFC family as they ever have.

And finally on this topic (for now) the growth of Trust membership, be that in numbers or subscription levels must be a key priority. I believe that a growth of 5-10% season on season would represent success, but will need to look in more detail at previous/existing strategies and membership activity/behaviour over at least the past decade to put a firm figure on that or to propose a plan, for which there are a myriad of options that can be delivered in isolation or as part of an interconnected strategy.

• Should there be any change in the way in which money is passed to the Club, or any change in the level of funding to the club?

Forgive me, but I am not yet aware fully of how money is passed to the club, so I will not attempt to bluff an answer. All I will say is that if I don't know something I will find the answer, and then consider that answer as thoroughly as possible in order to do something positive and productive with the information obtained. As for the level of funding, owners or custodians of any organisation should look intelligently at this in order to increase the performance of their product and maximise returns, so I believe that this should be viewed as a key priority of the new-look Trust board following the election.

• What material changes would you realistically like to see by the end of the three year term?

I would like to see that all departments of the club have everything that they need to maximise their performance and enhance their professional lives. As a Trust we may not be able to deliver on a magical wish list, but we can certainly work with everyone at SJP and at the training ground to identify and prioritise what is needed to be the club that we want ECFC to be.

I would also like to do away with the Trust table! This has bugged me for years, and while I have the greatest respect for the history of the Trust, its roots, and those who have sustained this initiative, as the majority shareholders of the club we should have a more prominent and professional infrastructural presence on a match day. Something akin to the ticket booth that could be a point of contact for members, and a place where people can join up, make donations, or increase contributions, as well as to sell merchandise and promote activities would be a great starting point. In fact I will feel like I've failed if we can't go so far as to make something like this a reality, and I would want to see this well before the three years are up. The Trust is facilitated by volunteers, but is a professional organisation and should be seen as such if it is to grow.

• What would be your first priority upon being elected onto the board?

As always my first priority would be to learn everything I can about how things work, or indeed don't work so well. I am keen to see what the vision is for the coming years in terms of short, medium and long-term goals, and to see how we can all work together in order to deliver these aims and objectives, and how I may be able to effectively augment, or add to, the plan.

As previously mentioned, I will also prioritise improving the match day presence of the club, in order to create new opportunities for engagement and to begin the process of building our membership, which in turn will help to satisfy a number of the key areas discussed in this post.

 

[Red Bill]

Hi Will, thanks for coming on here and giving us a chance to put questions to you.
In you manifesto you say "In recent years I have used my background in research, engagement, and media, to create club and Trust media content, in order to communicate clearly with our fan base". One of my issues is that at present communication from the Trust is a one way process, i.e. announcements and statements from the Trust board and officers on various platforms, which is not helpful in promoting debate, discussion and involvement from ordinary members. There is currently no easy and open way for feedback from ordinary members other than individual private emails to Trustees through the website or in person chats with those manning the stall in Red Square on matchdays. I believe this helps to create the (false) impression that the the Trust is a closed society of a small group of people. This is I believe does nothing to help foster a sense belonging and prevents members engaging actively in the Trust as a whole. Do you agree with this and if so what would you do to change this?

 

[HUFC1885]

I believe there’s nothing more important than fostering our local youth sports to provide children a safe place to get physically active and enjoy competitive football matches with their peers.

How would you like The Trust to be more involved in youth teams further promote The Trust & Junior Grecians and of course ECFC to all our FA Team members who play every weekend in the Greater Exeter Area.

Rob
HUFC & ECFC Supporter

 

[WillsBarrett]

Hi Will, thanks for coming on here and giving us a chance to put questions to you.
In you manifesto you say "In recent years I have used my background in research, engagement, and media, to create club and Trust media content, in order to communicate clearly with our fan base". One of my issues is that at present communication from the Trust is a one way process, i.e. announcements and statements from the Trust board and officers on various platforms, which is not helpful in promoting debate, discussion and involvement from ordinary members. There is currently no easy and open way for feedback from ordinary members other than individual private emails to Trustees through the website or in person chats with those manning the stall in Red Square on matchdays. I believe this helps to create the (false) impression that the the Trust is a closed society of a small group of people. This is I believe does nothing to help foster a sense belonging and prevents members engaging actively in the Trust as a whole. Do you agree with this and if so what would you do to change this?

Thank you, Bill.

Yes, I do broadly agree with this, and you make a fair point about the uni-directional nature of content. With the heritage work at the club we have a very healthy model for engagement and discussion for those who participate with us, so I would love to foster more of that for the Trust. As I said in my manifesto, I am very keen to represent our many voices on the board, and so I will be looking at ways in which we can open up our channels of communication. Open sessions, where Trust members are welcome to pop in to talk to trustees, and each other, could be one method, while events with Trust presence would also help - this could be club or Trust run events, or trustees attending events organised by fans, both of which I am keen to see more of. I am also hoping to include a more democratic means of communication in a future web design for the Trust, so more of that in the future. Ultimately, all of this will come down to promotion and active engagement, and the desire of Trust members to participate, but we certainly can't just take a 'build it and they will come' approach... we will need to be active! As a starting point, ahead of the elections, I appreciate your thoughts on this so would be more than happy to meet up and explore this topic a bit more, should this be of interest?

 

[Red Bill]

Thank you, Bill.

Yes, I do broadly agree with this, and you make a fair point about the uni-directional nature of content. With the heritage work at the club we have a very healthy model for engagement and discussion for those who participate with us, so I would love to foster more of that for the Trust. As I said in my manifesto, I am very keen to represent our many voices on the board, and so I will be looking at ways in which we can open up our channels of communication. Open sessions, where Trust members are welcome to pop in to talk to trustees, and each other, could be one method, while events with Trust presence would also help - this could be club or Trust run events, or trustees attending events organised by fans, both of which I am keen to see more of. I am also hoping to include a more democratic means of communication in a future web design for the Trust, so more of that in the future. Ultimately, all of this will come down to promotion and active engagement, and the desire of Trust members to participate, but we certainly can't just take a 'build it and they will come' approach... we will need to be active! As a starting point, ahead of the elections, I appreciate your thoughts on this so would be more than happy to meet up and explore this topic a bit more, should this be of interest?

Thanks Will, some good comments there. One that particularly strikes a chord! If you're successful i'd certainly be interested in explaining my thoughts. For now though it's the thoughts of you and your fellow candidates that matter.

 

[WillsBarrett]

I believe there’s nothing more important than fostering our local youth sports to provide children a safe place to get physically active and enjoy competitive football matches with their peers.

How would you like The Trust to be more involved in youth teams further promote The Trust & Junior Grecians and of course ECFC to all our FA Team members who play every weekend in the Greater Exeter Area.

Rob
HUFC & ECFC Supporter

Hi Rob,

I think that this is very important too, so I think that I would need to properly assess what is already being done, and look at ways that we might be able to work with our communities to build/improve on this. There are a number of ways in which this could be achieved, from promoting our existing work directly (talks, posters, attending games and award presentations etc.) or online (ads, social media groups, podcasts, videos etc.), right through to organising, or raising funds to sponsor, additional activities, events, and tournaments. The City Community Trust already does excellent work in this area, so this will be something that I would want to consult with them on should I be elected. Through my history work, and following my latest FA course, I have also made a few recent contacts within the Devon FA and local football, so I'd hope that they'd be happy to discuss this too.

Good result for you against Millbridge in the DPC the other day... here's hoping the City lads can do the same against another Plymouth based side on Saturday