Season Ticket Holder Huddle

[TheLionKing]

The BC Lions Season Ticket Holder Huddle was held at the Orpheum this afternoon. Good number of season ticket holders braved the hot and muggy weather to attend. Seems like the entire Lion organization was there from Dennis Skulsky, Wally Buono, Jeff Tedford, the entire coaching staff, players, Felions and Account Managers. The only person I didn't see was Kato Free food and refreshments were available. Players were scattered all over the theartre and gave the fans an opportunity to mingle, take pictures and get autographs. Had an opportunity to talk to my Account Manager and asked about the $80.00 voucher. She said it will be sent out soon.

Skulsky gave a short speech thanking the ticket holders for their support as they are the lifeline of the team. Talked a little about Operation Orange this year to Hamilton and Edmonton. Jeff Tedford was next up and introduced his coaching staff. In his speech Tedford stated that the Lions will be an aggressive, fast tempo and a disciplined team. He also stated that the Lions are now the youngest team in the CFL. He wanted to reestablish home field dominance which was lost last season. Encouraged fans to be loud.

Had an opportunity to talk to Courtenay Taylor and wish him well in the upcoming season. He said it was important for him to have a good season. I jokingly said it's your option year isn't it ? He laughed and said "how did you know ?"

Next up was the introduction of special team and defensive players. SolE got the loudest ovation. In between the introduction of the defensive and offensive players was a fashion show with Manny Arceneaux, Adam Bighill, Travis Lulay, Andrew Harris, Jason Arakgi, Ryan Phillips and others modelling the new Lions clothing this year. Even Mark Washington's kids got into the act by modelling the children's wear.

The offensive players were then introduced. The afternoon concluded with the singing of Roar You Lions Roar by Dean Valli. The only thing I will say is that Valli should stick to playing football and not contemplate a singing career.

Kudos to the Lion organization for putting on this event. Well done. In all my years as a season ticket holder this is the first time we get to meet the entire team, coaching staff, Accounts Manager etc. The only other time I can remember is when they had an event at the old Expo 67 grounds with only a few select players present.

[B.C.FAN]

The afternoon concluded with the singing of Roar You Lions Roar by Dean Valli. The only thing I will say is that Valli should stick to playing football and not contemplate a singing career.

Finally, a Lionbacker has something positive to say about Valli as a football player.
Thanks for the report. It sounds like another successful event.

[David]

* This was a good move by the organization holding it at the venerable old Orpheum Theatre, but it would have been nice to stage it on a Saturday night with a drink ticket and closed bar.

* Still, it was nice of them to provide free water, soft drinks, ice cream, popcorn, and potato chips. Great to be able to mingle with the team.

* Players are a great bunch of open, approachable guys. They're a credit to the football club. Jason Foster and I bonded. In talking to him, I found out he's from Long Island NY - I lived there for 7 years and still have friends and family there. He grew up very close to my family's house.

* Tedford seems like quite the upbeat, motivational type. In fact, he led the crowd with a chant and response of GO!.....LIONS!

* My only beef was the turnout (estimated to be about 200). In a large venue like that there were a lot of empty seats. It should have been better promoted and easier to access the tickets. I signed up for the event, but never knew my request was being honored as there was no email notification. On Friday, I accessed my account and saw that I had two tickets waiting to be printed. Also, a Saturday night would have drawn a bigger turnout.

* They staged their usual fun fashion show with the players. Great. But nothing set up in the lobby to harness that enthusiasm from the club's "Super Consumers." We were told we could buy the stuff online. Gee thanks. Opportunity lost.

* It concluded with Dean Valli leading season ticket holders in a very robust "Roar You Lions Roar." Got a great response from the crowd and a lot of people singing along. Good on Dean.


DH

[sj-roc]

* They staged their usual fun fashion show with the players. Great. But nothing set up in the lobby to harness that enthusiasm from the club's "Super Consumers." We were told we could buy the stuff online. Gee thanks. Opportunity lost.

Hmmm... maybe this time they decided to dial it back a bit on that every-last-nickel vibe. :/

[DanoT]

* They staged their usual fun fashion show with the players. Great. But nothing set up in the lobby to harness that enthusiasm from the club's "Super Consumers." We were told we could buy the stuff online. Gee thanks. Opportunity lost.

Hmmm... maybe this time they decided to dial it back a bit on that every-last-nickel vibe. :/

If they wanted to dial back the "squeeze every last nickel vibe" the way to do it is to reduce the price of the fashion show items not reduce the availability of the products, such as:

"Folks the fashion show items are now on sale in the lobby at less than the online price."

[Big Time]

Only 200 people seems a bit disappointing, as there seemed to be a couple of thousand people at last year's event. I know that I had signed up to go but the weather coupled with a late night on Saturday led me to forgoing the event. It could be a function of the bye week but I'm feeling less interested at the start of this season than previous years. I didn't watch even a minute of any of the games this weekend, although it appears that the CFL has already lost 50% of it's starting QBs. Hopefully my interest changes once the Lions play their first game.

[CardiacKid]

My wife and I usually go to the STH Huddle but this year the change of venue put a dent in our plans. That and what seemed to be a pretty limited amount of time to meet the players; at least based on the info in the emails they sent out prior. We would be coming in from Victoria and we thought the travel time, etc just didn't justify the benefits of going.

We really liked the setup last year where you could wander the field at BC Place, meet and greet a sampling of the players and alumni and generally not feel rushed about doing any of that. The schedule as outlined seemed to place a premium on meeting the players and I was thinking "ok...who do I want to meet? So many choices this year..."

As cute and mildy entertaining as the fashion show can be, I think that dog stopped hunting a while ago. I can appreciate they need to shill and hey, I already have my eyes on some swag as birthday gifts but maybe vary things up from year to year? Just to add an element of freshness....

That being said, for us the highlight is and always will be meeting the players and wishing them the best.

[sj-roc]

* They staged their usual fun fashion show with the players. Great. But nothing set up in the lobby to harness that enthusiasm from the club's "Super Consumers." We were told we could buy the stuff online. Gee thanks. Opportunity lost.

Hmmm... maybe this time they decided to dial it back a bit on that every-last-nickel vibe. :/

If they wanted to dial back the "squeeze every last nickel vibe" the way to do it is to reduce the price of the fashion show items not reduce the availability of the products, such as:

"Folks the fashion show items are now on sale in the lobby at less than the online price."

That would have been a good idea. Perhaps even get the word out on that in advance to encourage more attendance.

Just to be clear though, that remark in my last post was intended mainly as a bit of a tongue-in-cheek response, referencing a comment David made a couple weeks ago about how the club sometimes gives the impression of milking every last nickel from their most loyal fans. This was one instance where it seems they took a pass — although who knows, it might simply be because they couldn't get the product delivered in time for the event or some other logistical reason.

[Big Time]

Agreed. The venue played a big role in not wanting to go. Last year I took my wife and son and we had a blast running around on the field and throwing the ball around. I enjoyed meeting Braley, Buono, Mark Washington and a few of the players. It was good fun and would have loved to do it again. However since FIFA has BC Place booked up, the change of venue was a must and coupled with the weather, I just didn't feel up to it. You are absolutely right that meeting the players is the best part. I've never had a bad experience meeting any of the players as they always seem friendly and understand their role in meeting with the market place. Bighill in particular I've met at a few different venues and has always been friendly and accessible.