1. I think most people agree we could be doing better at:
(a) getting chants started in the Fever Zone
(b) getting more people to join in once chants are started
(c) getting people in the Fever Zone and not in the Fever Zone to learn/know the words to chants, in particular new chants.
2. Annecdotally various people at various times have commented that they would be willing to join in chants, but they don't knwo the words and don't know how to find out what the words are.
3. The level of engagement/interaction in the chants threads in the forum is limited, and is really (usually) only limited to a select few of forum regulars, some of which are not regulars in the Fever Zone.
4. We have heard various opinions in the forums for and against things like chant sheets, chant leaders with mega phones, etc. I have not really ever had confidence that these points of view represent the views of ALL fans... for one, the people in the Fever Zone are a little different from your average punter - they want to stand up and sing and chant - and secondly the people who are active at all, and in particular regularly active on the forums are an even smaller subset of the community.
So - I think it would be a good idea to canvas opinion more widely. If we want to get larger numbers engaging in chants (both in and outside the Fever Zone) we need to find out:
(a) What the people who do NOT chant perceive are the main barriers to them joining in
(b) What we can do to overcome those barriers
and
(c) What causes the people to sometimes join in chants and sometimes not bother decide to join in, or not.
I think Fourteentimes solutions above are good ideas.
In addition I suggest two further things:
i. Conduct a survey, via multiple channels (the website, pandemic email out, and hard copy fliers handed out at the gates of the games) asking (things like - let's discuss):
- Which Aisle do you usually sit in:
- Do you join in chants? (Always, sometimes, rarely, never)
- What barriers are there to you not joining in the chants? (self conscious, don't know the words, don't like chanting, others - do we need to add more?)
- Which of the following would help you learn the words to chants:
- Printed chant sheets
- Youtube videos of the chants, advertised on Facebook, Twitter, the YellowFever Website
- Coming to the Backbencher before the game to practice the chant(s) of the week with the Yellow Fever
- Chant leaders nearby demonstrating/leading the chants
- Other
ii. Add a tab on the website on the top menu next to "Forums" that reads "Chants". In that section have the listing of chants, plus YouTube videos of chants for people to watch and learn the words - these could be filmed at games, at the backbencher, or specially filmed as chant demos for the website (I favour the later).