Michigan Greed

[xubrew]

This was written back in June, but I just now noticed it. It's very telling, and even though it's about Michigan specifically, I think it applies to a lot of major college football and basketball programs.....

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/road-saturday/201406/college-football-fan-stadium-students-business-tv-ncaa-michigan-tickets

[LA Muskie]

This was written back in June, but I just now noticed it. It's very telling, and even though it's about Michigan specifically, I think it applies to a lot of major college football and basketball programs.....

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/road-saturday/201406/college-football-fan-stadium-students-business-tv-ncaa-michigan-tickets

Nice find, Brew.

[Masterofreality]

I will say this.

I'm as big a Xavier honk as anybody out there. But, I am becoming a bit concerned that a lot of what was said in that article could also be applied to Xavier now. Have we lost our soul? How many e- mails, regular letters and phone calls are sent out about tickets, donations, and promotions? I know I get plenty. Seat licenses, we got 'em. Ads in the building, we got 'em. Selling our schedule out for TV, we do it.

Maybe this is the price of going "big time", but I can tell you that I feel that in the last few years, contact with those at XU has become more impersonal. Xavier is not Michigan. We're a lot smaller and we, as alums, students and friends have shared a common purpose. I feel some of the camaraderie between school admins and the alums/fans eroding in the chase for more exposure and dollars.

I hope I'm misreading, but this nagging concern of mine won't go away.

[LA Muskie]

I will say this.

I'm as big a Xavier honk as anybody out there. But, I am becoming a bit concerned that a lot of what was said in that article could also be applied to Xavier now. Have we lost our soul? How many e- mails, regular letters and phone calls are sent out about tickets, donations, and promotions? I know I get plenty. Seat licenses, we got 'em. Ads in the building, we got 'em. Selling our schedule out for TV, we do it.

Maybe this is the price of going "big time", but I can tell you that I feel that in the last few years, contact with those at XU has become more impersonal. Xavier is not Michigan. We're a lot smaller and we, as alums, students and friends have shared a common purpose. I feel some of the camaraderie between school admins and the alums/fans eroding in the chase for more exposure and dollars.

I hope I'm misreading, but this nagging concern of mine won't go away.
I don't think there's any question about it. And I think you chose the perfect word: things have become impersonal. They say you have to take the bad with the good. But I tend to think that' the lazy salesman's way of finding a way to avoid (or at least minimize) the bad.

[muskienick]

I don't think there's any question about it. And I think you chose the perfect word: things have become impersonal. They say you have to take the bad with the good. But I tend to think that' the lazy salesman's way of finding a way to avoid (or at least minimize) the bad.

The trouble with NOT being that way is that others aspiring to be consistent Top 25 programs are doing it. To compete Xavier must do it also.

In all fairness though, I do get personal live calls about once each year from a Xavier athlete thanking me for supporting Xavier athletics. I've also gotten calls from Chris Mack (although they were not "live") thanking us for our support throughout the season. And I get letters signed by real people each time I make a contribution to the Annual Fund and the Athletic Department. So there are still some "personal touches" that accompany the "big time" aspects of our beloved Musketeers.

[vee4xu]

Losing that personal touch is one of the hazards of growth. Unfortunately, we can't have it both ways. It was easier to be in touch with alums when class sizes were 500. We are now over 1,100 students per class and there's only so much Fr. Graham and administration to go around. I remember going to watch games at Loyola and Fr. Hoff and Gillen would be at alumni pre-game parties. Tough to do today. Xavier will have to find its balance as we grow in both size and stature.

[Masterofreality]

The trouble with NOT being that way is that others aspiring to be consistent Top 25 programs are doing it. To compete Xavier must do it also.

In all fairness though, I do get personal live calls about once each year from a Xavier athlete thanking me for supporting Xavier athletics. I've also gotten calls from Chris Mack (although they were not "live") thanking us for our support throughout the season. And I get letters signed by real people each time I make a contribution to the Annual Fund and the Athletic Department. So there are still some "personal touches" that accompany the "big time" aspects of our beloved Musketeers.

I get it, but those "thanking letters" are your receipt for your contribution.

And I also get what Vee said. And it's not that there is no personal contact at all. It's personal contact with the admin looking over your shoulder vs personal contact where they look you in the eye. Not all of them, but some of the newer hires.

[muskienick]

I get it, but those "thanking letters" are your receipt for your contribution.

And I also get what Vee said. And it's not that there is no personal contact at all. It's personal contact with the admin looking over your shoulder vs personal contact where they look you in the eye. Not all of them, but some of the newer hires.

Frankly, I have had season tickets and made contributions to Xavier since the 1960's. If anything, in the days of yore (McCafferty, Ruberg, Krajack, Campbell, Baker, Folzenlogen, MCC, A-10, etc.) I considered the contact I had with Xavier Athletics to be less personal than it is now.

[xubrew]

I don't even know how to quantify it, or what tangible things to point to.

I do feel that many major programs in football and basketball have made it seem less tangible to their fans. It's not just Michigan. It's a lot of places. I don't know exactly what it is, or why that is. Perhaps it's a combination of a lot of things. The reason I liked the article is because I think it was getting at that notion. It just seems different now, and not necessarily in a good way.

[Masterofreality]

Frankly, I have had season tickets and made contributions to Xavier since the 1960's. If anything, in the days of yore (McCafferty, Ruberg, Krajack, Campbell, Baker, Folzenlogen, MCC, A-10, etc.) I considered the contact I had with Xavier Athletics to be less personal than it is now.

I have to disagree, if you begin in, say 1981. With Bob Staak, who was starting from nothing, and Pete, Jeff Fogelson through Skip and Mike Bobinski, you never felt less than important, and even having a conversation with Pete at David West's HOF function, you can still feel the warmth. Gotta also say that while Beaknose was a cold fish, Sean Miller was a warm guy too, although I hated how he handled his departure.

I get how some aren't as personable as others, and I'm not saying that Greg Christopher is not an OK guy, because he has responded well and I've had nice conversations with him, but there are little things that people used to do for you, without you asking, that no one cares about doing now - little perks and extras that induce people to want to give and do more for the school than the perks are actually worth.

I'm certainly not one of the "Fat Cat" big donors, not by a long shot, but even some of the big boys have been irritated a little bit.

[paulxu]

but there are little things that people used to do for you, without you asking, that no one cares about doing now - little perks and extras that induce people to want to give and do more for the school than the perks are actually worth.

= Marketing 101/Great Customer Service

(it's dying as we speak in a lot of places)

[blobfan]

= Marketing 101/Great Customer Service

(it's dying as we speak in a lot of places)

When a robo-call is considered a good customer service technique, we are all in trouble.

[muskienick]

When a robo-call is considered a good customer service technique, we are all in trouble.

At least the call was made, "robo" or not! To expect a head coach or AD to make that many calls "live" is unreasonable and never happened even in the supposed "Good ol' days" that some posters here seem to remember. And I go back to the days that there were so few fans in the stands at Schmidt that you could almost carry on a conversation with someone on the opposite side of the fieldhouse. I don't ever remember anything like the Duff sessions we now sometimes enjoy with Byron and Joe back in the days when things were seen as more friendly. The University brought those sessions to us and it makes me feel closer to the program than I've ever felt before. The same is true with the Monday night Coach's Show scheduled at some local watering hole around town during the season. There we find another opportunity for people to get closer to the program. Those didn't exist "in the good ol' days" either!

[LA Muskie]

The same is true with the Monday night Coach's Show scheduled at some local watering hole around town during the season. There we find another opportunity for people to get closer to the program. Those didn't exist "in the good ol' days" either!
They did when I was there 1992-1996. It was called "The Grill".

Seriously, though, I'm sure we're better than the vast majority of schools, but as Xavier has gotten bigger it's hard to dispute that it has also become less personal. All around. I'm sure that is a cost of progress. I just hope someone in the administration is charged with making sure that cost is no more than it needs to be.

[blobfan]

At least the call was made, "robo" or not! To expect a head coach or AD to make that many calls "live" is unreasonable and never happened even in the supposed "Good ol' days" that some posters here seem to remember. And I go back to the days that there were so few fans in the stands at Schmidt that you could almost carry on a conversation with someone on the opposite side of the fieldhouse. I don't ever remember anything like the Duff sessions we now sometimes enjoy with Byron and Joe back in the days when things were seen as more friendly. The University brought those sessions to us and it makes me feel closer to the program than I've ever felt before. The same is true with the Monday night Coach's Show scheduled at some local watering hole around town during the season. There we find another opportunity for people to get closer to the program. Those didn't exist "in the good ol' days" either!
On what planet are robo calls a good thing? I don't expect coaches and ADs to make personal calls to thousands of ticket holders but robo calls are the opposite of personal. It's a lazy marketers way of reaching out to people, like mass mailings with fake handwriting on the address label trying to make you think someone actually wrote the letter. You drop what you are doing, head for the phone, hoping it's worth the effort, and it's just an automatic message. It's gotten to the point where if a call comes from Xavier, I don't answer. The video messages on the web site are much more effective.

[Kahns Krazy]

Skip was the peak of approachable coaches, IMO, and it was an extension of who he was as a person. We will likely never have a coach like that again.

That level of personal touch is exceedingly rare. Mack is better at it than Sean or Thad were. The coach is not the whole relationship, but he's the face of it. Bobo was decent at it too.

Generally, I think Xavier is more conservative with the type of change that got Michigan in trouble across the board. It's why the new construction was - very smartly- put on hold until the economy bounced back. While we have moved into a marketing agreement that we didn't have in the past, I haven't seen anything that can't be undone at this point. As long as the long term focus continues to be winning with integrity (a concept that we briefly deviated from), the long term support will be there both ways.

[blobfan]

In terms of being approachable, I think Mack does a good job. The Twitter feed is genius in that regard. He appears more approachable because he is sharing a piece of himself and his family but we can access it at our own choice rather than have it delivered to us on someone else's time table. It's more immediate than a recorded call or video and feels more spontaneous. I think it takes a special talent though to maintain a good twitter feed. While I'm grateful Mack does, I won't expect it of the next coach.

[Pluto]

It's funny I'm reading this thread right now. I just opened my mail and I have a letter from X aamong me to give money...and they spelled my last name wrong. I am not a "big time" donor but do give a decent amount to the university and this seems like a pretty careless mistake.

[xudash]

In terms of being approachable, I think Mack does a good job. The Twitter feed is genius in that regard. He appears more approachable because he is sharing a piece of himself and his family but we can access it at our own choice rather than have it delivered to us on someone else's time table. It's more immediate than a recorded call or video and feels more spontaneous. I think it takes a special talent though to maintain a good twitter feed. While I'm grateful Mack does, I won't expect it of the next coach.

Thankfully, you won't have to worry about that for a long time.

[Emp]

I will say this.

I'm as big a Xavier honk as anybody out there. But, I am becoming a bit concerned that a lot of what was said in that article could also be applied to Xavier now. Have we lost our soul? How many e- mails, regular letters and phone calls are sent out about tickets, donations, and promotions? I know I get plenty. Seat licenses, we got 'em. Ads in the building, we got 'em. Selling our schedule out for TV, we do it.

Maybe this is the price of going "big time", but I can tell you that I feel that in the last few years, contact with those at XU has become more impersonal. Xavier is not Michigan. We're a lot smaller and we, as alums, students and friends have shared a common purpose. I feel some of the camaraderie between school admins and the alums/fans eroding in the chase for more exposure and dollars.

I hope I'm misreading, but this nagging concern of mine won't go away.

The only way to "Pay the man" is to raise more money outside of the traditional alumni channels.

The alum base just isn't very big, or very generous, for that matter. The overall permanent endowment at X is scandalously small. To support Div 1 ambitions, the funding must be supplemented by selling Xavier as an advertising commodity/medium. It makes me cringe, too. But to buy the coach, facilities and the supporting cast needed to compete, moolah monger we must.

[Masterofreality]

The only way to "Pay the man" is to raise more money outside of the traditional alumni channels.

The alum base just isn't very big, or very generous, for that matter. The overall permanent endowment at X is scandalously small. To support Div 1 ambitions, the funding must be supplemented by selling Xavier as an advertising commodity/medium. It makes me cringe, too. But to buy the coach, facilities and the supporting cast needed to compete, moolah monger we must.

Agree. I guess I'm just nostalgic for days that will never come again as to interface, but it's the price of progress.