FAO Hobnob

[Royal Lady]

Yes, that's my point - I wouldn't have dismissed them, I'd have collated them, got more infor from the nobber(s) concerned and passed it on to STAR.

Instead, I'm cutting out the middle man now and going directly to RFC with nobbers' genuine concerns/comments.

[Green]

Yes, that's my point - I wouldn't have dismissed them, I'd have collated them, got more infor from the nobber(s) concerned and passed it on to STAR.

Instead, I'm cutting out the middle man now and going directly to RFC with nobbers' genuine concerns/comments.

Sounds like the very definition of a middle man to me - what am I missing

[Royal Lady]

Yeah, I AM the middle man. You know what I mean though - STAR would be sort of the middle man between me and the club - but now I'm going straight to the club.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

RL yesterday

[Woodcote Royal]

As someone who failed to join STAR each season only when I forgot to post my membership or didn't require coach travel, recent threads on this topic have been a real eye opener for me.

I hadn't realised that Starliason was the only member of the board still willing to post on HNA?. On this basis alone, she is going to be a huge loss to an organisation that is supposed to hold the desire to represent all Reading fans deep within it's core.

Frankly, as someone who only attends a fraction of our games these days, I don't have the time or inclination to do more than join a supporters organisation that GENUINELY aspires to represent as broad a cross section of the fan base as possible.

If the current board members are unwilling select one of their number to communicate with the only sizeable forum of Reading fans, every one of them should consider why they bothered seeking election in the first place.

Frankly, the whole ethos of our former supporters club is increasingly alienating to many fans (just travelling on a STAR coach makes me feel like I'm encroaching on a clique ) and blanking this forum (which is more widely read than some like to believe) will seriously exacerbate the problem.

This has little to do with £10 notes and a lot to do with those too full of their own importance.

[Royal Lady]

Well I got the ambulance moved without the need to speak to STAR - so I shall continue to forward any concerns directly to the club if people choose to contact me about them. If not, I suggest if anyone has any concerns that they contact the club directly - and soon we'll have more of a direct link with the club than STAR will!

[Hoop Blah]

- set up a new communication channel with the club, explaining that HNA is the biggest single community of Reading fans and that many feel very differently to what they hear through STAR/RFC's Facebook output
But it's not. It likes to think it is but there are relatively few active and regular posters here (<100) and many of them aren't even Reading fans. There's alos no democratic structure etc - it's a case of whoever shouts loudest or most often gets heard.

I'd not seen this thread before today, but to go back and pick up on the question around numbers, right now, at 12.37 on a Wednesday afternoon with no Reading game in the last 10 days, there are 98 users viewing the forum.

Admitedly 56 of those are guests, but I'd guess that at least 50% of those are Reading fans. Posting doesn't equate to active Dirk (IMO).

Furthermore, there are over 275 users with more than 1,000 posts and knocking on for 6,500 registered users (obviously a lot of those are robot registrations and mulitple usernames) but there is not doubt in my mind that HNA is the largest single community of Reading fans outside matchday attendances.

[Hoop Blah]

At 5.25 on a Weds night there are 125 users online.

[Green]

Quite, in fact from Nonnecke and Preece indicates that "lurkers make up over 90% of online groups"

You don't have to be registered to view this forum - those figures quoted are registered users.

[Hoop Blah]

At 5.25 on a Weds night there are 125 users online.

During todays game I've seen numbers of over 170.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Most users ever online was 665 on Thu Aug 27, 2009 3:12 pm

Including guests, out of 35000 supporters

[Hoop Blah]

At 5.25 on a Weds night there are 125 users online.

During todays game I've seen numbers of over 170.

Over 200 after the game as well.

HSSC, compared to match day attendances it's obviously a small number. I'm pretty sure it's more than Dirk is giving it credit for. I'm not sure how many people use Twitter to actively discuss and read about the goings on but it could be that it's catching up or maybe overtaking HNA as a collective. It's not as easy a place to collect views and a bit of in depth comment though so I still think it's daft that STAR don't want to interact.

[Woodcote Royal]

Do we have an accurate figure for star membership?

[Hoop Blah]

I don't think they'd lower themselves far enough to come on here and tell us, so no.

[RG30]

"STAR provided an update on its membership numbers, which showed a significant increase on the previous season; as expected through playing in a higher division."

As per September Management Meeting notes on STAR website

[Hoop Blah]

"STAR provided an update on its membership numbers, which showed a significant increase on the previous season; as expected through playing in a higher division."

As per September Management Meeting notes on STAR website

So that's a no then?

[Born 'n Bred Royal]

Tbh the only reason why I've joined STAR is for discounted travel to away days far away and not so easy to get to via train (would drive but that means not being able to drink!) ie Liverpool, Blackpool or even Bristol on a tuesday night!.

While this may sound like a sweeping generalisation, most of the members it seems are either OAPs or people too young to drive. The coaches are hurrendous (terrible leg room) and I try and avoid them where possible. As an organisation itself, I don't tend to hear much at all what it does, where my tenner actually went and they don't seem to engage much particularly with fans and they're not publicised particularly well at matches.

Can anyone care to tell me why they have disconnected themselves from this forum? Seems wholly childish to just ignore/remove itself from a forum that is used and respected by a significant number of Reading fans. Are they just an organisation with an elitist membership of 'back in the day' nostalgic characters who snarl at any young fan just because they weren't born when we won the Simod cup? I would be keen to know as I don't know anything about them!

[Royal Lady]

From my long experience on this board, they have only really posted on here with regards to travel arrangements or whatever. Occasionally starliaison would post to answer a query with regards to a problem - with the complaints re stewards etc, they set up a meeting and invited people to attend - though, I believe, not many did. In recent months, STAR created a bit of a gulf between themselves and Hobnob contributors due, in the main, to one nobber inadvertently mentioning what went on at a Fan's Forum and STAR getting extremely precious about it. A copy of the page on the STAR website showing pictures of who was on the board was put on here and one or two people were somewhat unkind about a few of them - STAR then decided they did not want to interact with anyone from here. And so they don't appear to interact at all now - because they don't consider us worth it. They are on FB and Twitter. They have told us that if we pay our £10 we'll learn a lot more about STAR and can be more involved if we wish to be. Though, from your post, Born 'n' Bred Royal, it seems that you haven't had much interaction from them at all.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

and they're not publicised particularly well at matches.

there is a bloody huge container outside the east stand, you cant miss it. You also say you use for travel, you must get the Reading Matter a few times a year, what else is it that you want them to actually do?

[Royal Lady]

http://star-reading.org/index.php/downl ... iew/440/1/

Can't cut and paste from this pdf - not even sure if this link will work, but basically at a meeting in Sept between the club and STAR, the club agreed that STAR's best policy with regard to abuse on social media sites etc was non-response and zero tolerance.

Also interesting to note that STAR have yet to meet with AZ - meeting was postponed and STAR asked for it to be rearranged. Hope this meeting gets re-arranged soon, otherwise it's a sad indictment of the new owner's respect for the club's supporters if he hasn't even managed to meet representatives of its Supporter's Trust.