Buy The Buds

[barrymitchell 62]

Did anyone from SMISA ever Google 'Buy The Buds' before setting up the campaign?

It's technically buythebuds.

[whydowebother 6,488]

It's technically buythebuds.

Or even ; #buythebuds

[Callum Gilhooley 9,964]

Was at a night out last night with most of my family , the talk got round to the Buythebuds campaign & i was disappointed to discover that only two of us had signed up.

There was a mix of " i`m not sure" & " i dont know enough about it" so i spent a fair chunk of the evening selling the idea to them. It just showed how many more Saints fans there are out there who , for whatever reason have not been reached by the campaign yet.

I followed up this morning with a text to them all.

"Lets get signed up to #Buythebuds. For just £12 a month we can make fan ownership happen. Go to www.smisa.net & sign up now orturn up at the public meeting at St.Mirren park on the 19th May to find out more "

Perhaps if those who have signed up could do the same with their nearest & dearest .... or failing that , their friends & family we will get those numbers up.

[davidg 8,455]

That's what I was led to believe as well but reading through the constitution I noticed this.

12. The Society Board will decide and issue a form of application for membership. Members are to pay an annual subscription of such reasonable sum as the Society Board shall decide, the first payment to be made at the time of application for membership. The sum of £1 from the first payment shall be applied to purchase an ordinary share in the Society.

I cant see anywhere that its the members that decide/vote on.

It's like any club, the members vote in the committee to make these decisions on their behalf.

[cockles1987 4,746]

It's like any club, the members vote in the committee to make these decisions on their behalf.

Not all clubs, I know plenty that all the members decide by vote the annual fee and not just the committee.

My original concern was if some unscrupulous folk were able to become the majority on the board then what comes first, they're reelection or the need for the subscription to be paid and not affordable by the majority of the members.

[Lord Pityme 6,537]

Sign ups at 555..!

The bid is coming alive, over the hump now, downhill all the way to 1000 buddies on board.

All who have signed up, give yourselves a pat on the back, and dig anyone you know who isn't signed up in the ribs to get along to the meeting at the stadium this Thursday.

[elvis 2,505]

I will be surprised if they get to 1000 sign ups by end of month .

[Lord Pityme 6,537]

I will be surprised if they get to 1000 sign ups by end of month .

Nearly 600 will be signed up BEFORE!

The first public meeting to present and discuss the bid. That is impressive, and I can only see it growing arms and legs after Gordon and Smisa have had a chance to articulate their vision for the future of SMFC as a fan-led, community club.

It's all good bud! Go on sing us one of your songs..."i'm all shook up...uh-huh'

[whydowebother 6,488]

I will be surprised if they get to 1000 sign ups by end of month .

I agree, far from stating the bid 'coming alive' I'd be hoping and asking 'Has it peaked ?'

We signed up and I hope it's a success and to be fair it's not going too bad , however it's where it ends up that matters.

[guinness 642]

Biggest problem seems to be how many people even know about this Meeting on Thursday?. Very little coverage in press. I signed up early doors but know many who know nothing about it. All eggs seem to be in 1 basket re a Meeting that has been barely publicised.

[Vambo57 1,600]

I'm worried too. Not just about the (what seems like the one and only public meeting), but the general "getting the word out to those not on these pages.

It's post season, we cannot rely on word of mouth... Has there been any progress in getting the Season ticket holders and/or 10000hrs details for a mail/email shot?

There was approx 1600 10000hrs signups, we're way short of that...

Edited May 16, 2016 by Vambo57

[aldo_j 1,996]

Biggest problem seems to be how many people even know about this Meeting on Thursday?. Very little coverage in press. I signed up early doors but know many who know nothing about it. All eggs seem to be in 1 basket re a Meeting that has been barely publicised.

Agreed. Should have been in the national papers at the weekend and then followed up again this week.

[Isle Of Bute Saint 9,951]

The word has not been properly put out there I would be surprised if there are anything near 200 fans at Thursdays meeting.

Someone wrote this bid has been done at the wrong time of the year I tend to agree with that. Paisley express will give good coverage I would imagine but what is its circulation. National papers will just cover a wee story which might be hard to find.

Will be very surprised if this bid succeeds.

[Ronnie 959]

The only people who seem aware of this meeting and therefore will be only ones to turn up are the 555 people already signed up so seems like Thursday could be a complete waste of time.

If the people behind this can't do a simple thing like get a meeting well publicised that could determine the whole future of the club what chance have they got of running the club successfully in the future.

[oaksoft 11,104]

It does seem odd that there is limited publicity of this.

In fairness it doesn't auger well that the new incumbents appear to be suffering from the same inability to sell the club as the current board.

I don't want to overly criticise for reasons I have expressed elsewhere but the lack of leadership is very strange.

Where on earth is Gordon for example?

Why is he not more visible?

Especially with the bid running out of time and stalled membership.

I might be coming across as harsh but there does seem to be very little energy about this entire campaign.

Edited May 16, 2016 by oaksoft

[Drew 21,116]

It does seem odd that there is limited publicity of this.

In fairness it doesn't auger well that the new incumbents appear to be suffering from the same inability to sell the club as the current board.

I don't want to overly criticise for reasons I have expressed elsewhere but the lack of leadership is very strange.

Where on earth is Gordon for example?

Why is he not more visible?

Especially with the bid running out of time and stalled membership.

I might be coming across as harsh but there does seem to be very little energy about this entire campaign.

I don't recall a great deal more energy surrounding 10000Hours. I think people have simply become club sale fatigued. Combine that with 3 largely abysmal seasons, and its perhaps not surprising that folk aren't particularly turned onto this.

The media are also less interested now that we are even diddier than previously, and a second bid for fan ownership is less newsworthy in any event (ETA - especially when every spare column inch is devoted to the Dundee United and Hibs clusterf**ks, Celtic's managerial situation, and who Sevco might or might not be signing).

This bid was always going to be up against it. I daresay things could have been done better, but its important to take account of factors out with their influence.

Edited May 16, 2016 by Drew

[Kendo 7,162]

The word has not been properly put out there I would be surprised if there are anything near 200 fans at Thursdays meeting.

Someone wrote this bid has been done at the wrong time of the year I tend to agree with that. Paisley express will give good coverage I would imagine but what is its circulation. National papers will just cover a wee story which might be hard to find.

Will be very surprised if this bid succeeds.

Be prepared to be surprised.

[faraway saint 26,045]

Be prepared to be surprised.

Indeed, shocked more likely.

[oaksoft 11,104]

I don't recall a great deal more energy surrounding 10000Hours. I think people have simply become club sale fatigued. Combine that with 3 largely abysmal seasons, and its perhaps not surprising that folk aren't particularly turned onto this.

The media are also less interested now that we are even diddier than previously, and a second bid for fan ownership is less newsworthy in any event (ETA - especially when every spare column inch is devoted to the Dundee United and Hibs clusterf**ks, Celtic's managerial situation, and who Sevco might or might not be signing).

This bid was always going to be up against it. I daresay things could have been done better, but its important to take account of factors out with their influence.

Yep you may have a point about sale fatigue but the newspaper thing is irrelevant in the days of social media.

[Drew 21,116]

Yep you may have a point about sale fatigue but the newspaper thing is irrelevant in the days of social media.

I use the term 'column inches' loosely to include any and all media coverage.

[faraway saint 26,045]

I use the term 'column inches' loosely to include any and all media coverage.

Obviously.

[Drew 21,116]

Obviously.

I assumed it might be.

[buddiecat 4,386]

Do people not realise how hard it is to get a story in the national press ? SMiSA board members have been trying individually and as a group to drum up interest from the national press, they simply don't want to see past premiership teams. They have given us some column inches, but we would have been given more if we were from Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh or Dundee. We have had coverage on radio and TV but again it would have been more if we were from a bigger city with more readers/watchers of newspapers and TV.

The SMiSA board and a few members/prospective members have been doing a lot of work for over a year on this bid. We have asked for help from anyone with any experience in professions that could help the bid, the response from some has been terrific, but i expected a lot more to offer to help.

The club were asked about getting season ticket buyers lists and have been told we can't be given these, i presume data protection issues come into being with both the club and 10k hours when it comes to giving out personal details.

I am quite disappointed that some fans want to come on here and state "this will never happen" or words to that effect, what purpose does that serve ? I have a lot of faith in our fans, and expect to see an uplift in sign ups soon.

Thanks to all who have signed up and to those who will.

[faraway saint 26,045]

Do people not realise how hard it is to get a story in the national press ? SMiSA board members have been trying individually and as a group to drum up interest from the national press, they simply don't want to see past premiership teams. They have given us some column inches, but we would have been given more if we were from Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh or Dundee. We have had coverage on radio and TV but again it would have been more if we were from a bigger city with more readers/watchers of newspapers and TV.

The SMiSA board and a few members/prospective members have been doing a lot of work for over a year on this bid. We have asked for help from anyone with any experience in professions that could help the bid, the response from some has been terrific, but i expected a lot more to offer to help.

The club were asked about getting season ticket buyers lists and have been told we can't be given these, i presume data protection issues come into being with both the club and 10k hours when it comes to giving out personal details.

I am quite disappointed that some fans want to come on here and state "this will never happen" or words to that effect, what purpose does that serve ? I have a lot of faith in our fans, and expect to see an uplift in sign ups soon.

Thanks to all who have signed up and to those who will.

I think some fans are entitled to express concerns that the bid has slowed down and, at the moment, looking like coming up considerably short of the target.

I think the unsubstantiated claims it's almost a done deal are rather foolish and don't serve any real purpose,

I've already stated I think it's the right move but I'm still of the opinion, and have been for some time, it'll fall short.

Why or how is certainly up for debate.

PS If it does fail it certainly won't be because of a few negative comments on here.

Edited May 16, 2016 by faraway saint

[buddiecat 4,386]

I think some fans are entitled to express concerns that the bid has slowed down and, at the moment, looking like coming up considerably short of the target.

I think the unsubstantiated claims it's almost a done deal are rather foolish and don't serve any real purpose,

I've already stated I think it's the right move but I'm still of the opinion, and have been for some time, it'll fall short.

Why or how is certainly up for debate.

PS If it does fail it certainly won't be because of a few negative comments on here.

That's the point though, it cannot be short of target until the target date is set - expect that date soon. The survey we conducted last year got a very positive response and gave us the the inspiration to proceed with a bid. A fair number of people who replied to the survey and said they would sign up for a fan buy out, have still to do so, and i expect they will be as good as their word.

I know it will not fail due to negative comments on here, i just don't understand the need to be negative about it.