Fever Zone 2013/14 - How to Grow the Zone?

Thoughts? How do we grow the numbers, volume and chant variety in the Zone this year?

Win.

Need to make it easier for n00bs to get the vibe, learn the chants (lol) and feel "included" in the Zone/YF, rather than feel alienated which is always a challenge when trying to move into an established group (of any kind).

And no, no ideas.

Yet.

Even though winning is outside of our control I do think that had some impact on the atmosphere of the zone last year.

In saying that I do think we probably need some new chants etc, but thats a bit beyond me. The liaison with the club you mentioned in the other thread sounds like a great start.

That's a great idea - and maybe using Bookface and Twitnuts to direct people to it (and therefore here) so they're going to engage more directly with the YF "community" besides just the match day experience... YF is about more than chanting at the RoF; it's about getting behind OUR club and getting involved in/with it - which can again be supported further with help from the Thunder twins (sticks & dome).

The fundamental thing is about making it easy for people to get involved. Otherwise, they simply won't bother (you could call these people rugby fans).

I actually sit in aisle 20, so in the next block over from the bulk of the Fever.

We join in with volume from our group of 10 or so.

As for ideas for next season:

1) People buying tickets within the zone (All aisles with YF designation) need to understand that WE STAND - Maybe there needs to be better advertising of this fact when people are purchasing tickets within these aisles?

Whenever there is an increase in crowds from normal people around us moan about us standing in the first few minutes.

2) Chants - KISS => Simple chants stick with the fans better, especially with those further out from the bulk who don't come all the time, a simple chant will catch on.

3) Timings - Chants that are simple and have a certain time they come out are even better => "Eeyore" for a bad shot over, "She fell over", "Leo" at corners, these sort of ones can help to pull in fans less likely to chant, and once we catch them then it can get more advanced.

4) All the words - I don't frequent the chants section much, but maybe a stickied (Locked) thread in there with the words to all the main chants so that if someone wants them they are easily found

As for growing the zone in size, there are already people sitting in the aisles either side of the main bulk, the first aim is to get them involved, a lot of them are the same people there every week, but they aren't always joining in. These people will all have friends etc as well, so if we get them more excited and involved then we can use them plus our own contacts to get more people along. Maybe the core fever should get some "chant leaders" out to the edges of the zone to seed the chants in as this might help to get more people joining in as well.

For more people coming along I think several things could play a part:

1) Show your colours - Whether just wearing your scarf to work, or a jersey on Fever Fridays

2) Talk about the club - With friends, family, workmates - you know who likes sport, get them excited, all of them

3) Fever Fridays - Would love to help here myself, but I work away from CBD, but get involved, the more people showing such great support for the club the more we will get people along, and especially into the Zone

4) Use your 20% discount - According to the season ticket info all members get a discount on tickets to the games, use that to get friends and colleagues along to a few games, this incentive should help to get some stragglers into the stands as well.

Ok I really think that was a bit of a ramble, but hopefully some of it resonates with others.

Another thought - a little left field - game day in the Fever Zone shouldnt have a huge emphasis on pubs + drinking imo.

Theres a lot of us who arent really into the pub scene but are very much loud and proud YF members.

Think theres a slight perception that we are a whole lot of drunk 30-somethings with our tops off. Sure thats a decent chunk, but theres a whole lotta fun with the chants and atmosphere as well which sometimes doesnt translate as well to other fans.

Think maybe trying to make it a bit more 'kid friendly' perhaps as well? I guess theres a lot of kids/families who want to be part of the atmosphere but also want to be seperate from the swearing/drinking in the zone.

Would be very interested to hear from the guys on here who dont sit in the zone - why don't they currently?

Aisle 23. Slightly better view and we can still hear the chants mostly. 

Jnr Jnr keen to move over and be a hooligan, Jnrette less so.

Big gap last season between us and the zone so chants never really got going.  A couple of seasons ago there was an equally vocal nutter who was in Aisle 23/24 and occasionally we would egg each other on and get others joining in.

Pretty hard going last season.

I know there's already a Yellow Fever Twitter account - how about using that (or a new dedicated account) much more actively on game day. Updates about where the Fever are at, what's happening, bits of info from the club, the odd joke, questions about the game (e.g. "who should be first sub second half?"), even new chant ideas could be easily thrown up there. But keep it nice and open and inclusive (no "where are you mate?" type tweets). I think that could help expand the zone in numbers, by making it seem like a more friendly inclusive place, but also expand the zone in a digital sense - throughout the stadium.

By the way, I sit in Aisle 19 with a 5 year old and 7 year old. We find that suits us fine for being close enough to the Fever to be part of the atmosphere but without the kids being too close to bad language and still being able to see etc. They love it when they hear a funny chant and I only occasionally need to say "ear-muffs!"

Shoot any of the constantly  negative buggers that are in the Zone!

Hypocrisy on the accidental use of Twitter dripping of you Smith...

In some respects I guess you have to ask what you want the Zone to be.

If you want the Zone to be family friendly then I guess language and alcohol are two things that don't fit into that too well (unless you are Otara "ba-doom-tish"). Yes there is funny banter but is it banter a kid will get? When you read what Term wrote, I can completely understand his reasoning for sitting near the zone and I think everyone can. That would suggest at the moment that the Zone is not a place for families (and I do accept I am generalising here)

The alternative is the Zone a 'fan zone' where they can let loose with like minded supporters, act up for an hour, get their shirt off, spill drinks and then return to normal NZ. Its a place where you do escape your family and you do go a little crazy for a while.

As an idea, is there and option to create two zones right beside each other. One for the families and one for the 'heathens' (for lack of a better term). You could have quite a bit of fun backwards and forwards between the two in terms of chanting interplay (requires some co-ordination) but not necessarily a crazy idea (just needs some thought)

Its a tough one, me and mate have been going to games for a few years and bought season tickets for the first time last season but our tickets happened to be right in the heart of the fever zone (not quite sure how that happened). And to be honest we didn't sit in those seats all season because it wasn't overly inviting, a little intimidating I guess. Not really sure how to rectify that but the suggestion above of encouraging people to come have a drink before the game could possibly work

Families and Heathens

... "Like"

This is pretty much the reason I like the zone, I wouldn't call myself a quiet supporter so it suits me perfectly. I completely understand making  it more friendly, but i'm not sure if it should be aimed at being 'family friendly' maybe 'user' friendly would be better. Easier/more chants, slightly less intimidating atmosphere etc. Maybe with that it will be more family friendly...who knows.

Ok....

I guess the hard thing is that you can't split the zone into 2 because those you put at the front are going to want to sit a little higher to be able to get a good view so do you bump the heathens or the families to the front knowing that from a viewing point, one of them is going to get a bum rap.

(sorry I am speaking from a point of view that its very difficult to have the two sections intertwined)

Whenever I come up from Chch with mates we always get involved and get in the zone but in the earlier seasons when I'd come up with family or friends there was definitely a weird sense of intimidation and almost a lack of belonging. So an area that's still a part of the fever but perhaps more inviting and family friendly might be a good idea. It's a certainly a different feeling if you turn up and you don't know the chants or anything so I reckon something needs to be done about that so the Fever 101 idea is a decent shout.

I'm not sure how much the fever interacts with the other NZ Phoenix fan clubs, probably because most of them haven't really taken off, but getting involved with them and helping them organise trips to Wellington ect, would be handy. I'm taking over the Chch fan club this season and hopefully I can get a decent number of members and make a couple trips up to Welly.

Another point is A LOT of fans don't use the forums. More facebook and twitter interaction might be a good idea.

I'm torn between being a yf hooligan in 21 or staying in 23 where the view is better, the conversation more intellectual "ref, youuuuu idiot" but where the chanting is a bit lacklustre at times.

I think you need to make it clear that anyone is welcome in the zone, I agree that the idea of going in for the first time if you don't know anyone who goes there is going to be intimidating. It can seem like a bunch of guys who are close mates being really drunk and if you don't know them personally and/or aren't drunk yourself most people shy away. And the fact that everyone has to stand is always going to put people off - people with kids, people with bad knees, short people, people who just want to sit down for a bit because they are drunk or lazy, and so on. 

So who are the people who would be willing to stand? My guess is the hardcore feverites and young drunk men. Maybe YF should target the uni to try to get students along, advertise the zone itself specifically on noticeboards and such, try to push it as a party atmosphere. Another idea could be to try and get backpackers/tourists along. A lot of young people from Europe pass through Wellington in summer, is there a way we can get them to come along and join in? Ads in hostels or something? THey'll presumably have more of an interest in football to begin with and might want to try the kiwi experience of it. Hopefully.

In fact I've always thought that the Fever Zone in particular and Nix matches in general are a uniquely Wellington experience in New Zealand and wondered if the council and airlines and local hotels etc could market "catch a fever for the weekend" or something, try to get out of towners spending the weekend to come along and experience it. Look at the way the 7s does this annually. No one cares about the matches, they go for the experience of going. Maybe we need to push that more - less of a "hardcore soccer fans" vibe and more of a "crazy party times" vibe. Obviously the whole travelling roadshow thing undermines this idea a bit though :( Not to mention the 7pm Sunday kickoffs this year too, Friday and Saturday nights would be much better. Of course that'd cut out some of the kids and families a bit too though. But in terms of the zone specifically I don't think there's any point in trying to get more families and kids in anyway for the reasons which everyone's already said.

I also think that a lot of non-zone fans still love the zone and you can tell this by the way the seats around there are generally more filled than elsewhere in the stadium. Even if people don't want to be in the zone themselves they still enjoy the atmosphere and has been noted before they will join in chants if the chants are simple enough. It all contributes to the overall matchday experience, which is something no rugby or cricket game can match, and that's waht will draw people in I reckon.

The yf zone is the mother ship if you like but having lots of small pockets of singers amongst the wider crowd helps galvanise the whole crowd to join in with yf chanting.

Which is why I will stay where I am in 23

Streamers and confetti.

More a comment on atmosphere but maybe the zone should aim to arrive 10-15 mins earlier? At the moment it is empty until just before the players walk out. I know that cuts into the amount of drinking time but it would boost the pre-kick off atmosphere.

Also is being in the zone still the cool thing to do? There used to be groups of teenagers on the trains, who used to head into the games but they seem to have disappeared. Phoenix crowds were always younger than Rugby ones but it seems we have lost that demographic.