Calling all insiders

[RFS62]

We've had a lot of people pass through RedsZone who have mentioned they have inside connections to the Reds.

I'm putting out a call to anyone who has a connection to the new ownership group. I think it would be very nice to try to establish a relationship with the new administration, on whatever level we can manage.

The Red Sox "Sons of Sam Horn" board has had regular communication with players and front office personnel over the years. I don't see any reason that we can't do the same here if we go about it in a civil and organized fashion.

So, if you're an insider, speak up if you are willing to help. If not, and you just have some ideas to get the ball rolling, please post them here.

We've got some professional writers here, a few media people, and a wealth of baseball knowledge. If we come up with a plan, I can't imagine that the Reds wouldn't want to establish a friendly relationship with the best Reds fans outlet on the internet.

[Team Clark]

As long as Rob Butcher is employed by the Reds this will never happen. Sorry to say that but it is true.

[RFS62]

OK, a thunderous response, so it must be a great idea!!

No insiders interested, eh? So, let's lower the bar a little. You don't have to have a connection to the new ownership group, you just have to like vegetables. He's in the produce business, I understand, so anyone out there who likes vegetables, sign up here.

This is your big chance.

[paintmered]

I heard from an unnamed source that carrots are in closed-door discussions to change their color to red.

[wheels]

As long as Rob Butcher is employed by the Reds this will never happen. Sorry to say that but it is true.

You're not a big fan of Rob Butcher, are you?:D

RFS....

I love your idea.

Problem is the Reds make a habit out of ignoring message boards.

I'd be surprised if they even know what Redszone is.

[Redsland]

They do. But a regime change would be required before they could post openly.

[wheels]

They do. But a regime change would be required before they could post openly.

Is that a John Allen thing?

[RFS62]

I think if we approached it correctly we could identify ourselves as something different than the MLB board. If that's how they perceive message boards, I wouldn't blame them if they didn't want to get involved.

What if we put together a representative sampling of some of the best stuff written here and send it to them. Along with a reasonable campaign of contacts to sell them on the idea.

I don't think anything can be done until the new owners take over. But we could be ready with a well thought out campaign to establish a dialogue with these guys. If they choose not to participate, at least we've tried.

I can't believe that anyone could read WOY, M2, Steel, and a myriad of other writers here who really put time and thought into their posts and not see the benefit, if nothing else for market research. But at best, to connect with a captive audience of rabid Reds fans who can be a great sounding board for their policies.

Maybe nothing would come of it, who knows? But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

So, I'm redefining the criteria for participation yet again.

Anyone who can pick a head of lettuce out of a lineup is welcome. You don't even have to like lettuce.

We're all about being inclusive here.

[Reds4Life]

Call the Reds switchboard between 10:00 - 10:30 pm and say "Iceburg lettuce loves 5 tool outfielders". Someone will then meet you in the GABP garage to discuss the matter.

;)

[paulrichjr]

Call the Reds switchboard between 10:00 - 10:30 pm and say "Iceburg lettuce loves 5 tool outfielders". Someone will then meet you in the GABP garage to discuss the matter.

;)
:laugh: :laugh:

That was funny

[MartyFan]

We've had a lot of people pass through RedsZone who have mentioned they have inside connections to the Reds.

I'm putting out a call to anyone who has a connection to the new ownership group. I think it would be very nice to try to establish a relationship with the new administration, on whatever level we can manage.

The Red Sox "Sons of Sam Horn" board has had regular communication with players and front office personnel over the years. I don't see any reason that we can't do the same here if we go about it in a civil and organized fashion.

So, if you're an insider, speak up if you are willing to help. If not, and you just have some ideas to get the ball rolling, please post them here.

We've got some professional writers here, a few media people, and a wealth of baseball knowledge. If we come up with a plan, I can't imagine that the Reds wouldn't want to establish a friendly relationship with the best Reds fans outlet on the internet.

Ya know...I think this is an outstanding idea...in fact, I like it so much that I would go out on a limb and say that if the Reds would put someone in here once a week or two that the season ticket sales would go up...imagine if the team we pay too see actualy interacted with us.

Major corporations do this in just about every other industry...why would a baseball team be any different? I mean, MLB even has BLOGS now...so why not come out and play?

[BCubb2003]

Maybe it would help if RedsZone made a concerted effort to participate in such things as calling into the Hot Stove Report, e-mailing to Marty during the games, and even the Banana Phone. It would definitely raise the level of discourse in those venues, and RedsZone would become known as a rare collection of thoughtful old-school historians of the game and insightful, analytical innovators instead of the usual foul-tempered hecklers or inarticulate Banana phoners.

We'd have to behave ourselves, though.

[paintmered]

Maybe it would help if RedsZone made a concerted effort to participate in such things as calling into the Hot Stove Report, e-mailing to Marty during the games, and even the Banana Phone. It would definitely raise the level of discourse in those venues, and RedsZone would become known as a rare collection of thoughtful old-school historians of the game and insightful, analytical innovators instead of the usual foul-tempered hecklers or inarticulate Banana phoners.

We'd have to behave ourselves, though.

Does Matt usually work the switchboard for these events?

Maybe with his help we can get our contributions on the air. Or is that considered WLW shenanigans?

[RFS62]

When RedsZone first started, I often thought how cool it would be if players and management would read here and participate.

Then after a while, the criticism was so rampant and hateful, I came to believe that it would be a shame if some of the objects of our scorn and their families read some of the things posted here.

But as time passes by, the general public becomes more and more familiar with messageboards, and situations like the "Sons of Sam Horn" elevate the public perception of what's possible.

How cool would it be if we could take RedsZone to the next level and actively engage the media, the players, the management and administration in discourse?

Are we really so busy that we don't have time to try this?

I believe with absolute certainty that there's enough talent here to do this right. Whether or not the Reds respond, that's on them.

It's on us to decide if we really want to try.

[Big Donkey]

As long as Rob Butcher is employed by the Reds this will never happen. Sorry to say that but it is true.

True stuff. I know I've certainly had issues getting in contact with him in the past.

[icehole3]

Call the Reds switchboard between 10:00 - 10:30 pm and say "Iceburg lettuce loves 5 tool outfielders". Someone will then meet you in the GABP garage to discuss the matter.

;)

Yeah what do ya need, yeah I like 5 tool OFs...also like hard throwing righties.

[Team Clark]

You're not a big fan of Rob Butcher, are you?:D

RFS....

I love your idea.

Problem is the Reds make a habit out of ignoring message boards.

I'd be surprised if they even know what Redszone is.

Nope. Only because I have first hand knowledge. I've seen the guy's act. Not a good one.

[ghettochild]

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/cin/ballpark/scoreboard.jsp

[Redsland]

Is that a John Allen thing?
I couldn't tell you who specifically issued the order. But since it seems like a public relations matter, Butcher may be your man.

Not to pile on or anything. :devil:

[wheels]

I met Rob Butcher a couple of years ago at a caravan event.

Seemed like an amiable guy to me. Guess when he puts his work face on, he becomes something of a tyrant.

[RFS62]

OK, veggie lovers.

Just to clarify, the purpose of this thread is to BRAINSTORM, kick ideas around, discuss different ways we might make a connection.

I haven't talked to Boss or GIK about it at all, and it's totally up to them whether or not they are interested in an official RedsZone overture to the Reds.

So, all this is meant to do is exchange ideas and round up anyone interested in pursuing this project before we present it to the owners of the site for their approval. I didn't mean to imply that I speak for RedsZone. This is just an idea I've been kicking around for a few years, and a new administration may or may not be receptive to.

[Redsland]

In that light, the organization has to see value in the relationship. If they’re going to, for example, give a monthly interview or chat session, or respond to some Q&A surveys, or make a player available to us from time to time, then that’s a huge concession for them. Especially considering they already have many local and national credentialed media asking them questions day in and day out. The players have all that, plus charity commitments. So if we’re going to sell the club on something like this, I think we have to be ready to explain exactly how it benefits the club. And I don’t think it’s enough to suggest they’ll have a few extra-happy fans, or might possibly sell a few more tickets, maybe. Goodwill? Maybe, but that’d be a sell to the new ownership group.

I think it’s a very interesting idea to involve the team somehow. But I don’t know what kind of a relationship we’re talking about. I need to know more before I feel like I can help generate ideas. And of course, from all accounts, the guy we’d deal with isn’t interested, which is a big hurdle.

[Reds Nd2]

In that light, the organization has to see value in the relationship. If they’re going to, for example, give a monthly interview or chat session, or respond to some Q&A surveys, or make a player available to us from time to time, then that’s a huge concession for them.

What about the value to RedsZone itself? While I can't forsee the future, I can imagine a boat load of trolls coming here and complaining that it really isn't Adam Dunn, Dan O'Brien, Marty Brennaman, etc. posting here. I mean, good lord, could you see BF posting to Dunn? I remember reading the MLB boards when Curt Schilling started a thread there. It wasn't very nice and I forsee the same thing happening here.

I'm not sure how SoSH works, but isn't it a pay as you go deal, with very limited and exclusive membership? This idea may work somewhere like that, but it's my opinion that it's fraught with peril for a free website like ours. Maybe you could limit it to ORG, but even then I don't think it works. Untill this forum becomes an exclusive site, that limits to the best of it's ability the seriously uninformed, I don't see this happening. No matter how well the presentation is put forth to the parent club.

My appologies RFS62. It's a great idea. It really is. I just don't see it ever happening here without some major restructuring of the way this forum works.

[RFS62]

No need to apologize, that's what brainstorming is all about. Tossing out ideas to see if they float, and if you're lucky, charging a boatload of money in consulting fees.

I think some kind of relationship is inevitable. It may be years in the future, but the interest the Shilling threads caused at Sons of Sam Horn was incredible. And scary, I'm sure, to MLB and management.

Message boards and blogs are evolving daily, and some kind of symbiosis may emerge, I don't know. Maybe this is an exercise in futility, maybe not. With the current administration and Rob Butcher running PR, probably not.

But if nothing else, we could make them aware of us. You'd have to be pretty stupid not to be interested in a resource like this, even if you gave it very little weight. I can think of a million reasons that no relationship will evolve, and all the objections already noted herein are valid points. I can't think of any reason not to try to reason out all the variables and examine the angles. It's the offseason. There are a lot of smart people here. What else have we got to do?

What's the harm in tossing the ideas around, regardless of the outcome?

Kick it around, say whatever comes to mind. My ego isn't attached to this in any way, unless of course it works. Then it's all my idea!!!!

[redsfan30]

Very good idea! If something would ever be able to come to pass with this, my question would be this: When it gets out that Redszone is connected to the Reds, I've got to think that board traffic would be at an all-time high with people coming around just for that fact. Would the board be able to handle that many potential new users without having to raise membership dues and/or make subscribing manditory for all users?

Being directly connected to the Reds would be a huge step for this board. Can/could it handle that?

[wheels]

I'd bet that there's a way to make it so that only certain members can interact/ask questions.

Maybe have some sort of election type thing where we all choose who the select questioners would be.

Maybe just make a special section that only the players and select few posters can have access to, and maybe bring on certain members of the Reds once a week or once a month or something.

Or...Make it like one of those chats, and have the mods select which posts are used and given to the player or whomever.

I just think it would be cool to have something like "This Week on the Redszone Hotseat: Dan O'Brien" or something like that.

Then maybe post the whole transcipt and we could all discuss it after the fact.

That would rock so hard.

[CougarQuest]

RFS62 is correct, this has been a wishful thought of many orginal Redszoners. And as he pointed out, things got so nasty, many felt bad for some players that did read this board. And if reports are true, there have been several Reds who have read this site. It also appears, that several media people that report/discuss the Reds have read this site, based on what has been written or spoken.

Redsland has some very valid points. Perhaps, to gain the Reds interest, we could charge a pre-paid fee to the people who want to chat to the Reds staff and all the PROCEEDS go to (at least in the beginning) charity or split the PROCEEDS with the Rosie Reds. The Rosie Reds are well established with the Reds. A good connection. Besides, we could gain some knowledgeable Reds fans to this site.

There would have to be a written set of ground rules, that the Reds would have to approve and Redszone would have to enforce. You would probably have to have all questions sent to Redszone personnel to "pre-approve" that they meet the rules. Then the questions could be forwarded to the Reds representative who is answering questions at that session. That representative would still have the option of which questions he/she wants to answer. That would mean Resdzone would need most of the administrators and moderators available for each session.

With new ownership, and hopefully a new hierarchy, this may be the time to 'strike'.

[BCubb2003]

What if there was a thread that developed a set of questions ahead of time for each target person in the organization? It would allow all of RedsZone to participate, but the final questions to be posed would be tweaked for reasonableness and civility. There wouldn't be the real-time spontaneity of a chat, but it would raise the comfort level of the interviewee. You could get the questions to the interviewee in whatever means arises, and the answers would be posted soon after in RedsZone. It would be a start toward an open but non-threatening relationship.

[OldRightHander]

There is another forum that I participate in from time to time which is tied to a radio broadcast. The Friday broadcast is a question and answer format. People can write or email questions in and they also keep an ongoing thread on the web site that is dedicated to questions for the broadcast. The host will pick some questions from the thread and address them, and a lot of the other questions get answered in the thread. It seems to work pretty well, but that is a smaller organization than a pro sports team.

[paulrichjr]

Would the Reds actually do this since they have an "official" site on their own website?

[Redsland]

Increased traffic would be inevitable, but would not be unlike the influx of noobs we saw in April. The board can handle it. And, yes, there will be trolls, as there were this year, but the new two-board structure can limit the damage, particularly if all "official" threads are confined to ORG.

Authentication is easy. Terrorist groups have code words they give to the press to confirm their identities when claiming credit for something. We could give a similar word to the front office, not that I'm suggesting anything. ;) They authenticate offline to a moderator, and that's that.

Perhaps we don't have to do all the work on this pitch. What about pulling a couple of exemplary threads out of the archives and sending them along with a letter that basically says, "we'd like to have a semi-official relationship with the team. What form might that take?"

[Boss-Hog]

Personally speaking, I don't have a problem with this. I think the site could handle increased traffic with the changes we made several months ago.


What if we put together a representative sampling of some of the best stuff written here and send it to them.

I like that idea.

[15fan]

Originally Posted by RFS62
"What if we put together a representative sampling of some of the best stuff written here and send it to them."

Like the annual draft threads where most of us, armed with nothing more than a web browser and maybe a BA subscription, routinely run circles around the folks in charge of calling the shots.

[creek14]

They are already here. Some might even post. Or they might not. If I tell you, I'd have to kill you.

But here's an example I can share. When I went to get the tickets for the Gathering last year and the guy asked me the group name for the scoreboard, and I said RedsZone.com, he said "oh we all read that site all the time."

And I just checked the members list. A member of the McKeon family (not batboy) was here just a few days ago.

Lots of people know of this place. The job is convincing those people we aren't just a bunch of autograph crazed people who live in our mother's basements.

[Roy Tucker]

I would certainly think an amiable and cross-functional relationship between RedsZone and the Reds would be a win-win thing for both sides.

At a minimum, I would think we would be another Agonis Club-like audience that the Reds regularly send speakers out to. I would think a moderated chat session would be a good thing. As long as the questions are reasonable and not inflammatory, it could be a positive experience.

How do other sites (such as Baseball Prospectus, ESPN, SI, etc) deal with chats?

If somehow we could creatively convince the Reds that something like a positive and contributing relationship to RedsZone would be a cutting-edge Internet type thing, they might see some merit in it.

I know there is the whole MLB team web sites collection that is a thriving thing. But if we could convince them that connecting with an organic site like RZ would be seen as a cutting edge thing that no other team does, we might have some leverage.

[corkedbat]

Terrorist groups have code words they give to the press to confirm their identities when claiming credit for something.

Are you comparing "the Clique" to a terrorist organization? :D

[corkedbat]

The job is convincing those people we aren't just a bunch of autograph crazed people who live in our mother's basements.

I don't live in my mother's basement. :angry:

I have a crawl space in the attic.

[OldRightHander]

The job is convincing those people we aren't just a bunch of autograph crazed people who live in our mother's basements.

How about those of us who keep our mothers in our basements?

[Reds Nd2]

Or...Make it like one of those chats, and have the mods select which posts are used and given to the player or whomever.

I like this idea. It could be moderated in such a way as to keep the questions civil, yet still allow everyone to participate. Limiting it to ORG access, while not fair to the newer members, would be beneficial in controlling the trolls. A transcript of the chat could be posted on Reds Live afterward, allowing everyone to discuss it. Of course a thread could be started before hand and questions to be asked could be posted there for ORG members to see. That way, the newer members have the chance to have their questions asked, even if they wouldn't have the opportunity to post themselves. A time limit would need to be agreed to with the Reds before hand.

Would the boards current chat capabilities be sufficent in handling something like this?

Are there any members of SoSH here or does anyone know of any members? Perhaps someone could go over there and ask them how they went about drawing interest from the Red Sox. IIRC, one of their members posted about RedsZone once. I would think they would be more than willing to help.

[Blimpie]

How about those of us who keep our mothers in our basements?Here's ORH doing some yard work over the weekend...

http://www.gonemovies.com/WWW/WanadooFilms/Thriller/PsychoHuis.jpg

[Milezinni]

Although this would be a great opportunity for me to add to my already edit censored, censored, utation censored, and I am soooo tempted, I am going to keep my opinions to myself........

except of course to say I am going to keep my opinions to myself.

[Redsland]

except of course to say I am going to keep my opinions to myself.
I note a distinct lack of qualifiers on that statement.

:cool:

[wheels]

I'll tell you what, this sounds more and more feasible with every post (except a post like #41 gives me reason for pause).

Somehow we have to convince the upper ups in the new management that we aren't all a bunch of loons, and secondly (and most importantly), that whomever decides to subject themselves to it won't be harrassed.

A sampling of some of the better threads (such as M2's "There's no such thing as a Bad Season) might just do the trick.

I really believe in the idea that it's a cutting edge thing for the Reds to do, and it's something that might give them a great PR angle. They'll be known as a team that has an open and frank dialogue with it's fanbase and uses technology in doing it.

The media eats stuff like that up.

[CougarQuest]

I can tell you from doing an Anti-Drug poster involving the Reds, no matter how many phone conversations you have with them, everything (and I mean everything) has to be spelled out in writing and sent to them, then "they" review it and give you a written response back, along with phone calls in-between.

They are very (and understandably so) concerned about: time (after all, the people who are going to be interviewed are doing this on thier own time), safety, and how every and any aspect of what you are doing is going to affect the people involved and the Reds organization. They are also very concerned about who you wish to pick to do whatever endeavor you are looking to do. They are also very, very charity conscious. Oh, and lest I forget, they are concerned with what expense the Reds organization MAY incur. There were waivers to sign, to keep the Reds organization and the players/personnel involved out of a lawsuit.