There is a lot of angst after another loss to a bad GT program, this one at home on Thursday night. This can all be unpacked and discussed elsewhere; however, there is no doubt some people are fairly upset, especially when coupled with a college football season defining loss against ODU.
Beyond performance on the field, there is also a lot of anger among portions of the fan base with regard to the inability to address VT marketing and communications timing mishaps and mistakes.
I am a Hokie Club member, will always continue to be one. I meaningfully increased my donation this year because I saw progress in program and wanted to help more.
As a part of our Two Deep podcast, we regularly encourage others to give because we believe it is necessary to reach our collective goals. Those goals may vary among fans from a coastal championship to making it back to the national championship game, but they are all aligned in seeing success on the field. We believe donations are critical to that goal, whether or not others think the same is their prerogative.
We took it a step further this year and our podcast signed up to be ambassadors during the recent donation drive, hoping to help bring more money to the program. We have past professional relationships with some recent major donors, and have reached out to say thanks and let them know their contributions are appreciated by the fan base.
This lead up is solely a backdrop that similar to some others on here, Hokie Fireman probably the most notable, I am not only easy money for the Hokie Club, but I will encourage others to contribute. I'm peddling your product. There are others fans that are far from it, individuals that may take significant effort to convince that those dollars are critical, and that this program is worthy of receiving them.
What are the issues? There have badly timed, and in select instances offensive Tweets coming out from official VT accounts. There have been incorrect, incomplete, and embarrassing press releases. Our technology for broadcasting press conferences is basically trash and many times you cannot access them. On our podcast earlier this season, Andy Bitter of The Athletic stated to us that access to the program has actually got increasingly restrictive from Fuente's closed access mentality he first brought to the program. We have heard similar things from The Key Play as well. The VT Sports website got revamped, and is actually worse than before in my opinion. Forget closed practices, we stopped televising our Spring Game. A meaningful portion of the fan base lives 4+ hours away, and you are ostracizing them from early excitement about VT football. God forbid you live even farther away, which many fans do (we can run a heat map across the country on podcast downloads). With that in mind, let's take a look at 2016 income survey by county to see if there are any high target areas ripe for VT donations (EDIT: for clarity, the point here is there is meaningful income and potential donations in areas that I have heard from many cannot make the trip to BB for the Spring Game, engaging fans year round is in my opinion important):
| Rank | County | State | Median Household Income |
| 1. | Loudoun County | Virginia | $134,464 |
| 2. | Howard County | Maryland | $120,941 |
| 3. | Fairfax County | Virginia | $115,717 |
| 4. | Hunterdon County | New Jersey | $113,684 |
| 5. | Santa Clara County | California | $111,0691 |
| 6. | Arlington County | Virginia | $110,388 |
| 7. | Douglas County | Colorado | $109,292 |
| 8. | San Mateo County | California | $108,627 |
| 9. | Morris County | New Jersey | $106,985 |
| 10. | Williamson County | Tennessee | $106,054 |
I was upset about last night's loss, I really was. Not that I didn't think there was a fair chance we could lose, but because of how we looked on the field. That said, I was more upset getting to work this morning and opening an email from the Virginia Tech Hokie Club.
I am far from a marketing and communications expert, but have spent a lot of time close to it over my professional years. With regard to just general communications - timing, content, and frequency should all be a well-orchestrated production (fall into a spam category and you are dead). Those are just general communications, now we are talking about emails asking for donations. We are on a mission to retain and convince the tough donors, if I am the easy donor rolling my eyes what are we doing?
We have been trying to get with the times and change our seating priority to mirror schools like Clemson, do specific fundraising events, utilize Frank Beamer's continued contributions, etc. It is time to take a real hard looking at our communications and marketing efforts, ownership, and personnel. It has improved in some areas (my suspicion only being those Whit has a tighter grip on), but is has been bad to damaging in many others. I feel fix it, or face the consequences down the road. It will not always be sunny days for VT football, reinforce the foundation or risk losing the house during the storm.
Comments
I don't really understand the point you're trying to make here. Do you think they should have timed the Hokie Scholarship fund announcement to come out after a win?
And why are we looking at county average incomes?
And what does this have to do with the spring game?
I'm just not quite following the argument to a course of action.
You only get so many emails until you become spam or actually start to get retribution (people not donating because they are upset). How are we sending a donation email the morning after that game?
I certainly can't argue with that.
My first thought this morning wasn't "Where's my checkbook, I need a bigger piece of this..."
I believe the point of listing the top 10 county incomes was that 4 of those counties fall into the VT footprint, are likely contain a large amount of Hokies, and are about 4 hrs from campus, meaning if the Hokie Club could reach them and provide some perks that one does not have to be on campus to receive, there is an untapped opportunity for donations. As someone living 6 hrs away, I agree. Make the spring game broadcast exclusively to Hokie Club members, it would raise awareness to the HC just like French getting paywalled raised awareness to TKPC. I have rallied on here before for more perks to HC members other than ticket preference. Hokies are passionate, but not always proximate so how do you bring them in?
OK, I see that.
Particularly as I'm a Hokie Club member, and that would be a perk for me. Not as big a perk as winning games, though.
I care less about the spring game if I'm not going to watch it in person, but I like the general concept of the idea that out-of-town donors get something tangible.
I'd be just as good with a bottle opener.
I did buy tickets from the university when the Hokie Basketball team came to Niceville, FL a couple of years ago.
I think his he trying to nicely say that Hokie Club Members do not feel like they are getting what they pay for.
Secrecy is a two way street. If you are secretive and winning you are protecting the proverbial "secret sauce", if you are secretive and losing you are probably hiding something.
Asking for money absolutely needs to be timed and contextual. After a big win to take it to the next level and possibly after a hard fought loss to provide the needed financial support.
After a debacle a little quiet reflection works best. Saying the program needs more money after watching the completely disastrous performances put forth vs. ODU and GT is not going to sit well with contributors because they are going to want to know why their money hasn't at least been put to use to prevent program defining losses.
The average income listing is showing that people with allegedly disposable income (I would argue if you live in the DC area or CA you don't have disposable income even at the numbers posted) who could contribute live far away from the program and without the kind of access they used to have they will become disengage and uninterested because they will feel uninvolved. Instead of feeling like a contributor that is part of the team and the process they will feel solely like a source of money. When that level of disengagement sets in then they will start to demand a return on their investment sooner rather than later.
As a Hokie Club member who lives in Florida, I can relate to that.
The timing of that request was certainly suspect. I suppose they could do a poll for the spring game, but I care a bit less about that some other folks here. I'm more engaged with the actual football and basketball games.
I think the bigger picture is that Fuente still has some time to right the ship, but not an indefinite amount of time. The strength of VT football has always been defense and special teams, and when those don't work against the likes of ODU and a mediocre GT team, people get worried.
Is there a medium-to-long-term fix in the works? We're seeing some pretty scary indicators that need to be addressed.
I expected a rebuild year this year. I didn't expect what appears to be a total shambles of a defense out there. Are these guys going to be able to pull it together over the next year? Is there talent there that isn't matured yet? I see these things as more important than whether I can watch the spring game on the internet next year.
But people who can't be there, like yourself, may feel more assured that the team is headed in the right direction if they can see the spring game on the Internet.
I take a lot of flak for doubting HH is going to start at QB for VT. Not seeing him throw only two passes in the spring game and watching the snaps he got in garbage time against W&M where he again did not throw a pass tells me he may have been a recruiting miss. I am completely not buying that the staff is saving his magic for a rainy day. It's not just raining, it's pouring. Let's see the magic. Let's not forget that at this time in JJ's career he was starting and even though he didn't "light it up" he was also entrusted with more duties than any other QB on the roster.
I think access to program helps reduce suspicions like mine even if the spring game is "meaningless". Seeing player potential is far more encouraging then dealing with complete blackouts and then watching fiascos like ODU and GT. If I can't see the potential during a real game then I need to see it practice. If the only thing I base my judgements on is the product on the field then I begin to feel like VT football is a ship lost at sea. I don't think I'm alone is feeling like this.
To be clear, do I think Fuente has the makings of a great coach? Yes. I really think he has the makings. But every person, regardless or talent faces challenges that they may or may not be able to conquer. Having to consider replacing your friends on your own coaching staff is one such challenge.
Beamer struggled with it after Bustle left and he installed Stinespring.
Do I think we don't have enough talent to beat ODU and GT? Hell no. I think we have way enough talent especially on offense. That leaves me to look at coaching, play calling and overall scheme and I look a that a lot harder when I can't see the potential due to all the secrecy.
That's a good point. I haven't really seen Hooker play, only read about it in the post-spring game media coverage.
In the big scheme of things, though, I see what's happening in real games, so I doubt my assessment of the program is very different from that of someone who attended the spring game. For me it's not a big thing, but there may be others who feel a lot differently. Certainly some people here do, and it's a valid perspective.
The jury on this program is way out. I'd feel a lot better if I knew who the playmakers on the defense were going to be next year, and I was seeing some progress. I feel a lot better about some parts of the offense.
To some degree, I better understand what UVa is doing. They started their rebuild in the trenches, and they're seeing results. Seems to me that our recruiting is better. The biggest question for me is the future of the defense, as I'm seeing some weakness.
There's some really good information on here, but I too am a little confused. To Key's point, is the list of county incomes in 2016 areas that were identified to be top-doner areas for the university or just a general list of counties with the highest incomes? If it's just a general list, it really doesn't matter if there's not a large contingent of alumni living in that area.
The Spring Game not being televised influences a specific area I feel comfortable speaking to that has disposable income among alumni. I rarely talk to alumni in this area that have availability to travel to Blacksburg for the Spring Game. I commonly talk to alumni in this area that used to be excited about watching it on TV, and now cannot.
^This. I always got excited to watch the Spring Game. A little taste of football season/fall in the spring. Before kids I would make it a point to try and get down to Bburg that weekend, but its a challenge now with a toddler and infant at home. It was a real bummer when they stopped televising/streaming it.
Lots and lots of information in here, and a lot of it good. I'll just go and say that I couldn't agree more about our online presence. Right now, as it currently exists... It sucks. Between Pete Morris sticking his foot in his mouth constantly (tweeting out VT was the epicenter of football right after a major earthquake hit the US, shit talking North Carolina about playing in a hurricane as Florence was off the coast, etc), the embarrassing press releases (the announcement of the ND game time which included "after coming off a xx-xx victory over Old Dominion"), and ill timed mailers for donations, we seem to be doing everything we can to shoot ourselves in the foot online.
Whit is all about the brand, and for the most part, it is working extremely well. But our online presence is a joke, and it won't be long before it starts harming the brand. It needs to be cleaned up.
Pete's twitter game is a shit show on its own. It's long past time for him to go.
This seems like something we should be able to make happen. The dude's tweets are horrendous.
Wow talk about coincidence. We had to research this exact same statistic in groups today to discuss determinants of health. I was surprised to see that NOVA comprised such affluent counties compared to the rest if the country.
It's fairly-well known that Federal tax money tends to end up in Washington D.C. and the surrounding counties.
It's one of the most affluent and educated areas in the country.
Attention to detail is not the athletic department's strong suit, and the devil is in the details. Sending a generic communication after a brutal loss is tone deaf. The fact they sent it to someone who already donated for 2018-19 leads me to believe they don't have a proper customer management relations infrastructure.
Here's a thought on how there might be an opportunity to communicate with the fanbase after such as loss.
Subject: Wanna Get Beat Like That Again?
Body:
Then delete this email and do nothing.
Otherwise, support the Hokie Club.
--Call To Action--
This is what I saw in my head reading Joe's new marketing strategy... Joe has an inner Don Draper.
Oooooh, that's pretty scary. Right on time for Halloween.
The check is in the mail.
Is Mike Singletary still an unemployed, former coach? I'll donate if we can hire him to teach these players on defense how to play like their hair is on fire and how to tackle. If you can't tackle, as we saw in both the ODU and GT games, you're lost, brother.
Don't be a dick, Bud is still the GOAT regardless of what happens this year.
Is it bad timing or perfect timing though?
I understand the point and have given that a lot of thought. My opinion is that it is bad timing. I don't think you inspire donations through negative result. At the least distance yourself from it and send the email out on Tuesday.
I am of the bad timing opinion as well. But I do think the timing could be used as a catalyst a la Joe's post directly above mine.
In other news: Pete Moris needs to go.
That's just embarrassing. Is Pete 12 years old?
And it wasn't even a chop block.
This. THIS. THIS.
Petty Pete at it again poorly representing our program.
Well actually, it is very related news. I don't think we are getting a call back from the program any time soon, but we are cool with that.
When you are an organization's official presence on social media, there is a line to be walked between being professional and being "edgy" enough to have a likeable presence people want to follow.
Our football program has ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE how to walk this line and has displayed that repeatedly for several years.
Wendy's does it extremely well but they're a fast food restaurant. I don't think they're held to as high of standard of conduct as a State institution. Tech doesn't need its official social media accounts throwing shade; that's what fans and students are for.
Give control of the accounts over to the Hokie Birds and I've no doubt it would improve.
Here's the conclusion I arrived at when I received the HC email this morning: The administration of the football program is going in one direction, while the marketing and promotions department is going in another.
Lets be honest... This is either the best season or the worst season to be right in the middle of The Drive For 25, depending on how you look at it of course.
I just want to say I don't even think the university is keeping full track of their alumni. I haven't received communication from them in years, and it's not like I'm hiding.
Call 'em.
I literally get more calls from my graduate school, university of Alabama in Huntsville (< 10k total enrollment) than I do from VT. I've donated to VT.
VT out here playing the very long game.
I'm a VT dropout, never earned a degree from there, however I get calls, emails, and snail-mail correspondence from them fairly frequently. On the other hand, my friends,co-workers, peers that did graduate never receive anything.
They definitely need a revamping of their overall approach to support and contributions. Starting with marketing and advertising.
I get plenty of correspondence from VT. I do donate regularly, and occasionally update my information with them.
I'm happy not to get phone calls.
If anyone is feeling like they don't get enough love from VT, they can reach out either to the college they attended or to the Hokie Club. They're not hard to find.
If you're not on their list, it's likely to be because your information changed at some point. They'd be happy to hear from you!
I tweeted about this earlier. The loss was beyond ugly. Not diving into what we've all tried to move past today. But, I was nearly in disbelief when I got this email.
First, it is after a very poor showing, at home, on national tv.
More importantly, I haven't donated to HC since before LAST football season. I'm not in HC, yet I still received this email.
I don't get it. If I ever have the means to start donating again, I'll reach out to them. Otherwise, they would have been better off sending this email to loluva's student body.
On another note. I went to my aunt and uncle's tailgate in Lot 2 yesterday. Less than 2 hours before kickoff there were a great amount of spots still open. Not a good look to me.
For a Thursday night game, I'm not surprised. A lot of people work for a living.
The game appeared to have a decent attendance. Sort of emptied out at the end, which was also not surprising.
I've rarely seen it start to empty out at halftime, though, even for a Thursday night game. We lost half the student section at that point, based on empty aluminum. Was right up there with The Duke Johnson Show.
The stands didn't look bad on TV until it was clear the game was lost.
I must be missing something - offensive tweets?
Riddle me this: if VT has to win to be worthy of donations, why would they need donations?
I literally never said that, the program needs to be worthy of donations, that includes all aspects of the program. In fact, I wrote this focused on marketing and communications.
I was mostly thinking out loud versus responding directly to your post. Your thoughts on timing of the email prompted it though. You say it was bad timing. However, I doubt that email caused many if any donors to decide to pull their money back. A small percentage may have even decided to pony up to help fix the shit show they saw last night. Back to my comment though, I have seen posts by others that stated the team not worthy of hard earned money, which I find to be a silly stance.
Donations are not universally "you either donate or you don't". There are plenty of us with income that we currently donate, and income that we don't currently donate. Both of those pools can increase or decrease.
100% agree. Before embarking on a monumental drive for 25-like campaign you need to get your team lined up. The idea is great (most ideas are great, Strategy is not that hard) - most strategic ideas break at execution.
Whit's top priority should be to up his teams' talent. Too many legacy and local people trying to execute a professional campaign and multi-million dollar business. Go find capable people with experience and get your house in order, else prepare for significant disappointment in reaching your goals.