1-800-GO-Cougs

[CougPatrol]

Time for another rant....

Today when I called the ticket office, I got an automated message saying that "due to COVID, we're working remotely and currently trying to determine how to best handle incoming calls. Please email us at.....or visit wsucougars.com and use the chat function."

OK, so I log onto wsucougars.com to use the chat function, and.......nothing. It hour glassed for 10 minutes.

Oh well, I thought. I'll just check my account to ensure that my renewal and CAF donations are locked in for the upcoming season. Nope. That function is down too.

Last resort...I emailed athletics.tickets@wsu.edu, but I struck out again. Here's the automatic reply I received. "Thank you for emailing the Cougar Ticket Office! We're working on answering your question or request and will get back to you within 48 hours. Go Cougs!

I've been a season ticket and Lot #1 RV pass holder for many, many years now. Here we are, in the middle of May with the renewal deadline of May 15th fast approaching, and I cannot get through to the ticket office.

For as much as I love WSU, we have an amazingly small time way about the way we run our athletics department.

 

[79COUG]

Time for another rant....

Today when I called the ticket office, I got an automated message saying that "due to COVID, we're working remotely and currently trying to determine how to best handle incoming calls. Please email us at.....or visit wsucougars.com and use the chat function."

OK, so I log onto wsucougars.com to use the chat function, and.......nothing. It hour glassed for 10 minutes.

Oh well, I thought. I'll just check my account to ensure that my renewal and CAF donations are locked in for the upcoming season. Nope. That function is down too.

Last resort...I emailed athletics.tickets@wsu.edu, but I struck out again. Here's the automatic reply I received. "Thank you for emailing the Cougar Ticket Office! We're working on answering your question or request and will get back to you within 48 hours. Go Cougs!

I've been a season ticket and Lot #1 RV pass holder for many, many years now. Here we are, in the middle of May with the renewal deadline of May 15th fast approaching, and I cannot get through to the ticket office.

For as much as I love WSU, we have an amazingly small time way about the way we run our athletics department.

If I'm you CP, I immediately send an email here: Athletics.Director@wsu.edu

Let Chun know that part of his job is enabling fans to support the team.

 

[BiggsCoug]

Time for another rant....

Today when I called the ticket office, I got an automated message saying that "due to COVID, we're working remotely and currently trying to determine how to best handle incoming calls. Please email us at.....or visit wsucougars.com and use the chat function."

OK, so I log onto wsucougars.com to use the chat function, and.......nothing. It hour glassed for 10 minutes.

Oh well, I thought. I'll just check my account to ensure that my renewal and CAF donations are locked in for the upcoming season. Nope. That function is down too.

Last resort...I emailed athletics.tickets@wsu.edu, but I struck out again. Here's the automatic reply I received. "Thank you for emailing the Cougar Ticket Office! We're working on answering your question or request and will get back to you within 48 hours. Go Cougs!

I've been a season ticket and Lot #1 RV pass holder for many, many years now. Here we are, in the middle of May with the renewal deadline of May 15th fast approaching, and I cannot get through to the ticket office.

For as much as I love WSU, we have an amazingly small time way about the way we run our athletics department.

WSU should extend the AD and pay him more money! We are lucky to have such an amazing AD that handles things like this!

 

[CougPatrol]

WSU should extend the AD and pay him more money! We are lucky to have such an amazing AD that handles things like this!

Well, I'm not down on Chun, but this is ridiculous. I mean, with all of the challenges that WSU faces, the one thing we can't do is screw up the ticketing and donation process.

Ordering and donating online should be fast and easy, with a slick e-commerce platform. I've been in sales & marketing my entire career, and listen to me on this....You NEVER make customers wait when they're trying to buy your products or give you money.

 

[425cougfan]

Email Chun and tell him it's crap, because it is. WSU has been like this for years. Scary thing is, at least pre-COVID, the website was much better than it had been previously, even though it still wasn't great and had some obvious, glaring issues.

 

[CougPatrol]

I just tried to login to wsucougars.com again tonight, and I couldn't. Funny, not funny.

 

[Observer11]

They need to outsource all that. The WSU ticketing and donation process is horrific.

These technology problems have gone on for at least 15 years.

 

[M-I-Coug]

Time for another rant....

Today when I called the ticket office, I got an automated message saying that "due to COVID, we're working remotely and currently trying to determine how to best handle incoming calls. Please email us at.....or visit wsucougars.com and use the chat function."

OK, so I log onto wsucougars.com to use the chat function, and.......nothing. It hour glassed for 10 minutes.

Oh well, I thought. I'll just check my account to ensure that my renewal and CAF donations are locked in for the upcoming season. Nope. That function is down too.

Last resort...I emailed athletics.tickets@wsu.edu, but I struck out again. Here's the automatic reply I received. "Thank you for emailing the Cougar Ticket Office! We're working on answering your question or request and will get back to you within 48 hours. Go Cougs!

I've been a season ticket and Lot #1 RV pass holder for many, many years now. Here we are, in the middle of May with the renewal deadline of May 15th fast approaching, and I cannot get through to the ticket office.

For as much as I love WSU, we have an amazingly small time way about the way we run our athletics department.

I say this virtually everyday. "Vice President's aren't customers". And joke everyday I'm writing the book titled: "Vice President's aren't customers".

 

[BiggsCoug]

Well, I'm not down on Chun, but this is ridiculous. I mean, with all of the challenges that WSU faces, the one thing we can't do is screw up the ticketing and donation process.

Ordering and donating online should be fast and easy, with a slick e-commerce platform. I've been in sales & marketing my entire career, and listen to me on this....You NEVER make customers wait when they're trying to buy your products or give you money.

The 2 most important things in sales...

#1 Having something to sell.
#2 Getting the $.

If you f$ck up those things, you suck at your job.

Chun sucks at his job. If Chun has any clue what he is doing, he has someone in the department reading this website. If the issue isnt fixed today, that’s a huge red flag.

 

[FnuLnu]

The 2 most important things in sales...

#1 Having something to sell.
#2 Getting the $.

If you f$ck up those things, you suck at your job.

Chun sucks at his job. If Chun has any clue what he is doing, he has someone in the department reading this website. If the issue isnt fixed today, that’s a huge red flag.

Someone from the AD reading this website will also be reading CougEd's posts.......

 

[95coug]

I just tried to login to wsucougars.com again tonight, and I couldn't. Funny, not funny.

I logged in at about 6:30 last night. Saw my ticket status, seat assignment, etc. No issues.

where I ran into a problem was the CAF page. For one thing, it’s hard to find how to donate. That link should be right at the top in big neon letters. Even worse, when I found the donation link, the page STILL doesn’t work. It says it’s undergoing maintenance during the week of March 8-12....the same message that’s been up since at least March 5. Then it points to the Foundation page.

You NEVER take down your site for donations. You do upgrades offline and you make it live before you take down the old one. And you make that switch after midnight so nobody’s interrupted. Having your primary donation site down for almost 3 months is a disaster.

 

[BiggsCoug]

I logged in at about 6:30 last night. Saw my ticket status, seat assignment, etc. No issues.

where I ran into a problem was the CAF page. For one thing, it’s hard to find how to donate. That link should be right at the top in big neon letters. Even worse, when I found the donation link, the page STILL doesn’t work. It says it’s undergoing maintenance during the week of March 8-12....the same message that’s been up since at least March 5. Then it points to the Foundation page.

You NEVER take down your site for donations. You do upgrades offline and you make it live before you take down the old one. And you make that switch after midnight so nobody’s interrupted. Having your primary donation site down for almost 3 months is a disaster.

And this is why you don’t keep Chun. Either he doesn’t know or he doesn’t care. Both of which aren’t acceptable.

It is this mickey mouse bullshit that keeps WSU from moving forward. How long do you think this will take to be addressed and fixed???? How long is acceptable???

 

[dgibbons]

And this is why you don’t keep Chun. Either he doesn’t know or he doesn’t care. Both of which aren’t acceptable.

It is this mickey mouse bullshit that keeps WSU from moving forward. How long do you think this will take to be addressed and fixed???? How long is acceptable???

I believe the list of other ADs that "don't care" would include every AD in school history.

 

[wazzucougs96]

No disagreement about what a cluster-eff the AD has been for 2 decades regarding this kind of stuff. OTOH, I was getting personal calls daily from them until I renewed, to the point where it was annoying. So someone is there, just asleep at the wheel for incoming calls.

 

[BiggsCoug]

No disagreement about what a cluster-eff the AD has been for 2 decades regarding this kind of stuff. OTOH, I was getting personal calls daily from them until I renewed, to the point where it was annoying. So someone is there, just asleep at the wheel for incoming calls.

How do you call someone every day like a bill collector??? Wtf is that?

The best thing WSU could do is fire the entire athletic department admin and start all over. What a bunch of turds.

 

[CougPatrol]

No disagreement about what a cluster-eff the AD has been for 2 decades regarding this kind of stuff. OTOH, I was getting personal calls daily from them until I renewed, to the point where it was annoying. So someone is there, just asleep at the wheel for incoming calls.

The telemarketing calls are another glaring red flag, symbolic of a grossly outdated and antiquated sales and marketing model.

Consumers let it be known decades ago that they DON'T want to be telemarketed to, yet WSU presses on. Making matters worse is the fact that they have young kids making the calls who have zero acquired sales and customer service acumen.

This is the e-commerce age. Your website needs to be your #1 salesman and source of information. It has to be fast, easy to navigate, and continuously updated. You would THINK that, given our geographic challenges, WSU would embrace this technology, as it helps level the playing field for us. You don't need billboards and print ads to reach your alumni. wsucougars.com has to be the mecca. The new age Bookie. Who do we play this week? What's our depth chart look like? Game video and recaps. How do I order tickets or donate?

There should be an app for straight forward ticket and donation information. This is the world we live in now.

 

[BiggsCoug]

The telemarketing calls are another glaring red flag, symbolic of a grossly outdated and antiquated sales and marketing model.

Consumers let it be known decades ago that they DON'T want to be telemarketed to, yet WSU presses on. Making matters worse is the fact that they have young kids making the calls who have zero acquired sales and customer service acumen.

This is the e-commerce age. Your website needs to be your #1 salesman and source of information. It has to be fast, easy to navigate, and continuously updated. You would THINK that, given our geographic challenges, WSU would embrace this technology, as it helps level the playing field for us. You don't need billboards and print ads to reach your alumni. wsucougars.com has to be the mecca. The new age Bookie. Who do we play this week? What's our depth chart look like? Game video and recaps. How do I order tickets or donate?

There should be an app for straight forward ticket and donation information. This is the world we live in now.

People don’t know what they don’t know. The fact that WSU and it’s athletic department don’t know this???? Fire Chun. You cannot have leadership that is completely clueless. You cannot have a department full of people that don’t know.

It is almost 20****ing22. At what point should the athletic department know this stuff??? When should simple shit like this be old news and now they can be forward thinkers???

Fire Chun and get a real AD in there. In fact, fire whoever gave him a new deal. They are just as clueless and dumb.

 

[dgibbons]

The telemarketing calls are another glaring red flag, symbolic of a grossly outdated and antiquated sales and marketing model.

Consumers let it be known decades ago that they DON'T want to be telemarketed to, yet WSU presses on. Making matters worse is the fact that they have young kids making the calls who have zero acquired sales and customer service acumen.

This is the e-commerce age. Your website needs to be your #1 salesman and source of information. It has to be fast, easy to navigate, and continuously updated. You would THINK that, given our geographic challenges, WSU would embrace this technology, as it helps level the playing field for us. You don't need billboards and print ads to reach your alumni. wsucougars.com has to be the mecca. The new age Bookie. Who do we play this week? What's our depth chart look like? Game video and recaps. How do I order tickets or donate?

There should be an app for straight forward ticket and donation information. This is the world we live in now.

I'm going to point out a sad truth. Upgrading the system must be worth the investment. Given that WSU fans are pretty stingy, how do you justify an investment that you don't think (or are at least skeptical of) providing the return on the investment? Exhibit A is the prolific poster in this thread that wants to fire the AD but will not donate or buy tickets.

The Athletic Department lost (I believe) $35 million last year. The annual dues payment to the Pac-12 was not made (I'm sure with the Pac-12's consent). We're just starting to see the damage the pandemic has done. Cheap and shoestring budgets are returning to the extent they ever left.

 

[mikalalas]

I STRONGLY disagree that this is a Fireable offense, especially since Chun has made so many DAMN good xoaching hires in Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer, Baseball, TBD: Rolo, has raised a lot of funds(Sans this problem talked about here by others), considering that MUCH WORSE WSU AD's have ALLOWED THIS CRAP, and not been fired.

But that said, that doesnt mean nothing should be done.

I suspect part of the problem is that there is a Good Ole Boys network inner cirlce in the AD financial, sales, marketing administration, that is so ingrained, that it woukd be hard for a Pres, AD, to Fire them, or it would have already been done(Fired), by them(Presidents, AD's, Board of Regents, etc), during the last 50 years.

Thats still not a excuse to do nothing.

Something must be done, what is it?

Well if all we do is talk about it here, that's not gona change it. Pretty sure that others have talked this kind of talk in the past, and everybody just talks, nobody does anything, or if they do something, its not the right thing, or its just them, they are not enough by themselves.

So what must be done?

One or more of us who is CREDIBLE enough needs to:

1. Make other fans aware of this and MOTIVATE them to:

A. CALL the Board of Regents, President, AD, etc.

2. Goto the Media, and EXPLAIN, DEMONSTRATE, PROVE this is a problem.

A. Show the offending website, often, and show that its not working as a tool to get donations.

3. You then have to explain, show, prove, etc, how the website should be done.

4. Then you have to show, explain, give ideas, prove, etc, on how to market, sale WSU.

A. This should be done to Regents, Dean, President, AD, Media.

5. You BASICALLY have the EMBARRASS, RIDICULE, CAUSE THE BOARD OF REGENTS, PRESIDENT, AD, FANS, PLAYERS, COACHES, WSU, ETC, TO BE ASHAMED, EMBARRASSED OVER THIS ISSUE.

6. You have to be will to take criticism, have done to you what Bill Moos did to people, AKA get BLACKLISTED as a WSU Fan.

7. Keep up the HEAT, PRESSURE.

8. IF do all that, it will change, as the SQUEEKY WHEEL GETS THE GREASE.

So if something like that is done, then things will change for the better.

If not, if all that is done is messageboard talk like this talk, then nothing will change, be done, and every President, AD, etc, in the future will continue this crap.

All this talk by all of us is nice, but so far, its all talk, and nothing else but talk, ranting, venting, etc.

 

[mikalalas]

I'm going to point out a sad truth. Upgrading the system must be worth the investment. Given that WSU fans are pretty stingy, how do you justify an investment that you don't think (or are at least skeptical of) providing the return on the investment? Exhibit A is the prolific poster in this thread that wants to fire the AD but will not donate or buy tickets.

The Athletic Department lost (I believe) $35 million last year. The annual dues payment to the Pac-12 was not made (I'm sure with the Pac-12's consent). We're just starting to see the damage the pandemic has done. Cheap and shoestring budgets are returning to the extent they ever left.

Thats true overrall to a point, but having a good website, and good sales,marketing, promotion, etc, either doesnt cost that much, cost little, or if does cost a lot, doesnt have to cost a lot, and can cost either cheap, cheaper, less, without either affecting quality, with even better quality.

There are a lot of colleges that are worse off then WSU, that do a BETTER Job at their website, sales, marketing, promotion, etc, at a lot cheaper price then it cost WSU.

The cost of website, AND Sales, Marketing, Promotions, financial administration, etc, probably only cost about $75k to $333k Budget.

That should easily be budgeted, amd should easily make about $750k to 3.3 mil to 5 mil to 7 mil to 9 mil minimum range.

 

[FnuLnu]

I believe the list of other ADs that "don't care" would include every AD in school history.

De Facto WSU AD Jim Walden truly CARED.

 

[95coug]

No disagreement about what a cluster-eff the AD has been for 2 decades regarding this kind of stuff. OTOH, I was getting personal calls daily from them until I renewed, to the point where it was annoying. So someone is there, just asleep at the wheel for incoming calls.

Another strange difference. I haven't gotten any fundraising calls from WSU in years. Used to get one roughly once a month on average - for athletics, college of science, alumni, etc. - but it's probably close to 10 years since anyone called at all.

 

[CougPatrol]

I'm going to point out a sad truth. Upgrading the system must be worth the investment. Given that WSU fans are pretty stingy, how do you justify an investment that you don't think (or are at least skeptical of) providing the return on the investment? Exhibit A is the prolific poster in this thread that wants to fire the AD but will not donate or buy tickets.

The Athletic Department lost (I believe) $35 million last year. The annual dues payment to the Pac-12 was not made (I'm sure with the Pac-12's consent). We're just starting to see the damage the pandemic has done. Cheap and shoestring budgets are returning to the extent they ever left.

You're obviously not wrong, but you and I both know that this type of ticketing and CAF donation nonsense has been going on at WSU for decades. You and I are diehards. When this shit happens, we try again later. John Q Casual Fan doesn't.

To say it must not be worth the investment may very well be a valid point right now, but what's the investment? How about a little transparency? We're very open about facilities projects that we need, but something like this, while not a sexy, needs to be talked about. Large scale ecommerce websites aren't "cheap," but we're talking about several hundred thousand dollars to design a custom site and maybe $50-$60K / year to outsource maintenance, and trust me, WSU NEEDS TO CREATE a high paying, high profile ecommerce director position within the athletic department.

 

[dgibbons]

You're obviously not wrong, but you and I both know that this type of ticketing and CAF donation nonsense has been going on at WSU for decades. You and I are diehards. When this shit happens, we try again later. John Q Casual Fan doesn't.

To say it must not be worth the investment may very well be a valid point right now, but what's the investment? How about a little transparency? We're very open about facilities projects that we need, but something like this, while not a sexy, needs to be talked about. Large scale ecommerce websites aren't "cheap," but we're talking about several hundred thousand dollars to design a custom site and maybe $50-$60K / year to outsource maintenance, and trust me, WSU NEEDS TO CREATE a high paying, high profile ecommerce director position within the athletic department.

Sure. The point is- if it wasn't worth while before the pandemic without a $35 million loss in one year, what do you expect to happen now? Where is the ROI?

 

[95coug]

You're obviously not wrong, but you and I both know that this type of ticketing and CAF donation nonsense has been going on at WSU for decades. You and I are diehards. When this shit happens, we try again later. John Q Casual Fan doesn't.

To say it must not be worth the investment may very well be a valid point right now, but what's the investment? How about a little transparency? We're very open about facilities projects that we need, but something like this, while not a sexy, needs to be talked about. Large scale ecommerce websites aren't "cheap," but we're talking about several hundred thousand dollars to design a custom site and maybe $50-$60K / year to outsource maintenance, and trust me, WSU NEEDS TO CREATE a high paying, high profile ecommerce director position within the athletic department.

First problem there is that nobody can say what the lost opportunity is.

How much money is turned away when casual donors who visit the page and can't find the "donate" link?

How many more people might give a couple bucks if it was easy to do so, even if they didn't come to the site with that intent?

How many people get turned off by the fact that when you do find the "donate" page, the default is to prompt you for a login? A website 101 dropout could change this and make the default open to anyone, with a secondary option to login.

 

[95coug]

Breaking news:

The CAF donation site that has said since March it's being updated is now live. This has happened in the last 18 hours. Odd coincidence, or is somebody reading what we're bitching about?

 

[CougSinceBirth]

The "Donate" button is broken. I clicked it out of curiosity and it takes me nowhere...

 

[mikalalas]

Sure. The point is- if it wasn't worth while before the pandemic without a $35 million loss in one year, what do you expect to happen now? Where is the ROI?

Cmon Gibs, a Sales, Promotional, Marketing, Website administration budget is only going to cost about 100k to 350k to 500k to 750k to 1 mil a year, which is WIPE YOUR BUTT, DROP IN A BUCKET, POCKET CHANGE out of a 10 million to 35 mil to 50 mil to 75 mil per year Athletic budget.

Especially if that 100k to 500k to 1 million per year Sales, Promotional, Marketing, Website, etc, Budget makes about 1.5 mil to about 3.5 mil to about 5 mil to 7.5 mil in Donations, Revenue(Which Should be EASILY DOABLE with a good Website, promotiona, etc.)

This is not rocket science. And not to hard either, as other colleges worse off then WSU, that are also worse off Financially then WSU, that have smaller budgets then WSU, etc, DO A WAY BETTER JOB THEN WSU at this.

 

[dgibbons]

Cmon Gibs, a Sales, Promotional, Marketing, Website administration budget is only going to cost about 100k to 350k to 500k to 750k to 1 mil a year, which is WIPE YOUR BUTT, DROP IN A BUCKET, POCKET CHANGE out of a 10 million to 35 mil to 50 mil to 75 mil per year Athletic budget.

Especially if that 100k to 500k to 1 million per year Sales, Promotional, Marketing, Website, etc, Budget makes about 1.5 mil to about 3.5 mil to about 5 mil to 7.5 mil in Donations, Revenue(Which Should be EASILY DOABLE with a good Website, promotiona, etc.)

This is not rocket science. And not to hard either, as other colleges worse off then WSU, that are also worse off Financially then WSU, that have smaller budgets then WSU, etc, DO A WAY BETTER JOB THEN WSU at this.

Was somewhere between zero and infinity too large a range?

People that donate are going to donate. What incremental gain do you get for the investment?

 

[CougSinceBirth]

The Northwestern AD job is open again.

 

[kougkurt]

They are hiring

 

[BiggsCoug]

View embedded media

They are hiring

$60,000 per year. They aren’t serious about getting anyone any good.

 

[wazzucougs96]

$60,000 per year. They aren’t serious about getting anyone any good.

Honestly it's probably closer to 40k

 

[95coug]

This is not a high level position. Just above entry level, actually. Only requires 2 years of experience and has a fundraising goal of 100-250K. And the salary is approximate.

In my opinion, if someone who's making $60K (which is at least 80K with benefits) is only pulling in $100K, they're a waste of space. A pure fundraiser should bring in 3-5x what they cost.

 

[dgibbons]

$60,000 per year. They aren’t serious about getting anyone any good.

They gotta save up to expand the stadium to 80,000....

 

[MRICoug]

$60,000 per year. They aren’t serious about getting anyone any good.

Hell, I wouldn’t get out of bed for 60k a year, much less work hard.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

$60,000 per year. They aren’t serious about getting anyone any good.

STFU and stay in your lane.

This is basically an entry level job, so $60k is pretty damn good, especially for Pullman. If you'd have ever been around the CAF staff, you'd know most of them are under 35, if not under 30. I had a girlfriend who was a fundraiser for MDA and made barely above minimum wage - fundraising pays for sh!t, so this is pretty decent.

 

[BiggsCoug]

Hell, I wouldn’t get out of bed for 60k a year, much less work hard.

Top talent gets top pay. Is $60,000 par for the course for what the position requires? Maybe. If you want someone good, they have options higher than $60,000.

 

[425cougfan]

Chun making $650k is "generational wealth" type of money that should keep him locked into Pullman for life although he never had been west of Ohio for a meaningful period before a few years ago and is one of the up-and-comers in all of Power 5, and who has, and will have, all kinds of options and will exit after a reasonable period for a good opportunity, as everyone has known would be the case since he was hired.

A 23-year old kid who never has had a real job and who has a *goal* of getting gifts of $250k a year is underpaid at $60k with benefits. Let me guess ... "I would hire the best development director UW has at whatever the price is. It's worth it. Hell, I'd hire their whole AD. Screw them." If not that, something else stupid that ignores reality and practical considerations.

We need a 65,000-seat stadium in Pullman ... not to hold actual fans, but to tour recruits through while empty (with such recruits not tuning into the team's actual games to see a 2/3-empty stadium, apparently), at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars in a time of belt-tightening and pressure on in-person attendance.

Also, Pat Chun should be fired. Every few days.

Finally, 15% of Cal Poly's roster doing some community service on a beach is crazy and those kids should transfer.

Asinine bullshit expressed without qualification or nuance.

 

[95coug]

STFU and stay in your lane.

This is basically an entry level job, so $60k is pretty damn good, especially for Pullman. If you'd have ever been around the CAF staff, you'd know most of them are under 35, if not under 30. I had a girlfriend who was a fundraiser for MDA and made barely above minimum wage - fundraising pays for sh!t, so this is pretty decent.

That touches on the issue. Paying someone to fundraise undermines their purpose. You pay them peanuts until they prove they can bring in money. And, if they can't bring in multiples of what they cost - the more the better - they don't get raises. If you pay someone $60K, and they only bring in $50K, you just made the hole deeper. So you get young people, pay them $30K. You hope they all bring in 50, and that one or two will bring in 100. Those two get raises, the others get pink slips.