(x-posted to our North American Socer forum, please click here to comment)

Those who know me on the Internet know me as bedir than average, in reality I am Dave Clark. I am running to be a Membership Council representative for the Seattle Sounders Football Club. With the help of Sounders FC fans I will represent the fan to management and ownership of Seattle’s most recent entry into top level professional sports. You likely have some questions immediately, first about the Membership Council, and second about me.

You can read a bit here and clicking on “Membership Association.” That won’t tell you much and likely leaves you with questions. Today Sounders FC started answering those questions with an email. This link is from their FAQ that went out to season ticket holders.

The most important question from the FAQ is this:

What are the duties of Council members?

Council members will attend two meetings per term, attend the annual meeting at conclusion of season – hosted by Drew Carey, serve as mouthpiece of other Members, fans, match attendees, report to ownership on the pulse of the Members Association, be tuned into the match-day environment in your seating section, gather comments, suggestions, and criticisms from Members and present them to ownership, communicate to other Members through Member Only forums, and chat rooms that will be integrated into newly designed Sounders FC website (early 2009), serve as monitors in Members Only forums and chat rooms and report inappropriate content to Sounders FC management, and have a desire to see the Members Association succeed and become the cornerstone of other sports teams wanting to see Members have a more pronounced voice.

This is the first time in North American Sports that fans will have a democratic voice to the ownership of their team. The opportunity and test that Sounders FC are giving us is the opportunity for fans to fire an incompetent GM, it is the test of the intelligence of said fans.

The open nature of the Internet and people powered democracies are combining in unique ways in the United States these days. Imagine the ability of fans of their favorite team being treated with respect and dignity; imagine these fans being invited to the table as part of the process. What Sounders FC has the opportunity to do is provide the fans with a voice at the table, a method of not just venting on a call-in show, but actually participating in the way the team is run, and the philosophies that are put in place. They have already committed to allowing the Membership Association vote on the sitting General Manager and their ability to retain the position. With my voice representing you we can accomplish more.

This is an exiting opportunity for our voices to be included. We can help craft promotional concepts that don’t just extend the brand of the team, but that also emphasize the unique nature of the Puget Sound and the Evergreen City. We are a city that believes in going green, why can’t we do that with our Rave Green and Sounder Blue? Let us put forward ways that the team can encompass the best of Seattle, while winning championships and cups across the country and around the world? Through this team we can show the multicultural way our city has grown from backwater to world leader. Not only will we not accept failure from the General Manager, but we should demand that this team is true to what makes our city and region great.

There are many things I - as a sports fan, as a professional and as a Seattle resident bring to this potential role.

1- My former work as a producer at KJR-AM Seattle. This gives me unique insight into the challenges that the sport we love faces in dealing with the media, but it also means that I understand the voice of the fan, and how radio was in the 90s is what the Internet can be now for our voice towards the administration, coaches and players affiliated with the team that represents our fine community. The Membership Association and Council will give us the opportunity to do more than just vent and scream.

2- As a devoted Starbucks partner I have learned how to connect with people over the smallest subjects and develop relationships that last. Having spent four years in retail management on Mercer Island, I know that community quite well. After a year of not working in the stores there I still get greeted by customers as a friend and neighbor. This ability to treat partners and customers with respect and dignity is part of what makes us special, and what can make our relationship with our team special as well.

3- My passion for the Internet as a tool of communication between fans of divergent levels of interest. Currently administrating a website with a national presence, I have moderated conflicts that arise in among fans. As a multi-sport forum we have both seen soccer completely disrespected, as well as had the opportunity to see it grow in interest in the USA. Over four years ago I was brought on to help moderate the political forum, as people of all political stripes felt that I was someone who would respect people regardless of position while finding common ground between opposing parties. But I haven’t been limited to just writing for a site I help run, you have likely seen me around the Mariners’ blogosphere at the following sites Prospect Insider, Detectovision, and USSMariner. In the current Sounders blogosphere I post both on my own site, as well as at GoalSeattle’s Forums.

4- Strong verbal and written skills. I was in both high school journalism and debate, followed that on with a employment in broadcasting and have learned to craft messages from the casual to corporate as is needed. That ability to craft the message in a way that the corporate flaks understand and the Membership Association loves will be key to getting the fans’ ideas implemented. This is also part of the technique in booking guests for the radio. Reaching out to them, creating a win-win, and a narrative about which they care.

5- Lastly, unlike the most active members of the current Sounders online community, I am not a member of the ECS. I would be there to represent the common man and the common fan. People who want to both display passion, but also want the game to be about the play on the field and not fires, smoke or orchestrated displays.

So I ask you to have me, Dave Clark, as your choice for the Membership Council so that we can help this team, and our communities, show that Democracy in Sports isn’t just a slogan, but a winning combination - a method of integrating that which is best about sports, with that which is best about the open source nature of the Internet and people powered democracy - access and transparency. Together we can harness our passion and make certain that Sounders FC proudly represents us on the field, and we proudly represent them off of it.

Remember in order to vote you must be a Member of the Association - a season ticket holder or have paid for membership without the season tickets. To place a deposit go to Seattle Sounders FC

Thank you,
Dave Clark
email me at bedir@hotmail.com