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Mark Rowan

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Mark is the head of Media & Communications at Everton and is currently heading up, along with Denise Barrett-Baxendale, a range of Fan Engagement initiatives at the Club.

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Since my last blog some of our fan engagement initiatives have been developing well.

Last time I mentioned our newly-revamped Fans Forum and I'm happy to explain a few of the issues which were discussed.

As a result of issues raised directly from supporters to key club officials, including Robert Elstone and head of ticketing Andy Ward, we have agreed on several things.

For example, we agreed to discuss with our betting partners 188BET the possibility of opening a claims window after home matches.

Following fans' feedback we will be talking with Kitbag about the minimum spend of £40 which supporters must have undertaken to gain access to the recent shop signing sessions.

This is just the tip of the iceberg and various other key issues including Goodison Park branding for 2011/12 and group ticket sales and an update on the Park End development were discussed - and will continue to be discussed throughout our regular meetings.

April also saw our first Fans' Conference , with nearly 200 of next season's Season Ticket holders invited to Goodison Park.

At the conference Robert presented a candid account of Everton's current financial situation and then fans could ask senior players Phil Neville and Tim Cahill questions about matters on and off the field.

With the addition of some Blues legends, we believe this evening was a successful way of informing, entertaining and engaging with our supporters.

As well as these two initiatives, our work with supporters clubs, in the community and online continues as well.

Everton in the Community have recently issued their annual report detailing all their excellent work over the previous 12 months.

It's gone down very well so far and is well worth a read if you want to learn more about what the organisation does.

It is also the first time we have produced a document of this nature, providing Evertonians with an informative run-down of all elements of our Everton in the Community scheme,.

We've been ramping our Soccer Schools activity up in view of the school holidays which are coming up - we see this as a great way of engaging with young football fans and their families and introducing them to what Everton is all about.

The players are fully behind our Community activities and each strand has an ambassador for the first team squad who lends their weight to initiatives in that particular are. Keep an eye out for this over the next few months and check out the supplement we placed in the Echo recently for more information.

Matchdays are probably the biggest example of fan engagement and we built on that at the Manchester City game with a family fun day in Stanley Park before the match. It was a chance for youngsters to try out some of their skills while their parents looked on, all under the guidance of our dedicated coaches.

The win over Man City just completed the experience!

As ever, if you have any comments or questions, please use the comments section below.