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Letter from the President - April 2019

Photo by Daniel Mick

Greetings MNUFC Supporters,

Allianz Field is finally open. The conference calls about ADA seating in the supporters section, matchday planning, smoke training, drum purchases, and more, culminated in one glorious display of our MN soccer community. Hats off to each and every one of you who played a part in making that day happen; it was one for the ages. Thank you for your continued efforts in making this the special place it is.

For those of you who are new to our section, welcome. Some time ago we did a strategic planning session and one of the many things that emerged from it was that the Corporation (MN Wonderwall) that is above the now four named Supporters Groups (SGs) needs to communicate more often about what it is doing. The Letters from the President that you receive are a part of reaching that goal of more open communication. Now that the Wonderwall app is live (available on iOS and Android), people can easily scroll through the app for news whenever they wish.

As the umbrella organization above Dark Clouds, Red Loons, True North Elite, and Dark Glitterati, MN Wonderwall provides governance and operational oversight of these  SGs. Volunteers from those SGs and others are the people who do the work of making supporter culture happen. From philanthropic and volunteerism efforts, to matchday culture, to merch: our supporters do a lot. The WWMN board largely stays out of that day-to-day, as it is the job of the SGs and their various committees to determine what the MNUFC supporters community should be. I, along with the board, make sure that our mission is followed and furthered. We make sure membership scarves happen for the SGs, tifo is funded, that taxes get paid on things run through the store, that we maintain our General Benefit Corporation (B-corp) status, among many other things. The SGs make the section rock, tifo happen, and SG merchandise that proudly represents the rich tapestry of MN supporter culture. We also work with the MNUFC front office at times when a unified voice is required, and I am happy to report that we maintain a great working relationship with the MNUFC front office even in times of disagreement.

The rapid growth we’ve experienced of late has led to some growing pains; one of them is we ran out of scarves already. We'll be reordering soon, but to help make sure it doesn't happen again please note your affiliation in your SeatGeek profile if you're a supporters section season ticket holder. For how-to instructions, and more information click here.

One last bit of housekeeping: the election this year meant new faces on the board, and there were some changes in the officers of the Corporation. I, Abraham Opoti, will continue to serve as the organization's President. I became President on an interim basis in 2017, and was elected President in 2018.  John Louis remains the organization's Vice President. John is also in his third year on the Wonderwall, formerly Dark Clouds GBC, Board of Directors. James Norungolo replaces Andy Wattenhofer as the Treasurer of Wonderwall. James is in his second year on the board, his first year as an officer. Jenn Uitto replaces Samantha Solberg as the secretary of Wonderwall. Jenn was recently elected to the Board of Directors, and is in her first year as an officer as well.  Over the coming days and weeks the about page will be updated to include up-to-date photos and bios.

Our SGs are always looking for passionate, capable volunteers, because nothing of what you see happening inside or outside of Allianz happens without someone stepping up and saying they will contribute. Please, from Silver Lining and Keepers of the North, to merchandise, tifo, or matchday, if you have any time to spare, spend it making our community richer through your presence. We have set up volunteer@mnwonderwall.com to go to all of the SGs listed above, so please feel free to start there if you don’t know where you might fit in.

Thank you, and GO LOONS!

-Abe

president@mnwonderwall.com

 

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