2024 - Mika @ Accor Hotels Arena (Bercy) Paris, France, 25 March

[roz]

On 3/25/2024 at 6:15 PM, dcdeb said:

So after the incident in Lyon last week, Mika's team wanted to help make queuing a little less stressful -- so we were able to organize it so that a group of MFC fans could go in a bit early ahead of the general public. As I understand it, they just went in.

 

Also, Ani was able to give Mika's tour manager a bouquet of flowers and a card for Mika on behalf of the MFC as a way of saying thanks.

 

 

 

I just saw your post, Deb. I don't really understand why some people were favored over others. I get that with Mika's team, you wanted to streamline the queue, but why not do it with the 60 people who had been waiting since early morning? Like some sort of early access. Many fans were disappointed after waiting all day just to be bypassed at the last moment. Especially since I don't think it was checked because some people who hadn't received your message privately, got an early access by editing screenshots of your messages. I understand that you want to prioritize MFC members, but what about the others fans, many of whom had never seen Mika before and ended up in the second or even third row because other fans jumped ahead at the last moment? Wouldn't it be more fair to prioritize these people so they can also enjoy the concert? Like a rotation system among fans. I understand that it's tough for some people not to be at the front, but every person has the right to enjoy the concert. We're halfway through the tour. I'm thinking about big venues like Brussels or London. We should implement a fairer waiting system to give everyone a chance. I'm definitely open to discussing this further. 😉

[Starry]

Hello, we need to make everything clear, and you need to hear what we have to say. 
So, I was at Bercy, I, like a lot of other fans, have been waiting all day long, hoping to get the front row. And now, you need to understand how hopeless, how disappointed, how mad and sad we ALL felt when we learned that some fans, some of them who had arrived later, had entered the venue before everyone else. All these people knew this was a bad thing to do, yes they did, they all hid, nobody told us about this. 
I seriously don’t know how you could think this was a good idea. The same people always get privileges over everyone else for just being friends with the MFC, this isn’t fair, justice needs to be made here. Why some people have the right to get privileges over others just because they post messages on a random forum on the internet? Most of us have put so much efforts to get there, and you decided to give to some people advantages just because they’re part of your website? And when I say some people, I want to point out that most of them always get privileged.

 

And don’t you get us wrong. We have enjoyed this concert very much, but you seriously made so much fans sad, and stressed. Some of them cried, we were all exhausted and this was the worst move you could make. We all deserve the same chances. Instead of doing this kind of little tricks, you could just organise nice activities during the waiting or just stop making plans in the back of everybody. Because no, posting something on your forum doesn’t make you transparent since nobody understands your website, and since in 2024 nobody goes on forums, we need to update everything sorry to say it. Also you did all this because of what happened in Lyon APPARENTLY, how is this related to us? This is not our problem if some fans couldn’t behave, it’s nothing to do with us if mad people got wild and feral. We should not be punished because of some other people. Your point was to make the queuing calmer, less stressfull; well that’s a fail.

Feel ashamed for all the people who got betrayed, for all the people who had waited for this for such a long time, and also for giving privileges to the same people all the time. I don’t want privileges, I want everybody to be on the same level.
So yes we are mad and sad and you can’t say this is stupid of us to feel this way. 
Very very disappointed.

[mellody]

What I really wish you'd understand is that all of this (the fanclub, the forum, our social media accounts etc, and even the advantages we get) is NOT about feeling privileged, but about community, about a sense of togetherness, about supporting Mika, and that EVERYONE is very welcome to join. You don't have to be friends with anyone, but of course we'd love if you were open to make new friends and talk with people, instead of seeing Mika's official fanclub as your enemy. But even if you don't, and you don't want to post here, you can still enjoy the "privileges" like this early entry or the yearly anniversary giveaways. If there's any problems with navigating the site, we're all here and happy to help and answer questions. We're working on improving the site, we're working on how-to videos that make it easier to understand how it all works. And I'm sorry that we're not faster with this... believe me, I'd love to do this as a full time job instead of just being able to work on it when I have some spare time.

 

Anyway... yes, of course I understand your disappointment of seeing other fans go in ahead of you when you've been queueing all day. I've been there. Some random phone company's priority entry for their customers, some fans who made friends with Mika's crew and were let in ahead of others (luckily that was years ago), some bad organization by security staff - or, at other gigs than Mika's, people who paid hundreds of € to get early entry. At Mika's gigs you don't need to be rich to get that. You don't need to be anyone's friend. But what you need to do to join whatever privileges MFC gets is read and learn about a few basics like the RSVP lists on this website, and ask if it's not clear to you. You can't expect us, a small team of volunteers, to collect every fan on every social media platform and serve them every detail of what's happening on MFC in their preferred format.

 

Many fans are "against" something. There are fans who don't follow Mika's French projects because they don't like the French language. There are fans who don't follow his Italian projects because they don't like Italian people. There are fans who don't follow his symphonic or soundtrack projects, because they don't like classical music. There are fans who don't follow Mika as a judge on casting shows because they don't like casting shows. There are fans who stay far from Mika's official fanclub because they don't like to interact with "old" people on "old" platforms. But in all of these cases, things are like they are, and those who are deprecative instead of acceptive are unfortunately mostly hurting themselves with it - especially if they realize that they missed out on something with their rejection.

 

As for the matter of this early entry, if you want to understand how these things work, it helps to read this post - which is specifically about arranged MFC Meet&Greets, but also applies to other privileges we might get at a certain gig: 

 

[dcdeb]

8 hours ago, Starry said:

Hello, we need to make everything clear, and you need to hear what we have to say. 
So, I was at Bercy, I, like a lot of other fans, have been waiting all day long, hoping to get the front row. And now, you need to understand how hopeless, how disappointed, how mad and sad we ALL felt when we learned that some fans, some of them who had arrived later, had entered the venue before everyone else. All these people knew this was a bad thing to do, yes they did, they all hid, nobody told us about this. 
I seriously don’t know how you could think this was a good idea. The same people always get privileges over everyone else for just being friends with the MFC, this isn’t fair, justice needs to be made here. Why some people have the right to get privileges over others just because they post messages on a random forum on the internet? Most of us have put so much efforts to get there, and you decided to give to some people advantages just because they’re part of your website? And when I say some people, I want to point out that most of them always get privileged.

 

And don’t you get us wrong. We have enjoyed this concert very much, but you seriously made so much fans sad, and stressed. Some of them cried, we were all exhausted and this was the worst move you could make. We all deserve the same chances. Instead of doing this kind of little tricks, you could just organise nice activities during the waiting or just stop making plans in the back of everybody. Because no, posting something on your forum doesn’t make you transparent since nobody understands your website, and since in 2024 nobody goes on forums, we need to update everything sorry to say it. Also you did all this because of what happened in Lyon APPARENTLY, how is this related to us? This is not our problem if some fans couldn’t behave, it’s nothing to do with us if mad people got wild and feral. We should not be punished because of some other people. Your point was to make the queuing calmer, less stressfull; well that’s a fail.

Feel ashamed for all the people who got betrayed, for all the people who had waited for this for such a long time, and also for giving privileges to the same people all the time. I don’t want privileges, I want everybody to be on the same level.
So yes we are mad and sad and you can’t say this is stupid of us to feel this way. 
Very very disappointed.

 

Starry sent this same message (above) to me on Instagram and so I thought I would post my reply to them here as well:

 

First of all thank you for writing to me here. I appreciate the chance to talk to you about this. Second, I never said it was stupid to feel the way you do. I understand you. And believe it or not I have felt the same anger - I personally have queued all day long many times, only to have people be let in and stand in front of me.

As I tried to explain, this came about because Mika's team heard about Lyon and wanted to make the queue experience a little easier for some fans.

I was asked to organize a group of fan club members who could enter early, a bit before the general public. I pulled the original names from the RSVP list that we have on our site, which you can see below.
 

 

You said, "The same people always get privileges over everyone else for just being friend with the MFC." That's simply not true.

Yes, there were a number of fans who have seen Mika many times. But MFC does not always get early entry or special treatment at every gig. If those fans are often in the front row, it's because they queue early. In fact, many of them queued early that day in Paris.

But many fans who entered early on Monday had never seen Mika before, or, if they had, they had never been front row before.

You say it isn't fair, but as I said on the Live, it is perfectly normal for an artist's fan club members to receive special benefits from time to time. Mika Fan Club, which has been owned by Mika himself since 2008, occasionally receives special fan presales, meet & greets, etc. The difference with MFC is that it is entirely FREE. All you need to do is register an account, you do not have to pay for anything.

We do not get special things all the time. In the 17 years I have been here, I think we have received "early entry" fewer than 10 times. So this is not a common occurrence.

You say that "nobody" understands our website, and "nobody" goes on forums in 2024, but we actually have hundreds of people on the site every day. It may take a little while to understand it if you're more used to other social media, but there are lots of people there to help. We do not want to exclude anyone, we want to INCLUDE everyone.

But... I can't include you if I don't know you exist. I'm not a mind-reader. If you don't register an account on MFC, how can I know who you are? You say there were fans at Bercy who do have an account on MFC -- but do they ever participate at all? Did they put their names on the RSVP list? I always encourage fans to do that, so in case something special comes up -- like this early entry, or a meet & greet -- I know who is at a particular gig and can contact them. Many times, special things like this come up without notice, without being planned, and we have to scramble and act fast.

You may not believe it, but I do try to look out for all the fans as much as I can, not just the fans I have met or know well. I try very hard to be fair. And you also may not believe that I am sorry that you and your friends are so upset over this. I would encourage you again to register with the fan club and try to join in a bit.

One of the things I love the most about being a Mika fan is the opportunity to meet people from all over the world, finding that we share a love of Mika and his music. The more fans who can get to know each other, the better.

Thank you so much for giving me the chance to explain here.

 

[dcdeb]

17 hours ago, roz said:

I just saw your post, Deb. I don't really understand why some people were favored over others. I get that with Mika's team, you wanted to streamline the queue, but why not do it with the 60 people who had been waiting since early morning? Like some sort of early access. Many fans were disappointed after waiting all day just to be bypassed at the last moment. Especially since I don't think it was checked because some people who hadn't received your message privately, got an early access by editing screenshots of your messages. I understand that you want to prioritize MFC members, but what about the others fans, many of whom had never seen Mika before and ended up in the second or even third row because other fans jumped ahead at the last moment? Wouldn't it be more fair to prioritize these people so they can also enjoy the concert? Like a rotation system among fans. I understand that it's tough for some people not to be at the front, but every person has the right to enjoy the concert. We're halfway through the tour. I'm thinking about big venues like Brussels or London. We should implement a fairer waiting system to give everyone a chance. I'm definitely open to discussing this further. 😉

 

I organized the group the way I did at the suggestion of Mika's team. I'm not sure how I would have said, "No, the MFC fans don't want early entry for this show."

 

I don't know where you get the number 60 from, as we just had 39 fans in the group that entered early. We handed out wristbands, so we know how many entered. As I said in my previous post, yes, a number of the fans who entered early have seen Mika many times before, and were, in fact, already queuing from early that morning. But a number of the other fans had never seen Mika before, or had never been front row before. And I don't know what you're referring to with the edited screenshots of my messages -- what did that have to do with anything? No one got in early based on editing any of my messages. Sounds like one of the rumors or a "friend told a friend" sort of thing. 

 

As far as implementing a "fairer" waiting system, I'm not sure what you mean?  But I can tell you that I have no way to predict when, if ever, MFC might be offered something like "early entry" again. It's not a routine thing, by any stretch of the imagination.

 

But as for London, we learned today that the venue offered a ticket "upgrade" for £25 that would allow you to bypass the regular queue, and enter via a lounge where you could have a drink while waiting. So, you know, the people who pay can probably get in a little ahead of anyone who's been waiting all day. 

[roz]

4 hours ago, dcdeb said:

 

I organized the group the way I did at the suggestion of Mika's team. I'm not sure how I would have said, "No, the MFC fans don't want early entry for this show."

 

I don't know where you get the number 60 from, as we just had 39 fans in the group that entered early. We handed out wristbands, so we know how many entered. As I said in my previous post, yes, a number of the fans who entered early have seen Mika many times before, and were, in fact, already queuing from early that morning. But a number of the other fans had never seen Mika before, or had never been front row before. And I don't know what you're referring to with the edited screenshots of my messages -- what did that have to do with anything? No one got in early based on editing any of my messages. Sounds like one of the rumors or a "friend told a friend" sort of thing. 

 

As far as implementing a "fairer" waiting system, I'm not sure what you mean?  But I can tell you that I have no way to predict when, if ever, MFC might be offered something like "early entry" again. It's not a routine thing, by any stretch of the imagination.

 

But as for London, we learned today that the venue offered a ticket "upgrade" for £25 that would allow you to bypass the regular queue, and enter via a lounge where you could have a drink while waiting. So, you know, the people who pay can probably get in a little ahead of anyone who's been waiting all day. 

It would have been wiser to make an announcement on social media: "Mika's team offers the opportunity for several fans to have early access to the pit, sign up under this link and a draw will be held." So, yes, there would have been a crowd, but it would have given everyone a chance to enter early. Imagine waiting since 5 a.m. and then being overtaken by 39 people at the last moment without understanding why.

Yes, the person who made an editing got in early access because she was in the "regular" queue and when she learned there was early access, she went to join them. She is one of the people you had excluded because of problems. If this happens again, a draw should be implemented so that each person has the chance to enter early. Many fans from the fandom only follow the MFC on social media because it's simply more accessible, especially as fans are becoming increasingly younger. Just posting a story or a time-limited post about events/invitations would suffice. 

And yes, for London, I learned about it yesterday. Obviously, there will be 2 queues, and asking people who are waiting if they have paid for a pass in addition to avoid having the same misunderstanding as in Bordeaux between people who didn't know there was early access and others who didn't know there was a numbering system. In London, I'm arriving late to let the Londoners be in front, but I think it would be a good idea to implement this to avoid misunderstandings between those who have early access and who will still wait all day. 😊

[stelly78]

Hello, I was at Bercy too and thanks to your "little settlement" made behind the scenes without MFC-outsiders knowing  I felt like I've waited an entire day for nothing even though I've arrived at a reasonable hour early in the morning and could have get a chance to be front row. 

 

6 hours ago, dcdeb said:

I don't know where you get the number 60 from, as we just had 39 fans in the group that entered early. We handed out wristbands, so we know how many entered. As I said in my previous post, yes, a number of the fans who entered early have seen Mika many times before, and were, in fact, already queuing from early that morning. But a number of the other fans had never seen Mika before, or had never been front row before.

We heard the number 60 from people waiting to get in the stands who came to warn us to didn't expected front row because another queue was being made for MFCers. But 39 or 60 whatever the exact number was, it was enough for regular queuers not to be front row in front of the stage. Oh wait... there were crumbs left at both extremities of the scene, but not with a correct view so yeah I'd rather had a confortable 3rd row at the middle of the stage than that. 

 

Now about the people presents in that VIP-queue, yes I saw some of them which maybe weren't at every shows (woow a few lucky people to pretend it's a very fair system) but the biggest problem it that people who were never spotted in the regular queue and people who were supposed to be in the stands  have jumped on that opportunity to be front-row without any considerations for others who have been waiting all day in hope to have a good place for once.

 

5 hours ago, dcdeb said:

I organized the group the way I did at the suggestion of Mika's team. I'm not sure how I would have said, "No, the MFC fans don't want early entry for this show."

Don't get me wrong I've no doubt that it cames from a good intention but, what I don't get is that at every show there's a list of queuers in order of their arrival. Why didn't you simply used it?? I would have been fairer and would have spared you making a list with mostly MfCers. But after all, what can we expect when the same people who started that list are among the first to leave without any explanations for a more advantaging queue....That's precisely why we feel betrayed and even if you pretend the contrary it really made it looks like you're privilegied.

 

Because as Rozy said : 

44 minutes ago, roz said:

Many fans from the fandom only follow the MFC on social media because it's simply more accessible, especially as fans are becoming increasingly younger. Just posting a story or a time-limited post about events/invitations would suffice. 

So yes I'm registered it just in case, but since you're also now on social medias which are way easier to use than a forum, why whould I struggle with that huge website when you could just have post a link of your list on others platforms??

 

I really hope that in the future, this kind of thing will be organised in a fairer-way and that whatever what kind of Mika fan we are we get the same chance to enjoy his wonderful shows.

 

[Hero]

I really don't understand why people find the forum so difficult to use. It's a common format used across many organisations.  None of us are born with this knowledge, we join up, read the guides, and learn through usage. If we don't understand something, we ask for help from other users. Yes there's a slight learning curve as you get to grips with it, but it's worth it once you understand what it offers. 

 

Edited March 28 by Hero
Sorry, maybe going off topic here.

[virgi]

The thing I don’t understand is why people, instead of imposing the way they want it to be managed, they don’t try to understand and adapt to how our system works since years. If I didn’t know MFC and suddenly discover that thanks to the forum some people got some benefits, I’d try to understand how to use it in order to get those benefits too next time, instead of pretending to change things and tell others how things should be done. 
 

We all agree that the forum is not easy to navigate at first, but with time and goodwill everything becomes clearer; I still learn things 9 years later… 

[Anna Ko Kolkowska]

36 minutes ago, stelly78 said:

So yes I'm registered it just in case, but since you're also now on social medias which are way easier to use than a forum, why whould I struggle with that huge website when you could just have post a link of your list on others platforms??

 

I really hope that in the future, this kind of thing will be organised in a fairer-way and that whatever what kind of Mika fan we are we get the same chance to enjoy his wonderful shows.

 

7 minutes ago, Hero said:

I really don't understand why people find the forum so difficult to use. It's a common format used across many organisations.  None of us are born with this knowledge, we join up, read the guides, and learn through usage. If we don't understand something, we ask for help from other users. Yes there's a slight learning curve as you get to grips with it, but it's worth it once you understand what it offers. 

 

 

 

I am wondering why fans spending 10-12 hours in a queue can't find 15 minutes to sit down with a fan knowing how the website works to learn how to use it in an efficient way?

 

It's the fastest way. No need to watch any tutorials. Just practice on your own screen.

It's not a rocket science and as Andrea said there are many websites using this format.

 

But I am wondering as well if the format of this website a real reason that  some fans don't want to register?

 

But just one more thing: don't be surprised that "benefits" for MFCer are pretty rare. Only when you hear about it too late creates a big buzz in social medias. During my 6 years being here I managed maybe 2-3 times to get one. 

So this whole benefits issue is really overrated.

 

As Deb explained Mika is the owner of this website. He pays for the domain. Only Mika can close it if he wants. But I don't think he will do it because some random unhappy fans want it to be done. I think it would be more beneficial to make a peace with MFC and take advantage of informations posted here.

 

[stelly78]

11 minutes ago, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

I am wondering why fans spending 10-12 hours in a queue can't find 15 minutes to sit down with a fan knowing how the website works to learn how to use it in an efficient way?

Simply because that's how going to a show is supposed to work for commun of mortals??

 

I personally do know how a forum work but come on it's not a thing anymore you need to adapt in order to include others fans!!... Because yes now we are mostly on social medias and forums as good as they used to be aren't a thing anymore.

 

15 minutes ago, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

As Deb explained Mika is the owner of this website. He pays for the domain. Only Mika can close it if he wants. But I don't think he will do it because some random unhappy fans want it to be done. I think it would be more beneficial to make a peace with MFC and take advantage of informations posted here.

"some random unhappy fan" how petty of you to call non-MFCers like that... And okay Mika pays for the domain, but how does it give you the right to do everything you want?? Really I don't get this kind of explanation it's just to easy to blame it on all on the big boss instead of being yourself responsible.

 

Peace with the MFC? Yes I'm in, but you should know that it has to work in both ways, don't force people to register on it if they're not at ease with forums, go where they are, you already are, now what's left is to share all the infos there in order to include every fans.

 

[Anna Ko Kolkowska]

16 minutes ago, stelly78 said:

"some random unhappy fan" how petty of you to call non-MFCers like that..

It's a reference to yesterday's Insta live when a new viewer joined in screaming out  in comments that the forum should be shut down. Hello! 

[maggie112]

1 hour ago, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

 

 

 

I am wondering why fans spending 10-12 hours in a queue can't find 15 minutes to sit down with a fan knowing how the website works to learn how to use it in an efficient way?

 

It's the fastest way. No need to watch any tutorials. Just practice on your own screen.

It's not a rocket science and as Andrea said there are many websites using this format.

 

But I am wondering as well if the format of this website a real reason that  some fans don't want to register?

 

But just one more thing: don't be surprised that "benefits" for MFCer are pretty rare. Only when you hear about it too late creates a big buzz in social medias. During my 6 years being here I managed maybe 2-3 times to get one. 

So this whole benefits issue is really overrated.

 

As Deb explained Mika is the owner of this website. He pays for the domain. Only Mika can close it if he wants. But I don't think he will do it because some random unhappy fans want it to be done. I think it would be more beneficial to make a peace with MFC and take advantage of informations posted here.

 

Just my perspective: I have always been used to forums since I actually was using them in 2005/2010 when it was the social media of the time, but I can understand that for many fans, most of them teens or young adults now, it's not the same, so I get why many of them just don't visit this one and just rely on IG/Twitter/TikTok. 

I remember that during the years I have linked threads to fans who I went to gigs with to always click on rsvp list because if something happen, that's usually (always?) the way people get in (even if actually during all these years I've never been to an event where I got any benefit, like once I missed by one date going to the date before ) and I saw how many of them just don't visit the forum themselves and would have just not known otherwise

(For context story: I learnt myself about having to click on the rsvp list reading on Twitter about a drama happened in August 2013 in Colmar where there was a M&G and also then, some fans were unhappy because they didn't know about the list or the forum at all)

So, I get what they say when they feel this way, on the other hand, maybe how these (rare) initiative work could be shared more on "regular" social media so it will be easy for new fans to be aware of how it works 

 

Also because, and here I don't want to start a worse drama myself, because it's a *very nuanced* concept, that goes beyond the "MFC" thing but it is specific to people, the impression that we often hear from several fans, is that there is a part of the community that tries to gatekeep as much as possible. Again, it is not strictly related to MFC, sometimes we have seen drama happening in situations where it had nothing to do, I actually came to the conclusion that it's common to any fandom where there are actually occasions to get close to the artists (while I see quite difficult in something like Taylor Swift community, I know there are m&g's but it's compared to win the national lottery) 

But I mean, on this topic, the only thing that I could suggest is that communication is key (I mean if it an MFC event, if not, the discussion could have the same root, but does not belong here) , to avoid rumors to spread and make stuff and people look worse than what it actually is 

 

 

Edited March 28 by maggie112

[Hero]

13 minutes ago, stelly78 said:

non-MFCers

Sorry, I'm confused, are we talking about fans who are not members of the MFC? The offer from Mika's team was specifically for MFC members, that's why they went through Deb. 

 

Personally I'm very happy with the forum. I despise social media, which is rife with problems, and avoid it wherever possible. I just don't trust it to be an accurate, reliable source of information. The number of times Instagram has messed up with late or missed notifications is ridiculous. But they get away with it. I understand the forum isn't immediately user friendly, but at least here we know the info has usually been checked and is reliable, and accessible immediately once posted. But honestly, SM isn't immediately user friendly either. There is a learning curve whichever platform is used. The key is the willingness to engage. 

 

If we can find a way to share the info on sm so the wider membership can see it, I'm sure that would be a great help. But, does SM offer restricted/private areas to communicate to members like this? The forum does enable us to have an area just for members. 

[dcdeb]

54 minutes ago, stelly78 said:

I personally do know how a forum work but come on it's not a thing anymore you need to adapt in order to include others fans!!... Because yes now we are mostly on social medias and forums as good as they used to be aren't a thing anymore.

 

"some random unhappy fan" how petty of you to call non-MFCers like that... And okay Mika pays for the domain, but how does it give you the right to do everything you want?? Really I don't get this kind of explanation it's just to easy to blame it on all on the big boss instead of being yourself responsible.

 

Peace with the MFC? Yes I'm in, but you should know that it has to work in both ways, don't force people to register on it if they're not at ease with forums, go where they are, you already are, now what's left is to share all the infos there in order to include every fans.

 

 

You say that forums "aren't a thing anymore" and yet there are still hundreds of online forums -- you just have to look at the company that hosts this site. That's their business -- discussion forums. To be precise, YOU don't want to use the forum. For whatever reason, I don't know.

 

I -- at my advanced, decrepit old age -- have learned TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and am learning AI, in an effort to stay current and reach the fans who might not immediately find the MFC's website. But the website IS "still a thing", no matter how much you rant against it, and it is the "home base" of the fan club. I'm on social media steering fans here, because this is where everything major happens.

 

Clearly, I don't -- I can't -- force anyone to register if they don't want to. But if you want to join in with what's happening with the MFC, you have to register an account so I know who you are. I can't possibly coordinate some of the things that I have to without knowing who I'm dealing with. It's such a simple thing, I don't understand why you resist it.

 

In any case, you said above, "now what's left is to share all the infos there in order to include every fans." But you're missing the point. The fan club doesn't have to share the info with EVERY fan. Just fan club members, who in theory should be checking the website. When things come up, like this early entry that we're debating here, there is limited space. I absolutely can NOT include EVERY fan in that case. So let's say I put something on social media, we have a random draw. Then you will all complain about how the names were chosen. No matter how we choose. You don't trust me or the other moderators to choose. You don't like the results when someone else chooses, you think it was fixed. 

 

 

22 minutes ago, maggie112 said:

Just my perspective: I have always been used to forums since I actually was using them in 2005/2010 when it was the social media of the time, but I can understand that for many fans, most of them teens or young adults now, it's not the same, so I get why many of them just don't visit this one and just rely on IG/Twitter/TikTok. 

I remember that during the years I have linked threads to fans who I went to gigs with to always click on rsvp list because if something happen, that's usually (always?) the way people get in (even if actually during all these years I've never been to an event where I got any benefit, like once I missed by one date going to the date before ) and I saw how many of them just don't visit the forum themselves and would have just not known otherwise

(For context story: I learnt myself about having to click on the rsvp list reading on Twitter about a drama happened in August 2013 in Colmar where there was a M&G and also then, some fans were unhappy because they didn't know about the list or the forum at all)

So, I get what they say when they feel this way, on the other hand, maybe how these (rare) initiative work could be shared more on "regular" social media so it will be easy for new fans to be aware of how it works 

 

 

When there is time to coordinate things, I do share on social media. But sometimes things happen at the very last minute, or have such a limited space, that social media isn't practical.

 

And as I have said before, I get that this platform may seem unfamiliar to many, and we have been working on coming up with tutorials or "how to" videos that we will post everywhere. But as I have also said elsewhere, we are all volunteers, not doing this full-time. Besides traveling to see Mika, we have families, jobs, other responsibilities, and so the wheels of progress here move slowly. But we are trying and you should see some progress in this area very soon.

 

[mellody]

I'm sure that if we posted about it in an Insta story, people on Tiktok and X would complain. Or those who happen to be offline for those 24 hours, or are not interested in checking the MFC stories all the time. If there is a numbers system for the queue, those who don't like it will complain. We had that often enough as well, queueing numbers being defined as oppression by the fan club, tho it's usual practice at many gigs. We didn't invent that. In short, it's simply not possible to please everyone.

 

Then, maybe you noticed (or not?) that the one you are mainly attacking here, @dcdeb, had nothing of this early entry, as she lives thousands of miles away from Europe. Except a lot of work to get it organized, a few thank you's and some people personally attacking her for trying to help other fans. I'm always very surprised to read from people who are registered here "I'm not an MFCer". That's the point, all you need to do to be part of this fan community is register, and you ARE an MFCer, just like any of us, with all the same rights. The right to not give a sh*t, or the right to inform yourself and take part in the things we offer here, for free. If you attend 2 Mika gigs per year and want to make sure you don't miss anything, all you need to do is RSVP and check the forum a bit more regularly in the few weeks / days before the gigs you're attending. MFC is not the secret club you might think it is, it's not just fans Mika's age and older, it's simply all the fans who want to have a feeling of community and enjoy the benefits that come with being part of a community. And the benefits that come with being a member of the artist's official fanclub. Stop seeing it as "us vs them", that's not what it is. If you want to help make the forum a bit more accessible for younger fans, you're very welcome to make suggestions, to explain it to others, to create lists of links to relevant content, to help subtitle videos, so international fans can understand Mika's interviews. It's easy to join this community, and then it's up to you how much or how little you get involved, how much you put into it and how much you pull out of it. This place here is not just a discussion forum, it's the biggest archive you'll find about Mika. And imo much easier to search than Youtube or other social media channels, where the algorithms keep changing and being adjusted to the way you use the platform. Here we have no tracking cookies that follow your every move online, we don't have ads, we don't want to sell you anything, or collect your data to make money from it. We're simply here because we want to support Mika and bring his fans together, instead of this "us vs them" attitude that unfortunately I often see on social media (and that gets pushed by social media, because drama and hate get more clicks than community and love). We're not investing millions of $ (or even just one cent) to find out the best ways of how to keep people on our platform, how to influence people with psychologic tricks to increase engagement. And yes, that's why it's harder to use than a social media platform. It doesn't play tricks to your brain. So, just a few reasons why this forum and this community is very much appreciated by many fans as well as by Mika himself. This forum was here before social media existed in its current form, we use social media as a tool to inform people about the existence of this website, and to promote Mika, and if social media ever dies or gets replaced by the next big thing, the MFC forum will still be here. A bit of consistency is good in these fast moving times. 

[Presci1108]

10 minutes ago, mellody said:

I'm sure that if we posted about it in an Insta story, people on Tiktok and X would complain. Or those who happen to be offline for those 24 hours, or are not interested in checking the MFC stories all the time. If there is a numbers system for the queue, those who don't like it will complain. We had that often enough as well, queueing numbers being defined as oppression by the fan club, tho it's usual practice at many gigs. We didn't invent that. In short, it's simply not possible to please everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm neither a new fan, neither one of the people who have seen Mika the most, and honestly, there is ALWAYS drama, always complaints when people aren't in something. I understand the feeling when you're passed by other people, I'v been here, we all were at a moment or another. It's pretty common, and it happened to me this week, for example. I missed the 2013's M&G, but that's no the end of the world, it made me learn about my "error" and now, I'm RSVP for each concert in case there's something. 

 

Actually, the only time I could live a privileged moment with Mika because something was organised, I wasn't even in the MFC ! It depends on the "rule" for entering the event, but in any case, the people who aren't in are sad. it's understandable, but we must learn to rely also on luck, and accept the fact sometime, we don't have the good information. From my POV, I know MFC makes all it can to offers great moments to fans. 

 

 

 

[krysady]

3 hours ago, Hero said:

I really don't understand why people find the forum so difficult to use. It's a common format used across many organisations.

 

 

Exactly! And I also don't understand why this time it was difficult to use, but when there's a MFC presale for gigs, or MFC contests for celebrating our anniversary, then the forum becomes full of people who know exactly where to look and how to get the benefits of the fan club. And if someone needs help, there's always fans trying to help, regardless if you're a newbie or an older member, this is how a fanclub works.

 

 

[maggie112]

23 minutes ago, krysady said:

 

Exactly! And I also don't understand why this time it was difficult to use, but when there's a MFC presale for gigs, or MFC contests for celebrating our anniversary, then the forum becomes full of people who know exactly where to look and how to get the benefits of the fan club. And if someone needs help, there's always fans trying to help, regardless if you're a newbie or an older member, this is how a fanclub works.

 

 

I genuinely think that since it happens rarely that being on the rsvp list actually gives benefits (I am on MFC for more than 11 years and maybe I can count on one hand? Maybe 2, Anyway never at events where I was going 😂) and it is unpredictable, that people are not used to that 🤔

or I don’t see any other explanations since as you say, when there is a presale code to use, people seem to be aware of how it works

Edited March 28 by maggie112

[krysady]

5 minutes ago, maggie112 said:

I genuinely think that since it happens rarely that being on the rsvp list actually gives benefits (I am on MFC for more than 11 years and maybe I can count on one hand? And never at events where I was going 😂) and it is unpredictable, that people are not used to that 🤔

or I don’t see any other explanations since as you say, when there is a presale code to use, people seem to be aware of how it work 

 

It's true, being on the RSVP list doesn't mean we will certainly get some perks from Mika or his team, but see?  there's still one chance in a decade   

And besides, many fans put their names on that list to get in contact to each other, make plans to meet or travel together, or attend the show together, it is still useful in that regard 

 

[Hero]

1 hour ago, Mayli said:

 please don't always think MIKA is kind of 100% very perfect singer or man

 Nobody said he was. Certainly not in the text you replied to. 

[crazyaboutmika]

7 hours ago, virgi said:

The thing I don’t understand is why people, instead of imposing the way they want it to be managed, they don’t try to understand and adapt to how our system works since years. If I didn’t know MFC and suddenly discover that thanks to the forum some people got some benefits, I’d try to understand how to use it in order to get those benefits too next time, instead of pretending to change things and tell others how things should be done. 
 

We all agree that the forum is not easy to navigate at first, but with time and goodwill everything becomes clearer; I still learn things 9 years later… 

Words of wisdom  All I will add is that if newcomers need help all they have to do is ask for it and they can always get help in their native language is needed. So anyone in need of help please introduce yourself in the intro thread and ask for it. Also if you stick around you will learn very fast. And as  a member who's been around for a very long time since the forum was brown and Mika's voice would welcome you when you got into the chat MFC is a breeze to use now. It works on phone fine and it is extremely easy to keep up with threads. Back in 2007 it took me months if not years to find again my intro thread and thank lovely fans who had welcomed me back then   but being online was not a piece of cake at that time...but still I managed to know MFC very well with time. And nowadays the forum is so well organized it certainly doesn't take a long time to find your way in it. Now joining MFC is something everyone can do for free so if you're in try to get into projects and write into threads to get to know it better. But my last words will be if you don't have anything nice to say best not say anything. I'm here to share and help and translate when I have enough time so language barrier is not a problem. So reading comments that look like trolling is not what I come here for at all  That being said I'll be out of this thread since I said it was best not to say anything not nice

                                       

 

bye bye sweetie banana   

Edited March 28 by crazyaboutmika
I wrote sweet banana :doh: but I meant sweetie banana so I added "ie"

[stelly78]

4 hours ago, dcdeb said:

You say that forums "aren't a thing anymore" and yet there are still hundreds of online forums -- you just have to look at the company that hosts this site. That's their business -- discussion forums. To be precise, YOU don't want to use the forum. For whatever reason, I don't know.

 

I -- at my advanced, decrepit old age -- have learned TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and am learning AI, in an effort to stay current and reach the fans who might not immediately find the MFC's website. But the website IS "still a thing", no matter how much you rant against it, and it is the "home base" of the fan club. I'm on social media steering fans here, because this is where everything major happens.

 

Clearly, I don't -- I can't -- force anyone to register if they don't want to. But if you want to join in with what's happening with the MFC, you have to register an account so I know who you are. I can't possibly coordinate some of the things that I have to without knowing who I'm dealing with. It's such a simple thing, I don't understand why you resist it.

 

In any case, you said above, "now what's left is to share all the infos there in order to include every fans." But you're missing the point. The fan club doesn't have to share the info with EVERY fan. Just fan club members, who in theory should be checking the website. When things come up, like this early entry that we're debating here, there is limited space. I absolutely can NOT include EVERY fan in that case. So let's say I put something on social media, we have a random draw. Then you will all complain about how the names were chosen. No matter how we choose. You don't trust me or the other moderators to choose. You don't like the results when someone else chooses, you think it was fixed. 

Well sadly I don't know many forums who are still very active, I used to be on some a while ago but they've closed since a while. So I've got nothing against them but now I'm kinda lost with some of it features.

 

 I'm not trying to offend anyone and I'm not trying to pretend I know better, I was just trying to discuss about what has happened in Bercy. I'm also not denying you've made efforts since I've noticed them but sadly it still lead to difficult situation like that...

 

Which is why as I said before efforts should come from both sides cuz yes not everyone like forums and not everyone like social medias.

 

Another point is that I'm not so sure I'm the one who's missing the point here : honestly what's the point of it if you're not willing to accept everyone who wants to?? The problem is that we don't know when to check it and we don't know where...

 

Our point is that there should be no random draw for big venues such as concert since fans usually made a list of people who arrived why not using it?? It would avoid frustration, since even if we're all fan that does'nt mean we can afford to have the same chances to see Mika.

 

Anyway I'm saddened to read that some of you believe we're trolling cuz we're not, we're sharing our experience in the hope that it will improve next time  

[Arianne921]

2 hours ago, krysady said:

 

It's true, being on the RSVP list doesn't mean we will certainly get some perks from Mika or his team, but see?  there's still one chance in a decade   

And besides, many fans put their names on that list to get in contact to each other, make plans to meet or travel together, or attend the show together, it is still useful in that regard 

 

 

Excuse me, it's only few months that I'm registered to MFC... I know is not in theme about this discussion and I know that, in this moment, all of you have another problems more important to solve, but...what's the list RSVP and where is it in this forum? Thank you and...I'm sorry for this stupid question!  

[krysady]

27 minutes ago, Arianne921 said:

 

Excuse me, it's only few months that I'm registered to MFC... I know is not in theme about this discussion and I know that, in this moment, all of you have another problems more important to solve, but...what's the list RSVP and where is it in this forum? Thank you and...I'm sorry for this stupid question!  

 

The link to the RSVP list it is on the first page of every gig thread. Also for this gig, you'll find it on the first page: https://www.mikafanclub.com/topic/36572-2024-mika-accor-hotels-arena-bercy-paris-france-25-march/

 

Or you can always go to the Events and click on the day of the gig you're interested and you'll find the list as well. Here's the page for the Amsterdam gig tomorrow, you can see the list on the right  : https://www.mikafanclub.com/events/event/1592-mika-afas-amsterdam-netherlands/

 

Edited March 28 by krysady