Social Media to Save the NHL (Last installment a bit late)

This is the final installment from Matt Rietz over at Viewfrommyseats.  Sorry this took so long but I was going through some job hunting issues and needed a break.  I hope you enjoy Matt’s take on Social Media and the NHL and you learned a lot about what the NHL is doing correctly.

People that are active in the online hockey community know where the most up-to-the-second information is available: Twitter. Big websites are dependent on their writers and the bloggers may hear about the information quickly—but it still takes time to put together even a 2 paragraph article. Even when it’s done, it’s not like everyone in the world will see it. But Twitter, that’s a different story. How long does it take for someone with a breaking story to knock out 140 characters? But that’s only the first part of the story…

The true power of Twitter is the speed at which information can spread from a single Tweet to across a community. If someone tweets that Jay Bouwmeester signed a contract with the Calgary Flames a day before free agency opens, they’re reaching all of their followers with the press of a button. But when I hear that news, I’ll be quick to re-tweet the information to all of my followers. Some of them, will in-turn share with all of their readers. When a story goes viral—THAT’S the power of Twitter.

From a news point of view, blogging and Twitter go hand and hand. But that’s only a single area that social media helps the NHL. Another area that is just as important is how Social Media can promote the sense of community between fans—whether the fans are in different cities, different states or even different countries. Bloggers and fans alike are increasingly using places like Facebook to strengthen friendships with people that they’ve interacted with in other venues. Maybe the met at a team function. Maybe they met at an NHL TweetUp. Whatever the case may be, Facebook and the like give them a place to keep in contact and share their ideas.

Specifically for hockey fans, it gives them a place to talk to other hockey fans about the sport they love. They can share articles they’ve read. They can share videos that they saw on YouTube (or NHL.com). They can vote on polls they saw on Twitter or even share Fan Pages to their favorite hockey blogs. Whatever the reason for communication, it provides a venue that hockey fans can interact with one another as much as they’d like. It’s like an electronic self-help group for puck crazed addicts (minus the 12 steps).

The NHL and individual teams have jumped head first into the New Media arena as well. During the playoffs, the Blackhawks and Penguins were serving up contests via Twitter for fans to win prizes—up to and including game tickets. Teams like the Los Angeles Kings will have contests on both Twitter and Facebook for their fans to win prizes as well. They’ve learned that they have a huge opportunity through the social media channels—they can either take advantage of the channels or watch another team do it for them.

Twitter and Facebook also serve as the newest way for bloggers to promote their articles. The high-end hockey blogs are rapidly becoming the backbone of hockey media for information for a huge percentage of the fan base. Unfortunately, bloggers often times can get lost in the huge sea of the World Wide Web. They need to get the word out—and they need to get the word out to the right people. Again: Enter Social Media.

Follow the right people on Twitter and you’ll have a never ending stream of quality information at your fingertips. Some might be from sources that have been around for decades, some might be up-and-comers that have always been good but have never had the chance. The genius of social media is that YOU get to decide who YOU want to give your attention to. If you find someone that you really enjoy, you can further engage the conversation on their blog or a Facebook page. It’s a two-way conversation—and it’s up to YOU how involved you want to be. You don’t have to, but at least now the choice is yours.

Geoff Livingston

At the end of the day, I have to give a ton of credit to the NHL for being so accepting of the new media world. The old way of thinking was that online content was GIVING the product away for free. The NHL has realized that this isn’t giving hockey away for free—it’s PROMOTING it for free. The league could either acknowledge or shun it. They’ve acknowledged it and embraced it with open arms! They’ve certainly been through some rough times (and they’re still dealing with the hard times), but this is the way that they’ll save their league.

For the first time in a while, I can say this: The NHL is doing something right! Thank God, there’s hope for them yet.

Social Media to Save the NHL (Part 2)

Here is the second part of the 3 part analysis of the NHL and the use of Social Media by Matt Reitz.

But as great as the highlights and interactive nature of the league’s website is, it’s the extras they provide that show they truly get the new media concept.  They provide visitors the tools to not only link the highlights they provide, but even embed the videos on blogs and other social media services.  They even allow fans to record highlights from the games on their own and post them to YouTube.  Did you hear that?  They are making it EASIER for people to take their content.

It’s like bizarro world—up is down, day is night, and Gary Bettman is smart.  This can’t be happening, can it?

When you contrast the NHL’s online sharing policy with some other sports, it becomes clear just how good hockey fans have it.  Take Major League Baseball for example.  Up until recently, it was a pain in the ass to find highlights on MLB’s website.  Still, if  you’re looking for a specific highlight from a specific game, good luck.  You may find it—but it’s not going to be easy.  Last time I had to find a highlight, I was reduced to Google; only for them to redirect me to a page on MLB.com that had no apparent inbound links.  That doesn’t sound like the kind of page they WANT you to find, does it?

When you take a step back, it really shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.  They are endlessly promoting their MLB.TV package—pay a flat rate and you have access to live streaming video as well as highlights.  They look at the web as another way to make money.  By the way, I know VERY FEW people that buy the online content.

Their policy for online content on YouTube is just as short-sighted.  If you search for great highlights from a game last night—a towering home run by Manny Ramirez or highlight reel catch by Torii Hunter—you’ll be lucky if you find anything.  The BEST thing that you’ll ever find is someone that was at the game that was actually shooting video from their phone, and then uploaded it to YouTube.  That’s because “any reproduction, duplication, or distribution in any form is expressly prohibited by Major League Baseball.”  (Sidenote: It’s a little sad that in today’s world of sharing, I still have that quote committed to memory.)

How the hell can they be called America’s Pastime when they aren’t even allowing highlights on YouTube?  There’s nothing more American than idly passing time by watching YouTube for hours on end!

The concept that the NHL has figured out is that the videos are nothing more than free promotion for their sport.  If I am blogging about a particular player or game, I could wax poetically about the atmosphere of the crowd, the intensity of the players and the gracefulness of a spectacular play. But if I have access to SHOW you the play, well that will give you something that even the most eloquent writer will fail to achieve.  You know how they say that a picture is worth a thousand words?  Then how many words is a VIDEO worth?

The National Hockey League has realized that bloggers are a valuable resource for them to help spread their sport.  It might be the greatest game on Earth, but if no one is hearing or talking about it—does it really matter?  This is where both the bloggers and the NHL’s needs are perfectly aligned.  Both the league and bloggers should want as much promotion for the content as possible.  The greatest blogger in the world could be creating world-class content—but if no one finds the blog, then what the hell is the point?  Enter Social Media.

This just in…Aerial “Pornography?”

From Kevin Donlin…

Michigan Job Hunters Offered $500 for Aerial “Pornography”

With Michigan’s unemployment rate at 15.6% — the highest since 1983 — two men have “launched” a contest to reward the state’s jobless for scanning the skies this Saturday, in search of … pornography.

“Rome had bread and circuses to help citizens forget their troubles. We’re offering ‘pornography’ — and a prize worth $500. It all happens this Saturday, September 12, in Ann Arbor, before the University of Michigan football game,” said David E. Perry, co-author of Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0.

What exactly is going to happen?

“We’re still getting clearance from Governor Granholm’s office and will release details as soon as we can,” said Kevin Donlin, contributing co-author of Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0.

“But we can say that something will happen in the sky above U-M Stadium between 1:00 and 2:30 on Saturday afternoon, an unnatural act that may offend some. And we’re offering $500 in cash and prizes to the person who captures the most compelling video of the aerial event and posts it on Youtube,” said Donlin.

But why pornography?

“Because the unemployment situation in Michigan is truly obscene. Also, if you’re job hunting and you look above U-M Stadium between 1:00 and 2:30 this Saturday, you’ll know it when you see it,” said Donlin.

The $500-value prize package includes the following: $222 cash, a copy of the Guerrilla Job Search Home Study Course ($199 value), a copy of the Guerrilla Job Search System DVD ($29 value), and a copy of the new Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0 book, signed by the authors ($50 value).

How can people enter?

“Get to Ann Arbor or tell your friends to go, this Saturday, September 12. Watch the sky above U-M Stadium between 1:00 and 2:30 for a flying object that’s designed to put Michigan back to work. Capture the object on video and upload it to Youtube. Then, tell us about your video by posting a comment to this blog posting. Entries must be received by midnight, Sunday, September 13, 2009. The most compelling video entry will be awarded $500 in cash and prizes at 12:00 noon on Monday, September 14, 2009. All entries will receive a free copy of the Guerrilla Job Search Secrets audio,” said Donlin.

//
//

Cool Stuff Going on in the D…

I have been working with some pretty cool people as of late.  Though I have still not landed the elusive “BIG GIRL” career.  I have a feeling something good will happen soon.  I mean the karma has to be going into my favor eventually, right?

Charles Pugh Guest speaker Third Thursday Roundtable

Third Thursday Roundtable (Sept 17) is a networking lunch which is going to feature Charles Pugh.  This should be exciting and you can learn about the change he is going to bring if elected to City Counsel in Detroit.  Will a fresh face help bring Detroit to light?  Let’s hope so.  So be ready for networking from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at  Club Venetian Banquet & Conference Center 29310 John R  Madison Heights, 48071.  Cost is 25.00 includes lunch and networking.

Sept 17 is a pretty busy day.  If you are like me and still trying to find the elusive FULL TIME career.  Here is your chance to learn Guerrilla Job techniques from Detroit’s own MSU grad Kevin Donlin and his partner David Perry.  He will be hosting a seminar at the MSU management center in Troy  and through this blog you can receive $10.00 of the cost of the seminar.  Just by typing JFB.

I have used some of the techniques successfully.  I have used them for acquiring my internships with FWIX and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Here is a presentation I used when I gave a speech to 150 people at St Anastasia in Troy, MI.

I am a huge supporter and I think it is really worth the time to go and be a part of this seminar. I am using directed networking as I would call it. Kevin comes up with a lot of great ideas. Well worth the time and money.

If this isn’t enough… October has a cool event as well.  Brand Camp 09 will be on October 10 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, MI. Brand Camp University’s goal as an interactive conference that brings together the best and brightest minds in communications, marketing, brand development and business management to explore how social media has revolutionized the way individuals and companies position themselves personally and professionally.

So do you want to do something which puts Detroit back on the map? You can learn about the future of Detroit with Charles Pugh, get back to work with Kevin Donlin and David Perry, or get your brand on track by attending Brand Camp.

Let’s see you there…

Social Media to save the NHL

3 part guest post by  Matt Rietz —creator of View From My Seats.
The in-depth, intelligent blog has been listed all over the hockey blogosphere, on various newspaper blogrolls, the Huffington Post, Yahoo’s Puck Daddy and, most notably, on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
Tired of seeing the same sports websites that were completely detached from what the fans were thinking, he created his own site in 2007. Early in 2009, the website transitioned into a hockey-only site and has shown steady growth.
VFMS is a potent elixir concocted with equal parts wit, intelligence, sarcasm and reality. Served liberally between October and June at just below 32 degrees. At the heart of each article is one simple fact: In order to be smartass, one must first be smart.

When I think of forward progressive organizations, the National Hockey League isn’t exactly the first thing that jumps into my mind. We’re talking about a League that had a labor stoppage in the mid-1990’s just as hockey was competing to make a dent into the Big 3’s market share in the United States. As if that wasn’t enough, the league shot itself in the foot again the mid-2000’s when they experienced another labor stoppage. This time, the stoppage was because their business model was so severely flawed that even teams that were successful on the ice were epic failures on the profit front. Any time there was a hint of momentum, the league squashed any glimmer of hope. Think of a drunken Inspector Clouseau in a China shop. I’m sure you can figure out how this is going to go.

Ironically, it might be technology, Web 2.0 and an extremely fanatic fan base that might be what pulls the NHL out of obscurity and back to its place among the Top 4 sports in the U.S. When there are some sports leagues that are trying to figure the world of Social Media out, the NHL is surprisingly in front of the curve for once. Instead of playing the reactionary game, they’re proactively doing something to bring their great game to as many people as possible. While they might be unconventional means of communication today, the NHL is banking on New Media and its participants becoming the MAINSTREAM media—not an afterthought. Check out Facebook and Twitter—they might be onto something here.

The NHL may have turned their attention to non-traditional forms of media out of necessity, but they’re taking this blessing in disguise and running with it. Traditionally, how have sports fans received most of their news? Three major outlets provided the vast majority of the coverage: Newspapers, television and radio. The gradual demise of the newspaper industry has been well chronicled all over the internet. But think about this: how many people do you know that get their hardcore sports information from the radio? Better yet, how many members of Generation Next even know what AM radio is? The newspaper industry might be dying, but radio is in the next bed on life support itself.

That leaves television as the major traditional player for all of the sports league. Any discussion of television and the world of sports begins and ends with ESPN. If you want me to start with Fox Sports, then I’m guessing that Rupert Murdoch is either signing your checks or is a relative. If that’s the case, I mean no disrespect—but Fox Sports is largely irrelevant compared to the Worldwide Leader. I didn’t make up reality, I’m just acknowledging it.

When was the last time you heard ESPN talk about hockey and they didn’t mention a fight, suspension or Sidney Crosby? They neither have the quality reporters, insiders or the desire to cover hockey the way they cover baseball, basketball or football.

So where do hockey fans go when they want information? In the absence of traditional media, they have had to find non-traditional methods of tracking their favorite teams and players. Enter the internet—and more specifically the hockey blogosphere. Big players like From The Rink of SB Nation and Puck Daddy on Yahoo have filled the void better than the radio and newspaper industry ever did. But just as importantly, blogs with a narrow scope have emerged for individual teams and leagues.

The NHL could have turned their back on their emerging corner of media; but instead they took the opportunity to embrace the bloggers, their hard work and their community. They’ve redesigned NHL.com to truly be one of the best websites for any sport. They provide scores, stats and schedules like all leagues are expected to on their home page. But they’ve gone a step further—they have specific play highlights, game highlights and even podcasts for fans that are looking for more than goals and assists stats. It’s like every A.D.D. Hockey fan’s wet dream!

Even Good Guys Get It Wrong

This is a guest post by Danny Brown. Danny is a business branding and emerging media strategist. His blog is featured in the AdAge Power 150 list and is syndicated across the WebProNews, Newstex and Social Media Today business networks. Danny is also the founder of the 12for12k Challenge, a social media-led charity initiative. Say hello to Danny on Twitter.

Frank Eliason is a good guy. As the Senior Director of National Customer Service Operations for Comcast, Frank’s been key to turning Comcast into one of the poster children for businesses using social media. Frank’s Twitter account, @comcastcares, is often used as a case study in how businesses can have a human voice and connect with their customers.

Frank’s built a team of like-minded Comcast Carers around him, and they all use Twitter to serve the needs of Comcast’s customers by answering queries, directing complaints, helping with sales and marketing, and more. As a result, mention Comcast now to pretty much anyone in social media and it’s more than likely a positive return that you’ll get.

So why does Comcast want to undo all this great work on the service side by letting the advertising arm come across as anything but caring and friendly?

A post over at the Big Kahuna blog shows two different videos, yet neither paint Comcast in a particularly great light. The first is an actual advert from Comcast, while the second is a home movie that a Comcast customer made during a repair visit. If you watch the videos and are aware of Frank Eliason, you’d wonder if this was the same company we’re talking about.

While Frank and his team do everything right on Twitter, with Frank also running a pretty good blog that also does a lot of things right, the team behind this anti-Fios advert are doing just the opposite. Baiting your competitors is never a good business move – all it does is make you look petty and unprofessional. And if there’s one thing to sink a business ship, it’s being viewed as petty and unprofessional.

Instead of ripping their competitors here, why not say the same message without the names? Why not show how Comcast installs their service? Or the before and after of a Comcast cable installation? And if you still want to rip on competitors, finish the ad with a voice-over that says, “Because Comcast cares. Unlike some other people we could mention…”.

The web makes it incredibly easy to leave a digital footprint. It also makes it very easy to see how the person with that digital footprint is walking. At the minute, Comcast seem to be walking with two different shoes on the same walker. The question is, will they eventually align or simply cancel each other out?

Better Late then Never!

PR Sarah Evans site

So I am finally posting about #journchat Live Detroit.   I am super slow at posting this but I had a hell of a week last week.   Coping with Grief creeping up on me and holding my first event.  Was a lot of stress to handle plus finding out I didn’t get a second interview for a dream job.

At approximately 7:30 p.m. EST 7 people joined me for a #Journchat discussion last week.   I was hoping for more since this was my first event I would call this a success.  What was supposed to be a meeting of the minds wound up being a meeting of public relations professionals and bloggers.

@jennimurr and @davemurr at Buddy’s before the discussions began.

@diapersndragons (back) and @rockdrool

We had some interesting topics.   The laptop died a little way through and since we were on the wrong side of the restraunt for power.  We made due.  It was a great learning experience and I hope more journalists join us next time.

#Journchat roll call

@jfavreau

@nancypr19

@jennimurr

@davemurr

@estrellabella10

@rockdrool

@diapersndragons

and Evan Branch

Last week was very interesting.  I had to go to the grave site of my Mom for the first time in over 2 years.  This was tough because it brought back a swell of emotions I thought I had worked through.

I also found out who got the Detroit Regional Chamber job and I got a rejection letter from ESPN.  Which was fine I thought I had a slim chance living in Detroit.  I did wind up connecting with the manager who didn’t hire me on Linked In and I tried connecting with the HR person who chose to send me the email.  He was not as nearly as open minded as I would have thought.

Truly a learning experience and a lot of stress.  I am glad last week is over.  Too much emotion in a short period of time.  You live and learn.

I will do the event planning again but I think I would change a few things.  So be sure to check out this space for more things regarding #journchat if there is another live event I am going to be planning it.

Do you have influence or a bunch of followers?

A few nights ago, I asked for some help from Chris Brogan and he gave me some tips.   I am hosting my first ever event and I think and I finally saw the blogger  side of the equation.

This event I am hosting is called #journchat LIVE Detroit.  Bringing bloggers, journalists and public relations professionals to discuss the problems of the industry.  So I asked him if he could help and we basically have the same friends in common.  @prsarahevans is a great leader and I hope this LIVE event gets bigger and people grow and participate in the weekly chats because there is a lot of learning going on.

My problem is publicity.  I thought I had influence but do I really have any? When can you cash in the networking you have done for a controversial subject which might  or might NOT have the shiny object?

I am trying to work in the public relations, marketing, love to blog and see the reason why people should get along.  I am really green in the field and I can see how I have been learning from this weekly chat.  Is being “green” into a field a bad thing?  I have learned a lot from #blogchat on Sunday nights and #journchat on Monday nights.

Where does the value come in?  How do you define the influence and if you are really someone people would want to listen to for 2 hours and help you with your cause?

When people really don’t want to interact with each other? So why would they come to a chat where they are trained to not like each other?  These questions I am hoping I get an answer too soon.

So do you have influence or just a lot of followers? What is your take?

Can Facebook help bring PR and Journalists together?

Tweetea brings together a diverse group of people with interests to discuss social media. Media relations was discussed and how to better serve everyone involved.   How do we communicate with the Media and to get our messages across to them with out spam, awkward email or just being annoying and unproductive from a Public Relations perspective.  Tweetea happens every Tuesday, from 7:30 – 10 p.m. at Goldfish Tea in Royal Oak off on Fourth Street.

Twitter is a great tool to state what you are looking for but when your profile is limited to 140 characters you can only say so much.

What is the best solution to help reporters get the information they need and public relations professionals to pass on their information to someone who will promote it?

There was some talk of innovation and things we could do. Help a Reporter Out (HARO)is a great service but what if you are looking for a local flare?

What if you decided to Facebook friend a reporter? Simple.  You can find out what you have in common, what stories they need, and they can use it as a distribution channel of ideas?

Just a thought. When you do so, if the reporters collectively decide to change their status and you are looking at them then it is more up to the minute than Linked In. You could solve their problem, learn more about them and well just be nice to each other?

I realize this isn’t out of the box thinking. But, if public relations and journalists realized we are all in this together and there is an easier way to find out what about each other and create relationships instead of fighting them.

Wouldn’t the communications industry get along better? You could solve some of the problems just by talking and people would know what you were writing, when your deadline was, and everything.

Terry Foster from the Detroit News often uses his Facebook to get feedback on some of his columns. He is a sports columnist but I am sure this could be used for different purposes.

In time I am sure there will be some totally awesome platform some start up will invent to make this a better process.  In the meantime, build relationships with Facebook and Twitter.  If used properly, I think the spam emails will be cut in half.

Then take this offline by having Tweetups so we can find out what each other wants and needs? I realize everything is deadline driven but in business relationships run smoothly if you do business with people who you know, like and trust.

Job Hunters Fatigue

I am generally an upbeat, positive person but I would be fooling you if I didn’t get depressed about this job market.  I am doing everything in my power to land a full time position in a tech related public relations firm as an account coordinator or even a marketing coordinator which is tech related.  I am looking to do something which involves New Media but is not the only channel they use to attract people.

My newest venture is getting journalists, bloggers and public relations professionals together for a #Journchat Live Detroit session. The mission of #journchat has always been to improve the relationships between public relations professionals, journalists and bloggers. Together we’ve created a safe environment to explore each industry and ultimately how social media is influencing all of us.

I have been networking at many events around town.  I am not sure if these are working.  I keep asking people how they got there first job out of college and they say, “Networking.”

I finally wrote for the PRSA Technology section.  It took me long enough I have been having some doubts but I am glad I overcame them and was given a chance even if I thought I might have some problems.

Richard Stockton College of NJ Alumni News

As I said before, I would love to stay in Detroit if possible.  I am entertaining the thought of NYC.  I had an interview with ESPN and I think I have a shot as long as I follow through.

I talked with a person from work at the Tigers. I told him people do business with people who they know, like and trust.  I guess he didn’t believe me engineering is a business.  He said, “I am an engineer.”  Well even so you have to network to build your reputation and he still hasn’t sent me his resume so I can pass it on to a recruiter I know and other links I have as resources.

Marathon Books spa

I hit rock bottom a few nights ago but at least I can only go up from there.  I had a good cry and I feel better about myself now.  I guess sometimes you venting frustrations is a positive.  Life isn’t always positive but it is how you handle the negative which makes a person  a WINNER.