A Holiday Message from Shaq

Enjoy this clip. I'll see you in January!

Andy

Big Sky Best Practices: Sacramento State's Green Army

Pack the Seats.

I've come across fan clubs (and, yes, I've liked them) before but it wasn't until I hit Sacramento State that I actually saw a cool plan to activate this energy. To leverage it for good.

Hit the Sacramento State Athletics Page, and take a look at the right-hand side of the page... for the Green Army.

I'll zoom in, here.

Clicking in takes us to the Green Army Page, here, and shown below. As you'll see, this is a place of activity for fans of all teams. This is actually pretty alive, with photo contests, high quality highlight reels, and most importantly events...

Clicking into events, and you'll see a list of activities available for students. As you'll see below, they reward students not just for showing up, but for showing up the right way! Show up wearing your shirt and you might win an iPod? Nice.

The Green Army also has a Facebook page and a Twitter page. If you take a peak at these, you'll note that they show up in the Quads with bags. They give members free California Pizza Kitchen or Chick Fil A at women's basketball games. So, in sum, they are giving their consumer, the fan, exactly what they want: Free food, free stuff, and a fun experience!

How could all this be better? What does it add up to? I see there are 995 fans on Facebook and roughly 100 on Twitter. But that's not the sum of this excitement. It is the seats in the stadium, the sound when free throws are being shot. The stage that their presence transforms competition into. This might be photography, it might be video. Show it the right way and the program rises to a new level in the minds of prospective student athletes!

This concludes the Big Sky Conference.

Tune in two weeks from now as we take on the Big South! (We'll pause a week for the Holiday)

Don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

Big Sky Conference Best Practices: Northern Arizona's Recruit to Shoot

What do you stand for? And do you really stand for it? Enough to put it out there in front of everyone?

This is a tough one for any of us. In life, in work, or in your program. If you had one thing that you were building an identity around, what would it be? Do you lock opponents down? Do you outrebound everyone? Northern Arizona tells you what they stand for and then backs it up.

Hit the Northern Arizona Basketball Page and note the collection of basketball links in the lower right-hand corner of the page.

I'll zoom in to make it easier. You'll note a callout for "Recruit to Shoot," where we will now turn our attention.

Clicking in takes us here, to a statement that "We Practice What We Preach". It is followed with a list of where the squad has finished in 3 categories: 3 point shooting %, Field Goal %, and Free Throw %... going all the way back to 1996.

The bottom of the page gives context: Northern Arizona is one of 4 schools to rank in the top 15 for the past 3 years, along with Kansas, North Carolina, and Florida. And they've led the nation in 3 point percentage 4 times.

Now I want to add in one thing that is a curveball: Last season they only shot 62% from the Free Throw line (per their numbers). Definitely not a good shooting team at the line. But Northern Arizona didn't hurry and change their mission. They also didn't leave this off their site. Their identity is shooting and they will stick with it.

Finally, this identity is easy to recruit from. For a student athlete, is that you? Do you want to be a part of a system built for shooters? And for the coaching staff, it helps you know who to go after.

So... How could this be better? If shooting is your identity, make it your identity. Elevate shooting to the home page. Hold shooting camps for kids, elevate highlights of the best shots, put those "3" signs in the gym when a 3 drops. Maybe you could give t shirts away via Twitter every time the team hits a 3? And elevate your in-season shooting standings in realtime on the site. The bottom line is this is a rallying point for the team, we just need to bring this home!

Tune in tomorrow as we share more inspiration from the Big Sky! And, don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

Big Sky Conference Best Practices: Idaho State's Preparation Videos

Consistent programming.

That's a tough one for many of us to tackle, especially when we are trying to bring a lot of pieces together. Idaho State came up with an interesting solution that I feel many of us could take inspiration from.

Hit the Idaho State Bengals Athletics Page and note the "Get On Board" video tout in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.


Or focus in on the Multimedia Menu and you'll find access to "Get On Board Videos."

Clicking in takes us to the ISU video blog, shown below. As you'll note the text at the top of the page says it all: "The Bengals Show How They Get Ready for the Season... Get on Board! New videos posted each Wednesday throughout the 2010-11 season."

So we have it: Consistency in programming. Predictability. And a message that is going to unite multiple teams. Nice.

I'm including a couple of the videos below (there's several to choose from) so you'll get a sense for this: it's pretty simple but the consistency between programs makes it fun.

Naturally, this is an easy extension to Facebook, which you'll see below.

How could this be better? As you'll see, these are tongue-in-cheek videos. It's not really how the teams are getting ready. And I feel there's an opportunity to shift the style to cover just that point. Give us a chance to get that inside look into how players are getting ready, and you create access that is unprecedented. Plus, it positions ISU as a program with athletes who are driven -- a point that will help with fans, recruits, and alums!

Tune in tomorrow as we share more inspiration from the Big Sky! And, don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

The Big Sky Conference Gives Us Keys to The Game in Social Media

The game's about to start.

If it's one of those big games on National TV, we're programmed to look for the Keys to the Game -- what it will take for each team to win. It's a way of making fans think about the team from both vantage points, and it gets you a little bit of an inside look into success.

The Big Sky Conference takes this approach and puts it right inside the comfy confines of their Conference Blog.

As you'll note in the images below, they take 2 football matchups: Eastern Washington vs SE Missouri and Montana State vs North Dakota State (post here) and gives us the keys for Big Sky victories. They are well-written and they give us a nice look at what it's going to take.

It's a viewpoint that most fans (or recruits) don't have access to. And that makes this a franchise. Nice.

How could this be better? These posts should connect to social. Pure and simple. Take those posts, deliver them into the conference (and possibly the school's) Facebook pages and allow these to serve as openers for live commenting during games. I'd also love to see the keys to the game for the opposition, even if the opposition isn't a Big Sky program. It gives us a look into the strategy of stopping your team, and adds to a level of content you just can't find anywhere else.

That's it. We'll continue Big Sky Week tomorrow with a look into 3 best practices from the 9-team Big Sky Conference.

Don't forget, you can follow along via the Digital Hoops Blast Facebook page (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

The Big Sky Conference Turns up the TV Volume

Big Sky Conference Week Starts Now.

It's a BIG deal when you are on TV. Schools like Boise State literally shifted their football games to Friday nights in order to get that exposure. The smaller the program, the more potential being on TV has to lift all your programs.

But it's not always easy to know when to tune in, or where.

The Big Sky Conference has a unique approach. Hit the Big Sky home page and look on the left hand side of the page. It's direct and obvious: "TV Games."

Clicking on this word expands and leads to a list of each sport with TV coverage...

Finally, drilling into Men's Basketball takes you here, to a full listing of games, by the carrier of those games. So, within one click of the home page you can find exactly what games are airing. Nice.

How could this be better? This is a great starting point. But it's thus far only a list. How can we connect this list into other things the Big Sky is doing to make it more than this? There are a couple things at play here.

1. Could we take the list and connect it to the blog? Could we have not just the TV dates but also dates where the Big Sky is going to bring people together to watch their teams, virtually. There's opportunity to create a game preview for each TV matchup and elevate this to the site's home page.
2. Could this list connect to the Big Sky's Facebook page, allowing fans to sign up to "attend" each game, while serving as an easy way to remind fans the matchup is airing.
3. Could the Big Sky find a way to port this calendar to your Entourage/Outlook/Gmail calendar? Would be an easy way to remind fans to tune in!

The pieces are here -- the calendar's in place. Now we need to build from it.

Big Sky week continues tomorrow. We will take a peak at how the conference is

leveraging social media. Then, we'll wrap the week up with 3 peaks into things I found

fantastic across the 9-team conference landscape.

Don't forget, you can follow along via the Digital Hoops Blast Facebook page (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

Atlantic Sun Best Practices: Lipscomb Gets Very Personal

Warning.

Today's take is about a program that gets extremely personal. And personal can make some people uncomfortable, as this level of openness is not the norm in today's world. But when you are leading a low-to-mid major program, being personal separates you. And that's what we'll find today with Lipscomb.

Hit the Lipscomb Athletics page, and deep down the right-hand side of the page you'll see a callout for "Josh Slater: To Be a Bison."

Click in and you'll hit this spot, what is essentially a microsite to the Senior Student-Athlete who's leading their basketball squad. The video you'll note in this image is extremely deep (it's over 6 minutes long) and begins with testimonials from Josh's parents on why they were happy with his choice to attend Lipscomb.

The video shifts and interviews Josh's high school coach about his choice. (and about the type of athlete he was)

And, of course, it includes a testimonial from Josh plus his best friend on campus on himself now. How he fell for the lure of drugs and alcohol but evolved into a new person (and student leader) at Lipscomb.

As you can tell from the images, the video is very well done. It touches on many great points that many of us leave out: Why did he choose Lipscomb? What is he like away from the court? What do his parents think of Lipscomb? And what kind of impact has the program made on him? Other programs should follow this lead: there's power in the voices of parents, high school coaches, teammates, and classmates. And this is something that will always be valuable for future student athletes and their families to check out.

Josh sums it up with his final quote: "To Be a Bison is to Love."

How could this be better? It should be easy to share and view. Currently you can't take the code and drop it in a blog, or even send a link to play that video. (Or I would have done that above!) I'd also love to see this expand to have Josh tell the story of his teammates. There's something powerful about a leader telling us what he loves about his teammates, you know?

That's it for the Atlantic Sun.

Come back Monday as we shift on to our next conference. Don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

Atlantic Sun Best Practices: Florida Gulf Coast Gives us a Social Media Checklist

How do you make it simple for fans (or recruits) to connect with you when you have an ever-growing number of ways for them to do just that? It's easy when you have one Facebook account. But what do you do when the number begins to blow up? FGCU gives us a great solution.

Hit the Florida Gulf Coast athletics page, and focus in on the Multimedia menu.

I'll zoom in for you, below.

Clicking in takes you here, to a handy checklist of the Athletics site, the Atlantic Sun conference, the coaches, and the programs. It's laid out for you - for both Twitter and Facebook. (And would be simple to expand to add other social media if they developed YouTube pages, for example) Want to check one out? Simply click on the Twitter "t" or Facebook "f". Intuitive.

The complex has been made easy.

How could this be better? We definitely don't want to lose the simplicity of this. But there would be value in finding a way to get these pieces to work together. One suggestion might be to create a weekly story that gives highlights of all of these feeds and bumps that to the FGCU home page. It keeps the simplicity here but also elevates this energy to the home page (and thus more eyeballs!)

Tune in tomorrow as we share more inspiration from the Atlantic Sun! And, don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

Atlantic Sun Best Practices: Travel with South Carolina Upstate

Ever want to know what it feels like to travel with the team? I don't mean in a you weren't good enough to make the team kind of way. I'm talking more in the zone of what's the chemistry like when athletes aren't on the court in their school uniforms. What's a team feel like?

South Carolina Upstate takes a step in this direction. Go to Head Basketball Coach Eddie Payne's site, here.

On the left-hand side of the page you'll see a link for "Travel with the Team." Click on in, which will take you to a deep gallery, shown here. As you'll note this is a mix of identifiable landmarks (St Louis, Vegas, North Pole). But you'll also see a clever mix of the interactions happening. Of the experience the players were having. And the emotion.

Sometimes it's in a simple relaxed team meeting...

And other times they are literally leading a pack of dogs in the tundra (here)



You simply can't get as high a level of understanding by putting this in text. We can almost feel what it's like to be on this team. And that's exactly what you want -- to let a potential student athlete feel what your experience is. Then let him or her decide if they want to be a part of what you are. Nice.

How could this be better? Now give us the words. What was it like leading a pack of dogs? What was the coolest thing you did as a Spartan? The photos are fantastic but if we can pair them with the voice of the program (coaches and/or players), the impact will be monstrous. This could become a franchise for Upstate to build on year in, year out. And that stays relevant many years in the future.

Well done Upstate!

Tune in tomorrow as we share more inspiration from the Atlantic Sun! And, don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

The Atlantic Sun Elevates Twitter to be the Source of News

News.

It's interesting how that has changed over time. There was a point in time where blogs were treated as opinions and official news sites were the facts. Then official news sites began to blog, recognizing the appeal and ease of use. And, then, both news and fan sites began to use Twitter as a way to connect. Let's check out how the Atlantic Sun uses this to their advantage... and what that means for you?

Hit the Atlantic Sun home page and look in the bottom left hand corner. (Or just look at this image below). You'll note that the idea of "Latest Tweets" is elevated to appear on the site, just as news would appear on a site.

I'll zoom in for you, below.

Now take a look at the Atlantic Sun's Twitter page, here.

You'll note that the home page pulls in the latest Tweets, into the style of the site. But what does this mean? (and why do I like this?) It means that the Atlantic Sun should not just use Twitter as a way to highlight what has posted to their site (as it would be redundant). More importantly, it shows that, if they leverage Twitter as a separate entity and infuse emotion into it, the set up is here to make the site electric. The infrastructure's here, let's put it to work!

How could this be better? Use short URLs would help. If the A Sun takes advantage of URL shorteners (I use Su.Pr), they will be able to dedicate more eyespace (or character space) to this emotion that they need to infuse into the Twitter feed!

I hope you enjoyed this. Come back tomorrow as we start our first of 3 best practices from the 11 squads in the Atlantic Sun. And, don't forget, you can follow along via the Digital Hoops Blast Facebook page (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

The Atlantic Sun Conference Connects You to the Local Voice

Atlantic Sun Conference Week starts now.

There's power in the local voice. But how can you easily find the people closest to the team you care about... and their competition? If you can elevate those voices, you provide access that is tough for others to find. And by doing this, you create the potential to build a powerful connection.

Hit the Atlantic Sun Conference site and you'll see one league making in-roads to do just this. Let's start by hovering over the Multimedia menu.

I'll zoom into that menu, below.

From here, let's click into Local Newspapers. Clicking in takes us here, to a list of all the

places you need to follow your team -- be it the school or the city newspaper. Access!

I love this because it takes a lot of the Googling out of your hands. Just look at your team

of choice and you'll easily find a couple of links to help you learn more. (Naturally, you can

do this with the competition's sites too!)

How could this be better? This is an effective list but it could be so much more.

Clicking into any of the links and you are taken away to the home page of that publication.

So much potential. How could we make these work together? Linking directly to the

school's coverage could help a little (take us to the Belmont coverage home page, not the

Tennessean Newspaper home page. But, even better, help us elevate those stories into the

Atlantic Sun site. It would both connect the conference to the local writers while also

creating a site that's alive... Finally, if you elevate each column based on the upcoming

matchup, the dynamic could be incredible!

Atlantic Sun week continues tomorrow. We will take a peak at how the conference is

leveraging social media. Then, we'll wrap the week up with 3 peaks into things I found

fantastic across the 11-team conference landscape.

Don't forget, you can follow along via the Digital Hoops Blast Facebook page (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

America East Best Practices: New Hampshire Discovers the Power of Live Action!

Where's that station again? New Hampshire makes it really easy to take in the action, regardless of who you are or where you are. And they make the program feel bigger along the way!

Hit the New Hampshire Athletics Page and you'll quickly notice the Multimedia Menu.

I'll zoom in so you can soak in all Go straight in and note all the Live Goodness. (How much bigger does UNH feel thanks to this menu? Seriously it's amazing the power of the word LIVE.)

Clicking into Live Audio takes us here, to the broadcasting home for New Hampshire Athletics. It's in this space that the magic happens. You simply click the matchup you're interested (all sports are here) and the action streams into the site. No fancy subscriptions, just click and listen.

I'm a believer that the best digital is simple and this is super easy. It connects fans who may not have easy access to the team(s) they care about to easily find them. And it's free.

So, How Could This Be Better? Open up a way to chat during the games. This has the potential to become a destination -- where fans can live chat with friends right from this site, alongside the audio (or video) action. It gives you the easy ability to interact with others who are going through the ups and downs of the sport with you. The potential is staggering!

Tune in next week as we take on another conference! And, don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

America East Best Practices: Binghamton Elevates their Social Impact

How much of a social impact do you have, really?

That's the question I think many of us face before we actually sit down and find a way to list this out there. But what's it all look like if you lay it out there in the open?

Binghamton Athletics Shows Us Theirs.

Hit the Binghamton Athletics website, and right in the middle of your vision is the callout for "Making an Impact".

Let's Zoom in a little bit....

As you'll see, this is the home of how Bearcat student-athletes, coaches, and staff are taking on leadership roles on and off campus. This is a cool concept. Does it work?

When you click in, you go here, to a running log of all the efforts the program is making in the world, whether it is student athletes or the team doctor. We see softball players tutoring, strength coaches mentoring young athletes, and multiple athletes participating in a breast cancer walk. (among other things). It's all laid out for you in one handy location (with a link to a full archive of past activities)

Here's what I love about it most. It makes everyone accountable. (this isn't about one team, or even just the teams. Everyone can be a part of this). It's also a strong foot in the ground. (Kind of hard to not add to this, isn't it!) Binghamton is making it very visible that they want to create leaders in the world, not just on an athletics field or court.

How could this be better? I'd like to see more first-person testimonials in this space. It feels like a very personal experience that could connect us more deeply to the program if we had first person accounts (words, pictures, videos) of these actions. It's clearly a big deal to the program and I'd love to see how this is really impacting student-athlete life!

Hope you dug this.

Tune in tomorrow as we share more inspiration from the CAA! And, don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

America East Best Practices: Boston U Blog Brings Players and Coaches Together

Awwww.

That's the sound of a connection being made inside the comfy confines of a blog. But how, you ask, could a simple blog bring coaches and players together? Well look no further than Boston University for the answer to your

Let's go...

Hit the Boston University Basketball Page and Click on "Team Links" (which you'll see below and which is a pretty sweet concept in and of itself. Look under Coach Chambers and you'll find easy access to his Twitter feed and Blog. Now, enter the Blog.

That takes you here, to Coach Chambers' Blog, here. I've been impressed previously with how Coach Chambers gives us an authentic vibe inside his blog, in a way that really gives you access to the team (check that here). You'll also note the thumbnail images of those following Coach Chambers in the right hand side of this image which is also pretty strong.

But it was the latest posting style that brought things over the top for me. As you'll note here (and below), Coach Chambers is now asking his players to write posts that he'll drop into the blog.

Cool.

I love the fact that simply adding players to the blog can show a level of connection between players and coaches. Sure, what player would say "no" when the coach asks them to write something? But I love the way this just makes the team feel like a family. Intimate and real.

Check this excerpt:

"We spent our summer here in Boston working out for this moment. Every week day for 12 weeks we woke up at 6 AM and worked out with Glenn Harris, our strength and conditioning coach. We pushed ourselves each day, knowing in the back of our minds that the day would come where we will be asked to go the distance and compete at a very high level.

Don't you feel better now?

How could this be better? Interaction. I'd love to see fans post questions and the players give you answers right from this blog. It's all here, and ready -- just find a way to bring the audience to the players and thus put them in control of the blog. Could be amazingly connecting.

Tune in tomorrow as we share more inspiration from the CAA! And, don't forget, you can follow along on Facebook (here) or on Twitter: I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

The America East Blog Extends to Social Media

Let's return again to the blog of the America East Conference, AExtra, linked here and shown below. As you know by now, I'm a big fan of the blog's style and make up. But today I want to go a layer deeper, into how the conference leverages Social Media to extend the footprint of this blog.

Let's dive into the "Why Social Media?" question. If you have a great blog, won't people just bookmark it and come back each day? Maybe. But in my opinion, the goal isn't to have people visit AExtra each day (or your website, for that matter). The goal should be to engage with your content each day, wherever you can make that connection.

As you will note in the image below, the America East Conference does a fantastic job of leveraging Twitter to spread the word of this blog and YouTube to host an archive of the video pieces. (In a very simple to digest style on the right hand side of the page!) In fact, I am not sure I've ever seen as simple a YouTube widget on an NCAA Blog -- nice work here!

How could things be better? As you'll note on the America East Facebook page (linked here), the conference is currently missing an opportunity to start a daily conversation with each of the fan bases around their messages. When you take into account that the blog is co-written by 9 students (who are likely up on Facebook), you can sense the magnitude of opportunity in front of us. It's not merely an opportunity to tell a story in Facebook, but rather an opportunity to have 9 people helping you curate a social conversation. Can you feel the power?

America East week continues tomorrow. We'll wrap the week up with 3 peaks into things I found fantastic across the 9-team conference landscape.

Don't forget, you can follow along via the Digital Hoops Blast Facebook page (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

Andy

The America East Conference Drives You To a Daily Blog of Original Content

America East Conference Week starts now.

Each week we will break down a different conference across the D-1 landscape, giving you a look into how they are connecting with fans (and recruits) across their website and social media. Along the way, we'll elevate a few things in each conference that are best-in-class: what we can learn from the schools that make up each conference.

You can stay plugged into this journey via this blog, via the Digital Hoops Blast Facebook page (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

It's time to turn our attention to the new-look America East Conference.

Let's move.

Hit the America East home page, and (for the astute follower of this site) you'll note a new look to the site. The America East has taken a lot of steps to evolve their digital presence (compare my breakdown previously done in August, here). Chief among their improvements are focus. They brought in a cleaner look with a focus of driving you to ways to stay in touch with the conference when you aren't sitting on AmericaEast.org.

Specifically, you'll note a prominent call to drive you to their blog, boldly stated as "Keeping Fans Updated with the Latest News on America East." You'll also note there's access via the Blogger icon (above that text) and in the box on the right-hand side (AExtra).

Naturally, I clicked in, immediately. That took me here, to the America East Blog, AExtra, linked here and shown below. A quick glance at the images below will give you a great look into what, specifically, the conference is offering. And the results are powerful.

First, the post is by "Curtis Schickner, UMBC '12." What you might not grasp from that is that this is not an aberration. It is the style of this blog to mix expertise from a neutral party (the conference as a whole) with that of people on the ground (a fleet of student writers on each site!)

In fact, as you'll note below, there are profiles for each Blogger along with quick links to the Student Newspapers of each school.

As you'll see below, there's also easy access to the latest Tweets from the America East pumped here, and naturally links to each school's athletics page.

What you won't grasp from the images I'll add via an embedded video below. They have fun with this. As you'll note by clicking in, the conference sends their digital crew out to check out the action, even if it is as early as 5 am. Sports are fun, and passion is contagious. That's evident when you click in!



So, in sum, the America East elevates people on the ground, then brings it together with a perspective on love of the schools from their main office. We can all learn from this as it shows how a conference can truly work together with its schools to provide something special.

How could this be better? There's a lot of content here. And to some degree it isn't predictable. How can we make this something where you can opt-in and subscribe to stories you want? Or, how can we add a degree of programming to the mix? (Let us know what we should expect each day or week, for example). This can be done via a schedule that the conference releases each week. There's fantastic things going on, now all we need is a way to build anticipation.

America East week continues tomorrow. We will take a peak at how the conference is leveraging social media. Then, we'll wrap the week up with 3 peaks into things I found fantastic across the 9-team conference landscape.

Don't forget, you can follow along via the Digital Hoops Blast Facebook page (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

Andy