NBA Digital Disciple Series: 5 Learnings from the Phoenix Suns

30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings of how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine - 5 takeaways per team plus one way to make that even better. Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your way.

We've taken you on a 5 week journey, covering the NJ Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards,Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, LA Clippers, NY Knicks, New Orleans Hornets, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls, OKC Thunder, Charlotte Bobcats, San Antonio Spurs,Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trailblazers, Miami Heat, Utah Jazz, Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, and Atlanta Hawks.

It's time for Week 6. Hope you're ready!

Let's take a look at the digital connections made by the Phoenix Suns (Link here)

1. The Suns Blog Networks

The Suns have a pretty revolutionary approach to blogging. When you click on their blog network, you go here. You're dropped into a visually powerful system that merges athletes, coaches, front office, dancers, and analysts all into one system. I like that set up as it eliminates a good chunk of the pressure that one person has to keep their blog up to date. Blogging is a team effort for the Suns and that team extends beyond the court. Simply click on one of the tabs on the left and you filter the blog to open up their posts...

This network also includes official fan blogger Adam Beechen (here). I'll zoom in a little below so you get a feel for what this looks like, and why this becomes insanely cool if you are chosen as that Official Fan Blogger!

Plus One: There are close to 20 bloggers here. That's depth. But the challenge becomes putting out a schedule -- so that fans know what to expect, and when. Tune in for your favorite commentator!

2. Turn Yourself Orange

Who says the internet can't be a place to ignite fan spirit? The Suns want fans to turn themselves (the virtual versions of themselves) orange. Check it out here or below -- the Suns give you a step-by-step guide to making yourself Orange... and then branding it!

Plus One: This is an interesting one. I'd love to see some form of prestige given to those who not only paint themselves up, virtually, for the Suns, but also get others to do this. This could be determined by a measure of how Orange your friend network is? Once we know not only who is orange but who gets those around them to also be orange, we need to celebrate this! That's love!

3. Suns on Twackle

Not everyone may know what Twackle is. It started as a system to aggregate Tweets that are around a similar topic in the world of sports. The Suns tapped into this, linked here. (I also liked that it was called "Suns Tweets...", which gets around those who wouldn't know what they were getting!) You'll also note on the left hand side of the page a nice breakout of all of the Suns Twitter accounts, filtered by category (players, coaches, dancers, etc.)

Plus One: I think the power of this is on the right hand side: Top Trends for this feed. This is the most talked about topics inside the universe of the Suns. Now, how can you take those topics and elevate them into a higher spot on the Suns site? Elevating the most timely messages will make the site update... and addicting.

4. The Suns on Twitter

If you're just interested in following the Suns on Twitter, rather than checking out the latest beat of the fan base, click no further than right here. You'll see a very well designed page that gives you the latest posts from the players, along with quick access to all Suns Twitter feeds. Really well done.

Plus One: Develop times where fans can go to Suns.com and, from the comforts of the page shown above, ask questions of players or front office personnel. Things are dynamic and the connection between players and fans grows stronger!

5. Planet Orange Fan Art

This is surprising and interesting. As you can see here, the Suns have created a gallery where fans can submit their own artwork on the squad (images, drawings, photos, or more).

Clicking into one of the pictures shows you that this system enables fans to take this art, download it as wallpapers, or share it with others. I love the concept of building an artistic community around the team. Really smart!


Plus One: I'd love to see this evolve into a partnership in the community. Work with schools to develop artwork on the team, then elevate it onto the site and into the arena. There is something powerful about taking this artistic starting point and expanding it into a community moment!

That's it for today, but this journey isn't done yet!

Follow along with us on Twitter. He's@peter_r_casey. And I'm @pawlow34. Tune in tomorrow as Peter Robert Casey profiles the Orlando Magic (here).

Andy

NBA Digital Disciple Series: 5 Learnings from the Denver Nuggets

30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings of how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine - 5 takeaways per team plus one way to make that even better. Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your way.

Thus far, we've covered the NJ Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards,Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, LA Clippers, NY Knicks, New Orleans Hornets, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls, OKC Thunder, Charlotte Bobcats, San Antonio Spurs, Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trailblazers, Miami Heat, Utah Jazz, and Boston Celtics.

Are you having fun yet?

Let's take a look at the digital connections made by the Denver Nuggets (Link here)

1. Vote for the Play of the Year

This is something that all teams should do, as it combines the right elements: fan interaction around good and exciting parts of your team. As you can see here, the Nuggets post the top plays of the 2009-10 season and ask fans to vote for their favorite. It's pretty simple but a great way to tie your squad to performance.

Plus One: Where do I start? So many ways to go here. But this is how I'd start. Take this and add fan interaction. You're thinking fans are already interacting, right? They vote. Yes. But why not take that pattern and do two things: 1) elevate in real time the favorites (so make this a leaderboard rather than a list)... and 2) Ask for comments to describe the play. What makes it so amazing? Who doesn't want to talk smack about their favorite squad doing something incredible? The Nuggets have a platform to enable this, now.

2. Nuggets Media Coverage

This is a smart feature. The Nuggets aggregate stories from the press about their players and coaches into one list, shown below and linked here. The list delivers fans access to articles on their favorite player in one central location. Convenience = good!

Plus One: Let fans subscribe for their player of choice (or coach of choice) and show how many subscribed to each one. That way I could get an email (or text) alert every time a new story on the Birdman posted, for example. It builds micro fan groups around each player -- enabling another platform for the Nuggets to leverage. (Why not find a way to launch Player Q&A sessions to those fan groups, for example?)

3. The Nuggets TV YouTube Channel

So many sites are focused on housing their own video content. The Nuggets deliver a different approach, posting their videos onto the Nuggets TV YouTube channel, here. I like this a bunch as it makes these very easy to share, comment on, and subscribe to.

Plus One: The Nuggets could take these YouTube videos and embed them into their main site -- thus allowing them to use YouTube as a spot to launch content while not forgetting about the fan who goes straight into their Official site.

4. The Charity Report

Teams put a big emphasis on having a positive impact on their local community. And it's a tough one, as there are so many wonderful causes and not enough arms and legs to get after all of them. So when I came across the official Nuggets charity report posted online (a 28 page summary linked here), I was impressed. It is a bold move to let the world know what you are doing and the choices you've made.

Plus One: I think we are in a spot where fans want to help out their team. Doing that brings them closer, more tightly connected together. And that means we are nearing the end of the days where teams say "This is what we did", but rather "This is what we need to do together." And I see this as a great way to accomplish greatness. Bring opportunities for fans to work side by side with their team in the community.

5. Request Rocky

The mascot. Go to a game and see that not much makes a young kid happier than watching the mascot. And I'm betting not much makes a dad more proud than having his kid happy to go to the game. So why not build excitement for the team away from the venue - to make kids more excited about coming to the venue, right? Click here.

Plus One: Recaps. We should have a gallery of images and testimonials about what Rocky did this week. And when he isn't doing an official gig, have opportunities for kids to find him in the community and win a tee shirt (or sticker pack or game tickets). I'd say "Hunt for Rocky" but that might get interpreted the wrong way. Trader Joe's makes kids hyped in the grocery store to hunt for the stuffed animals and win a sucker or balloon. Why not do the same with Rocky?

That's a wrap, but this journey isn't done yet! Follow along with us on Twitter. He's@peter_r_casey. And I'm @pawlow34. Tune in tomorrow as Peter Robert Casey profiles the Boston Celtics (here).

Andy

NBA Digital Disciple Series: 5 Learnings from the Utah Jazz

30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings of how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine - 5 takeaways per team plus one way to make that even better. Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your way.

Thus far, we've covered the NJ Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards,Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, LA Clippers, NY Knicks, New Orleans Hornets, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls, OKC Thunder, Charlotte Bobcats, San Antonio Spurs, Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trailblazers, and Miami Heat.

Are you having fun yet?

Let's take a look at the digital connections made by the Utah Jazz (link here)...

1. Carlos Boozer's Audio Blog

This is a pretty cool idea. It's just like a podcast only you don't have to subscribe, and download to your iPod in order to hear it. Simply click here and you'll see the system (or look below). Click into each link and hear from Boozer - as they put it "team performance, team drama, and everything in between."

Plus One: The experience, while super cool, also leaves a bit to be desired. I'd love to find a happy medium - make it easy for me to sign up to get these on my iPod, so I don't have to be on the desktop in order to hear from Booz. The other thing that could help is a little executive summary on what you get. For now, we have to click in to determine what, specifically, he's going to talk about. While that's fine, an overview could allow us to more easily find the exact episode(s) we want to check out.

2. Broadcaster Blogs

There's perhaps no one better suited to cover a team than their announcers. You have a couple people who are privy to inside information and access to players/coaches/trainers that we all would love to have. They are good communicators. And they travel to the same places the team goes. The Jazz deliver this in a blog headlined by announcers Craig Bolerjack, Pace Mannion, Steve Brown, Ron Boone, and David James. It's authentic, and available often. Check out the link here.

Plus One: Now that the blog is up, integrate this blog into the broadcasts (TV or radio). Get questions from readers to cover during the game, get suggestions for pre game guests, or even hold a contest to get a reader the chance to appear as a guest commentator for part of the game. Use the access for good!

3. An Elevated Twitter Page

The Jazz take Twitter and elevate it front and center to the home page via an elegant navigational style shown below. Click into Twitter and you get a visual representation of the various Jazz personalities up and available on Twitter. Strong stuff.

Plus One: The access is here. Now make it amazing. What if we could add Tweets from the arena here? A combination of using a hashtag (#jazzlive maybe?) and location based marketing could allow us to elevate tweets from fans in venue, in real time. Oh my!

4. Fans Own Facebook

The Jazz have a huge network on Facebook - over 70,000 strong. And, more than that, they have a wall that is actually dominated by fan postings, as you can see below or by visiting the page here. This is something that I think a lot of us long for -- establishing a place where you can deliver messages but where fans also feel comfy enough to post banter amongst themselves. The foundation is here, to say the least!

Plus One: Fans are itching to post and engage. The challenge here is how can the Jazz add a bit of structure to this? I'm a believer that a simple question or thought of the day around the team can allow for interaction that builds upon itself, and give fans a reason to come back. Predictions on games, favorite plays of the year/month/week, toughest matchup, best thing about the team -- the topics are pretty endless and can allow for some structure while not taking away from this beautiful organic thing!

5. Clean out the Locker Room

In a word, this is fun. Take a moment that inevitably happens -- the season ends and it's time to clean out the locker room -- and make it fun! That's exactly what the Jazz do, here. Simply fill out the form and you're entered to be one of 13 lucky fans who can go into the locker room and take away some game or practice-used equipment from your favorite player. That's pretty sweet!

Plus One: Make this more than a lottery. This should be a testament to how much you love the team. The Jazz can enable this by not simply asking you to text or complete a form, but rather to submit a picture demonstrating your loyalty to the squad. (Or a 140 character post on Twitter) This rewards not chance but passion!

That's a wrap, but this journey isn't done yet! Follow along with us on Twitter. He's @peter_r_casey. And I'm @pawlow34. Tune in tomorrow as Peter Robert Casey profiles the Boston Celtics (here).

Andy

NBA Digital Disciple Series: 5 Learnings from the Portland Trailblazers

30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings of how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine - 5 takeaways per team plus one way to make that even better. Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your way.

Cool?

Thus far, we've covered the NJ Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards,Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, LA Clippers, NY Knicks, New Orleans Hornets, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls, OKC Thunder, Charlotte Bobcats, San Antonio Spurs, and Milwaukee Bucks.

Now it's time for me to go home. It's time to review my hometown squad, the Portland Trailblazers.

Here we go....

Let's take a look at the digital connections made by the Portland Trail Blazers (link here).

1. An amazing navigational set up

I try to stay out of design in these recaps, but the set up of this site is just brilliant. Take a peak, at this image and see how it just asks you to explore. The Blazers use an interactive grid to elevate the top news stories around the squad, then as you highlight a story it fills up another square on the grid. So it's very much an exploratory site.

Plus One: What if this navigation stuck through the full site? Right now when you click on The Team it takes you to a roster image, but it leaves the grid. I'd love it if the top navigation was just a filter for this incredible design.

2. Dynamic and Fan Centric Player Pages

This one actually has me giddy. If you take a look at how the Blazers handle player pages, it is addicting and, to be honest, a little enchanting. I'm going to paste examples of both Brandon Roy and Marcus Camby's pages below. And I want to call out a couple of things we should all take note of...

• Fans can make the player their favorite, add them to their starting 5, or to their huddle. And you can see just how many fans did that for each player.
• Fans can post comments on this player's page, shown on the right hand side of the page.
• Naturally, you get access to the latest player news, photos, and blog posts.

Clicking on "My Fans" even shows you who loves each player the most... solid stuff here!

Plus One: You can publish this to Facebook to share with your friends. Cool. But why not find a simple way to put in the Facebook "Like" buttons into each player's page? That way you can track the number of Likes and enable a viral way to share the Blazers, while effectively creating the official Fan community pages around each member of the squad!

3. Fan posts become visual expressions

Fans are pretty active, posting comments to player profiles as we shared above. On the official Blazers Fan site, here, the team takes an image of the player and mixes it with a post from a fan to create a visual masterpiece. Check this one.


I love the simplicity of this -- we can all do this, but not only is it visually powerful and something fans would want to own, it elevates the fan who made the comment. Nice!

Plus One: Take these visual collabs and allow fans to download them easily to become their mobile or computer wallpaper. Or, make them into posters that fans could order up/win on the site. Fun!

4. Why are you a fan?

Nothing connects us more than feeling positive vibes from those who share our passions. Linked here and shown below, the Blazers ask fans to share why they are a fan, and then let others vote on these. Simple but it definitely is a beat of the pulse of the fans...

Plus One: Could they come up with a way to group these and then visually aggregate them? For example, put them all into a grid like we saw on the home page, with the sizes of the grid determined by the quantity of fans in that area. NBC did this with their Twitter tracker, here. And this would encourage the same style of exploration that's worked well thus far!

5. Facebook fosters connection

Things are going well, but the Blazers want to get better. Linked from their Facebook page, here, the Blazers are asking fans to help. They posted a survey to learn a little about who is going to their Facebook page, what else they like, and why they go. This is something great, as the more you understand what fans want, the more likely you are to be able to delight them.

Plus One: Publish the findings. How often have you filled out a survey and wondered what became of it? (For me it's happened a bunch...) Let fans see how their opinions differ from others, and understand the pulse of the fan base. It's in Facebook, so this would allow fans to actually comment on the findings in a simple format as well.

That's a wrap, but this journey isn't done yet!

Follow along with us on Twitter. He's @peter_r_casey. And I'm @pawlow34. Tomorrow, Peter Robert Casey Monday (here) as he takes on the Miami Heat.

Andy

NBA Digital Disciple Series: 5 Learnings from the San Antonio Spurs

30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings of how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine - 5 takeaways per team plus one way to make that even better. Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your way.

Cool?

Thus far, we've covered the NJ Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards,Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, LA Clippers, NY Knicks, New Orleans Hornets, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls, OKC Thunder, and Charlotte Bobcats.

Our full schedule is available here.

Let's go.

Let's take a look at the digital connections made by the San Antonio Spurs (link here)

1. Spursday Spirit Contest

In a word, wow. These fans love their Spurs, and if you don't believe it you need to click in here and check out this photo gallery. The Spurs offered fans a chance to submit their Spurs spirit via photography, with the winners posted on the site. Wow did they ever! Amazing stuff here.

Plus One: It feels like the Spurs need a row in the stadium reserved to these crazy passionate fans. Perhaps the top 20 fans through the season win tickets to sit and display their passion courtside?

2. Game Night Feedback

When I saw this header, I was intrigued. Could that be a chance to tell the team how it did? Hmmm. Clicking in, I saw that this was not just a space to give feedback on your experience at a game but actually a forum to submit ideas. (And if you see the headline, it's pretty clear which of the two is the most important topic to take away)...

Here's the link, the image is below.

Plus One: Post these ideas. I've found that sometimes my best ideas spawn from hearing what someone else says. And it creates a forum for fans to comment on suggestions from each other. I literally love where this is going, more please!

3. Original Video Content Explodes in Facebook

You'd expect the Spurs to be active in Facebook, as they focus their attention on fans across the board. Sure enough, with just over 63,000 fans (link here), they have a big and active fan community. But it was the video storylines that got my attention. As you'll see in the image below, the Spurs regularly pump in the content (pre game warmups and exit interviews) that you simply don't have access to anywhere else.

Plus One: Fans are pretty active on this comment - hitting each feature with a barrage of comments and thumbs ups. The challenge is how the Spurs can develop a storyline year-round inside this community, and then publish it. Make it clear what's coming next, and then make this site a destination to watch/interact with it. Could it become the home for all video during next month's NBA draft? That'd be a great start!

4. A Monstrous Twitter Network

I had no idea what was about to hit me. When I clicked on "Spurs on Twitter", I was expecting to be taken to their official Twitter page. What I saw is below (and here). Gulp.

Yes, you are taken to all 27 Spurs Twitter sites, including athletes, dancers, mascots, and front office employees. Wow. If you love the Spurs, this makes it very easy to find anyone and everyone affiliated with the squad.

Plus One: Aggregate all of these together, into one feed. The Spurs could set up a Twitter group with these 27, then pump that feed right into the site. That'd make the site come to life and it would elevate all of these people who live for the squad!

5. Twitter Only Contests

The Spurs do a great job on Twitter, linked here. The power of what they do is combine a great voice with great giveaways. There's nothing that makes a fan tune in to your Twitter channel (or radio program) like thinking they have a chance to hear/feel passion and maybe win some stuff. As you'll see in the post below, the Spurs have Twitter-only giveaways. This one is fantastic.

So they get fans to celebrate the team and they giveaway a monster prize (playoff tickets) if you act quickly (10 minutes). Fans essentially make your ad campaign for you. Brilliant. Then, as you can see below, the Spurs post pictures of the winning fans -- even showing off that fan's Twitter handle. I'm giddy on this one!!!

Plus One: This is fantastic. The only thing I'd love to see is a gallery of all the contests on the Spurs site. So if you just stroll upon this Twitter area and are unsure if you want to be "in", make it easy. Let me know all the contests you've had, and let me see all the winners. That makes it more real, more addicting, and I'm in!

That's a wrap.

I hope you're enjoying this ride. Follow along with us on Twitter. He's @peter_r_casey. And I'm @pawlow34. Tomorrow, Peter Robert Casey tomorrow (here) as he drills into the Milwaukee Bucks.

Andy

NBA Digital Disciple Series: 5 Learnings from the OKC Thunder

30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings of how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine - 5 takeaways per team - and then raise you one enhancement suggestion for each learning that's highlighted. (One way to make the great even greater) Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your way.

Cool?

Thus far, we've covered the NJ Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards,Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, LA Clippers, NY Knicks, New Orleans Hornets, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets, and Chicago Bulls.

Our full schedule is available here.

It's time for week 4 -- Let's move.

Let's take a look at the digital connections made by the Oklahoma City Thunder (link here).

1. Tweets are News

The Thunder do a good job of positioning their Twitter feed for what it is: a great news source. While this may seem intuitive to many of you, most sites don't position Twitter that way. The team's Twitter feed will find itself under the headline of "Social Media", "Fan Zone", or "Multimedia" on many sites. But the Thunder have approached Twitter from the mind of their consumer. As you can see in this image, Thunder Tweets appears under the headline "NEWS."

As a bonus, it also appears as a main navigation element on the home page.

Plus One: Could the Thunder take this strategy and allow fans to customize what they see beneath "Thunder Tweets?" For example, allow them to pull in just the Official Thunder feed (as it is now) or pull in players, coaches, or media beat writers. The infrastructure is here, now let's see a little personalization...

2. Game Night: Where to Watch the Thunder

Here's another smart and easy thing to add to your site. Linked here and shown below, the Thunder offer you an easy way to figure out who is carrying the game. Just go to the Thunder site, enter in your zip code, and find a spot to watch the game with your friends. And a nice way to partner with restaurants in your network.

Plus One: This is a case ready made for location based marketing. The Thunder are asking fans to look up where to go from their site. Why not also ask them to check in from the location during the game? It's pretty interesting to think about this -- if the Thunder sees you checked in during the game from the sports bar they have a pretty good idea you're a fan. And why not reward those who are the most likely to go to these establishments at game time?

3. Training Camp

Looking around the Thunder site, it was clear to me that the team doesn't start going deep on its storytelling when the season starts. That's special, and as you can see from the image below or by clicking here, the team provides deep access to content from the start of training camp... and a reason for fans to check them out again and again leading up to the season.

Plus One: The pieces are here. Why not stitch them together? I'd love to see the training camp not be done solely as a story on what's happening day-to-day, but rather as a part of a season long focus on the growth of the team. Put a focus on the story that will be told after the season concludes, then cut that down into day-by-day recaps on the Thunder.

4. Fans, Fans, Fans

Another evident thing about the Thunder is the passion of their fan base. That's carried out in two features on the Thunder site: The roar of the crowd after the season ended, and a mini-documentary on a watch party outside of the arena. It's pretty inspiring to think that this energy is so strong even when it is not attached to a big play, or to success in a moment.

Plus One: Why not recognize a fan every game? And not just in the arena -- on the site, on Facebook, and on Twitter? This would be one fan who bleeds Thunder blue and who exemplifies that collective roar you can hear on the features above. Keeping an archive of those features online could become pretty incredible.

5. Teacher of the Game

I love this, and not just because my mom is an elementary school teacher. What I love is the convergence of community programs and game days. The Thunder have 41 home games. And they use those 41 games to recognize 41 teachers who are excelling in their school district. This allows the Thunder to make an impact across the state. It celebrates something they value. And, not to be lost, it positions the Thunder not as a team in OKC but as a team of the state of Oklahoma. Each teacher gets recognition, along with help for their classroom. Here's the link.

Plus One: Could the Thunder use this program to tie the team even deeper to the school districts across the state? The Thunder should allow the winning teacher's school the chance to get a visit from a member of the Thunder the same week of the recognition. That way it isn't just about the teacher traveling to OKC to get recognized but also the Thunder heading to the school to say Thank You and to speak to the children of that program. If you want to get bigger, let the Thunder actually practice at the teacher of the year's school. That'd be nuts!

That's a wrap.

I hope you're enjoying this ride. Check out Peter Robert Casey tomorrow (here) as he drills into the Charlotte Bobcats. And click here to follow me on Twitter.

Andy

NBA Digital Disciple Series: 5 Learnings from the Houston Rockets

30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings of how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine - 5 takeaways per team - and then raise you one enhancement suggestion for each learning that's highlighted. (One way to make the great even greater)

Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your way.

Cool?

Thus far, we've covered the NJ Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards,Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, LA Clippers, NY Knicks, New Orleans Hornets, Indiana Pacers, and Toronto Raptors.

Our full schedule is available here.

Let's move.

Let's take a look at the digital connections made by the Houston Rockets (link here)

1. Chat Live with a Rockets Representative

Let me preface this with a comment -- I am not a fan at all of the splash page (the page that you are greeted with before you get to the page you are attempting to get to. Normally these pages show up to divert your attention - to celebrate a moment or get you to buy something. I find that we should not slow people on their quest. That said, I loved something about the Rockets' season ticket splash page. As you can see in the image below, you are given the chance to Chat Live with a Rockets representative.

Clicking in, you get a little pop up chat browser. Now that is service!

Plus One: Love this idea. A fan has a question on your team and you are standing by. Could this expand beyond the ticketing idea? What if you had a question on the starting lineup, or the health of a player? Something just feels like we are at the tip of the iceberg of having representatives willing and able to engage fans on their terms and I'm digging it!

2. Red Nation Chatter Elevated

It's pretty direct and very powerful. Take a peak at the home page and you're hit with the image below, immediate and up front access to the Rockets social media, under the headline "Red Nation Chatter." Elevating access to Facebook, Twitter, and Mobile alongside the Team Leaders and Video shows it's even more important. Here's a peak.

Plus One: Don't just elevate access, but elevate the latest activity... Or highlights of the past week (Tweet or Facebook post of the week, for example) That way fans get some insight into what they are missing by not clicking ahead.

3. Rockets bring personality into Facebook

I like what the Rockets have going on in Facebook. Nearly 100,000 like the Rockets on Facebook (you can join them by clicking here). There's a lot of great things about the style the Rockets deliver on Facebook, from highlight reels to celebrations for all things good in the franchise. But most powerful to me is the emotion in the communication.

Check this example to accompany their year end highlight package. "Miss the Rockets? Me too. Here's some video of the finer moments in 2009-2010." The result is below. 103 people like it and 33 comment. That's a nice viral stream of activity from a simple post. Great work here.

4. Rockets Widgets

The Rockets have a collection of NBA.com widgets available to fans. Simply choose either the Rockets team feed, or specific player feeds by clicking in and you can take them with you to your reader or blog of choice. It's a nice set up to bring your favorites with you, on your terms.

Pick up your Shane Battier widget here (and check the image below).

Plus One: I like offering the NBA widgets here, but can the Rockets now find a way to message with fans who have adopted each widget? Wouldn't it be amazing to find a way for Battier to interact with fans who have taken ahold of his widget? To me, the potential is there for fans who take a widget to get exclusive access that fans who don't have it won't get.

5. Rockets Player Sites

The Rockets bring you access to two things: the websites of their players and the foundation websites their roster supports. These are paired together, in a nice gallery linked here and shown below.

Plus One: I'd love to see a way to elevate the charitable foundations to an even higher status. The amount of good each player does is amazing. To see it all together, in one forum, could be exhilarating. And I think this could be done as simply as what we see with sites embedding their Facebook, Twitter, or blog feeds.

That's a wrap.

I hope you're enjoying this ride. Check out Peter Robert Casey tomorrow (here) as he closes down the week as we shift into Playoff mode with the Chicago Bulls. And click here to follow me on Twitter.

Andy