Mid American Conference Brings All Social Media to the Home Page

Today we'll continue our look into the Mid American Conference with a look into how they connect with social media. What's great and, more importantly, what can the rest of us steal from them? Then, we'll finish the week out by looking into the 12 MAC programs and elevating the best digital features I've uncovered.

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.

Let's start.

Hit the MAC home page and look down the right hand side of the page. You'll note the "News Center", to which I'll zoom in...

As you'll see, right here on the MAC home page is every way you could possibly want to follow the conference, and every program in the conference. DEEP directory alert...

Nice.

How could this be better? The challenge of the MAC is to become more than a gateway. How can the conference find a way to elevate the most interesting posts every day into this site? If they can do this, the site gets more dynamic and the MAC offers real, unique value to the fan (or recruit!)

That's it for now... But come back tomorrow as we start elevating the 3 best practices I found through the 12 MAC programs!

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.

Andy

The Mid American Conference Delivers a Menu of Options to Follow Men's Hoops

Mid American 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.

We break down leagues based on how squads finished last season. We're hitting up the MAC, thanks to Ohio's season last year.

Let's move.

Hit the MAC home page, here, and click into Basketball.

Now, turn your attention to the left-hand side of the page. You'll see the MAC has identified men's basketball as a key sport and they are going to go out of their way to let us follow this sport. That's something many conferences can take note of. Identify the critical sport(s) to your fan base and adapt what you offer to meet this need. As you'll note in the right hand box, they are offering 3 ways to stay in touch: Twitter, A Daily Brief, and a Blog. Let's check this out...

The MAC Basketball on Twitter, offers the up-to-the minute way to follow the conference. It's authored by Jeremy Guy, the MAC Director of Communications. With 437 followers, he does a solid job of sharing updates on programs and retweeting relevant posts by MAC basketball programs. As you'll note below, this Twitter feed pumps into the MAC Basketball blog, giving us extra reach into the latest view from the conference.

The MAC Serves up the Basketball Daily, here. This is a collection of made-for-sports information directors (or radio/TV broadcasters) updates for each team in the MAC. I love this strategy -- take what you are already doing (daily updates) and repurposing them for the site (and a new audience!) Great role model for us all to follow.

Finally, the MAC Basketball Nation Blog, here, offers a very personal look into MAC Basketball. It's a strongly effective blog, that pulls in expert writers, post game interviews, and in every case personality to help us follow the conference. I love seeing this, as the MAC offers up insight that just doesn't exist everywhere. And the combo of insight and personality makes us feel closer to the conference.

How can this be better? Elevate it. Together. I would love to see all of this energy hit the Men's Basketball home page. What would this page look like if Twitter, Daily Updates, and Blog Articles/Videos all lived the second you clicked on "Basketball?" We'd have a system that worked together, rather than a system of effective but separate pieces!

MAC 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 12-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

Why I'm Thankful for Duke Blue Planet.com

It's our time to wrap up Thanksgiving Week, with the final of 5 sites who aren't "Official" School sites but who make following a school more dynamic. These sites play a critical role in building an athletics brand, and should not be ignored for the roll they play in cultivating a fan base... and inspiring a (prospective) recruit.

Tune in on this blog, or you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook, here.

Up today, Duke University's Duke Blue Planet.com, linked here and shown below. Duke Blue Planet is a masterpiece of content, with some of the best and most personal insider videos you'll find anywhere. But we can go deeper into the magic which I feel makes this such an inspiring example into connecting that we can all learn from!

Blue Planet Live

If Blue Planet Live had a mission statement, it might be this: Take the best and latest content from anywhere and deliver it to you wherever you are. Sounds good, huh? Linked here, and shown below, BPL takes all the latest expert posts and tweets about the Blue Devils, lays them out in a beautiful fashion alongside those of fans (like you), and then makes them available for anyone to take via a Widget.

Here's a glimpse at the latest news... (I love how it isn't just a long list of text tweets!)


And here's how Fan comments come in... Love how fans get the feeling of connecting with Duke "just" by tweeting about it. Nice.

And, finally, you'll see how experts in the media who write about the program and its alums show up in this same spot. Also note that Widget in the upper right-hand corner of this image -- it's all set to take with you!

How could this be better? The idea is great. Now they just need to drive more Fans to join in the fun. And think about how this area can be activated come game time. What does Blue Planet Live look (or feel) like during a big game?

Playing for Coach K

It's emotional. As you'd expect, the idea of playing for a legend is powerful. Check out this quote from NBA star Elton Brand:

"Coach K's a great coach, a great teacher and a great person. I trust him. I trust him like no other. He knows the game. I haven't doubted him one time. He's always 100 percent right in what he says. He's been a mentor to me. He tells me what's going to happen before it ever happens. He has been the best, and I don't think I would have gotten that anywhere besides Duke. Duke was the greatest experience of my life."

Now imagine that emotion into an almost never-ending list of athletes and coaches. Linked here, and pictured below we see a sliver of the impact Coach K has had on Duke University -- through the lens of people.

Wow. Not everyone has a Coach K. But everyone has a coach who is impacting young athletes. How can you build a log of the impact your coaches make in shaping the next generation? It's a critical thing and it's easy to do.

How could this be better? I'd love to see the tag cloud of this. What does it all add up to? If we saw the consistencies in the words and made this equally about who said it and what they said, it would be even more magical!

Partner with key blogs

Here's an interesting one to finish on. Duke Blue Planet elevates BLOGS into their main navigation, shown below. And if you hover over it, you'll see that it isn't just columns they write. This is a source of all the content they have found in the web. I love this for many reasons, most specifically because it elevates their peers. They aren't threatened that someone might leave Duke Blue Planet, but rather they are pumped you are interested in Duke. Who are the peers for your program? And how can you elevate them for recruits (or fans) to find?

How could this be better? I'd love to see these bloggers involved deeper in Blue Planet Live, which we broke down above. Their stories might impact the latest links, but it feels like this connection could be even deeper. Imagine if they could bring this collective blog content from the world into that widget? That'd be the most complete Duke widget one could imagine!

That's it. And, THANK YOU to Duke Blue Planet for giving us a reason to love sites like this.

Come back next week as we shift back to our looks into individual conferences in search of best practices!

Tune in on this blog, or you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook,here.

Why I'm Thankful for UAH Hoops.com

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I'm taking the week to look at 5 sites who aren't "Official" School sites but who make following a program more dynamic. These sites play a critical role in building an athletics brand, and should not be ignored for the roll they play in cultivating a fan base... and inspiring a (prospective) recruit.

Tune in on this blog, or you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook, here.

Up today, the University of Alabama Huntsville's basketball platform: UAH Hoops.com, linked here and shown below. (Yes, my bandwidth on this is deep!)

UAH is here because they prove to all of us that you if you pick a few things and do them well, you can make an impact and define your program to the current generation of prospective recruits. I guess what that means is they get it and strive to lead in an area that is evolving. Here's what I see...

Video Power

It's clear if you visit the site that UAH is going to leverage video to tell their story. It is evident the minute you hit the site and see the video stories inside their page. As you'll note, it is easy for others (like me) to take their videos and share them, thus increasing their reach. These videos are done well to reinforce what's important to the program. As you'll check below, they have an impact. (LOVE the music in this!)

The main navigation also signals out Webisodes, which are visible here (or click into the sample below). As you'll see, there is now 2 seasons worth of content at your fingertips, and it covers highlights from multiple games at a chunk -- very easy for a recruit to get a feel for their style of play and if they are a fit.

Here's that video to check out (the latest Webisode):

How could this be better? Context. We have great access -- multiple games built together inside 5-10 minute chunks. You see the system and style of play. You feel the energy. But what you don't get is an overview, at a glance, of what makes this worth your time. I think it could be solved by adding personality -- what were the coaches (or players)' most memorable moments during that time? What were they most proud of. Was it a tough road trip that brought the team together? Did depth play a role? Did a young player emerge? Tell us the story in words and then give us the cinematic experience once we're sold!

Imagine you're just in a conversation with Recruits

Yes, Recruits are in the Main Nav (which you know by now I love). Click in here and you'll see how a personal approach works for UAH. It's a great contrast to the "Webisode 1, Webisode 2, etc." approach above. And you get it, right away.

Check out the workout style of the team, here.

Spring Workouts 2010 from Coach Ivey on Vimeo.

How could this be better? Give us a little more insight. I love the personal approach on that slide. But I'd love more. What do they strive to get out of the workouts? How does the process work? What are the case studies of success? Who do they model themselves after? This could all be solved via text -- no need for a big time video. Just give us the context this story lives in!

Put emphasis on being BMOC's
As you can see here, UAH created a destination for their Fan Club, the UAH Blue Crew. It's a place that aggregates the latest pictures, Tweets (which are very emotional), and Events (listen live, game preparation, and my favorites a Tailgating Guide and things every UAH student should know (including the fact that you stand the entire game!) And, collectively, this is a nice reminder to student athletes (prospective ones) that this is a destination. An event people can't wait to support. You will be on the stage, and it is fun!


Yes, yum.
Rules to live by...

How could this be better? I'd love to have more photography here. Insider, iPhone style is great. Just let us see how crazy this 150 strong student section is and why it creates a nightmare scenario for the road team!

That's it. And, THANK YOU to UAH for inspiring me in a place I wasn't expecting it!

Come back tomorrow as we give you one final break down yet another site to be Thankful for! Don't forget, Tune in on this blog, or you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook, here.

Why I'm Thankful for Johnny Jungle

This week is Thanksgiving Week. So I'm taking the week to look at 5 sites who aren't "Official" School sites but who make following a school more dynamic. These sites play a critical role in building an athletics brand, and should not be ignored for the roll they play in cultivating a fan base... and inspiring a (prospective) recruit.

Tune in on this blog, or you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook, here.

Up today, St John's and the Johnny Jungle, linked here and shown below. This is the "Unofficial home of St John's Basketball." I love these sites, because they step in where athletics sites often cannot and go deep on a critical sport for the university. But it is not just the fact that an unofficial home exists that I'm thankful for... it is what this home offers. Let's dive in.

Recruiting.

The Johnny Jungle is definitely out to become the Source for all things recruiting. They bubble up Recruiting into the home page, shown below. And they also bubble up Recruiting info (a calendar and NCAA guidelines) into the main navigation (which you can see above). Recruiting is a critical part of the athletics journey (and no doubt LOTS of time spent searching online by fans). It just makes sense that this unofficial home would make this critical... and they do.

So where could they take it? What if recruits were interviewed here? What if they had a deep analysis of each move and what it meant for the team? I see a lot of potential to evolve the News into the Experience. Big plus to this!!!

Social.

Johnny Jungle takes a very advanced look into Social. While most sites simply give us ways to follow them on Facebook or Twitter, the Jungle goes deep.

Click in here to check the page, I'll call out my favorite features below.

Facebook Application

Clicking into Facebook takes us here, to the Jungle's official Facebook page, which you see below.

From here, you need to visit the APP page. As you'll see on this official APP page, below, by adding the APP, you get all breaking news from the site delivered to your Facebook wall. Thus, you don't have to visit the Facebook page of the Jungle, just visit your own page. Nice!!!

How could this be better? Imagine if there was content only available by having this app. That would give you the info you need, ahead of everyone else. Amazing.

The Latest Tweets

The Jungle bubbles up all tweets with #STJBB into the social tab, below. It's a nice way to see all the conversation in one spot. I love this, as it is a not-so-subtle reminder that, at any time, there is chatter about the squad. And, as a recruit, that's a magical and critical thing to remember.

How could this be better? Make it easy to separate experts from fans. That way you can see the authentic voice of St John's (coaches, players, former players) separated from the flow. Then take this engine and elevate it beyond the Social Tab. Hit us hard with this goodness -- Remind us of the power of that collective voice!

Regular Original Content.

Finally, at the end of the day it is about original content. Where can you go for authentic info you can't find elsewhere? That's a critical reason to come back. The Johnny Jungle solves this challenge, with regular columns as you can see below.

I love Daly Dribble, here, as it is a digestible chunk of goodness on the program, in a voice that feels authentic but also personal.

How could this be better? Make it easy to subscribe for the newsletter(s) of your choosing. I feel the system is here, we just have a chance to make it even easier to get this information. And the knowledge of this can help the Jungle evolve -- offering more of what people want and less of what they don't. It's all about priorities, right?

That's it. And, THANK YOU to the Johnny Jungle for giving us a reason to love sites like this.

Come back tomorrow as we break down yet another site to be Thankful for! Don't forget, Tune in on this blog, or you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook, here.

Why I'm Thankful for Coach Cal.com

This week is Thanksgiving Week.

I'll be taking the week to look at 5 sites who aren't "Official" School sites but who make following a program more dynamic. These sites play a critical role in building an athletics brand, and should not be ignored for the roll they play in cultivating a fan base... and inspiring a (prospective) recruit.

Tune in on this blog, or you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook, here.

Up today, the University of Kentucky Basketball, told through the eyes of Coach Cal.com, linked here and shown below.


As you all probably know by now, I'm a college hoops junkie who consumes a LOT of digital content. But what you may not know is that I get more excitement out of my visits to Coach Cal.com than most if not all other sites. Why? As you'll see in my breakdown below, Coach Cal is a digital innovator. While he gets credit for being a part of a large institution with a big marketing budget, it's how he tries new things and gets the most out of what he has that impresses me as a digital guy. Here's a few of my favorites!

Authentic Photography

This site proves that you don't need a professional photographer documenting your every move to make an impact. And, not just that, they show that you can accomplish a lot by embracing the fact that you don't! In the new section dubbed "No caption needed, iPhone outtakes", Coach Cal creates a section where they can create galleries of the randomness and unpredictability that comes in a typical week with Coach Cal. Check it for yourself, here.

And, as you can see in the image below, emotion can strike you when you least expect it!

How can this be better? I love where they are going. I'd love to see social embedding here. It could be via simple sharing through Facebook or Twitter built into each picture. Or it could be the ability to easily take each picture and send it to your own profile (or Twitter skin). Authenticity is king.

Location Based

I've been lukewarm on Location-based marketing in general, as it has felt like it was a little bit of a privacy thing for a lot of people. (And, according to reports only 4% of people are using them) That said, I was taken aback in a good way by the integration of Coach Cal on Foursquare, which you can check out here or see below. Right in the center of the home page is a graphic that tells us where Coach Cal has last checked in. Cool, huh? Especially if he's active and lets you know when he's at the gym/team hotel/on the road, etc.

How could this be better? I'd love to see contests folded into this. Follow Coach Cal and have a chance to get game tickets, home or road. Simple but cool.

Post Game Mashups

Never has there been a more prime example of making the most of what you have than you'll see here, in the Post Game Mashup. Editor David Scott mixes Game Play-by-Play with Coach Cal's press conference with photography, stats, audio, or whatever he comes across to give you a recap of what you missed. It's simple (the example I found was only text and a couple authentic iPhone pictures) but it gives you the full read of things, in the order they happened. I love this because it is an example of something every program could do and it creates real value for a fan!

How could this be better? Could you pull in comments from fans on Twitter? Let people use a hashtag and then add them into this description, as they unfolded (selected ones, of course). It adds to the drama and subtly connects fans to Coach and the Program in a deeper way!

That's it. And, THANK YOU to Coach Cal.com for giving us a reason to love sites like this.

Come back tomorrow as we break down yet another site to be Thankful for! Don't forget, Tune in on this blog, or you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook,here.

Why I'm Thankful for Coach Frank Martin.com

This week is Thanksgiving Week.

I'll be taking the week to look at 5 sites who aren't "Official" School sites but who make following a program more dynamic. These sites play a critical role in building an athletics brand, and should not be ignored for the roll they play in cultivating a fan base... and inspiring a (prospective) recruit.

Tune in on this blog, or you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook, here.

Up today, Kansas State University Coach Frank Martin.com, linked here, pictured below. We've covered Coach Martin's site previously (here), but not in this spirit.

They Sound of Success

Hit the site and you'll here music. Many sites in this zone ignore the fact that music is a critical part of the student-athlete (and recruit's) world. And it's pumping right here for you on the site. Then, mouse over the bottom left (National Attention) and it literally plays the audio of an ESPN announcing team talking about the craziness it is to play at Kansas State. Wow. Wish I could automate that audio for you on my site, but alas, click here to hear for yourself.

How could this go further? Tell us the music the guys are listening to, now. It's a simple video to capture and it is a point of immediate connection between the recruit and the squad.

Branding of Success

Who We Are and How We Win. That's the bold statement K-State delivers on their main page, and yes, it sets a mighty strong tone. (Fitting for Coach Martin, huh?) But this isn't the only place they deliver this level of branding around winning...

Scroll to the bottom of the site and you will see the image of a champion (plaques) with the following phrases: 24 NCAA Tournaments. 16 Sweet Sixteens. 11 Elite Eights. 4 Final Fours. 19 Conference Championships. 36 All-Americans. 50 NBA Draft Picks. Wow.

Hit any player page (see Jacob Pullen's here) and you'll see the branding of success applied to them in a succinct bullet. Try this, "2010-11 AP Pre-Season All American. Big 12 Pre-Season Player of the Year." It's current, and (yes) it's bold and about success. And as a prospect, it shows you the team will elevate what they love about you.

Finally, hit Coach Martin's bio (here) and you'll see a bio of all of the NBA Players he has coached in his career (not just at K-State). It's definitely the type of reminder you want as a student athlete who hits this page. It's about planting a vision in your head of what you can be... if you become a Wildcat!

An Articulate Philosophy

Kansas State is very articulate about what they are about. Click in, here, and you'll be treated to a dynamic, cinematic video experience of the program (the gear, the facilities, the squad). That's the sizzle. Where's the steak?

The philosophy is spelled out for you, here. It's a bold paragraph about winning. Read for yourself.

"We pressure our opponents for 40 straight minutes, offensively and defensively. Pressure makes people break. The more pressure you apply on people every opportunity you get, the more difficult you make it for your opponent. You have to be intense about what you're doing. In order to have intensity about what you're doing you have to have tremendous passion. Those three things are the things that I'm all about. I'm about pressuring people. I'm about intensity, and I'm about passion."

Fun

Finally, this game is about fun and not everyone remembers that, especially when it comes to serious things like Recruiting and Branding. K State gets it, big. This starts with the player roster, referred to as the Player's Lounge, shown below...

And extends to the photographic style in the player photos (see Wally Judge's here or below).

But it is most evident in the Roster shot, below. (or here) How fun is this? And why wouldn't you want to play with guys like this?

Yes, the coaches have their own version of fun. (Kind of anyway!)

That's it. Add it all up and you get a consistent experience that connects you to a program.

THANK YOU to Coach Martin for giving us a reason to feel the game through Kansas State Basketball's Vantage.

Come back tomorrow as we break down yet another site to be Thankful for! Don't forget, Tune in on this blog, or you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook, here.

Colonial Athletic Association Best Practices: Northeastern's iPhone App Keeps You Current

This blog is all about inspiration. Today we start with 3 days elevating best practices from the squads that make up the CAA. You can tune in on this blog, or you can follow along on Facebook (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

What makes something a best practice? This isn't about the most intricate experience. It's about looking at the world from your consumer's point of view and delivering something that hits it right smack on the head. For this work, I'm treating the primary consumer as that prospective student athlete.

Thus far we've seen Hofstra Bring in the Energy from Facebook, here, and Towson Establish LinkedIn, here.

Let's keep finish up...

Hit the Northeastern athletics website and hover over the middle callout: Stay Connected. You'll see an iPhone App called out, which we'll dive into.

I have to confess that I haven't really been a big fan of University iPhone apps thus far. They tend to be fairly expensive (many range from $4.99-$9.99) and tend to not offer much more than you can already find on the school's site for free. But I also find it a big area of opportunity, as App icons are quick becoming associated with the identity of the phone (or iPod Touch) owner.

Let's take a look at what is offered... Clicking in takes us here, shown below. The official description for this Go Huskies App is:

"instant access to Northeastern University Athletics news & headlines, as well as updated schedules and scores for individual teams. The app features the latest photos of athletics events and live streaming access to Northeastern University's student radio station WRBB 104.9 FM."

Oh, and... this app is free.

I like the potential here. Photography, schedules & standings, all at your fingertips without charging you for it? Nice.

How could this be better? I love the thought of live radio streamed here. Could they offer live streaming of sports events? And could they pull in the Facebook/Twitter updates from Northeastern Athletics? This could create a must-have app for any alum (or prospective student-athlete!)

Tune in next week as we hit another conference...

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

Andy

Colonial Athletic Association Best Practices: Towson and LinkedIn

This blog is all about inspiration. Today we start with 3 days elevating best practices from the squads that make up the CAA. You can tune in on this blog, or you can follow along on Facebook (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.

What makes something a best practice? This isn't about the most intricate experience. It's about looking at the world from your consumer's point of view and delivering something that hits it right smack on the head. For this work, I'm treating the primary consumer as that prospective student athlete.

Thus far we've seen Hofstra Bring in the Energy from Facebook, here.

Let's keep moving.

Hit the Towson Athletics page and you'll see the humongous callout for LinkedIn near the top of the page (shown below), with an intriguing sub-header ("For Student-Athlete Career Support"). Very intrigued, I clicked in..

Clicking in takes us here, to the Towson University Varsity Club. The description on this page says it all:

"Division I athletes know how to handle pressure, they work long and hard in the field/court/pool and in the classroom. They make us proud wearing the black and gold, so lets help them get to the next level after graduation. Refer a Tiger."

Nice.

So, what we have here is the athletics department trying to connect alums (with connections) to current student-athletes in an effort to help them land a job after their time on campus is complete. This is something that is often not clear until you are a graduating (or recently graduated) senior -- that your alumni network can greatly help you in finding a job. And these networks are radically different between universities.

What Towson is doing is showing student-athletes that they are trying -- by giving a very prominent space away to help make this connection. And this creates an invaluable resource for their student-athletes (and for prospective student-athletes who can see the big picture).

How could this be better? I'd love to see content delivered to connect with this concept. Perhaps it's a list of student-athletes (alums) by function in the working world. Or maybe it is recognizing one alum each month for what they've accomplished. In any case, find a way to elevate this idea of life after Towson and then let that serve as a launching point for the LinkedIn connection. Don't get me wrong - the LinkedIn piece is smart... there is just an opportunity to take this insight and build it into something bigger that really elevates the Towson Athletics brand.

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