Breaking Down The America East Conference Online

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.

This week: The America East Conference, linked here and shown below. As a reminder, you can follow along in this journey with me via Twitter. I'm @pawlow34.

Today, we'll start with a look into their website. What's to love about the America East Conference? The conference is a collection of small institutions clustered in the NE. They value academics and growth in student athletes that sets them up for success in the real world. And when you look into their website, elements of this come through. They leverage a blogging style to connect with their brand. They elevate their member institutions, and they emphasize academic achievement.

Let's dive in.

The America East Conference recognizes the power that a blog offers. And, as you can see in the image below, they don't make you link out to another website to find this blog. Blogging, by default, is a great way of connecting for many reasons. The style is more personal, more connecting, and the America East does this part really well - with a consistent tone that feels open and inviting. Blogging opens up the door for fans to communicate their opinion on what you are saying, or to subscribe for future updates. And it eliminates the need for us to have a professional web developer make this happen.

How could this be better? First of all, let's look at the infrastructure. The blog could be customizable by sport. If we're in the men's basketball section, let's see only men's basketball content. Once this is done, we could identify an expert to navigate the conversation for men's basketball (and other key sports). Finally, allow fans the chance to sign up to get these updates -- whether it is via the blog, via Twitter, or via an RSS reader (i LOVE iGoogle).

The America East Conference gives us easy access to the programs and key assets. The conference makes it really simple to get to the member schools, and to get the logos of each school (shown below). One of the jobs a conference has is to support the member institutions that make it up. And the America East does this well - giving us one click access to the school websites and their logos.

How could this be better? Give us access to a perspective. Not just to assets. What makes each campus unique? What gets you excited about that campus, this week? I think of it like this. The America East has 9 beautiful kids. And they are giving us each of those 9 kids' email addresses, names, and quick bios. But they aren't yet telling us a story. What do you love about each school? If you answer this question, 9 different ways, over the course of a year, you create a very connecting experience.

Academics are prioritized. I don't think it's just alphabetical coincidence that the America East puts Academics first in their menu. (Maybe it is true that that's why, but click in here and you'll see they do put a big emphasis here.) I like this because it's clear this is an important aspect to the conference. Vermont won the conference's Academic Cup, and there are multiple stories on academic achievement here.

How could this be better? This feels like the opportunity to do three things that aren't currently being done that reinforce the America East brand and drive appeal to recruits.

1. Elevate the Academic Players of the week (or create them if this isn't currently an award that exists). Tell their story, and their secret -- how do they balance the on and off the court dynamics?
2. Elevate the teachers. This made me wonder -- why haven't we elevated professors here? Seems like a chance to showcase the favorite professor of our athletes!
3. Elevate alums. Who is successful in the real world that once wore the uniform of an America East squad?

The combination of these three creates an addictive and powerful stance on what the conference is about!

What's up next? America East week continues tomorrow. We will take a peak at how the America East Conference is leveraging social media. Then, we'll wrap the week up with 3 peaks into things I found fantastic across the 9-team America East landscape. Don't forget, you can always follow along with me on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.