Atlantic 10 Conference Best Practices: Dayton Tells the Story of Success

This blog is all about inspiration. It's about sharing what's amazing, and discussing how to make the amazing even better. And it's about sharing best practices so that we can all learn from the best.

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. In the case of colleges, I'm treating the primary consumer as that prospective student athlete.

This week, we will share 5 new, never before elevated A-10 Conference best practices this week. Thus far we have seen George Washington put faces to skill development, here.

Let's go.

Go Dayton Hoops.

We've been here before, sharing two best practices from this site -- first, how they bring testimonials into the concept of Skill Development (here) and second, how they transformed their Blog into a Lethal Recruiting Weapon (here). But there's more.

Normally I'm not a fan of video intros. Or maybe I'm not a fan of the style of most video intros -- because they don't serve the right purpose? They need to be quick loading, which often times takes away from quality. And they need to tell a story that connects us to the brand.

Dayton entranced me with theirs. Hit GoDaytonHoops.com and you are hit with a cinematic trailer on last year's season. And, as you'll see in the storyboard slides below, they build the Dayton brand. They show intense defense, attacking offense, togetherness amongst the guys on the court, the guys on the bench, and the coaches. And they show fans who love the Flyers. Oh, and all this adds up to success, as in the 2010 NIT Championship.

Here's the storyline, in case you can't pick it up from my screen grabs below: "There were those who doubted, and those who believed. And the believers were rewarded." Those are the only words, and that simplicity is powerful. Naturally you see all the scores and venues along the way (Dayton went on the road and took care of business, then played in Madison Square Garden and finished the task!)

How many of us would have been in Dayton's shoes and said, it's only the NIT. We haven't done the job yet. And that's precisely the point. Success isn't only about winning the NCAA Tourney, or else only one team could market itself each year. It's about getting the most out of who you are. About coming together as one. And about having fun along the way.

Well done on this one Dayton. To the rest of us, what is it about our team that pumps us up? And how can we make sure that permeates everything we do?

How could this be better? This video is great. It's addicting and unobtrusive. And it lives in the background. Why not find ways to share this. Turn the video loose in YouTube and Facebook. And bring in player testimonials on their experience through the NIT... and in how that prepares them for what's next, be it the 2010-11 NCAA season or be it the "real world".

I'm pumped.

What's up next? Atlantic 10 week continues tomorrow. We will continue unveiling peaks into things I found fantastic across the 14-team Atlantic 10 landscape.

And, don't forget, you can follow along via this blog, or hop over to Facebook (linked here) or on Twitter -- I'm @pawlow34.