MAAC Best Practices: Siena Elevates their Assistant Coaches

The head coach is all that matters, right? They're the face of your program. They are the one who (often times) gets his or her own website. Or (if you're a more digitally savvy program), you promote their Twitter feed. That's all good stuff.

But don't forget that it's often the Assistant Coaches who make the difference in what recruits your school gets (or doesn't get).

Siena Doesn't forget this.

Hit the Siena Saints Basketball page and scroll down the page...

In the bottom right-hand side of the page you'll see this callout to Assistant Coach Craig Carter's Blog.

Of course I dove in, which takes you here. Let's check it out.


What you'll note is a partnership with College Chalk Talk for Coach Carter.

I love this from the jump.

"First off let me say what an honor it is to be one of the coaches asked to write for College Chalktalk's National Coaches Diary Series. I have been extremely blessed to work as an assistant men's basketball coach in college. And to think that someone somewhere might actually care about what I have to say is truly an honor."

What a setup. Humble and honest. And easy to read. So... is it good stuff? Let's read more:

"So what do coaches need to do in order for their particular style to work? One - you need to recruit to your strengths. Not all talented ball players can play in any format. So first and foremost identify those talented athletes whose skill set match your style. Two - hone your communication skills so that you can be heard by many and understood by all."

Fantastic.

What you are seeing here is a glimpse into not just his style as a coach but of the philosophy he's going to bring every day as a coach at Siena.

Imagine the collective power the Siena staff has, and that digital now delivers a way to get that message out there. This doesn't take anything away from the head coaches. It just creates an opportunity to show more about what makes your program special.

A smart move Siena. Well played.

That's it for MAAC week. Next week, another conference!

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

Andy

MAAC Best Practices: Iona's Social Media Standings?

Would you ever keep score of your Social Media presence? Declare a leader?

There's an inherent risk in doing just that, isn't there? Because to do that would also declare those who aren't the leader too. That's what I feel many of us think and so we steer clear of doing this.

Iona proves the doubters wrong. Let's dive in.

Hit the Iona Gaels Athletics Page and feast your eyes on the bottom right hand corner of the page: Social Media HQ. Let's move in.

Clicking into the Social Media HQ, takes you here (shown below).

What you'll note is not just a list of who has Facebook pages but, from that very list you get two things:

1. How many people "Like" that page
2. The ability to Click "Like" and add to that total

Think about that. Immediately you get a sense for how big the support is for each program or page. And you get the chance to add yourself to the mix (or as many mixes as you want) without going anywhere.

I love this on many levels. It adds life. It adds a level of realness to their social presence. And it's really intuitive. And the funny thing is, while I was drawn to see what page had the most Likes (Iona Athletics), I didn't have any negative thoughts about any of the other pages. So you can have a leader without putting the runners up in a negative light!

We can all learn from this example -- Well done.

Come back tomorrow as we keep moving through MAAC Week -- we'll check out 1 more best practice from the 10 programs that make up the MAAC.

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

Andy

MAAC Best Practices: Loyola's Outlook Calendars, by Sport!

Calendars are a topic we've covered a little bit before. But I've always covered the topic and felt it could get more personal, and more precise.

Loyola has a nice twist here.

Hit the Loyola Athletics home page and hover on the Multimedia Menu (I'll do that for you below, of course...)

As promised...


The bottom item on the menu, "Athletics Schedules on Outlook," is our destination. Click in and you'll find yourself here - shown below...

From this page, you are able to download with a simple click of the mouse the 2010-11 schedule for your team of choice (assuming it is a soccer, basketball, or volleyball team of course).

Why is this great?

The calendar is a destination you should strive to be on. It is the place that people put all the things they can't miss onto: appointments, kids' games or outings, meetings, that critical conference call, and travel.... and now the games!

But it isn't just about being on that list for association sake. It's about being on that list so that you will get noticed, multiple times a day. It's about being on that list so you are in the mix for people planning what they are going to do the next day.

It's really a great thing here that we can all ponder on. If people know and plan for your games, are they more likely to attend? I think the answer is yes, and I was pumped to see this here -- not just as a full calendar but separated by sport.

How could this be better? Add exclusives. What if they added things to the calendar only available to those who downloaded this? Like meet and greets before games, Tailgates, access to a press conference, free posters, who knows! If you can deliver exclusivity on top of convenience, you have a 1-2 punch that's going to prove tough to stop...

Come back tomorrow as we keep moving through MAAC Week -- we'll check out 2 more best practices from the 10 programs that make up the MAAC.

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

Andy

The Metro Atlantic Conference Builds Video Blog for Member Schools

Blogs are definitely emerging. Once simply streams of consciousness from people like me, they now get to be authentic sources of information. And, with Video becoming easier to do well, we have Video Blogs stepping up. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference gives us a good one.

Hit the MAAC Sports Home Page and you'll see a prominent call out for the MAAC in Motion Video Blog...



Clicking in takes us here, to the MAAC in Motion video blog. What you'll find is a collection of highlights, interviews, and access given to you by the members that make up the MAAC.

I love this idea -- create a framework and allow member schools to upload content. Or, as it is done here,

have member schools load the videos to YouTube and then embed this video into your site.

This is great because it asks schools to do what they will do any way (post to YouTube) and then it allows you

to take that and get it more exposure. The result is a diverse collection of the latest activity across the members

that make up the conference (all programs).

The only downside is that this appears pretty random. It is the latest happenings, but there isn't an editorial view

or feel that the MAAC could deliver. That could come in the form of structure, video content, or scheduling -- the

key is simply to let fans know and come to look forward to what's up next!

How could this be better? Let us know the story behind this blog. The title of the blog is "Featuring

video updates on the latest happenings in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference." While maybe true,

it really leaves a lot of emotion on the table. If you look closely, those videos were actually YouTube posts

from two different schools (Sienna & Canisius). So is this a blog built to become a platform for the members?

I'd love to know the story here. It feels like a great stage built for exposure of member programs by a

conference. Really good stuff.

The other opportunity is to put some structure into it. Is it highlights, interviews, or reactions? I'd love to be

able to sign up for updates that are relevant to what I care about... or just have an expectation of what is

coming, when.

That's it.

Come back tomorrow as we keep moving through MAAC Week -- we'll check out 3 best practices from the 10 programs that make up the MAAC.

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

Andy

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Unlocks the Power of Championship Photography

Championships.

They are the single most consistent thing across college athletics. No matter your school or your sport, it's the reason you lace up the shoes. Yet it is somehow overlooked by many at the conference (or school) levels.

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is onto something... MAAC Week Starts Now.

Hit the MAAC Sports home page (shown below)...

and scrolling down, which will reveal the image below:

There, at the bottom of the page, is the goodness: Championship Central.

Here you'll find a window of dates by sport for their season-ending tourney. But it is smartly paired with a snapshot of last year's title winner -- giving us a view of the emotions and a diverse view of success at multiple universities. It's pretty powerful stuff. Seldom do you come across a league that gives easy access to that moment of celebration, across every sport. And visibility to multiple sports seems to help everyone out!

Clicking into basketball takes us here, to the home of the MAAC Basketball Tourney, shown below.

How could this be better? The Journey to the Title should be a lot more prominent on this site. I love the portrayal of this moment in pictures -- I'd just love to see this above the fold and celebrated on the site. It's almost to the point that this journey has more power than the standings offer. And that makes me think: what if the standings became less factual and more emotional. Less where you are and more how close are you to the ultimate goal? Feels like we have potential for greatness here!

Come back tomorrow as we keep moving through MAAC Week.

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

Andy

NCAA Basketball Marketing: What We Could Learn from #13 Siena

We're in search of inspiration- things that all of us can take and apply into our worlds. Then we will apply a "Plus One" method to make each inspiring thing even better. Thus far, we've looked at top seeded Duke, #2Villanova, #3 Baylor, #4 Purdue, #5 Texas A&M, #6 Notre Dame, #7Richmond, #8 California, #9 Lousiville, #10 Saint Mary's, #11 Old Dominion, and #12 Utah State.

Let's go.

South Region #13 Seed Siena: What's Inspiring about Siena Athletics Marketing? (Link Here)

1. A very welcoming callout to social media

Sometimes, it's the little things. As you can see in the image below, Siena gives you one click access to all things social media, but they take a second to try and make it just a little more welcoming. You have to pay attention, or you'll miss it... All of the social media ways to connect with the program are housed together, in one nice image, for anyone to get at. And the copy is extremely concise but action oriented. Nice.

Plus One: Take this header and pull in the latest from each of the platforms right here. So that way I keep the simplicity and branding but also get a taste of what I'd see if I clicked ahead. As a bonus, doing this would make the site more dynamic too!

2. A call for Fan Photos inside Facebook

As you can see here, the Saints do a nice job on Facebook - leading them to a fan base of just over 5,200 strong.

It's the offseason. The time fans travel. What's an athletics department staff to do to build connection with their fan base when very little is going on? Look no further than below. The Saints are asking fans to post a picture of themselves in as exotic a location as they can, wearing fan gear.

Then, these photos will show up onto the Saints' Photos Tab -- creating a way for the page to update and get better without much work at all on the athletics team's shoulders. AND if that's not enough, this contest gets the eyeballs of the submitter's friend feed plus the eyeballs of the Siena Saints in whatever location that photo got taken. Solid stuff!

Plus One:

Elevate these photos to the front of Siena Saints.com -- thus getting more life from the idea, and hopefully more eyeballs into the contest.

3. One Shining Moment!

OK. What college hoops fan doesn't fall in love each year with One Shining Moment? (The Luther Vandross version - don't get me started.) Well click in here.... The Saints created a version of One Shining Moment for last year's squad, to the right version of the song! It's hot, and it showcases so many aspects of what goes into the team.

Plus One: How do you improve upon such a great thing? Well, I think this can be done by a couple of things. First, give us a little more access. The idea of One Shining Moment is a track of the NCAA tournament. But the Saints have more access. When I think of the line "just how hard you worked...", I want to see pre-season conditioning. The weight room. Sweat and effort. I know all of this exists, and the Saints have me going. What could this song look like if it was something the squad was preparing for at the start of the year? Plan for success, right?

What's next?

We'll be back Friday with a breakdown of #14 seed Sam Houston State.

As always, you can follow along on Twitter - I'm @pawlow34.