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#SCTO, Air Canada Centre, blog, bloggers, branding, fans, lacrosse, MLSE, NLL, Rogers Centre, Social Media, social networking, sports, Sports Connect TO, Toronto, Toronto Argonauts, Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto Rock, twitter
I have a dream. Where jersey colours don’t matter and the blue jerseys can tweet with the red ones.
I have a dream. Where baseball fans and hockey fans can come together over a pint and root for a lacrosse team.
I have a dream. Where sports teams in Toronto come together as one and kick social media ass.
I HAVE A DREAM!
Ok, so maybe it’s not so much a dream as it is a wish, or a hope for the future. Last night I attended #SCTO aka Sports Connect TO where panelists from sports teams and leagues in Toronto discussed social media and what it means for their brand. As the video blogger and in-game “host with the most” for the Toronto Rock, I was ecstatic to see what other teams (who I follow on twitter) thought of integrating social media strategies to be one big fierce social media family. Toronto is already seen as the sports hub for Canada, we have teams in all leagues truly holding it down on the sports scene, so why not show people we care about all of our fans by promoting each other.
Panelists Jaime Stein (@CFL), Rob Jack (@BlueJays) and MLSE’s Jonathan Sinden (@BigThinkerJon) discussed the in’s and out’s of using social media. My favourite recent initiative was discussed, #TweetingTuesdays that the Jays implemented this season. Giving tweeting fans an opportunity to have priceless experiences simply by tweeting their seat location. Even I have been tweeted back by the Blue Jays, something as a 9-year-old picking dandelions in the outfield, I wouldn’t have dreamt of. It is that fan engagement that is taking sport watching to a whole new level. This was also the case for Grey Cup this past year as fans got a behind the scenes look at the week leading up to Grey Cup. Not only could you watch the game, but you could feel like you were there; minus the cold and the expensive beer.
While I may be the baby of the bunch in the social media world, I feel like my role with the Toronto Rock is like the youngest sibling who dominates all her brothers at Nintendo. My team wins, but we have a lot to gain by learning from our older more established siblings.
Side Note: Thanks to the organizers of #SCTO for bringing sports leaders and enthusiasts together to talk shop. The pizza and beer was icing on the cake.