Live: Blogs With Balls 3, Chicago, IL

Today, I’m at Blogs WIth Balls, a sports blogging conference taking place in Chicago, IL. Below, I’ve included the streaming video from Justin.TV as well as a live blogging/Twitter stream that will be updated throughout the day.

To WomenTalkSports members/fans – please note that Dr. Nicole Lavoi from the Tucker Center (One Sport Voice) will be speaking on a very interesting panel from 2:40-3:40 CST: You’ve Gotta Fight For Your Right…to Blog?: A Legal and Ethical Primer to Sports Media. Should be interesting. Make sure you participate in the conversation and be sure to use the #bwb3 hashtag.

Watch live video from blogswithballs on Justin.tv

How YouTube Direct could change sports broadcasting

Some recent, exciting news – YouTube Direct launched. This post discusses why it’s important for those in the sports world to pay attention to it.

Essentially, YouTube Direct is a platform which allows media sites to permit users to upload videos to YouTube without leaving the media site (see picture to the right). So far, those to take advantage of this new (free) API are mostly traditional news sites – The Huffington Post, NPR, Politico and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Why should people in the sports world care? It all has to do with broadcast media and the diversification of sporting event content.

(First, if you haven’t done so already, read my recent post on NCAA and social media: Friends?.)

Here’s my thinking…

One of my key criticisms of (some, not all) NCAA athletic departments was the fact that many of them aren’t open to the idea of sharing. In particular, I think they don’t broadcast their video content online nearly as much as they should. By limiting themselves to their local markets, they’re limiting their reach to a small, geographic area.

On the national level, let’s face it – not all sports are broadcast on TV. First, there’s just not enough space and licenses. Primary spots are given to “primary” sporting events. Meanwhile, all the others stay within the reach of their local media (which can be quite limiting).

But in both of these situations, there are a few constants – the fans and the athletes.

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There’s a girl being born in America

There’s a girl being born in America
And somebody will tell her she is beautiful
And somebody will tell her she is strong
Somebody will tell her she is precious
And somebody will tell her she is tough.
There’s a girl being born in America
And someone will give her a doll
And someone will give her a ball
And someone will give her a chance.

- Nike advertisement, launched on television in 1996.

According to Robert Goldman & Stephen Papson, the authors of Nike Culture (1998), “By posing the issue [socialization of girls] in a binary way between “balls” and “dolls,” the Nike ad sought to privilege action over appearance.” (p. 137)

What do you think?

WNBA uses crowdsourcing to pick new name for Tulsa

I was impressed when I visited the WNBA Facebook Fan page today. They’re using crowdsourcing techniques to have the audience pick the next name for the new team in Tulsa, Arizona. This is what I saw:

 

Very cool. This type of technique makes me feel engaged. There’s a direct call to action, and I feel like I’m a part of this “naming” process. Looks like other fans enjoyed this functionality as well (92 comments, 142 people “liking” the post by showing their support).

When you click the bit.ly link (smart to use Bit.ly because you can literally track the link’s performance in a variety of networks), you’re brought to a WNBA page and asked to fill in some personal information (a little too much personal information, but I was willing since I respect their organization).

Then, I could vote. I picked Tulsa Tempo. Who would you pick?

Note: This blog post is part of a series discussing my experiences with social media as they relate to advocacy issues that highly affect the women’s sport sphere. This is an assignment for a class I’m enrolled in as part of John’s Hopkins University’s Digital Communications program.

How a sports brand can create awareness through viral video

One of the best viral videos I’ve seen coming from a sports brand is associated with a powerful advocacy campaign created by the Nike Foundation called the Girl Effect.

Although the campaign’s mission is not overtly obvious, the interactive video (seen below) is very engaging, and, in my opinion, effective in spreading the awareness of the power of girls in the developing world. This video, which is not overtly focused upon sport,  educates an audience of pro-female supporters on how, by supporting  girls in developing countries, we can help end world poverty.

I’d like to share it with you today, on Thanksgiving, as we all think about what we’re thankful for. Visit GirlEffect.org for the full experience. To measure its effectiveness, take a look at their Facebook page (over 50,000 fans).

Reading: Millenial Makeover

This blog post is part of my ongoing weekly series discussing the role of social media and female athletics. It’s also a class requirement for a course I’m taking at John’s Hopkins University.

This week’s reading is called Millenial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics by Morley Winograd & Michael Hais.

This book is a story about me.

Why? Because I was born in 1985. I’m part of Generation Y -  I was born within the timeframe of 1982-2003.

Winograd & Hais refer to me as part of the “civic” generation -   my peers and I actually outnumber my “boomer” parents (by 10 million). We helped nominate and elect President Barack Obama, and, according to these authors, we will transform and dominate politics for the next 40 years.

Why?

Because we’re more engaged than any other population. “The attacks of 9/11 and the growing threat of terrorism and Islamic extremism” - are making us “pay attention” to things more.  Pop Culture is capturing the “comedy” of our attention, and the technology wave is at our fingertips…. and we’re using it… every day, to create change.

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The power of the telephone: feminism, sports and social change

This blog post is part of my ongoing weekly series discussing the role of social media and female athletics.

I’ve been blogging the past couple of weeks about social media and its impact upon women in sport – mainly due to my own personal interests but also to fulfill a class requirement. This week, I’m compelled to change it up a little big and bring us back to a time before the Internet and social media, a time when we relied upon the telephone. Why? Because I am beginning to realize it’s just still as “social” as any other media utilized today.

I’m going to take you back to a time that I can only imagine (because I wasn’t alive). Let’s think about the 19760′s and 1970′s, a time when our foresisters (female equivalent of forefathers) organized and fought for an equal playing field as it relates to gender and sport.

Let’s think of people like Bernice Sandler, a part-time lecturer at the University of Maryland, and Rep. Martha Griffiths (D-Michigan), Rep. Edith Green (D-Ohio), researchers like Vivian Acosta and Linda Jean Carpenter, and athletes like Billie Jean King who started coming together at the grassroots level to create change. For the sake of this post, let’s call these women “feminists.” (but I don’t want to label anyone)

According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, during that time, there existed a combination of, “the modern feminist movement, a youth culture, and other sources of social unrest.” And these are women who did something about it.

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Twitter lists for sports advocacy

This blog post is part 6 of a series discussing my experiences with social media as they relate to advocacy issues that highly affect the women’s sport sphere. This is an assignment for a class I’m enrolled in as part of John’s Hopkins University’s Digital Communications program

This past week, Twitter announced their Twitter Lists functionality. If you want to see exactly what Twitter Lists are and how they work, read this post on The Next Web.

Essentially, Twitter Lists also make it easier to curate tweets and follow people in specific niche communities. In my opinion, the functionality allows me to find “people like me.” And when it comes to sports advocacy and building a community for grassroots movements, Twitter Lists are very, very valuable.

Here are some unique functions of Twitter lists in the sports world that I’ve seen so far:

• The Huffington Post used Twitter Lists to cover the World Series. As you can see, they broke it down by “baseball writers,” “New York Yankees” and “Philadelphia Phillies.” Very, very cool.
• The National Hockey League uses Twitter Lists to build social network for fans of teams in each city. Proves the NHL is way ahead of other leagues in the social media world, which earned them the well-deserved and very viral article on Mashable.
• Building upon Twitter’s simple List API, Listorius has established itself as a database of the most popular Twitter Lists. Check out some of the top ones in sports, including NHL and NFL players.

Twitter says, “We believe Lists will be a new discovery mechanism for great tweets and accounts.”

…That’s exactly what we’re hoping will happen with women’s sports fans online. Check out Twitter users in the women’s sports community here.

Mobile technology: A clear tool for communicating women’s sports

This blog post is part of my ongoing weekly series discussing the role of social media and female athletics. My latest reading is  The Politics-To-Go Handbook: A Guide to Using Mobile Technology in Politics, published by the Insitute for Politics, Democracy & The Internet and George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. In addition, I read through MobileActive.org.

My latest interest in women’s sports has to do with mobile technology (i.e., cell phones) and the opportunity we as athletes and an industry have to communicate with each other using this platform.

First, a recap of my reading. The Politics-To-Go Handbook is a good, quick read for someone who wants to understand the basics of social communication with cell phones – I highly recommend it. Going in, to be honest, I didn’t really know all that much. Now, I feel like I have a solid foundation, at least as far as strategy is concerned. The tactical end of mobile technology education can be adopted with some training, and also regularly reading sites like MobileActive.org.

Although the Politics To-Go packet weighs heavily upon advocacy uses of the technology, it also touches on citizen journalism, the global use/impact of mobile technology, and opportunities for building localized communities of support. I think this is a valuable perspective that needs to be grasped by the women’s sports industry. This posts exposes some of the highlights.

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Google adds sports calendars

If you have a Google account, chances are pretty good that at some point, at the top of your browser, you saw this:

 

Here’s what it means: Google supplies public calendars to overlay ontop of yours. Recently, they added sports calendars by partnering with Yahoo to do so. 

I think this is the coolest thing!

Pretty nice that they’ve got women’s basketball and soccer up there. (Soccer is wayyyy at the bottom of that scroll bar). Where are all the other women’s sports?

womentalksports.com has a calendar of all women’s sports events (as far as I know, it’s one of a  kind) We’ve got a more interactive version coming soon, so stay tuned!

Erin Andrews tells peep hole victimization story on Oprah

I Tivo’d Oprah today and got to see a story that I’d been waiting for awhile. ESPN reporter Erin Andrews told the queen of talk television the story of a complete invasion of privacy as a female sports reporter.

This is the first and only interview Erin will conduct with herself as the subject of the story. Now that it’s over, she told Oprah she’s ready for football season to begin and, even more importantly, she’s ready to move on.

What Erin told Oprah was the story of a classic peeping Tom, only today’s peeping Tom lives in the age of a World Wide Web, an environment where anybody can create content and share it with the world.  While the Web is awesome in its own right, it takes no mercy upon sexy female journalists (especially in the sports world).

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Jacklyn Murphy’s “big sisters”: Northwestern women’s lacrosse team

Jacklyn Murphy is no ordinary 14-year-old junior varsity lacrosse player. She’s got a great story, one which I’m thrilled to say the New York Times told the world this past weekend.

In short, Jacklyn, four years ago, was a frail 10 year old being treated for a malignant brain tumor. Through a mutual friend, she developed a unique relationship with the Northwestern University Women’s Lacrosse coach, and then the team, who have since become her “big sisters.”

At the time, the lacrosse players developed a relationship with Jacklyn through cards, text messages and a signed media guide.  Taken back by her story, the Northwestern players “began playing for Jacklyn,” New York Times reporter Pete Thamel wrote. “Soon after it started winning national championships, four in a row.”

The team is now 21-0 this season, and two games away from its title. They beat Princeton on their home turf in an N.C.A.A. quarterfinal game Saturday afternoon, and will compete against Penn on Sunday in Towson, MD at 6pm ET.

The bond helped Jacklyn, too. Thamel writes, “the bond the Northwestern team formed with Jaclyn helped save her life. She is now a healthy 14-year-old freshman at Arlington High School in LaGrangeville, N.Y., where she plays junior varsity lacrosse.”

Denis Murphy, Jacklyn’s father, has since set up Friends of Jacklyn, a non-profit organization which “matches a child with a college or high school sports team based on geographic location.”

“There’s magic in what they’ve done for her,” Denis Murphy said. “I can’t tell you or put into words what they’ve done for her health.”

I highly recommend you read the full story titled Four-Time Champions, and All Jacklyn’s Big Sisters. In addition, below is a great Big Ten Network video where Jacklyn tells her story..

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