What do you do when you are supposed to provide excitement and a service to more than 80,000 foot
ball fans? You use Twitter, of course.
Bo Cordle (@sailingbo) takes his job of running the High Definition Board at Jordan-Hare Stadium very seriously, paying attention to details and orchestrating the production of the HD system 2 hours before the game to almost an hour after the game.
From a closed room within the stadium, Bo and his crew push images, camera shots, statistics, plays, replays, and pre-made videos to HD without actually seeing the board. Interestingly last year, the orange jerseys on the first game of the season looked red on the HD board. But, Bo and the crew did not know it until after the game when friends and university representatives told him. Needless to say, they adjusted the system so orange looked orange on the screen.
In his 2nd year running the system, Bo improved the system and the production of the videos, stats, presentations, camera shots, and still meeting any new expectations of Auburn University administration and coaches.
This summer Bo set up a Twitter account @AUHD. He asked the AUHD followers to give him feedback. And we did. Look at Summize search to see some of the comments (there were other messages from people who protect their Twitter accounts that do not show up in the search).
Additionally, Bo let us know what was happening. For instance, AUHD tweeted:
Took us a little while, and we had a bit of a visual glitch, but we finally got the "Scoring Drive" stat graphic up.
The tweets from @AUHD added to my ability to understand what was happening and of course, I appreciate @AUHD asking for my opinion.
Bo used the @AUHD Twitter account to get feedback and to listen to what others were saying about his work, and to give us updates. During the game, I watched the plays on the field and then, the replays on the HD board. I also conversed with others, as well as @AUHD during the game. I did not miss a thing and had a great time at the ball game.
Now, what happens if the number of @AUHD Twitter followers grew and @AUHD continues to give us updates? My guess is there will be more improvements, but time will tell.
Often people who want to use social media look as these tools as another way to disseminate their information. Social media tools, like Twitter and Friendfeed, are much more than pushing information out. Social media is about participating in the conversation--listening and responding. Doing both means you are fully participating, listening only or "talking" only means you are participating in only one side of the conversation.
Congratulations to Bo and his crew to providing fantastic service and production in the first game of the season, but more importantly, thank you for asking and listening to our opinions!
What would happen if you used Twitter and other social media in your next big event?
Note the picture above was taken by chsibley at the Auburn vs Alabama game 2007.
