Still collating my notes (or should that be tweets) from 2 great conferences in Sydney & Auckland.

A big thanks to Simon Arkwright from Sport Research Group for inviting me to speak at the conferences as well as collecting a stellar lineup that will be tough to match next year.

Twitter testimonial

The response from the delegates to the conference was amazing, tell us in a tweet what you loved – #scau or #scnz

It was great to see interaction from around the world as the sports business world joined in the conversation via Twitter.  Welcome to all the newbies to Twitter as many people joined Twitter while attending the conferences.

Link up

If you want to link up with other delegates on Twitter then check out the @SportsConference/Attendees list.

Additionally if you want to connect with sports marketers then join these Linkedin Groups – Asia Pacific Sport Marketers or Sports Geek on LinkedIn.

While you’re in connecting mode, please connect with me on LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/in/seancallanan.

Here is my presentation from the Sydney & Auckland conference, stay tuned I will be uploading more presentations from the great lineup of speakers soon.

Here is my presentation in PDF form for easy printing.

Connect with Sports Geek on Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook & LinkedIn
Contact Sports Geek to activate your sports brand & connect with your fans

Sure you may use Facebook, you might tweet but do you understand the B2B & professional networking power of LinkedIn?

Thanks to Hubspot this infographic WILL convince you…

So let’s connect on LinkedIn or join the Sports Geek LinkedIn group.

Last night I presented to club presidents at the Southern Football League about the impact social media can have on local sports.

It was great to see the passion for the game at grassroots and it will be great creating a strong social media strategy for these clubs.

Social media can allow sporting clubs to become an online community hub for sports, families & local business if executed correctly in the same way they have been an “offline” community hub for many years.

And because the Slideshare – YouTube embed seems to playing up here is the video I played, an oldie but a goodie for people who are not quite understanding the impact social media is having on the world.

Sports Geek Social Media Workshop comes in 2 forms:

Social Media Heavy Hitters – Comprehensive workshop targeted to leagues, franchises & facilities who want to grow and manage their social media presence.

Small Sports Big Opportunities – Sports Geek gives back to local clubs & leagues to help them find new sponsorship opportunities via social media.

Check out Sports Geek Social Media Workshop for more info.

Connect with Sports Geek on Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook & LinkedIn
Contact Sports Geek about the Sports Geek Social Media Workshop.

I saw the press releases via TechCrunch announcing FanPulse a new iPhone app just days before the SuperBowl.

Now I love the concept of connecting fans (so much so it’s our tag line) but after playing with the FanPulse app I was disappointed with my initial experience.

FanPulse relies upon the user to grow their on network by inviting friends via the usual methods – Twitter, Facebook & Address Book.  As a new app it needs to “lift it’s eyes” (to use an over-used sports cliche) and have some vision for the application.  This approach limits the fan to only connecting with fans they know, it goes against the model of two of the web’s biggest movers – Twitter & Foursquare.  The release did not gain momentum released too close to the SuperBowl with only 139 check-ins to the big game.

It is hard to get traction with FanPulse if it only works if the onus is on you to get friends to join up.

Is there a rule that you can’t make new friends as an adult? According to Jerry Seinfeld yes (please indulge a Seinfeld fan).

When you’re in your thirties it’s very hard to make a new friend. Whatever the
group is that you’ve got now that’s who you’re going with. you’re not
interviewing, you’re not looking at any new people, you’re not interested in
seeing any applications. They don’t know the places. They don’t know the food.
They don’t know the activities, If I meet a guy in a club on the gym or
someplace I’m sure you’re a very nice person you seem to have a lot of
potential, but we’re just not hiring right now. Of course when you’re a kid,
you can be friends with anybody. Remember when you were a little kid what were
the qualifications? If someone’s in front of my house NOW, That’s my friend,
they’re my friend. That’s it. Are you a grown up.? No. Great! Come on in. Jump
up and down on my bed. And if you have anything in common at all, You like
Cherry Soda? I like Cherry Soda! We’ll be best friends!

But I digress, as someone who lives in the Web 2.0 world I disagree with Jerry as social networking platforms like Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook & LinkedIn allow you can make new friends & connections.  What FanPulse needs is to add the ability to befriend other fans who have checked into the sports event as Foursquare does and as Twitter offers with it’s Nearby functionality.  This would make the app instantly more enjoyable as you can start shouting to other fans “virtually” attending the game.

As I blogged prior to my #sportsgeektrip I was hoping Foursquare would provide value.  What Foursquare allowed me to do was connect with fans in the stadium and send friend requests to those fans.  It allowed me to connect with sports fans in a foreign city as well as find out where they go before & after games.

Check out the Foursquare pages I attended games at:

• Madison Square Garden
• Staples Center
• Rose Bowl
• American Airline Center

Look at the Foursquare stats on those stadia! If you’re not excited about that data and what it means for sports then you’re in the wrong game.

Now I’m not writing off FanPulse but the key to a successful social network is numbers whether they be followers, friends or fans.  A few tweaks in the application to allow easy connecting with fans and it could take off.

Connect with Sports Geek on Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook & LinkedIn
Contact Sports Geek to find out where your fans hang out online.

Good to see mainstream media catching up with the issue facing many athletes with identity theft.

As discussed previously on Sports Geek on “Fake sports stars can damage a personal brand” there are ways athletes, agents, clubs and leagues can take control.

If you don’t know the social media space, it’s OK.

[Breaking news: Hear Sean talk about Facebook & Athletes on SEN 1116 The Run Home this afternoon]

Sports Geek knows:

• facebook
• twitter
• linkedin
• youtube
• myspace
• tumblr
• email
• blogging
• iPhone

Hat tip to Nike & Bo Jackson for inspiring this post… enjoy.

Want to learn more about protecting your athlete’s online persona?
Contact Sports Geek to get a Sports Geek Security Assessment.