Mt. Laurel, N.J. - The
College Fanz™ team delivered the
Virtual Pressbox™ to the membership at the
CoSIDA Convention in
Tampa in June. Our main objective was to listen to the comments - both positive and negative - then use that feedback to make this an even better, more useful tool for each Sports Information Director. We made enhancements based on those comments and suggestions during the summer, while you were busy getting prepared for the Fall sports season. We continue to enhance and improve your
Virtual Pressbox as you tell us how you use it and help us make it even better for you.
One of your
newest corporate partners,
College Fanz knows that
CoSIDA members are the true backbone of college athletics and your opinion matters to us. We know you are strapped for time, resources and personnel. The
Virtual Pressbox is designed to save you time and effort, to enhance the communications work you are already doing - at no cost to you or your school.
Smaller schools and non-rev sports at all schools benefit the most from using the Virtual Pressbox. Any Sports Information Director at any school can enter the schedules and scores for every NCAA and NAIA championship sport their teams play. Any SID can post a game note to let their fans know about a cancellation, postponement, rain delay, change of venue, etc.. Any SID can post a game story to highlight their student athletes' accomplishments and their teams' achievements.
Some examples of our response to your feedback:
- you have complete control over when your scores are published
- links back to your athletic website for more information about each event
- schedules can be entered in under three minutes
Some examples of additional enhancements:
- identify sports played in different seasons than NCAA championship
- direct import of your scoreboard into your athletic website
In the weeks following the CoSIDA Convention, we worked with a number of CoSIDA members to refine the inner-workings of the Virtual Pressbox for specific sports that pose specific challenges to Sports Information Directors and technical developers alike. Cross Country is one sport that we tackled early on and we continue to make modifications based on your feedback.
Bill Rasmussen, the founder of ESPN,
launched College Fanz one year ago on September 7, 2007.
Bill's vision provides a platform for college sports teams and student athletes that are often overlooked in what has come to be known as the “mainstream media”. Bill's passion for college sports drove him to focus on all the teams and athletes who play their hearts out at every level of competition. The
College Fanz Sports Network provides a level playing field for every college, every team and every athlete.
As a
partner with CoSIDA, the
College Fanz team is committed to helping you keep your teams and your athletes in the public eye by further promoting their games, their victories and their achievements. We all know that daily newspaper circulation is down, and we all know reporters who have been laid off or retired from the newspapers in your community. The television “news hole” for local sports is decreasing and radio coverage of sports other than football and basketball is tough to achieve. It is a trend that is not slowing down and it is happening all over the country.
By utilizing the Virtual Pressbox, a CoSIDA member can enhance the existing coverage of not only the local and national press, but also your school's web site by targeting alumni who only want to read about your field hockey team or future students who want to learn more about your swimming team. This tool enables you to reach your ultimate target of students, alumni and friends of your college or university, while broadening your exposure to the students, alumni and friends of every other college and university.
Our goal in building your customized Virtual Pressbox is to simplify your workload and enhance your online exposure and opportunities. It is a major undertaking by a dedicated team of entrepreneurs, college sports enthusiasts, experienced professionals and talented technicians. No one has ever attempted to put all the college sports teams, all the schedules and all the scores together in one place. It is a unique tool that was built to make the work you do on behalf of your school and your student-athletes more visible, more effective and better appreciated.
The
College Fanz Sports Network gives each
CoSIDA member the opportunity to broaden your exposure, and build the entire organization as a whole. The
College Fanz intern program is available to every college student with opportunities to enhance the support you require each semester.
College Fanz interns are completely independent of
CoSIDA and your school's sports program but these are students who self-identify their interest in college sports and writing and/or broadcasting. They may be able to provide valuable help to you. Who knows - you may find a future SID through the
College Fanz intern program!
We are working hard to make College Fanz and your Virtual Pressbox so big and so valuable that you will want to be there, if you aren't already. We are building something that no one has ever seen before, with tremendous opportunities for each CoSIDA member. We have even more time-saving features and functions coming in the next few weeks and months. Whether you are part of the start-up phase or you join us along the way, we want you to be part of this exciting new venture.
If you are already working in your Virtual Pressbox, we invite you to share your experiences with us and your fellow CoSIDA members. Your feedback helps us improve this tool for everyone. If you have not yet opened your Virtual Pressbox, we invite you to take a look and try it out. It costs you nothing and you have everything to gain.
Our pledge to
CoSIDA is to continue to enhance and update the
Virtual Pressbox for the benefit of the membership, the colleges and universities that
CoSIDA members represent and their student-athletes. All of us at the
College Fanz Sports Network wish you success in your current sports season. We invite your
feedback directly through our website or you can call 888-845-6316 and ask for Carol Fielding.