Thanks to all who participated in the informative one-hour CoSIDA teleconference on February 9th entitled "Print Alternatives & Online/Digital Guide Solutions: Options in Various Price Ranges".
Did you miss the teleconference or wish to hear it again?
You may listen to the free archived version on the TRZ Communications Teamline site.
Visit: http://www.teamline.cc/sport_schedule?teamcode=1184&eventcode=59
There, you will see the 02/09/2010 reference to the teleconference; please click on the blue "Stream" link to play the online audio at no cost. (Note: If you wish to download the teleconference file and own a copy, there will be a $5 charge.)
Presenters
• Mark Fratto (St. John's University Associate AD for Communications)
• Bob Lowe (Greensboro College Asst. AD for Communications), CoSIDA New Media/Technology Committee Chair
• Philip Nelson (NewTek Senior VP of Strategic Development) ... former video production, post production and college coaches show director who also worked with the San Antonio Spurs, Tim McGraw and MTV prior to joining NewTek which specializes in desktop video, graphics, film and TV production
Topics/Outline• What are some of the existing technologies/methods/companies that can be utilized by communications professionals? What is selected will depend on your Athletics Department’s goals/intentions for the guides, what technology/manpower/budget is available, and how the department is able to adapt/move forward with the technology. Many schools use one or more methods, including a mix of PDF guides/record books, official athletic site video and social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Video/visitor-friendly Home Page (Bob Lowe)
http://www.greensborocollegesports.com
website provider: ICS (Internet Consulting Service/Sidearm Digital Media Guide)
http://athletics.internetconsult.com/
Free Streaming Options (Bob Lowe)
http://www.ustream.tv/gcpride
http://www.pennatlantic.com/
Get a Flip Video! (Bob Lowe)
http://www.theflip.com
Everyone needs a YouTube Channel (Bob Lowe)
http://www.youtube.com/user/PrideSid
User-friendly desktop video hardware & software options, at different price points, for live production, on-demand highlights (Philip Nelson)
Examples:
NewTek TriCaster – Live TV Truck in a backpack
www.newtek.com/TriCaster
Using TriCaster with uStream.tv
http://helpcenter.ustream.tv/content/how-do-i-use-tricaster-my-broadcast
NewTek SpeedEDIT – Video editing software for Windows
www.newtek.com/SpeedEDIT
Options to printed media guides: interactive PDF's, PDF's with video (Mark Fratto)
Download Fratto's Online Guide Solutions presentation (PDF) shown below
PDFs (Online or on CD/Flash Drives)
Strengths
• Easy to convert from InDesign or Quark, it’s what we’ve been doing as a profession for years.
• Information is easy to print and download for the media. Particularly if the information is indexed and separated into sections.
Weaknesses
• Cumbersome to research/process information on-screen.
• Lacking in user-engagement.
Associated Costs
• Minimal software charge for PDF Writer, placing online is almost always included in your online agreement.
Examples:
1. Maryland Women’s Basketball (in addition to a recruiting site):
http://www.umterps.com/sports/w-baskbl/0910guide_pdf.html
2. Michigan State Almanac: http://www.msuspartans.com/trads/sports-almanac.html
3. St. John’s Men’s Soccer Record Book:
http://www.redstormsports.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/stjo/sports/m-soccer/auto_pdf/record
HTML
Strengths
• Flexibility with online viewing experience; e.g. getting away from “books” and creating something organized differently.
• Can be easily indexed and easily referenced.
Weaknesses
• Can be labor-intensive, e.g. creating a whole new website from scratch.
• Visual appeal can be limited depending on the skill of the designer.
• Lacking in user-engagement.
Associated Costs
• Varies can vary from $0 to $1,000 per sport, depending on internal HTML knowledge.
Examples:1. Cornell Men’s Basketball: http://cornellbigred.com/sports/2007/7/31/MBKBHistory.aspx?path=mbball
2. Michigan State Almanac: http://www/msuspartans.com/trads/sports-almanac.html
Flash Sites:
Strengths• Can be very engaging for external public groups (e.g. prospective student-athletes, alumni, donors, fans and friends).
• One-stop shopping for information that can be easily indexed and presented.
Weaknesses
• Cost! Unless you have someone in your office/on campus that is proficient with Flash, you will incur charges in initial set-up and redesign.
• Information is not always easily accessible for media uses (download and print). Much more benefit to recruiting than media relations.
• Could use more video to engage the audience, show personality. There is a lot of cost involved and not much video implemented.
Associated Costs
• $35,000-50,000 per initial set-up and re-design, just for one sport!
• Costs significantly reduced if you have an in-house person proficient in Flash
Examples:1. Villanova Men’s Basketball: http://www.villanova.com/novanation/
2. BYU media guides: http://www.byucougars.com/mediaGuides.jsp
Interactive Digital Publications with or without video (e.g. ICS/SIDEARM, Issuu, Yudu, Zmags, Pursuant, Provations, MultiAd, 180 Communications, etc.)
Strengths
• Enhanced online viewing experiences that can combine the look of a PDF with video. The SID controls the length, look and the amount of and type of content.
• THIS IS WHERE we’re starting to see more and more video come into play. Video represents 70 percent of all new Internet content, and can be particularly powerful when dealing with the age demographic representing prospective student-athletes, college-aged fans and recent alumni.
• The mix of information and entertainment gives the user a more interactive experience and a better connection (especially with the implementation of video).
• Relatively cost-effective. Get a fair amount of “bang for your buck.”
• Can update/correct/change anything at anytime to keep information/records current, etc. Some versions can be integrated with Stat Crew for the auto-update of season and career statistics
Weaknesses
• Assumes mostly on-screen consumption for the user.
• Can be tough to download, find information, print. Even more so than the traditional PDF.
• Some entertainment value, some informational value, but not great for either. Does it try to do too much? Jack of all trades, master of none?
Associated Costs
• Can $0 (with the company’s advertising), or be around $200-$400 per publication, or $3,400-$5,500 for software licenses for some of the more “PDF-like” companies.
• Can cost in the neighborhood of $5,000-$6,000 per guide for the companies that incorporate more video.
• Can incur additional video costs if your office lacks the ability to produce in-house.
Examples:1. Notre Dame Hockey: http://www.und.com/sports/m-hockey/spec-rel/0910-media-guide.html
2. Colgate Football: http://clients.internetconsult.com/mediaguide/colgate/
3. IUPUI Women's Soccer: http://www.sidearmdmg.com/iupui/wsoc/
4. California Univ. of Pennsylvania Women's Basketball: http://www.sidearmdmg.calupenn/wbball/
5. Limestone College Men's Soccer: http://www.sidearmdmg.com/limestone/msoc6. Missouri Southern Football: http://epublish.multiad.com/mssufootball/
7. UMass Women’s Basketball: http://tinyurl.com/yzl6lkz
8. Wisconsin Football: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/610243a3#/610243a3/1
9. Virginia Tech Men's Basketball: http://www.hokiesports.com/mbasketball/mediaguide/2009.html
10. Texas A&M Men's Basketball: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/48506327#/48506327/1
11. Purdue Men's Basketball: http://www.purduesports.com/ot/pur-virtualpublications.html
12. Oregon State Men's Basketball: http://pursuantmedia.com/oregonstateathletics/basketball/men/1009/
13. Ball State Guides: http://ballstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=14200&ATCLID=204767889&KEY=&DB_OEM_ID=14200&DB_LANG=&IN_SUBSCRIBER_CONTENT=
ex: www.sidearmdmg.com Digital media guides can be produced for athletic departments, whether or not your school is an ICS website client or not
Combination Text/Video Guides
Strengths
• Extremely interactive and provides a lot of eye-catching information for external constituent groups (e.g. prospective student-athletes, alumni, donors, fans and friends).
• Great mix of entertainment with information. Show’s programs’ personality with music, video.
• Encourages the growth of new SID skills and provides the need to master new technology/software training.
• Tremendous amount of outstanding effort, and it shows.
Weaknesses
• A LOT of information in one place. Tough for the media to access. Tough to imagine a recruit viewing every page, as with the original media guide. May take hours to get through all the content.
• Requires time-consuming training sessions to learn the technology, integrate it into your day-to-day preseason routine and update it throughout the year.
• Labor intensive à shooting, editing, packaging, publishing, promoting.
Associated Costs
• University of South Florida was able to obtain a sponsor, offsetting web design software training/video hardware training costs and making the guides much more affordable. Were able to reduce printing costs by 60 percent and reinvest $50,000 in video hardware.
Examples:
1. South Florida Football: http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7700&ATCLID=204767598
Video Guides (with or without text/PDF supplements)
Strengths• Ability to engage the audience with long or short, fast-moving, entertaining clips with highlights, b-roll, music.
• Ability to show off personalities of players and coaches. Gives external (e.g. prospective student-athletes, alumni, donors, fans and friends) the ability to “meet” the student-athletes, coaches and support staff. Key for those of recruitable age.
• Format is simple overall and user-friendly, and gives the ability to link to other forms of varied content (e.g. PDF record books, bios on official athletics site, ticket pages, online stores, social media sites).
• Ability to add new video content easily, update video over the course of the season/offseason.
• Can be produced internally or by a third-party company. There are companies out there that manufacture products that enable us to become experts on video technology faster and easier and gain an understanding of the hardware, software and personnel required to build a self-sustaining video operation. Mastering video production is probably important for every athletics program that doesn’t have a full-time video department, from lower-end high majors like Marquette, Seton Hall, Providence and St. John’s to mid-major Division I’s like UMass and Dayton and all Division II and IIIs.
Weaknesses:• A LOT OF WORK can go into internal video production in the SID office. Doesn’t have to be difficult but can be time-consuming. Need knowledgeable, enthusiastic, interested people and hardware/software that is easy to learn and operate.
• Labor intensive à shooting, editing, packaging, publishing, promoting.
• Potential reliance on internal video department.
• Some people just don’t like video!
• Not all computer/operating systems will play the content smoothly.
• Tough for the media to glean any information from, or really find a whole lot of value with, especially the “old school media.”
Associated Costs• Hardware investments can run from the $5,000 to $100,000 range, depending on the level and sophistication of equipment you require.
• Video storage/bandwidth fees vary.
• Website development and production fees can run from a minimum of $1,000 per site.
• Pay/outsource video production unless you can handle internally.
Examples:
1. VirginiaSportsTV.com: http://www.virginiasportstv.com/
2. St. John’s Men’s Basketball: http://www.stjbasketball.com
Flash Animated Video Sites (e.g. Mind Over Media, Pursuant Custom Sites)
Strengths• Incredibly professional look/feel that incorporates video, written content (usually short, attention-grabbing descriptors) and motion graphics or animations.
• Unparalleled options for interactivity.
• Ability to add fun/entertaining content. Be creative and innovative. Ability to give the student-athletes and coaches more ownership.
• Ability to engage the audience with long or short, fast-moving, entertaining clips with highlights, b-roll, music.
• Ability to show off personalities of players and coaches. Gives external (e.g. prospective student-athletes, alumni, donors, fans and friends) the ability to “meet” the student-athletes, coaches and support staff. Key for those of recruitable age.
• Ability to link to written content (e.g. PDF record books, bios on official athletics site, ticket pages, online stores, social media sites).
• Ability to add new video content easily, update video over the course of the season/offseason.
• Tough for the media to glean any information from, or really find a whole lot of value with, especially the “old school media.”
Weaknesses• Almost always going to have to hire a third party for production/initial set-up/maintenance. Expensive.
• Still requires some sort of supplemental product for the media’s use.
• A LOT OF WORK can go into internal video production in the SID office. Doesn’t have to be difficult but can be time-consuming. Need knowledgeable, enthusiastic, interested people and hardware/software that is easy to learn and operate.
• Labor intensive à shooting, editing, packaging, publishing, promoting.
• Definite/potential reliance on internal video department.
• Some people just don’t like video!
• Not all computer/operating systems will play the content smoothly.
Associated Costs• Sites can run from $20,000 per page to $300,000 per year and beyond.
Examples:
1. Duke Men’s Basketball: http://www.dukeblueplanet.com/
2. Baylor Women's Volleyball: http://www.baylorathleticsexperience.com/volleyball.php
3. Stanford Women's Basketball: http://cardinalred.gostanford.com/wbasketball.html
4. Kansas State Men’s Golf: http://inside.kstatesports.com/mgolf/
5. Texas Football recruiting site: http://longhornstorm.com/ 6. Penn State Men's Basketball: http://www.gopsb.com/