Episode 17 of the DSMSports Podcast w/ Tariq Ahmad of IBM Social Business and #SMSportsChat

Snippets from Episode 17 of the DigitalSnippets from Episode 17 of the Digital
and Social Media Sports Podcastand Social Media Sports Podcast
Episode 17 featured Social Business Manager at IBM
and #smsportschat host Tariq Ahmad.
Ahmad discussed South By South West's sports
track and what to expect in the sports tech and
social media & sports space in the near future
What follows is a collection of snippets from the podcast. For the full
episode, visit DSMSports.net
@njh287 DSMSports.net

Tariq's career path:
Did PhD in Sport Management at University of Northern Colorado and did
dissertation on social media and the NBA, an analysis of how NBA teams value,
implement, and use social media + interviewed several teams in research
“Social media moves so fast that if you go back and read the dissertation, it's almost
out of date...All these other sites weren't around, it was focused on Facebook
and Twitter and YouTube because that's all that was available...Now that the
flood gates have opened, there is so much more social media research and social
media in sports research out there available.

“The one main thing I learned is every team uses social media different than
others...Every team had a specific focus (focusing on their strengths –
engagement, content, etc.)...They each felt they had one thing they were really
good at compared to other teams.”
After earning doctorate, was out of work until getting his job as Social Business
Manager at IBM in New York
Advice: “Don't be afraid to take an unconventional path into sports...People
shouldn't feel that [they] have to work in sports 100% of [their] jobs to continue
to work in sports.”

Sports is a business first of all, so what business aspects can you provide?
Every job you have, you build a skill set you can take somewhere else. If
you know how to sell, you can sell anything.
Recalls an aphorism once told to him - “Retail is selling somebody
something they never needed...If you can master that, you can pretty
much sell anything.”

Tariq and his brother created Sport Shadow to track check-ins at sports
venues:football, basketball, hockey, college sports; a “side project”
“We'll probably (just start) to provide football data because that's where
we see the most (traffic and interaction).”
“There are so few teams offering deals. The Golden State Warriors offer a
Facebook check-in deal, which is beyond phenomenal. They're the
leaders in the sports LBS space.”

Tariq went to SXSW on behalf of IBM's Social Business team and hosted events and
panel sessions; their event hash tag #2 in the U.S.
“The sports track was really good...When I presented (my dissertation) in 2011, my
presentation was one of only (a dozen) and this year there were 50 or 60. To see
the growth is really good.”

Three coolest panels SXSW Sports panels:
Nate Silver and Bill Simmons
In-Game vs Home Experience: Benefits of watching at home vs. in the venue
Shaq's keynote session on wearable technology and where that is going –
“Coming out of that, I think wearable technology is going to be the biggest thing for
sports this year and next year...Not so much like GoPro, but performance-based
technology (cites example of UnderArmour E39 which tracks vitals)...I think you
could start seeing wearable technology in an in-game situation and that could
really (become) the difference between winning and losing...Watch out for
(wearable technology) in the next two years, especially for on-field
performance.”

“If a team has to lean one way or the other (with an initial investment), I'm thinking
they'll lean toward on-field (performance). Kind of like Moneyball 2.0...At least
initially, they'll be concerned with on-court or on-field performance over
anything else.”
“Whenever we think of cool technology, sports tends to be one of the leaders in
that...It seems like with sports, there's actually a purpose (for novel things like
wearable technology) and can provide more insight into what athletes are doing
and thinking.”
This kind of tech tends to be more novelty in other industries, simpler use case in
sports

“Going back to the technology aspect, there is the (concern) of 'do we have the
resources available to make this technology available to our team?'
Executives must be thinking 'we have to get our hands on this, can we do it, and, if
so, how can we (successfully implement) it?'”

Vendors: Pitching they can consolidate and analyze billions of data and
simplify for businesses
“How can we take the most amount of information into the simplest
result possible?...We have all these numbers, let's make it easy for
you.”
“Some vendors would show their technology...Others were smarter
about it (and showed) a use case scenario to the customer while they
were standing there.”

- A freemium tool to help track keyword/account mentions across a
multitude of social networks
Ahmad: “It's so important to be able to mine that (social listening) data
and see things you wouldn't be able to see otherwise.”

Teams being attracted to technology:
Cool factor
“What if we invest 5-6 figures in this technology and we don't get
anything out of it? Teams have to be careful on technology in general.
It's more about getting past the 'wow factor' (and figuring out) 'can
this actually help us?' You'll start to see more teams, leagues, schools
(evaluate the tech, saying) 'will this help our bottom line and
performance on the playing field, as well?'
**Finding what works vs. Being First

“Wearable tech seemed to be the big thing going forward, capped by
Shaq's speech and his line of wearable tech coming out...followed by
big data and how teams can leverage it to make business decisions on
and off the field.”

“It was about the experience of coming to the game. You can watch the
game, but you don't feel the energy of the crowd there...When you're
there with 20,000 of friends...Give fans a reason to come to the game,
whether it's social media of some sort (or otherwise).”
“There are pluses and minuses to both sides, but (in favor) of the in-game
experience is you can't being there and watching the game live.”

“With the way technology is moving (Wi-Fi) in stadiums is
paramount...Everyone is trying to use a network (at the game) all at
the same time. Up front teams do take a large ($) hit, but they know
that, over time, it will eventually pay for itself...not only does it help
the fan, it helps the fan experience and that could (help) drive more
fans to the games.”
– Cites anecdote of how fans would say they wanted to, but were unable,
to check in at a game due to lack of Wi-Fi – “How many check-ins were
lost (not captured)?”

“(Data status) definitely seems to be we have it, how do we make use of
it? Big data has been a big buzzword for the last couple of years...but
how are (teams) using it to help the bottom line?”

“The possibilities are limitless...We're growing, we have a positive
success rate with our experiences, and we're continuing to build.”

Coolest thing Tariq saw at SXSW:
Surprise concert announcement from Kanye West and jay-Z resulted in
thousands of people wrapped around the block lined up trying to get a
ticket.
“It was cool, but odd/interesting.”
The other coolest thing: Oreo's “trending vending”
Printed Oreo cookies with real-time Twitter Trends on the spot using a
3D printer that you could eat on the spot
“It was mind-blowing. It was real-time marketing on the spot.”

This episode's Shareable Stat – From 2008-2013, live consumption of
news dropped from 98% to 70; meanwhile, live consumption of sports
content dipped only from 98% to 97%
Tariq adds shareable stat: Sports is 1.5% of TV programming, but
accounts for 50% of Twitter activity
“Sports are meant to be consumed live.”

Best thing Tariq ate at SXSW:
Torchy's Tacos in Austin, TX
Friend he used to work with hyped it up, a food truck

90 seconds on #smsportschat:
@CalebMezzy started in December 15, 2011 and Tariq became a co-host
and then took over hosting duties after a few months
It's a chat on social media and sports topics issues...The chat started
slowly the first handful of months and then more and more people
caught on it to it and it grew...The key with the chat is if you can
provide value to anyone...Hopefully it can provide insight, some
knowledge for anyone that chimes in, whether the work in sports or
not.

The next thing that will actually take off in 2014 _______
Moneyball 2.0
“I think teams are going to start taking data seriously...Not only can this
help our fans, but our team on the field.”
Ahmad cites: One anonymous pro sports team spent six figures to
purchase a supercomputer to analyze data on how they can make
better decisions on the field...It's actually happening (now).

The sport or league with the best record of cutting and innovation:
WWE – The things they do during the shows, for example:
Showing trending hash tags
Use of segmented hash tags for separate events / shows
Their athletes and superstars and divas are very invested into social
media
“The backing of the league and the celebrities are so into it using it, as
well.
Even something really small where you can be watching the live event on
TV, you can continue watching the (Camera feed of the event) on their
mobile app

The best speaker he was at SXSW: Neil Tyson Degrasse
“He's really really good. I would say he was (the best speaker).”
He's an astrophysicist who not only knows his stuff, but is also a really
good speaker...Just spreading his general knowledge about
(everything)
Recommends following him on Twitter @neiltyson

The best band/musician Tariq saw at SXSW:
There were a lot of big time names out there: Snoop, Lady Gaga, Kanye
(others)
The only band I saw was Bad Things, Shaun White is the guitar player for
that band...Met him afterward, a really nice guy. They were good
(and) he was cool.

One thing Tariq thinks teams & leagues can improve upon in the
#smsports space:
Engagement. Instead of just making it a one-way conversation, makes it a
two-way portal. I think Amy Jo Martin of Digital Royalty said it best:
'Social media is a telephone, not a megaphone.' Makes sure you're
really reaching out to the fans, instead of just pushing content.).”Cites
his research – asking fans questions via social and an example from
NBA)...Social is now moving more into the one-on-one space.)..Cites a
partner at IBM) 'Show me you know me..'
cites University of Miami as a prime example of engagement in
#smsports

The best way, besides #smsportschat, to stay on top of trends in
#smsports:
- Follow the #smsports hash tag...55,000 tweets and counting
Also the #sportsbiz hash tag
Following the right people on Twitter
a basic Google search on sports and social media...recommends blogs of
@WarJessEagle, @KevinDeshazo, @tombuchheim, @CadChica,
@ChrisYandle

Tariq's NBA Finals match-up and who wins
(Homer pick): Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Miami Heat with OKC winning,
2012 rematch with Thunder winning the championship (Spurs are his
'backup' pick)

Tariq's social media all-star to follow:
JW Cannon, @cannonjw, for three reasons:
Extremely knowledgeable in the space, he's entertaining overall good guy
You can get so much wealth (of knowledge) from his Twitter handle, it's
unreal...Not only his articles he posts, but tips (too)
Where to find Tariq on social media:
@TariqAhmad; participate in and/or follow #smsportschat on Thursdays
at 9pm EST and follow #smsports hash tag on Twitter; also can be
found on LinkedIn

Thanks so much to Tariq Ahmad for sharing his time and knowledge on
the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast!
Listen to the podcast and get more info and content at DSMSports.net
(And subscribe in iTunes). You can also follow me on Twitter @njh287

Episode 17 of the DSMSports Podcast w/ Tariq Ahmad of IBM Social Business and #SMSportsChat

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Episode 17 of the DSMSports Podcast w/ Tariq Ahmad of IBM Social Business and #SMSportsChat