Grounded In Reality

Late last week, Paul Walker spoke to the New York office about crowdsourcing and the general open source mentality that is further perpetuating itself in marketing communications, interpersonal communication and technology development. I got a chance earlier in the same week to witness a unique model of the “open source philosophy” in action.

On February 12, I attended a Sports Marketing 2.0 Summit in New York City hosted by Pat Coyle, Executive Director of Business for the Indianapolis Colts. The concept of a sports marketing summit itself is not unique. How it came together, though, is distinctly “2.0.” Nearly 60 communications and technology professionals met in Manhattan, many of them for the first time. Most had come to know Pat through his blog at PatCoyle.net which discusses issues in sports marketing now that “fans are in charge.” Pat also created his own companion social network at Sportsmarketing20.com using a platform from Ning.

Over the course of a half day, there were panel discussions on measurement, engagement, communication and socializing that included representatives from a host of technology, sports and marketing entities from Rick Wolf (Business Development, RotoWorld/NBC) to Takkle.com CEO David Birnbaum to Hooman Radfar, founder of widget giant Clearspring Technologies. Conference attendees included ad agencies, companies developing social networking platforms and technologies, email marketers, as well as representatives from individual teams (New York Jets, Washington Redskins) and leagues (NBA, NFL).

Overall, it was a great learning experience and more (albeit unnecessary) evidence that the environment for marketers has changed. Many discussions centered on how to engage consumers online, how to measure engagement, how corporate sponsors can integrate content and monetize their online efforts and ways we’re interacting with certain technologies. A solid summary is offered by event attendee Brian Litvack from wRECK Sports here.

Below are a few other interesting examples of engagement referenced during the course of the day. I’ve got a complete list of attendees and would be happy to further discuss with anyone interested.

Dunder Mifflin Infinity: virtual home for fans of NBC’s “The Office”

Takkle.com: bringing the challenge concept to life with high school athletes

NBA.com Suns: an NBA franchise offers fans a peek inside the locker room

MyColts.net: Online community for Indianapolis Colts fans

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Steve Bonsignore
GCI Sports

Over the last year, there’s been an explosion of corporate activity within social networking sites like Facebook and Orkut. Companies such as Sun Microsystems, Ernst & Young, Citigroup, and Ford Motor Company are leveraging social sites for recruitment, employee collaboration, customer relations, and localized promotions.

Many companies are also experimenting with social networking for internal communications. IBM’s “Fringe” network lets its employees connect and share information on a global level. Oracle’s internal social project called “Connect” has been a huge success since its launch last summer. Security and control are the main reasons companies opt for their own private networks. The idea of having proprietary information hosted on Facebook or another third-party community is still a risky proposition for many organizations.

But how can corporations – especially those with limited technical development capabilities – launch an internal social network with the power and simplicity of Facebook? Enter “WorkBook” – a secure, server-based software that combines all the capabilities of Facebook with all the controls of a corporate environment. Workbook let’s employees upload files, post comments, and create discussion groups with no danger of the information leaking outside the organization or access being granted to unauthorized personnel.

While it sounds slightly anti-Web 2.0 to build a locked-down environment, the fact is that security is a very real issue. Workbook just launched in December, so it will be interesting to see its evolution in 2008. My guess is that many organizations will consider moving to this type of service vs. depending on third-party sites for internal collaboration.