March 24, 2009 Lack Of Experience To Blame For Poor Fan Base
On Monday, March 2, 2009, Michael Tsai of the Honolulu Advertiser wrote an article, University of Hawaii sports losing their fan base as recession bites, about the current lack of a fan base at University of Hawaii athletic events.
Tsai interviewed UH sociology professor David Johnson, who bashed the Athletics Department for “poor leadership and a lack of accountability — in the department and across the university.” Johnson talked about the mishandling of leadership during the Herman Frazier era, how the football program excelled on the field but caused problems in the classroom, and the rest of the problems the coaches and administration face.
Johnson went on to say, “I am happy that UH tries to foster excellence in athletics. But the vast majority of UH students do not participate in intercollegiate athletics, and some of them have excellent academic potential.”
“If this university’s core mission is the pursuit of academic excellence, then why is it willing to bleed big money year after year after year for a small handful of student-athletes while at the same time making no serious commitment to cultivating the potential of its best and brightest undergraduates?”
The article then continues to the low attendance from the students and how the lack of attendance is mainly because UH is a “commuter” school.
Tyler Law, a biology student said, “student interest and involvement will always be a challenge because UH is a commuter school. The local students live in Pearl City or ‘Aiea or the North Shore,” he said. “Locals who go to UH aren’t going to want to go to the games if they’re home already, and the Mainlanders who live here aren’t really into this school’s sports because they’re into the big name schools.”
After reading this article, and taking to heart what Tyler Law said, people (students) aren’t into UH sports because there is no experience. I’ve said it many times on this blog. When he said that Mainlanders are into the “big name schools”, they probably are because there’s an experience of going to those schools games. There’s an experience that you won’t get anywhere else on this planet.
If we want to see a substantial amount of people going to games, let’s give them a reason. Let’s give them an experience like no other. Maybe then will things start to turn around.
Tags: experience, lack of fans, UH Athletics
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February 27, 2009 A True Role Model I Will Miss
I wanna take a small break from talking about social media and college athletics and recognize someone who has been a huge part in college athletics especially in Hawaii.
Margie Okimoto has been with the University of Hawaii Athletics Department for 40 years serving as the secretary to the Athletics Director. She has served under six full-time A.D.s which included, Paul Durham, Ray Nagel, Stan Sheriff, Hugh Yoshida, Herman Frazier, and Jim Donovan. But what stands out is not her longevity but rather her dedication to the Athletics Department. She is and always will be the heart and soul of Hawaii Athletics.
I’ve known Margie for four years now and while I wasn’t her student assistant, I’ve gotten to know her and she truly is a special person. She genuinely cares about every person she meets, always greeting people with a bright smile and greatest customer service possible. Margie treats everyone like family and truly embodies the “Aloha Spirit.” I can’t imagine what it would be like passing her desk and not seeing her there.
I was honored that I was invited to attend her retirement party on Thursday, and I wish I sat down with her more and talked to her about the past. Former AD Hugh Yoshida said that Margie should write a book about her 40 years of being involved with the Athletic Department, then jokingly said that it would be the size of “War and Peace.” She’s been through it all. The high’s, the low’s and I’m sure people would read the book.
What I didn’t think about when I heard she was retiring was why? I knew she would be retiring soon and assumed it was just her time. However, at the retirement party, Jim Donovan talked about how Margie understood the tough times the Athletics Department was facing financially and deep down inside Margie knew that by retiring now, she’s going to save five peoples job. That was really a touching moment for me, and I will admit that I got a little watery eyed.
Former Wahine Basketball coach, Vince Goo, also gave a little speech about her and in the end said that if he were still coaching, Margie would have been what he called “the total package.” Then followed it up with, “Margie Okimoto should be inducted into the University of Hawaii Circle of Honor for her service, commitment, and dedication to the department.” I would take that one step further and have the #40 retired for all sports in honor of her 40 years of service.
You may think I’m going over board with this but think about how many students athletes, coaches, administrators, and the general public she’s helped over the years. It’s a automatic for me. Help me make this happen. Email Jim Donovan please, and ask to retire the #40 in honor of her service to the department.
Tags: Margie Okimoto
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February 26, 2009 Great Example of Using Social Media
On Tuesday, February 24, 2009, The Honolulu Advertiser held “The Warrior Beat,” an online sports talk show, with hosts Stephen Tsai and the lovely Leila Wai. They’ve been doing this show for the past few weeks now, and this was a golden opportunity that I’m glad the Hawaii Athletics Department took advantage of. The special guest this week was UH Athletics Director Jim Donovan and he spent some time answering questions from the public.
The community could ask questions via the “Cover it Live,”box and I outlined a question that was asked during the show.
When Jim Donovan came on, there were close to 1000 people watching this live show, asking questions and hearing him talk about what’s going on with the Athletics Department, and there were some issues worth hearing about. He’s also done something like this in the past via Stephen Tsai’s blog where he answered questions from the community.
While I spent a lot of time talking about Twitter and how they aren’t able to communicate with public because of NCAA rules, this is a GREAT example of using a social application to connect with the community, and I have to give a standing-O to Jim Donovan and also the Honolulu Advertiser for hosting the show. 
Jim Donovan clearly gets the importance of connecting with the community and being on this type of media proves it.
Does anyone else have an example of a college athletics program using social media? If so I would love to learn about it.
Tags: college athletics, Honolulu Advertiser, Jim Donovan, Social Media, The Warrior Beat
- 2 comments
- Posted under Social Media
February 25, 2009 NCAA IS Limiting The Use Of Social Media For College Athletics
I just got off the phone with Sports Information Director, Derek Inouchi and we had a great conversation about what the Hawaii Athletics Department can do in terms of using social media. They can create accounts for all these social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc.
However, there is an NCAA rule that prohibits all coaches and administrators from contacting and speaking with prospective student athletes (I don’t know the specific wording). This means that while they can create these accounts, they can’t interact with the community the way these social applications where meant to be because they don’t know if the person on the other side is a prospective student athlete. All they can do is get the information out and hope people follow that activities.
So sorry Yoda808…I guess you won’t be following the account but at least we now know why they can’t interact with us.
But this does pose a new question(s). How do we get the NCAA to be more flexible with the usage of social media?
Special thanks to Derek Inouchi for clearing things up! He also told me about some of the things in the works and you may want to follow what UH will be doing….
Tags: college athletics, Derek Inouchi, ncaa, Social Media
- 5 comments
- Posted under Social Media
February 25, 2009 Hawaii Athletics on Twitter!!!
Video blog #2: I filmed this on Friday, February 20, 2009
While I do applaud the Hawaii Athletics Department for being on Twitter, this quick look will show their activity:
How many replies (@) do you see? I sent them a tweet asking a question and I still haven’t gotten a response back. How many people are they following? And are they using this social application as a social tool or just another media channel to push information?
My buddy Yoda808 best sums up why he won’t follow them:
We don’t want news feeds!
We want to interact with you!
We want to feel some type of ownership!
One of my friends from Australia, Adam Corney, sent me this link about College Media outlets using Twitter: http://beatblogging.org/2009/02/24/college-media-outlets-have-a-long-way-to-go-with-twitter/ (check out his blog at http://www.toogoodforbacon.com)
My advice would be for them to search and follow people from Hawaii, continue post news feeds, but also start micro-conversations with these people. This is the best way to build the community relations. The big problem I see is, who is going to manage the account? I remember reading a post on social media where they state that the problem with social media in big businesses, is they don’t know where it falls under because it overlaps many different departments. And I can imagine this being a problem for the Athletics Department right now.
What do you all think?
Tags: Social Media, Twitter, UH Athletics
- 4 comments
- Posted under Social Media
February 23, 2009 It’s As Simple As Buying A Ticket…Not!
Ferd Lewis from the Honolulu Advertiser did a great job reporting on the University of Hawaii Athletic Department’s current financial situation, which isn’t good at all. Not only have they accumulated a net deficit of $5.4 million over a five-year period (the Herman Frazier Administration), Lewis reported that “UH athletic director Jim Donovan has said the current fiscal year, ending June 30, may run a deficit of an additional $3 million. That’s $8.4 million in the hole/red.
There have been talks of cutting some programs such as men’s swimming and diving, baseball, men’s tennis, or men’s volleyball. Donovan also when to the Associated Students of the University of Hawaii (ASUH) to consider an athletic fee as part of the tuition they pay. In Lewis’ article Donovan said, “I do not want to cut a sport. Depending on how the economy continues, that could be put on the table but that is not my intent. That would be an absolutely last resort.”
The best part of the article was when Donovan said, “people ask, ‘How can I help?’ I tell them it is as simple as buying a ticket.”
This statement alone needs to be understood by the entire pubic (in Hawaii) because what most people don’t know is that the major revenue generator for the University of Hawaii Athletic Department is ticket sales. It’s not corporate sponsorships, TV & radio deals, or donations, it’s ticket sales. According to an official at UH, if UH were to sell-out every home game at Aloha Stadium, the revenue generated from the ticket sales would more than cover for the entire budget of the department and any revenue generated from the other sports (from ticket sales) would be additional revenue for them.
But…buying a ticket is not so simple especially in Hawaii.
As sad as it is, it’s a fact that people in Hawaii will support their team only when they are winning. Winning team = $$$, Average team = some $, and losing team = no money. Look at the 2006-07 & 2007-08 Football seasons with Colt Brennan. When Hawaii proved they had a winning team(s) people started to pack Aloha Stadium towards the end, and when they were in the hunt for the BCS, there was so much pride, passion, and a following.
It’s not simple because there is no experience of going to the game. I remember the TV ad with June Jones and Jerry Glanville that said, “There’s Nothing Like Being There!” and then laughing at the TV because the campaign slogan was so misleading. There is no experience of going to a UH Football game! You won’t be in an environment where people all around you are going crazy, cheering, and chanting. You won’t feel that constant electricity in the air because it’s nowhere to be found.
Imagine being in the student section, standing up on your feet cheering your team on, then having someone throw something at your back telling you to sit down cause they can’t see. What does that tell you? That happened to me this past season and I wanted to tell those people “if you can’t see, move higher!” But this is the problem they face. There is no culture or environment created by being in the stadium watching the game. The best part of going to a game is really before, tailgating with your friends.
If the athletic department is really serious about getting people to buy tickets, they need to start targeting people who can afford tickets, the STUDENTS!
Focus on:
- Using social media to communicate with the students
- Creating an outstanding experience for the students
- Listening to what the students have to say about creating better experiences
- Taking control of the Manoa Maniacs. Don’t let someone from Upper Campus run it
- Helping build the school spirit and pride
UH is a commuter school which does pose some problems but I know students will go to games if there was a compelling enough reason for them to go. There is no reason why we can’t be like Texas in football and Duke in basketball when it comes to experiencing a college game.
Thoughts?
Tags: experience, Ferd Lewis, finances, Honolulu Advertiser, Jim Donovan, ticket sales, UH Athletics
- 4 comments
- Posted under Social Media
February 17, 2009 Why College Athletic Programs Should Adopt Social Media
There are few things that hold a special place in my heart and the University of Hawaii Athletics program is one of them. It could be because my cousin was a standout safety on the football team, or the excitement of the Men’s Volleyball team with Yuval Katz in the early 90′s, to Anthony Carter and Alika Smith on the Men’s Basketball team in the mid 90′s. These were all great times in my childhood which I still remember very vividly.
My relationship with the University of Hawaii Athletics strengthen when I got to college and had the opportunity to work as an administrative student assistant for the Associate Athletics Director of Administrative Services (who at that time was Tom Sadler). This job allowed me to understand how the department functioned and it connected me to people (coaches/administrators) whom I’ve established personal relationships with. I was there during the departments highest point when our football team made it to the BCS Sugar Bowl, and a low point when Herman Frazier was in charge and let go.
What happened over the years is something that is also key to social media. I’ve established a strong relationship with the Athletics Department.
Social media isn’t all about being on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogs, forums, etc. These are powerful applications/networks that help make up the social media universe. Social media is all about creating personal relationships with the people who are on these applications/networks.
When you think about it, college athletic programs are something many people are passionate about. Look at the football program for Notre Dame, Ohio St., Michigan, Texas, USC, Florida, etc. Or the Duke, North Carolina, UCLA, UCONN, etc basketball program. These schools have passionate die-hard fans who wouldn’t miss a game no matter what the circumstances are.
Take a look at this Social Systems picture by David Armano:
Social Systems by David Armano
In his blog post (http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2007/12/social-systems.html), David Armano explains the social system: “Many of us are now managing multiple social ecosystems. If you think of these as planets—some rotate in closer proximity to us. We “warm” them with our attention frequently. Others may orbit at further proximities—but they are still in our social systems. When we abandon a social ecosystem that we can no longer sustain, it drifts away from our orbit and dies.”
Think about your favorite college athletics program for a moment. Where are they on your social ecosystem? How much warmth are you giving it? Or have you abandoned it? These “big time” schools, rich in athletic tradition have people who give them warmth on their ecosystem and these are the people who have a strong relationship to the program.
Again, it comes down to the personal relationship the individual has with the athletics program and social media is the perfect bridge to developing relationships because social media is all about relationships.
Tags: college athletics, Social Media, UH Athletics, University of Hawaii
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- Posted under Social Media
