The National Football League is embracing social media in new and innovative ways as part of the preparation for this year's Super Bowl.
On Monday, January 23, the Indiana-based digital marketing firm Raidious began providing information about Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis and other things to do while people are in town for the game through an official NFL website, a blog and content on popular social media sites such as Facebook and Google+. These efforts are just some of the services they are providing between now and game day.
According to Sam Laird of Mashable, "Super Bowl XLVI host city Indianapolis has concocted a new way to deal with the madness that comes with managing the world’s biggest annual sporting event. The solution? The Super Bowl’s first-ever social media command center.
"A team of strategists, analysts and techies will monitor the digital fan conversation via Facebook, Twitter and other platforms from a 2,800-square-foot space downtown. The station will open on Monday and run through Super Bowl XLVI on February 5. The team will tweet directions to fans in search of parking, direct visitors to Indianapolis’s best attractions, and stand by to provide information in case of a disaster."
Raidious has taken on the challenge of providing a wide range of support and services for fans who are able to attend the game in person, or watch at other locations in and around Indianapolis. They are also running an official website for the NFL
Athima Chansanchai of MSNBC was able to get some more details about what the team of experts will be doing.
"The team — which includes about 50 people, led by Raidious' staff of 16 and students and journalism/telecommunications students from Ball State University, Butler University and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis — will work in the command center 15 hours a day. (Not all at once!)
"One team will focus on social media management and moderation, while the other (most likely the students) will work on content development for posts on all the events and activities that surround the game, as well as things to do in Indianapolis since a big part of the team's mandate will be promoting the city to newcomers," Chansanchai said.
Fans watching the game at home will be able to use some of the resources provided by the command center as well.
"From the main Super Bowl XLVI site, fans can access the social media command center's activity through its management of the Super Bowl Facebook page, Flickr and Twitter accounts and the site's blog," Chansanchai said.
Even if fans in the Spokane area can't try out the zipline at Super Bowl Village, they may still find some of the online content provided by Raidious interesting. Currently, the Highlights Blog features several articles about educational programs and other outreach activities related to this year's Super Bowl.
The official Facebook page features several photo galleries that are worth checking out. There are also more video and image galleries posted on the main site.
The social media command center could potentially influence how people organize events in the future. Not only could it help people have a better experience at this year's Super Bowl, but it could have a positive impact on Spokane-area events such as Hoopfest or Pig Out in the Park.
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