Twitter, ESPN Team Up to Stream Sponsored Sports Clips -
Twitter is reportedly working with ESPN to begin introducing sponsored sports video highlights within the tweet stream.
“We want to be able to push ESPN’s…content wherever sports fans are [and] Twitter is a great opportunity for us to do that.” -Eric Johnson, ESPN’s executive vice president of multimedia sales
This announcement and article is a great reminder to constantly seek new ways to engage with fans on social platforms, rather than constantly jumping onto each new platform coming out. Content strategy is an on-going effort to keep your brand relevant wherever your audience may be.
ESPN working together with Twitter to introduce developments that will better present content and better connect with your audience on their platform is a solid example of how emerging platforms should operate - with collaboration, rather than dictating exactly how brands can play within their walls. Foursquare has proven to be another great example for how sports teams and emerging platforms can partner together towards mutual goals and an optimized presence.
Check in to the game on Facebook or Foursquare to receive a limited edition St. Patrick’s Day Bolts Social Button.
Hashtags go up on the walls to designate a corner of the Tampa Bay Times Forum for Social Media activities at games and events.
Check-ins continue to increase throughout the season with items like the Valentine’s Day cupcake giveaway to remind fans to engage in certain social behaviors every time they attend a game.
Encouraging fans on social media to get social in person with a pre-game tweet-up in the Social Quad. Fans received a “person scavenger hunt card” and were asked to track down people that fit each clue. Once cards were filled, fans could spin the wheel to win a prize.
Driving photo shares by bringing in Florida Aquarium penguins as part of pre-game for a Pittsburgh Penguins match-up on home ice. Giving fans opportunities to take exclusive, fun photos that they would naturally want to share on social media to brag about their experience.
Incorporating partners to provide giveaways and reach additional audiences online.
Activating on an arena-wide Easter Egg hunt where fans that found one of 1,000 eggs could redeem in person at a prize table in #BoltsSocial Central. The prizes were distributed by Pitchman Anthony Sullivan and included hundreds of As Seen On TV items donated by his company. The hunt tied in a unique advertising and sales package - the Sully Hat Trick Pack.
Leveraging a partnership with Foursquare and improved efforts to better manage our pages on the platform, we were able to further promote special offers for checking-in directly on Foursquare and in the feeds of Foursquare users.
Rookie Impact - An infographic by the team at TampaBayLightning.com
Rookie Impact - An infographic by the team at TampaBayLightning.com
Spa Day in the Lava Fields
Tuesday we piled into the car and drove 25 minutes outside of Reykjavic to Blaa Lonid, or Blue Lagoom. The name itself is notable because we overshot the exit as we looked for a roadside with the English name on it, not its proper name, Blaa Lonid.
Along the drive I settled into a mixture of reading my book and watching the mountains rise out across the horizon. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and stood in perfect contrast to the fields and fields of cooled lava rocks which lay below.
Blue Lagoon Spa
The spa itself was tucked right into the lava fields beneath the geothermal power plant and situated on the lagoon created to pool the hot, salty run off of the mineral-rich waters that the plant was built to harness.
We had packed bathrobes but rented towels at the counter and headed off to our separate lockerooms, impressed with the RFID wristbands we’d been given to access lockers and make purchases throughout the spa facility.
After hanging my robe and towel up on the hook to shower, I returned to discover that someone had grabbed and walked off with my bathrobe. Note to anyone visiting the Blue Lagoon - the robes are all white, so if you bring your own, bring a colored one or keep a closer eye on it in the common areas. We were fortunate to have an alert attendant track down my robe by the end of the day, but stepping out into the cold, Icelandic air with nothing but a small, blue towel was uncomfortable to say the least.
The group roamed about the lagoon, tested out face masks of its white, cilica mud and enjoyed glasses of wine as we roamed through the various grottos cut from the lava fields. It was perfect weather for the outing as I’m not sure I could have handled much colder air temperatures. We found that various parts of the lagoon had warm to hot waters and enjoyed a steam in what could only be described as a troll cave. The attractive young man steaming was Lauren and I was enjoyable until his girlfriend discovered him sitting in the sauna with two, young women. So it goes.
We had the full experience regardless of in-water massages which, upon closer inspection seemed to be an altogether awkward looking experience and uncomfortable means of getting a decent massage. Making mental notes to track down groupon massage deals back home to work out our jetlag, we showered off the lagoon’s healing (yet hair damaging) minerals and set out to return our rental car by 5 pm.
Road Signs & Groceries
For the record, if there is one thing I love about travel, it is seeing road signs for different places. This is both a domestic and international travel pleasure of mine. Throughout the entire trip I took the most pleasure in our means of transportation solely because it afforded me the opportunity to gaze at road signs with foreign names printed across them throughout the entire countryside. In fact, another of my favorite photos from the trip came from a quick hike back to a road sign for Reykjavic where I snapped the photo below with its picturesque background as the rest of the group trouped into a nearby visitors center.
Another favorite travel pastime of mine is comparing local groceries to their American counterparts. Now I had already mentioned discovering Coca Cola Light on this trip (of which I picked up a second bottle on our second attempt to fill up our rental car’s gas tank), but I hadn’t mentioned the experience of shopping in an Icelandic grocery store. So while Jimm, Lynn and Jay returned our rental car at Europcar, Lauren and I meandered over to the neighboring grocery store to buy appetizers to tide the group over until a late dinner.
Between import fees and taxes, everything is simply more expensive over in Iceland, but everything is also written in Icelandic and therefore infinitely more fascinating and begging for me to purchase. I noted the common display of large, chocolate eggs with chickadees on top which seemed to pull from Danish Easter traditions.
Jimm met up and helped me select a few candy bars and bags of local licorice to include in a gift package for our parents and a solid $50 worth of groceries later we headed back to the apartment to nap and enjoy a few rounds of Irish coffees.
Pylsur (Hot Dogs) in Downtown Reykjavic
The group set out on foot in search of the famed, Best Hot Dog in Iceland - the home of the world’s best hot dogs - which was rumored to be Baejarins Bestu in downtown Reykjavic.
In our research, we had read that addition of lamb to the usual pork and beef mellows and deepens the flavor of Icelandic hot dogs. We’d learned from our gas station stop earlier in the week to expect crispy onions, mayo, ketchup and a remoulade of finely chopped pickle to top a traditional hot dog. We had also learned (and giggled extensively) that to “get a Clinton” in Iceland means to order a hot dog plain with just mustard, as Bill Clinton did when he visited the country. Getting a Clinton likely means something far different Stateside however.
After a 20 minute walk in a light rain through the main drag we found the tiny hot dog stand considered somewhat of a National landmark since it opened back in 1935. While Lauren and Lynn weren’t particularly impressed, we all agreed that the quest for a great hot dog really had become a unique part of our Iceland experience - despite finding out that Erie, PA’s famed Smith Hot Dogs truly are better and should stand as the world’s greatest hot dog.
Satisfied with our evening stroll, we slowly made our way back for our final night at the apartment and played gin rummy and Cad until the early hours of the morning while finishing the last of our stock of Icelandic beers, vodka and groceries.