episode 17 of the dsmsports podcast w/ tariq ahmad of ibm social business and #smsportschat

Snippets from Episode 17 of the Digital Snippets 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“Social media moves so fast that if you go back and read the dissertation, it's almost out of date...All these other sites weren't around, it was focused on Facebook and Twitter and YouTube because that's all that was available...Now that the flood gates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, TXFriend 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 tagsUse of segmented hash tags for separate events / showsTheir 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 countingAlso the #sportsbiz hash tagFollowing the right people on Twittera 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 guyYou 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

Social Media

social media sports

sports research

social media research

research social media

sports tech

social media different

sports venues

college sports