episode 85 of the dsmsports podcast w/ reva labbe of espn college football

Snippets from Reva Labbe on the Digital Snippets from Reva Labbe on the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcastand Social Media Sports Podcast

Episode 86 featured Social Media Producer for ESPN College Football,

Reva Labbe

What follows is a collection of snippets from the podcast. For the full episode, visit DSMSports.net

@njh287 DSMSports.net

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Reva's Career Path

“I've always been really fascinated by the Internet...I've always been fascinated by how the Internet can connect people...I always remember trying out the new social media sites before everyone else...and explore.

“It wasn't until college that I really realized that I could integrate my love for sports and social media into a career, because it was still so new at that time...

“I made it my goal to work in social media and sports. I've always loved college football, so it really was always my goal to work specifically in college football.”



Reva worked at the radio station at University of Florida, covering several different sports and co-hosting a weekly student commentary show

“Through that, I had a lot of friends who were writing and interning for Rivals.com. And I found out they were hiring social media interns...Up until that point, I had sports experience and I I had not had the actual opportunity to work on a brand handle...Interns at Rivals are pretty much who runs their social...And my boss there was really great...She really guide me, and let me have a seat at the table, talking about strategy and what I think was going to work...That really helped me grow as a person...That really cemented my (desire to make it a career)...”



Reva then worked for the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl

“The Chick-Fil-A Peach was where I really felt my career started to take off. I was able to come in there and lead all of their social media strategy, and help out with a lot of their digital and web strategy also...”

Reva notes that, contrary to popular belief, working for the Peach Bowl is a year-long job, and includes presenting the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl and the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff (season opening week game)



“It really gave me the opportunity to build a social strategy, and really build a brand from the ground up...We were able to do some really fun stuff. We were some of the first people to be able to try out Facebook Live. We were the first bowl ever to create the custom temporary Facebook profile frames for Facebook...It was a fun experience to learn and also work with some amazing college football teams...

“When I was done with that position, I knew that it was my dream to continue to work in college football. But I couldn't have dreamed that I would have landed with ESPN...”



Reva started in the middle of the summer prior to this past season

“It has been the most awesome job. My job is just every day, talk about college football, and I couldn't ask for anything more...It is really amazing and I never could've imagined that I would have been at this level so young. But all I can attribute it to is great mentors and working really really really hard for a lot of years...”

[Reva references the recent Darren Rovell tweet about working for free to make it in sports]

“For over three years when I worked for Rivals, it was unpaid. And I know not everyone has the luxury to do that. And I definitely had to work other side jobs, while I was doing that. But I know that, without that opportunity, I would not be where I am right now...”



“It's a really hard industry to break into...I don't really think there is a great single answer (to making it in sports); just, if you work hard and you're smart and you're really passionate, people are always going to see that at the end of the day, and you'll be fine. It might take longer – there has been time periods where I was on the job hunt for months at a time looking fpr the greatest job, but I never gave up.”



Moving from Rivals and Peach Bowl to the giant ESPN

“I feel like every step I took, there was a little bit more resources and a little bit more ability to try new things. Being at ESPN...you're working at the worldwide leader in sport..Some of the best people in the whole sports industry work at ESPN, so you're dealing with a lot of smart people, who are really good at their jobs.”



Getting started and cramming at ESPN early on

“It was overwhelming to say the least...Working at ESPN is just different than anywhere else. It's just learning all the different ways that ESPN functions, and how integrated you are with the show and with the production side....I tried to spend the first week or two just sitting there and absorbing everything...”

[Reva noted learning from Neeta Sreekanth, who helms the ESPN NFL accounts]



Reva started with “Week 0” with a game in Australia, before the five-day kickoff marathon (five consecutive days of college football games)

“I had a lot to learn; I learned all throughout the season...We were trying a bunch of new stuff this year. Everything was open to change when I came in. We were trying to really find out what our fan really wanted and how to give it to them best. That took the whole season for us to really find our groove and figure out what worked, and what our fan wanted. But I was given that luxury to try a bunch of different things...I think that we were able to turn the account into something that was really fun...and something that is a must-follow account for college football.”



The ESPN CFB Team

“On a Saturday, my boss Tim Dwyer, oversees college football and College Gameday accounts...His job was mostly just to be a spotter...and make sure we weren't missing any big moments (through social listening)...We have a little social war room that has seven TV's, but, as you can imagine, on a college football Saturday, there's much more than seven games going on. So just trying to keep track of everything...



“I also have another person working, my right-hand woman – her name is Annie Dunbar. And she mostly handled all of our creative content - she took the lead on all of our video elements, and also our original art and graphics. We also work very closely with the College Gameday people (who have two people on the ground on-site)...Also, we worked closely with the actual producers of the games, and they would sometimes snap some pictures or, every single week from specific games, we would have producers Facebook Live-ing with some talent on-site...”



Communicating across all the teams on a college football Saturday

“We obviously have a plan and, the week before, we'll always identify big moments, big games, big players that we want to focus on. But then, in the moment, we definitely have Slack chats, text threads with our bosses...we also stay in very close communication with the SportsCenter crew and the ESPN handle, just to make sure that we're all (on the same page)...It can really hard in the live window to have great communication, but it's really essential to making sure the ship keeps running and that everyone's accounts look as best as possible...

“But it gets crazy. One thing I'll say I it' really hard to live-tweet, like 50 games...People will poke fun at us sometimes...mistakes happen. But I would welcome anybody to come down and try to live-tweet 50 games at one time and see how hard it is!”



Balancing platforms on a game day

“Twitter is obviously very important to us...It's in the moment and we know our sports fans are on Twitter [and where we have our biggest social following], but Facebook and Instagram are also really important to us. During the year, I took the led on live-tweeting, and then we would make sure that we were pushing stuff also on Facebook and Instagram, obviously optimizing certain content for the different platforms. But it was mostly my job to do all the live content, and then pushing it out (to other platforms)...and then Annie would handle mostly Facebook and Instagram. And Annie would be cutting all of the videos and then deciding whether we were going to make video edits, or what cool thing we could do to go off what was happening on the screen and supplement that for our fans...”



How ESPN CFB measure its success on social

“Obviously, we look at the engagement, and we look to see what did we try that was new and how did it do?...Instead of necessarily [seeing] what did really well, sometime we look to see what didn't do ell and why didn't it do well. In the sense of, we were still trying to build the strategy and the voice...and I think by the first half of the season, really focusing on what didn't do well and then fixing those piece of content, then we could go back the second half of the season...and start focusing on the things did really really well and how we can make them even better...

“Obviously, engagement was really important. Growth was really important because, on some of our platforms, we were a little bit behind...A lot of times, people will say 'Don't read the comments...' But I do read the comments, because I like to hear what the fans have to say...[and how they reacted to content]...and sometimes that was how we would gauge what was successful.”



Helpful Tool: GIPHY Keys app, GIF keyboard for your smart phone keyboard



“We are given a lot of leeway and I have been given the long leash to make this channel what I think it is, but, in the back of my head, I always have that internal judgment of 'We're not just going to do something funny just for funny's sake. Let' only do if it make sense....' Most of the time it's just us sitting around in a room and being 'Haha, do you guys think this would be funny or am I just delirious? Have I been here for too long?...' That has happened sometimes where, I was just there for too long...



So we'll bounce stuff off of each other. My boss, Tim Dwyer is one of the funniest people I know, so he definitely comes up with a lot of really crazy stuff that I not even I would come up with, and it's a hit...We try to be funny, we try to not take ourselves too seriously. We know that our demographic is really young, and that's who we're trying to please and that's who we're trying to talk with...We don't necessarily care about grammar too much, like if we make a mistake, it's not a big deal...But that' not juts sloppy, it's very thought about, and it's not just hastily tweeted. We talk through that kind of stuff before we do it...It has really worked out well for us this year...”

[Reva tells about a preseason tweet having fun with Alabama RB Bo Scarborough's ripped physique]



The mindset for ESPN CFB content during the live windows

“Most of the time, we are tweeting, especially if it's a higher-level game, I'm tweeting as if you are watching...This happens, too, on Facebook. Sometimes when a really big moment happens and you scroll (and timelines are blowing up)...for your audience, they know what just happened. So, a lot of times, I [post] as if people are watching along on the game, especially if it's a big game...But, other than that, sometimes we provide a little bit more context. But, at the end of the day, we are talking to specifically college football fans, so we're going to talk to them as though they are educated and they don't necessarily need added context...We just believe that, if it's funny, it will be funny to some people, no matter if (they're watching)...We just want to be the second screen option for those fans...



“Obviously, with a lot of the tweets, we do provide context. We do a lot of box score screen grabs, like (for) upset games, especially if we feel like you might not be watching that game...But, other than that, we try to highlight the top games in each window and talk as though you are watching that game...

“Because, at the end of the day, our goal as ESPN is to get you to watch the broadcast. So if my tweet makes you turn on the game, that's a win for us, too.”



Adjusting to new platforms and features for social media coming out during the season

“I think what's really cool is my bosses, if something new came out, (wanted to try it)...They were very open to letting us try it...I love social, too, so every time something new came out, I was geeking out and I wanted to try it...I think my favorite new thing that came out this year was the Instagram Stories. Because, personally, we don't use Snapchat and the once Instagram Stories came out we (didn't see a reason to be on Snapchat), because we didn't really have the resources and also we know from the data that a lot of our target demographic doesn't want to follow brands or teams on Snapchat...So, once Instagram Stories came out, we (thought) 'this is great,' especially because we already had the Instagram following...



[Reva talks about major wins on Instagram Stories when Michigan star defensive player Jabril Peppers did a takeover on the ESPN CFB Instagram Story at the CFB Awards]

“I just gave him a phone and said 'Act like it's your own Snapchat.' and he was so good. And then, once we knew that, going into the college football semifinals and the national championship...we worked with the schools to identify players that are outgoing and have the great personalities, and we would just pass off the phone to them and walk around with them and give them some cues...but, for the most part, these guys are social and they know what they're doing, and they're really really good at it...

“After the national championship, we had a Clemson player take over our Instagram Stories, and that was a lot of fun. That was one of my favorite things we did this year...and it really paid off for us. It definitely got us noticed by some other people, and a lot of our higher-up people in our company were pretty impressed with it, and that was really exciting for us.”



Balancing content around the more buzz-producing teams and others

“Of course, there's the top 10-15 team and players that you know are going to engage every single time, so we had the attitude of the more the better with them...

[Reva cites Heisman winner, Louisville QB Lamar Jackson as an example and a “Lamar Jackson touchdown counter” on the ESPN CFB Twitter]

“Every single time, it got the highest engagement, so we (thought) 'We are going to keep doing this and we're going to keep giving the fans what they want.' Same goes for (the country's biggest teams)....,but, also, at the same time, you can't plan for moments that are just crazy that happen at smaller schools...



[Reva cites Central Michigan upsetting Oklahoma State early in the season, Syracuse head coach Dino Babers giving an impassioned post game speech, the growth of Western Michigan and head coach PJ Fleck]

“Not like the NFL, (where) you have 32 teams and you know those teams. In college football, you have 128 FBS teams and then there's all the FCS teams, you just never know what's going to happen on any Saturday. So you really have to do a good job of showing up for those moments, and you can't plan for those moments, so you just have to be prepared when they do happen to push them out the best way possible.”



Reva takes us through an average Saturday during CFB season

[Sometimes it involves working a Friday night game the night before]

Wake up at 8-8:30am and working at home while watching College Gameday → “If there any moments that resonated, that we also wanted to share and amplify, I would make sure we were doing that...And then just getting ready for the rest of the day, making sure that we were finishing building all of our graphics templates or any other video element...



“Then I would go into the office around 11-11:30, right before the Noon games start. Then I would be there (for) Noon games, 3:30pm games, 8pm prime time games. And, yep, when there's 10pm, 10:30pm west coast kicks – still gotta do those, too...And then, normally, around halftime of the Pac-12 game...I would go home and finish the rest from home, and then be laying in bed with my computer, with the TV, just ready for the game to end. This year, for example, with Washington (a national story), there was a lot of times when that happened, because we had to keep an eye on them...It was a very long day, but, luckily, I would work Tuesday-Saturday, so Sunday and Monday were technically my off-days...

“At the end of the day, I get to do my dream job. Going into the office and watching college football games all day, I would be doing that anyway. It really doesn't feel like work. I get to go hang out with some really great funny people, and we just get to pot about football. I think, for us, we're all like 'We're living the dream, here.' Yeah, it's hard. Yes, we work really hard. But, at the end of the day, I know this is my dream job and exactly what I want to do...”



Share-able Stat: More fans watched the last League of Legends tournament than watched the College Football Playoff National Championship (plus a bonus stat in the podcast to go with this)



The most memorable game during Reva's time at UF

“My favorite memory from UF was actually my freshman year – the SEC Championship. This was actually the game that Tim Tebow cried in. I just had a blast, it was my first SEC Championship as a student...It was an amazing experience just to be UF while Tim Tebow was there. Even though we lost, going to Atlanta and experiencing my first SEC Championship game as a student at the University of Florida was really awesome...”



The app you spend the most time on every day

“It definitely has to be Twitter or Instagram; Facebook, obviously, is up there, too. It's pretty much a three-way shuffle between them. I'm not really on Snapchat that much...I do go on Snapchat a lot to look at some Discover stuff [and the College Gameday Discover show]...I just love Twitter...I just think that sports fans are on Twitter, and I love talking about sports on Twitter...”

[Reva also talk about her Tweetdeck strategy to keep up with it all on game day]



The college program that does the best job on social media (besides Clemson!)

“Clemson is amazing, the stuff that they do is really powerful and awesome. It was really awesome to see Clemson win the National Championship this year...Clemson winning the National Championship brought out beautiful stuff on social media; people so happy that they won...

“Besides Clemson, I'd have to say Ohio State is one of them...The stuff that they're publishing is really high-level and really great. Also, Michigan is really great, too...And, obviously, they have Jim Harbaugh, too, who is just a social magnet...And, obviously I'm very biased, but I think the work that Florida is doing is pretty cool, too...”



The college football school[s] with the most rabid fans on social

“I think that this is pretty obvious, but Alabama fans are crazy...

[Reva talk about a lady getting upset that an Alabama game wasn't on...against UT-Chattanooga]



Describe the voice of the ESPN CFB Twitter account

“The voice is really a college boy, which I am not. We know that our demographic on our social audience is 75-25 men, and so we are trying to talk with this 18-35 year-old man, who loves college football. A little stupid, a little silly; not taking anything too seriously. At the end of the day, we want to be that friend that you're talking about college football with...We want to be fun and not take ourselves too seriously and not take college football too seriously. At the end of the day, it' a game, it's fun. We know people are really passionate in college football and that passion is almost unmatched in any other sport...College football fans are crazy...and so we just want to get in on that fun, that passion, that pageantry, while still being really silly, and fun.”



Which college football venue would you most want to attend a game at and why?

“I would love to see Ohio State-Michigan in The Shoe (at Ohio State) or even at The Big House...Another one that I haven't been to...is the Iron Bowl at Bryant-Denny Stadium (at Alabama for the Auburn game)...”



Reva's #1 tip for an engaging social media presence

“The most important thing is knowing your audience and knowing who you're talking with...is really key to creating that engaging content, and just knowing what their appetite is for what they are expecting....After that, just keeping it real. Being authentic, not trying to be too stuffy. Just really acknowledging that people are on social media to have fun...We're not there to be stuck-up, or not engage with our fans. We're there to have fun with them...”



The best food to get in Gainesville (near the UF campus)

Ballyhoo

“They have great burgers, great appetizers, they also have sushi there, randomly. And they have a Tim Tebow statue outside, so I might be biased on that front...”

[Reva also talks about running into the SEC on CBS crew there one night]



Reva's early pick for the 2018 College Football Playoff National Champion

“Alabama – you have to say it. With (QB) Jalen Hurts coming back, (RB) Bo Scarborough; they are loaded...I do hate to say this, but I think FSU is also a team to watch out for...”

[Reva also mentions USC as a candidate]



Reva's Social Media All-Star to Follow

Reva mention the people that use the #SMSports hash tag

Tim Dwyer (@T_Dwyer) - “He is giving some really funny takes on Twitter...He is really funny and I think that he's really smart, too, when it comes to social...to see where the inspiration for a lot of our funny stuff comes from.”

Neeta Sreekanth (@NeetaSreekanth) - “If you're not following her, you probably should, because she is a great person to know in the sports industry, and she has some amazing experiences and also connections. She is somebody you should definitely connect with. She may seem a little scary, but she's really nice on the inside, don't worry!...”



Where to find Reva and ESPN CFB on social media

Reva is on Twitter @sorevawaslikeShe is also on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook

Follow @ESPNCFB on Twitter and Instagram; and they're on FacebookReva also recommends following the @CollegeGameday accounts



Thanks very much to Reva Labbe for sharing her experience, knowledge, and stories with us on the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast!

For more, visit www.dsmsports.net and follow me, Neil Horowitz, on Twitter @njh287


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