Harry O’Brien is running another Twitter competition and a few athletes (and franchises) could take note how it is done.

Get a compelling & unique prize

Harry is offering a signed football boot as the prize which will get fans involved in a big way.  Sharing the prize via Twitpic.

Make it easy for people to enter

All people have to do is RT some of Harry’s tweets promoting the band Gasoline Inc’s new single “Superstar”.

Tweets can be tracked using services like TwapperKeeper or TwitterReach.

Harry has built a social media following over 6000 Twitter followers & over 5000 Facebook fans.  It allows him to promote his causes & in this case his brother’s band Gasoline Inc.

Share the competition on all channels

Via his Facebook Fan Page (even for a Twitter competition)

Next steps?

Promote entries of fans

Add a #harrysboot widget to Harry’s World like below.

Make it even simpler for fans to enter

Add a ClickToTweet Link to allow people to automatically enter from Harry’s World.  Click here to enter

Drive traffic back to Gasoline Inc

Add more links back to Gasoline Inc properties like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, iTunes Pre-Order site & GasolineInc.com.au in follow up tweets.

Enjoy the video – Superstar

Best of Digital Sports World #12

The St George Illawarra Dragons are seeking to appoint a Digital Communications Co-ordinator and are doing so via the Digital Dragon campaign. Keep an eye on YouTube for job applications and follow updates on Twitter via #DigitalDragon. Good luck if you’re applying, shows you need to be in the space to understand the space.

MLB financials info leaked via Deadspin, Darren Rovell looks at why it matters.

Want to own an NBA Team? Golden State Warriors are looking for investors from @Sports_Business

The latest Partnership Activation newsletter is out from @BrianGainor.

Essendon did well with the #efctweetup hashtag created 488,562 impressions, 36,066 unique views from 341 Tweets. Want to collect data on your hashtags? This data was reported using Tweet Reach.

With the @AFL finals approaching you can now get a Twibbon to support your team. They have to be the biggest Twibbons we have ever seen, no little logo in the corner for the AFL!

Facebook Places – no longer What you’re doing but Where…

Facebook Places has been launched entering the world of geo-locational social networks. It should be noted that Facebook Places is not yet available in Australia.

Here is what people are saying about the launch:

• Let the Location Wars Begin from @sevnthsin
• Who, What, When, and Now…Where from Facebook Blog
• Facebook Places: A field guide from Mashable
• Location based social networking has sports marketing potential from Australian Sponsorship News [subscription]

Sports Mini-sites…

Sports mini sites around events & signings will become another tool available to sports marketers. Like We Want Wade previously profiled Bring Back Cardinal does the same for Timberwolves fan favourite Brian Cardinal.

Such is Life – Ben Cousins

Not here to judge or comment on the Ben Cousins documentary there is more than enough commentators on the subject.

However, Channel 7 missed the mark understanding social media with the program.

Problems with execution include:

• After the first break Hamish McLaughlin told everyone to join the conversation with the Twitter account @SuchisLifeBen
• @SuchisLifeBen account not setup at the time, someone obviously setup the account on the night and collected 360 followers
• They did not monitor the hashtags actually being used by TV viewers #suchislife #bencousins
• For part 2 they obviously were not monitoring Twitter that closely and didn’t see the viewer backlash for delaying the start of Part 2 with a panel show
• Additionally they rectified their hashtag to #suchaslifeben to further fragment the conversation
• Kudos to the @AFL for using the #suchaslife hashtag to respond to the documentary but I think it would have been braver to engage the AFL fan base during the show.

For those who missed it here is a clip from Fox Sports.

Best of Digital Sports World #11

And #BODSW is back!  Thanks to people who asked where it was, especially after I quoted Jerry Seinfeld’s “Don’t break the chain” philosophy!

If you missed the Sydney (#scau)  and Auckland (#scnz)  SRG Conferences in July then you really did miss out!

Obviously the Australian & New Zealand sports markets have been inspired into action gauging on the interest & development in digital sports projects ramping up in the past month.

Congrats to Essendon who this week will host #efctweetup to get Twitter fans of the Bombers to unite.  I will be watching to see how the event goes this Sunday.

New York Times gives Tumblr a big pump up, will it be the next big social media platform?  Follow Sports Geek on Tumblr.

For #scau & #scnz attendees who miss Dan Harbison (@danstwitter) from the Portland TrailBlazers you can catch him being interviewed by @rowshow from NACMA.

Detroit Red Wings are the latest team to release their own iPhone app.  What is your take on club/franchise based apps?

Chris Bosh (@ChrisBosh) may be 3rd fiddle in the Wade-James trio but he is “Master of his own domain” (and everyone else’s it seems).

Good article by @jeffespo linking live sport with social media activity with MLB.com.

This article from @Mashable definitely rings true after great tweets at the conferences “How to: Get Tweetable Moments from your Presentations”.

Great use of Facebook Like button (AKA Social Graph) by the New Orlean Hornets – Honeybee Auditions.

Facebook changes Custom Tabs

Are you using Custom Tabs in your Facebook Fan Page?  Well Facebook are changing the width of Custom Tabs to 520 pixels on the 23 August, make sure you have resized your custom tabs.  Here is a quick run down from Facebook Developer’s blog.

@SportConference tweets mashup

Wonder what was discussed at @SportConference?  Thanks to TweetStats & Wordle you can.

Quick Facebook Tip

Do you hate it when you try to add a link to an article on from your site or a news website but get a terrible image with the link?

Solution: Upload the photo of your choice and add the link in the caption!  As seen here by Real Madrid.

Video Clip of the Week

Like we need more evidence that Roger Federer is a freak!

For those who didn’t pick up the change @_SportsGeek_ has lost the underscores and is now @SportsGeekHQ

Thanks to tweeps for voting @seancallanan Melbourne’s Top Tweeter.

Thanks especially to my IRL tweeps, the key for me is getting out there and meeting tweeps IRL – In Real Life.

From TechFluff.tv

Sean has won a fabulous video promotion package courtesy of our sister company, Newspepper.com, with the opportunity to work with our innovative and creative film crew for one day and produce an online video to further promote his company Sports Geek on his website and via social media platforms.

Looking forward to taping this on Thursday with the Newspepper crew, stay tuned for it will be uploaded to SportsGeek.com.au soon.

What question do you answered from “@SportsGeekHQ – the movie”?

With speakers from Real Madrid, NBA & Major League Soccer to name but a few the Sport Research Group Conferences in Sydney & Auckland were a massive success.

Don’t believe me?  Check out the video below to hear from delegates & some of the speakers involved.

Keep an eye on the SportConference channel on YouTube.

Follow @SportConference for updates from the conference and news for 2011.

Send out a Twitter testimonial what you loved about the @SportConference – #scau or #scnz

If you want to link up with other delegates on Twitter then check out the @SportsConference/Attendees list.

Additionally if you want to connect with sports marketers then join these Linkedin Groups – Asia Pacific Sport Marketers or Sports Geek on LinkedIn.

Thanks to the speakers

• David Kirk – Hoyts
• Dan Harbison – Portland Trailblazers
• Shane Harmon – Rugby World Cup 2011
• Alistair Gray – British Swimming
• Pedro Duarte Gonzales – Real Madrid
• Kirsten Corio – NBA
• Umberto Righetti – Sporting Pulse
• Dennis Mills – Major Events International
• Paul Barber – Vancouver Whitecaps – MLS
• Eric Fernandez – Medialink
• Ted Johnson – Minnesota Timberwolves & Lynx
• Richard Burnett – Essendon Football Club
• Chris Yates – Tennis Australia
• Jeff Collard – Omnivex
• Paul Paoliello – Mnet
• Christine Stoffel – SEAT
• Horden Wiltshire – Mnet
• David Friend – Shared Services Solutions
• Nigel Cass – Rugby World Cup 2011
• Clare Wolfensohn – Rugby World Cup 2011
• Daryl Macguire & Bindi Perkins – Populus
• last but not least Sean Callanan from @SportsGeekHQ

Well done Simon

Congrats to Simon Arkright from Sport Research Group for a successful 2010 conference.  Connect with him on LinkedIn.

See you all in 2011.

Connect with Sports Geek on Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook & LinkedIn
Contact Sports Geek to activate your sports brand & connect with your fans

Ted Johnson is the Chief Marketing Officer at Minnesota Timberwolves & Lynx, his presentation “Thriving in the digital world” was a big hit in Sydney & Auckland at the SRG Conferences.

Ted highlighted the Timberwolves’ world first web interactive broadcast with fan involvement via multiple platforms kicking off season-ticket sales launch.

Follow the Ted on Twitter (@WolvesCMO) and connect with him on LinkedIn.

Send out a Twitter testimonial what you loved about the @SportConference – #scau or #scnz

Daily Telegraph ran with reports from the NRL Media Manager’s meetings with NRL and Facebook is social suicide and Penrith Panthers ban players from Facebook, Twitter after Australian Federal Police raise security issues.

Should Athletes be on Facebook?

YES, why shouldn’t they be able to stay in touch with family & friends like the rest of us?  That is the key, family & friends, people they know.  Facebook is a personal social network, you should connect with people you know IRL, In Real Life.

Should Athletes connected with fans on Facebook?

NO, not using their personal account as they lose their privacy and the privacy of the people they are connected with.

YES, they can connect using the correct platform in Facebook’s case the Fan Page.  The Fan Page allows fans to get updates from an athlete but provides the athlete with the separation from the fans.

Examples of athlete Fan Pages include – AFL’s Harry O’Brien & NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal or for a company like Sports Geek.

How can clubs & leagues help?

• They can ensure players understand the privacy settings in Facebook to remain invisible to the general public.
  • Choose Your Privacy Settings –> Basic Directory Information  –> Search Friends Only
  • Limit Friend Requests –> Friends of Friends Only
  • Hide Friend List –> Friends Only
• They can assure fans that NO athletes are on Facebook accepting friend requests from fans.
• They can point fans to official fan pages & sites of athletes. Like the Phoenix Suns do with Twitter accounts.
• They can report fake profiles to authorities.  Contact Sports Geek for more info on how to eliminate fake accounts in your sport.

Want to know more about how athletes can effectively use social media platforms?  Then please check out our Social Media Athlete Training program.

Other articles that may be of interest include:

• Athlete Twitter fakes!!! Ah who is real?
• Fake sports stars can damage a personal brand
• 10 New Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know
• Facebook Identity Theft Protection Guide: 6 tips to protect your identity on Facebook
• Every Privacy Feature explained

After being inspired by the speakers at #scau & #scnz you are back at work full of enthusiasm to tackle the world of sports digital marketing.

Need a little refresher? Here are tweets from the @SportConference Twitter feed (powered by @_SportsGeek_) you liked so much you retweeted them.

What is a retweet?

According to @BrianSolis

ReTweet (RT) means many things – endorsement, a form of social currency (now you owe me), appreciation, curation, appreciation…

A RT is a great way to share a great link or information from someone you are following with your Twitter followers.  Retweets are the mechanism by which information can go viral on Twitter.  Sometimes all it takes is 5 simple letters to get a RT —> pls RT.

@SportConference Greatest Tweets from #scau & #scnz

@SportConference Athletes Are Gaining More Control Over Their Brand And Marketing feat @wolvescmo http://bit.ly/bnLGr5 from #scau #scnz Mon Jul 19 15:24:27 2010 via bitly
Retweeted by 1 person

@SportConference Driver for iamatrailblazersfan.com was to provide a safe haven for passionate @pdxtrailblazers fans before Facebook #scnz Mon Jul 19 12:43:59 2010 via TweetDeck
Retweeted by 1 person

Thanks to everyone who retweeted and joined the conversation at the conference, next year we promise to provide wi-fi at both venues

One more thing, pls RT

Many delegates in Sydney for SRG Conference’s “Fan Engagement in the Digital Age” (aka #scau) were wowed by remarkable jaw-dropping numbers from Pedro Duarte Gonzalez as the Mobile Marketing Manager for Real Madrid.

Follow the Real Madrid on Twitter (@RealMadrid) and on Facebook.

Send us a Twitter testimonial what you loved about the @SportConference – #scau or #scnz

As promised here is another presentation from #scau from Paul Barber CEO of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Follow the Vancouver Whitecaps on Twitter (@VancouverMLS) as they enter the MLS in 2011.

Paul talked of his experience in new media and professional sport at the Vancouver Whitecaps & the development of the One Hotspur program at Tottenham.

Send us a Twitter testimonial what you loved about the conferences – #scau or #scnz