The Oregon State athletic program is on the cutting edge in using the Internet to promote itself. The Beavers have fully jumped on the trend to capture younger fans.
It goes in part with their push to get new donors. They are like newspapers in that most of their donors (customers) are older. As they die off there are not many new ones to replace them.
Co-worker Brooks Hatch and I have talked about this in detail. OSU has a lost generation, or two, of fans. Read my extensive story in Sunday’s GT here about what the Beavers are doing to get info to new fans.
So tell me what you think about OSU’s efforts? If you are reading this blog, you are probably on the younger side, or at least techo-savvy. Is what the Beavers doing going to help? Click the orange Mike Riley below for a sample.
On a side note, one thing I want to draw you attention to in the story is at the end. It’s about online media guides. The Beavers are going to launch something cool looking in August. I’ve seen an example. But what do you think about that idea?
Team USA
Team USA of the inaugural International Federation of American Football Junior World Championships won big over France in the first round this weekend. Read about it here.
OSU recruits Jordan Poyer and Kevin Cummings are involved. Poyer even blocked a punt for a safety. Here’s a link to a pic.
13 comments
sdbeav says:
Jun 29, 2009
Cliff, along the line of the changing of technology and the newspaper industry I'm curious as to your (and Brooks') thoughts. Do you enjoy the blogging/tweeting etc? Do you feel like it diminishes your ability to report or does it increase your ability to provide more info? Has it greatly increased your workload? Has the number of new "journalists" diluted and/or diminished the product? And also, do like like the immediate comments and feedback from the readers? I notice most posters here are respectful and comments are in good taste but on other sites such as oregonlive things can get out of hand quickly. Sorry, that was a lot of questions but I've been interested in hearing the perspective of longtime journalists during this interesting transition. Thanks for all you do.
ckirkpatrick says:
Jun 29, 2009
Didn't like blogging at first, but warmed up to it. Tweeting is simiple, but kind of silly in my mind. But whatever.
The workload increased some because I have to monitor the comments 24/7. I do in-game blogs during football. I used write a main story and a notebook (small items in one story) a day during football. Now, I write a main story and the notebook becomes the blog. However, there are more blog stuff added like video I shoot and photos.
Information is out faster. It's easier to write because I can just jump in with bullet points and no transitions. I can report fact, but don't have the source standards you need in print. That way I don't get beat on a story. However, there's added stress to get stuff right and out quickly.
Before, I came to work in the afternoon with eight hours before deadline to make sure everything is right and get the story. Now, I have to be up early to be and work late, spreading eight hours throughout the day. The news cycle is 24 hours a day.
ckirkpatrick says:
Jun 29, 2009
To be continued …
Added "journalists" with limited to no training make for bad information going out. I'm asked about info on other sites I have to clarify, but the damage has been done.
Most posters are good. I have to tell them to cool it at times. Since we went to the new blog, they are not signing up during the summer. So the comments are down.
News goes out on the Internet now and will do more in the future. I have to adapt. What I do is still the same, and fun. It's just different from when I started.
aaron_ says:
Jun 29, 2009
I think that you and Brooks are doing a great job adapting to the times. It may be harder on you guys but the quality and quantity of work that you guys put out is fantastic. You guys have limited space in print, but out here on the web you have more space. It seems like some of the older stuff was condensed. Where as now you have an article (online and print) then you can go into more detail on this blog. that is great for us beaver fanatics who are on here year round every day like me. I live out in Virginia (near Brooks family) and rely on you gusy for everything Beavers. You guys do a great job. and to answer your question i think that what OSU is doing by reaching out to a new generation by doing it online is a good and needed change. It will come. But it will be hard, the OSU family just doesnt have the resources that others in the Pac-10 have such as USC, UCLA, the Arizona schools and even the bay area schools. I am wondering though if they are reachign out to the alums like Stephen Jackson, Nick Barnett, Ocho, and Housh.
BlitzJP says:
Jun 30, 2009
>>Added "journalists" with limited to no training make for bad information going out. I'm asked about info on other sites I have to clarify, but the damage has been done.
Interesting shot to take considering that the vast majority of the recruiting info you report about comes directly from Internet sites run by "journalists with limited to no training".
So which is it… are those folks at BeaveBlitz or scout a source of "bad information going out" because they don't have your training, or are they breaking accurate stories that a "trained journalist" has to rely on to stay timely and up to date on a popular topic?
So, with all that "bad information" going out, when was the last time you had to be the one to clarify/correct something one of those under-trained sources put out?
Sorry, Cliff, but those comments came across as petty and inaccurate.
–JP
aaron_ says:
Jun 29, 2009
Also i remember an article written on basketball alums coming back and giving back to the program and Brent Barry was interviewed and said that nobody has contacted him about anything. Why would they reach out to him? I believe he is the only baller still in the NBA from osu. You would think they would try and tap every source they could….
JuneauJim says:
Jun 29, 2009
Hey Cliff,
I think Steve Fenk et. al. are moving in the right direction. In my mind, the most important thing is that the layout, navigation and content has to be good. I find osubeavers.com to be pretty lame and hard to navigate. Hopefully, the online media guide will be better than the clunky download that exists now.
Were the generations of fans OSU has lost because of a lack of social online networking or is it something else?
Also, a bad website does more harm than no website at all. And I know that supposedly, the athletic department has nothing to do with it, but http://www.coachjayjohn.com/jjohns/default.aspx is still up and running.
Elcorin says:
Jun 30, 2009
Everything dynamic and very positively!
Thank you
ckirkpatrick says:
Jun 30, 2009
JP,
I don't see any comment on Blitz or Scout. I wasn't talking about them anyway. No need to be too sensitive.
BlitzJP says:
Jul 1, 2009
Cliff:
OK, my bad if I jumped to the wrong conclusion.
So, if you were not talking about Blitz or scout, who are these "journalist" you were referring to that put bad info out there due to their lack of training?
I'm simply trying to understand who you were taking that shot at and who it is that is supposedly putting out bad information that you subsequently are asked to clarify. I guess the fact that I can't think of a time when you had to debunk some wild Internet rumor (bad info) makes it hard for me to figure out where these supposed problems are coming from and who it was that you were criticizing for putting bad info out there and making your job harder.
–JP
ckirkpatrick says:
Jul 1, 2009
I'm not calling anyone out or taking shots at anyone. Thus, I didn't name anyone. And it wouldn't be wise to do that here. I was just responding to a question. And that's where I usually tell people that what they read sometimes was wrong, or not totally right. It's a common thing I do in the comments section of the blogs. Most are minor, a few not. I don't write a specific post on killing rumors.
And the biggest rumors I tried to stop were around Sammie Stroughter. People thought some very strange things about him when he originally left the team due to depression. I won't repeat them because they were so off the wall. Some were so bad I killed the comment and responded to those who happened to see it that it wasn't true.
Beaverfuzz says:
Jul 1, 2009
Oh please Cliff, you're now reaching for a story back in 2007 as the basis for your anger?
ckirkpatrick says:
Jul 1, 2009
I'm not angry. I don't know where you got that. JP wanted an example. As I pointed out most are minor, so I don't remember. That one popped in my head. If you read back on the thread, I answered a question to a poster and the blog went on an odd turn. There's no anger. This is a non-issue.