It is sometimes the simplest of moves that make the most sense and can set the pace for others. This week, St. John's University decided that they would have a designated, unbiased person have a credentialed spot for all their hoops games and be credentialed as a “Twitter” member of the media. His name is Peter Robert Casey, and he is a credible, well thought young person who both understands the media and has a passion for the game, and he has built a rather large twitter following, So St. John's whose fall in the New York market from the college that was on par with all pro teams in terms of exposure to less than a blip on the radar these days, will give Casey a seat to tweet what he likes and when he likes throughout the course of the game, in pregame media sessions and postgame. Unlike other media members this will be his sole assignment…he wont be filing stories or covering other things (although he has that option)…and he wont be paid for his service. It gets St. John's a little buzz, maybe draws some additional casual eyeballs their way in a crowded marketplace and helps get them some additional exposure. It is not unlike the Islanders, who had open space in their pressbox, creating a blogger area a few years ago, which paved the way for other teams to slowly welcome the bloggers into their space and led to former PR Director Chris Botta creating his t highly popular blog Islanders Point Blank. So whats the downside to St. John's or other schools to credential an active twitter “correspondent.” Like the blogging space, credibility and traffic is a small concern. The person or persons should have legitimate media skills and be treated and act like a professional. They should also have a solid following and not be looking to use this opportunity as their chance just to build some personal gain only. End of the day it is simple, no cost with a good upside for any team or brand looking to grow its base. It can be no different than the radio stations doing live updates from games or the beat writers now filing blogs on the fly. One of the ironies of course is that it is a Big East school making this move, which is counter to the schools of the SEC trying to restrict media coverage and usage as has been reported lately (good summary on Sports Business Daily on the SEC's moves). Now of course Twittering is different than posting live video and infringing on media rights, and St. John's search for coverage is different from what Florida or Georgia still receives, but it is a smart move by the Johnnies.
Some other good reads…Great piece found by SI.com's Rich Deitsch on 25 things journalists need to do to be relevant today.…the Seattle PI had a good piece on new Pac 10 commish Larry Scott and his challenges…also on the college front, WSJ.com had a good piece on the ban of college colors on beer cans…and the New York Times had some good info on who really reads and uses various forms of social media…
