The Golden State Warriors have not exactly been a marquee franchise on the court in terms of wins and losses, but they are always looking to find new ways to engage fans and draw interest. Over the years Golden State has been among the first franchises to court college media, multi-ethnic media and all areas of off the sports press in search of more coverage and better exposure for their brand. Most recently, while the NCAA and other professional sports organizations were shunning bloggers and various forms of social media to grow their brand, the Warriors and teams like the New York Islanders were looking for ways to grow the experience with the passionate core fans who took the time to express their feelings and thoughts in the written word online and at their own cost.
Now it is not to say that every blogger falls into the category of “media” to cover a team, or any topic. Frankly some bloggers have no interest in being perceived as media, like Mets blogger Matt Cerone. He has built his following by being an emotional but well thought out voice of the fan, and actually shuns most of the opportunities he gets to talk to players and coaches and cover games. However for the most part many bloggers are looking for mainstream media acceptance, and in many cases the bloggers biggest followers are the beat writers who cover the team themselves. With all that in mind, Golden State set out to identify key bloggers who met a set of criteria and credentialed them for their annual media day. the called the event “Tweedia,” and used a strict set of credentials…from writing quality to style to followers to interest etc…to determine which ten of the 150 applicants would be able to come in and follow the team during media day. The result was a great success, with more coverage for the team in the blogosphere and a general buzz amongst a Bay Area social media community that had grown indifferent to the team. Most importantly the coverage was not gushing, it was fair and balanced, and created additional platforms for the team to take advantage of in the future. Now the event wasn’t entirely unique of course. Teams like the Detroit Tigers have regularly credentialed bloggers for some time, and leagues are now setting more and more guidelines to find ways for digital and social media to be a regular factor in the daily mix. While it is true that the solution to open the gates and let everyone in is not the answer, it is also true to totally disregard bloggers and others in the digital press is also a mistake, and the Warriors appear to be exploring the happy medium.
In reality the acceptance of bloggers who are credible and work hard at their craft is no different than other eras where a new form of media emerged. radio, television, college broadcasting, and talk radio were all said to be the death of the “traditional” coverage at one time or another, yet all have found their place, and over time so will most forms of social media. It is an ever adapting process. What the Warriors did on media day was to float another successful trial balloon for coverage, one which sailed smoothly and will likely be copied and expanded. If it works, which it should, another door has been opened for access, one for the better and one with tremendous possibility and potential. Nice shot taken and made by Golden State.
