In a world that is increasing social media, text first, the value of showing up for things, and actually meeting someone is still and should always be, priority one.
Case in point from this past weekend at the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championships outside Philadelphia, an event I have worked on and seen grow for the past five years. The proactive outreach to try and get larger scale media to engage and embrace is always challenging but fruitful, with the key being balancing the niche media, especially photographers who try to game the system, with the limited room you have. It’s a welcomed and usually worthwhile exercise, especially in the digital age we are in now where most things “local” can be amplified to “global” with the right storytelling push.
One of those “claims” came in to a colleague on Saturday morning. Thanks to a new partnership with ESPN on the event, Saturday morning became college rugby on “The Deuce,” and an enterprising young woman saw the broadcast, realized it was in her backyard, and decided to try and get some access. The colleague at first thought the call was shady and passed on it, but after the young woman not just tried a few more times but bought a ticket and showed up on site was when I finally got wind that “Kate From Barstool” was in the house. Now one word about the popularity of sites like Barstool. Bleacher Report, SB Nation etc. There are any host of enterprising people who throw around the names and the fact that they are “influencers” to try and get everything from passes to tickets to athlete access with little or no proof or ROI. That’s the bad news for being the face of many millennials; fakers.
The good news is that it doesn’t take much more than a search on one’s phone, especially on a Saturday when you have no chance of reaching an editor or a host, to see if someone had the chops, and “Kate From Barstool,” she being Kate Mannion, had the chops (and the following) to make sure she was taken seriously. Barstool has had a relationship from an editorial standpoint with Sevens Rugby for a few years, and this seemed like little effort, much bigger reward by the right person being smart, proactive, respectful and persistent. No real agenda, just someone wanting to help storytell.
And with a little more listening, storytell we did. It turns by listening…another key element in the niche world that gets lost…asking some questions and doing a little digital homework Kate was an amazing fit for the event. Not only was she a former college rugger; she was a military vet (three academies in the field); and after asking even more, a Fordham University grad (the Rams were also in the field by the way) with an amazing story of how she got to where she is in the Barstool family.
After a quick five minute meetup, we went through some of the additional assets we could help Kate do her job, including a connect with General H.R. McMaster (who was at the event enjoying his first day of retirement) and new Eagles draftee and professional rugger Jordan Mailata, as well as getting her access to players, families and whatever else she needed to help link the rugby world to the Barstool world.
It was amazing but not surprising seeing how the Barstool mic stopped any millennial in their tracks, and how “just showing up” by Kate opened up audiences for the event that probably would have gone somewhat unengaged, despite the good amount of media big and small, covering.
Also in spending some time together, and listening to her story, it became more apparent of how a young, smart, savvy new person to the media game valued the concept of showing up, asking the right questions and as old people used to say, working a story. Here was a young woman who left Indiana University of Pa. her senior year to enlist in the Marines, used money saved to transfer to Fordham, earned a communications degree, and found a way to embrace a passion for storytelling in everything from comedy to sports to reach out and VOLUNTEER to write and vlog until she got a foot in the door (with the military podcast Zero Blog Thirty, now part of Barstool), and by hustle (she went to the Indy 500 on her own dime to storytell about life in the infield)has started to build audience, engagement and opportunity…and she has some great fans for life in college rugby and the media in Philly now as well.
Now does this happen at every event and with every outlet? No. Many large sports entities will still, as was the case at first with a colleague, say no and ask questions later, with rising young media members or sites that may not be of the mainstream (as everyone knows Barstool is to some extent) or the size still being rick or space averse. However by using some good people skills, listening well, asking the right questions and doing some homework, we learned more about “Kate From Barstool” and how we could proactively work together in two hours than many pick up in years of texts and direct messages and emails. It became a personal connection that was easy to see just after a few minutes.
Did it help that I had somewhat of an appreciation of the power of Barstool and how it tied to rugby? Yes. However that isn’t the reason why this worked. It worked because Kate was able to explain what she was looking for initially and we were able to find ways to help deliver on a scenario that made sense for all. If she was from a different outlet would it have worked? Yes. If she was more self-important and not willing to listen and learn from what could be done would it have worked? Not really. It is much more about the people than the size, as we had the ability to amplify messages from small outlets because of the digital reach of rugby and its participants and promoters if the story, and the storyteller, is a good fit.
Now of course it doesn’t always work so perfectly. Connections get lost, stories don’t come together, the medium is not always right. However that doesn’t mean you don’t keep proactively trying to storytell and make a match that works.
This one fit like a charm, and end of the day got the bounce for all that was needed. Why? Right people, right backgrounds, right listening, and most importantly, right person just showed up.
If you don’t take the chance, you miss the shot.
Glad Kate Mannion had the persistence, all about showing up.
Onward.
