Marketing Suicide

As many of you may or may not know, along with owning my film company and being a marketing nut, I race BMX, and I am an avid motocross fan. I raced in the National Bicycle League until this season, when they closed their doors after a long, drug out fight against bankruptcy.
I have raced all over the country. I have been to the biggest events that the NBL has put on. Every event that I raced at, I would always notice how poorly the marketing scheme was laid out. Here is a sport that is 100% family oriented, it’s cheap and it allows every age demographic from 3 years old to 70 years young to partake. Did I mention that it made its Olympic debut in 2008? Why on earth would an organization such as this fold up? If you step back and take a look at two sports, BMX racing and professional /amateur motocross racing, motocross racing is hands down a bigger, more popular sport. Both are family friendly and both allow young children and old men/women to compete. Why would more people not be going to the NBL to race BMX? It is cheaper…



It all comes down to how the movers and shakers (or lack thereof) of the NBL played their “promotional” cards. This was a league that had the opportunity to grab up all of those parents that wanted their kids to be involved in a two wheeled sport but were terrified of the dangers that came along with motocross or simply couldn’t afford it.
At the biggest of big events that the National Bicycle League would host, never once would I see big sponsors such as car/truck manufactures or major energy drink producers involved with the event. This is a worldwide sport that is in the Olympic Games… Companies like this would not be hard to rope in with a little effort. At the Grand National Championships in Louisville Kentucky, dirty plastic tarps (used in case of rain) were thrown all over the infield between racing lanes. This may seem minute but what company is going to want place sponsor banners inside of a race course that looks like it doubles as a dump?
I just attended the professional motocross race at Steel City, Pa. last weekend, and to say the least, I was overly impressed with how Racer Productions’ Davi Coombs and MX Sports’ Tim Cotter promoted this event. As you walked into the track, you were immediately handed a FREE energy drink, which was provided by Rockstar Energy Drinks. As you made your way to the actual race course, the footpaths were lined with major industry vendors, Toyota Trucks displays, Makita Power Tools displays, food vendors and the list goes on. These are things that in 10 years of racing BMX, I never once saw.
It is a sad thing that the NBL had to close their doors. They tried pointing fingers at Mother Nature’s rain drenched spring for their collapse but in the end it was the simple fact that they lacked the skills needed in one of the most important departments of any company, the public relations department. Thankfully, all BMX racers can rest easy, thanks to another league that seems to be on the right path. The American Bicycle Association is now the lone BMX sanctioning body. Here’s to hoping that things go better in their hands.

It's a Football Slumber Party

It was one of the most bizarre occurrences of my multimedia career. The day started out hot, humid and sunny, a typical West Virginia day. The vibe of Morgantown was through the roof because Marshall was coming to town and it was time for some much needed revenge after last year’s near upset in Huntington.
The football game got underway and everyone was having a great time. The weather had cooled off for us but the only problem was that the reason for the comfortable temperatures was a massive storm brewing off in the distance. We had a few warnings from the national weather service but no one thought twice about it. After all, when was the last time that a WVU game was interrupted by rain?
The contest made it to half time but mid way through the third quarter we were all forced to seek shelter for our safety. The storm was approaching fast. Much to the crowds dislike, everyone evacuated the seats. The media personnel were allowed to go into the weight room with the football players and cheerleaders from both teams. Just when we all thought that we were going to be allowed to get the party started again, it happened. A massive blot of lighting rained down from the sky’s and nearly hit the stadium.



1 delay, 2 delay, 3 delay 4… We had all been sitting around hanging out for nearly four hours, trying to not drown in our own boredom and most of all, not starve to death. Most of us, including the athletes, had not eaten since 11:30 that afternoon. Pizzas were even brought in for the players but sadly, they were not allowed to eat them due to the coaches’ fear of having to go back out and do battle with a full stomach of dough and cheese, two things that would not mix well.
It made for a long day, multiple dead batteries and wet clothes but in the end I don’t know of anyone who would have wanted it any other way. When is the next time that media, football players, the mountaineer mascot and cheerleaders will have a semi sleepover after a football victory?

Football Time is Here

Everyone can smell it in the air, football season is upon us and for the diehard fans of West Virginia University, this means a few things. It’s time to cheer for the closest thing to a professional team that we can lay claim to. It’s time for good food with great friends and for many fans, it means that it’s time to “booze” in the parking lot at the pre-game tail gate.
It’s a tradition that strings back many generations. Everyone shows up on game day, cooks up some great food and throws back a few (sometimes more) cold ones. In years past, it has been the norm to see many fans stumble into the stadium. This year is looking to be different.



A few weeks back, I attended the official beer sales press conference at Milan Puskar Stadium. Athletic Director, Oliver Luck, spoke heavily on how the security was going to be incredibly strict about letting the non-sober folk into games. It is all a part of his master plan to create more of a family friendly environment for the fans. This is a great idea, but when I asked what they planned to do when drunk fans became enraged about not being allowed to enter after they paid good money for their ticket, he simply shrugged it off and said we have plans to deal with it.
I love the public relations idea behind making the stadium more of a family friendly environment but I am afraid that they are underestimating the amount of fans that will be past the sober limit that they are setting in order to enter a game. All I can say is, I hope that they have less “event staff” personnel at the game and more armed forces. I have a feeling that they are going to need them.

No Tweets Allowed

I was just watching ESPN’s NFL Live TV show and they were discussing the topic of “the dangers of Twitter”. They discussed how NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, implemented a rule last season prohibiting any NFL athlete from tweeting 90 minuets prior to a game clear until after the post game interviews. If this wasn’t bad enough, they then decided to go one step further, preventing all media staff on hand from tweeting as well. The NFL placed this rule to prohibit any type of play-by-play reporting to take place outside of a network broadcast. This included all social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook.



A rule like this one, without a doubt, puts a damper on any social media guru career. There are some journalists that owe all of their success to sites like Twitter. For many fans, they get enjoyment following their favorite athlete’s tweets and status’ prior to a game. This allows the average fan to get inside the locker room and inside the thoughts of a player. This is something that you would never be able to get close to five years ago. Never before could the fans break through the barrier of stardom to see what their hero was thinking at any given moment.
In today’s world, we are all subject to being a part of social media in one sense or another. There is nowhere to hide anymore and no way to prevent information for leaking out to the public, this includes how a play shakes down in an NFL game or what a player is thinking during pre-game.
Take a look the UFC president, Dana White. He not only encourages his athletes to tweet, he REQUIRES it. He is often times seen tweeting during a big fight, letting his fans know what his thoughts are on the situation. The result of his twitter frenzies, the UFC is now the fastest growing sport in the WORLD. The NFL almost had no season this year… but I digress.

Respect the Text

After a four year stint of working for local CBS affiliate, WDTV, we parted ways on good terms. It was time for a change in my still young multimedia career. I was excepted into West Virginia University's student newspaper, The Daily Athenaeum, as the multimedia editor. It is my responsibility to bring some more excitement to thedaonline.com webpage through the use of film. This is something that I was extremely excited about and could not wait to get the journey started.

My very first assignment was to make a promotional film that showcases what the Daily Athenaeum does from start to finish. From the happening of the action, to the writing of the editors and staff, to the finishing touches of printing the paper.

The DA staff had planned out a field trip to our printing headquarters, which was located in Uniontown, PA. Everyone was excited to go see firsthand how The Daily Athenaeum was turned into print. Being a film and multimedia guy, this was all new to me. We arrived around 10:45pm and began our tour. I was amazed at the work that goes into making just one newspaper. I couldn't help but think of all the thousands of readers that simply pick the paper up, read one or two articles then throw it to the curb. After seeing all of the work that goes into these publications, I now have a new found respect for print news.

Want to see what I am talking about? Check out the video...