Episode 71 of the DSMSports Podcast w/ Gary Paczesny on Brand and Digital Strategy/Social at Memphis Athletics

Best Of...Gary Paczesny on the
Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast
Gary Paczesny, Coordinator of Digital Media for University of Memphis
Athletics, was the featured guest on episode 71 of the DSMSports
Podcast.
What follows are some snippets from the interview. Hear the full episode
on www.DSMSports.net or download it on from iTunes Store podcasts
or on Stitcher and other podcast apps.
Enjoy...
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Gary's Career Path
Did undergrad work at Valparaiso University, where he wanted
to pursue a career in college athletics (he even did some job
shadow in at Notre Dame, while he was in high school!) and
participated in their sport management program; His
experience at Notre Dame helped him ultimately land a job
there after a stint doing media relations with Fiesta Bowl
@njh287
DSMSports.net

On getting a master's degree through Western Kentucky's
remote program → “It was one of the best things I've ever
done. It allowed me to explore college athletics as a whole
at a deeper level I never had as an undergrad...It really got
me into that (learning) mindset...It maybe hasn't helped me
get a job, but it sets you apart. In the end, it sets you
apart..and puts you ahead of that other person in job
seeking.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

On where Notre Dame was in social and digital when Gary started there
“When I started there...it was in the digital aspect of video, web
streaming...We were the web stream guys that were putting...any non-
TV rights on the web. Our mission was to stream every game we
could...whatever we could do...We were doing 140 broadcasts (of live
games) per year...
“We saw the opportunity for revenue, but that's for the sales guys...for us, it
was a fan engagement tool. It allowed our student athletes to be
showcased like never before...”
(Gary talks about trying to have a website feature on every student athlete
at least once in their career)
@njh287
DSMSports.net

“When I first started (in 2007), Facebook was (only for
students),...Twitter was just starting to come online. The first
time I used it was to follow the Women's Professional Soccer
League Draft...”
“For us, it was slowly bringing online some of these social media
things, in conjunction with the marketing and communications
offices. We brought Twitter to the forefront of Notre Dame...It
was also means for us to promote the content we were
producing (on our website)...We saw social media as a
means to promote our existing content...”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

On building up social media at ND
“We structure in multiple ways, with a combination of video department
staff members, our communications staff, and our marketing
staff...Through our combination o building our digital media team,
we hired a social media coordinator and a social media intern to
build out all our social media platforms...(it has become) a great
means to promote the great content we have...”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

On getting buy-in
“I think for some teams the buy-in was greater than others...One of
the things we had a lot of success with was having coaches give
us access to the locker room spaces to capture some of that
imagery and audio. For a long time, that was stuff we showed (just)
to recruits, we didn't even put any of that stuff on the web...I use
(Men's BB Coach) Mike Brey as an example. He allowed us to go
in there and we spent a lot of time shooting stuff that never saw the
light of day to the public eye. But it gave us a trust aspect in
presenting it...to the fans...I personally have to thank Brian Kelly a
lot for it, too. When he came on board, we pitched him the idea of
'We want to be in the locker room every time you speak to the
team.' He gave me a great opportunity to do that...”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

“It's understanding that (coach's) end goal is to recruit student
athletes...That's what you have to remember in everything that you're
doing – the images you're putting out on social media or the content
that you're producing for coach's TV shows is all about helping you
recruit. So how we can help expose the brand and expose the brand in
a ay that coaches want?...It's not just about putting out a tweet, it's
about putting out the right tweet that'll help the end goal of these
coaches.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Helpful Tool: Twitter 'Engage' mobile app for quick and easy app
data and follower info
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Going from ND to Memphis
“After a year kind of out of it, doing a lot of stuff with Raycom and
the ACC Network and NBC Sports, I decided I wanted to get
back into college athletics...Memphis was looking to ramp up
their digital side...They wanted someone dedicated to video and
social media stuff...
I was fortunate enough to be thrown into the best football season
in school history...I don't take any credit for that whatsoever...it
was a tremendous opportunity and really spring-boarded
everything we were doing here at Memphis...”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

On starting with Memphis
“A lot of it was starting over, like we did at Notre Dame...it was a lot of
re buy-in and restarting the Memphis Tiger network...and really
giving it a revitalization. They had done a lot of great work before I
was here, but it was time for a reboot of the system...It just took
time. If anything, it's relationships...It's understanding that, when
you show up, you're (connecting with the coaches)...I had to show
them what I was about and what I brought to the table.”
“We're still building out. It's a process...We're really trying to build a
strong foundation, so when we add staff...we'll have the
infrastructure and process, like we had at Notre Dame.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Empowering coaches and teams across all sports
“It's important for us to provide the tools to those teams and people to
have what they need to succeed, and us really help facilitate
whatever they need as a brand ambassador to oversee it all.”
“On game day, we rely heavily on our media relations staff to oversee
all that social media content. But for the most part, if there is a
home Tiger event, myself or my assistant Jake..we're at one of
those games...We're there to capture highlights for the end of year
video....for our weekly story...to provide the American Athletic
Conference....and to highlight our student athletes. We do that, as
well as you're monitoring the social landscape...All while trying to
maintain your sanity, some days...”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Working with the departments
“We meet twice as a week as a staff, within the communications
department where I'm housed...to make sure we understand
everything that has transgressed through the week, have
objectives changed....So that way we make sure we're
engaging fans at any given time appropriately, and also that
we're giving the best content (based on its end use and end
goals)...”
(Gary also talks about using a file sharing service, Mediafire, to
help share media and content with other teams)
@njh287
DSMSports.net

On defining a brand for Memphis Athletics and how that has evolved
“The brand staples and the logos and those type of things were in
place...But, for us, it's still trying to find our voice. Being a partial
pro sports town, we still kind f fight for our fans and fight for our
fans. So we still have to have a really strong voice, but, at the
same time, we have to understand who our clientele and our fan
base is...”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Building Memphis's brand, especially as beyond a Power 5 school
“For us, it's just about making sure our brand is consistent with our
message of student athletes, and showing people what our brand
is...It's all the sports that we have here, and showing people that
we have great kids, and we're an all-encompassing athletic
department...”
“We are working on a guidelines for social media for all of our teams.
From the look and the feel, to whom they should engage with and
whom they should follow...Give them a one-sheet...Trying to make
it as a simple as possible, but also as detailed as possible, so
everyone can live in the same world.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Maximizing the football success of this past season
“I was fortunate enough to have a lot of those same experiences
while at Notre Dame. So I think, for a lot of people, they relied
on me to understand how a Thursday night prime time game
compare for ESPN's setup at the Liberty Bowl, compared to
NBC's broadcast...I think a lot of those questions were those
being asked...So, for me, it was falling back on the experiences
I had and trying to give people the best direction, while at the
same time understanding it was a whole different ballgame than
people were used to.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

“You try to maximize the content, but also sometimes people just
want to see what you got. As much as driving them back to buy
tickets or sell merchandise is really great, and obviously it helps
the bottom line...In the end, sometimes it's just about the
content, and people love seeing that. And they just engage,
regardless...”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Looking ahead to this season with new football and men's basketball
coaches
“We have a really dynamic (football) coach in Mike Norvell. He's great
on Twitter (especially GIFs)...And Coach Tubby Smith, a legendary
coach in his own right. For us, we're trying to help him expose the
brand and what he's about here at Memphis and helping him
recruit.
“We try to really build it out – talking with our donation team (and) our
sales side; making sure we all have the same talking points...just
making sure everybody is on the same page...It really helps the
machine move on time.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

On distribution of Memphis's live content and the Memphis Tiger
Network
“We do anywhere from three to one camera shows of (several sports
Gary lists)...in which we stream our games to our fans...We use
those games, along with the American Digital Network...it allows us
a great opportunity for fans to see our student athletes in real-time
and live in the game...
(Gary talks about the varying scales of production depending on the
venue and infrastructure within the facilities)
@njh287
DSMSports.net

“We plan to utilize Facebook Live for some of our content that is front
of the paywall currently...I think there are a lot of opportunities for
us (in digital video)...”
“We think about all opportunities that can be positive (when going live
on Facebook)...we try to think of things not only in a negative light
(for things that an go wrong), but also in a positive light for how can
this help Memphis as a whole?”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Share-able Stat: Among social media users ages 16-24, one-third of
users are categorized as “creators” (and influencers)
@njh287
DSMSports.net

The most viral piece of digital/social content in Gary's time at Notre
Dame and his time so far at Memphis
At Notre Dame – “If you go back to 2012, we had a defensive
lineman, Louis Nix. We're at the national championship game and
they take us to the Miami Heat game and he dances to Gangam
Style. So I'm there with the video camera, just seeing what we
could get...It blew up pretty quick (on YouTube)...It took off pretty
quickly...
@njh287
DSMSports.net

At Memphis, after a buzzer beater win for men's basketball over
Tulane → I saw Coach (Josh) Pastner was really excited, so I
followed him in (to the locker room) and [he] starts dancing. I throw
it up right before the plane takes off (to return) to Memphis, and so
we land at Memphis and there was 60,000 )plus) views and in the
two-hour flight to Memphis...It was interesting to see how many
people had already engaged with it.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Which student athlete and which coach have been the best on social
media and why?
“We had a couple of soccer players at Notre Dame that were really
good and they engaged with Jay Bilas a lot...Coach (Mike) Norvell
has really impressed me as head (football) coach at
Memphis...You like to see the ones that engage with not fans and
athletes, but university presidents, as well, and different people
around the community...”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

On being at Notre Dame when the Manti Te'o catfishing incident
occurred
“I remember sitting at my desk when it all broke...Having a little bit of
heads up about it, but not a tremendous amount of
understanding...of what was happening...The biggest thing that we
had to do was make people aware of what we knew as an athletic
department and what we knew to tell people...It wasn't, by any
means, an attempt to cover up. It was a means to educate people
on what had happened, what the university knew, and how we
proceeded moving forward. We went so far as to alert people via
YouTube comments that 'This video was taped under the
assumption that this incident had happened.' We didn't just want to
delete content, we wanted to make people aware of why we posted
what we did, even if it was months ago.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Gary's memories of working at the famous Fiesta Bowl when Boise
State used trick plays to beat Oklahoma in overtime
“It was probably one of the best experiences of my life...We did three
games in eleven days...and I remember being on the field for the
end of the game...the game goes to overtime. I remember standing
there and watching Adrian Peterson (score) on the first play of
overtime to take the lead and you could literally hear the air come
out of the building...Boise State has to go for all these crazy
plays...all this drama ensued...To go for two was crazy enough, but
to run a Statue of Liberty play (which they had run earlier in the
year)...it all kind of transpired in front of me and, to this day, I have
a six foot picture in my house of (the famous play)...”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

The social media platform that performs the best for Memphis and the
one for which he has high hopes for this upcoming season
“For us, it's a tie between Twitter and Facebook...For us, we're going
to strive for Facebook Live, here. I was also really impressed today
with Twitter rolling out Twitter Dashboard...to see our analytics
almost in real-time...Maybe that'll help us do things a little bit better
here in the future.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Gary's #1 tip to get buy-in for digital and social from athletics
administration
“You have to show people. That's the easiest way to get buy-in...Until
they actually see how it operates, they don't like to buy in, because
they like to see how it's going to affect their program. The more you
can show people, the better off it's gonna be...I've gone so far as to
mock up Twitter posts...and say, this is how I would do it for
different events and this is how we go about promoting those
events.”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

The best food to get around Memphis and the best food to get around
the Notre Dame campus
In Memphis → “Germantown Commissary...It's a little hole-in-the-wall
barbecue spot...definitely my favorite.”
Around Notre Dame → Barnaby's Pizza
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Gary's biggest social media and sports pet peeve
“It's way longer hours than people ever think. They think I'm just on
my phone all the time, but I'm actually trying to figure out what's
going on, a lot of times.”
(Gary also notes how, even in 'leisure' time watching other sports,
he's constantly learning to see how other accounts are doing
things)
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Which former Memphis star will have a better debut season in their
new job – Coach Justin Fuente (at Virginia Tech) or QB Paxton
Lynch (with the Broncos)?
Gary notes excitement for Coach Fuente to coach in the “Battle of
Bristol Motor Speedway.”
“Paxton should have a great opportunity to play some out in Denver...”
“I'm also excited to see how Coach Tubby Smith and Coach Mike
Norvell...just how they get these guys ready for our seasons
coming up here...We have some great guys here on campus and
we're really excited to see what's going to happen here”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Gary's social media All-Star to follow
@KevinDeshazo → “He does a great job of telling people whats going
in the socia lemdia sphere...he'll let you know what's happening
(on pkatforms)...
Mark Hodgkin (@MarkAHodgkin) “I had a great opportunity to work
alongside (him) when I was at the American Athletic Conference...
(He) really shares a lot...”
Nicole Imbrogno (@24nicolefrances) is one of our go-to people and
she has worked in the college world...”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Where to find Gary and the Memphis Tigers on digital and social
@GaryPaczesny on Twitter and Instagram
@TigersAthletics and @MemphisTigers on several platforms → “We
have various account names that I am working to fix..”
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Thanks so much to Gary Paczesny forjoining
the Digital & Social Media Sports podcast!
For more info on the podcast, check out
http://www.DSMSports.net and follow me @njh287
@njh287
DSMSports.net

Episode 71 of the DSMSports Podcast w/ Gary Paczesny on Brand and Digital Strategy/Social at Memphis Athletics

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Episode 71 of the DSMSports Podcast w/ Gary Paczesny on Brand and Digital Strategy/Social at Memphis Athletics