I’ve now been “officially” working in the Sports, Outdoor, Athletics and Recreation industries for slightly more than 3-and-a-half years now, and I must say I continue to be shocked at the overall lack of new media sophistication I see within these industries.
Understand that this is not meant as a slam against all companies in these markets (although it may come across as such).
I also recognize that almost every company I now find in any industry has a Web site. But for many companies, that’s it. And in some instances, companies have little more than a brochure-ware Website.
Others are beginning to step forward and are beginning to embrace newer forms of interactive media, sometimes known as Web 2.0 technologies. These solutions and tools include
- Blogging,
- Online video,
- Social networks (MySpace and Facebook being the most popular, but not the only ones),
- Microblogging (through such tools as Twitter and Pownce, to name two), and
- Podcasting.
What’s even more amazing to me, however, is the seeming lack of interactive / Web 2.0 sophistication among the media companies serving the outdoor and recreation industries. Here again, I’m not attacking every media-publishing company serving clients and/or end-users in the recreation, sports, athletics and/or outdoor industries. Just most of ‘em.
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For more than 10 years (1994 - 2004), I wrote a self-syndicated column called “Utah Tech Watch” that began as a biweekly column and six months later moved to a weekly schedule.
Over time this column was published by three papers — the Deseret News (now the Deseret Morning News), The Daily Herald (in Provo, Utah) and The Enterprise (Utah’s weekly business paper) — as well as being distributed for free via email to several thousand subscribers.
Each year, one of my most fun and yet difficult self-directed assignments was to identify the top 10 stories of the year.
I plan to resurrect “Utah Tech Watch” as an online media property in 2008, and when I do, I’ll also resurrect its annual Top 10 stories piece. But for now, let me transpose this idea to this SOAR Communications blog with what I propose are the Top 10 Global SOAR Stories of 2007.
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I admit it…I’m a Red Sox fan. I was glued to the Series, to my wife’s chagrin. And I enjoyed watching the Sox not only get back to the Fall Classic, but winning it for the second time in four years. However, in the midst of the whole enjoyable experience, I found myself wanting the Rockies to win at least a game. The feeling was borne of nothing but the desire to see the Sox continue to play. The thing that is sad is to see the season come to an end. Even though they hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy, they have to pack up their things and hibernate for the winter. It’s a bittersweet experience, from this fan’s perspective. Granted, I wouldn’t want it to end any other way. But at the same time, it’s hard to see it end.
Regardless, congratulations to the World Champions! Well done! Let’s do it again next year!
These guys are certifiably insane!
Who in their right mind would ride down an 80-foot ramp, soar over 70 feet of nothing while attempting some crazy stunt and then try to reach heights of 20 feet above the quarter-pipe with just a helmet and knee pads? I think it’s the acrophobiac in me, coupled with seeing this clip:
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You have to admit, though, it’s pretty cool some of the things they do. I love watching the X-Games, and I’m glad ESPN has picked them up.
