Managing the Gray – Positive Advice That Everyone Can Use to Succeed

(Original post and podcast file here)

C.C. Chapman: Oh hey, everybody welcome to Managing the Gray #12. I am C.C. Chapman, new media specialist, shape-shifter, all around web freak. Call me whatever you want. What it boils down to is I am enthusiastic about new media, all this new marketing that is going on in the world. Managing the Gray is here just to kind of give you my thoughts on the world, maybe give you some insights, maybe give you some ideas of things you can run with, and hey, I am always available for consulting or discussions or speaking engagements and all that jazz. Just drop me an E-mail at managingthegray@gmail.com and the comment lines are always open. The number is 206 309 GRAY. That is 206-309-4729.

So, I just got back from vacation. I have not been around, so it is why it has been quiet on the feed here for a little bit. I was buried in the woods of the Boundary Waters out in Minnesota. It was a great time and I unplugged completely for seven days. No E-mail, no cell phone, no BlackBerry, no television, no nothing. It was amazing and it is something that you actually should do on a regular basis. I think it is just, you know, get off the good for a while even if it is just a couple of days and just get away and rebalance as I like to call it and just get back to the basics and, you know, gives you plenty of time to think about all these things and think about new ideas and new ways to approach things. I know I thought about plenty, but when I got back the one thing on my mind was football because I am a huge football fan, I am not a big baseball fan so right now from the minute the hockey Stanley Cup gets awarded until the time football starts is a very dark time for me. This year I had the World Cup at least to be excited about and watch, I get into watching that, it was a lot of fun. I was not a huge soccer fan beforehand, I am bigger now, but football started last night, the Hall of Fame Ball was on and it really got me as I am sitting there watching it, it really got me thinking about a lot of things.

Sports marketing is a whole other world and I actually, I mean this ties in nicely, it has been on my mind because I have had this book sitting here on my desk called the Elusive Fan: Reinventing Sports in a Crowded Market Place. It is written by Irving Rein, Philip Kotler and Ben Shields. I sure hope I said those names right because they sent me this book as listeners of Managing the Gray and I am going to read it. I have just started it now. I thought it is an interesting concept because I had not thought about it that, you know, it is a lot harder, say in the world of everything else you got to market to your fans, but I think they are missing some really easy things to do and that is what I want to talk about today. Even if you are not a sports fan today, I think you can get something out of this. I think there are some interesting opportunities at least for people to jump on board or companies and hopefully someone is listening out there to do this. I mean a while ago, you know, obviously I am a huge Second Life fan and I got to thinking why are not there branded items in Second Life. I still think it is a huge misopportunity. I have not seen, at least I have not seen any college branded things. People are huge sports fans. Why are not there BC Eagles gears in there or Ohio State Buckeyes? Where is the jersey, even the hats? It was not until really recently that I saw a whole bunch of the NFL and NHL hats and jerseys come into Second Life. Finally I have seen them. Someone went it and made them all, which makes sense. It does not cost you a lot to make them. The logos are out there, being better if the actual teams got involved, but even though they are not, I mean I am all cool with people doing their own thing. I think that is what it is all about, right?

I think it is great that they are finally out there, but all I have seen is the NFL and the NHL. Where are all the baseball caps? Why cannot I get a Red Sox baseball hat in Second Life? I am sure I can now. I am sure someone has made it, but why is not there like a sports apparel store? Why is it not out there? I do not get it and sticking to Second Life for a minute, I was thinking about it. I am not sure if the NFL specifically does it yet, but I know other sports you can get streaming audio and/or video in some cases. Most of them are paid for so let us stick to the audio, you can get audio for free I believe. I know the NFL does. Okay, so you can listen to the audio, but why not stream it into a Second Life sports bar? Yeah, it is not the same as going to a real sports bar and I get that, but what if I am not, you know, what if I am in New England. I am a Miami Dolphins fan. Oh, I just admitted it, yes I am. I am a diehard Dolphins fan. The games are not always on. The Pats games are always on and I cannot necessarily go to a bar and watch that game. Yeah, I could just sit here at my computer and listen to the game, but what if I could go into Second Life and have a rich experience where I am interacting with other fans? Maybe it is a Dolphins bar and everyone there is a Dolphins fan or maybe it is just all sorts of different football fans and I could interact with them while listening to the game. It adds to the experience, it makes it a bit richer. Yeah, I am not going to order nachos and beer in Second Life, yeah I could, but that stuff sure makes me laugh, but I could engage with other fans of what I am interested in and this could go for any sport. I am just focusing on football because it is on my mind, but why does that not happen? Why is that not going on? If there was video it would be even better, just make a big video wall. Yeah, I could stream in it RealPlayer, but I could also watch it in a “bar” in Second Life and I could interact with people. I know people… The Major League Baseball did this this year with the home Run derby. People turned out in groups. They paid for tickets to take part in this. That is a big step in the right direction.

But then getting into Second Life for a minute, there are all sorts of other new media opportunities that I think sports are missing. I mean why not sponsor a tailgate cast? Now, it could be generic. It could be the Weber Grills Sportscast, sports tailgate cast. It could be a sausage or a beer company sponsoring tailgates and they could go around and tailgate or they could just go around and interview people. There are so many different ways you could do it and why are they not doing it? Furthermore, why are not there more sports teams with podcast? I do not get it. Now, listen. I do not want a sportscast put out by the team. I just do not. I am a firm believer in it is all about the content. I want a fan’s perspective. I want some psycho rabid fan doing the podcast about whatever team it is they believe in. Perfect example, a good friend of mine named Mrs. B does Mrs. B’s Patriot World Podcast. It is a great, great show. It is patriotworld.com. If you are a Pats fan, you should be listening to this and why, because she is fanatical about the Patriots. She is at a training camp right now giving daily reports on what is happening. She would go to every game, she records from the tailgate, she talks about the game, she does a recap afterwards, she is a fan and you know what, the Patriots are doing nothing to support her and that is pathetic. I have actually heard that the Patriots are going to start up a podcast, which is great. It is about time they do something, but you know what, I am going to listen to Mrs. B’s instead and I think most fans would rather have a fan’s perspective. Being better if it was a fan roundtable and if the team supported it like they set up a booth or something at the tailgate, I think that would be awesome. I know Mrs. B would jump all over it. So, why is it not happening?

I searched high and low last year for a Miami Dolphins podcast and I finally found one, but it is actually run by the Miami Herald. So, the team has nothing to do with it, but it is the newspaper, which I thought was an interesting take and these guys are fanatical, too, in a different way. They are all sports writers, so they get inside information, they share it, and it is actually a really, really good podcast. I enjoy that as well. I would rather have a fan’s perspective, but I love the fact that it is professionally produced. It comes out every week during the season and I can depend on it, but why are not more teams doing it? Fans are fanatical. They would listen to it, so step up to the plate and do it. That is what I am talking about.

So, I am really looking forward to reading this book and talking more about it. Now, I could end right here, but I got this great audio comment that I just want to play because they called it in. No, this one came via E-mail to managingthegray@gmail.com and I thought it brought up some interesting topics I want to share it with you.

Anna Farmery: Hi, C.C. This is Anna from The Engaging Brand and I just wanted to pick upon the subject of the iTunes categories. In many ways, I do agree that some of the category move rounds are not necessarily that helpful, but the more I have thought about it, the more I wonder whether it could actually help in terms of podcasting in general and also for individual listeners. The reason why I say that is that I am much more in the management category. I am talking about how to motivate and inspire people at work, but a lot of that is about self-marketing. It is about marketing your team. It is about marketing your company to the people who work for your company and I feel that there is a lot that money just could not learn from listening to the marketing podcast. For instance, I listen to a lot of the creative podcasts as well to look at their techniques of how to bring creativity into management styles and leadership styles, so my question is if you really think about it, is there much difference between management and marketing and by bringing those two categories together, do you think there is a real chance of cross fertilization and actually learning from each other and not becoming too insular within your chosen career or chosen domain? Anyway, maybe just a question to ponder on. Love the show, love the podcast and hopefully we will meet up soon in Second Life. Cheers.

C.C. Chapman: I love the comment and I like your points a lot. I agree. I think management in a certain sense is marketing. At least I think the good managers realize that, I am not sure if everyone does, and I do think you should be listening to podcast across the board. My problem with the iTunes categories though was if I am going to look for a marketing podcast or a PR podcast, and that is exactly what I want, I want to be able to find it quickly and easy. That is where I think the categorization falls down. The fact that I might just scan management, I might miss it as it is in marketing. I do not see how those two necessarily go together. I actually wish there were more categories and I wish there was a role of which you can click the business and you see them all, which I like, and that helps because I listen to stuff on both sides. I mean Manager Tools is a new podcast I just started listening to because I seem to be getting exposure all over the place and I really enjoy it. They are a little long-winded, but I think they are doing some great things. It is one of those… It is catch 22. You either make too many buckets and then you are pigeonholing people into very specific buckets or you make too few buckets and then everyone kind of gets lumped into these weird categories. You cannot win either way is the way I look at it, but I wish there were a few more categories. It is kind of like when it comes to music. I mean I am a huge music fan. You guys probably know I do U-Turn Café once in a while and accidenthash.com and genres are tough. Everyday there is a new genre or some bands do not like to be pigeonholed into a genre and I understand that and podcasts are the same way. I just wish that iTunes made it a little more broad so that when I am looking for something specific I can find it and right now you cannot. It is my only concern with it. I do think it is neat that people are cross-pollinating. It is important. I wish you had given a URL for your podcast in your audio comment, so I could put it in the show notes. I am not sure where you are at, but I am going to find you. So, I appreciate it.

Hey, anybody else who wants to send comments, I always love getting them. You can call again, 206 309 4729 or E-mail me at managingthegray@gmail.com. I am going to get out of here. I am going to be back very, very soon. You are going to be hearing this podcast a lot more often, I have a feeling. I am very excited about some new things coming down the road, some exciting opportunities, so you get to hear my little voice a little bit more often. Thank you to everybody who has been subscribing to Managing the Gray. You can go to iTunes and subscribe. Just search for C.C. Chapman. It is the quickest way to find it. You can go to PodShow Plus if you want. You can go to managingthegray.com. You can go anywhere imaginable and you can find me. If not, ask a friend. Tell a friend. It would be even better because we are getting a lot… Every show is growing more and more and it is very, very exciting and if I have not told you already, managingthegray.com is also where I am going to be blogging a lot more. So, there is going to be a lot of content outside of the podcast that could be there and I love getting your comments there as well. It is all going to fold in together because I am going to blend all the media and yes, I know, so many of you people have been coming into secondlifeoffice.com. Coming to the house, coming to the office saying hi and I am not there that often. I am usually there post 9:00 p.m. eastern standard time on most weekdays. The problem is there is just so much going on, so we have a trouble crossing paths. There is a group. Look for a group. Search for C.C. Chapman or Managing the Gray. There is a group called All about C.C. Join it and it will be a good way to get updates and what-not and we will have a good time, lots of cool things coming down the pipeline. So, thank you guys for listening and I will talk to you very, very soon.

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