Category Archives: social media

Episode #19 & 20 – Jim Ross, WWE Broadcaster – Part 1 & 2

After a brief hiatus, Media Masters is back, and we returned with a slobberknocker of a podcast, as legendary pro wrestling broadcaster Jim Ross joined the program. “JR”, as fans know him, came on the show to talk about how he got his start calling wrestling matches back in the 70s and 80s, and how he made the leap to the big leagues to join the big leagues in 1993, launching a 20-year career behind the microphone for the WWE.

Ross was incredibly gracious with his time and did over 90 minutes with us, and we broke the conversation up into two parts. It’s a must listen to anyone who wants to get in the broadcasting (or wrestling) industry, chock full of old school anecdotes and plenty of wisdom and life lessons as well.

Enjoy Part 1 of the conversation, and look for Part 2 shortly. In the meantime, if you’re a WWE fan and planning to be in the Bay Area, don’t miss his one man show, “Ringside: An Afternoon with Jim Ross,” which happens on Saturday, March 28 at the Rock Bar Theatre in San Jose, CA. Tickets are just $20.

Part 1:

Part 2:

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Episode #17 – Caity Kauffman, Tampa Bay Lightning

Running social media for a professional sports team is almost a 24-hour job, even in the offseason. Just because your team isn’t playing games doesn’t mean you’re not trying to stay relevant and keep your fans engaged.

To that end, Caity Kauffman is a rising star in the sports social media space. For the last year, she’s been running social media for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League. Caity came on Media Masters to talk about what an offseason editorial calendar looks like in the offseason, and how the team approaches Facebook and Twitter.

Caity also explained how her team uses paid placement on Facebook to reach a greater audience and drive ticket sales for the Lightning. You’re going to see more teams experiment in this space as the Lightning have seen a solid ROI on the money they’ve spent in the space.

Caity’s insights are very sharp and it’s a great interview for anyone who works in sports social media.

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Episode #16 – Dan Zarrella, Hubspot’s Social Media Scientist

Plenty of people talk about “social media engagement” and “engagement” may be the most overused platitude in the world of social media marketing.

Marketers are constantly looking to prove the ROI of social, and if you’re going to start somewhere, you’ve got to start measuring. Dan Zarrella, the Principal Social Media Scientist at Hubspot, is a leader in this space.

Dan digs into the numbers, millions of numbers, to find the answer to questions like, “When’s the best time of day to post to Facebook?” If you follow social media experts on Twitter, you’ve probably seen his work already, because his studies always get attention when he releases a new set of data.

Dan joined us on Media Masters to talk about his work measuring social media, and offered his top tricks and techniques for social media success. And he’s got the data to back up his claims.

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Episode #15 – Sarah Dussault, YouTube Fitness Guru

The fitness industry continues to explode these days, and there seems to be no shortage of gurus. From Hollywood stars to former professional wrestlers, everyone’s trying to make their mark.

Sarah Dussault, A.K.A. “Sarah Fit“, has spent the last eight years creating her own women’s fitness empire, and she’s built her business almost entirely on YouTube and Twitter.

Her videos have been viewed over 120 million times, and she says her goal is simple: To enable your passion for healthy living.

We caught up with her on the Media Masters Podcast to find out how she’d built her business in social media. It’s a pretty impressive story.

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Episode #14 – Wayne Partello, San Diego Padres

I’ve been to San Diego at least 10 times, but I’d never been to Petco Park to see the Padres play until my last visit. About eight months ago, Wayne Partello took over as the Padres new SVP & CMO. Wayne’s a guy I’ve known from his days in Boston at WEEI/Entercom, and we’ve kept in touch via Twitter since then.

It was great to reconnect with Wayne and talk shop about sports marketing, as well as digital and social media while I was in town. I also got a behind the scenes look at the Padres “Social Hour,” their live pregame show that runs on their website, app, radio and local TV. Wayne’s crew does a great job producing the show in-house and they’re finding new ways to reach their fans wherever they are.

Wayne and I reconnected a few weeks later to talk shop on Media Masters and it was a great conversation about all things branding and marketing for a baseball team.

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Episode #13 – Lindsay McCormick, NBC Sunday Night Football Social Host

On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I had a chance to connect with Lindsay McCormick in person and talk shop about her sports media career. I’m something of a networking junkie, and Lindsay and I have been connected via Twitter for several years. Anyway, when it turned out that my hotel was around the corner from her, we made time to get together and talk about our careers in the sports industry.

Halfway through our conversation, we’d covered a lot of ground and touched upon a million topics, and I made Lindsay commit to having the conversation again for the podcast.

Lindsay’s had a lot of different gigs in the sports media realm, and her insight is especially valuable to anyone who’s looking to break into the TV sports business. We had fun recording this episode and it will be interesting to see where Lindsay ends up next, as she’s a multi-talented personality who conveys her enthusiasm as much on air as she does in person.

Summary: Lindsay McCormick talks to Media Masters about her career in sports media, and how she ended up living on a bus during the NFL season working for NBC as the Sunday Night Football Social Host. She also discusses her appearance as a contestant on The Price is Right and working on a movie with Bill Bellamy.

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Episode #12 – Bryan Srabian, San Francisco Giants

Bryan Srabian, Director of Digital Media, joined us for the 12th episode of Media Masters as we resume atfer a brief hiatus. Bryan has established himself not only as a thought leader in Major League Baseball, but throughout sports marketing and social media as well. His reputation is well-earned, as Bryan’s kept the Giants on the cutting edge of digital in a super-competitive market like San Francisco.

Bryan talked to us about what it’s like to run digital at a baseball team, how the Giants integrate social into the ballpark experience, and gives his insights on new technologies like iBeacon and Google Glass.

He also shares his opinion on snarky twitter accounts, and tells us who he thinks is getting social right across the league in MLB.

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Episode #11 – Brad Rutter, Jeopardy Battle of the Decades Champion

Brad Rutter, who appeared on the third episode of Media Masters, returns to the show after his epic $1 million win over Ken Jennings and Roger Craig in the Jeopardy 30th Anniversary Battle of the Decades tournament.

Rutter has now won over $4.3 million lifetime on Jeopardy, more than any other player in the history of the program. Take a listen to our exclusive interview with the greatest Jeopardy player of all-time.

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Episode #9 – Alex Restrepo – Social Media Manager, New Orleans Saints

I’ll admit, I wasn’t sold on Snapchat as a marketing channel for sports, or anyone else, for that matter. But after talking to Alex Restrepo, Social Media Manager for the New Orleans Saints, he may have changed my mind.

If nothing else, it’s probably worth giving a try. We had a long conversation about how the Saints use Snapchat to share content with their fans.

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Episode #7 – Amy Martin, CEO, Digital Royalty

Amy Martin from Digital Royalty talks about launching her social media agency in 2009, working with celebrity clients like Shaq and The Rock, and her recent best-selling book, Renegades Write The Rules.

More: Follow Amy Martin on Twitter

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