We've Moved

Hey, I moved my blog to word press because of the cool features and more things that can be done with a word press blog. Head to http://aophillips.wordpress.com to start reading the new blog.

where I'm @ right now

So, this is where I'm at right now on my website. Haven't really spent as much time as I would've liked today working on it -- evident because here is where I was before today. But, the good news is I now have a direction that I want to take my website, a new email address (andrewOphillips@gmail.com -- see that, no more yahoo), iGoogle, Google Reader and a ton of new twitter and linkedIn connections. Thus the day was not a complete loss.

@aophillips

CityScape Photoshoot

CityScape Winner!, originally uploaded by andrewOphillips.

Stacy and I spent a good amount of time last night in downtown Naperville snapping photos from the tops of different buildings and street corners for her photography class. This photo is one that I really like because of the various colors and lighting. We shot it from the top of the new parking garage on Main & VanBuren.

The buildings on the right play host to NCC students and serve as some pretty sweet apartments (I think) for them. It also has Giordano's pizza and a wine shop below the apartments. Also featured is Ted's Montana Grill .. haven't eaten there yet, but I've heard it's pretty good. I also chose this photo to display because I liked how the horizon line is pretty clear. It doesn't really follow the rule of thirds, but I think it looks cool.

We've decided that one of our Christmas gifts to ourselves this year is going to be a nice camera like the one we have on loan right now from Dina Kwit -- the photographer for the Chicago Bandits. The model we've been using is the Canon RebelXT EOS. It's a blast to just go out and shoot photos, quickly becoming a great hobby.

@aophillips

Paramore: Brand New Eyes (semi) Un-Boxing

Ah, my first un-boxing (kind of)... After spending a lot of time recently reading various tech blogs and websites, I've learned that un-boxings are pretty big deals when new products come out. Well, I was bored and the only thing new that arrived recently in my mailbox is this Paramore: Brand New Eyes box set. So I grabbed my video camera, made a sweet unboxing video. But... turns out i don't know where my cord is to upload the video, so because I can't find it all I've got to offer of this semi-unboxing is some still shots of the content. Enjoy! and hopefully by the time the next fun item comes in the mail, I will have my video cord.

@aophillips

Hells Bells: My Dog Bella

Bella has been with us now since March, which is also when Stacy and I moved into our apartment in Aurora. Before the apartment, Bella was living in the kennel at Naperville Animal Hospital on Ogden Avenue in Naperville. She was there because my dad just started a new trucking job and wasn't allowed to bring her along (stupid state laws). And, since my parents are divorced and my mom already has a dog in the house, it was not feasible to have two ... so we got an apartment. Back to the dog... she is 1 and about 1/2 years old, with her birthday in February, so we joke that her 1st birthday present was that Stacy sprung her from the kennel and now she has an actual home. Bella is FULL of energy and is very strong. She has even pulled me around the apartment complex on my skateboard, with ease. Oh and she LOVES bones, as you can see from that photo above. She's pretty smart too, if you ask her to get her bone she'll run off and grab one of the 4 that she has going right now.

@aophillips

Hi, my name is ... hire me

As you can see above, I have finally finished my resume. I decided that since I'm still on 'vacation' (unpaid) it would do me some good to flex my design muscles and create an updated resume. The last resume I made was back in May of 2008 - needless to say, it was outdated. Hopefully a creative and different resume will help me get a new job with another sports team, a design or advertising company, or somewhere that will utilize my design and writing skills :) like it says on the "objective" paper above.

Well, now that my resume is updated and done, it's on to a website. Oh, the thumbtacks were made by Dan Baran ... check out his website and go to him if you need a website made, he's good at what he does.

Newest Project

Since I'm on 'vacation' from the Bandits till early October, I've decided that it's finally time to update my resume and portfolio -- and most importantly, my website. Currently, the only website I have up is the one I made for my final trimester at NCC. Not to flashy, not bad, but not something that screems look at me, I know what I'm doing.

Above is where I'm at right now with my homepage. Pretty basic, but still sleek looking I think. My contact info is easily visible and the rest is self explanitory right now. Back to work...

@aophillips

Name Plate & Buzzing Around w/ Stacy

After fooling around with Photoshop CS3 again this evening, this is something I created. This time I took a little more artistic freedom and got off the tutorial train tracks a bit with the colors, leaf stamps and grass. Typically, I think this format would be used for something like a blog header or even a website header. Who knows, when I finally get around to making my own website I may actually use it for that.

This bumble bee photo is one that Stacy took over the weekend for a photo class at the College of DuPage. I believe this plant and bee was located on Main Street and Jefferson in downtown Naperville by the parking lot that is behind Anderson's Bookshop. We walked around the last fling and surrounding area for a while and this was one of her (and mine) favorites from the morning. She is loving this photo class, so I imagine I'll have more to share sooner or later.

@aophillips

Recent Design-ings @ Work

Worked on this for hot minute this afternoon. Once I figure out the exact dimensions and all, it will be the new twitter background for the Chicago Bandits. Our old twitter background was just the Bandits logo (girl in a cowboy hat) tiled across the background, not very visually appealing. So after doing some research of other sports teams, other random twitter users and some high profile social media experts, I decided that we needed to include our email, Facebook and blog links ... in a format that is all visually appealing. I learned how to make the polaroid effect from a tutorial and away I went from there. The Chicago skyline is something I cut a while back with the magic wands in Photoshop. The only thing left to change, I think, is the '2008 World Champion' and 'Chicago Bandits' on the right. I find it a little hard to read because it contradicts with the skyline, so I'll get that fixed up and it'll be good to go.

@aophillips

Kristin Phillips, one heck of a little sister

The above is something I made today for one of Kristin's classes. The assignment said "in 1 million words or less, describe your sibling." So, I used images and words to get the job done. It's kind of hard to read the verbiage in the image above, so here is what I wrote ...

Kristin Phillips, one heck of a little sister

Funny, motivated and loving – three words that I use to describe my little sister, Kristin.

I am the oldest sibling in our family, and she is the youngest. Through her 17 years of life so far, her and I have bonded more with each other than with our other sister. From concerts to soccer in the street to just relaxing on the couch while cracking jokes about the people on Dr. Phil (a show we both hate), we continually connect with each other through humor. Part of the reason we connect so well is that we have very similar tastes in movies and television show, but mostly we both like to laugh and tease each other in good fun.

We love to laugh, but we also like good music. Being her older brother, I saw it only fitting that I should take her to her first concert. I purchased tickets to the ‘Honda Civic Tour’ featuring Fall Out Boy (who happened to be playing with two other artists that we liked) at the outdoor pavilion by the Shed Aquarium in Chicago. However, before that concert even happened, another opportunity for good tunes came about at the House of Blues in Chicago. We braved the cold and made our way to the HOB to see Cartel. She had a blast, was dancing around, and singing at the top of her lungs. From that concert on, we made it a point to try and get tickets to all the good music that was in the Chicagoland area – just another example of how close we’ve become over the years.

Humor and good taste in music are my favorite qualities that Kristin exhibits, but it is not her only one. She is motivated to do well in school and motivated to be a Dental Hygienist. So far, every time Kristin has talked about what she wants to be when she grows up it has something to do with the dental field. Now, with high school graduation approaching, she has narrowed it down to being a Dental Hygienist. While she is going through the process of applying to colleges, she has also taken her goal a step farther by getting a job as a dental assistant for a local office – a job that pays nearly the same amount as mine, and she only works part time. Kristin has been talking about and applying to some big name colleges, but has also kept her options open by considering junior college for the first two years which would allow her to continue to gain the ‘on the job experience’ that is so valuable in today’s job market. Either path she chooses comes up with the same end result, working as a Dental Hygienist. While she may eventually change what she wants to be in life, I know full well that when she sets her mind to whatever it may be, she will accomplish her goals.

In all honesty, Kristin has not really changed much over the years. As I’m writing this I keep trying to think back and see if there have been any major changes in her personality, likes/dislikes and other things, but I can’t. She has always been humorous, always been a loving sister and has always been motivated. She has kept the same opinions on certain issues but has also kept an open mind to what other people think. Being a 17 year old (almost 18 – ah! Scary! J) I don’t think she really struggles with much. She has done an excellent job of learning from her older siblings mistakes, and she seems to maintain a fun-loving attitude through life.

As I wrap this up, and she prepares for college, I’m nervous for the future. Not nervous in her abilities and goals, but nervous that our friendship will fray because our lives are both becoming busier. No matter how far apart we get, I know that she is just one text message or one Facebook chat beep away from us being back to normal – laughing like the days on the couch watching Dr. Phil.

DJ AM, Mac Attack and a Letter of Rec

Just wanted to start today off with a sick video that I found while surfing. DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) was found dead a few days ago in New York. If you remember, Goldstein and Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker were the only survivors of a plane crash nearly a year ago. I never really knew of Goldstein's musical abilities, but knew Goldstein more for his celebrity romance with Nicole Riche back in the day. Anyways, I decided to do some YouTube research of his work and the above video is what I found to be the coolest one. Fitting that it has both Goldstein and Barker in it too. It's eerie, and kind of like a real life Final Destination -- creepy.

--------------

I'm buying a Mac in 1.5 weeks and I can't wait! It's going to be a big investment, but it's one that I feel is long overdue. From all the reading and video research that I've done the past 1/2 week, it just seems like the Macbook Pro can handle more of the creative work that I do and want to do more of, especially video ventures. And now, with the compatibility between PC's and Macs I have nothing really to worry about in terms of sharing files with friends, work and family. I will never again have to worry about viruses, virus software, malware, trojans or any of the other damaging stuff that often happens with PC's. The sleek and stylish design is very attractive as well and the tipping of the cap is the apple care protection plan. Next weekend I'll be traveling to my local apple store to test drive the Macbook Pro and see if it's for me. From what i've read and watched, I most likely won't be disappointed.

--------------

My former teacher, Nancy Kirby, asked me for a letter of recommendation of sorts for her review file. It took me so long to write it because I didn't know how to start or what to write. It's not that I couldn't think of anything, but that I didn't know how to write down what I was thinking. She was probably the most valuable teacher I've had in my life because, frankly, she helped me get to where I am today. Accuracy, journalistic integrity, timeliness, dedication and hard work were all values that she helped me fine tune en route to graduating with a B.A. in Journalism -- a degree I've turned into a job as the Director of Media Relations with the Chicago Bandits.

--------------

@aophillips

this week in my life...

This week at the Bandits (@npfbandits), I've been working hard at designing and making our 2010 marketing packet. Above is a few of the pages that I've designed so far, pages that will probably get changed next week as everyone (hopefully) takes home a copy of the packet this weekend to critique. To plan for this I did a ton of research on google and various sports marketing blogs to find sample marketing packets. I then modeld verbage and layouts after some of the ones I really liked. Eventually the packet will probably be on our website and you can all see it (in it's entireity) for yourself.

Hopefully by mid-week (next week) we can have this done/finalized and start planning where we're going to reach out to for partnerships this off-season. Hannah and I have been talking/researching and discussing partnership ideas and strategies. It's been kind of fun. I used to not be interested in any form of selling, but ever since her and I went to Frozen Ropes and made a partnership deal with them (well actually she did, I just tagged along),I've this interest in giving it a shot this offseason. Hopefully I can help get some new/more companies to partner with us for 2010 and beyond.

Other than that, we're getting ready (hopefully) to announce where we'll be playing next year and that storm of joy and questions that will come with it. Personally, I have a very good idea of where we're moving, I just have questions/fears about it. I don't want our organization to get too excited and make rash decisions about field/stadium design and forget something -- like # of bathrooms, or size of storage space, or things that will factor into the 'fan experience.' Yes, it will be great! to have a brick & mortar stadium of our own, one with actual offices in the stadium, actual ticket booths, etc. But, what's the point of rushing a stadium of sorts if mistakes are made in the process.

Last week all of our interns finished up their internships, and the office is SO quiet now. You could hear a pin drop during parts of the day. Us 4 remaining employees usually plug in our individual head phones and listen to whatever while we do work.

Something else going on in my life (random thoughts keep popping up): My former teacher, Nancy Kirby from North Central College -- who taught me so much in terms of journalism, professionalism and design etiquite -- asked me for a reccomendation. I don't know where to start and I really should but I just can't put my thoughts onto paper with this. She taught me so much and I feel like my education was really worth it, but I just don't know how to transcribe it.

Back to the music @ work thing...Lately I've been listening to stuff like the Kings of Leon. They're a great band and that link will take you to my favorite (their popular) song right now.

And I will leave you with that.... enjoy!

-@aophillips

Welcome back Micheal Vick

Finally, the Mike Vick drama is (somewhat) over. He has signed with the ....... Philadelphia Eagles? Ok, not quite the situation most people were expecting, but regardless it's a fresh start for the conVICKted QB. Truth be told, I was a huge Micheal Vick supporter back in his Falcon's days and i still have the VHS of his "return" after that horrible knee injury. I remember that game, the Falcons were in red and it was at the Georgia Dome. Indoor fireworks, a great introduction video showcasing all his highlights and then the explosion of sound from the crowd when he came rushing through the tunnel -- it was like watching a WWE event or something.

Anyways, I'm glad he's getting a second chance in the NFL. Obviously what he did to dogs is clearly wrong and he went to jail, lost nearly every penny he had and his public image is destroyed -- all of which he deserves for what he did. But truthfully, people across the country (not just in sports) have been allowed to re-enter society and their jobs for far more criminal acts. He deserves a second chance and as long as he stays clean and trouble free, good for him.

You don't have to like the guy, (I've switched my favorite tag to Matt Ryan) but, he does deserve a second chance to earn a living at what he does best -- football.

@aophillips

Battle of the Sexes

July 27 will probably go down as one of my favorite days so far in my career as the Director of Media Relations with the Chicago Bandits. If you aren't already aware, July 27 is the day that the first ever Battle of the Sexes (baseball version) took place. This event, pitting my Bandits against the Schaumburg Flyers, garnered more media coverage than I ever imagined. Not only was this story all over print publications, it was on the web, on tv, on the radio and had a constant buzz with everyone involved and attending. What a day it was, here's a look at the timeline:

4 am -- wake up, rising before the sun was kind of fun but not something I reccomend

545 am -- I pulled into Alexian Field for the morning shoot with WGN

645 am-930 am -- WGN arrives, and we (along with the flyers) proceed to shoot various segments that appeared on the moring show on WGN. It was a blast, but the PR company for the Flyers messed up a little. They failed to relay the message that our girls were supposed to bring their bats, mitts, helmets, balls and other equiptment. Kind of a big slip up on their part, and it made us look bad until WGN found out we never knew. But, a few of our players had bats in the car, the Flyers had balls -- and some yellow ones too -- and we all made it work. The footage was great (as I was told by my mom and others) and hopefully it made people a little more aware of the Bandits.

930 am - 730 pm -- mayham as we all got ready for the game and did some last minute tasks

730 pm - 12 am -- Battle of the Sexes takes place, I help in merchandise (where we made bank) and also enjoy some of the game from Bill's suite at Alexian Field (given to Bill for the night by Rich, the owner of the Flyers) ... Media outlets that covered the game included the Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald, Fastpitch Blog, WLUP the Loop (radio & they were at the game too), examiner.com, and some more... all in all I was thrilled with the media coverage and Bandits owner Bill Sokolis was very pleased with the whole event.

Hopefully the Battle of the Sexes, which we won by the way, will result in more fans coming out to our final two homestands in August. Truth be told, we could really use the upped attendance, badly.

But, that's enough for now ... off to our "married friends" place for a fun night of rockband and movies...

@aophillips

Yelp, there goes the neighborhood

I recently discovered YELP!, a great review site for restaurants, entertainment and more -- including sports. I came about yelp! by reading up on the Chicago Red Stars marketing plans and social media strategies. I hate to say it beacause I work in sports as well, and in a comparable area, but they are really off to a great start and have easily surpassed the National Pro Fastpitch in terms of popularity and in a business sense too.

Anyways, I digress. Yelp! is pretty cool. It's an online reviewing community. If you're going out to dinner or lunch or even to a sporting event, hop on their and check out what others are saying about the place. I certainly would not avoid a place because of the reviews -- obviously think for yourself and experience it on your own -- but if you go to a place, do the justice of giving it a reveiw on Yelp!, good or bad.

Are you on Yelp!, find me and connect!

guess who got new shoes

"Hey, I put some new shoes on and suddenly everything is right .... Oh, short on money but long on time, slowly strolling in the sweet sunshine .... cause I'm wearing my brand new shoes"

I just got some new shoes, pictured above obviously, from Zappos and they are awesome. It took me quite some time to pick them out and so far popular opinion is indicating that I did a nice job in the selection process. I owe this new pair of shoes to my younger sister Kristin. She bought them for me for my birthday and graduation -- very nice of her. If you haven't heard of Zappos, go check them out. It's an online shoe megastore with anything and everything you could possibly want. Plus, as the photo shows, I wear size 14 or 15 depending on the brand and Zappos carries those sizes and bigger too.

I've got a huskie/lab with her head on my leg... i think it's time for a walk....Later!

@aophillips

no harm, no foul...

Sometimes in sports you have to do things that may not always seem right. I'm not talking about unethical things like cheating or steroids, but more like replacing someone with another someone. For example, due to a minor scheduling blunder we had only Jamie Schloredt for the Elgin 4th of July Parade. So, we filled the need with some front office interns and special friends of the Bandits. All was smooth, no harm no foul. It kind of sucks that it had to happen, but when a miscommunication caused our players to be on vacation till July 5, we did what we had to do. The mobile, the bus and us all stepped up in a pinch and got it done. Special thanks to Brooke B., Gail, Sam, Stacy, Erin and Erin's guy friend (sorry I forgot your name) for helping us make the parade a success :)

@aophillips

Debit Card Woes, Work Load Flows

Had a great day today .... until about a 1/2 hour ago I was sitting down to order some books from Amazon. And, I realized that my check card was no where to be found in my wallet. The last purchase -- a strawberry milkshake (poorly stirred), from a McDonalds in Elgin, Ill. So hopefully the block on my card that Bank of America placed on my "lost" card works and no one uses it. The card is probably right under my nose, and i'm sure i'll see it tomorrow morning, but better safe than sorry.

In other news....

We start another homestand tomorrow @ the Bandits and hopefully this one goes smoother in terms of attendance than the last. To quote A League of their Own, "if we don't have fans, we don't have a league." Hopefully the early attendance woes are due to kids still being in school and whatnot. I'm still worried though. Anyways I was on Amazon to purchase some books to hopefully help me do my job better. My PR/Media teammate and I are doing well this season in terms of coverage (we have a weekly column in the Daily Herald, the Elgin Courier is running our stories again, Mouthpiece Sports just filmed a Tattoo U piece similar to this one and WGN and Scoop Jackson are showing interest), but more is always better so I hope to expand on some things very soon and build some more solid media connections before the July series against Venezuela. Time waits for now man as they say.

I just don't know what else to do... not many media outlets take us seriously. All we need though is for them to come out to 1 game and then it's like BAM... this is a cool sport. Recently we got an email from a father that brought his daughter to one of our games.

[My daughter] loved the game, and I did as well finding I am becoming a huge fan of softball. But i am writing to you, because it was after the game that made such the impression upon my daughter. It was more than just the players signing autographs, it was the sincere interactions with the young girls waiting for autographs that struck me. All the players were wonderful and while I hesitate to single any particular player out, your pitcher Ms.Thorson was so accommodating. I do not mind the hour plus drive as from what I experienced today, my daughters will have a great experience that will stay with them for a long time.

That is what we work for, that is what we want to happen when everyone comes through our gates at the Bandits. We have an outstanding product, we just need to get people to realize it more. Once they come once, most people are hooked. In terms of my job, I would really like this love of the game mentality to strike the media personnel like lightning so that they too get hooked and begin writing more and more about the Chicago Bandits.

Don't get me wrong, we're having a much better season this year in terms of media coverage, but I am aiming for even more. I want our media coverage to fuel more ticket revenue, more team popularity and most importantly to make us enough money so that some day soon the NPF will be able to pay its players enough $$ on a yearly salary where these women can only worry about softball and not have to get second jobs to compliment their player salaries.

Peace Out -- it's time for some MLB 2k9

Looking ahead

As I frantically try to fill my blog for monday's deadline, I'd like to take a look forward ... what will I do upon graduation? Many of my classmates (and college grads country wide) are jobless, and have no where to turn for work. While I don't make much money, I'm glad to have a job. First things first, I can see myself maintaining this blog more now that i'm out of school than when I was in school... so it will be interesting to see if that is the case as my post-grad life goes on. I imagine I could use this blog as a place to share information on what I do during my day-to-day life.

I work as the Director of Media Relations for the Chicago Bandits, a women's pro fastpitch softball team in the NPF. My job is to get the Chicago Bandits organization and our players lots and lots of press converage in various media outlets. This is a struggle at most times as women's sports often get no love in the media world. The women (all college graduates) that play on the Bandits are some of the best athletes in the world. Many of them are Women's College World Series (WCWS) alums and some are even Olympic atheltes. The most recognizable athlete on the team is Jennie Finch. She has won 3 Olympic gold medals and has become sort of a celebrity/role model for millions of young softball playing girls across the country. The stardum has not gone to her head though. Being part of the Bandits organization, I have gotten to meet, talk to and hang out with many of the players. I must say, I was a little worried before I first met her that she would have the "i'm a superstar, what do you want" attitude.

I was completely off base.

Finch might be one of the most down to earth athletes I've ever met. She is genuine and really has interest in what people say. There is a reason she has become such a big star and great role model for the millions of girls that look up to her. She has also become the biggest poker chip in the game of media coverage. I really hate to say it, and I often try to avoid using her name, but sometimes you have to dangle the large bait in order to get the fish to bite.

Thankfully, My PR/Media teammate (Sarah Russell) and I haven't had to dangle Jennie Finch. We've actually had some great headway this season in terms of coverage. John Radtke of the Daily Herald and Andy Rohr of the Elgin Courier have become two of the most flourished Bandits writers or space-givers this season. Andy has been out to the first 3 games, of 5; and Radtke has done wonders for us by getting us into the Herald consistantly (something that happened 0 times last summer).

As the first homestand has just concluded, I have ideas on how to get us even more coverage and hopefully it will help spur revenue -- that is after all, the main goal of our staff.

We want to make the NPF and pro softball a league/sport where women can play and be respected like the professional athletes that they are. We don't want them to have to balance their pro career with another job. (many of them are teachers/coaches in the offseason) We want the women of the NPF to be able to only focus on softball throughout the year -- like the players of the MLB do.

Blogging On A Busy Schedule

I don't want to speak for other students, but I found it really hard to maintain a blog this trimester. It could be that I overloaded myself with work, work, and school, but in the end all that matters is that I couldn't find much time to keep up with a blog. It just wasn't part of my normal routine and it was very hard to bring blogging into my routine. I'm sure I'm not the only student this trimester that has had a hard time keeping up a blog.

Personally, it was hard for me to think of things to write about that related to the class. Or to think of things that I thought would be interesting for people to read. Part of the problem was time, the other part was probably effort. I'm a senior and I'm so ready to be out of school. I cannot wait to get on with my life. I fooled around for years in junior college before coming to NCC. Once I got here, I got down to business.

Long n short of it, I was lazy this trimester because I was so anxious to graduate.

Twitterific

I am rapidly becoming additicted to Twitter. Not only do I enjoy the constant updates to my cell phone, but I find it great that the application allows for interaction between celebrities and normal people. Tony Hawk, the professional skateboarder is probably one of the most entertaining Twitter users around. He constantly updates his account with his where abouts, news about himself and what he's doing -- all in a first person account. Hawk goes one step farther with fan interaction by hiding skateboards in various locations that he passes or visits. Hawk then tweets the location of the skateboards so that his followers can find them.

Others, like the Chicago Red Stars (more on them in a later post) have used social networking sites to expand the popularity of their organization. It has worked, as they are quickly becoming a great venue for family fun and entertainment. They've even tapped into the soccer communities popularity by winning over some of the fans from the Chicago Fire and international soccer.

I use Twitter and as I said, it's addicting. With no time during my day to read about news, entertainment or sometimes even sports, i find that twitter updates me on what i want to know when it hapens.

South Side Hitmen bring the bats, on the web

The South Side Hitmen is an online group hosted by Yahoo where Chicago White Sox fans from all over the world gather to communicate their thoughts, opinions and beliefs regarding the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball. This appears to be one of the more popular sports groups in Yahoo!, because it was the first or second option under the sports category.

After spending some time studying this group for my ethnography, I have come to the conclusion that this group communicates primarily through forum messages and chats. Yahoo does allow the members of the group to make posts by simply sending an email to the group. From there any member that is accepted by the administrator can start a new discussion, comment on someone else’s discussion threads or even just browse the community ‘members’ list. The members list allows users to communicate one on one with each other through direct messages or emails. When posting a message to the forum, Yahoo allows for attachments to be posted, creating an even easier way to share documents and ideas.

It appears that the South Side Hitmen group operates as its own entity. I didn’t find that it was attached to any other sites, but it was referenced on a bunch of personal websites. The Hitmen group allows for users to post a button or link from their website to the South Side Hitmen group though the promote tab, which I imagine creates more traffic to the group.

After looking at and participating in a number of posts I discovered two things right away.

First, more people post when they have something to be angry about. For example, the White Sox got rocked the other night by the Texas Rangers. I think the final score was something like 9-3, and I watched the game – it was brutal. Well after the game ended, I went to bed. When I woke up my inbox was filled with at least 15 to 20 new messages about how the position changes and coaching moves that Ozzie made cost the White Sox the game. And these fans had direct examples too.

For instance, when criticizing roster moves, many fans reference the 2005 team because that squad won the World Series. Well, that was four years ago now! So some fans don’t appear to be able to let go of the past, but others encourage those to move on.

“Would you please do me a favor? 2005 was 4 years ago, we won the WS, and everybody knows that, LET IT GO. We are talking about this year, people change, their mindsets change. I know that not everybody is perfect. I don't expect Ozzie to be perfect. Adjustment is a 2 way street. If he expects his players to adjust, then he needs to adjust his thinking and managing to the players he has. That's what a good manager in any business does.” - Pearlzone16@yahoo.com aka Jim Gorman (outside of the group).

This user disagreed with one that posted something about how the 2005 White Sox made the correct position moves and the roster seemed to get along better.

The second thing I’ve come to notice is that the posts usually target specific players. Jim Thome has been in a slump as of late, and this particular user, Bill (andersoxy@yahoo.com) feels that Thome should be traded.

“If I was KC I'd be shaking in my boots [sarcastically]. Oh [shoot], I forgot the HOF Jim Thome, the strikeout, popup king of Central Illinois. C'mon KW (Kenny Williams – White Sox team president) you ate McDougal’s contract, and Owens' contract, please do the same with Thome and put us out of our misery. I don't want to hear any BS about 25-30 HR's and 90 RBI's, because he can't do it anymore. He is just a waste of a roster spot.”

So while may know something about baseball, or think they’re experts, some people feel they are qualified to run a baseball team. All in all this posts like this spur conversation between users, creating long threads and posts about each topic.

The primary websites that the South Side Hitmen group references are the Major League Baseball site, and the Chicago White Sox site. It seems that most of their information comes from these sites or from sports shows like ESPN News and the local sports reports on WGN and CSN. Both the MLB and White Sox websites utilize video, images and copy in creative ways. They allow for fans to watch highlights and see photos from previous games. Fans can read previews of upcoming games This group does a good job of enhancing the image of the White Sox. Yes, posts and people do criticize the manager and team president, but all in all they are still promoting the product and building interest and conversation around it. This is more of a bonding group where all the users share a common interest in Chicago White Sox. Some appear to be more of diehard fans compared to others, but in the end they all support the Sox.

After spending a couple weeks following and partaking in this group, I feel that this could be a group I would get involved in some day. Right now with school and work I don’t think I have the time to keep up with conversations and forum threads. But, if I had more free time, a group like this would give me a place to talk to more people about the White Sox. Sometimes it’s hard to discuss sports with my girlfriend because she doesn’t really like sports, whereas a group like this is like a home away from home. I think this community is great for the White Sox fan base because it provides equal footing for each fan. It doesn’t matter where your seat is in the stadium, or if you even go to the games; fans from all over the world get to communicate about the team they love an care about. ­

Cannonball into Social Media

Social networking sites such as facebook and twitter are quickly becoming outstanding marketing tools for companies and people in all fields of work. Yes, twitter lost a little luster after the whole ordeal of Ashton Kutcher vs CNN in the race to 1 million followers, and the fact that many local media outlets in Chicago went bananas over Oprah's first twitter post.

All that celeb stuff aside, twitter offers a great way for everyday people and business to contact one another. For example, Whole Foods - I think the country's leading 'healthy' food store - offers tips on recipes, in-store specials, going green and more.

Sports teams are even using Twitter. The Phoenix Suns (NBA) and the Chicago Red Stars (WPS) are just two great examples of how sports teams should use twitter to their advantage. Right this second, the Suns are doing a 'random act of orange' campaign, giving away an autographed jersey to one of their twitter followers that answers a trivia question correctly. After all the answers flood in (they have +6,000 followers) the front office selects a winner based on the response. That winners Twitter name is then posted to show that someone actually one. Contests like these are just one example of how Twitter can help to build a bigger fan base and allow for the fans to feel more connected to the organization.

The Red Stars, the first women's pro soccer team in Chicago, are also doing an great job using Twitter. During their game yesterday (sat, April 25) the Red Stars posted score updates, thank you's to the fans at the game and other little bits of information. Since Twitter allows for posts to be sent to phones, the Red Stars also took advantage of that feature by posting things like ... Face Painting available in Section C3 ... so not only are they keeping fans that cannot make the game posted on events, but they're also trying to interact with those in attendance.

When I'm not cracking the books at North Central and preparing to graduate in June, I'm working as the Director of Media Relations for the Chicago Bandits. The Bandits are a women's professional fast pitch softball team located in Elgin, Ill. The most recognizable player on the roster right now is Team USA Olympian Jennie Finch. Just last Friday I began implementing a social media plan at the Bandits. We now have a twitter and a facebook fan page that I hope to build into a great presence on both sns. I plan to model our twitters and facebook after the two teams I mentioned, because in my opinion they do a great job.

The followers are small right now, but they will come ...