As I await the rain, in lovely Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, I am writing another six deep thougthts column. I am in Wisconsin getting my physical, which is something that you all should do on a yearly basis. I am getting a full physical, diabetes tests, PSA test ( guys, if you are over 50, get it done every year, if you are 30 to 50, ask your doctor) and a full stress test. I am 59, and too many of my friends have had heart issues, cancer and other issues. It is the best way to show your spouse, family and friends that you care about them and yourself. Okay, off my high horse.
This is my six deep thoughts on the IAAF World Indoor Tour, and what we should learn from them! If you have questions, please email me at [email protected].
In deep thoughts, we are trying to focus on the positives on the sport. Any one can write about negatives, but we all know those. How do we focus on the big positive themes? Here we go!
Jenny Simpson winning 3000 meters in Boston, New Balance Indoor GP, photo by PhotoRun.net
1. Want to keep attention span of core fans and new fans? Keep season short and focused! The 2018 IAAF World Indoor Tour was short and sweet. Karlsruhe, Germany, 3 February, Dusseldorf, Germany, 6 February, Madrid, Spain, 8 February, Boston, Massachuesetts, February 10, Torun, Poland, February 15 and Glasgow, Scotland, 25 February. My only suggestions would be Birmingham, England and New York, New York.
2. Best innovation of year: Live streaming off Facebook and twitter. As much as I dislike Facebook and Mr. Zuckerberg's disingenuous remarks about collecting information on consumers without their knowledge (" I am so sorry"), the organic growth of live events bringin in young fans is tremendous. The Shoe Addicts' Mike Deering wrote about Karlsruhe Meeting showed, from a much younger viewer, how tremendous this coverage is for developing new fans. Learn the lesson from the "Breaking2" broadcast, which, I believe, without a doubt, was the finest twitter coverage of a sporting event that this viewer has seen. What did I love about the FB streaming? FB skews 40 years and over demographic and the streamed meets were 18-25! Amazing, and I believe all meets should be doing this! Huge numbers from streaming in China and Ethiopia as well.
3. Social media coverage of World Indoor Tour were fantastic. @runblogrun covered each indoor meeting via our social media sites. @runblogrun has developed a unique approach to social media, and have provided live coverage since 2010. In 2018, we will cover 40 plus events. In February 2018, our largest events were, by date: February 3, Karlsruhe, 49,702, February 4, Millrose, 23,675, February 8, Madrid, 19,454, February 9, RAK Half Marathon, 70,081, February 10, New Balance Indoor, 67,829, February 15, Copernicus (Torun, Poland), 12, 879, Feb 17, 36,864, USATF Indoor, Feb 18, USATF Indoor, 63,229, February 25, Glasgow, 43,004. And this was just twitter. Our Instagram will be announced soon. All viewers are organic.
4. Each meet had a great story. Rivalries, world leading performances. Fans of our sport, and all sports want to see athletes giving their all, great emotional performances and close races and events. In field events, the big jumps and throws, coming near the end of a competition, enthrall the viewers. Genzebe Dibaba captured fans in Karlsruhe with her 3:57.45! Bingtian Su ran 6.43 in Dusseldorf. Mariya Lasitskene's clearance of 2.00m and 1.95m in Madrid. Christian Coleman and Jenny Simpson caught people in Boston. Lisek dominated in Torun, Poland and Marie Jose Ta Lou won big 60 meters in Glasgow!
5. Women stars are global. Mariya Lasitskene, Marie Jose Ta Lou, Christina Manning, Genzebe Dibaba all draw fans. The promotion of the top women rivalries need to be a focus, especially with the high jump, pole vault, hurdles and sprints, as well as the distances. A global star and a local star bring in the fans.
6. Pole vault, shot put, continue to attract! Men's and women's competitions draw, depending on locale. A great crowd in Torun, and the fans loved it when Polish athletes did well, but also appreciated the global stars. This season, the pole vault and shot put truly draw fans. Remember, fans love vaulters clearing any height and big athletes throwing the steel orb 20 meters and more!
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