Episode 16 of the DSMSports Podcast w/ Kevin DeShazo of Fieldhouse Media

Snippets from Episode 16 of the Digital
and Social Media Sports Podcast
@njh287 DSMSports.net

Episode 16 featured founder of Fieldhouse Media,
Kevin DeShazo
DeShazo discussed use of effective and responsible
social media by student athletes and universities
What follows is a collection of snippets from the podcast. For the full
episode, visit DSMSports.net

Snippets from Episode 16 of the
Digital and Social Media Sports
Podcast
Kevin's career path:
Graduated from Oklahoma St. with a degree in Management Information Systems
and did staffing in health care, moving up the corporate ladder until hr got tired of
the corporate world and launched his own health care staffing firm with a friend
that did not do well
→ Had established a background of social media consulting for local business
→ Meanwhile, took an avid interest in student athlete use of social media and the
fear or negativity for uses of it in whatever capacity
He saw positives, effective uses of social media every day and thought it could also
apply to student athletes
→ sought to change the paradigm for student athlete use of social media, a friend
convinced him to lead such a movement and start his own business
→ Fieldhouse Media was born Summer 2011

“We just wanted to people, show coaches, show student athletes that social media
was not the bad guy. There was no one in the space devoted to educating
student athletes on how to use social media well. I thought what if someone
made it their mission...to completely change the conversation (from negativity)
to what is this potentially valuable...what if we could show the benefits social
media could have to your brand
45,000 student athletes worked with by Fieldhouse Media and now work with
faculty and coaches and administrators as well

“It was getting the decision-makers to realize this is really something we
have to pay attention to...We've got 500 student athletes and even if
they're just posting once per day, that's like 500 press releases every
day that reflect on the department and the student athletes
themselves.”

Initial interest *for Fieldhouse Media's services+ was “definitely fear-based.
It was justifiable in some ways, but I did not want to scare them...I just
wanted to say you need to be aware of what they are doing, but there
are positive things they can do to benefit (you and them).”

“Most administrators understood the value (of social media as a marketing tool),
but they didn't see the value of student athletes and how they could be used as
brand ambassadors for the university.”
Athletics is the front porch of the university.
“If they have a public (social media account), that has a lot to do with (your
university). With every click, they're representing you.”
Cites how social media misuse affects even the smaller schools and smaller sports
This is not a problem that picks on smaller schools. All it takes is one person and
(you're in) the national news

Kevin tells story of a COSIDA event when several admins and SID's showed avid
interest, some fear and some positive, of interest in learning about student
athlete use of social media
“To be able to show all of them how big this is all is, how big it is for your student
athletes, how any of them can be in the headlines for good or bad reasons. Let's
make sure it's a good reason.”

“Fieldhouse wouldn't be what it is for if not for the way I use social media. I have
used it to connect with SIDs, athletic directors (and others), and I wouldn't be
able to do that if I didn't have a point to what I was doing...I've gotten clients
purely through Twitter...(It's about) having a purpose to what you are doing (on
Twitter).”

What Fieldhouse does:
Some will have one session for all student athletes; can be tough
It varies per program, but goes through: the bigness of social media and how big
one's audience really actually is, how the media covers social media, what
privacy looks like online, how student athletes can use it well and how that looks
like, there is no right way to use (depends on your goals), but there is certainly a
wrong way

Need to think about: developing an identity, adding value to what you put out,
being intentional about what you put out online, using it for your career (to
network),
What social media is – not just a place to talk to your friends, but to do things that
matter.
Any student athlete can deal with criticism online. Sometimes will work with
individual athletes particularly susceptible to fan feedback online, positive &
negative
“We also equip coaches (and staff) to continue the conversation and then go into
how coaches and staff can use it in ways that matter, too.”

This episode's Helpful Tool: PicMonkey
-PicMonkey.com: a fantastic, user-friendly, freemium photo editing tool
Kevin also has used one called Canvas as a standalone web app for pic
editing

“(Social media) is student athletes' opportunity to have their voice heard
and make a name for themselves. Let's figure out your four or five
identity words and funnel everything you do online through your
identity words.”
“...And remembering part of their identity is being a student athlete
(which reflects on your program and teammates and university as a
whole).
We remind them that everything you're doing, good and bad, affects a
lot of people you're involved with.”
You can be intentional while still being genuine...having a specific
purpose, but, in that, knowing your voice.

“We tend over-scrutinize everything athletes do. Social media has
steered us in that direction.”
Cites Johnny Manziel example of posting about ticket for his car and
sending upset tweet about being eager to get out of College Station,
TX, and how it got way blown out of proportion.
“That's the tough thing about student athletes. Everything they do online
is being scrutinized by somebody (and potentially amplified).”

“Student athletes are going to receive the message differently if it comes
from an outsider...they'll process the messages differently from an
outsider than they do a compliance officer or coach.”
“(Also) I have time in my day (that athletic departments do not) to try
out every new app and figure out what's happening and the challenges
and opportunities with each...It's also a conversation that needs to
happen in-house, which is why training with staff (is so important).”
“(Administrators) are starting to get it...Their thought process has turned
to 'Our kids on social media, what do we do with it? How can we use
this?'”

Kevin recommends Facebook be private and used for just close friends
and family...Use Twitter to build a name and brand for themselves; it's
a more public platform.
Some still see it as a danger and have that fear mindset, but thankfully
it's changing for the good because you're seeing more examples of
(positive and beneficial uses) of social media.”

The moment[s] when Kevin recognized there was a need for the type of
service Fieldhouse Media provides -
“It was a series of moments. I kept seeing headlines and realizing
everything around this industry was negative and wanting to inject
something positive in this field.”

The student athlete, past or present, that uses social media the best:
Matt Barkley – he even created an app
AJ McCarron – shows his personality and causes he is passionate about
Fred Van Vleet (Wichita St. basketball) – he encourages and engages with
fans, talks about the program and teammates

The NCAA coach, past or present that uses social media the best:
Tim Miles, Nebraska basketball head coach – He was kind of a trailblazer,
started tweeting at halftime...It helped to show people social media is
not the bad guy.
Patrick Murphy, softball coach at Alabama
Herb Hand, assistant coach at Penn State - “The Twitter OG,” uses it to
encourage student athletes to build their personal brand, advice for
recruits with #RealTalk

This episode's Shareable Stat – 67% of sports fans supplement their TV
viewing experience with a second screen
Kevin adds to the shareable stat: 50% of TV-related tweets are about
sports despite under 2% of TV programming being sports

The right age for anyone to start using social media is ___ and when is
education necessary?
“We'll say 13 is the best age (per Facebook's rules)...It has to be an age
that parents are comfortable with...Parents have to be involved...And
education is necessary before kids get on social media. Unfortunately
that's not happening.”

The biggest fail by a student athlete on social media:
Backup RB at Elon University was upset about lack of playing time and
went off on his coach with 10-15 vulgar tweets casting aspersions on
his coach. He had a private Twitter account, but a friend told him to
stop, but the warnings went unheeded → Kevin requested to follow
him and he was added → A few hours later he was on Deadspin
Notes unprofessional Twitter bio, picture, name display
Listen to this full story; it's quite something!

Advice to athletes on how to respond to social media trolls:
“Don't give those people value...Someone who invested no more than
the 40 seconds it took to write (that tweet), invested nothing...Don't
give them the right or the tools to speak to you in a negative way. It's
not worth it.”

Thoughts on use of social media in recruiting:
“It's great. Go where they (the recruits) are.”

Most memorable campus visits –
University of Arkansas for nostalgia; worst was trip to Pace University in
New York when travel home was memorably bad! [including a night
spent at La Guardia Airport]

The NFL or NBA rookie besides Johnny Manziel we'll all know by
November because of their social media use is:
DeAnthony Thomas (Oregon RB coming out),
Clint Shelf (Oklahoma State QB coming out),
AJ McCarron (Alabama QB coming out),
Sammy Watkins (Clemson WR coming out)

Kevin's Social Media All-Star to Follow:
Mark Burns @markjburns88
Law student at Belmont, writes for Forbes, Sports Agent blog, Sporting
News; he's very purposeful with what he does in social media
Jason Stein @jasonwstein, founder of NYC social media firm Laundry
Service; he's someone in social media who I look up to quite a bit

Where to find Kevin:
@KevinDeshazo, @FieldhouseMedia, @FieldhouseDaily,
FieldhouseLeadership.co

Thanks so much to Kevin DeShazo for sharing his time and knowledge on
the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast!
Listen to the podcast and get more info and content at DSMSports.net
(And subscribe in iTunes). You can also follow me on Twitter @njh287

Episode 16 of the DSMSports Podcast w/ Kevin DeShazo of Fieldhouse Media

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Episode 16 of the DSMSports Podcast w/ Kevin DeShazo of Fieldhouse Media