Sporting Madness

I'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from the "Justice, society, and the rise of online and athlete activists" panel that closed out the day. (Update: also see my take on this at Awful Announcing .) Panelists: Julie DiCaro @JulieDiCaro Aaron Harison @FreeBeacon Greg Howard @GregHoward88 Chris Kluwe @ChrisWarcraft Cyd Zeigler @CydZeigler Moderator: Kevin Blackistone, @ProfBlackistone CK: "I'm a straight white male. My life is not hard." CZ: "I don't watch much sports anymore." "It's a tool for social justice for me. It's a tool to advance kids' lives." JD:  "We have baggage we all bring. Before I wrot...

I'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from the  "Breaking Away From the Narrative: How to Navigate the Waters of 24/7 NFL Coverage" panel. Apologies for the short notes here; I was uploading some other notes during this panel. Panelists: Eric Edholm @eric_edholm Andrea Hangst @fball_andrea Maggie Hendricks @maggiehendricks Robert Klemko @robertklemko Keith Bulluck, @kbull53 Moderator: Michael Schottey @schottey Maggie: [At USA Today] "I didn't necessarily always know my click numbers which was nice. It let me look for stories that are good stories." How to balance the 24/7 nature of the NFL today: Andrea: "It's hard to have that separ...

I'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from the very interesting "Your Pitch Is Futile" panel, a discussion about PR and the media.  Panelists: Mitch Germann (@mcg5) Ryan Glasspiegel (@sportsrapport) Robert Littal (@bso) Dayn Perry (@daynperry) Moderator: Zack Smith (@sportsflackzack) The panel started with panelists asked to define storytelling and then describe either media (if they're from the PR side) or PR (if they're from the media side). RL: Storytelling is about his own unique take. PR people : Agenda. MG: "Storytelling is something that creates a connection with the audience." Media: resourceful, busy RG: "[Storytelling is] inf...

I'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcriptsu. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from  Cyd Zeigler  and  Christina Kahrl 's conversation about trans issues. On trans issues in general: CZ: "People don't know anything about this." On Bruce Jenner and his recent ABC interview: CK: "Certainly it's an opportunity." (to talk more about trans issues). CK wishes they'd discussed sports element more on Jenner interview On journalists looking to cover trans people and worried about pronoun use: CK: "Trans people are used to the (pronoun) question. Just ask." CK on her own identity: "between my ears, I always have been Christina." Discussing  Grantland's piece...

I'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcripts; this panel's highlights are particularly short, as I was uploading a previous panel's highlights during it. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from the Yahoo Sports Grandstanding Podcast , which did a special episode live from BWB focused on the NFL draft. Panelists: Jay Busbee (@jaybusbee), Kevin Kaduk (@KevinKaduk), Eric Edholm (@eric_edholm) On the draft in Chicago: KK: "I don't think the NFL knows how this is going to go." "They're trying to turn this into a travelling roadshow." If drug arrests really hurt a player's stock: EE: "I don't think they put a little marijuana flag by the guy's name." KK: "Th...

I'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from the Q+A session with SB Nation editorial director and Every Day Should Be Saturday's Spencer Hall, focusing on the questions he was asked about how the network handled the situation with a rogue post on their Angels' blog about Josh Hamilton (SB Nation has since parted ways with the blogger in question). On the Hamilton post, and the challenges with having people in their affiliate network who are not full SB Nation employees: "It is difficult at times." "Hopefully the goal is to groom people to run these sites in a way that's within our editorial guidelines." "That's where you cross t...

I'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from the NFLPA Q+A with assistant executive director (external affairs) George Atallah and president Eric Winston. NFLPA: The Business Of Football George Atallah and Eric WInston @GeorgeAtallah @EricWinston Keith Bulluck asked about players in transition EW: Worked with league to create The Trust Helping guys find what they want to do and get into it "When they get off that field, they've been doing something for so long. They've had that path and that path has always been given to them." Been going for 24 months, over 1000 enrolees, all you need is one season The Trust: NFLPA Affiliated organization, funde...

I'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from the fifth panel, focusing on the state of Chicago sports. The State of Chicago Sports (and media) Panelists: Laurence Holmes (@LaurenceWHolmes), 670 The Score/120 Sports Jon Greenberg (@jon_greenberg), ESPN Dan Katz (@BarstoolBigCat), Barstool Sports David Kaplan (@thekapman), CSN Chicago Jen Lada (@JenLada), CSN Chicago Moderator: Sarah Spain, ESPN (@SarahSpain) David Kaplan: "Anyone with a Twitter account can actually break news." "A story can get out there and it doesn't have to be vetted." "You're competing with so many different people now." "You go into the locker room and there...

I'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from the third panel, focusing on the NBA and its engagement with fans. Like, Follow, Swipe Right: How The NBA is Connecting With Fans in the Modern Era Panelists: Zach Harper, CBS, @talkhoops Eddie Maisonet III, The SF Journal, @edthesportsfan Andrew Nicholson, Sacramento Kings, @a_nicholson Moderator: Lang Whitaker, NBA Digital, @langwhitaker EM: On Twitter, you can talk about anything, even things not directly NBA related. Movies: “Jesse Hall is the greatest MIghty Duck of all time.” EM: “Getting a credential is not that tough for the NBA.” ZH: “I started writing when I moved to Sacramento. When I started Truehoop’s Kings blog, the...

I'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from the second panel, Measuring Online Influence. Athletes Off The Field Don Povia, @HHReynolds, moderator Shawn Smith: @1stLadyXAMSport Mike Dolan, @mikedolanaq John Thornton, @JohnThornton SS: Has an agency with her husband “I do all the marketing, the PR.” MD: “I’m the editor and publisher of Athletes Quarterly.” “We’re the official magazine of major league toilets.” JT: “I’m an NFL agent at Octagon. Before joining Octagon last year I had my own agency.” “Before that I had a 10-year career in the NFL.” “I forced the Bengals to upgrade their website because I had more traffic than them.” SS: Connor Barwin: “The dude ...

I'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from the introduction and the first panel, Measuring Online Influence.   Introduction: Don Povia, @HHReynolds: "I hate to call this a conference. It's more of a networking event." "It's a community-driven event." Panel I: Measuring Online Influence: Panelists: JR Jackson, @jrsportbrief Brandon WIlliams, @bjw5002, moderator Wes Davis, content director, MVP Index, @mvpindex WD: "We're trying to become like a Nielsen ratings for teams." "People aren't stupid. You know when you're being sold to." "Where real engagement occurs is when an athlete is actually living t...