Wednesday, 5 March 2014

#AusOpen2014 by Jess Ivers

The Australian Open is a little bit like a roller-coaster ride. You buckle up and climb steadily as the anticipation grows. Then you reach the top, there’s a moment where you hold your breath before dropping down with no control over what is about to happen next. Then before you know it, it’s all over. And you let out one big sigh, look at the person beside you and smile. Working at the Australian Open is an experience like no other. I thought I’d seen it all working in NRL but this is a whole new ball game (literally). There’s months of planning that goes into a two week event. For those of you who might be wondering, there’s plenty that goes on during the year in preparation for the next tournament. The 2014 tournament was my second Australian Open working in our social media team. It is super hard work but so rewarding and bucket loads of fun. In the lead up to the AO, I ran the social media accounts for the Brisbane International, a week long event held at Pat Rafter Arena. To say this was good preparation for the summer of tennis is an understatement! And what an exciting week it was. Roger Federer played for the very first time in Brisbane, bringing a whole new experience to the event. His popularity showed with record crowds attending the tournament. In the lead up to the tournament, Roger’s Twitter account had reached over one million fans and his engagement with the Brisbane International account was well received by yours truly. Running on little sleep & full of adrenaline, it was back to Melbourne to prepare for that other little tennis tournament… It all honestly seems like such a blur now. Remembering day one takes more effort than I’d like to admit. But even before day one hits, there’s practice sessions, pre-tournament interviews, Kids Tennis Day…and this year a special Roger Federer charity night held for the first time at Rod Laver Arena. My role during the tournament is to assist with looking after the Australian Open social media accounts and to gather exclusive content for our fans. This is probably the best part of all which includes heading to press conferences, photo shoots and other opportunities all on a quest to let each and every one of our fans know what their favourite player is up to. A new addition this year was the Social Shack – an initiative by my colleague Daniel Lattimer which provided a physical space for fans to interact with us on social media. There were player appearances, giveaways, social leaderboards for fans to let us know who they were cheering for, and the best part of all – the giant #ausopen hashtag which sat out the front of the shack. Hundreds of photos were shared with it and it was great to see something that is only used online, come to life in a physical space. Some of my personal highlights from the tournament include the R4 match between Ana Ivanovic & Serena Williams. Our social media channels exploded. The match winning tweet drew 3246 retweets from the official @AustralianOpen account. This might just sound like a boring number but to us it’s a great sign of how our audience has grown and how they interact with us. (Can read more on the tweets that day HERE Another highlight is shadowing the players post-title win. Being allowed access to their media interviews and seeing the players’ faces when they get to greet the fans out in Garden Square just moments after they’ve walked off court is a huge privilege and something that is so unique and special to be able to share with our online community. But again, it all seems like just a blur. The crazy days, long nights & constant worry my iPhone is going to run out of battery is all behind me for another year. In the meantime, here some of my favourite moments from 2014 that we shared on our platforms.
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Monday, 17 February 2014

Where did December and January go?!


Well. where to start?!  I have been incredibly slack with this blog the last few months but I guess it sums up just how busy cricket season is for those who work in it! I have also been slack in getting the others girls to contribute but many have also been just as busy with Big Bash League, tennis and hockey etc. Arghh the summer of sport!

An amazing summer of cricket so far…..being part of working in cricket in the country so good when the Aussies are on top an also when the team you work with are having some success! And it hasn't finished yet either with the Sheffield Shield still to come, it seems so long ago the last time we saw 4 day cricket.

I'm currently just returning from Perth after being on the road the last 8 days with the Hurricanes, and what a week it has been!  Hobart-Melbourne and then Perth for the BBL|03 Final.


Team huddle at the MCG | Players taking over the pre-match videos | #canetrain | Me nervous before the final!

After the Hurricanes final home game (which now seems an eternity ago), where the boys defeated the Brisbane Heat they made their way into the Top 4, finding form at the right end of the season to make the finals.

It was a great atmosphere at the Heat game, Hobart came out in support knowing a win would mean a semi-finals appearance. Everyone in the Hurricanes team alongside CT staff, especially our venue and events team put in a lot of work for home matches, it is all about the fan experience and with only 4 matches (we had one wash out), we have limited chances to really grab our fans.  It was also our only night match and member appreciation round with every seated Hurricanes member getting a purple shirt which was placed on their seat in the southern stand at Blundstone Arena.  Our membership officer Kelsie recruited the help of members of Cricket Tas staff to assist with this which involved quite a few stair runs to get the ground looking very purple and it looked fantastic.

Anyway the boys got the win which meant a semi final the following week against the undefeated Melbourne Stars at the MCG. I got the gig to Melbourne which was great, always lots of content available on the road and any trip for a final in Australia's sporting capital appreciated!  The build up was relatively busy, we had a lot of support on social media, everyone loving the 'underdogs' and the support of fans sending their pictures in on how they were supporting was also pretty great.  It was also great to walk around the ground and find some Hobart Hurricanes fans, some not even from Tasmania, they just went for us because they liked us! 

What a game. The guys delivered, upsetting the (mind the pun) star-studded Melbourne Stars who went in 8 wins and no losses.  After a few tense moments in the run chase, they did it! What a win giving us our first appearance from the Hurricanes in a BBL Big Final and a spot in the Champions League.

The win was definitely up there in the wins I have been lucky to be part of. When you are putting in so many hours for the campaign and tweeting a game to thousands upon thousands of people you really get emotionally attached to it!  Last year's Bupa Sheffield Shield win and also being part of the ECB County Championship which Durham won were amazing but I have been with the Hurricanes admin team since the start, building the brand and the fan base from scratch so for the guys to get in that final and taste deserved success along with the growth of our brand and digital channels has been amazing for everyone that contributes towards the team.

The response we got on social media after the semi was overwhelming, we were trending on Twitter before the match started and afterwards the Big Bash and Hurricanes dominated trends which was extremely pleasing to see. We also broke records on Facebook in terms of a post getting the most likes we had seen. The support wasn't just coming from Tasmania but all over Australia and the world!

I went down to the rooms to get some footage of the boys, who were celebrating hard and did some interviews and then went back up to the press box, I didn't get away from there until about 2.15am (yes the life of a digi media worker!) after editing videos, writing a match report, getting photo galleries up and of course monitoring our social media and then timing tweets to go out that morning from 8am. 

The next day was a 'day off' for the players, we stayed in Melbourne and waited to see who would win between the Sixers and Scorchers to see which city we would travel to next.  It was a normal working day for me however and I spent it in my hotel room pumping out content and preparing for this final, the day flew by.  After not finding out until 11pm on the Wednesday night, it was then decided we had a 4 hour plane ride to Perth the next morning after the Scorchers won the other semi final against Sydney.

With just the one day before the final, there was no training and the guys just had a pool session at the hotel.  Lucky for me Painey and Ben Dunk took hold of the pre-match video and made it entertaining for our fans as the hype was building back home and my phone didn't stop! Player driven content is great and the boys could have their own television show post cricket careers, the video got quite a few views which was pleasing.

Again we were overwhelmed by the support, businesses, individuals sending us pics of how they were supporting the 'Canes.  What was also impressive was the amount of 'purple parties' around the place.  With Tasmania having no AFL team, no Rugby League side, no A-League etc- all their parachocial energy turned towards the 'local' cricket team and although I wasn't in Hobart, people kept telling me how much everyone was getting into it like it was AFL Grand Final Day which was amazing to hear.

Game Day was again hectic and I spent it hyping the fans up (not that they needed it much!) on social media. The semi final day and the Big Final days are so important on social, we have a 2 month period to really grab our fans and get the best out of fan driven content and really push the team so vital we do as much as a we can when everyone is 'talking about it'.

Alongside trying to do this, I also had to do some of my Cricket Tasmania based work with other things going on around the country including the Imparja Cup and Futures League- cricket season what can you say… MAD!  Days like that I feel like a journo pumping out story after story.

Then there was the Final itself. It didn't go our way after the Scorchers were too good at their home ground however our fans remained upbeat on social media (much to my delight) and proud of the way the team got to the final and made it to Champions League.  I did a couple of post match interviews with our coach Wrighty, who was great to work with all season, wrote the match report, did all my post match bits and pieces and finished up at about 11pm. The early Perth start was great as it meant I wouldn't be working past midnight!  The season ended with us becoming the Tasmanian Facebook page with the most amount of likes, (surpassing the famous MONA, so my boss has told me!) to go past 63,000- not bad for little old Hobart! 

So the end of another Big Bash season, I can't really believe it, it goes so quickly and you literally lose December and January (and now half of Feb!).  Thanks to the players and coaches for again putting up with me 'lurking' with iPhones, cameras, camcorders etc, their assistance with promoting us through twitter and Instagram and the fans who also generated some great content this season!

Focus now turns back to the Shield season, where hopefully the Tigers can do what they did last season and have a great second half of the season and be in contention for back to back titles!  Although the demand digitally isn't as large for Shield it is still there and as the demand for information becomes increasingly strong it will still be a relatively busy time up until April.

Then of course the 'off season' but with the Hurricanes in the champions league and Australia preparing to host the Cricket World Cup it will no doubt be very busy!  

I'm not going back to Durham this season after spending the Aussie winter over there last year and while disappointed as I loved it over there, I am looking forward to getting back into a routine in Hobart and a full season of hockey and training hard for that alongside a couple of half marathon and 10km events this year!

Finally I just wanted to wish fellow media gal Jess Cook all the best as she finishes her innings!  Jess has worked in cricket for 5 years with Cricket Vic and also at the Melbourne Stars as Media and Parnerships Manager and is now off to Sydney to work with the Swans and just wanted to wish her all the best with her new role in the AFL. Hopefully she can provide some insight into her work in the future on this blog! Good Luck Jess!
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Saturday, 23 November 2013

Cricket's Back!

It has been a while since I have posted on here, probably a reflection of what life is like once cricket season comes around again.  It's a Saturday night and I am writing match reports after having the Tigers match on live stream today whilst the TV had Day 3 of the Ashes- sums it up really! I am really feeling it too after not having an 'off-season' after working in England in the Aussie winter.

#Cricket #Ashes #UniteAus is EVERYWHERE and it is great to see as Australia hosts the return Ashes series.  After just three days of cricket we are set for an amazing 5 Test series.  I keep telling my non-cricket friends to tune in because they will see why Test Cricket isn't boring, so far it is living up to the hype which is good!  It is always good however to see my cricket loving 'Bowling Maidens Over' contributors tweeting away & even streaming whilst at the hair salon (hi-5 Sharn!).

Although we (Cricket Tasmania) are not hosting an Ashes Test, we did have the Ashes Tour match between Australia A and England a couple of weeks ago so this was a busy time. It was great to see some faces who I had met in England, I just wish the weather in Hobart wasn't so 'Tassie-like', 28 degrees one day and snow on Mount Wellington a couple of days later, making the English feel right at home!

Lots of media interest as the England Team arrived in Hobart

We have hosted just the one Bupa Sheffield Shield match at Blundstone Arena so far but being in digital it doesn't matter where we play I'm always following, tweeting, facebooking and writing match reports. Once you get into the routine of giving fans the content, they have expectations and I also have them on myself to push the information onto them and reflect the organisation positively.  Being reigning Shield champions too means there is obviously a great interest in the team!

We are also in full swing preparations for the KFC T20 Big Bash League (BBL|03).  A couple of weeks ago all the Digital Content Managers from all BBL teams met in Melbourne at Cricket Australia offices to discuss the season. It was great to catch up with everyone, a couple of us have been there since the first Big Bash so were the 'veterans' of the group!  It is always good to hear what the expectations are and discuss ideas on how we as digital content producers can add to the fans experience and bolster the T20 competition in our own right.  BBL is full on but I love it, we get good crowds in Hobart and they have really embraced the Hurricanes so looking forward to the third instalment and getting the purple out of my wardrobe again!

Away from cricket (a rare occasion as mentioned!) I last week ran a half marathon in Hobart- the world's toughest half marathon- the Point to Pinnacle. It was 21km of very hard work!! It started from Wrest Point Casino in Sandy Bay and went all the way up to the iconic Mount Wellington. Safe to say legs were sore on Monday but it was worth it.  We had a 'Hurricanes' team with a few guys from work joining me.

This week-end I also did some interview work with the Tasmanian Institute of Sport at their Coaches Forum.  We had a panel of Tassie athletes, 3 of them friends which made my life easier!  Eddie Ockenden (Kookaburras hockey team), Aiden Blizzard (Tasmanian Tigers/Hobart Hurricanes), Mark Divin (former Tasmanian Tiger) and Belinda Goss (World Champ cyclist) and it was great to hear their insights.

So that's it for now.  As a few of the contributors on here work in summer sports there will no doubt be some busy times but also lots of stories to share as we get into the Aussie summer!

Asking the Questions at the TIS Coaching Forum

Away from cricket- World's Toughest Half Marathon done!


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Tuesday, 8 October 2013

Aubrey's Australian Hockey Leaugue Wrap


By Aubrey Hamlett / @aubreyhamlett


Hockey Victoria hosted the Under 13 Boys National Championship and the Men’s Australian Hockey League at the State Netball Hockey Centre (SNHC) in Melbourne from September 27 until October 5.
 
As Communications Coordinator it was my job to handle all of Hockey Victoria’s social media platforms, website and keep the hockey community up to date with the events we were hosting. I had a number of tasks given to me by Hockey Australia and to give me a hand I also sought out an intern to help me during the tournaments.
 
I tried to seek out media opportunities for the competition and the Victorian Vikings (AHL), however, ran into a lot of roadblocks. The main and most obvious one was the fact the competition ran at a similar time frame to the AFL Finals series. Of course, in Melbourne, AFL is always priority number one. I received many emails from media outlets that read, ‘Thank you but we’re just in AFL mode right now.’ It frustrated me that I couldn’t get any additional major media coverage and focused my attention on more local publications such as Leader Newspapers, which worked quite well.
 
I’ve been employed at Hockey Victoria since July and it’s been a really different experience. I haven’t worked at state level before after having experiences working at Melbourne Storm (intern), Netball Australia (maternity contract) and very briefly at the Essendon Football Club (intern).
 
The amount of hockey events in our calendar is insane. Hockey doesn’t appear to have an ‘off season.’ Or at least nobody told hockey that it needs a break.
 
I’d survived junior and senior winter grand finals but I knew that the joint tournaments of the U13s and AHL would be a whole other beast. As well as the events we hosted there were eight other national events on at the same time around Australia. I knew that I’d really have to be on top of everything, not just the events we were hosting.
 
During the tournament I was mainly stationed in the media box overlooking one of our pitches at the SNHC with my intern, Sean Munaweera. I would cover the U13s and Sean would do the AHL.
 
Our days went relatively quickly as everything was broken up into 30 to 35 minute halves. I’d arrive half an hour before the first U13 game at 8.30am then the match would start at 9am, half-time at 9.35am, full-time at 10.20am and then to go downstairs and collect the match report and so on.
 
The AHL would be timed to start half an hour after the U13s matches got underway. I’d then write my U13 match reports and send the release to hockey communications and events contacts. I was also updating Hockey Victoria’s social media platforms and website throughout the day with results and photos.
 
The AHL was a bit different as we only had an hour after the conclusion of the last match to file and send the media release out. As the Victorian Vikings (AHL) usually played the last match of the day, Sean and I would head down to the bench at half-time and report from there.
 
I’d venture around the pitch taking photos, instagraming videos and updating Twitter. Sean would also conduct post match interviews with some of our Vikings players. We’d then head back into the office and send out the media release, update the website and social media.
 
I’d get home at about 8pm and would be in bed by about 9.30pm ready for the next day’s competition. I know I sound like a grandma but if I didn’t put myself to bed I would’ve passed out on the couch from being so tired. 
 
During the eight days of competition (two rest days), I worked out that I had watched roughly 48 hockey matches. That’s at least double the amount of AFL matches that I’ve ever been to. It’s fair to say, I’m all hockey-ed-out. 
 
But it doesn’t actually stop there as my CEO signed me up for the International Super Series Hockey 9s in Perth at the beginning of my employment. I leave for Perth next Tuesday and will spend six days over there. I’m looking forward to having a bit of a break even though I’ll be working as media centre manager for the event.
 
I’ll be working with Hockey Australia staff as well as other communications and events employees from other hockey states. It’ll be a good experience to work with new people and at an international event. I’m extremely lucky to have been put up for it.
 
As I mentioned before, hockey is a different beast compared to most sports in Australia. I think I actually feel more for our athletes purely because of their intense schedule. They  will have been involved with winter competitions, AHL and the upcoming International Super Series, Oceania Cup, World League and Junior World Cup – all before December 15
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Friday, 4 October 2013

NRL Grand Final with Jess Ivers


Jess has worked with 2013 Grand Finalist Manly and also worked with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs who were in last year's Grand Final before moving to Tennis Australia.

As NRL Grand Final day approaches, there’s plenty of great memories I have that come flooding back about this time of year.

As a sports fan it’s the best week ever and you’re just stoked to be a part of it. Professionally, you can’t wait to make this one of the best week’s ever with your colleagues, the ones you spend 90% of your time with from March to October.

Everyone’s in a good mood and the sense of community at the club goes sky high. Everyone is proud of what they’ve achieved over the course of the year, knowing that after the final siren – no matter the outcome – it will all be over for another season.

The week goes a little something like this - you’re running on little sleep but you’re high on excitement. You can’t wait for Sunday night to come around yet you’re trying to soak up every moment that Grand Final week has to offer.  And your thumbs are blistered from going hell for leather on your club’s Twitter account while you’re eyes are turning square from churning out awesome content on your computer.

It really is like nothing else and I’m very lucky to have experienced an NRL Grand Final not once, but twice – both as part of a losing and a winning team – both some of the best days of my career.

From media day on the Monday to the fan day on the Thursday, it’s all systems go. You start your day in one place, then you’re taking players to another, they’re answering the same question for 10 different media crews. Still smiling regardless because they’re about to undertake an adventure like never before.

And before you know it, you’ve tripled the amount of fans you had from the week before. They are everywhere! It might be the locals flooding the streets with their jerseys on, the local bakery making themed goods or the newsagent hanging streamers and posters in their front window.  Again, everyone is in a good mood.

While I have no idea what is going through the players heads during the week, you can only try and understand the excitement and pressure that comes from being one of the last two teams standing.

From an administration point of view – you’re pumped. And when Sunday morning rolls around, you can’t  wait to hop out of bed, pop on your game day suit for the last time and sit there and support your team…plus tweet, Facebook, Instagram, video…

The joy that comes with a win is indescribable. The tears that come with a loss are heartbreaking. A lot of people might say it’s “just another game” but it isn’t.

Either way it’s one of the greatest moments of the NRL season and I look forward to it every year. Highlights will be made, heroes will be remembered and another team will go down in NRL history.

Good luck to both teams this Sunday, my heart will definitely be with Manly though!
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Thursday, 3 October 2013

Durham Player of the Year Dinner

It is always nice to dress up and celebrate the end of season at Player of the Year awards and last night was no exception! We had our Durham Player of the Year Dinner at the Marriott in Newcastle last night and it was an enjoyable but (another) busy night.  My task for the night was the usual social media work and photographer duties but also had to play reporter and interview the winners with our Sky Sports cameraman Jake!  Was a bit strange being on the journalist side and the guys found it quite funny but I hardly asked them hard hitting questions!!

 I just have one more day left here at Durham and can't believe how quick the last 6 months have flown by and the amount of fantastic things I have been able to do.





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NRL Grand Final- Rooster Rewind with Jodie


Ah grand final week. I remember like it was…..three years ago. Yep, I reckon it has taken me that long to recover!

I was lucky enough to be a member of the Sydney Roosters 2010 grand final campaign. After ‘winning’ the wooden spoon in 2009 none of us thought it was a reality but week after week we kept on winning our matches and on the night of my 30th birthday we qualified for the big dance.

Cue the champagne (for my birthday of course!) and then….the work. Yep, media schedule for the week sent at 2am. Little did I know that this would be the pattern of the week…..late nights and early mornings.

We flew in from Brisbane where we had played our qualifier and I stumped up at my mates place to watch the AFL grand final. I say watched….I meant sat on the balcony taking phone calls from media, coaches, staff and players.

This theme remained for most of the weekend as Monday was a big media day. By big I mean four hours of one on one interviews with around 10 players. That is a lot of journalists to move around and hurry up when their allotted time was up.

After this came a procession of open training sessions, press conferences, grand final breakfasts, Today Show crosses – with set up from 3.30am! – Footy Show appearances, harbour cruises, news crosses and Bondi Beach activations. In the end I was even doing radiointerviews just to accommodate every request…I can talk very eloquently about the weather and potential pitch conditions at ANZ Stadium!

My most apt memory of that week though was when the coach asked for a specific sports documentary from the US, that I had ESPN USA FTP to ESPN Australia and then, laying on the floor of the assistant coaches office due to sheer exhaustion, I burned 27 copies for the players.This was a documentary the coach HAD TO HAVE for the players. He walked into the office, seeing me half asleep on the floor, and asked me what on earth I was doing. ‘Burning your bloody DVD’s’ was my response. ‘Oh, don’t worry about that anymore’ he says. Geez, thanks!

So in the end, we lost the match, had a fair bit to drink afterwards, and I spent the next day on my lounge room floor sleeping and watching season 6 of Entourage.

The experience of a lifetime Grand Final Week. If you get the chance to be involved in one…take it! Exhausting but very very rewarding.
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