Inaugural Social Media Night at Wrigley Field
Wednesday night, the Cubs hosted their inaugural Social Media Night at Wrigley. I’ve been talking about this on the Ivy Envy Podcast the last few weeks. I think it’s great to see the Cubs embrace social media. I was in Los Angeles a few years ago and saw that the Dodgers were doing a special event for bloggers. At the time, I thought the Cubs would never move in this direction.
The Cubs took their Social Media Night way beyond what the Dodgers did. This event was not limited to a select few bloggers, but rather anyone that was interested in social media enough to purchase the special ticket, which included admission to a panel discussion on social media, a gift pack from the Cubs and admission to the Right Field bleachers for that night’s Cubs/Phillies game.
My friend, Bob from Moline – @The_Proctor was kind enough to make the trip with me. Our original plan was to meet John from Wasting Away in Wrigleyville – @utchicago at D’agostino’s for pizza. After discovering they didn’t open until 4pm, the meat-grilling expert, John was willing to take one for the team and meet us at the Wrigleyville vegetarian-friendly Pick Me Up Cafe. For those of you that would turn your nose up at the idea of anything vegetarian or vegan, check out this vegan gyro.

But back to the event. The Cubs hosted the Social Media Night panel discussion with Robbie Gould (@RobbieGould09), Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) and Kevin Saghy (@Cubs) at the Captain Morgan’s Club prior to the game. The three spoke on social media from a player, media and organization perspective. The conversation was very Twitter-heavy. In fact, I don’t recall one mention of any other aspect of social media.
Carrie Muskat spoke on the use of social media from a media perspective. She reported to use Twitter as a way to get roster and other club information to the public. She went on to say that she does not include much opinion and uses Twitter in a purely professional manner. If you follow Carrie on Twitter, her saying this comes as no surprise. She also spoke about how Major League Baseball views Twitter and said that MLB would like MLB beat writers to put more effort into tweeting, rather than blogging.
Kevin Saghy is a Public Relations and Marketing Specialist for the Cubs, and he runs the Cubs’ social media. Kevin went into great detail on the approach that the Cubs take with social media.
1. Deliver the core values of the Cubs
2. Get to know their key influencers
3. Listening and engaging
4. Offer something of real value to the fans
5. Financial benefit
Anyone that pays attention to the Cubs use of social media has definitely seen these principles in action. As an individual that uses and enjoys social media, it has been nice to see them managing this better than most sports organizations.
After the panel discussion was finished, we were taken to a section of the Right Field bleachers that had been reserved for the group. We did have the opportunity to walk through the RF patio area. The patio is what you would expect, but for those of us that enjoy mingling and moving around during a baseball game, it looked pretty appealing. I’d like to take in a game on the patio.
I mentioned earlier that John from Wasting Away in Wrigleyville, who is notorious for his grilling, endured a vegetarian meal before the game. He made up for it quickly by securing vouchers for 5 Vienna Beef (@ViennaBeef) hot dogs.
John’s quest to cut his life short ended up being more entertaining than the Cubs game. Alfonso Soriano’s home run and Juan Pierre’s dropped fly ball off the bat of Bryan LaHair were the highlights, besides the comic relief of Matt Garza trying to throw baseballs to first base.
The Cubs offense seemed to be baffled by Kyle Kendrick, managing just two runs on three hits. Garza didn’t look particularly comfortable on the mound, but kept the Phillies to two runs in his 6 2/3 innings pitched. Sveum went to the bullpen and the floodgates opened as the Phillies scored seven runs in the final two innings off Scott Maine and Michael Bowden.
I enjoyed this event. As I’ve said, I like the progress the Cubs have made in this area. I also enjoyed being able to meet other Cubs bloggers and Twitter personalities. I had the opportunity to meet @BleacherNation, @HarryPav, @CubsStories and @BullpenBrian. It was also nice to meet @JulieDiCaro, and take in a few innings with her.
The Cubs will host one other Social Media Night in the 2012 season. This will be on September 17th.
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