I follow the Columbus Blue Jackets on Twitter. Although I am not a CBJ fan, I follow the team because of their assistant coach, Dan Hinote. I grew up watching him play for the Hershey Bears. The CBJ played their first official NHL home game on October 7, 2000.
Anyway, back to why the CBJ are awesome at social media.
The CBJ actually have a suite in their arena dedicated to social media. It is called the social station. Here is a little information from the CBJ webstie about social station:
Are you a social butterfly…er…Blue Jacket? Do you have a Facebook account, Twitter handle, or a blog? If the answer is “yes” to any of these questions, then the brand new Social Station is just for you.
Each and every home game during the Blue Jackets 2012-13 regular season, members of the #CBJ social media community will be occupying the Social Station to do what they do best — tweet, take pictures, Facebook, and interact with each other!
Interested? We thought so…
The Social Station will have FREE WiFi access giving you the opportunity to use your laptop, mobile device, and tablet to capture all of the exciting action of Blue Jackets hockey LIVE!
There is only one rule… BE ACTIVE!
Here’s a list of some of our leaders in the #CBJ community that you can expect to see in our Social Station. But before you ask: what exactly IS a “community leader?”
Our definition: Simply put, it’s anyone. The qualifications are pretty minimal (you just have to blog, Facebook, Instagram, tweet with us, and show your passion for the Blue Jackets and the game of hockey). If you do that, we will find you. We’ve reached out to several people who fit this description and we’re looking for more every single day.So far, we’ve met over 100 new members of the Blue Jackets online community and that list is growing each home game at Nationwide Arena.
Personally, I think this is pretty awesome. I wish the Flyers would do something like this! Last night I decided to send a tweet mentioning the CBJ to see what would happen. I was very shocked by the response.
8 retweets and 9 favorites? Just for mentioning the CBJ? WOW. I also recieved about 3 replies to the tweet talking about how awesome the CBJ team is. One of the retweets also included the CBJ. I was impressed to see how quickly they responded and how quickly the CBJ fan base responded. It’s great to see a strong fan base, especially from a team who is sitting in last place in the central division of the western conference, with a record of 5-10-2.
Here are a few facts about the CBJ social media empire:
Twitter:
tweets: 24,118
following: 368
followers: 73,869
hashtag: #CBJ
Likes: 96,567
Check-ins: 9,428
Photos: a lot!
Subscribers: 443
Views: 195,317
photos: 690
followers: 8,854
following: 138
In comparison to other NHL teams, the CBJ have low numbers. I thought of doing a comparison to the Philadelphia Flyers, but I took a look at their Facebook likes and decided against it. 🙂 The Flyers have been around for a long time and are an established hockey team. The CBJ are only a little over 10 years old (the Flyers have been around since 1967) and they have already created a great social media presence. They are quick to respond and have some very supportive and loyal fans. The social station is a great way to get fans involved. If you live in the Columbus area, I suggest heading into the city to catch the CBJ in action!
nicolewhitman 