I’m in Columbus Ohio to perform some social media training for the journalists at the Columbus Dispatch. While I was planning the trip, I got it in my head that I should have some local beer and see some local baseball. That’s where social media comes in.

Instead of going to my phone and calling the Clippers’ ticket office, I started shouting to the team in Twitter -they’re at @clbclippers if you want to follow. But I quickly got annoyed.

It turns out that the team only uses Twitter to broadcast their Facebook statuses. That immediately irked me because my mantra when I train businesses is to make it easy for anyone to contact you. The Clippers were forcing me to bend to their communication choice, not mine.

So I went off. I tweeted like mad – madly – to my 6000 followers about how I might as well go see a play or sit in my hotel room and pout.

Needless to say, the Tweeple were divided.

“Just call them,” said some.

“Boycott!” said others.

But the balance told me not to waste a great night in Columbus and try the Facebook Fan Page. It worked.

In merely an hour, Gabe Norris had been in touch and we came to an understanding. Facebook works for the team. They’ve got almost 7000 fans (now including me) and they’re running regular Facebook nights at Huntington Stadium.

So what’s the big reveal? Gabe told me he was leaving a ticket for me at will-call. So now I’m sitting in the park fostering a bromance for Gabe and being astonished at this amazing ballpark.

Did you know that Huntington Park beat out all new baseball stadiums in 2009 according to Baseball America?

I walked in the gate and I immediately got permagrin. And I’ve been to 30+ pro ball stadiums.

Now what? First pitch is 25 minutes away and I’m gonna get some food and keep on smiling.

Mostly because my fun night, just beginning, was made possible because one organization paid attention to the power of social media.

What’s your favorite social media success story?

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: @jeffcutler, AAA, baseball, columbus clippers, Facebook, twitter

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This year, the Pawtucket Red Sox made the playoffs for the first time since 2003. Better still, they set an all-time mark for wins with a record of 85-57 in 2008. And they did it all while bleeding players to their Major League affiliate, the playoff-bound Boston Red Sox.

From Dustin Pedroia to Brandon Moss to Jed Lowrie to Jacoby Ellsbury to Clay Buchholz to Bartolo Colon to George Kottaras to Jonathan Van Every, the AAA team shed great players faster than the 1997 Florida Marlins.

Moss ended up going away in the Manny Ramirez trade, and the rest of the crew is either suiting up for tonight’s game against the Anaheim Angels or sitting idly by on the 40-man roster.

As all this happened to the farm club, I sat by and I watched. I caught some foul balls during the season, but I was just a spectator.

Why am I so hot on the fortunes of the minor-leaguers? The reason is three-fold.

For the first time in my life, I’ve owned professional sports team season tickets. It’s been a goal/dream/aspiration for years. It’s been languishing on my 100-things-to-do-before-you-die list for years and I finally spent the money this year.

Next, I own the domain names ChadSpann.com and Holdzcom.com – two up-and-coming athletes on the PawSox. When they make it big and want me to run their fan clubs, I’ll be ready. Or I could offer them the domain names for signed memorabilia or a little cash.

Finally, it was the first time I got to set foot on a professional baseball field. Better yet, 2008 was the first time I got to hit a baseball while standing at the plate at a professional baseball stadium.

Not counting my Major League tryout in 1992, the last time I shagged fly balls on a field was during high school. I wasn’t entirely remarkable back then, but my speed and defensive tools made me eligible for the scouting bureau day at a field west of Boston.

16 years later – courtesy of the Pawtucket Red Sox ticket office – I was standing at the plate with a wooden bat in my gloved hands, staring at a bunch of other season-ticket holders in the field at McCoy Stadium. And I put on a clinic.

Pitch after pitch came hurtling toward the plate and then headed off my bat to the outfield. Of the 35 or so pitches I saw, I missed three entirely, I fouled off four, I dribbled six infield outs and smashed the rest to the outfield.

What’s it feel like to break out of the spectator mold and live a little fantasy?

My hands hurt. I was out of breath. My shoulder was junk. The days following the batting practice, my body hurt all over. And a week later I’m still smiling.

Is there something you’ve been waiting to do? Is there something you wanted to try, and haven’t yet jumped at?

My suggestion is to stop spectating and go make things happen.

Standing there at the plate, each swing of the bat reminded me that my things-to-do list isn’t going to complete itself while I watch from the sidelines.

-30-

© Jeff Cutler for Jeff Cutler - columns, essays and opinions, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: AAA, baseball, batting, boston red sox, fielding, mccoy stadium, pawtucket red sox, playoffs, season, tickets, world series

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