On my bucket list, titled “Things I Would Like To Do Someday,” working for a professional sports team has to be on there somewhere. (And if it isn’t, rest assured I will write it down as soon as I am done writing this blog post.)
But unless I develop a Howitzer of a slap shot, or a nasty curveball, a job in sports will likely never pan out at this stage in my career, so I’ll just have to live vicariously through those who do work in the industry.
Coincidentally, today’s guest on the “Five and One” is one of those lucky people.
Nicole Yelland is a social media coordinator for the Detroit Red Wings who was nice enough to take time out of her hectic schedule to answer some questions about her role with the team, how social media acts as a component of fan interaction, and what the job is like on game day.
I’m really excited to have her here, and I hope you enjoy what she has to say.
Let’s get started.
Q: Social media, and jobs within that space, is still relatively new. Can you take us through a typical workday?
Nicole: My day as a social media pro is not unlike my former job as a PR pro in that every single minute of every single day is different. The truth is that there is little to no routine in this position, which is what I love most.
Some of my action items are similar, so here’s a bit of insight into my day (in absolutely no particular order):
- Walk into Joe Louis Arena, answer questions and grab people on my mental to-do list generated during the drive in
- Fire up my Mac, check email to see if we have any breaking team news, updates on ticketing, requests from corporate sponsorships or emails from our bloggers
- Log onto all social networks (the multi-tab function in Internet browsers are a life saver!), start searching for questions, responses, news or problems reported by fans (these stay open all day and I respond all day). Forward on any issues to corresponding departments
- Answer as many questions as possible (maybe generate some new ideas for the day or upcoming game promotions based on questions) throughout the day
- Read as many DRW fan-generated blogs as possible. Comment when appropriate
- Cut any social media video created as an event recap from the previous day
- On a non-game day, I head to practice, post photos and interviews from the locker room after practice
- On a game day, I head to morning skate, post photos and interviews from the locker room after practice. Later, I attend the media dinner (which is truly cool for a previous PR person getting to sit and eat dinner with Detroit’s sports writers), read the game notes with any good stats I might want to share during the game, head up to the press box where I live tweet the game, work on WingsLive (a live blog hosted on the DRW.com homepage) and keep the fans as updated as possible using all online mediums available. After the game, I head into the post-game press conference and (during playoffs) live stream it for fans outside of Michigan.
Q: How is working for a professional sports team different than working for an agency or a corporation?
The biggest difference is that the night before heavily influences the next day. I mean if we win, lose, if there’s an injury, comeback or serious problem on the ice, my day is completely different. Planning is usually on a tighter turn-around too, not because we aren’t organized but because planning for social media involves timely information and events that are sometimes tough to predict. The audience is also different. Working in sports provides the most engaged and responsive audience there is which is what makes it exciting to be on the frontlines every single day.
Q: I would imagine it can be a little distracting working for a team like the Detroit Red Wings. When was the first time you sat down and thought, “Oh my God, I work for the Detroit Red Wings”?
The 12 year-old who skipped her eighth grade farewell dance to watch the Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals with the boys down the hall squealed a little bit. Okay, a lot a bit. Now that I’m here, it’s not distracting at all, it’s a fun and exciting atmosphere – especially in playoffs!
Q: Obviously you’re part of the team that composes the tweets, the Facebook updates, etc. Do you have free reign to go out and find content that you think would be interesting to the fans?
I do and it’s fantastic to have so much freedom. Having the ability to communicate freely and ask people what they want without needing to go through an approval process is amazing. It’s also great to work with a collaborative team (on and off the ice) who is interested in what I do and open to helping out.
Q: Aside from commenting on Detroit Red Wings fan blogs, how else do you interact and make them a part of the Detroit Red Wings community?
Good question. I ask and answer questions across our social networks (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace), create opportunities for fans to have more access by incorporating QR codes into our print magazine, help to manage WingsLive (a live blog hosted on our homepage) for all home games where fans are able to interact with both the staff and players, develop contests where we meet our fans IRL, I even talk to a few fans on the phone from time to time. There are so many outlets for communication these days, but I’d really like to think I help us hit the big ones. 
Q: Finally, the random question: What did you want to be growing up?
I recall drawing a picture of me riding an elephant and telling my kindergarten teacher I wanted to be in the circus. I also had a brief obsession with NASA in middle school. So I suppose that a professional nerd isn’t all that far off.
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