@jeffjlutz: There is literally a Little Caesar next to me. I wonder what he’ll spear next? #smdaydet
#smdaydet or better known as Social Media Day: Detroit, took place on Wednesday evening high atop Motor City Casino at the Amnesia Night Club. The event gathered together a collection of Red Wings fans and Twitter aficionados to get together and tweet, all in a hockey-filled atmosphere. The event is the first of its kind and looked to be an interesting test case of how sports fans and social media can relate together.
@nwlife, or Nicole Yelland was the brainchild behind this event. As we chatted among the Red Wings Fatheads and cutouts throughout the room, she mentioned that the idea came from seeing “cooler cities” take the lead on the nation’s inaugural social media day. By combining all resources under the Ilitch umbrella, she used her social networks to fill the event within days of posting. Nicole described that she had even heard of her own event through a friend on the west side of the state.
Events like this represent a shifting change in the national sports scene. The World Cup’s U.S. soccer fans used their social networks to gather in various venues throughout the country. When Tom Izzo’s supporters wanted to hold a rally urging the long-time MSU coach to stay, Facebook and Twitter lit up with alerts and event details. The Red Wings event proved that sports fans will gather when the teams they support provide an opportunity to extend the brand to new channels. When a team like the Wings gathers social media enthusiasts together in one space, they drive free marketing while extending the brand to venues outside of Joe Louis Arena.
Most of my time at this event was spent fascinating over the wonderful mix of individuals that had gathered together to discuss their Twitter accounts and the upcoming NHL season. In listening in on many of the conversations taking place, I would not be shocked to see more themed “tweet-ups” in the sports scene over the coming months. Congrats to @nwlife for such a fantastic event – for more highlights of the event check out the #smdaydet hashtag on Twitter.
