Athletic Directors and Twitter

A growing number of athletic directors are embracing social media and starting a twitter account. My last informal count is 25. To follow all 25 here’s a twitter list I created. If I’m missing someone, please let me know. What can an athletic director (AD) accomplish in 140 characters? In most cases, an AD wants coaches and student athletes to be the face of the program while the administration works behind the scenes to give the performers the tools and resources they need to be successful on and off the field. Tweeting seems like the farthest thing from the natural tendency of an athletic administrator.

I’m not advocating that athletic director seek the limelight but I do believe that there is great opportunity in social media and in particular on twitter. The beauty of twitter is that it’s quick, easy to use and the reach is limitless. With all new media it’s important to know why and how you plan on using it instead of doing it because everyone else is. This list is not meant to be exhaustive but I think it gives four tangible reasons for athletic directors to start a twitter account or use it more strategically.

1. Introduce yourself to a new community. A new athletic director spends a great deal of his/her first year gathering information, meeting with internal and external constituencies and getting a lay of the land before implementing strategic directives to improve the department. Not only is the AD getting to know his new community, his new community is shaping their beliefs on their new leader. A new AD will accept as many speaking engagements as possible to begin to engage and seek support for his vision . Consider twitter as a daily speaking engagement with an opportunity to reach hundreds or potentially thousands of fans who are actively looking to hear what the AD has to say. The more information and personality an AD gives them, the more substance they have when forming an opinion on what type of leader the AD is and how much they want to support the program.

Current examples: Greg Byrne- Arizona , Ross Bjork- Western Kentucky, Mark Massari- UC Santa Barbara

2. To share the vision of the athletic department. All ADs have a vision and want to share it. Many athletic directors write a consistent column, answer constituent questions, or even host a video chat. This content is emailed to constituents and/or posted on the official athletic department website. Twitter is a great distribution platform for this content. Because of the high profile nature of the position and because people want to follow people of influence, a well-maintained engaging athletic director twitter account is the most likely administrative account to build the highest number of followers and the greatest amount of influence. Wider distribution of the department vision can result in potential connections for future engagement and support.

Current examples: Thorr Bjorn- Rhode Island

3. Personalization. While never the primary reason for an AD to start a twitter account, it’s a great opportunity to show everyone that you are a real person. Due to the public nature of the position, ADs have to be careful about what they say and how they say it but allowing others a glimpse into your thoughts and actions can have a significant impact. Many times transparency leads to approachability. The more approachable you are internally and externally the more relationships building opportunities are created. Relationships play a major role in the effectiveness of an AD and social media is a great platform to make initial connections.

Current examples: Mark Hollis- Michigan St , Mike Hamilton- Tennessee , Scott Stricklin- Mississippi St.

4. Recognizing the accomplishments of former and current student-athletes, teams and coaches. Everyone knows about the on the field success of the football and men’s basketball programs as they are covered in detail on the Internet, TV, radio, and just about everywhere these days. These sports deserve the recognition they receive and they absolutely should be celebrated by ADs on twitter. But what about recognizing the on and off field accomplishments by student-athletes, teams and coaches that aren’t covered by the mainstream media. What about connecting with your former student-athletes and showing how you value their accomplishments? How much more recognition would these individuals receive if the leader of the department was personally promoting their success? More importantly, what better way to show your appreciation for their accomplishments than by thanking them publicly.

Current examples: Sandy Barbour- Cal , Mitch Barnhart- Kentucky, Steve Cottingham- Marquette

I'd love to hear your thoughts about athletic directors and twitter. Maybe you have another great strategic reason for ADs to tweet or you follow an AD on twiter that does a great job in one of these areas that I failed to mention.

2010 NACDA Convention Takeaways

Highlights from my 3rd NACDA convention held last week in Anaheim

• Whenever you get a chance to listen to Dutch Baughman, do it. He is the Executive Director of the Division 1A Athletic Director's Association. He has a great perspective on the landscape of college athletics because of the number of years he has been in the business, the amount of research his organization compiles and his interaction with ADs around the country. My favorite quote and of the themes of his presentation was "talk about what you know, not what you think." Given the high profile and speculative nature of college athletics, you have to be very careful about what you say and how you say it. He also turned me onto a great resource to find newspaper articles around the country in an efficient manner- http://www.ussportspages.com/


• At the risk of being repetitive, whenever you get a chance to listen to Sandy Barbour, do it. Sandy is currently the Athletics Director at Cal and you can follow her on twitter. Her presentations are always articulate, well organized and she speaks candidly about the tough issues that we face as athletics administrators. She spoke on justifying the importance of intercollegiate athletics to a skeptical campus community. She talked about not getting sucked into the firefights, the importance of "attacking the persuadable middle," using donors to deliver your message on campus, and the vital role athletics can play on "regionally challenged" alumni.


• I'm getting less and less intimidated by these large conventions and as a result I've found ways to get more and more out of each NACDA convention I attend. Click here for my NACDA convention philosophy. I sat in on a few sessions with (CABMA) business managers, (NAACC) compliance directors, (NAADD) fundraising professionals and (NACMA) marketing gurus. It really helps me gain a better perspective on the challenges each of these groups face in their positions. I picked up a few tricks, caught up with old friends and met some new ones. The college athletics administration community is a great group of people that share an amazing, unique work environment. Long hours, below average compensation, high scrutiny, heavy competition and very little recognition- it may not be glamorous, it's definitely a lifestyle and I believe it's one of the best professions in the world. I absolutely love what I do and I can't imagine doing anything else.