Pull it. Bop it. Tip it.

I was glad to find that The Tipping Point was really a concept that was carried out and not a faux title like The Red Pony that I read in seventh grade in which the pony died in the first chapter. This book has things to look forward to and concepts to learn and consider. The tipping point, Malcom Gladwell describes, is the stage at which an idea becomes an “epidemic” and people are “swept up” moving from “hostility to acceptance” (p.166). What makes the AIDS virus envelop countries in the blink of an eye? Why does Generation Y remember rockin’ our Airwalks with pride and now we laugh at them? Both are concepts that tipped and accelerated without warning. 

Gladwell discusses three concepts that are similar to the big kid on the teeter-totter: the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. I think we need to target the few and get like glue to ensure the success of “One Team, One Spirit” and create a [bob]cat scratch fever across Georgia College & State University. 

The Law of the Few is what makes movies like Mean Girls so funny and could also help our campaign. Why can Regina George and her Plastics say something is cool (but not “fetch”, Gretchen) and the whole junior class obeys without thought? The Law is based on the idea that not a lot of people have to accept an idea, but the right people have to accept it. Like with Hush Puppies, it only took one community in Manhattan to start wearing them to send the shoe onto the award stand the next year. If we can find the movers and shakers on our campus, in the RSOs, and in other sports around campus we can attract a bigger, more loyal, crowd. 

Stickiness is like “Just Do It” for Nike that has not been there campaign in years but is still what people think when they think of Nike. We are hoping that our idea of Blue Thunder will catch on and become a tradition at basketball games. Stickiness does not exactly correlate with creativity as much as repetition and therefore ease of recall. If we can get the GCSU Bobcats thinking like the Cameron Crazies of Duke University sticky we will become. 

Mavens, Connectors, and Salesmen are the three types of people that Gladwell describes; where do I fit? I actually decided when I was fourteen that I wanted to pursue public relations because as long as I could remember my softball coach called me his PR representative and I finally found out what it meant. I think what he saw and what I now see is that I have qualities that are both Maven and Saleswoman-ish, but I’m not sure that I am one or the other.

A Maven, the coolest of the names in my opinion, is someone who knows a lot about a lot. I take pride in knowing that I have knowledge in not always everything, but things that most people do not know. For instance when I travel I like to do what the locals do, I like to eat at the dirty hole-in-the-wall restaurants, find the little sights you should be but are not what is recommended, and find the cheapest, easiest ways around the city. In this sense I am a Maven, constantly taking in information and making myself an expert on various subjects so I can share with others. 

Salespeople, those who can sell you on almost anything and you really do not always know why. When I talk about things I know, like or dislike, I am passionate. I believe the Ultimate Stuffed Sticks at the Brick are the most delicious item on their menu and I have spread the craze through all my friends and family since freshman year. I think Wal-Mart is the worst place to shop for groceries and push Kroger for their savings and fresh produce. I do have grey areas, however, where I often say things like, “the movie was OK. If you go in with low hopes it will be good,” but even then most people will heed my warning and not see it. It is the mix of Maven and Saleswoman that I feel are my strong points in PR and will help push my career. 

Oh social media, the new catalyst in the PR world and one of our favorite assignments. I think for me Twitter, PROpenMic, and probably the least important to me right now LinkedIN are all in the tipping process. Obviously, being assigned to sign up for these was the first step in the tip, and boredom has helped it’s process, but I still have not found the passion for it that I do Facebook. I got the Twitter and PROpenMic bug a couple weekends ago when I found I could personalize them and began connecting. However, for me I think the biggest tip will be when I have a broader pool of colleagues and more experience in the field. Tippers topple but they don’t fall down!

Almost a year later...

While watching (I don't know why my W is purple... moving on) the ALCS my roommate and I discussed how much the Rays have changed during the past year. They came out at the beginning of the year with a new look and then out of nowhere and had a season that wowed any baseball fan. Now the 2008 ALCS champions and hopefully the 2008 World Series champions (sorry Phillies... but the green bird mascot can't break this Florida girl) are getting the attention for which St. Pete has been begging. 

So being the females we are my roommate and I began discussing how much we like the Rays new uniforms during the championship game last night. (I know, I know, but give us credit that we watched every game!) I decided to hop on google and see what I could find out about the shiny thing in the corner of their "R." I figure it is probably a ray of light and how it looks when it spreads underwater, the refraction of light added my fellow undercover-nerd roomie. 

While I was googling a ran across a self-titled "faithful Red Sox fan, i.e. Red Sox Evangelist['s]" article about the upcoming (it was written in Nov. 2007) Rays new look. This guy didn't think that this would help the program at all and that it would take more than a makeover to give the Rays talent. Haha... ironic, huh? Just like in the picture above (CoCo Crisp after he charged the mound in a game in the regular season... didn't go like he planned) the Rays made a huge turnaround and had a monumental season at the Sox's expense. So none of it had to do with the look?

I think it did. Marketers get paid huge bucks to find out what attracts consumers and how to reach the audiences that are not responsive. Working in the great establishment of the Hat Shack for the past year, I can attest to the changing of the look making waves.(.. or shining rays? Bad attempt at a joke.) People came into our store and bought the TB hat initially because of it's appealing logo, but even more when they started to win. I even bought one for a friend who requested it and at first I thought, "Really? A Rays hat? No one in Florida is even a fan." So why is it a bad assumption that the new look maybe opened a few eyes to the potential of a different club?

Again, being a female and having the love for sports like I do I started tearing up when manager Joe Maddon came on after the championship game. He said over the mic that projected to the entire Tropicana Field, "Thank you, you've been with us, supporting us all season!" That is something the Rays have never been able to say, and hopefully will be able to say for a long time. 

The Rays have had their share of PR problems this season with their WWE week featuring MVP pitcher Matt Garza and Dioner Navarro fighting in the dugout and the other Rays/Sox brawl pictured above. Who said baseball fans don't enjoy a little bit of hockey, too? But the intensity and testosterone that brought these fights about carried a finally loyal fan base into the post season. Trading an uppercut for a full house works for me!

I think maybe this is what the Rays have needed. You can see the confidence boost in a kid when he receives his little league jersey so what says that the excitement ever dies? Also note that the crowd shots had people in the new jerseys and hats, I don't recall seeing the old, now vintage, logos... everyone caught the fever! 

Go Rays. You guys have represented your new logo well and proved that there was something new coming to your club: Champions. 

My major league dreams stay alive

In senior seminar we have been talking about finding internships, jobs, making resumes, and our infamous/famous portfolios and it's really starting to get to me. There is so much I need to be doing on top of how much I have been doing and I'm feeling a little un-Chelsea-like in the fact that I'm a little worried about it. I'm in the ring with my honors thesis, grad school applications, and need to find an internship all jabbing at me. I'm waiting to hear the bell and get the chance to sit in my corner to heal the worry-cuts... maybe even spit out the water they're not letting me drink. 

I sat in the press box at the now demolished Yankee Stadium last December and noticed the "Visiting PR" plaque on one of the seats. It felt right sitting in that seat. As of late, however, I have tossed around the idea of maybe shrinking my major league dreams into a minor league club or even working at a college in the sports information department. All aspects sound exciting and something I would love to get into but the major leagues have my heart. 

Just when I needed a little boost there it was. Maybe a sign, maybe coincidence, but it was there. Again I was perusing the Sports PR blog and there it was "Internship tips from the MLB PR professional."  It then lead me to this article that brought a huge smile to my face... "Women in sports." 

It can happen! There are women everywhere from on television broadcasting the game, on the field taking interviews, to grounds crew and, hark, public relations directors. Awesome. The article goes on to talk about how, "A love and knowledge of the game, along with confidence, the ability to think outside-the-box, and strong organizational skills," are what they are looking for in and out of sports. Bingo. Baseball/softball are the two things I can talk about, " 'Til the cows come home... or whatever that freggin' saying is," as Bobcat soccer head coach JuanPa yelled at the game two weeks ago. I know my stuff, I don't think like most people (you could say I'm a bit odd in the creative sense), and my planner and I are one. 

Paige Novack also wrote, "As long as you stay true to who you are, feel continually challenged intellectually and creatively by your job at hand and strive to always be your best only greatness is headed your way." I feel like I'm in the corner, the dude with the towels is pressing quarters into my cuts and slathering me with vaseline, and she is there holding my attention and talking me through this. I want to thank her, maybe give her a hug of relief from me, or even send her an Edible Arrangement. I'm going to do it, you'll see. 

 Had to take that picture; it fits me! Even if Florida kid is seeing snow for the first time! Wish it would have fallen while we were there. The field was covered though... it was beautiful!