Yours truly was privileged to speak at the third annual Sports Fan Engagement Conference in Charlotte this week. Here’s a short post of observations…

No-one knows what to do with VR…. yet

This is an old, old story. Something bright and shiny appears, everyone “oohs” and “aahs” then a squeaky voice at the back of the room pipes up: “so what are we going to do with it then?”

VR was mentioned numerous panels without any specificity. In fairness one panel was originally scheduled but, for whatever reason, did not take place. There are clever people working on applications for VR right now but then clever people worked on Google Wave. Far too early too tell.

Quality execution is nearly always the key

Be honest, who has really shifted the needle in digisport? Maybe the LA Kings trash-talk Twitter feed back in the day or Clemson’s original and very visual take at the moment. The former is still being copied, the latter will be too. A presentation by the Miami Heat on their new mobile app was impressive so was Scott Kegley’s vine work with the Minnesota Vikings and the Carolina Panthers’ contribution about their social media. Essentially there was nothing we have not seen before but all showed expert application of knowledge, patience and care.

Not enough Snapchat

There was an excellent talk by Justin Karp on Day Two with a solid concentration on Snapchat. But it was conspicuous by its absence elsewhere. This was a surprise as sports teams are wading in on this platform at the moment. And rightly so.

We all have the same issues so 101s really work

As I said, there is an understandable emphasis on the new at any conference. But a whistle-stop 101 through the basics often provides many more practical takeaways. Whether it is streamlining an existing process, filling in a gap or a full facepalm of how-the-hell-i-missed-that. Something always crops up. Sometimes it is an optical illusion in which you have been perceiving the candlestick while someone else is only recognizing the two faces. You’re both right. That is why Kenton Olsen’s targeting, segmenting 101 was 45 minutes well spent.

Finally…

Gif or jif

Because the digisport world can’t make up its mind, let’s just say Gif, hard G, and have done with it. Annoying.

DISCLAIMER: The scientists advancing cloning technology really need to get a move on. Their completely laziness meant I did not see everything. Nowhere near. Happy to be corrected.