The Activ8Social team would like to thank Lewis Howes from Sports Networker and Amy Martin from Digital Royalty for hosting an informative event this past Monday at New York City’s top social media gathering place, the Roger Smith Hotel (we really encourage you to check out this family-owned and operated artsy boutique). 
Much like the Princeton Sports Symposium on Friday, December 4, the a8s team took advantage of an opportunity to meet and hang out with some of the brightest minds in the sports social media, sponsorship, and marketing space. While the larger Princeton event on Friday was aimed as much at students as it was our peers, the Sports Networker Summit was less a conference and more a room full of interactive discussions.
Many of the participants could be seen with pen and paper in hand while others, like the a8s team, were rocking laptops and simultaneously following Twitter discussion via the real-time broadcast on livestream. You can check out a photo of the Roger Smith Hotel here.
By far the highlight of the day was the extremely entertaining and informative Converging Social Media and Traditional Media discussion between 3 industry veterans. It’s not often you get the chance to hear one of the world’s most widely read newspapers share thoughts on the future of the industry with an extremely disruptive (to traditional media) site like SB Nation.
- Jim Bankoff – Founder of SB Nation
- Brian Cuban – Founder of The Cuban Revolution
- Tom Jolly – Senior Sports Editor for the NY Times
In between discussions and after the event, a8s enjoyed putting faces to a few tweeple in the sports social media world making some worth-while chatter out there including Ed Tseng, Amanda Rykoff, Stefanie Mara, and Zachary Lipari.
We also met some intriguing companies that work with college/ pro sports teams including Brand Thunder which has developed plugins for Firefox and Internet Explorer that brand your browser and Rocketseed which offers a service for intelligent branded email. We encourage you to check out both these companies because they are building cool products which enhance your digital experience.
If you happened to miss the entirety of the Sports Networker Summit or even a small segment because the boss wouldn’t let you out to play, be sure to check out the video replays of the other 3 discussions here.
Sports Sponsorships and ROI
- Ben Sturner – Founder and CEO of Leverage Agency
- Bob Gearing – VP Corporate Partnerships, Staten Island Yankees
Social Media Marketing and Measurement
- Ryan Holmes – Founder and CEO, Invoke Media
- Michael DiLorenzo – Director of Social Media Marketing & Strategy, National Hockey League
Ticket Sales, Service, and Retention via Social Media
- Drew Cloud – VP of Ticket Sales, Service & Retention, NY Knicks/MSG Sports
- Brian Simpson – Director of Social Hospitality, Roger Smith Hotel
