I only have a few more days left at my internship with the Perth Heat. I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunities presented and am excited about seeing what impact my actions have on the brand visibility of the Perth Heat.
The season is only 10 days away now, and so a lot of my recent work has gone into game day initiatives and the various communication elements involved in preparing for a game night with the Perth Heat. For this post, I want to just give you guys a quick insight into the planning and implementation of game nights, and what exactly goes on. The following is a list (in order) of the tasks undertaken by communication staff prior to the Perth Heats first pre season game last Thursday night.
(The Calm Before the Storm.......Which turned into an actual storm on Saturday Night)
The Perth Heat have over 50 corporate partners, many of whom will regularly attend games at the "diamond lounge" (equivalent to a corporate box at the footy). It is the job of the commercial manager to organise which sponsors will be in attendance (mainly via phone communication), and begin allocating space in the diamond lounge, as well as prior transport for corporate partners.
2. Create social media and PA announcment schedule
One of the unique experiences of a baseball game is the degree to which PA announcements are used. As well as updating the play and score, PA announcements and video boards are able to be used by sponsors to promote their product to fans in attendance. Each sponsor has a policy regarding PA announcements written into their agreement with Perth Heat. A lot of the food trucks at the game for example, expect at least 1 social media mention during the game(https://twitter.com/PerthHeat/status/522724507622973440).
A few of the sponsors also sponsor game events such as Home Run's and Foul Ball's so it has to be ensured that these are conveyed over the PA announcment
3. Confirm first pitch, and 7th inning stretch entertainment
This was not included in pre-season matches, but is still an important part of the game night event operations. The right to throw out the first pitch is usually given to corporate sponsors to raffle off, whilst little league junior players are given an opportunity to run out onto the field during the middle of the 7th inning (much like what is done at AFL and Cricket matches). It is important there is a clear understanding of who is doing what, and having a strict schedule of when it will occur.
4. Finalizing Media Attendance
There is a press section allocated at the Barbagallo Ballpark. All games are streamed online, and broadcast through Sport FM radio station, so it is important to ensure that all equipment and facilities are set up and ready prior to the gates opening. Any journalists attending the game should have access to Wifi, and broadcast staff with the necessary equipment.
5. Finalise other arrangements with ground staff and team operations
The final step involved is to check that ground staff have completed their tasks, and the ballpark is in perfect condition to host game night. This step is really a means of checking off that all elements of the organization are ready for game night, not just communications
Then finally the lights are on, and the game begins. Luckily most of the hard work is done, so most staff can sit back and enjoy the game. However from a communications point of view, there are still a few things involved in game night opperations.
1. Ensuring all stakeholders are satisfied
This is really a job for all members of the Perth Heat organisation. Generally speaking the commercial manager will spend the game night in the Diamond Lounge with the corporate partners with the General Manager. Other non-event staff will hang out at the members bar, talking to Perth Heat members to ensure everyone is enjoying themselves. Communication staff are encouraged to do this also, but with more of a focus towards the press section of the stadium, ensuring that the media have everything they need to cover the game.
2. Live Social Media updating
One of the main aspects of game day for communications staff is to live tweet matches. The rule of thumb is usually to update the score at the end of each inning, or when a run is scored by either team. https://twitter.com/PerthHeat/status/523106417289338881
An effort should also be made to see if anyone else is using social media at the ground, and to retweet and engage with them using the official account.
(Guess the question correctly, and win a photo with a man in a dog suit!!!!)
3. Run Game-Day competitions and initatives
Usually there will be a few competitions run for fans attending the game. Prize packs are often given to fans who catch foul balls. One new competition that was trialled during the pre season game was a "find the mascot" competition. It was posted on twitter that the first fan to get a photo with the Perth Heat mascot (who was hidden somewhere in the ballpark) would win a prize. A lot of the time sponsors (such as monster ball or Hog's breath) will bring their own mascot to games to run similar competitions, and these are all outlined in the individual sponsor agreements.
So that is just a bit of insight into what goes into game nights at the Perth Heat. I found there was a lot of stuff that I had learnt in units such as PR Techniques and PR Media that I was able to apply to this situation. I hope that some of you found this post interesting, and may even check out a Perth Heat game sometime this summer.
Till next time
Simon
Oh, and for your information the Perth Heat won the game 9-2
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