Here Comes Everybody
Well, this is interesting: On Left at the Gate yesterday, Alan posted a conversation he had on Saturday at Aqueduct with Breeders’ Cup media contact Jim Gluckson about the BC changes announced earlier this year. According to Gluckson, BC officials were taken aback by the ferocity of the criticism and charges of sexism from bloggers, racing forums, and prominent columnists that greeted the news. Changing the name of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff to Ladies’ Classic was a mistake, albeit well-intentioned, said Gluckson, and going with Filly and Mare Classic might have been a better choice. Hardly scandalous stuff, but you won’t find that post on Left at the Gate today. Alan told me in an email that a Breeders’ Cup representative asked nicely if he would consider taking down the post since Gluckson was speaking informally, and he chose to do so, pending an official statement. (On the web, though, nothing ever disappears.)
I’ve been reading Clay Shirky’s “Here Comes Everybody,” which is the tech buzz book of the moment and deservedly so, since it makes sense of how social networks and web 2.0 tools are upending relationships between individuals and institutions, consumers and businesses. Because of blogs, YouTube, and Twitter, the airline passengers’ bill of rights is a legislative issue, the world knows about the crackdown on Buddhist monks protesting the Burmese Junta, and Michael Arrington has a working web connection again. Every institution is subject to being reshaped by the net. Racing is no exception, and neither is the industry’s struggle to figure out how function in this wired landscape. Just last month, NTRA president Alex Waldrop wrote a column that talked up the organization’s web 2.0 strategy for connecting with fans and horseplayers:
Already, amateur bloggers and core fans are communicating and creating content every day on the Internet about racing and the industry. Why not formally enlist them in the process? … Using the social networking opportunities that dominate the Internet, we can now engage our most enthusiastic players on a massive scale and foster the collaboration so necessary for real change.
Sounds promising, and you can now find widgets, podcasts, and a link to the NTRA Facebook page on ntra.com, but it takes a bit more than that to engage your audience these days. There are two challenges to overcome for this strategy to be a success: One is for institutions like the NTRA and Breeders’ Cup to grasp that they don’t control the conversation anymore. The traditional model of broadcast communications — from one to many — is no longer effective, at least, not if those organizations want to keep and attract fans and customers. The second is to foster a web 2.0 culture within the industry. Not so much among fans and players — give people the tools and data they want and just watch them create — but among the managers and executives. What Gluckson told Alan suggests that the industry is paying attention to the conversation happening among its most ardent fans, but the BC’s request that Alan reconsider his innocuous post says the old ways still rule.
By the way, have you signed the petition calling for the Breeders’ Cup to restore the name of the Distaff or change it to the Filly and Mare Classic? Click here to add your name — it sounds like we have a shot at making that happen.
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