Railbird 2004–2019

Media Archive

Know Your Bloggers

At the NTRA marketing summit last September, I was asked by one industry executive how racetracks should deal with racing bloggers. I replied vaguely along the lines of, “Get to know the bloggers covering your circuit.”

While reading reactions to the failed SXSW panel “New Think for Old Publishers” this morning, I came across this advice to the publishing industry, which struck me as a similar, but more articulate response to the question:

Aside three: Might as well address the blogger question. It’s quite simple. Find the bloggers big and small in your various genres, develop a relationship with them, understand their tastes, like, dislikes, deadlines, lead time, preferred method of communication, preferred formats for books [remember, they are publishers too and have many of the same issues you have]. Treat the bloggers with respect — you need them more than they need you. And note, the publishers who are already doing this well are leaps and bounds ahead of you.

A few adjustments and the prescription works for racing: Find the bloggers big and small covering your racetrack(s) or events; develop relationships with them; understand the stories and angles that appeal to them, their publishing schedules, and their preferred forms of communication. Add them to your mailing list for press releases and reply to their questions as you would inquiries from other media sources. Treat bloggers with respect.

Hm … that is quite simple.

Posted in Media on March 17, 2009 / Tagged Blogging, Industry, Marketing, Media, Racetracks

It’s Frank Speaking

… but it’s hardly frank talk in a Blood-Horse interview with Frank Stronach on the Magna bankruptcy and what it might mean for the racing industry. The transcription interview, begins with this illuminating exchange:

The Blood-Horse: Can you give us any insight into the Magna bankruptcy?

Stronach: “The horse community really has got to get together. There are so many flaws in the thing. We’ve got to correct it or otherwise racing will have a hard time.”

Read on, and learn that there are a few things (unstated) that Stronach would do differently and that his heart really, really is in the right place.

Posted in Media on March 17, 2009 / Tagged Blood-Horse, Frank Stronach, Magna

Notes for 2009-03-12

– New York Times turf writer Joe Drape (@joedrape) has joined the mindcasting masses on Twitter, and although it appears he’s still settling into the amorphous medium, his feed has the potential to become an interesting glimpse into how one reporter covers his beat. Drape’s already proven capable of engaging his followers and sparking micro-debates — not a bad start.

– Seattle Post-Intelligencer publisher Roger Oglesby said on Wednesday that Hearst would announce its plans for the newspaper, which has been up for sale and is expected to shut down all operations but its online presence, sometime next week. All 170 employees of the paper have been notified that their jobs will end between March 18 and April 1, including veteran turf writer Larry Lee Palmer, who filed his last column on Monday. Bizarre and despicable, writes Marks Potts of the vague situation.

– Post Parade broke the news earlier this week that turf writer Gary West has been laid off. 3/13/09 Update: West remains employed. “Apparently we still live in the age of miracles,” said the Star-Telegram writer. Guess that means Post Parade won’t become Texas racing’s publication of record on March 21.

– Another Twitter mention, this time for NYRA, which is doing a bang-up job sending out scratches, links and photos, updates on inquiries and spills, etc. through its @NYRAcomm and @NYRAnews feeds. What is the funny little service good for? Anything that can be delivered in 140 characters — Twitter is broadcast, micro-blogging, chat, live search. More tracks would do well to follow NYRA’s lead. (That may be first time I’ve said such a thing — go NYRA.)

– I’m looking for a web developer with strong programming and database skills, experienced in building web applications, to work with on a project. Racing knowledge would be nice, but isn’t required. Please email for details.

Posted in Media on March 12, 2009 / Tagged Newspapers, Social Media, Turf Writers, Twitter, Web Development