// BONUS ONLINE-ONLY COVERAGE // FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
Use social media to maximize communication
By Terry Kolesar, Editor, terry.kolesar@ usacurl.org, @terry_usacurl (Twitter)
cial media information – follow this, like that, etc. Tose of us who scoffed at Twitter years ago and said that Facebook was not here to stay have been proven wrong. Ten years ago when I start- ed working for USA Curling we had zero social media platforms. At the 2006 Olympic Games we did no social media outreach. By the Van- couver Games in 2010, we created a USA Curl- ing Facebook page and saw it blow up with fans (or “likes”) during the two weeks of the Olympic Games and now continue to watch it slowly grow as people to stay in touch with USA Curling. Our Twitter account – and those of our athletes – be- came a key interaction between us and our fans. And I’m not just talking about those of you read- ing this magazine because you are curlers already – I’m talking about the scads of people who are fans of the sport but have never thrown a stone – the wannabe curlers. So how does this relate to you as a club mem-
T
ber? In the past few years I’ve followed many of our member clubs – Wausau, Hollywood, Sche- nectady to name just a few – that are very suc- cessful with social media reach out to their mem- bers and fans to share news, from open house times to league times having to change for what- ever reason. Odds are pretty high that multiple people will re-tweet that information and thus increase the sets of eyes on your initial message. Our athletes have been effective, too. Just ask 2010 Olympian Chris Plys, who has 3,700 people interested in hearing what he has to say about where his team is curling or what tattoo design he should get next. Can social media be a negative? Sure. People
can criticize greatly while hidden behind 140 characters and a Twitter handle. Tey can also tweet and regret it (a la several 2012 Olympians who were sent home from London for just that). Put something on the Internet and it never dies.
urn on the news and watch any TV program or visit your favorite web- site and you are inundated with so-
It fades away but it never goes away. But those are just cautionary tales, of course. Behind Face- book and Twitter as the No. 3 social media tool is Pinterest. I am not pretending to be an expert in any of the above, but I do know that people much smarter than me in social media marketing will tell you that if you want your business (club) to grow, you cannot ignore the impact that social media can have for you. Masterful Mielke
Popular U.S. Curling News columnist Jon
Mielke became the 40th individual inducted into the United States Curling Association Hall of Fame (see story on Page 25), which is housed at the USA Curling national office in Stevens Point, Wis. Don’t tell Tuck, but Jon’s column gets the most feedback to my inbox, plus he always turns his columns in way ahead of deadline, making him a quality candidate for teacher’s pet. Keep the friendly rivalry going, boys, and keep up the good volunteer work. Philly cheesesteak, anyone?
We are excited to be heading back to the Phila-
delphia area for the 2014 USA Curling National Championships. Tis hard-working host com- mittee proved to be a very worthy host in 2012 with sold-out crowds on the final day of the event at the IceWorks Skating Complex in Aston. Plus, the event will begin just six days aſter the conclu- sion of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Rus- sia. With Philadelphia’s proximity to New York City, we are hoping to capitalize on many media opportunities. Even better would be an Olympic medal or two to have on display fresh from the action at the Ice Cube in Sochi. App-etite for curling
We have received a lot of positive feedback
about the new format of the Curling News. Tank you to all of you who took the time to reach out to me. We really appreciate it. Planning, organiz- ing, writing, laying out, editing and publishing this new color magazine has really re-ignited my enjoyment of being the editor of the Curling News. Every day I’m thinking about new things to do and ways to improve the content so readers will be excited to turn the next page and see what
we have to offer. Have you downloaded the free app yet? Te links are located on the home page of the USA Curling website at www.usacurl.org. Look for the lime green Android monster/robot icon and Apple’s all-too-obvious apple icon in the “Be Heard and Show Us Your Support” sec- tion. Te Amazon App store also features the app for the Kindle Fire. As a reminder, if you want to receive the digital edition, you will need to check the USA Curling membership database (See in- structions on P. 5) to ensure that we have your email address. Te first e-edition was open to anyone but moving forward the digital edition is a USA Curling member benefit. What else would you like to see in the Curling News? Send us some feedback (terry.kolesar@usacurl.org).