It’s no secret: I love Google+ Hangouts. They’re effective, innovative, engaging and fun.

I actually feel the way about this technology today, as I did about Twitter back in the early days of WPS (2008) when we needed a way to share our player allocation and subsequent draft. The technology and opportunity Twitter presented seemed like the perfect way for us to share these events in real-time. The naysayers said, “It’s useless, you have no followers.” But my team and I persisted. Within a year, we were speaking to an audience of 250,000 followers and engaging with fans on a level that was never possible before.

Today, as the internet has evolved from real-time text, to real-time photos (cough, instagram) and videos (ahem, vine anybody?), I think the Google+ platform fills a niche where people with great things to say and content to share can come together both virtually and publicly and do just that. Like Twitter offered an entry point into real-time communications for the 2008 world, I think Google+ Hangouts offer useful and unique real-time technology for today.

My co-workers use Google+ Hangouts for private work meetings, our Digital team uses Google+ Hangouts on Air to heighten the conversation at key moments, and our clubs are using them to bring their players direct to their fans. Here are just a couple recent examples:

• 3/1/13 – Google+ Hangout on Air with 2012 MLS MVP Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
• 2/6/13 – Honduras vs. USA Google+ Hangout on Air with Alexi Lalas, Greg Lalas, Jimmy Conrad and Rob Stone (KICK TV)
• 1/25/13 – Google+ Hangout on Air with Bobby Boswell (Houston Dynamo)
• 11/30/12 – Google+ Hangout on Air with MLS Cup Goalkeeper, Houston Dyanamo’s Tally Hall (MLSsoccer.com)
• 9/21/12 – 24 Under 24 Google+ Hangout on Air with Darren Mattocks and CJ Sapong (MLSsoccer.com)

A year ago, naysayers told me, “Google+ will fail. Nobody uses it.” Yet my coworkers and I persisted. Today, it continues to grow, and we’re now over 1 million circlers strong. And because of the investments we’ve made in time, staffing and innovation, we’ve also earned the trust and support of our platform partners.

On Wednesday this week, we hosted Commissioner Garber’s 2013 March to Soccer Address and media availability via a live stream on the MLS YouTube Channel. Watch it here:

The Commissioner spoke for about 20 minutes about the “state of the league,” then took questions from fans and journalists through a Google+ Hangout – on everything from expansion, to the schedule, to TV ratings. The event took place at Google’s New York City office (thank you Google!), was streamed live on the MLS YouTube Channel (thank you YouTube!), the MLS Google+ page (thank you Google+!), and MLSsoccer.com (way to go MLS Digital team!).

With this event, Commissioner Garber became the first commissioner of a major sports league to address media and fans via a live Google+ Hangout (way to go MLS PR team!). Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

For the fans, this event marked the beginning of the 2013 season. But for me, it was another great example of Major League Soccer truly embracing the evolution of media and the digital age. I love that we don’t do things the way we’ve always done “just because,” but instead we try new ways of moving the game forward for our tech-savvy fans.

I’m energized by our Commissioner and executive team, because they believe in innovation, and I’m humbled by my incredible coworkers who continue to push the envelope with new technology day in and day out.

It’s safe to say that the MLS off-season has included a lot of presentations. Not that I mind, in fact anybody that’s ever worked with me will tell you that I love a good Power Point. But in all this prepping and presenting to our ticket sales professionals, digital leads, internal staff, and even our players, three best practices in personal social media continue to surface.

1. Be a Professional.

• It’s simple, really. Public comment through social media is never an appropriate or effective way to handle internal disagreements.
• Always remember to treat social media as if you are “on the record.” If you think you might be offending someone with what you are writing (or posting video of photos), then it’s probably best not to include that item.
• Social privacy is quickly becoming an antiquated notion (was it ever really possible?), so trying to separate your “work” account from your “private” account just isn’t realistic any more. Instead, portray an earnest, positive, authentic self and always think about the impressions you are making on friends, neighbors and business associates alike.

2. Ensure your personal accounts are set up for success.

• Fill out your profiles. Use a recognizable Twitter handle, an avatar, your real name, and add your branding and provide useful content about yourself in your bio to give context to your tweets.
• Consider traditional branding, like your resume business cards and wardrobe, but emphasize your digital portfolio, including your website, email, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and more.
• Check (and recheck from time-to-time) your privacy settings. Social platforms continue to evolve and changes to privacy policies are common.
• Where possible, align your presence across different platforms.

3. Embrace best practices.

• Listen and learn from what people have to say. Buyers, customers, website visitors and fans alike signal their intent by declaring problems.
• Don’t be afraid to say nothing. Sometimes silence is golden.
• On the other hand, don’t be shy to advertise. Ultimately, we all sell tickets and drive TV ratings.
• Be a helpful resource. Be the go-to person with the information everyone follows for news on a specific topic.
• Get creative, but keep it simple.
• Build a sincere relationship. Bring value to the relationship to establish trust and service your customers to build your reputation.
• Engage with your professional and social communities.

As adoption of social media continues to rise, it’s crucial to teach our newcomers the basics, while reinforcing best practices to the people who are consistently representing our brand across the Internet.

MLS hosted a Business Summit in Columbus earlier in September, which offered a great opportunity for club and league employees to discuss ideas and align goals. Not surprisingly, social media was a hot topic of conversation, and I presented a session on trends we’re seeing in the space. I’ve reworked them a bit from that presentation to make them more general and posted a similar list here.

I’d love to learn what you’re also seeing in the social community. Anything in particular you’re predicting sports marketers should consider in their 2013 strategic planning? Welcoming all suggestions and feedback either in the comments below or on twitter @vandey01.

1. Social is visual.

Web design has changed dramatically in the last two years with video and photos figuring prominently, and it’s no secret that people really, really love photos. So with that, social platforms are rapidly changing to adapt. Here are some examples.

• Facebook: Introducing Timeline
• Twitter: Because you have more to show

And we’ve seen the growth/emergence of new technologies and platforms dedicated exclusively to displaying and sharing visual content:

• Google+: Catch up in a hangout
• Pinterest: Pinterest is a virtual pinboard

If that’s not enough, consider the $1 billion sale of Instagram to Facebook. That’s a significant investment in a solely-visual platform.

Key takeaways

• Invest in high-quality videos and images.
• Show personality and give your brand a soul.
• Engage fans by crowd sourcing.

2. Social is mobile.

Mobile is big, and it’s getting bigger. Comscore reports that networking through mobile devices is the fastest growing use for smartphones, and the number of people using social networking applications on their smartphones has grown by 240% since last year.

Just check out the mobile calls to action on the landing pages of these popular social sites.

• GetGlue: Check-in to TV
• Yelp Mobile: Find a restaurant
• Words with Friends: Play games with friends

And check this Mobile Social Shoppers Report out, where we learn that 25% of shopping conversations are posted online while in-store.

So, as the popularity of smartphones and tablets increases and the number of mobile data users climbs, more and more people are turning to these devices for real-time engagement, answers, sharing and learning. You can’t even use Instagram without a mobile device!

Key Takeaways

• Ensure all content is visible in mobile.
• Engage in the second-screen experience.
• Research and understand the apps your demo is using.

3. Social makes money.

It’s reasonable for users to expect that “free” social sites will need to find a sustainable long-term revenue model beyond venture capital. This new wave of digital advertising services and products offer brands the ability to reach more members of their existing communities, while expanding their reach to new territories.

Here’s a look at some major social advertising platforms.

• Facebook: About Facebook Advertising
• Twitter: Start Advertising on Twitter
• Foursquare: Three reasons Foursquare Ads might work
• YouTube: YouTube means business

Business hope they can attract attention, find relevance, and build more effective communities through a more engaging social advertising program and social platforms are banking that businesses will make the investments to do this.

Key Takeaways

• Invest in a social advertising as part of the overall marketing mix.
• Test different ad types to see what works with each market segment.
• Be creative with your ads, a bit of personalization goes a long way.

4. Search is social.

Social continues to play a big role in search, and it’s growing every day. From Facebook integration into Bing to the +1 integration into Google Search, the personalization of search based on our social friends and interests continues to evolve.

Here are examples of how some top search engines are integrating social.

• Google: Search, plus your World
• Bing: Reinvents social search and discovery
• Facebook: Search engine on the way
• Twitter: How to find people

Check out this post by SEO Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land, who programmed an entire track at SMX in San Jose last spring around Social meeting Search. That commitment to the topic speaks volumes to me.

Key Takeaways

• Search engines will only become smarter, more relevant and more personalized.
• Update your Google+ timeline and participate in #hashtag conversations on Twitter because these can be a real influences on the end user.

5. Social drives business decisions.

I wouldn’t say we’re entirely there, but with the rise of better analytics platforms on both Facebook and Twitter, we’re seeing decision-makers push marketing budgets away from traditional media to a more measurable (and impactful if you ask me!) commodity – social media.

Here’s a look at some platforms and how they work.

• Facebook: Insights
• Twitter: Web Analytics
• Twitter: Advertiser Analytics
• GetGlue: Dashboard
• Google: Social Analytics

We can learn so much from social analytics. I also think sites like Foursquare and Google+ (who currently offer very limited data) would be well-served to build analytics platforms. At the end of the day if a marketer can’t measure ROI, corporate investments simply won’t happen at scale.

Key Takeaways

• Social analytics will continue to evolve, so we as social marketers must evolve with them.
• Plan ahead by identifying key metrics and put a plan in place to track.
• Take time to translate the data and share your social media successes with executives so they continue to invest.

Conclusion

Those are my top five trends, but there are plenty of others and I’d love to hear from you. Is there anything endemic to sports that we should be paying particular attention to?

After the course in St. Lucia, I flew to St. Kitts and Nevis, where I had the honor of working as a Communications and Marketing Instructor for another FIFA Women’s Com-Unity Seminar.

My flight out of St. Lucia was really early in the morning, and after a short layover in Antigua, I was on my way to the island of St. Kitts, with its gorgeous green mountains, stunning white beaches and crystal clear blue waters.

Holy canoli, St. Kitts is gorgeous!

— Amanda Vandervort (@vandey01) August 8, 2012

From the moment I landed, the St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association took great care of me. Experiences like expediting customs, or having the car ready and waiting with the air conditioning already blasting, are the humbling details I love to reflect on.

We zipped right over to Football House where I was introduced to SKNFA President Mr. Anthony Johnson, his entire staff, and our course coordinator, Miss Astonia Carey (aka Cherry), all of whom were incredibly thoughtful and generous.

Home of Football in St. Kitts and Nevis #SKNFA Excited for #FIFA Women’s Football Com-Unity Seminar this weekend! twitter.com/vandey01/statu…

— Amanda Vandervort (@vandey01) August 8, 2012

We worked through the agenda, sorted out the equipment and were interviewed for Mr. Vernon Springer’s radio show.

.@arode8 & @hmacintosh13 hitting the #FIFA #SKNFA interviews right off the bat twitter.com/vandey01/statu…

— Amanda Vandervort (@vandey01) August 8, 2012

The seminar kicked off the next morning with a full day dedicated to development of the game, and the SKNFA shared their plans for women’s football on the island.

The second and third days focused on marketing and communications. Representatives from the SKNFA shared their challenges, opportunities and visions for female football in St. Kitts and Nevis, and pledged their commitment to ensuring all girls and women have the same opportunities as boys and men.

Our group #SKNFA Com-Unity twitter.com/vandey01/statu…

— Amanda Vandervort (@vandey01) August 9, 2012

In general, the event could not have been timelier. Between the gold medal match of the Olympics and the finals of the LIME Star Brown Women’s League, women’s football was certainly in the spotlight this week.

It was pretty cool to watch track and field at the Olympics in the Caribbean – everybody was Usain Bolt crazy! And the FIFA Development Officer for the Caribbean is, of course, Jamaican, so that made it even more special.

A #SKNFA shout-out from our Jamaican #FIFA Development Officer (Big Mac) to Mr. @usainbolt twitter.com/vandey01/statu…

— Amanda Vandervort (@vandey01) August 10, 2012

Given the Gold Medal Match of the Olympics was happening during the Seminar, and a CONCACAF nation was competing, we decided to stream it live. Nevermind that I had to VPN into the U.S. to get it done ;) the participants seemed to love that we made it happen.

Watching #USAvJPN at #SKNFA Com-Unity Seminar #FIFA #London2012 twitter.com/vandey01/statu…

— Amanda Vandervort (@vandey01) August 9, 2012

It wasn’t all work while I was there, though. Certainly one of the best parts of these FIFA Com-Unity courses is dining at local establishments. In St. Kitts and Nevis, the delicious restaurant Sprat Net stole my heart.

The last day of the Com-Unity Seminar brought the girls football festival, where nearly 50 young soccer girls came out to play. An awards ceremony concluded the event, and each attendee received a Certificate of Participation from the President Johnson and the FIFA delegation.

On my final day in St. Kitts and Nevis, the LIME Star Browne Women’s League held it’s inaugural championship game. It was awesome to see the entire community come out in support!

Overall, St. Kitts and Nevis was an incredible experience and I learned so much from all the people I met while I was there. I’d like to give a shout-out to my amazing partners in crime, Mr. Howard McIntosh (aka Big Mac) and Mrs. Andrea Rodebaugh. And of course, special thanks to FIFA Women’s Football Development Manager Mayi Cruz-Blanco. Without her support and perseverance none of this amazing work in the promotion, growth and development of women’s football would be happening. I’m honestly not sure how she does it.

Goodbye, St. Kitts. twitter.com/vandey01/statu…

— Amanda Vandervort (@vandey01) August 13, 2012

St. Lucia, a tropical island in the Eastern Caribbean, is an absolutely breathtaking, scenic place with incredibly friendly people. The country has a small population of about 160,000 people, and every single person I passed by – whether in the FIFA Women’s Com-Unity Seminar itself, or on my way out to dinner – greeted me with a smile and a warm welcome.

Working with the St. Lucia Football Association (SLFA) has been equally as wonderful, and I’m excited to see that the commitment to girls’ soccer development on the island is both genuine and well-planned. They are one of the few countries I’ve ever come across with a comprehensive Development Plan for female football, and a President who is steadfast in his commitment to it. I look forward to following St. Lucia’s progress in the months and years ahead.

For the full write-up of the event (submitted by yours truly), hop on over to FIFA.com and read: Women’s game given Com-Unity lift in St. Lucia. In the meantime, here’s a look at some of my favorite moments through the lens of Twitter, and the #FIFASLFA hashtag.

Happening now as we set up for the Com-Unity in St. Lucia — steel drums :) #FIFASLFA twitter.com/vandey01/statu…

— Amanda Vandervort (@vandey01) August 1, 2012

#FIFASLFA – SlFA speaking women football at FIFA COM-UNiTY Seminar- Great Women Development Plan.

— Bobby Hippolyte (@BHippolyte) August 1, 2012

Ms. Hippolyte, Parliament: “let’s focus on early identification of girls w/ interest&passion for the game.” #FIFASLFA twitter.com/vandey01/statu…

— Amanda Vandervort (@vandey01) August 1, 2012

Ms Calderon, Prez/Manufacturer’s Assn, rocked it “Private sector will partner w/ institn’s that share goals” #FIFASLFA twitter.com/vandey01/statu…

— Amanda Vandervort (@vandey01) August 1, 2012

Participants, SLFA Prez, FIFA reps & Gov’t officials. (a larger group photo followed with all participants) #FIFASLFA twitter.com/vandey01/statu…

— Amanda Vandervort (@vandey01) August 1, 2012

Big Mac doing his thing. #FIFASLFA twitter.com/vandey01/statu…

— Amanda Vandervort (@vandey01) August 1, 2012

Amanda Petra and Andrea @fifa sponsored Women’s football Seminar #fifaslfa #FIFA twitter.com/kaeleybellas/s…

— Petra bellas (@kaeleybellas) August 2, 2012

Working groups! #communications #FIFASLFA twitter.com/vandey01/statu…

— Amanda Vandervort (@vandey01) August 2, 2012

Football is not only a man’s sport #FIFASLFA twitter.com/vandey01/statu…

— Amanda Vandervort (@vandey01) August 2, 2012

As I type this, I’m sitting in Newark airport… post MLS All-Star Game and NSCAA Board of Directors meeting, and pre-FIFA Com-Unity Course in St. Lucia…

And I’m thinking to myself, Yeah, I’m absolutely exhausted, but I really must be one of the luckiest people on the planet.

I do what I love, and I love what I do. That’s all – sometimes 140 characters just isn’t enough. :-)

#KeepHerInTheGame – That’s the hashtag the Women’s Sports Foundation is pushing throughout the weekend to raise awareness of two key issues:

• The 40th Anniversary of Title IX (June 23, 1972)
• By age 14, girls are dropping out of sports at twice the rate of boys.

WSF is working to mobilize the sporting community to support girls and young women to continue playing, because, “when they walk away from sport, they walk away from their potential.”

Keeping girls in the game means keeping girls active, healthy, strong and confident. It is a fundamental need with profoundly positive outcomes. It is why we educate, fund and inspire girls to stay in sports.

I’m proud to say that with the encouragement and guidance of SUM’s rockstar President, Kathy Carter, Major League Soccer is supporting the movement as well. Here’s a quick rundown of how we activated:

• Internal emails to the MLS league office and league-wide to encourage staff to change their Facebook and/or Twitter profile picture to them as a young athlete or a young female athlete that they support.
• Blog post on MLSsoccer.com in both English and Spanish.
• Posted the PSA from Gatorade/WSF to MLSsoccer.com and YouTube with an MLS-specific voice-over.
• Posts on Facebook and Twitter.
• A Facebook Photo Gallery with images of MLS employees and executives who have been impacted by Title IX.
• WSF/Gatorade ads about #KeepHerInTheGame throughout our digital inventory (ads on the website).
• PSA in our halftime videos on MLS Live, our online streaming service.
• In-Stadium support all weekend including field boards and video boards.

Nearly every one of my coworkers played a role in bringing this to life; A big thanks to everybody who participated, supported and worked to make this happen.

I was invited to the Home of FIFA in Zurich, Switzerland, for the Women’s Football Instructors Seminar, from March 20-23, 2012. My work with FIFA is generally focused on Marketing and Communications for Com-Unity Seminars, so I’m incredibly thankful for this opportunity to come be a part of what I’d call, “coaches week,” in Zurich.

During this time, a small group of us worked on the structure and organization of the Com-Unity Seminars, while the larger group of participants discussed curriculum and tactics for FIFA’s coaching courses. The cross-over between programs was crucial, as I collected a ton of feedback from instructors on the successes and challenges regarding seminars/courses they’ve been a part of. I learned about ways I can better support coaches who work Com-Unity Seminars with me. And importantly, we were all able to meet face-to-face.

I believe we counted that 19 of the seminar participants are, or had previously been, head coaches at National Teams. We’re talking April Heinrichs (USA), Hope Powell (ENG), Tina Theune (GER), Carolina Morace (ITA), Vera Pauw (NED), Leonardo Cuellar (MEX), and more. Simply awesome.

The Home of FIFA.

A moment that struck me personally was when Jacquie Shipanga, the Head Coach of the Namibian Women’s National Team, spoke to the group about her challenges as a coach in Africa. Jacquie and I presented a Com-Unity Seminar together in Tanzania back in the fall, and she’s one of the bravest, strongest, most caring souls I’ve ever met. Her insights were incredibly powerful.

In an interview with FIFA.com during the course, Jacquie said:

The challenges we have to face in our country are so overwhelming sometimes that there’s no way of tackling them. You end up asking yourself who is responsible for the coaches and instructors. That’s why this seminar is so valuable.

We’re getting the opportunity here to work with role models who have an in-depth understanding of the women’s game. It’s really motivating for us to see leading coaches like Tina and April. They’re very warm people and they’re offering their help to us. I really feel everyone’s looking after me. It’s fantastic.

Here are just a couple of the photos I snapped during the week:

Left: My place setting. Right: President Blatter giving his opening speech.

Left: A panel discussion with National Team coaches. Right: On the pitch just outside FIFA’s main building.

A sincere thanks to FIFA and all those who made this week possible, especially Mayi Turner-Kerr Cruz Blanco, who literally works day in and day out for the development of women’s football around the world. Though she’s often behind the scenes organizing seminars and developing programs, she’s truly a rockstar who lives on the front lines.

I traveled to Austin, TX, last week, as NFL invited me to speak on a panel to their digital teams about how we’re using social media at MLS. I was excited and humbled to have been invited; the NFL is one of the organizations I’m constantly looking to for ideas and inspiration (did you see the social media command center for Superbowl?!). Other panelists included Michael Lazerow from Buddy Media, Omid Ashtari from Twitter, and Rachel Webber from Tumblr.

Some of the things we talked about included:

• The unique similarities and differences between each of the social platforms.
• Best practices when publishing to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.
• New Facebook timeline and how it may impact sports businesses.
• How analytics can and should be included in the decision-making process.
• And of course, things we’ve each learned just by giving it the old college try.

Thank you to Jeff Berman, the GM of NFL Digital, who moderated the discussion. He made me feel absolutely at ease speaking to a room full of peers. It was also super-cool that he set up a Yammer chat so attendees could ask questions in real-time while we were speaking and he could select the most relevant ones to direct toward the panel. (I’m taking that idea to my next speaking engagement for sure.)

Overall, it was a great event, I met some amazing people, and I’m thankful to have been invited. I can’t wait to see the ideas the NFL and its teams come up with in 2012!

I arrived tonight in Vancouver, B.C., for the FIFA/CONCACAF Conference on the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany 2011. After looking through my brochure, I’m excited to see that many coaches, instructors and staff from FIFA projects I’ve worked on previously, and many of my fellow Americans, will be here.

The quote in our schedule from President Sepp Blatter states:

This conference will be a fantastic opportunity to bring the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 to the member associations of the CONCACAF region. The programme will analyse the performance of the participating teams and more specifically the CONCACAF ones. It will also provide a great platform for discussing the future of women’s football in the region at member association level.

After peeking my head into the Grand Ballroom earlier today to see the incredible set-up, I’m really looking forward to an inspiring weekend. I’ll do my best to post updates here on my blog, but Twitter will be real-time so follow me there if you’d like. (Fair warning: I’m not sure how much I’ll actually be able to tweet given the nature of the conference, but I’ll do my best. I’m also hoping I’ll still get the hotel Wi-Fi over there.)

Follow @vandey01

Here’s tomorrow’s schedule, Thursday, January 26, 2012:

9:00am Opening Ceremony
– Chuck Blazer (CONCACAF)
– Jill Fracisco (CONCACAF)
– Dominique Maestracci (CSA)
– Annette Wildgoose (Sport Canada)

10:00am Introduction
– Thierry Regenass (FIFA)

10:15am Review of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011
– April Heinrichs (USA)
– Vera Pauw (Netherlands)
– Anne Noe (Belgium)
– Sylvie Beliveau (Canada)

1:00pm The World Champions
– Eji Ueda (Japan)
– Hiroyuki Horino (Japan)

4:00pm Analysis of Physical Condition at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011
– Michel Ritschard (Switzerland)

4:45pm Injuries and Injury Prevention / F-MARC studies
– Cathy Campbell (Canada)

Evening
Official Dinner