Sutton Mirror Piece

As someone who likes to voice her opinion and enjoys a good debate, I was excited what we could write an opinion piece.  A majority of people don’t like outspoken people, but in our world today, it takes courage to stand up and speak your mind.  I wish more people would do so, but in a manner which is tasteful.  For this particular Sutton mirror blog, I am choosing to write about the game speed of softball compared to the game speed of baseball.  The difference has always been of annoyance to me, especially three different aspects of the game.

1.       Softball infield…..7 minutes    •   •  Baseball infield……Who cares! We like to watch paint dry

First of all, softball never used to allow teams to do infield before the game.  You could hit grounders and pop flys on the side but no one was allowed on the field.  Today, they have graciously given us 7 whole minutes.  Seven minutes isn’t enough time to hardly hit the ball to everyone twice but stay within your 7 minutes or the umpires will already serve you your first warning.  Heck with baseball, let’s see if we can bore the fans before the game even starts.  Wait, not bored enough yet?!  Don’t worry, I’ll keep hitting you grounders till you make a good throw over to first, no biggie.

2.      Time between Softball innings….1 minute and 5 pitches   •   •  Time between Baseball innings…Intermission

Literally one minute.  Coaches have hardly any time to say anything to their defensive players coming off the field not to mention the girl who is up to bat first.  “Hustle in, hustle out ladies,” but where is the hustle in baseball?  Time between baseball innings, I have the ability to go to the bathroom, grab a bite to eat, and still return to my chair before the next batter is up.  Many don’t even care to take their equipment back to the dugout.  They have some younger kid do it for them, which don’t get me wrong, does help keep things moving.  It bothers me though when guys can waltz on the field and waltz back off like they don’t have a care in the world.  

3.       Softball passed ball with nobody on…hustle back or the ump gets irritated   •   •  Baseball passed ball with nobody on…(raises hand up to receive ball)

Really?!  I know the backstop is WAAAAAY back there, but you missed the ball didn’t you?  Why should the guy on deck have to stop what is he doing to get the ball?  I get that it isn’t always your fault, but going after your ball would teach you something.  From my coaching experience, young catchers who miss a lot of balls find out real quick they need to be better at keeping the ball in front because so many times going back to the fence can get tiring. 

I realize that some of these things are just part of the game, but when you’re trying to teach young kids hustle and hard work, where does that fit in with not doing either of them?  Softball is an extremely quick game.  That is what makes it exciting.  Most softball games can be completely before the 3^rd inning of the baseball game.  Baseball should take some pointers from softball and it all starts with a little hustle.

Winning on Pinterest

As an avid "Pinner" myself, I wanted to look into what companies are doing to create a brand through the popular social media site call Pinterest.  Known for being visually appealing, I wanted to look deeper into some tips that top companies are using to sell their products and merchandise. 

Get to know their customers: Everyday an average of 70 million people use their Pinterest accounts and companies need to take the opportunity to get to know their followers and follow what is being re-pinned.  This is important part of targeting and allows companies to sort out the top pinned merchandise and put it in a platform more visible to followers. 

Create boards that reflect the business:  Create organized and uniquely named boards that represent what the company is and what they are trying to sell.  Board names should attempt to include the company name so that when repined, individuals know where the pin came.  This will connect the dots between image, consumer, and company. 

Follow other businesses:  Important to not only stay ahead of what the competitor is doing but do so to see what other businesses have to offer.   

Engage with followers:  If someone posts a comment, comment back.  It is good customer service and creates a positive relationship between the company and consumer.  Businesses should also look into interacting with their followers by repining user-generated content. 

Don’t forget about other platforms:  This is just what Gary Vaynerchuk was explaining a couple of weeks ago on Marie TV.  Pinterest is a visual platform, but isn’t held at a greater standard than Facebook or Twitter.  All platforms serve a unique and different perspective and using all of them is a part of targeting and reaching out to current and future customers.

Destination Website Analysis

The destination website I was asked to analyze had to deal with the Calgary Hitmen.  When I first opened the page, I was overwhelmed with visuals.  Pictures in the background, pictures on the newsfeed, slide show pictures.  There were so many visuals that my eye didn’t know what to focus on.  Way too much was going on at one time that it made it difficult to decide what to do first.  

Once my eye got settled, I was able to overlook all the visuals and look at the content.  Navigation around this site was super easy.  Everything was hyperlinked to take me somewhere with somethings found more than once on the site.  This was nice because if I was looking for something in particular, there were two ways to get to it instead of one.  Besides the Calgary Hitmen, I could also click on any other team and be taken to their webpage.  Font styles and fonts were consistent, easy to read, and easy to locate.  One drawback to the navigation was the hyperlink to another webpage.  For example, if I wanted video, I was taken to the Western Hockey League page, so there wasn’t a whole lot to be found video-wise on the Hitmen’s webpage.

The webpage was extremely interactive.  Without much looking around, I was quickly able to locate three different ways to connect to social media.  I feel this is probably the most important link a destination website can have because linking to social media by a user is free marketing that can quickly hit a huge number of people.  As mentioned earlier, the visual were all interactive and could locate me to read more about the caption.  

Last, the quality of content was excellent.  Everything was up-to-date.  Although the last game was on March 29^th, the newsfeed is delivering news of anything going on right now.  This is important to ensure that the Calgary Hitmen have repeat customers because they don’t want to miss out on the latest news. 

Overall, I would give the website a B+. 

Technology Deprivation

When I first saw this assignment, my initial thought was, “How could I possibly live without ‘checking in’ to the ‘real world?!’”  I’ve only been in the “smart world” for one year now, but I absolutely love my phone and the ease of knowing that I can contact anyone and that Google is at the tip of my fingers at all times.  This assignment only solidified what I had been denying myself for the past year—I’m just as dependent on my phone as the teenagers.

To make myself feel better, I began to convince myself that I was dependent on “grown-up” things such as email, texting, checking the weather or news.  But I was only lying to myself.  The itch of wanting to open a notification was SOOOO difficult to ignore.  How cool is it to open your phone and see the little Facebook or new message icon in the top left hand corner!?  It’s the first thing I look for when opening up my phone.  And now with smart phones, the itch is only worse because my Facebook and Pinterest Apps (which I’m addicted to both) show me how many notifications I have and the number only got bigger as the day went along!!

As a softball coach who contacts with her players and fellow coaches regularly through the phone, not checking it was hard and I did have to give in when I saw I had a message from either player or co-worker.  Otherwise, I found myself going to my phone whenever I was bored--Sitting at my brother’s baseball game, reaching for my phone between innings, reaching for my phone during commercials, or reaching for my phone during my normal getting-ready-for-bed routine.  It didn’t matter what I did, I reached for it when I was bored.  Why or when this started occurring, I don’t know, but I was disappointed with myself.  Whatever happened to enjoying the outdoors, looking at the individual I’m talking to or actually watching the lame TV commercials that flood cable television (definitely missing my Netflix!!)? 

Either way, my smart phone has been a great addition to my life, but I need to leave it at that—an addition.  There are too many precious things in life that could be missed my head is always down looking at the screen.  LOOK UP!!