Back in December of 2007, a few of us from Substance went to a Trail Blazers game that started us on the road to today: the launch of the new Portland Trail Blazers social networking site:
beta.IAmATrailBlazersFan.com
You might be thinking, “cool, you guys went to a basketball game a while ago, but how does that help you launch a new website?” And we’d respond, “that’s a great question.” So let’s try to answer that first.
The new IAmATrailBlazersFan site (what we call IAMA – pronounced “I’m-a” – for short) is not meant to be a stand-alone, online-only community. Working with Dan Harbison, Director of Interactive Marketing and Media for the Portland Trail Blazers (on the new IAMA here), we wanted to create a way for Trail Blazers fans to show their support and love for their team, both online and offline. This means online activity should drive fans to interacting in real life, and real life interactions can be continued online. They shouldn’t be two separate interaction channels, but two sides of the same Trail Blazers coin. There are definitely online-only features, and the atmosphere of being in a rockin’ Rose Garden for a game simply can’t be conveyed through a digital-only medium, but the main concept is the new IAMA site is the convergence of a fan’s online and offline involvement with the team.
Home Page
Welcoming Trail Blazers fans from around the world, the IAMA home page has one primary goal: get people excited about the Portland Trail Blazers. Every fan has a different reason for being a fan, and the home page features a selection of what we call “fan statements,” which are coordinated with different background images. Below the fan statement is the Visual Feed, all the recent activity on the site. New blog posts, new uploaded photos, new message board topics, new videos, new IAMA members… this is the place where you can see it all.
On the left and the top is the site navigation, as well as quick access to your fan profile and your dashboard.
More about the Visual Feed
The Visual Feed shows the latest activity on the message boards, blogs, groups, newest fans, photos and videos, based on the context of the page you’re viewing. On the home page, it shows site-wide activity. On fan profile pages, it shows that fan’s activity. Media can be rated, added to your favorites, posted in your blog, shared, commented upon, and even flagged for being inappropriate.
Games Pages
Games pages have three different view states: Before the Game, During the Game, and After the Game. The Before the Game view has message board content about a game, links to purchase tickets, see what friends are going to that game, find events around that game, set your Starting 5, predict the score, and other features. The During the Game view shows real-time scoring info, live chat with other IAMA members, team and Starting 5 stats, and video highlights. Finally, the After the Game shows the final score and game recap, team stats, video highlights, photos, and message board content.
Player Pages
Player pages are a way for fans to find out more about players… from their season stats to video clips and photos. Plus, each player has an area to feature their own “player statement” (similar to the fan statement), and fans can post comments on their page. Fans can mark players as their favorite, add the player to their Starting 5, and add the player to their “huddle” (their group of players, dancers, coaches and staff they’re following). Fans can also download custom background images featuring each player, and check out the player’s Visual Feed.
Message Boards
One of the most popular features of the old IAMA site, the new Message Boards were set up to be better organized, easier-to-read threaded conversations, and the ability to subscribe to different message board topics so you can stay up to date on what people are saying.
The Fans
Every fan on the site can choose to express themselves in different ways. Starting with their avatar and jersey (you can choose your number and choice of white, black or red jersey), fans can also customize their background image and change their scrapbook. Fans also have a slew of ways to contribute content to the site, from uploaded photos to a customized IAMA blog, from the message boards to commenting on friends’ pages and player pages… and all of this activity is tracked through their individual Visual Feed.
Fan Dashboard
Similar to many other social networking sites, IAMA has a dashboard where fans can get info on what their friends are up to, updates on their favorite players, and group messages. Fans can also get ticket offers, volunteer opportunities, and track their Starting 5.
I’m a fan of…
Starting with “I’m a fan of…”, people are encouraged to write why they’re a fan of the Trail Blazers. These fan statements are then used on the home page of the site (see above), and other fans can vote on the fan statements they like. They also appear on each fan’s profile page.
Trail Blazer Fan Points
Just like in basketball, you can score points on the IAMA site. Points can be used for all kinds of cool stuff… access to new background images, join point-restricted groups, win prizes, and of course the post important aspect of points: the ability to gloat over your friends with fewer points. Fan Points are calculated by activity on the site as well as Starting 5 performance, and the leaderboard is updated for the previous day, the current month, and overall. You can also view your points total on a timeline, showing your position compared to every other IAMA member, as well as measuring yourself against your friends. Start earning those points and you’ll get to do all the trash talking on your friends’ profile pages.
Starting 5 Editor
Through many of the activities on the site, fans can earn Fan Points. And one of the best ways to earn points is through choosing your Starting 5 and seeing how they perform in a game. Through the Starting 5 editor, fans can check out the roster, look at a player’s past performance, and swap out players in their line up. So no matter who Coach McMillan starts on the court, you get to play coach as well.
Scrapbook
Another way people can customize their section of the IAMA site is through their Scrapbook. Through uploaded content and content marked as “favorite,” fans can drag and drop these items into their custom scrapbook, size things up or down, rotate them, and move them forward or back.
Groups
There are all sorts of groups on the IAMA site… everything from a group of Laker Haters, to people who use Twitter, to Season Ticket holders. These groups are a way for people to get in contact with each other, share similar experiences, and start conversations.
Select your Sponsors
One of the goals of the new site is getting new sponsors to sign up. We decided to let fans choose the sponsors they want on their profile pages. In turn, the fans can get special offers from these sponsors. We took the idea that players are sponsored by shoe companies, soft drinks, and car companies, so why not let fans choose as well? It’s a unique approach and we’ll have to wait and see how it works and if it attracts more targeted sponsorships.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg on what the site can do… Events calendar, Volunteer opportunities, Blazer Dancer profiles, Broadcaster blogs, Photos and Videos, Featured Profiles, News… the list goes on and on. And none of this would have happened without Dan’s vision and the Trail Blazers technical team, so a huge thank you and congratulations goes out to their team.
Now comes the real test: releasing IAMA into the wild, seeing how people interact with it, learning from these interactions, and adjusting accordingly. Launching a site is never the end of the project; it’s the beginning of constant evolution. Currently 92% of visits are over 20 minutes and over 1,000 of the 16,000 currently on IAMA have moved their profiles over in less than 3 days. We’re looking forward to seeing how these numbers change as the Trail Blazers head into the playoffs.
Go Trail Blazers!!!
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