by Kevin Trahan (@k_trahan)
Northwestern prides itself in being one of the most social media savvy athletic programs in the country. The Wildcats launched a social media hub called TheWildcatWay.com and the department and its coaches are very active on Twitter. On February 20, NU will take the social media promotion to a whole new level, coining that night's game against Wisconsin as "Social Media Night." Akron had one of these nights earlier in the year, but NU's will be much more in-depth. The full release is on Facebook, but here are some of the festivities:
- NU's players will have their Twitter handles on the back of their warmups. NCAA rules prohibit those Twitter handles to be on the nameplate during the game.
- All students can get personalized shirts with their Twitter handles on the back for free.
- ESPN's Darren Rovell, a Northwestern alum known for his Twitter prowess, will be in attendance.
Rovell's attendance will be part of a networking night before the game, particularly for journalists. He also helped promote the game on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/299608864716902401
It will be interesting to see how successful NU is with this promotion and if it will expand in the future. One thing is for sure — NU will continue to stay ahead of the game when it comes to social media.
"It’s always just a way to try to engage fans," sports information director Nick Brilowski said. "We’ve really made a conscious effort through all of our social media, whether it be Twitter or Facebook or Instagram, just to bring our fans closer to our programs. We’ve seen some pretty good success and we’re just constantly exploring ways to keep that going."