RSalerno
"Dum-a-chum? Ded-a-Chek?"
Hey guys,
I'm a long time lurker here on AZ, but I am a huge pool enthusiastic that would like to share an idea I have in wake of the heat Pro pool has received lately.
After reading the thread on Badi's post, it's obvious the game needs a wider audience, but is TV really the way to go? The audience of TV has changed significantly over the years, and I would argue that the biggest factor in advertisement would be first forming a cohesive thing to advertise (which is lacking) -- then picking which medium to use. I think TV is the endpoint of pools success, not the beginning.
Forums like azbilliards are great in bringing the pool community together, but the public does not benefit from our unity here. We need a place where we can show our passion in numbers -- a public setting where it can inspire and influence others to join.
As I said in the title, I work at Twitter, which is one of the biggest social platforms on the internet. I think forming a strong community in a digital space is great as it has been extremely successful in other communities. Pool is the perfect candidate for a digital alignment, especially the fact that it is internationally played . There are already people like Darren Appleton who are heavy twitter users -- and I think it does great to not only promote the game at a high level by connecting pros with fans, but also promotes the game to friends of already pool fans. This publicity creates a spread through the digital space, which under certain digital umbrellas, can be enormous. Twitter's user base is extremely vast, from young to old, from rich to poor. In my opinion, it has a lot of the younger generation whom we need for longterm growth.
You may be thinking it's a lot to ask the younger generation that has no interest in pool to gain one overnight, and you're right. But, what if they have a friend who has an interest and they see their post to twitter, and through that they are entered into a vibrant community? What if they curiously click into the pool community, which once vibrant has a surplus of doors to enter from, and find a link to watch the Moscoini Cup? In San Francisco where I live, pool already has a 'cool' connotation to it from non players. The image we have now though should not influence what could happen in the future, but to think kids wouldn't be interested in pool as a sport with the right conditions is foolish.
To summarize, I think we need a social network to facilitate communication over all aspects of pool. It would unite the community, increase awareness of tournaments, bring casual players or new players into the world, and eventually create a circle of growth that a healthy community naturally manifest.
I'm open to talking about this more if you guys think there is something to this idea, and I hope this doesn't come off as shameless promotion for twitter as much as it is promoting the idea of a great public platform for connectivity (though I do think Twitter is the best resource for that)
EDIT: I realize I didn't give many concrete examples of what this translate to, but basically what I am thinking is getting as many pro players on twitter and active as possible, along with the community here. If you promote twitter during live events, it creates a public space to discuss the game in realtime with each other (this would be fantastic for the Mosconi Cup coming up) .
It would also be great to get retailers on twitter (I know a lot are already on, like Diamond and Brunswick), but if we get the community strong, we can increase followers to these retailers which would help in their advertising, as well as strengthening the community.
The great thing is that there are plenty of good ideas to be had when the options are as endless as the internet provides. I'll be at the Mosconi Cup myself if anyone wants to chat!
I'm a long time lurker here on AZ, but I am a huge pool enthusiastic that would like to share an idea I have in wake of the heat Pro pool has received lately.
After reading the thread on Badi's post, it's obvious the game needs a wider audience, but is TV really the way to go? The audience of TV has changed significantly over the years, and I would argue that the biggest factor in advertisement would be first forming a cohesive thing to advertise (which is lacking) -- then picking which medium to use. I think TV is the endpoint of pools success, not the beginning.
Forums like azbilliards are great in bringing the pool community together, but the public does not benefit from our unity here. We need a place where we can show our passion in numbers -- a public setting where it can inspire and influence others to join.
As I said in the title, I work at Twitter, which is one of the biggest social platforms on the internet. I think forming a strong community in a digital space is great as it has been extremely successful in other communities. Pool is the perfect candidate for a digital alignment, especially the fact that it is internationally played . There are already people like Darren Appleton who are heavy twitter users -- and I think it does great to not only promote the game at a high level by connecting pros with fans, but also promotes the game to friends of already pool fans. This publicity creates a spread through the digital space, which under certain digital umbrellas, can be enormous. Twitter's user base is extremely vast, from young to old, from rich to poor. In my opinion, it has a lot of the younger generation whom we need for longterm growth.
You may be thinking it's a lot to ask the younger generation that has no interest in pool to gain one overnight, and you're right. But, what if they have a friend who has an interest and they see their post to twitter, and through that they are entered into a vibrant community? What if they curiously click into the pool community, which once vibrant has a surplus of doors to enter from, and find a link to watch the Moscoini Cup? In San Francisco where I live, pool already has a 'cool' connotation to it from non players. The image we have now though should not influence what could happen in the future, but to think kids wouldn't be interested in pool as a sport with the right conditions is foolish.
To summarize, I think we need a social network to facilitate communication over all aspects of pool. It would unite the community, increase awareness of tournaments, bring casual players or new players into the world, and eventually create a circle of growth that a healthy community naturally manifest.
I'm open to talking about this more if you guys think there is something to this idea, and I hope this doesn't come off as shameless promotion for twitter as much as it is promoting the idea of a great public platform for connectivity (though I do think Twitter is the best resource for that)
EDIT: I realize I didn't give many concrete examples of what this translate to, but basically what I am thinking is getting as many pro players on twitter and active as possible, along with the community here. If you promote twitter during live events, it creates a public space to discuss the game in realtime with each other (this would be fantastic for the Mosconi Cup coming up) .
It would also be great to get retailers on twitter (I know a lot are already on, like Diamond and Brunswick), but if we get the community strong, we can increase followers to these retailers which would help in their advertising, as well as strengthening the community.
The great thing is that there are plenty of good ideas to be had when the options are as endless as the internet provides. I'll be at the Mosconi Cup myself if anyone wants to chat!
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