How to get Live Twitter Race Coverage

Get live race coverage on Twitter Search at http://search.twitter.com/search?q=atoc.

You don’t have to sign up for a Twitter to enjoy live commentary and race coverage about the Tour of California. Learn what the fans are seeing and thinking, what some of the racers and team directors are sharing.

Cycling fans are turning to Twitter to read these 140-character micro-blogging updates, aka “tweets.”

@rustyventure is thanking the Twitterverse for their coverage, as shown above. He concludes:

“best race news was #atoc.”

Is Twitter better than other Sports sites?

Have the other sports sites failed?

AmgenTourofCalifornia.com

Amgen’s Tour of California website has a live tracker with video and race coverage.  That’s pretty engaging, right? Yes.

A race fan has to really WANT coverage offered on Amgen’s site. Visit. You are greeted with the following barrier to entry:

“Click here for live race coverage with the TourTracker, powered by Adobe Flash”

“Click here to continue to the Amgen Tour of California website”

Amgen’s website has been the “go to” spot for Tour coverage the past 2 years. Has been? Well, it still is. Is it THE go to spot? Not anymore!

Twitter provides more in-depth play-by-play.

Amgen’s use of Twitter is worse than entry into their website. After following @AmgenTourofCali, I immediately unfollowed. On 02.16.09, I noticed their latest tweet was on 12.19.09 with the announcement of the TOC teams. The term for this is “Epic FAIL!”

Those of us who “do” Social Media as a living see this more often than not. People and organizations learn of the magnetism and reach of Twitter. They sign up, tweet, then drop out due to lack of understanding. They don’t get involved in the conversation.

Amgen’s Tour of California Twitter stream could have been a valuable asset. Amgen should be leveraging Twitter to:

1. Engage cycling race fans;
2. Announce winners;
3. Share race changes due to weather, including road closures;
4. Increase website traffic and search engine ranking – a Twitter by-product.

Versus.com

Versus.com (VS) has extensive pro cycling race coverage on their Cyclism Channel.

Pro Cycling fans once relied solely on Versus TV for race coverage, unless one put up a satellite dish tuned to Italian and/or Spanish TV. VS race coverage is usually limited. A six-hour race is edited down to 30 minutes or 2 hours. Only a few races, such as the Tour de France and now the Tour of California, are broadcast live with recaps rebroadcast throughout the day.Very cool!

Versus.com says the Amgen Tour of California:

“will bring the drama and excitement of a professional bicycle stage race to the California coast. The world’s top professional teams will compete over an [sic] nine-day, 800-mile race on a route that includes the California redwoods, wine country and the Pacific Coast.

Cycling Drama and Excitement?

You bet! Thank you, VS, for bringing such extensive TV coverage of the Tour of California! This year, we are especially thankful for Lance Armstrong’s return to cycling. Race coverage and public interest is heightened because of this 7-time Tour de France winner’s return from retirement and his cancer-survival and awareness efforts.

How could VS expand upon this excitement? Engage pro cycling race fans!

Versus on Twitter?

@versustv, Versus.com’s profile on Twitter, fails. @versustv tweeted the following on 02.15.09:

TOUR OF CALIFORNIA LIVE COVERAGE —- TODAY @ 12:30 —- ONLY ON VERSUS!!!!

• ALL CAPS?
• No links to their website telling more about coverage.
• No indication if time was EST or PST.
• No further race updates!

The next update to their Twitter profile was on 02.16.09 at 10:30am, PST, 1 hour AFTER live race coverage started on Versus TV:

Watching the AMGEN Tour of California on VERSUS….are you?

That’s it for VS Twitter updates for the day…

Race Commentator Phil Ligget mentioned Twitter today during the live broadcast on VS. He gets it. After Lance Armstrong’s crash with a motorbike. Phil said:

“Johan Bruyneel will be doing his Twitter.”

Why Twitter?

Why are people turning to Twitter ahead of TV coverage?

@AntHeald mentioned he has never followed the Tour of California before, but now he is because of Twitter.

Twitter is changing coverage of professional cycling. Twitter is converting and engaging race fans more than traditional television and website coverage.

#ATOC on Twitter

The Twitter stream for #atoc on February 16 showed discussion about the tour was the hottest and most-used hashtag on Twitter for the day. At 2:26pm, @klassman posted:

#atoc climbed to number three in Twitter trends for the day. Awesome second half of the stage drove the conversation.

No sports website or newspaper has the reach of Twitter. ATOC on Twitter is Social Media in its penultimate form – full race fan engagement!

Twitter is as up-to-date as the “crackle of race radio!”

The following shows updates about the Stage 2 crash that involved Lance and a motorbike as well as 15 of the riders. I heard about the crash. I immediately turned to Twitter Search:

Twitter Cycling Surprise

Twitter discussion about the race took me by surprise. I’ve been on Twitter for over a year, and it primarily serves as my networking hub with other search marketers and social media addicts. I’ve connected with fellow cycling aficionados on Twitter more during the past few months. Twitterverse conversation about the Amgen Tour of California marked a turning point in my understanding of how Twitter has permeated professional cycling.

We joined a cadre of cycling fans to watch the Prologue in Sacramento and Stage 1 in Winters, CA. While driving to Winters, the first sprint point of the race, I checked my Twitter stream and learned from @JohanBruyneel that four Team Astana bikes had been stolen, including Lance’s time trial bike. I followed the conversation and @LanceArmstrong’s posting of a picture of his bike. I tweeted and shared with my followers:

Convo on Twitpic re Lance’s stolen bike http://twitpic.com/1i8t1 – support, odd input & spam

I also saw that one of my friends and co-founder of Velo Bella, @SabineDukes, was in Davis and that her fiancée, Mike Hernandez, was announcing the Junior Race. We almost took a detour through Davis to see them but continued to Winters. I later started watching her tweets for some great updates and pictures.

The Race Without Twitter

My cell phone coverage in Winters was non-existent. I couldn’t log on to Twitter. Oh no… After watching the Twitter stream earlier, I wanted to know when the racers would arrive. I couldn’t login. Here is the play-by-play of the race without Twitter:

• I joined friends on the sprint line an hour early to get a good spot.
• Rain poured down.
• Anticipation mounted.
• We knew the racers would have to make a 90-degree turn on paved bricks at the center of town right before the sprint.
• Course marshalls updated us on the arrival of the racers.
• They were moving faster than anticipated.
• There was a break away.
• Would there be a sprint?
• Where was in the lead?
• I poised my camera at the spring point.
• Helicopters soared overhead while cowbells rang.
• Mancebo crossed the sprint line a minute ahead of 2 other guys. The field was 5 minutes behind.
• I got the shot.
• I couldn’t share it on Twitter or send it to TwitPic.

Live race fans don’t have the advantage of television coverage and commentary. We rely on what we hear “word of mouth.” Now, if I don’t have Twitter at the race, I’ll feel cut off.

Mancebo went on to win the >100-mile Stage 1 after breaking away 5 miles into the race. His performance was an epic SUCCESS. Fans cheered and “high fived” for him on Twitter.

Twitter Live Commentary

Twitter is the “go to” spot for live commentary of the Tour of California! It’s citizen journalism and engagement at its highest level of interactivity, ever!

I don’t imagine Johan Bruyneel will tweet Team Astana’s race strategies or that Jonathan Vaughters will tweet Team Slipstream’s next move. They are, however, sharing their thoughts about the race and giving us a little insight into who they are, how they think and how proud they are of their teams.

The rest of the Tour of California will be discussed and reported on Twitter.  Personally, I’ll be in southern California for the final 4 days of the race. I’ll be among thousands who will be hooked to Twitter Search for #atoc.

Lesson to Cycling News Sites

There is a lesson to cycling news sites.

Get on board now, or get left behind.

Cycling fans may not know or care about “Social Media.” But we do hunger for latest news. We understand and yearn for conversation, to discuss the race and the riders, to show our support, and to hear from you.

Don’t get caught up in your bigness and the great amount of money invested in your websites. Put a little time and energy into engaging with your audience through Twitter. Other than time spent, it’s free.

Broadcasting Twitter News

Twitter is a microblogging platform where people, world-wide, are communicating and broadcasting news. News is sent out as “tweets,” messages sent to Twitter. Each tweet is like a bird chirping, short and hopefully sweet – 140-characters or less. The conversation on Twitter may be as simple as updating what you are doing, posting links about informative or fun website articles, to providing information about fire and evacuations.

Messages can be sent from the Web or from a cell phone. You can text message to Twitter on your cell or speak your tweet using TwitterFone.

People want the latest information. News Stations are now posting information on Twitter. I’m following KCRA (Sacramento) & KSBW (Monterey). All Public Information Officers should get online now and setup Twitter accounts.

Reading News

There are many ways to read this alternative news source. Here are a couple.

1. Create an account on Twitter. Then follow friends, family, business associates, news stations. You could follow me on Twitter, for example – @danalookadoo.
2. Open a Web browser to login to Twitter. When people you follow someone, you receive their tweets.
3. Read posts using a tool like Twhirl, a piece of software, called a “client.” Twhirl lets you access Twitter outside a Web browser. (It works for both Windows and Mac platforms.) Shown right is an example of Twhirl’s interface.
4. Twhirl allows you to search for people, for information, and even post images to TwitPic. (I haven’t tried TwitPic yet.)
5. Setup your cell phone to receive tweets as text messages. When you follow someone, you have the option to have their tweets update your device. You can turn that On or Off.

Posting News

Suggest you listen and watch the conversation before joining in. However, if you want to start broadcasting news, it’s easy. Join Twitter and tweet! Make sure you add value and don’t sensationalize your “news stories.” Follow others, and they may follow you.

Shorten Long URLs. This is important! Remember the 140-character limit. Think about how many domain names and Web pages are so long you couldn’t even “speak” them in one breath. There are “Shorten URL” services like TinyURL that create an “alias” you can paste into Twitter to broadcast your website link. Hint: Twhirl has a built-in feature you can use to shorten long URLs (using snurl or is.gd).

Real-Time Twitter News

Summize and TweetScan are tools for tracking discussion on Twitter. Let’s call them “Twitter search engines.” You don’t need a Twitter account to search and find your “news updates.” Get real-time news posted by real people.

ALERT TIP: TweetScan users can sign up for email alerts or import news into an RSS reader. TweetScan is also available from Twhirl.

SEARCH TIP: Use quotes for exact matches or type “OR” (in caps) to combine searches together.

Disaster & Fire Info

Current fires in California are weighing heavy on hearts and all over the news. What’s the latest? Which fire is the hottest? Twitter knows because people are posting the latest happenings!

Fires in Butte County north of Sacramento are raging and out of control. Last night on news talk radio, a man from Paradise, CA called into a local Sacramento radio program. He calmly expressed his disappointment that local radio was not broadcasting as an emergency service but was still broadcasting only top- and bottom-of-the hour news. He was looking to radio to find information about his house, evacuation information, where to go. I immediately thought of Twitter!

One of the first posts I saw from KCRA on Twitter this morning (July 9, 2008) was a notice that 8,000 people were evacuated by fires in Butte County, threatening the town of Paradise. (See Twhirl screenshot above.)

Read the latest happenings of the Butte County fire at Summize or TweetScan (type in “butte+fire”).

Social Media Networking

People are sharing what they are doing online, what is happening around them. Again, Twitter is one way to broadcast evacuations and disaster information.

Twitter is more than a social news broadcast medium. As an online marketer, it’s a great source for latest blog posts and discussion about marketing and search engine optimization, consumer opinion, and a way to get to know my peers better while also making new friendships. I recently wrote about Social Media and how it’s changing the marketing game. Social Media is also news source as well as a community builder.

I trust most of these “friends” and am thankful that our peers are now our news reporters!

Use Twitter to get the latest news!

As I head out the door, I know I’ll be using my headlights. I just saw the following tweet:

@joshdmorg: Smoke so thick in sac folks driving with headlights on

You can always turn on your radio at the top of the hour or look out your window! I prefer to use Twitter as my alternative news source!

Did you sense the adrenaline of the conversations on Twitter?

Did you tweet and follow hashmarks for “#tweb” or “#tweb2″ on Summize?

On June 26, 2008, people interested in Social Media participated in a global conference of taped video interviews, live audio commentary by Chris Brogan (shown right), while texting their comments and perceptions into Twitter. The free event was so popular that it was live rebroadcast three hours later.

“Social Media Game Changer” was the first of a summer series. Visit Twebinar to learn more and decided if you want to join upcoming conversations.

Social Media Lingo

Social Media lingo may sound like Morse code or a cult. Every industry has its terms, its inside lingo. Learning a foreign language is similar. You don’t have to become fluent to communicate. Social Media lingo is like the dictionary. Terms are defined by our usage.

Twitter, Plurk, BriteKite, FriendFeed, FaceBook might sound like foreign countries, but if you visit and get to know the people, you’ll learn the dialect. Join the conversation; you’ll pick up the jargon. You’ll learn enough to relate and engage. There’s no secret handshake.

Converse – Talk the Talk

Social Media is a conversation that takes place online, every second, on multiple platforms – blogs, forums, short instant messaging (SMS), website reviews, etc.

“Social Media Game Changer” (topic of the first Twebinar) means the rules and players have changed in the game of marketing. You and I as customers are marketers each time we write a review, share an opinion, recommend a product, link to a cool website or complain about a customer service rep. We’re talking online every second, which means we are “marketing” continually.

Blogging and getting involved in Social Media is more than cool, hip or cultist. It’s ESSENTIAL. Businesses must talk with customers and encourage two-way conversation. Marketing is about the conversation and not about pushing a message, aka “Conversational Marketing.”

The Twebinar emphasized how the world can come together and talk, in-sync yet with many simultaneous conversations. I was monitoring Twittervision (server was down as of this post) which shows a global map with tweets in real-time. Imagine a birds-eye view of Twitter discussions, tweets. Keep this visual while thinking about the global power of Social Media.

People are talking, sometimes about you! Get in there and join the conversation.

Engage – Walk the Talk

Talk can be cheap. We, the people, see through razzle dazzle marketing ploys. You need to be real, open, honest and…walk the talk. Put feet to your message and engage.

Participate in your community. This doesn’t mean writing a check to plant trees in a park. Engaging in the conversation means getting involved online, responding to concerns, thanking people for testimonials, sharing tips and best practices.

Engagement is true interactive marketing. It’s building relationships.

Listen – Hear What Is Being Said

The first step is to really hear what is being said. Listen! Listen!

Q. What is one of the most aggravating things about conversation?
A. When people don’t listen to you.

Chris Brogan, while moderating the Twebinar, said:

“Starting conversations means listening. We have two ears, one mouth.”
In the old days we used to yell at our TV. Now…customers are not going to bring that conversation to your doorstep.

You need to be able to listen to lots of channels.

If you are going to do business in social media, [listening] is very important.”

Listen to Understand

Stephen Covey, in “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” mentions that listening to understand what someone means is key to communication. We too often listen “out our of our own autobiography.” How many times do you tell a story and have someone respond with their own story or oneupmanship – my fish is bigger? Or while the other person is talking, you are thinking about what you’re going to say next? BUSTED!

“You” is the most important word in the English Language.

“I” is the least important.

Are you really listening? Think about this…

We go to school to learn to write, to express ourselves, to learn effective public speaking. But, how many of us took a class in “Listening 101” to graduate?

Listening is the Game – Changing Rule

Is listening really so revolutionary? No! However, Social Media is forcing companies to change their game and actually listen. Those who remain deaf will fail.

Shift your focus. Follow the rules of the game. Start listening today!

Social Media Case Study

MyStarbucks

Many successful case studies for the effectiveness of Social Media were discussed at the Twebinar. MyStarbucksIdea.com was mentioned. Starbucks made headlines when they launched this site to “outsource parts of their marketing” to we, the people. Imagine how many Starbucks groupies have shared their opinions on how to enhance their daily ritual!

You may think, “Starbucks is one of the big dogs. They can afford anything.” What if you are game publisher?

SmartKit – Brain Gym & Puzzle Playground

Lee Odden shared how TopRank Online Marketing helped a client who publishes games, SmartKit, engage a community around their blog. One goal was to get enough traffic for an advertising model. TopRank created communities for SmartKit on Twitter and Facebook as communication channels. Engagement on FaceBook included publishing a leader board. (We all know how much people want to keep score. ) The SmartKit blog went from approx. 1,000 visitors/month to 268,000/month. (Hope I got those numbers correct).

Take-away: Social Media is like SmartKit’s Twitter bio: “a fresh daily supply of captivating puzzles to exercise and cross train your brain.”

Power of People Marketing

Social Media is not about printing a brochure, designing a website, or airing a radio spot. It’s about two-way communication.

People Talk. Do you listen?

And the saying goes…

“God gave us two ears and one mouth, so we can listen twice as much as we speak.”

The rules of the game have changed. It’s your choice on how you play the game.

Loosers: Put in earplugs and ignore.

Winners: Listen, ask questions, build relationships and engage.

Let your customers reduce your marketing and R&D budgets and become part of your team.

Does Twitter’s 140-character limitation favor men, since they use fewer words?

Women talk more than men, in general. Women are more relational and talk with others more, a quality that makes women good at marketing and communication. But, (all joking here) men talk a lot too, often about themselves.

Have you every talked using 140 characters? Is this possible? Yes! Conversations on Twitter often make this micro-blogging platform sink like a whale, and tweetie birds have to carry it back to life. Since men do “whale” in speaking with so few words, I’m assuming more men than women “tweet” on Twitter.

Hypothesis: Gabby men of few words are taking Twitter down!

Twitter Sexism?

We’re having a controversy, um, I mean conversation, about this on Sphinn: Friends on Twitter = No Life?” Feel free to chime in with your thoughts. (It’s all in fun, mind you.)

Brian Carter, one of my search marketing friends with whom I’m “debating,” has more than 800 friends on Twitter. Why? Listen to Brian Carter’s Twitter audio. He describes Twitter to the audience and how one can “follow” others and share status and messages. The biggest question they keep asking is “Why?” So Brian, please answer…Why? Do you have >800 friends in real life?

Brian’s vast online Twitter friendships prompted me to wonder, “Is Twitter the ideal conversational environment for men?” What do you think?

Anyone know of any statistics on the percentage of men on Twitter versus women?

Why do I (jokingly) think more men are talking with few words but many tweets on Twitter? Look at the stats, Twitter Topic Stream. None of the top conversations are about Nordstrom’s, shopping, shoes, diet, beauty or Botox.

So, men must be the ones causing Twitter to be “Over Capacity.” Shown right is a StreamGraph of the Top Twitter Users. The top users are MEN!! Thus, this non-double-blind study concludes:

• Gabby men are taking Twitter down.
• Gabby men are doing well with 140 characters to get their message across.
• Twitter is biased toward men.

Twitter Counter

How popular are you on Twitter? Twitter Counter is a cool site that lets you post and track how many people are following you on Twitter. (NOTE: There is a timed delay in counter updates.)

Women in Conversational Marketing

Women will do better, overall, in conversational marketing, because women are better at relationships and conversation. Twitter conversations are short, and to the point. It’s an ideal environment for men. Go at it guys! We love following you!

Apparently, it’s all about testosterone! Here’s why women have more words in their vocabulary:

A huge testosterone surge beginning in the eighth week will turn this unisex [fetal] brain male by killing off some cells in the communication centers and growing more cells in the sex and aggression centers. If the testosterone surge doesn’t happen, the female brain continues to grow unperturbed. The fetal girl’s brain cells sprout more connections in the communications centers and areas that process emotion. How does this fetal fork in the road affect us?

For one thing, because of her larger communication center, this girl will grow up to be more talkative than her brother. Men use about seven thousand words per day. Women use about twenty thousand. For another, it defines our innate biological destiny, coloring the lens through which each of us views and engages the world. [From The Female Brain]

Men, there is hope! Here is a resource for you from AskMen.com, “How To: Improve Your Vocabulary”. Be careful, if you grow your vocabulary, you may become Twitter-challenged!

P.S. I plan to post a poll to gather some data on if you can communicate in 140 characters or less. (I’m on a learning curve with this new blog theme.) Let me know your thoughts! Follow me on Twitter. Let’s talk!