This document discusses how two schools, Stony Brook University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, used their men's basketball teams' unexpected success in the 2016 NCAA tournament to generate social media engagement. Both schools' teams made deep tournament runs as lower seeds, capturing fans' attention. The schools capitalized on this opportunity by planning social media content in advance and sharing behind-the-scenes access. They also took advantage of human-interest stories like UALR connecting with a young fan from out of state. While winning is exciting, the schools learned social media value comes from engaging content more than just results.

1. “No, YOU’RE Crying”
How Two Schools Turned a Cinderella
Experience into Social Media Gold
#mcs7

2. “No, YOU’RE Crying”
How Two Schools Turned a Cinderella
Experience into Social Media Gold
#mcs7

3. “No, YOU’RE Crying”
How Two Schools Turned a Cinderella
Experience into Social Media Gold
#mcs7

4. “No, YOU’RE Crying”
How Two Schools Turned a Cinderella
Experience into Social Media Gold
#mcs7

5. “No, YOU’RE Crying”
How Two Schools Turned a Cinderella
Experience into Social Media Gold
#mcs7

6. Assistant Director, Enrollment Communications
Stony Brook University
◉ Social Media Coordinator for @stonybrooku
◉ Enrollment Management/Marketing & Communications
◉ 17+ years in Student Affairs/ Enrollment
◉ Karaoke: “Pour Some Sugar On Me”
@cdorso
Chris D’Orso
Online Marketing Manager, Communications & Marketing
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
◉ Social media for @UALR
◉ Digital marketing, web content/training
◉ Alum turned employee, 7 years at UALR
◉ Karaoke: 90s hits, Hall & Oates, “Love Shack”
@meaghanfikes
Meaghan Milliorn
Fikes
@kuratowa
@lacydev

9. Seawolves Basketball
◉ 1999: Joined NCAA Division I, America East
◉ 2006: Finished 4-24, hired Steve Pikiell
◉ 2010: 22-10 (1st), lost in semifinals by 7 (BU)
◉ 2011: 15-17 (5th), lost title game by 2 (BU)
◉ 2012: 22-10 (1st), lost titlegame at home by 8 (UVM)
◉ 2013: 25-8 (1st), lost in semifinals by 2 (Albany)
◉ 2014: 23-9 (2nd), losttitle game at home by 9
(Albany)
◉ 2015: 23-12 (2nd), lost titlegame by 1 (Albany)
◉ 2016: 26-6 (1st)
#mcs7

11. #20 Jameel Warney,
now a Dallas Maverick
#10 Carson Puriefoy,
now playing in Latvia
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21. But we weren’t the only
Cinderella story that week

22. University of Arkansas
at Little Rock - UALR
#mcs7
#LittleRocksTeam #GoTrojans #BracketBuster

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25. Trojan Basketball
◉ 2015: New Athletic Director hired –
youngest Division 1 AD in the country
◉ New coach hired
◉ Rebrand from UALR Trojans to Little Rock Trojans
◉ March 2016: Finish regular season with
program-record 27 wins
◉ Has nation's best record at 27-4
◉ Coach Beard named Sun Belt Coach of the Year
◉ Wins Sun Belt Conference tournament (70-50)
◉ Secures team’s fifth NCAA Tournament bid in program
history, and first since 2011.

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37. Sweet 16 Wasn’t So Sweet
◉ March 19: 12th seed Little Rock lost
to 4th seed Iowa State, 78-61
◉ March 25: Coach named District
24 Coach of the Year
◉ March 28: Coach Beard resigns
for UNLV
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38. So, what did
we learn?
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39. What did we
learn?
◉ Planning is key
◉ Content is, well, also key
◉ You don’t have to be everywhere (or do you?)
◉ Winning isn’t everything
◉ Take advantage of the unexpected moment
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40. Planning
◉ Calendar! Know what’s hitting, when it’s hitting,
and where it’s hitting
◉ Plan everything you can, across all media
◉ Bring in all key constituents
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41. Bring in all key
constituents
◉ Ask for help ahead of time – photographers, videographers,
student workers, writers, etc. You cannot be everywhere at once.
◉ Plan for backup – make sure everyone knows the correct
logins/passwords; re-train necessary people
◉ Make sure you’re all on the same page!
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42. Content
◉ Know what kinds of content
resonates with your audience
◉ Evergreen stories – repurpose
appropriately
◉ Social media is supposed to be fun!

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47. You don’t have to be
everywhere
◉ Make sure you’re always with the team!
◉ Or, stay home!
◉ Spoiler: both options work
#mcs7

48. Going? Or staying?
◉ “Inside” look at the scene
◉ Coverage that athletics won’t get
◉ Costs involved – budget!
◉ Had time to prepare posts and be on
top of things
◉ But lacked ability to be right there in
the action – had to rely on boss to
text me pics
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52. Going? Or staying?
◉ “Inside” look at the scene
◉ Coverage that athletics won’t get
◉ Costs involved – budget!
◉ Had time to prepare posts and be on
top of things
◉ But lacked ability to be right there in
the action – had to rely on boss to
text me pics
#mcs7

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56. Winning!
◉ Winning is awesome,
but it isn’t everything
◉ The “NCAA Bump”
Source: https://www.collegeraptor.com/blog/college-trends/september-madness-
how-the-ncaa-basketball-tournament-predicts-drives-college-enrollment-trends/ #mcs7

57. Little Rock’s
Big Fan
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61. “
Someone at UALR could have just hit “like” on one of the tweets and
left it at that. The team has plenty else going on besides connecting
with a fan who might never visit Arkansas.
But at every juncture, a group of people in Little Rock figured out -
rightly - that there was a kid out there that was at that pivotal moment
where he has a chance to connect with a sport. And they remembered
that people - young ones, included - are what make sports fun.
#mcs7

62. Storify:
ualr.at/bigfan
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63. Take Advantage
of the Moment
◉ This is your time to shine
◉ This is your moment in the sun
◉ Do not throw away your shot
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64. All eyes are on you
◉ Homepage
banners/stories:
Buy season tix!
Enroll for summer!
Buy a t-shirt!
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65. #mcs7
stonybrook.edu traffic March 2016

66. Next time/
going forward
◉ Know you can’t plan for everything
◉ Be human – have a sense of humor
◉ Share your successes!
◉ Gold mine of amazing human content
#mcs7

67. Any questions ?
You can find us at
◉ @cdorso
◉ @meaghanfikes
Thanks!
#mcs7