Social media workshop for athletes

Social media platforms are revolutionising the global landscape, providing new opportunities for sporting personalities. This is the point that will be driven home at today's Business of Sport workshop, which is being staged under the theme 'Social Media and Athletes' at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

Communications specialists Carole Beckford and Associates, which earlier this year also staged the highly successful two-day regional 'Business of Sport' conference in collaboration with Strategic Corporate Interventions, has once again assembled a cadre of presenters.

Supreme Ventures Limited marketer Carlene Edwards will examine the corporate perspective of social media and how an athlete can benefit from sponsorship dollars through a vibrant presence on these platforms, while Rashid Hall (University of the West Indies, Mona) will look at the topic from a team management perspective.

Experienced broadcaster Patrick Anderson (RJR Group) is also slated to deliver on the role of traditional media and how social media platforms are becoming more relevant in the delivery of news content. He is also expected to look at how both platforms can be exploited by the athlete.

Athletes to attend

Organisers are also expecting former Manchester High athlete Alwayne Green - now on scholarship at Louisiana Technical University - to join the workshop via video-conferencing social media outlet Skype. Similar plans were also being finalised with an Olympian and former world record holder, while several local athletes and entertainers are also expected to be in attendance.

"The focus for the workshop is really to look at social media platforms and what are the strategies, what are the dos and don'ts and how they can really help to catapult a brand," shared conceptualiser and organiser Beckford.

"Social media platforms, used responsibly, are a fabulous way for the athlete to connect with an audience.

"When you are competing against world-class athletes, it's very important because they are using the tools efficiently. When you have an athlete in your event and they are tweeting after each race for instance, it is important for you as the athlete to be getting the same audience. It is also a way of exploiting your brand, and so the platforms are just another way of communication," Beckford added.

Jamaican sportsmen and women are still just beginning to develop a real presence on popular social media outlets, with sprint royal Usain Bolt leading the way with some 5.6 million fans on his facebook page, in addition to just under 300,000 twitter followers.

Jamaican cricketing superstar Christopher Gayle is also quite popular on twitter, with almost 90,000 followers, as is former world 100m record holder Asafa Powell (10,144 followers).

Organisations such as the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture; the MVP Track Club and Racers Track Club have also been busy on twitter, while the Premier League Clubs Association and the Jamaica Football Database have been doing some work on facebook as well.

Registration continues today and attracts a cost of $1,500. The forum starts at 8 a.m. and runs until 11 a.m.

The Gleaner Company is a major partner in today's workshop.