#SuperIndy: Don’t Judge a Book By It’s Cover
Momentum is a very interesting word. It is a word that describes more about what you can expect in the future, as opposed to what you should expect right now. Momentum, in fact, is one of the better forecasters of all-time. (His track record proves it) So as the momentum builds for Super Bowl 46, it’s a pretty exciting feeling being a part of the host city.
More importantly, Indianapolis is going to silence some of the cold weather host city critics. Dr. Patrick Rishe of Forbes.com, explained Why Indianapolis Is A Highly Desirable Super Bowl Host City. Here are some highlights from that piece:
EXPERIENCED AT ACCOMMODATING MASSIVE CROWDS – INDY 500, FINAL FOURS
As far as live one-day spectator sports go, you can’t get much bigger than the Indianapolis 500. With over 257,000 seats at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and an estimated annual attendance of roughly 300,000, this is easily twice as large and perhaps closer to three times larger than the attendance for Super Bowl XLVI…
WALKABLE DOWNTOWN WITH NUMEROUS ENTERTAINMENT AMENITIES
Having attended numerous professional and amateur sporting events across America, I can tell you that fans appreciate convenience. And one big aspect of convenience is transportation from point A to point B. Most notably, the typical visiting sports spectator loves scenarios where they can walk from their hotel to most of the cool visitation amenities in the area. The less driving, the better.
A wise man once said: This isn’t my first rodeo cowboy. Indianapolis has proven time and time again that it can host, and exceptionally well, large weekend or week-long events. Not only does Indianapolis have a history of well hosted events, we’re proving to be extremely innovative too. The first ever Social Media Command Center for a Super Bowl is being launched at Super Bowl 46. A team of strategists, analysts and techies will monitor the digital fan conversation via Facebook, Twitter and other platforms from a 2,800-square-foot space downtown.
Tom Spalding was one of the people chosen for Social 46 and he’s doing something pretty cool. Tom is chronicling the entire Super Bowl 46 experience pushing social information to the Interwebs through his Storify collection. Social 46 is a gathering of Indiana’s top social media influencers according to the Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee. In short, it is a list that was put together to help build buzz and spread information about the Super Bowl. Invitations were limited to, <drumroll please> 46. They aren’t being paid, and minus a few freebies these are Hoosiers that have been tasked with, and accepted, helping make Super Bowl 46 the most socially connected Super Bowl ever!
The list of people blogging and tweeting about the Super Bowl reaches FAARR beyond just those deemed one of the ‘Social 46’. Excitement is contagious, and by no means are only those 46 individuals allowed to share information! It’s ENCOURAGED that everyone in Indianapolis contributes to building the buzz of the Super Bowl, AND takes time to enjoy all of the festivities we’re hosting too!
Conversations around the Super Bowl, Social 46, and how SB46 can help the Indianpolis economy are everywhere!
There is this post from Jay Baer, this post from Lorraine Ball, and this post from Chris Theisen — just to highlight a few. Additionally, there is the slew of #hashtags you can follow on Twitter:
- #social46
- #superindy
- #superbowl
- #superbowl46
- #sb46
- #indy
- #zipline
- #XLVI
- superbowl2012
- sb2012
- sbvillage
- super46
The reach of Super Bowl 46 is going to be far beyond any previous Super Bowl. It will be the first truly social media supported SB. Even the mobile app is kick-ass.
On a personal note, I just have one request for all of my Indianapolis friends — get out of your own way. Ego’s and inflated opinions on who should of gotten this, why you should of been on that, etc.etc.etc. is a lot of wasted hot air. Let’s just agree to disagree on all of that small nonsense. And in turn, come together to show everyone that Indianpolis throws one hell of a party.
image credits: AroundIndy.com, Athima Chansanchai of Tima Media & msnbc.com, Meggie Dials, and Jeff Robinson, Director of Marketing, Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association.
