By Shelby Reicks In the world of sports public relations, it is essential to stay up to date with the creative emerging trends. Now more than ever, it is important for PR professionals to have a knowledge base that consists of marketing, social media, selling, and data analytics. Knowing these tools will allow for a holistic approach to tracking the overall ROI of a business. So, let’s talk about artificial intelligence (AI). In the most simplistic way, AI is a machine intelligence software that is programmed to think like humans and mimic human actions. It is already being used in 2021, but will only continue to grow and have a stronger presence as technology evolves. By becoming aware of this trend, sports PR professionals can be better prepared for the future as technology advances and competition increases to create the best fan experiences. Within the sports PR and marketing world, AI provides many benefits such as:
All of these benefits can better assist in planning of campaigns within a sports business, make tasks more efficient with automated assistance and tracking, and help PR professionals save time and increase workplace productivity. I find it easiest to explain AI through examples. Below, you can find videos of different ways the sports industry uses AI. 1. A Bot That Tells You Where to Park or Eat at the Game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1pTAItwgOw&t=3s 2. PIQ- Raise Your Game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJlsvRGpQpU 3. IBM Serves Up AI at Wimbledon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzrF7d3xKUI&t=1s Artificial intelligence will become more widely used in the coming years due to it’s beneficial advantages. It will provide personalized, accessible, and well designed experiences for its users. With AR/VR, fans have the opportunity to immerse themselves in 3D graphics, watch in-depth replays of sports shots, and even virtually do tours of stadiums. It will continue to make its presence in the sports business industry and is already being used in the healthcare, automotive and architecture industry. Public relations professionals should keep AI in consideration as they enter the PR field and understand its advantages within their place of work.
32 Comments
Written by Lakota Lackey
Imagine you decided to run a marathon. You’re not exactly sure why you decided to do it, and you’ve never really been a great runner, but everyone else is doing it, so why not. Your friends are practicing and preparing for the race, but you’re not really that worried. Some people are even joining running clubs and finding people to run with during the marathon. But not you - you just want to run the marathon and get it over with. Then marathon day comes! You’re running the race! Starting out, you’re doing pretty well, keeping an even pace, but as the race goes on, you start to get tired. You begin thinking to yourself, “This kind of sucks. Why did I sign up for this race?” Then people start to pass you, some faster than others, and you’re falling behind everyone else. A few people come alongside to try and motivate you, but you don’t want to listen to them, you just want to get it over with. Before long, you’re too tired. You can’t continue. So you give up, and you don’t finish the race … Now after a few years, another marathon is announced, and you’re thinking about running. You’re hesitant. You’re afraid to fail again. But you can’t stop thinking about how much you wish you would’ve crossed that finish line. What will you do to succeed? This has been my experience since graduating high school. At the end of the fall 2017 semester, I received a letter from UNI that I was suspended for not meeting the minimum required grade point average. I failed. My college education was over. This sent me in a downward spiral over the next year and a half due to my guilt and shame. But one day I decided enough was enough and started to turn my life around. After making many significant changes in my life and encouragement from friends and family, I decided I would return to UNI. The thought of going back was exciting, but also terrifying because I knew the pain of failing once, I couldn’t imagine the pain of failing twice. I remember telling myself that failure was not an option. I needed to reevaluate and make changes to my previous student life to be successful. To do that, I observed my college friends who I considered to be “good students.” I watched what they were doing, how they managed their time, and especially what they were involved in. My first time at college, I tried to do it all on my own. But this time, I decided to be like my “good student” friends. I wouldn’t just go to classes, I would become involved. I would make connections with others who were on the same path as me. One of the most influential decisions I made during this time was joining UNI’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter. At the Starting Line To figure out which major was right for me, my academic advisor had me take a quiz online. One of the top recommendations was public relations. I had no idea what public relations was, but I liked that the average annual salary was much higher than the rest of the options that were recommended. Even during the first couple weeks of being a public relations major and taking classes, I didn’t know what a public relations career would look like. I liked what I was learning, but I didn’t know where my major could take me. The end of the path I had started walking on became foggy because I didn’t know where I was going. All of this started to become clear when I learned about PRSSA. The Chapter President at the time, Lexie Warth, came to my class one day to inform all of us about PRSSA. She told us how PRSSA helps you to strengthen your professional skills, gain leadership experience, and connect with other students and professionals, which sounded like exactly what I needed to be involved in if I wanted a better understanding of how this major would result in a career. I was nervous about putting myself out there and meeting new people - something I’ve never been good at on my own - but I knew to be a good student, I had to do it (and there would be free cupcakes, so that made it easier). The first meeting I attended was a LinkedIn workshop with Amanda Mulcahy. On my way there, I was a little nervous and thought I might feel out of place, but all of that worry was gone once I walked in the room. Everyone was so easygoing and welcoming! You could tell that with every new member that walked in the door, the executive board members were excited to see them there. The purpose of PRSSA is to help students, so of course, they were happy to see new faces! I knew I would have to keep coming back for more, and not just for the free treats. The Halfway Point I believe that I have been to every PRSSA meeting since my first one. There is so much valuable information that I don’t want to miss any of it! A typical PRSSA meeting has an industry professional, usually on Zoom with COVID-19 precautions now, but sometimes in person. The importance of hearing from these people who are out there doing the work that you will someday be doing is huge. If you wanted to be a famous pop singer, you’d probably take the opportunity to meet with The Weeknd or Taylor Swift. Take opportunities to meet people who are doing what you want to be doing! These meetings have been great for me to learn about the career I will one day have. One of my favorite speakers was Luke Crawford from Edelman Chicago. He talked to us about how important it is to stand out from the crowd and to set yourself apart from everyone else, whether that be in a job interview, a conference, or anywhere else. Make yourself different. You might not be remembered for your name, but you could be remembered by the funky bow ties you always wear. It’s an important truth that I will never forget. PRSSA also plans group agency tours for members who want to get an up-close look at their future, as well as network with professionals. I haven’t been able to go to any of the agency tours quite yet, but I’m looking forward to this spring’s. There are also many opportunities to build your skills in practical ways. At the end of every semester, PRSSA creates a newsletter, called The PRogressor, that dues-paying members are encouraged to participate in whether that means writing an article or contributing to the design of the newsletter. Last semester, I wrote an article about a virtual event that our special events planning class hosted for high school students thinking about coming to UNI to study public relations. It was rewarding to be able to contribute to something that was being published and shared on a platform to be read by others who were passionate about the work as well. This opportunity to work on my writing skills has helped me become a better writer today. Even writing this blog post has been a tremendous help in building my writing skills. There are endless opportunities PRSSA gives its members to grow in their professional lives. The Finish Line I’m so grateful that I found the courage to put myself out there and go to my first meeting of PRSSA one year ago. This organization has helped me to grow in a multitude of different ways over the one year that I’ve been back in college. Communicating with others, meeting new people, professionalism, networking, writing, you name it. In every way that joining PRSSA has been helpful to me, it can be helpful to you too. As I said before, there is so much more to learn about the public relations industry that you just can’t learn in the classroom. Coming from someone who spent a lot of years ignoring opportunities and not being involved in anything, do yourself a favor and get involved in PRSSA. If you’re not already attending meetings, come to the next one! We’ll all be happy to see you! Maybe you’re someone who is coming to meetings, but you’re not volunteering your time. Maybe you’re scared to meet new people, so you don’t want to go to the social events. Maybe you’re afraid that if you volunteer to write for the newsletter, you won’t have enough time or someone might judge your writing. As someone who has been in your shoes, don’t worry. I know it sounds scary, but if you just jump into it and take a chance, you’ll see that it wasn’t so scary after all. What makes PRSSA an organization worth investing in is that by being invested in the organization, you are investing in yourself. Running the race towards success on your own isn’t easy. It’s good to have a coach in your corner. UNI’s Chapter of PRSSA is that coach that helps us, the public relations students, to cross the finish line. They do anything and everything they can so that we can all be successful. |