President Barack Obama has used them. Bill Nye has dabbled with them. Even Nicki Minaj has used one from time to time.
And starting at the end of last season, the Ohio hockey team began using them too.
Hashtags have become a vital way of marketing for a wide variety of organizations, so the hockey team decided to jump on the bandwagon and test the effectiveness of the social media tactic. Thus “#PacktheBird” was born.
It began last season as the team’s director of media and broadcaster Justin Sampson wanted to vamp up the team’s presence on its website and on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Sampson increased the amount of videos on the website, published game previews and provided more interaction with fans.
“We work with Britton Spark, a sports management graduate student that manages the facilities,” coach Dan Morris said. “He brought in all the data on how you can search a hashtag much easier than a Twitter handle. So we wanted to put something in so that people could follow along from home or when they’re not at the rink.”
But the idea for the hashtag came in a rather unusual way for Sampson.
“We wanted to get fans out there, so in the shower one day it came to me,” he said. “Spread the word, pack the Bird.”
Sampson began tweeting with the shortened version of “Pack the Bird,” and coach Morris was immediately on board. The phrase was then used to promote the Central State College Hockey League tournament at Bird Arena last season and helped play a role in increased attendance, Sampson said.
Junior Ryan Boyd, who holds Sampson’s old positions, loved the phrase when Sampson initially used it last year. But the now popular hashtag almost didn’t make it to the 2012-2013 season.
“We used it (last season) and stopped because the season ended and we didn’t really think much of it,” Boyd said. “Then this year started and some of the guys I work with said they really liked it and wanted to see it again. So we started to use it again.”
Though Sampson and Boyd didn’t think the idea would amount to much at the time, the two have been pleased with the success of “#PacktheBird.”
“The more we started to use it, the more people started to like it,” Boyd said. “Then more people started to use it when they tweeted at us. It just kind of caught on and became a big thing.”
Sampson is proud to hear that he could have a lasting impression on an Ohio hockey program he holds very dearly.
“The hockey team has been gaining so much momentum not only on the ice, but in the social media world,” Sampson said. “So it’s just nice to know that I had, in a small way, left my mark.”
ch203310@ohiou.edu
