Devils use of social media as a tool of promotion - New York Times

Receptions went well, but Vanderbeek wanted the connection of the team to the fans to be more rigorous and more immediate. Therefore the Devils began a project of social media they call Mission control, with storage space converted in their offices of Prudential Center.

At any time during the day, three or four fans among a group of 25 volunteers, in about two hours travel, sites of media social monitor and related to the hockey news Web sites and other information about the Devilsand then pass the elements as well as Twitter and Facebook.

"Fans want to drink from a fire hose when it comes to information on their favorite team," Vanderbeek said in a recent interview.

The Devils won the Stanley Cup three times over the past 16 years, and their General Manager long date, Lou Lamoriello, is generally seen as an astute talent judge. But they have never known as the aggressive marketing. Partly as a result, their home crowds are dull.

With five home games left in their fourth season at the Prudential Center, the Devils are 26th among the 30 teams present idols, with an average of approximately 14,400 fans per game, or 80% of capacity. Eighteen teams idols play at 95 per cent of capacity or higher.

Months before the Devils created a buzz going on an amazing tear, the idea was to create more enthusiasm among a fan base that Vanderbeek considers relatively young and more likely to use social media to obtain and exchange information.

If the Devils army, with the generals named fans, was born in February. Although Gatorade and Dell have used initiatives similar to promote feedback from clients, Vanderbeek said he knew not what anyone quite like it in professional sports.

"Us will make up the rules as we go along, and they will help," Vanderbeek said fans.

After collecting information on the Web, the generals share on Facebook (Devils General of the army) and Twitter (DevilsGenerals). The project started on time, the Devils began to turn their season was a nice coincidence, said official team.

"They are the voice of the fan within the Organization now," said Anthony Oliva, the Executive in charge of the project.

A large part of the original content was happy chatter on the team and its prospects of the playoffs, but Twitter and Facebook pages can be an online customer service Office. Families, for example, said they wanted more concessions without gluten, and the team responded.

Has asked whether the initiative would give fans a pipeline to the Office of Prudential Center, the Lamoriello on player personnel issues, Vanderbeek smiled and told him "not in this organization."

But perhaps that Devils can wear their jerseys of red and green survival more often. If the fans the experience to go to a game, he felt, attendance will increase, Prudential Center will become more noisy and the Devils can play better.

The generals of the army of Devils say that they do not mind free to the control of the Mission of working - seeking in fact as one, with large, wall monitors flat screen for listening to sports and circuits of three workstations with computers.

"This is the part of the manufacture, fans feel like they are in fact part of the Organization," said Tim Joyce, 28-year-old Professor of music of North Arlington, N.J., a season since the season ticket holder 2002-3.

Joyce was sitting at one of the offices of Mission control on a recent afternoon taking a sweep through websites of hockey, blogs and message boards, in the hope of finding a topic that could mix conversation among fans of the Devils.

Because the Devils have played as well recently, questions remain polite. Most of Twitter messages are related to the game – updates, previews and recaps. Questions are: where Zach Parise, strong striker, could integrate the range when he returned from knee surgery?

"Any fan could start a conversation with a simple Tweet that goes for hours," said Carlos Figueiredo, 36, a General of Kearny, N.J., who was a fan of the team since he was 7. "Before I started the doing, I was on Twitter every day essentially talking about Devils, anyway."