This document discusses various content management system (CMS) platforms and how they can be used to enable better communication and empower online communities. It provides examples of WordPress and BuddyPress sites that were built for sports teams and communities to extend their reach, enable user bonding, and strengthen their brand. The document emphasizes finding ways to engage and entertain fans through mobile apps, social media, online events and understanding your audience.

1. CMS PLATFORMS
ENABLE BETTER
COMMUNICATION...
(TIP: OPEN SOURCE
CAN YOU SAVE
MONEY TOO)

2. Check out the stadium site at
livestrongsportingpark.com - this
is a WordPress site with custom
coding for the homepage slider and
social feeds and a custom built
events slider and functionality.

3. The kcchiefs50.com site is
built in WordPress with
custom contest functionality
for running multiple “enter-
to-win” or “submit an entry”
type contests for fans.

4. BUDDYPRESS
EMPOWERS
COMMUNITIES...
AND COMMUNITIES
EXTEND REACH, ENABLE
BONDING AND PROVIDE
BRAND CEMENT

5. The initial version of the Sporting Club membership site was
built in WordPress/BuddyPress with a lot of custom design
coding to present users with front-end forms so it would feel
more like Tumblr works than the back-end of WordPress, making
it easier for mass numbers of users to interact with.
A very fun feature was the “Free Ticket” giveaway which
happened once a week for a window of time. If users clicked and
were told that they got a free ticket they received it at the
stadium and sat in the Cauldron & had access to the Members
Club for free, up to 3 times last year.

6. The WUFC community I founded is built on
WordPress with BuddyPress community
features. We will soon launch the ability for
every member who wants one to have their own
blog... something called “multi-site”.
Check it out and tell your soccer-loving female
friends we’d love to have them join us!

7. BUILD YOUR OWN
COMMUNITY TO
FILL A NEED

8. If you love to play soccer,
Jeremy’s site is for you!
Jogabo is an awesome
community to help you
organize games and
connect with other
players in your area and
beyond.

9. MAKE MOBILE
FUN FOR FANS

10. Sporting Explore is the
first mobile app released
by Sporting Kansas City,
meant for fans to
interact with trivia
questions and earn
points for checkins
during a game or event.
PLAY DURING GAMES TO WIN

11. Seattle Sounders are dedicated to the
mobile experience and have multiple apps
and options for mobile enjoyment. From
the mobile app to mobile-friendly audio,
video and browser displays, they turn
away no fan who wants to immerse
themselves in the Sounders brand!

12. Our friends at LightMaker just
released this gorgeous app for
Fulham FC. It has in-app
features and also links to
external sites in one slick
interface that perfectly
represents the Fulham brand.

13. AGGREGATE REAL-TIME
CONTENT FOR MORE
BETTER TRACKING
AND NEWS

14. ESPN’s SportsCenter Feed is
interesting I guess if you
want sports info that is
NOT related to MLS/US. ;-)
ESPN SPORTSCENTER FEED
little-no MLS/US soccer coverage = #lamefail

15. Visit tickr.com to sign up for a
free or paid Tickr monitoring
plan. Very cool aggregator of
multiple sources you may need
to track online.
TICKR

16. ENTERTAIN FANS
ON FACEBOOK,
TWITTER AND
WEBSITES

17. If you market via Facebook, you should
definitely check out Napkin Labs free and
paid apps. The UI is beautiful and easy to
work with and the things you can offer
fans are fun/informative.
Check out the KC Chiefs “Superfans” tab we
installed... this was totally free!
NAPKIN
LABS

18. We used Offerpop to create a custom-
branded photo contest on a Facebook
tab for the Chiefs. Offerpop has little
apps for FB & Twitter.
Wildfire has been acquired by Google
and has a number of social offerings
similar to Offerpop. Both offer test
drives or free/cheap plans to try out so
check them out!

19. This is a microsite we built for the Chiefs that
can be re-skinned with graphics and CSS, while
the underlying tech of voting via different
methods and tracking votes doesn’t have to be
re-coded. Making functional sites like this (we
call them mini-apps as this is not a simple
website, nor a more complex piece of soft ware)
is a good way to save budget money since it can
be re-used.

20. PRODUCE YOUR
OWN NEWS WITH
LIVE ONLINE EVENTS

21. This “Live Landing Page” was custom-
designed for Sporting KC but can be
used for other projects. We built this
for the stadium naming announcement
which was a midday press conference
that we promoted on Twitter/Facebook
and tracked in real-time with Woopra.

22. LIVE
LANDING
PAGE
When Ochocinco wanted to come for a trial
with SKC a few weeks after the stadium
announcement, we quickly re-skinned the
Live Landing Page for this purpose.

23. INTEFY
Intefy is my product, and
we used it for a snowball
fight bet ween fans and
players one very snowy
winter day in 2011.
Most fun ever! The page
is still up so check out the
video/pics from the day.

24. KNOW YOUR
AUDIENCE

25. CrazyEgg is a neat way to test
where users are clicking on your
site pages. If you want to optimize
your site or make sure people are
clicking what you want them to,
using heatmaps and eye tracking
can help you understand reality.
CRAZYEGG HEAT MAP

26. Loop 11 is an online platform where
you or an experience UXP consultant
can perform usability testing on your
sites or applications.
UserTesting.com is another good
platform for gaining quick insight into
your design or usability.
Both of these are cheaper than
building your own lab or renting one,
though perhaps a little less “formal”
compared to traditional methods of
user testing.
LOOP 11
ONLINE
USABILITY
TESTING

27. WOOPRA
CUSTOMER
ANALYTICS
Woopra is a powerful real-time
analytics tool and a little scary. You
can downright stalk people visiting
your site in that moment, talk to
them, and possibly frighten them to
death. Use that feature delicately! :-)

28. PASSION
IS THE #1
TECHNICAL
REQUIREMENT!
HAVE FUN
:-)