When out of your element, attitude is key in social event coverage

For one day, Jeff Gordon buzzed around Pocono Raceway in a Chevy SS that doubled as a speeding billboard for Pennsylvania State University. I was in the social media passenger’s seat.

Gordon’s racecar, fire suit, helmet and pit crew were decked out in Penn State blue and white – the university’s insignia was inescapable June 7 at the Axalta We Paint Winners 400. I made myself a fixture at race weekend – my first time at a NASCAR event.

Axalta Coating Systems, Gordon's main sponsor, facilitated the meeting of higher education and auto racing with the notion that the two worlds have more in common than people realize: modern racing requires technicians well-versed in science, technology, engineering and math, and thriving in a major American sport requires a keen business sense. Sensing an opportunity to motivate the next generation of job prospects and create a pipeline to talent, Axalta offered Penn State some high-octane exposure. 

Here are some lessons learned from #PSURaceday. 

Prepare for technological limitations: Pocono Raceway is not equipped with public Wi-Fi, and I was unable to obtain media credentials, which would have entitled me to an Internet hook-up. After arriving at the racetrack and snapping a few shots, I exceeded my iPhone’s storage capacity and frantically deleted old photos. A fully charged smartphone with adequate storage space and data allotment, back-up power source and plug-in charger are essentials. On the low-tech side, a pen and pad, water, sunscreen, sunglasses, poncho or umbrella and a hankie – the uses are endless – should also be in your toolkit. 

Reuse and recycle: Hardly new concepts in social media, repurposing content takes on new importance when you’re a bit out of your element. My early race weekend content came from Axalta-Penn State launch events in April, which included a visit from Gordon to campus in a replica of his Penn State racecar. Our archives had a few dozen photos from the event, including a visit from Gordon to our beloved creamery.

I also passed around business cards promoting #PSURaceday and our platforms to the majority of the 100 engineering and business students invited by Axalta to the race as well as their chaperones. Over the weekend, the hashtag was used roughly 340 times, a handful of those postings I shared on Penn State's platforms.

During the race, I struggled to keep up with the action. Beyond a photo of Gordon making a pit stop – I had the benefit of a pit pass – I made little attempt at giving a social play-by-play. Fortunately, Jeff Gordon’s team (@JeffGordonWeb) and his ownership group (@TeamHendrick) were firing away on Twitter and many of the posts included @Penn_State. I shared tweets from those accounts to offer beginning, midway and final race updates. Gordon briefly held the No. 1 spot, but in about the time I retweeted @TeamHendrick, he lost his position. (He’d go on to finish 14th.)

Play to your strengths: With that, accept that others may be far more equipped at giving an adequate blow-by-blow account of an event. That frees you to give a more colorful account of the experience, a better sense of place for followers. I couldn’t speak of the intricacies of the Pocono track, dubbed the Tricky Triangle, but I could snap photos of cupcakes arranged in the NASCAR logo at the pre-race dinner, students hamming it up by the race trophy and a qualifying event for Nathan's International Hot Dog Eating Contest in the fan zone outside the raceway.

Be open: You’re best to adopt a positive attitude and a willingness to make the most of what you're given. When faced with a potential fish-out-of-water event, it’s not the time to be inflexible. It is the time to drop preconceived notions and be open to new experiences. The We Paint Winners 400 did not make me a NASCAR fan. It did give me an appreciation for the level of fan access that a race offers, the satisfaction of seeing so many react positively to my school – people constantly posed for photos at the Penn State replica car displayed behind the infield stands – and a fascination with how fans develop allegiances to their drivers. 

For a collection of social media activity from #PSURaceday, go to https://storify.com/ThisIs_BillZ/psuraceday.