From the desk of Elaine Schoch...
When I read about VarVee before attending the Angel Capital Summit last week it took me back to my high school days when Friday nights revolved around Texas football (Go Dragons!). VarVee has developed a “content widget” that helps high school coaches get scores to media outlets faster. Ok, that alone doesn’t sound very cool – but there is more. While VarVee helps coaches get data to the local media outlets ASAP, local media outlets are getting new, fresh content – not just scores. VarVee provides tools to local media outlets that enhance the high school sports experience of their readers by enabling them to view player profiles, post comments and interact with the team. Can I say creating a social network for high school sports teams and their local communities.
If you’re from the south (heck, anywhere people eat and breath high school football), you can understand when I say this – alumni will actually go back and see how their high school football team is doing, etc. Think about how a school could use this for alumni relations and fund raising efforts. Also, think about how this tool might help college recruiters get details about a certain player and be able to compare him/her to another player. There are a ton of possibilities in how people could use VarVees’ online content housed within a local newspaper.
Having worked with local media outlets for more than a decade (and having my father-in-law own a few in TX) I understand the need these publications have in regards to driving online traffic (i.e. increasing online traffic to help with online ad sales). VarVee looks like it could help do this, and do it well. However, to be honest, I’m more excited to know if/when the Southlake Times is going to incorporate the “content widget” so I can check on the Dragons.
If you’re from the south (heck, anywhere people eat and breath high school football), you can understand when I say this – alumni will actually go back and see how their high school football team is doing, etc. Think about how a school could use this for alumni relations and fund raising efforts. Also, think about how this tool might help college recruiters get details about a certain player and be able to compare him/her to another player. There are a ton of possibilities in how people could use VarVees’ online content housed within a local newspaper.
Having worked with local media outlets for more than a decade (and having my father-in-law own a few in TX) I understand the need these publications have in regards to driving online traffic (i.e. increasing online traffic to help with online ad sales). VarVee looks like it could help do this, and do it well. However, to be honest, I’m more excited to know if/when the Southlake Times is going to incorporate the “content widget” so I can check on the Dragons.
thanks for your kind words. the only thing i would add is that the same passion that you identified for high school football exists for many other sports - especially if you know someone playing - and we look forward to capturing information about all of them in order to celebrate the efforts of coaches and players everywhere. all the best
Posted by: stephen Cunningham | November 29, 2008 at 03:58 PM