The Columbus Blue Jackets social team is at it again.
After creating the CBJ Social Suite, where fans who interact with the club through its Twitter and Facebook social accounts are invited to watch games from a suite dedicated to them, they’re now going on the road for away games in a “CBJ Social on the Road” deal with Buffalo Wild Wings.
“It’s no secret BW’s has been really good to all of our fans,” said Blue Jackets digital guru Marcus Stephenson of Greg May, the owner of BW’s in Grandview who’s hosted several fan events at his restaurant, including Cannonfest and the draft lottery party. “Within the community, our fans know it’s a place to gather to experience CBJ action.”
So Stephenson figured, why not go ahead and merge the two? Tonight will be the first of 8 “CBJ Social on the Road” watch parties, starting at 7:30 p.m. at the BW’s Dublin location, 6595 Perimeter Loop Dr., to see the team take on the Detroit Red Wings. The next will be Saturday night at the Grandview location, 968 W. 5th Ave., beginning at 8 p.m., for CBJ versus the Blues.
“Fans can meet our promotions teams, Stinger—we’ll have trivia questions and prizes, as well as the opportunity to continue to be social. We’ll be posting on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #CBJBWW,” said Stephenson, who is encouraging all CBJ fans to use that hashtag to be part of the conversation, whether they’re at BW’s or not. “It’s about marrying social with real life experiences and we couldn’t have picked a better partner for that.”
Dude. Someone who goes to one of the #CBJBWW events is gonna win free wings for a year?!?! #nom
— Alison(@AlisonL) February 20, 2013
For his part, May is a huge supporter of the hockey community, sponsoring the CAHL team B-Dubs, as well as hosting CBJ fan events and being a sponsor in the upcoming Make CF History charity hockey tournament. May, who writes for the CBJ blog “Full Mental Jackets,” is also the president of the Franklin County CASA board of directors, where he helps find abused and neglected children the help they need.
“As the CBJ social world has grown, and continues to grow, this new partnership between the CBJ and BWW is just a natural progression of that as I see it,” wrote May via Facebook messaging. “The amazing thing to me has been the number of people that have asked me over the last few years when BWW was going to host CBJ viewing parties. So right now, it feels pretty good to let those people know about this partnership.”
May said he continues to be impressed by the CBJ’s innovative use of social media to connect #IRL (that’s “in real life” for all you non-Twitter users out there!) with its fans.
“I think the CBJ are one of the more progressive organizations in professional sports when it comes to social media integration. They've always done a good job of connecting with the community online, from the CBJ DJ to the Ice Girls to the people that produce their online content,” said May. “People know who they are because they engage online and they're truly friendly, funny and approachable folks. In today's world, pushing your product the traditional way through traditional media is not going to cut it. Columbus is a young town demographically, and the CBJ know that if you want to connect with today's young people you need to have an effective social media presence.”
You can catch the other six watch parties at the following dates, times and locations:
• Friday, March 1 vs. Chicago Blackhawks, 8:30 p.m. – Taylor Square (2386 Taylor Square Drive, Reynoldsburg)
• Sunday, March 10 vs. Detroit Red Wings, 5 p.m. – Polaris Parkway (2137 Polaris Parkway, Columbus)
• Thursday, April 4 vs. Nashville Predators, 8 p.m. – Gahanna (1380 Cherry Bottom Road, Gahanna)
• Friday, April 5 vs. St. Louis Blues, 8 p.m. – Mt. Vernon (907 Coshocton Avenue, Mt Vernon)
• Saturday, April 13 vs. Minnesota Wild, 8 p.m. – Marion (1573 Marion-Mt Gilead Road, Marion)
• Thursday, April 25 vs. Dallas Stars, 8:30 p.m. – Powell (3878 Attucks Drive, Powell)
