In an industry that is built on competition, Matt Desmond has created a community for sports professionals that fosters the exact opposite. The Sports Creative Community is a place for creatives to collaborate, showcase their work, discuss industry trends, and network with peers. The group, housed in Slack, was started in 2018 and now is home to more than 4,800 members.
“During this pandemic I think one of the things that really brought our community together was showing that we’re always here for people, during their highs and their lows,” says Desmond, the founder of the Sports Creative Community. “We decided at the beginning of the quarantine to have virtual happy hours, and that turned into virtual industry panels, and now to breakout rooms on diversity, inclusion, and mental health. Right now in the world there’s a lot of negativity, and we really wanted to be a bright spot in somebody’s day.”
On this episode of #Storyteller, we’ll dive into the sports community to chat about how it’s brought creatives together while live sports are on hold, and what Matt hopes for next as this community grows.
On competing for limited attention span when telling your story:
Our attention spans, they’re going by the wayside more and more every day. So if I can really captivate someone in less than 30 seconds, or maybe even 15 seconds, maybe 10 seconds, that’s what I’m trying to do just to make sure I’m getting the point across, the message…That’s what creatives are tasked with these days: fitting as much information in a short amount of time, but also being creative and unique with how to capture everyone’s attention span. That’s what you’re lobbying for at this point.
On competition in the sports industry:
This community and this industry is so competitive. And that’s what really drives everyone to be the best that they can at their specific craft or at learning new skill sets. There’s a lot of people without work right now, and I think this is a perfect time as a community, to take the right steps forward. There’s a lot of things that need to go right in this industry.
On the future of sports amidst the pandemic:
The sports world is entering uncharted territory. What’s life without fans in sporting events going to look like? How are teams going to make fans feel like they’re part of the experience, as realistic as possible? I really think you’re going to see a lot more digital, virtual campaigns. How are you going to bring augmented reality and virtual reality experiences for fans to partake in? I really think COVID-19 has really sped up the innovation of sports technology to accommodate this area that we are in now. Teams and companies are really going to have to be creative, and I feel like everyone in this industry is going to help each other out, because this is new for everyone.
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