Alisa says hi!

Jerry Csaki, who is in charge of our Educational Programs, has developed a videoconferencing series whereby classrooms across the country can connect with us to talk about careers. Jerry has invited a number of the Hall of Fame staff to partake in the sessions so students can learn about the various jobs in sports.

This morning I connected with a class of 11th graders in Bloomingdale, Ohio. I talked about my educational background, what I did to get a job at the Hall of Fame, and how I continue to educate myself to keep up with the technological advances and trends in my field.

My position here at the Hall is deeply aligned with the four bullet points of our mission statement – to honor, preserve, educate, and promote! Much of this is achieved in the way we disseminate information about the NFL’s history and the Hall’s role in preserving it.

The students were very engaging and asked lots of good questions. But, it was when we started talking about social media that a real connect came. I mentioned that this time last year, we weren’t a part of Facebook or Twitter but we are now, and we have a devoted following that share our passion for this great game.

I showed the students our Twitter and Facebook pages. It was quickly apparent that this is a medium that works especially well to engage this group. As we spoke, I tweeted that we were videoconferencing with them. I then started to post a comment on our Facebook page when one of the girls in the front row told me to type, “Alisa says hi.” I complied.

With that, I have a feeling that the Pro Football Hall of Fame just got one more Facebook fan.

This brings me to the point of this blog. The Pro Football Hall of Fame exists simply because there’s such passion and interest in our subject matter.  A big part of our strategy in 2009 was to engage fans who share that passion. So, we entered the world of Twitter and Facebook .

We also opened up our website to offer a more interactive experience which was a big part of our redesigned website that debuted last July. As we move forward in 2010 and beyond, you’ll notice that we’ll increasingly offer platforms for fans to engage with us and each other.

We continue to hope that fans will add their comments on our website. I, at least, expect Alisa to start some banter about her favorite team, the Cleveland Browns!