Behind the Scenes: Super Bowl Social Media Command Center
A lot of planning went into making the Super Bowl’s first Social Media Command Center a reality.
Even though this is the second time in four years that Tom Brady and the New England Patriots will face Eli Manning and the New York Giants in the Super Bowl, there’s actually some new ground being broken at this year’s event – the Super Bowl Host Committee has launched the first-ever Super Bowl Social Media Command Center.
Interior view of the Super Bowl Social Media Command Center
The idea behind this project is to have a main communication hub responsible for providing real-time responses to web-based questions and comments across the various social media websites. It’s a great idea, one that seems simple enough, but developing a modern day super-communication center capable of handling a task of this magnitude is a project in and of itself. That’s why the Committee brought in local digital marketing agency, Raidious.
Electronic Products spoke with Brian Wyrick, Raidious’ Chief Operating Officer, and Duke Beam, Vice President of Sales & Operations for Ovation Audio-Video Solutions, the two brains behind this gargantuan task, about the technological aspects of what went into making this project possible.
Purpose of the Super Bowl Social Media Command Center
Handling a stadium-full of football fans is one thing; monitoring a city-full of Super Bowl-crazed football fans is something entirely different. As it is, 150,000 people are expected to flood the streets of Indianapolis this upcoming weekend.
The purpose of the Center is more than finding a new way to interact with all of these fans. It has four key responsibilities:
1) Safety: they respond first to any safety issue and/or crisis occurring throughout Indianapolis
2) Coverage: they know what’s happening when and where, and will send team members there to capture and publish the event
3) Service: they respond to any negative dialogue that’s related to the city or event
4) Amplification: they find positive dialogue or consumer content, and amplify it on the web
So what does it all mean? The Center is responsible for providing accurate, real-time responses to everything from tweeting directions to fans looking for a place to park, to responding to a visitor’s Facebook inquiry about recommendations on Indianapolis’s best attractions, to sending out information across all networks in the event that a disaster should occur.
Some of the numbers behind the Command Center
According to Wyrick, the Project has been in the plans since fall 2010, with Raidious officially taking over in March 2011. The AV portion, as per Beam, took approximately 200 man-hours when it came to design and execution.
The Command Center takes up 2,800 square feet of downtown Indianapolis real estate. 50 Raidious staff and volunteer members are working at the Center leading up to Super Bowl XLVI. On average, 20 people man the Center for about 15 hours a day.
The Center has 35 work stations and everything is 100% Apple: there are 13 iMacs, 7 Mac minis, 8 MacBook Pros, and 2 MacBook Airs. Naturally, all staff members are equipped with iPads.
The Super Bowl Social Media Command Center is 100% Apple
Work stations at the Super Bowl Social Media Command Center
There are no dedicated servers that the Center is running on; rather, they’re using a unique assembly of software as service applications. As far as routers are concerned, the Center went with the Cisco ASA 5505.
Technology specifics
The Super Bowl Social Media Command Center is using over a mile of Ethernet cable to wire the facility. All AV connectivity to the HD monitors uses HDMI cabling. Speaking of monitors, there is about 150 square feet of networked screen space within the Center.
Power distribution for the AV/server rack is managed by Furman Power products. According to Beam, a Furman F1500 UPS is used to provide stable voltage for the rack in case of a power outage. This is especially important because there’s a ton of construction going on in the vicinity of the Center in preparation for the game.
More specifically, the F1500 uses Furman’s BlueBolt technology, which allows for online monitoring of the power status. On average, the energy usage of the racks can range anywhere between 36 and 40 kWh. If a power event like an undervolt, overvolt, battery dissipation, or complete power disruption occurs, a notification email is immediately sent out to appropriate personnel. The team can reboot devices and reset routers/TV tuners as needed with an off-site computer, iPad, or smartphone.
A Furman Elite15i power conditioner is used to provide clean, filtered AC power and protection against damage. If a harmful high voltage spike or surge were to occur, the Elite15i shunts the excess voltage directly to the ground rather than having a series of resistors soak up the extra energy. As Beam explains, this makes the Elite15i a “non-sacrificial” surge suppressor, one that’s not subject to age the way most surge suppression devices are.
And if you noticed that awesome looking video wall in the first picture, you’ll be pleased to know that there’s a dedicated twin 15 amp servicing those 9-screens to ensure that there aren’t any issues when it comes to available current.
9-screen video wall at the Super Bowl Social Media Command Center
Testing
While Raidious has performed similar duties for other clients in the past, no project has ever been of this magnitude. Wyrick said that while he doesn’t have an exact figure on how much data the Center will process throughout this week and during Super Bowl 46, he anticipates higher traffic towards the latter half of the week, with numbers peaking on game day.
To prepare his team of staff and volunteer members for this unprecedented workload, Wyrick said that they went through some simulation exercises during other sporting events. Most recently, they ran a battery of tests during the Big Ten Championship, which was also held in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium.
Want to see the Super Bowl Social Media Command Center in action?
The Super Bowl Social Media accounts are as follows:
• Blog : indianapolissuperbowl.com/blog
• Facebook : facebook.com/indysuperbowl2012
• Twitter : twitter.com/superbowl2012
• YouTube : youtube.com/user/superbowl2012
• Flickr : flickr.com/photos/indianapolissuperbowl
• Foursquare : Multiple locations monitored.
If you’re interested in seeing how well the Center performed, check for a study to be released later in the year by researchers from nearby Ball State University’s Center for Media Design. They’re monitoring the Social Media Command Center to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of this uniquely designed communication super-hub. ■
Learn more about Raidious: raidious.com
Learn more about Ovation Audio-Video Solutions: ovation-av.com
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