Maximizing Social Media in Sports with Eric Stark, Slate Co-founder

The Work in Sports Podcast - Insider Advice for Sports Careers

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the WorkInSports Podcast... “It is one thing to have a good idea, and quite another to turn it into a reality…” This thought kept bouncing around my head last week as I prepared to interview today’s guest Eric Stark, co-founder of Slate, a sports and entertainment social media tool that we’ll be talking a lot about. We’ve all had jobs where we identified issues. A problem with a workflow, an inefficient tech solution, a supply chain issue. This moment of discovery doesn’t make us unique, we all see problems that need solving all around us. Awareness is common. The better question is, what do you do with this information? As I see it there are two distinct paths. Complain or solve. This isn’t me being preachy, and simplifying issues down to a right way and a wrong way, and shaming you all for not picking the right way enough. Let’s be clear, I have done my share of complaining over the years. Loudly, so everyone in the back could hear me. This is a normal part of the human condition. We don’t always know how to fix things, so sometimes we complain to motivate others with the power to fix things to take action. Am I right? Sound familiar? When I was a production assistant, I would complain about our editing system loud enough for the boss to hear, in hopes she would do something. It was like a cry for help. Not exactly mature or professional, but I was young and trying to affect change in the way I knew how. But you know what impresses me? Someone who identifies a problem, and then has the entrepreneurial ambition to solve it… like legit, create a solution. So let’s get into this Eric Stark story -- Eric worked in the NFL for 7 years, digital account coordinator with the league, digital media manager with the Chiefs, digital and social media strategist with the Niners, then back to the league offices to be the Director of International marketing and content strategy. Career path, on the rise. But during this journey in the digital and content space, Eric found many problems with the process. Getting social media moments out to the audience fast, and with proper branding had a lot of friction points. It took too long and involved too many people. All kinds of areas for failure. He didn’t complain, well maybe he did at some point I can’t confirm or deny, but that doesn’t fit my story right now, we’ll stick with he didn’t complain… he set out to fix. He began developing his own solution to sports social media process friction, with 3 co-founders, his squad, which resulted in Slate. Now, as I stated earlier in this intro, it one thing to have an idea, and quite another to execute it well and turn it into a reality. Eric and his team identified a problem, solved it, and now have teams like the Golden State Warriors, Denver Broncos, NYCFC, Premier Lacrosse League, Atlanta Falcons, ole Miss, and many more using their product in their social media efforts. That’s the overview, now let’s jump into the details with Eric Stark, COO and Co-Founder of Slate… (this is the point you listen to the podcast) Prefer to Watch? Here is the Video Episode of Maximizing Social Media in Sports with Eric Stark, Co-Founder of Slate: https://youtu.be/BWQpZfCBZF4 Questions for Eric Stark, Co-Founder & COO, Slate 1: After graduating from UC-Santa Barbara you’ve worked for the Kansas City Chiefs, the San Francisco 49ers and the NFL league offices. You were the Director of International Marketing and Content Strategy for the NFL – a dream job for many -- and you said to yourself, let’s go the entrepreneur route and start a business from scratch. Simple question, are you insane? 2: We’re going to get into Slate a lot, I want to learn about it and explore the process of creating it – but let’s go back to that beginning for a second.