C'mon Commonwealth!

So I prepared to write about all the wonderful things the Commonwealth Games had done in reaching audience’s through social media only to discover in that there was actually more to say about what they hadn’t done!

 Social Media NZ Creative Director John Lai (@iamjohnlai) recently wrote about the poor efforts in linking and utilizing the Commonwealth Games Twitter, Youtube and Facebook accounts, and failing to implement any sort of strategy across all fronts.
“..What differentiates a brand from the others, is the hard work and service a brand puts in order to connect with their fans/followers, which the Commonwealth Games Twitter page shows none of that connection whatsoever.”
 He suggests that with all the controversy surrounding the Games, they had better things to worry about than updating the Facebook, Twitter or Youtube pages. Perhaps they did, but here are a few of my ideas as to what else they could have done:

I personally feel that they could have taken a lot of heat off all the controversy by plugging the talent before, during and after the actual games.This could have been done via Flickr for a display of photos and descriptions of the world’s best, or perhaps an official Commonwealth Games iPhone app for even faster dissemination of information.
In terms of crisis communications I just wanted to profile WAYN.com, the largest travel and lifestyle social network with over 15.7 million members globally. They actively tried to lower the negative publicity around the Games by encouraging all Indians to upload pictures and leave messages of support to showcase the ‘positive face’ of the Games.
The UK Guardian reported that when team officials threatened to pull athletes out, the panel of influential’s behind the Games had only a matter of hours to put a plan into action, and there was talk of it already starting to affect the 2014 Games set for Glasgow.
Popular English bloggers One Chocolate Communications described the Games rightfully as a “PR disaster” – no better exemplified than when the head of the organising committee took to the stage at the opening ceremony and received boos.

“There have been allegations of corruption, ongoing concerns about the state of the facilities, outbreaks of Dengue fever and outcries of mismanagement.”
Seems to me that the basic steps of communication were missing from this recipe of disaster, lets hope Glasgow have a fully fledged strategy on board!
Written by Jess Miller