The New York Jets are one of the most social-media-savvy organizations in the NFL, as their rankings of No. 1 among all 32 teams in Twitter followers and are approaching 1 million likes on Facebook indicates.
And now the Jets are preparing to turn their 2011 training camp into a social media mecca with an ambitious activation and promotional schedule that will begin even before the first open practice of camp on Tuesday at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center and continue throughout August.
It only begins with the real-time Twitter updates provided by Randy Lange, Eric Allen and the Jets Internet staff that you've come to rely on. Those daily updates, from training camp practices as well as during games, helped propel the Jets from less than 100 followers at the start of the Rex Ryan era in the spring of 2009 to more than 160,000 followers.
In addition, the Jets are giving their fans attending training camp more opportunities than ever to interact with the team via social media.
Laura Clemente, the team's corporate communications assistant, says the majority of the activation will take place at the new Social Media Hot Spot tent, which will be located near Jets Fest and the practice fields. A computer will be set up there so that fans can participate (although all are also encouraged to use their mobile devices to get in on the fun).
Here is a rundown of the fan interaction that will be available every day camp is open to the public:
■ Fans who visit the Social Media Hot Spot tent will be prompted to like the Jets on Facebook and follow the team on Twitter on a computer in the tent or from his/her mobile device. Fans will then receive a raffle ticket and be entered for the chance to win a VIP upgrade (for that fan and a guest) at camp that day. The winner will be declared 15 minutes before practice.
■ Fans can make every public practice an event on Facebook and have other fans RSVP.
■ The Jets will post some of the best flip-cam fan messages — such as "Excited for the Season," "Great to Be at Training Camp" or the J-E-T-S chant — on its Facebook wall.
■ On Twitter, fans can participate in a TwitPic Scavenger Hunt. Capture a player shaking hands or giving a high-five. The Jets will make the fans a part of their Twitter feed and retweet some of the photos that are sent to the team.
■ The Jets are promoting the training-camp-specific hashtag #JetsCampand encouraging fans to make the hashtag trend, and will also RT some of the messages sent to the team with the hashtag.
■ The Jets also plan to organize a tweetup, with a gift for all fans who attend.
All this and more is just ahead for fans in one of the most ambitious social-media-oriented training camps in NFL history.
