Houston Super Bowl Host Committee Social Media QB Jeramie McPeek (@jeramie) may be the first person to lead the social and digital media efforts for two Super Bowls, having previously done so for Super Bowl XLIX in Phoenix. McPeek, a longtime Suns exec, left the franchise last fall to start his own consultancy. He began with the Suns in '92 -- before the team had a website or even email. McPeek learned the digital and social channels from the ground up as technology advanced over the years. His first Super Bowl experience came when WNBA COO and former Suns Senior VP/Brand & Business Development Jay Parry joined the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee in '12, and reached out to the franchise about bringing McPeek on as a consultant for the 18 months leading up to game. In addition to the Suns and two Super Bowl host committees, McPeek also consulted and helped the NFLPA with its social media efforts for three years.
Difference between consulting and working for an organization:
It depends on what type of consultancy I’m doing. I have a number of clients and I play different roles for each of them. It just depends on what the clients’ need is; do they need training and they want me to develop a full 100-page strategy that I hand over and their team runs with, or am I going to come in and take over the channels and manage them for them.
Seeing social, digital media develop from its infancy:
It’s been a lot of fun for me. That was the reason I stayed at the Suns as long as I did; I grew up a Suns fans, so that was part of it as well. I loved the fact that every two years something new was coming along and there was some new challenge to take on and something new to learn. It never gets stale.
Planning social media for the Super Bowl:
There’s a lot to it; a lot of work involved. We really want to promote the city of Houston, promote the different partners who support the committee along with the different sponsors such as Verizon presenting the big Super Bowl Live fan festival downtown. A huge part of it is connecting with football fans. At first it was football fans in Houston, letting them know this event is coming, trying to get them excited about it. But then it was, as the season went on and the playoffs came, it was really about NFL fans around the country and NFL media who will be traveling to Houston for the game.
Logistical issues:
I don’t think there were any big logistical issues. There are always issues of so many different events going on at one time and figuring out how you are going to get to them all. Or there are times when you have a bad WiFi signal and your Facebook Live stream crashes, which is what happened at the airport Sunday when the Falcons were getting off their plane on the tarmac.
What fans can look forward to:
Come Sunday they will see a lot of content being posted from NRG Stadium, getting a real feel for what it’s like to be there as a real football fan. Doing a little bit of live streaming on Facebook Live and Periscope, even Instagram Live early in the day. We’ll be posting at least a hundred videos or photos on Snapchat. We’ll be tweeting from the stadium and in the media room after the game. Real-time, behind-the-scenes content that fans can expect.
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