Maryland launched extensive PR campaign to change impressions about Big Ten move

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Interesting read from the Baltimore Sun:

The University of Maryland anticipated most fans would initially react "emotionally and negatively" to last year's decision to join the Big Ten Conference. So the school sought to influence the debate with a plan to lobby media pundits and plant positive comments into fan message boards.

Scores of documents and emails, obtained by The Baltimore Sun in response to a Public Information Act request, detail a public relations strategy that was as secret as the Big Ten negotiations themselves.

Lee Zeidman, the corporate communications consultant who helped Maryland draft letters and talking points, said Wednesday that it is "standard operating procedure" in the business world to weigh in directly on message boards. "There are special PR agencies who work in the digital space who bombard blogs and newspaper sites where no one puts their name," Zeidman said.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/terps/bs-sp-terps-big-ten-1107-20131106,0,2282119.story

Go Gophers!!
 

I wonder how many people on our board are PR secret agents like the guys talked about here.
 

I wonder if the Terps were concerned about big 10 fans "reacting negatively" to their school joining OUR conference? Actually that would be a bigger issue for Rutgers, which is essentially a community college in a slum.
 




Part of what has always made the B1G special is the "family" feeling with member institutions. Revenue sharing has been equal for a very long time and it was rarely questioned. There has always been a feeling of "forever" with the B1G during my lifespan, which is longer than most people here on GH. There has been slight exception with Penn State, but that impression has been localized. I had no problem with the addition of Nebraska as their fan base fit pretty well and it was easy to see why pretty much anyone other than Texas would want to leave the Longhorn conference. The addition of Maryland and Rutgers felt different to me. Not thrilled. If you have to launch a PR program to "sell" it, I'm not sure if this is the kind of solid member we'd all like to see added to the conference. As far as I am concerned they might as well go broke in the ACC. I'd hate to see any school in the B1G not have both feet happily in the conference.
 

Too Long in the Wasteland said:
I wonder if the Terps were concerned about big 10 fans "reacting negatively" to their school joining OUR conference? Actually that would be a bigger issue for Rutgers, which is essentially a community college in a slum.
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What? Rutgers is on par academically with most any school in the Big Ten save Northwestern, Michigan, and maybe Illinois. It is also most assuredly not in a "slum".
 

From reading boards and papers around the time of the announcement, Rutgers Students and Administration, seem very happy with the switch. Faculties at both schools probably are pleased to "step-up" to the Big Ten. Maryland? Alumni and students don't like the idea at all, mainly because they lose a number of short road trips and rivalries for what they see is a money-grab only.

Lot of Big Ten fans have to emphasize with that. :eek:
 

dpodoll68 said:
What? Rutgers is on par academically with most any school in the Big Ten save Northwestern, Michigan, and maybe Illinois. It is also most assuredly not in a "slum".
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seriously? rutgers is no where near the top half of big ten. wisconsin is squarely third and than illinois. minnesota, iowa, ohio st, indiana, and purdue are also better.
 



otisflowers said:
seriously? rutgers is no where near the top half of big ten. wisconsin is squarely third and than illinois. minnesota, iowa, ohio st, indiana, and purdue are also better.
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You made your first post since January to complain about Rutgers? :confused:

No, no, no, no no! We do not need to go through this again. Rutgers is a good school. Maryland is a good school. The last threads talking about HOW good the schools were went on and on and..
 

otisflowers said:
seriously? rutgers is no where near the top half of big ten. wisconsin is squarely third and than illinois. minnesota, iowa, ohio st, indiana, and purdue are also better.
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I didn't make any of the straw man arguments you claim I did. Good try, though.
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
I wonder how many people on our board are PR secret agents like the guys talked about here.
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The question is: who is bankrolling ***********? It all makes sense now.
 

FreakyDeke said:
The question is: who is bankrolling ***********? It all makes sense now.
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Hmmmm... P****erH***k? Better?
 



From a Big Ten standpoint I'm excited that Maryland is joining. They should be a competitive opponent in both basketball and football.

From a fan standpoint I would be furious if the U decided to move to the ACC or some other conference. No more conference games with Iowa, Wisconsin, etc. would hurt so I can definately see why Maryland is going to have to do this to up the morale on some fans.
 

Both Maryland and Rutgers are good schools and fit nicely in the B1G...especially with the East/West splits that will keep rivalries intact and create opportunities for new rivalries out East building our brand there and keeping us financially thriving as a conference.

NYC, Philly & Balt/DC are huge TV markets and these two new schools will do a lot for the BTN in those markets.
 

Apart from losing rivalries on the floor, Maryland loses the cultural rivalries as well. Terps alumni and fans in that region know or work with alumni and fans of Duke, Virginia, North Carolina, and other regional schools. By comparison, the Big Ten schools aren't well represented, so it will be tougher for them to converse about the games and trash talk. They're no longer playing their neighbors.

The only minor bone thrown to Maryland fans, or at least older ones, is getting Penn State back on the schedule. Although it was one sided, with Penn State having a 35-1-1 record against Maryland, the Terrapins played the Nittany Lions annually in football from 1960 to 1993 in every season but three. The series broke down over Penn State joining the Big Ten and wanting Maryland to play its home games in Baltimore, to ensure more revenue, while the Terps wanted its home games on campus. More than a few Maryland fans were sorry to see the series end, despite the losses and ill feeling at the end.
 

dpodoll68 said:
What? Rutgers is on par academically with most any school in the Big Ten save Northwestern, Michigan, and maybe Illinois. It is also most assuredly not in a "slum".
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While I won't slag the school, the town of New Brunswick does in deed have the feeling of a slum, complete with high-rise "projects". If you ever go there, avoid entering through New Brunswick.
 

Sports_Realist said:
The only minor bone thrown to Maryland fans, or at least older ones, is getting Penn State back on the schedule. Although it was one sided, with Penn State having a 35-1-1 record against Maryland, the Terrapins played the Nittany Lions annually in football from 1960 to 1993 in every season but three. The series broke down over Penn State joining the Big Ten and wanting Maryland to play its home games in Baltimore, to ensure more revenue, while the Terps wanted its home games on campus. More than a few Maryland fans were sorry to see the series end, despite the losses and ill feeling at the end.
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Maryland is a lacrosse school. From the lacrosse perspective, the bone that was thrown to them was adding Johns Hopkins to the Big 10 lacrosse conference.

Maryland and Rutgers have each hosted the D-1 lacrosse Final Four championship several times, but the Final Four has outgrown Rutgers stadium unless they plan to expand it again.
 

dpodoll68 said:
What? Rutgers is on par academically with most any school in the Big Ten save Northwestern, Michigan, and maybe Illinois. It is also most assuredly not in a "slum".
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I've been by the Rutgers business school in downtown Newark (my sister lives in Maplewood, NJ). The delapidated old building it's in looks like a crackhouse. And yes, New Brunswick is a dump.
 

bkrownd said:
While I won't slag the school, the town of New Brunswick does in deed have the feeling of a slum, complete with high-rise "projects". If you ever go there, avoid entering through New Brunswick.
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At least their high rise projects don't have ties to terrorism. Mirror stares back hard, eh?
 



If you're talking about Riverside Plaza, sure I've been there. Some of my friends lived there during undergrad. I lived on that side of campus near Augsburg and walked through that area frequently. It's also a significant peice of architecture.
 

dpodoll68 said:
I didn't make any of the straw man arguments you claim I did. Good try, though.
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I don't think you know what a straw man is. No where did he distort your position. You said, save Northwestern, Michigan and Illinois Rutgers is comparable to every other school. He/she pointed out that, in fact, Rutgers is worse than the majority of schools in the Big Ten and also your initial ranking was incorrect.

That's not a straw man. A straw man would be such:

You: I consider Rutgers to be a good school
Him: No way is Rutgers as good as NW, Michigan or Wisconsin/Illinois, Minnesota, Penn State. Therefore, your position is incorrect.

That's a straw man.
 

dpodoll68 said:
What? Rutgers is on par academically with most any school in the Big Ten save Northwestern, Michigan, and maybe Illinois. It is also most assuredly not in a "slum".
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I was just on Rutgers' campus for four days this past weekend. Not even close to a "slum."
 

After my undergrad at the U, I went to Rutgers for grad school. The only similarity between the two is that both campuses have a river running through it.

Apropos New Brunswick and Riverside, lived in both places, New Brunswick is way better -- especially for eating options and bars.

As far as academics goes, I felt that Minnesota was far better especially in graduate school programs (I got a fancy fellowship in a professional program that is why I went there).

The main campus is old and attractive. The newer ones reflect the architecture of the period they were built in.

I think Rutgers benefits immensely by joining the Big Ten. The turmoil in the Big East never let Rutgers maximize its locational advantage.

An advantage of going for a Minnesota game at Rutgers is that New York city is well connected by public transport.

There is a Minnesota connection to Rutgers: Gutekunst joined the coaching staff of Rutgers for a period.

My sister went to Maryland after the U (I still find the coincidence weird), I used to visit quite often and that had a campus/experience more akin to the Big Ten culture.
 


apana said:
Apropos New Brunswick and Riverside, lived in both places, New Brunswick is way better -- especially for eating options and bars.
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The view from the inside is often very different than the first impressions of outsiders. :)
 

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