In the Driver's Seat

Fame Foundry has partnered with NASCAR driver Ryan Newman to develop his new official website. The site is home to the Ryan Newman Fan Club, which marks its 10th anniversary in 2011 with over 10,000 fans worldwide. When the site, which has been completely redesigned and re-engineered from the ground up, is unveiled on February 16, it will introduce a revolutionary new experience for fan club members that will allow them to be part of every race and every event like never before.

More than killer design

The new RyanNewman.org will offer all the expected benefits of a fan club site, including schedules, stats and merchandise as well as behind-the-scenes photos, videos and news from the Ryan Newman Racing organization. However, more importantly, it will be the only site of its kind in NASCAR built around an exclusive members-only micro social network. Here members can engage with other fans of Ryan Newman and NASCAR in ways never before possible as part of a thriving virtual community created by and for the fans.

Micro social network, major engagement

"Fame Foundry created something never seen before, allowing members to interact in new ways and providing them a central location to call their own." – Ryan Newman Members can post their own photos and videos to the site, making the community as much about the fans as it is about Ryan Newman. They can also participate in discussions that are much more robust than traditional message boards, as they are interactive and pervasive throughout all types of content and every event. In addition, fans can interact in real time anytime in live chat rooms. All photos, videos, discussions, news and chats will be aggregated by event so members can choose to browse content either by type or by event. The site is built to elevate the most popular member photos, videos and discussions, rewarding those who make great contributions and making it easy for members to find the best content. Additionally, each member will have an enhanced user profile page that provides a snapshot of all their recent activity across the site and highlights their most popular contributions. While the technology driving the site is quite advanced, the interface is highly intuitive so that members of all ages will find it easy and pleasurable to use. Fans can even remain active in the community when they are on the go, as the site is compatible with mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines

Because racing fans thrive on competition, members who start discussions or who post photos and videos can earn points – or votes – from other members that will put them in the chase for a spot on the fan club leaderboard. Points will be tallied all season long, with prizes awarded to the top performer each month as well as the top overall points earner for the season.

Giving fans and sponsors what they really want

"It has been exciting to watch the Ryan Newman website come to life,” said Newman. “The site is much more than its cool design. Fame Foundry created something never seen before, allowing members to interact in new ways and providing them a central location to call their own. It also provides more value to our sponsors than we have ever had before." “We are looking forward to launching the new Ryan Newman website,” said Greta Ray Anderson, director of the Ryan Newman Fan Club. “Not only will fan club members be able interact in meaningful ways with each other on the site, but Ryan will have his own profile, allowing him to engage with members directly by posting status updates, photos, videos and comments. RyanNewman.org will now become the exclusive go-to destination for the Ryan Newman fan community.” For a tour of the site and its many unprecedented features, check out this exclusive preview.

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Leo Laporte: Man on a Mission

In every industry, there are corporate giants waiting to be toppled. These old behemoths are bulky, slow, bloated and often disconnected from the markets they serve. But the reality of today’s world is technology-based and efficiency-driven. As a result, every industry is primed and ready for smarter, more agile competitors to challenge the staus quo with a product that is more relevant and better suited to the needs of its tribe while maximizing efficiencies to achieve better profitability. There is perhaps no better example of this than Leo Laporte, a veteran technology journalist and broadcaster who is taking on the Goliaths of mainstream media with his TWiT netcasting network. Laporte first developed a loyal following of several hundred thousand viewers during his six years as host of “Call for Help” and “The Screen Savers” on the now-defunct TechTV cable network. When TechTV couldn’t draw the advertising revenue needed to sustain its $100 million in annual operating costs, the network fell by the wayside in 2004, but Laporte was not ready to abandon his core tribe of tech enthusiasts. He reignited this relatively small but vocal fan base in 2005 when a 20-minute audio segment on Macworld posted on his blog sparked 30,000 downloads. This demand fanned the flames of his passion for reporting technology news and provided further evidence of a viable and underserved niche audience that the existing broadcast and cable networks simply weren’t equipped to satisfy. Thus the seeds were planted for what is now the TWiT netcasting network. TWiT encompasses 25 different shows covering topics such as computer hardware, home theater, apps, science, Google and even food. Broadcasting more than 40 hours of live streaming video per week, the network serves over 600,000 unique listeners and boasts 4.6 million downloads per month. With TWiT, Laporte is paving the way for the next wave of media. He has created a network, a brand and a reputation that truly meet the needs of his tribe. Moreover, he is posing a formidable challenge to the giants of mainstream media by engineering a smarter, more focused and efficient approach to broadcasting that takes advantage of the latest in technology to deliver captivating live content while maintaining operating costs that are a fraction of those of the 24-hour cable networks. Whereas traditional broadcast networks are built around their ability to deliver numbers of viewers en masse, the TWiT network thrives based on its ability to deliver an audience that is highly intelligent and engaged. This business model has been quite successful, generating $2.5 million in revenue last year alone and attracting advertising dollars from major national brands like Ford and VISA. Not only has Laporte found a way to successfully monetize netcasting, but he is doing so in a way that protects the integrity of the medium by founding everything in trust. He only advertises for products that he uses and believes in and requires advertisers to approach his audience with honesty and authenticity. Leo Laporte recently sat down with Fame Foundry’s Jordan Drake to share the story of how he built a netcasting empire from the ashes of TechTV and how he intends to continue making inroads against the mass media establishment. [powerpress]

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