Meet Samantha Strejeck, Our Community Member of the Week

Name: Samantha Strejeck

Job: Coordinator of Social Media Operations & Live Content Correspondents

Company: NFL

LinkedIn: Samantha Strejeck

In 140 characters or less, tell us who you are and how you got to where you are today.

Creative strategist, storyteller, innovator. I got to where I am today by hard work and perseverance, while staying true to myself and my passions.

What’s one trend in media or marketing that you’re buying or selling?

More original content from teams, brands and leagues. I’d like to see more creative highlights, motion illustrations and graphics on social. When I’m scrolling through my feeds that’s the content I stop and engage with. Broadcast highlights become repetitive on social and often overlooked. Original content separates your brand from the rest and provides your audience with a different experience.

How do you define creativity?

Creativity is using your imagination to build off an idea or generate a new one, and then turn it into a piece of content that can be shared. There is no limit to creativity, that’s the beauty of it.

What’s the project or campaign that you’re proudest of? Why?

A project that I’m most proud of was helping roll out the Packers 2018 schedule release on social (I worked on their social team last year). It was the Packers’ first creative schedule release that they’ve ever done, and it was really fun to be a part of. As the organization was celebrating 100 Seasons of Packers football in 2018, a full rebrand was in effect, and I believe we carried it out successfully.

After lots of ideating, we decided to do a Packers-themed Netflix video, incorporating the 100 Seasons logo and design. We collaborated with a third-party digital company on a weekly basis, providing comments, feedback and ideas, and they used all of that to produce an amazing video for us. It was exactly what we imagined and more. We had custom videos created for each social platform–Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and IG Story. We promoted the video accordingly toward each platform. It was a huge success, and we received a ton of positive feedback from the fans.

What are you working on right now? Any exciting future plans that you’re able to share?

I help manage the NFL’s Live Content Correspondents (LCC) Program, which consists of 66 live content creators, two in each NFL market and two in London, who are skilled photographers and videographers. The LCC Program serves as a real-time content engine, capturing exclusive behind-the-scenes content for League, Clubs and Players’ social. We’re able to give NFL fans an up-close, sideline view of the game and moments leading up to it. LCCs capture everything from player arrivals, warmups, in-game and postgame action and distribute it in real-time.

My team and I are currently working on trying to expand the LCC Program on a much larger scale. We want to increase original content for League, Club and Player social channels around the offseason.

As a connected fan, what’s the most engaging piece of sports content that you have recently consumed?

I usually consume sports content on social media first. I like to catch up on football highlights and basic storylines from The Checkdown’s platforms. I enjoy the fun, light-hearted tone, and I find that more engaging and relatable.

What’s been the biggest high and low of working in sports?

High: For me, it’s the excitement of capturing real-time content on gameday. There’s no better feeling than capturing an amazing moment, posting it on social and seeing fans instantly react to it.

Low: The potential of having to give up holidays with your family. Although, this is something you should be aware of as you enter this industry.

Get to know more members of the Hashtag Sports community here.

Hear more from leaders and creators across the sports industry this June at Hashtag Sports, an annual conference designed for media and marketing professionals.