It's going to be easier for Comox Valley sports fans to follow local athletes who are competing in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association.
Canada West has unveiled a new multifaceted approach to improve online fan experience in time for the start of the 2014-15 Canada West season. The communications initiative includes the new-look CanadaWest.org website, a CanadaWest.TV research and subscription program, and a stronger interactive presence in social media.
CanadaWest.org. Relaunched in June, the new Canada West website is now powered by PrestoSports Content Management System, allowing for timely updates directly from event venues and member institutions. This would make box scores, recaps and images available on the site moments after the conclusion of the events.
In contrast to a conference news site, CanadaWest.org will also now be a true fan’s resource for previews, stories, highlights and scores. Among the new columns that fans can now follow is This Week on the Web, a collection of links to other sites featuring stories on all things related to Canada West.
The move to PrestoSports also allows the conference site to be in line with the CIS-SIC.ca, which uses the same website management platform.
CanadaWest.TV. As part of a continued effort as the leader of CIS webcasting, viewers are required to fill out a short survey upon logging on to CanadaWest.TV. The quick three-question survey will aid the conference in identifying the demographic of CanadaWest.TV viewers to further tailor-fit the experience to their needs and will only have to be filled out when a unique IP address logs on the video-streaming site for the first time this season.
Canada West is also piloting a subscription service for the 2014-15 season. Fans looking to access University of Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas home games on CanadaWest.TV will be required to purchase a single-game access for $1.99, or a full-season subscription for $6.99. The pilot project aims to gauge the viability of future subscription-based viewing purchases. Proceeds from the pilot will be reinvested into CanadaWest.TV.
All other Canada West games will be available for viewing without subscription.
Social Media. The Canada West Twitter account (@CWUAA) is also getting a transformation with a new voice behind it that will engage fans in a year-round conversation. The vehicle is intended to give Canada West’s followers a closer relationship not just with the conference, but also with the people behind it – including staff, coaches and student-athletes.
Additionally, Canada West is now on Instagram (@CWUAA), giving fans access to even more content via the popular photo- and video-sharing social networking platform. Other social media outlets may also be eventually used to be more accessible to fans, students, parents and the general public.
Find out more by logging on CanadaWest.org and following @CWUAA on Twitter.
Canada West members include University of Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas, University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, University of Calgary Dinos, University of Lethbridge Pronghorns, University of Manitoba Bisons, University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves, University of Saskatchewan Huskies, Trinity Western University Spartans, University of Winnipeg Wesmen, Brandon University Bobcats, UBC Okanagan Heat, University of the Fraser Valley Cascades, MacEwan University Griffins, Mount Royal University Cougars, University of Regina Cougars (and Rams football), Thompson Rivers University WolfPack, and University of Victoria Vikes.
– CanadaWest.org