NEC announces hoops tourney fan promos

Somerset, NJ - The Northeast Conference has launched its promotional plan for the 2012 NEC Men’s & Women’s Basketball Tournaments and it’s all about the fans!

The NEC will engage fans in a number of hoops-related interactive activities with its Overtime! Blog serving as the official Tournament Fan Zone, a place where one can find fan photos, Tweets, and even fan-written game recaps!

From the last week of February through mid-March, Overtime! Blog will be the central hub for all interactive tournament activities and information. Here’s what is in store…

The All-NEC Fan Vote
The NEC will release the 2011-12 All-Conference Teams as a prelude to Tournament play.  All all-NEC honorees are determined through a vote of the league’s head coaches, but now fans have a chance to chime in on the process. 

Starting on February 23, fans can tweet their selections for the league’s major postseason awards and All-NEC Teams @NECsports and/or @NECralph.  The results will be displayed on Overtime! daily and all participants will be enter into a random drawing for complimentary NEC merchandise. 

Any fan who correctly predicts all five members of either the All-NEC Men’s First Team or All-NEC Women’s First Team along with all four major individual award recipients (Player, Rookie, Defensive Player, Coach) will automatically win a prize.

Fan voting will be done on a category-by-category, day-by-day basis. Once the day concludes, voting for that day’s category will be closed.

Fan Voting Timeline
Feb. 23 – All-NEC Men’s First Team Selections (5)

                 All-NEC Women’s First Team Selections (5)

Feb. 24 -- NEC Rookie of the Year (Men’s & Women’s)

Feb. 25 – NEC Coach of the Year (Men’s & Women’s)

Feb. 26 – NEC Defensive Player of the Year  (Men’s & Women’s)

Feb. 27 – NEC Player of the Year (Men’s & Women’s)

Feb. 28 – NEC Unveils Official Men’s All-Conference Selections

Feb. 29 -- NEC Unveils Official Women’s All-Conference Selections

Watching from a Fan’s Perspective
The NEC wants to see the Tournament unfold through the fans’ eyes.  Fans are encouraged to submit their photos via Twitter (@NECsports) or e-mail (stats@northeastconference.org).  All submitted photos will appear on the Overtime! Blog and be in the running for Overtime!’s “Image of the Day.”  Those responsible for winning submissions will receive a prize.

What Types of Images the NEC Wants to See

Fans decked out in team apparel

The appearance of the gym/arena (pre-game, in-game and postgame)

Fans Being Fans

Tournament Tweet of the Day
Since its inception, the Overtime! Blog has been in tune with Twitter.  The blog’s staff monitors the social media site on a daily basis in an attempt to discover what NEC members and their student-athletes are talking about, and, more importantly, what others are saying about the NEC and its members.  Whether it’s through its “Top Tweets of the Day” segment or comprehensive basketball “Tweet-caps,” Overtime! has been sharing its best findings with its readers.

To celebrate March and the hoops madness that goes along with it, Overtime! will feature a Twitter Feed of basketball-related Tweets  as well as a “Tournament Tweet of the Day.”  Any Twitterer who produces the “Tournament Tweet of the Day” will receive a prize.

The Fans’ Report
In the words of MidMajority.com’s Kyle Whelliston, the Overtime! Blog is crowd-sourcing the task of NEC Tournament game recaps (see MidMajority’s 800 Games Project).  In other words, you go to the game, you write about what you witnessed, and submit it to Overtime! with the possibility of it appearing in the following day’s blog post.

Fans can e-mail game recaps to stats@northeastconference.org

Sixth Man Award
After the NEC Women’s Championship Game brings the 2012 Tournament to a close on March 11, the Overtime! Blog staff will sort through all of the images, tweets, and game recaps submitted amidst the madness.  The staff’s comprehensive review will result in the selection of THE No. 1 Fan of the 2012 NEC Tournament.  This lucky fan will receive the Overtime! Blog Sixth Man Award presented by Ruby Tuesday.