Harrison Barnes of the Golden State Warriors is one of the more tech savvy athletes in the NBA, and sports.  Harrison tells Ryan about how he embraced the technology community upon getting drafted by the NBA’s Warriors as the 7^th Pick of the 2012 NBA Draft.  When he moved to the San Francisco Bay area, Harrison met with executives at Facebook, Google and Yahoo!, wanting to learn as much as possible about the tech community. 

Harrison grew-up in Ames, IA. and Ryan grew-up in Des Moines, IA.  They had a lot to discuss about The Hawkeye State.  Harrison details his journey from Ames, IA to University of North Carolina to the Warriors, and how he interacts with those fan communities online.  Harrison is a forward-thinking and modern athlete who embraces technology and with the swipe of his fingers, he can reach his fans across the globe. 

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Harrison also recounts stories about how he chats with his fans via social media and describes his P.O. Box, where fans can send him items to be autographed. Harrison and Ryan also talk hypothetically what would it be like if Michael Jordan had Twitter back in the day, and how much a Tweet from Jordan would mean to a fan. 

In this episode you’ll learn:

• What it’s like playing for the Golden St. Warriors
• How athletes are interacting with fans over technology
• How NBA players like Harrison Barnes embrace the entrepreneurial tech community
• How Michael Jordan may use Twitter
• How to reach fans as an athlete
• How to creatively interact with your fans online.

Follow Harrison and the Warriors:

• Harrison Barnes on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hbarnes
• Harrison Barnes on Instagram: http://instagram.com/hbarnes
• The Golden Sate Warriors on Twitter: https://twitter.com/warriors
• The Golden State Warriors on Instagram:   http://instagram.com/warriors/
• Ryan Williams on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ryanjwill

Ty Hildenbrandt: The Solid Verbal, College Football & Podcasting

Ty Hildenbrandt, host of the college football podcast The Solid Verbal, chats with Ryan on the show.  The Solid Verbal is an independent, bi-weekly college football podcast hosted by Ty Hildenbrandt and Dan Rubenstein. Ty joined Ryan remotely from his studio in in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  The show is a 7 year old podcast, and pioneering in the podcasting world.  It’s one of the most popular independently produced podcast on the web. 

Ryan and Ty spend the first few minutes re-living Ty and and Dan’s infamous conversation with football coach Houston Nutt.  Ty also describes the process of hosting a bi-weekly show, and getting through the "tire fire" of college football Saturdays, to produce their shows.

Ty details how The Solid Verbal broke into the sports media world, gaining the respect from journalists to fan sites to fans.  He also dives into how the show was previously was part of Bill Simmons' Grantland Network.

Ty and Dan have developed a strong online community and also have a phone number for fans to call during the games on Saturdays.  Ryan left a call on the hotline this weekend, when he was in Nashville for the Vanderbilt/Ole Miss game.  They also talk about Derek Mason + Vanderbilt football at the end.

In this episode you'll learn:

·      How the Solid Verbal launched

·      How to create and produce your own podcast

·      How to pursue a passion project while keeping your day job

·      How Solid Verbal partnered with Bill Simmons’ Grantland network

·      How to grow a tone of voice for your podcast

·      How to start slow and grow your audience

·      How to involve your community into your show    

• Solid Verbal website:  http://www.solidverbal.com/
• iTunes:  bit.ly/18ss0mf 
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/solidverbal
• Ty on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TyHildenbrandt
• Dan on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/DanRubenstein
• Reverb hotline:  408-VERBAL1