Industry leader is looking to spotlight the best online trading card communities, most influential bloggers and favorite video box-breakers
Carlsbad, CA (March 22, 2009) – The hobby of card-collecting has spread to the internet in almost a viral mode and Upper Deck wants to shine a spotlight on the top online communities, bloggers and video box-breakers who cover the industry. Now the company is preparing to give significant exposure and some great prizes to well-deserved winners of the new Upper Deck Social Media Awards. These accolades will be voted on directly by collectors around the world through an online poll.
“It’s pretty difficult for collectors to work their way through cyberspace to find the online trading card community, informed opinions or videos they are looking for,” said Chris Carlin, sports marketing manager for Upper Deck. “We felt that creating an award program that helps collectors find the best sites on the web would be a win-win for our collectors and for those who have put so much into these communities, blogs and videos. No other manufacturer has done what we have in terms of creating ways to engage our collectors through social media. So it only makes sense that Upper Deck should be the company that takes the lead in helping collectors find what it is they’re looking for online.”
The Upper Deck website gets a tremendous amount of online traffic each day and Upper Deck’s Community page has been a red-hot destination. It routes collectors to many of Upper Deck’s online experiences and engages them with the company’s efforts through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more. The top five online trading card communities will each receive high-profile links on Upper Deck’s Community page to help increase their own exposure online. Additionally, they will all be featured inside an article on the Upper Deck Blog highlighting what makes them the best. Finally, the No. 1-rated online trading card community will receive a crystallized trophy, a variety of unopened product, a LeBron James-signed UDA basketball and a 2009 NFL Rookie Photo Shoot signed football (autographed by more than 25 players) to use as giveaways with their community of loyal collectors.
It seems like a new sports card blogger pops up every week. It’s hard for them to get the attention they deserve so Upper Deck is hoping to identify the best bloggers as voted on by collectors. The top five bloggers will receive links on the Upper Deck Blog homepage along with a review on their blogs. The top-rated blogger will receive a special trophy, a variety of unopened product and a 2009 NFL Rookie Photo Shoot signed football.
Just go to YouTube and type in “Upper Deck box break” and you will find more than 22,000 available videos. Some are incredibly creative and fun, while others are probably about as exciting as watching paint dry. Upper Deck hopes to identify some of collectors’ favorite online box-breakers and give them the credit they deserve as many are extremely talented. The top five box-breakers will each receive a free box to review that will then be hosted on the Upper Deck Diamond Vision site. The top online box-breaker will also receive a trophy, a variety of product for the next year and have their videos featured on Upper Deck’s Diamond Vision site.
Nominations begin today on Upper Deck’s Facebook page and voting will begin on Monday, March 29. Upper Deck will announce the winners on Wednesday, April 7 and hopes to recognize them at the 2010 Las Vegas Industry Summit the following week.
About Upper Deck
Upper Deck is the leading sports and entertainment trading card and collectibles company. For more information on Upper Deck and its products please visit www.upperdeck.com.
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