By Adam Malmut
Imagine for a moment that you are public relations professional whose been working with the same company for over 20 years. You have been loyal and productive the entire time but decide that it is time for a change. This is exactly what happened to Chris Botta, former Vice President of Media Relations for the New York Islanders and a Hicksville Long Island native.
Before shifting gears and leaving his VP post in May of 2008, Botta created the “Islander’s Blog Box,” in association with a popular hockey rumor mill website, Hockeybuzz.com. Botta and the rest of the Islander’s public relations department selected a group of 10 hockey fans and handed them full media access to the team’s players and coaches. Not only are they given complete access, Blog Box members are also given the equivalent of full-season seats, right in front of the action where they can report on the games and interact with each other while blogging. And to avoid repetition, each blog has a different focus so fans have a wide array of hockey tidbits to choose from.
Despite the fact that the Blog Box was Botta’s brainchild, original Blog Box member B.D. Gallof said he was given full responsibility and oversight of his own blog.
“Chris was a bit hands-off and let us (Blog Box members) work together,” said Gallof. “By not playing favorites or playing games, they let us grow and find our own way. He’s supportive, but also will let you know if you are off-message or just getting through what you are writing.”
In year two of the Blog Box, Islanders Media Relations and Team Services Manager, Corey Witt, has added eleven new blogs, bringing the grand total of blogs to 21. Witt stated he knew the Blog Box concept would be effective after he saw the dedication and genuine interest that Botta brought.
“I’ve known Chris for eight years and he was my mentor for many of those years,” said Witt. “When Chris asked for my input on the Blog Box concept, I knew he was going to make it work. We designed the Blog Box so we wouldn’t have 21-plus blogs giving recaps of our games, but rather to find well-written blogs with 21-plus different takes, angles, and ideas on covering the Islanders, ranging from a fantasy hockey blog to a blog about a hockey official’s point-of-view on the game.”
After spearheading the NY Islanders Blog Box, the rest of the National Hockey League took notice of how effective and fan-friendly Chris Botta’s invention was. Now each of the 30 teams in the NHL has given fans their own blogosphere that gives hockey fans the access they desire.
Even after the success of the Blog Box and a 5-month hiatus, Botta has returned to the hockey world. But this time, Botta has dipped his toes into the vast sea of journalism by deciding to cover the Islanders with his new independent blog website, IslandersPointBlank.com. Being a veteran of the media industry, Botta has realized that his objectivity may be questioned by fans and fellow journalists. Botta says despite his friendships with Islander’s General Manager Garth Snow and Team President Chris Dey, the Point Blank Blog and all of the scoops and opinions included, are his alone.
“Neil Best of Newsday asked me about this (conflict of interest) and I said guilty as charged,” Botta admitted. “But I also told him that number one, I will not get defensive but everywhere you look in sports coverage there are conflicts of interest. And number two, from the fans’ standpoint, I think it would be better to break more stories for them to read. Garth has become one of my better friends, and I can say that without any denial or shame. But basically, I just want to do a job and do it the right way.”
But a daunting question remains for Botta: Why would he come back to cover the same organization that he just left?
“It actually started two weeks after I left the organization,” said Botta. “I had lunch with Chris Dey and he seemed to have a genuine interest as to what I would do next. He already knew I had an Islanders blog that I continued to update part-time even after I left the organization. He kept suggesting to me that I should continue with the blog full-time. He totally supported me and knew I would attack the task with relish.”
After launching the newly formatted IslandersPointBlank.com blog on September 25th, 2008, Botta continues to update the blog daily. But prior to hearing about the launch date, original Blog Box member Denise Karl (“The 7th woman”) had been worried that the hockey world lost Botta to another sport.
“I will be honest, I was horrified when he (Botta) relinquished his position with the Islanders in May,” said Karl. “When someone with that many years of dedicated service is removed from a company, there is a gapping hole that is almost impossible to fill. I was worried for the Islanders. I wasn’t sure if they knew the magnitude of the loss. It is one thing to lose him from Islanders hockey. It would be another to lose him to, let us say, basketball. No, that would just be tragic.”