MASN's Social Media Weekend was embraced by O's fans

You posted, you tweeted, you texted. You came, you saw, you won. And while we may not have known exactly what to expect from MASNports.com's first Social Media Weekend, Orioles fans let us know that they appreciated our efforts to reward them for their loyalty as much as we appreciate them. Social Media Weekend, held Sept. 16-18 during a weekend series at Camden Yards against the Angels, was a rousing success - so much so that we've already begun planning next season's version of what we hope will become a much-anticipated yearly event. MASN turned to popular social media platforms - like our text-messaging service, our MASN Orioles Facebook page and our @masnorioles Twitter feed - to engage Orioles fans in a variety of contests and activities. We got a chance to thank you; you got the opportunity to win - and win big. You got your seats upgraded, you scored O's memoribilia, you got to meet O's players, manager Buck Showalter and MASNsports.com staff. You got behind-the-scenes access to our production truck, "O's Xtra" set and broadcast booth. If ever there were doubts that O's fans are well-connected (well, in the tech-savvy sense), Social Media Weekend demonstrated the platforms' reach. When we asked you to text to win, nearly 1,300 of you signed up. When we put out the call on Facebook for contests, we couldn't keep up with scrolling entries. When we turned to Twitter to find a contestant to face off against Adam Jones in a bubble blowing contest, you blew up our feed with photos of your best efforts. When we conducted a scavenger hunt, we received more than 1,000 entries. Well done, Birdland! Of course, social media is continually evolving, and there's no telling what cool gadgets or platforms we'll have at our disposal next season. Regardless, we enjoyed Social Media Weekend so much this time around that we can't wait to do it again. And we hope you'll continue to use those keep-in-touch platforms to make sure you're aware of all the Orioles news all offseason long, through spring training and into the 2012 season.