SCMAT Exclusive Wrestling Article 1-17-22

Fifteen Minutes ... after the aughts

Wrestling USA Magazines with several notable SC wrestlers

"In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes."

In 1968, this celebrated quote is attributed, or some say misattributed, to artist Andy Warhol.

It led to the concept of "15 minutes of fame"

The idea will almost always be fleeting - a brief flurry with fame, quickly forgotten.

Decades ago, there were songs about it ... such as Bruce Springsteen's 'Glory Days' and Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show's 'The Cover of Rolling Stone'.

... "the thrill that'll getcha when you get your picture, on the cover of the Rollin' Stone."

Over fifty years after Andy Warhol's famous quote and prediction, it seems to have come to pass. We may still quip about '15 minutes', but we seldom meet anyone sharing their life story, that boils it all down to 15 minutes of glory at some point.

the aughts - the decade from 2000 to 2009

Before the Internet, there were only a few primary sources of feeling like a witness to an athletic achievement, without being at the sporting event - such as NBC, CBS, ABC, newspapers and magazines.

Though I enjoyed ABC's Wide World of Sports, I was an avid fan of Sports Illustrated and plenty of wrestling magazines - such as Wrestling USA, AWN and WIN. In SC, the High School Sports Report (HSSR.com) was one of the best sources for in-depth, state-wide wrestling information!

I remember when ... during wrestling season, I would drive to both of the Capitol Newsstand locations in Columbia to get HSSR and Sunday newspapers from around the state, to make sure SCMAT had tournament results and enough information to create the first rankings. Unfortunately, Capitol Newsstand closed during the aughts, around 2008.

In the middle of the aughts, SCMAT had to shift the model and build out a vast communication with wrestling coaches and others, in order to cover SC wrestling at a higher level.

Magazines and newspapers continue, but the digital age has impacted the breadth of their coverage through a paper medium. Most sports related Internet sites provide free content built around revenue streams from an advertisement platform and sometimes an additional subscription model.

If you look closely at Generation Z, you can see where the future is going. Gen Z is a "digital native". In the work place, we often look at the multi-generational work force and find collaboration occurs when we understand each generational perspective.

So, I will share this helpful chart of the 5 Generations we know in our lifetime:

Generational Perspectives - multi-generational work force

Where is this article going? Fifteen Minutes ... after the aughts?

SCMAT started in 1997 ... before the aughts and with the first Gen Z's arriving.

During the aughts, the Internet reshaped business models ... fame became microfame and then nanofame ... orgnizations had to figure out how to grow, and not just surive.

After the aughts, SCMAT is still seeing over a 1,000 unique visitors a day checking out SC wrestling information ... and continued improvements will occur over the next few years ... we will make sure you do not say one day, "I remember when ..."

I am a Boomer ... and have appreciated every coach across SC working together as a team to keep SCMAT thriving ... yet, the future of SCMAT needs more than one person behind the scenes and 150 coaches helping ... the SCMAT of the future has to be run by a bigger team, comprised of all the generational perspectives. The SC Wrestling Coaches Associaiton may even be running SCMAT. Change is good.

Where is SCMAT going over the next 25 years? ... check back in over this month to get a glimpse in our next SCMAT Exclusive.

thanks,

Mark Buford