Bednorz, the queen of social media

“The only reason I played golf was because of hockey”, Bednorz told RocketFAN. “I went to the Wayne Gretzky and Friends Golf Tournament when I was nine. I was standing around the green just watching, and Bernie Nichols (Nichols was Gretzky’s teammate in LA) waved me over to complete a putt for him. Later that summer I went to a golf camp and the rest is history.”

Bednorz came by the sport naturally. She could hit the ball a mile, and eventually attended the Remax World Long Drive Championships in Minnesota when she was only 13.

Once her schooling ended, so did her pursuit of high-level golf. When efforts to find a job in radio didn’t pan out, despite a degree in her back pocket, Bednorz reached out to the Kelowna Rockets.

“Kevin Parnell was the communications guy at the time. I told him I wanted to get some experience in the digital world. He told me to come down and intern. After working for the Rockets for a month, I went to a marketing agency for a bit and the position [with the Rockets] opened up and I came back in October 2018”.

While the 30-year-old’s job title covers a wide range of duties, her passion is clearly in social media.

TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook are the four platforms she has autonomy over, with the aim to engage the public with the players through serious and sometimes comical videos.

“Our players are really engaged and want to jump into those videos and make them fun”, Bednorz added. “I think with the Rockets brand, TikTok is the most fun because you are allowed music on there that you can’t use on Facebook or Twitter due to licensing agreements.”

Social media is not only a way to get the message out to the public about possible team promotions and games, but it allows the fanbase a better appreciation of a players’ personality.

“During Halloween, TikTok had over 100,000 views of our players dressed up in banana costumes skating on the ice, and then the NHL shared the pictures we took on their Instagram feed, and to be honest, I was a little shocked at how well it went.”

Like throwing spaghetti at the wall in an effort to see if it will stick, Bednorz admits it is sometimes a guessing game on what video will and won’t resonate on the team’s digital channels.

“A seven-second video of forward Nolan Flamand – smiling – with no front teeth gets a million views and then you put a ton of effort into something, and it falls flat. That is the fun of it, trying to figure out what works and trying to create a plan.”

Bednorz’s plan is working. Much like wins are a measuring stick for teams when it comes to on-ice success, shares, likes, and followers indicate that people find value in what is being posted.

“We’ve hit 27,000 on Instagram, and 20,000 on TikTok in less than a year, so it is about creating content that makes people stay around and watch.”

Her job description is a laundry list: team statistics, writing stories for the Kelowna Rockets website, dealing with media requests, and even when the official team photographer can’t make it to the game, she steps up and finds herself between the benches behind a camera lens.

“I wasn’t that interested in it [photography] originally, but now that I’ve gotten my feet wet, it is a challenge when the linesmen get in the way. Goal photos are difficult with so many players in the way, so when you get that crisp, clear shot, it’s a dream”, Bednorz eyes lighting up.

Ask 95 per cent of those who work in the Western Hockey League, the goal, like the players and coaches is to make it to the NHL.

“I really enjoy working with our players and watching them grow up here and seeing what they do once they move on.”

If Bednorz continues to grow the Rockets’ social media platforms at this pace, she too could make the jump to the big leagues.

by Regan Bartel

Bednorz, the queen of social media

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