Photo Essay: Traveling with the Green Bay Packers
The 6th Annual Awards
- Best Use of Visual Storytelling
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
With a couple of the finest NFL photographers in Evan Siegle and Emma Pravecek, the goal of this photo essay was to offer fans a behind-the-scenes, immersive look at the logistics that go into a team being on the road. Using high-quality visuals, the piece is a tip of the cap to the unsung heroes of gameday.
How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?
Besides the metrics referenced in the previous answer, what makes this piece unique in moving the industry forward is the planning and access that went into it.. This was a well thought-out essay that spanned over multiple weeks during the season. Pairing imagery with in-depth interviews from our reporter allowed for this content to be consumed by both casual and avid fans alike. This project shows that there is very much a space for longer-form polished content, and not just the quickly shot content we are so accustomed to seeing by sports teams on the road.
Objective
With a couple of the finest NFL photographers in Evan Siegle and Emma Pravecek, the goal of this photo essay was to offer fans a behind-the-scenes, immersive look at the logistics that go into a team being on the road. Using high-quality visuals, the piece is a tip of the cap to the unsung heroes of gameday. The piece is extremely in-depth and received clearance from multiple levels within the organization before the final product was completed. It offers a complete look from tailoring the jerseys, to equipment preparation, to travel and shipping, to locker-room and sideline setup and teardown. The photography tells the story, but our talented team reporter, Wes Hodkiewicz, paired sections with interviews and anecdotes from everyone involved.
Strategy & Execution
There have never been more eyes on the NFL and its 32 member clubs than during the digital-media age we live in today. That often can lead to cookie-cutter coverage of America’s most popular sport. With that in mind, we leveraged our resources to provide fans with an innovative, behind-the-scenes look at the organization and collaboration required to successfully prepare a team for a road trip.
Our photographers captured never-before-seen moments inside Lambeau Field with the equipment staff, including assistant equipment manager Bryan Nehring’s inflating gameday footballs with quarterback Jordan Love every Saturday. This is just one example of many activities that take place on a weekly basis during an NFL season but are rarely documented. After all the photos were collected, we interviewed equipment manager Gordon “Red” Batty and his five-person staff to better understand and explain everything that goes into their day-to-day responsibilities.
The goal was to present that exhaustive process in an entertaining, yet highly informative way, while still allowing the photography to tell the story. We developed a Squarespace website (packersfeatures.com) to better integrate the photos with text, which resulted in a more atheistically pleasing experience for the user.
Organizations
- Green Bay Packers
Links
Credits
Duke Bobber
Assistant Director of Digital
Green Bay Packers
Wes Hodkiewicz
Senior Writer
Green Bay Packers
Steven Hudy
Senior Social Media Coordinator
Green Bay Packers
Mikaylah Martens
Social Media Intern
Green Bay Packers
Emma Pravecek
Photography Intern
Green Bay Packers
Evan Siegle
Manager of Team Photography
Green Bay Packers
Mike Spofford
Editor
Green Bay Packers
Grant Stanwood
Social Content Intern
Green Bay Packers
Lauren Stone
Digital Media Intern
Green Bay Packers
Jennifer Ward
Digital UX Coordinator
Green Bay Packers
Celebrate in NYC
Join us for the 6th Annual Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 6, 2024 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.
