Win tickets to the FA Cup final with ipadio Facebook app

Win tickets to the FA Cup final with ipadio Facebook app

The Football Association is the governing body of British football, and cover a vast portfolio of the beautiful game that ranges from grass roots to the elite teams in the Premiership.

Social Media plays a vital part in the engagement strategy of the FA, and thanks to the work they are now doing with ipadio’s VideoInPage service they are providing a unique way of putting fans right in the heart of the game.

The FA Cup ipadio Facebook app allows fans to make their own commentaries on goals scored, as well as giving them a chance to win tickets to the FA Cup Final. The commentaries are to be judged by John Champion from ESPN and the winner will receive the much sought after tickets.

Charlie Boss is the FA’s marketing manager for the FA Cup and he has said that using the ipadio’s VideoInPage service is one of the most engaging and easiest ways to get involved with user generated content that the FA has seen for a long long time.

Mark Smith, ipadio CEO notes that, “ipadio strives to make the task of getting rich content online as simple as possible, so while our audio products make podcasting no more complex than making a phone call, VideoInPage is that same principle applied to video. This takes away the barriers to upload and allows organisations to easily place their people in the centre of their online presence.”

ipadio’s VideoInPage (VIP) service allows organizations and brands to collect user generated video from their stakeholders with no more complexity that pressing ‘record’. The VIP service works by detecting the presence of a camera and allows the user to record directly into the webpage. This video can then be moderated (or not!), embedded into your website or intranet, cross posted into other sites (eg. Facebook, YouTube), and automatically alerted to registered viewers.

The VIP service is white labelled, a key feature for corporate users, so they can brand their video with their logo, their messages, moderate and control where the video ends up. It’s these features that resonate with corporates – ipadio’s VIP provides them with the means of socializing their organisations – spreading audio and video content around their networks – but with the necessary control and brand protection.

Also, because VIP is cloud based and doesn’t rely on expensive camera crews and post production (brand elements, intros and outros are all applied automatically) the costs are significantly lower than typical in-house video production.

As with all ipadio services, VIP is provided as Software as a Service – set up times are minimal and the recorder and resultant videos are typically embedded inside the customer’s websites or intranets.

Why not give The FA Cup ipadio Facebook app a go yourself and see if you can win a ticket to The FA Cup final?

TOP TEAMS LIGHT UP THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY?  –         New Research Shows Player Power Could Illuminate The FA Cup Final –

There are still four rounds left before the FA Cup Final comes around which means that there are still plenty of twists to come before the final two teams are chosen to compete in May.  Whichever two clubs make it to the will have used more than their fare share of energy by the time they make it to Wembley however if new research released today is to be trusted.

According to the study commissioned by sponsor and well known energy company E.ON titled aptly the ‘Player Power’ study over the course of the season both lucky Finalist teams will have consumed more than four million kilojoules which is the same amount it takes to power the Wembley stadium.

The figures are based off of last season’s match of Chelsea versus Everton when the clubs played in 100 games combined with each team spending about 37,000 kilojoules per match which is the same amount of energy that it takes to light up the stadium light bulbs for ninety minutes.

The study, which forms part of E.ON’s Energy Fit campaign*, investigated the average energy consumption of a professional footballer and analysed data captured from this season’s FA Cup competition to identify how the modern player applies himself on the pitch during a match.

Typically, in a game players make more than 1,000 changes in activity – altering their speed of movement every four to six seconds, and covering around nine miles. On average, this intense period of activity consumes over 4,000 kilojoules of energy, which equates to 680 watts. That’s an equivalent amount of energy to light a three-bedroom house for 90 minutes, run a television for 4 hours or boil enough water for an entire team to enjoy a half-time cuppa.

In analysing the player performance data from key games in The FA Cup this season, the report also found that Premiership rivals Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City are the powerhouses of the domestic game in more ways than one.

Against Southampton in the Third Round in January, United players Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs covered a combined distance of over 12 miles, using 6806 kilojoules of energy in the process, which is enough power to keep Sir Alex Ferguson’s hairdryer – the real one – going for over two hours.

England and Man City midfield duo, James Milner and Adam Johnson, both covered over 15 miles in their victory over Leicester City in The FA Cup, consuming 8435 kilojoules of energy – equivalent to watching 16 games of football on a 42” plasma TV.

It also revealed that The FA Cup has the ability to inspire and raise the performance levels of players outside the top flight, but it’s often the touch of international class and ruthless efficiency in front of goal that brings the top clubs through. As a team, Leeds United, York City and Huddersfield Town all notched up over 70 miles (almost three marathons) during their recent FA Cup matches – a tenth more than their Premiership opposition – but despite this they couldn’t quite match the star qualities of individual players such as Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, who were both instrumental in keeping Arsenal in the competition, despite not playing a full game.

Dr David James, senior lecturer in Sports Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University said:

“This study looked into how a modern player applies themselves on the pitch during FA Cup matches. It was interesting to see that The FA Cup really does seem to inspire teams to raise their game but as they go toe-to-toe physically, it is quite clear that how you use your energy is a critical factor. The energy consumed by each footballer was determined by looking at the time they spent in seven different ‘intensity zones’ during a specific match. Using this knowledge and video tracking data of specific players it was possible to create a mathematical model to calculate the energy consumed by different footballers. The total value of energy consumed during the match can then be converted into an average ‘power’ rating by looking at the rate of energy consumption, which can be then applied to electrical products around the home.”

Simon Breakell, Sponsorship PR Manager, added:

“Energy efficiency is about using your energy wisely and when it really matters; at home it can save you money and on the pitch it can win you games. Our research statistically backs up what we already know and love about The FA Cup – giant killings are a combination of hard work, endeavour and a bit of luck along the way. It’s just a shame we can’t connect these players to the national grid, otherwise we’d perhaps have some unlikely heroes in tackling climate change”.

To understand how E.ON’s Energy Fit campaign can make help you save money on your energy bill, visit: www.eonenergyfit.com. The website features an online calculator that will determine the ‘energy fitness’ of a property and provide specific recommendations to help improve its rating.

As part of their campaign, E.ON’s Energy Fit Experience will be touring the country starting this weekend in Sheffield. The Experience is an interactive exhibition which aims to raise awareness of energy efficiency by harnessing the excitement and magic of the world’s oldest Cup competition, and demonstrate ways in which you can save money by reducing your energy bills. The experience kicks off at Meadowhall shopping centre on Friday 18 February to Sunday 20 February and offers football fans and their families a fun day out and the opportunity to win exclusive FA Cup prizes. E.ON’s Energy Fit Experience will also visit Manchester (Arndale Centre, 25-27 February), Birmingham (Bullring, 04-06 March), London (O2, 18-20 March) and Nottingham (Victoria Centre, 08-10 April).

*E.ON’s Energy Fit campaign is a campaign designed to help you use your energy more wisely and in turn, save you money. Whether it’s your business or even your football club, E.ON can give you the tools to create your own personal energy saving plan. By putting you in control, you can set your own goals, tailored specifically to your needs. Visit eonenergyfit.com to start your own journey.