College Sports Information Directors of America

by Kelsey Whaley – St. Cloud State University, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications; kwhaley@stcloudstate.edu

Member, CoSIDA New Media Committee

As athletic communications professionals, our job is to design unique, innovative and engaging content to go in a multitude of places including our social media sites and our schools' websites. But how do you know when that content is good enough? Or how do you avoid making the same graphic or writing the same story over and over and over again?

Something that I do is the Starbucks Test. The Starbucks Test is pretty simple. If you're waiting in line at Starbucks to either get your grande hot chocolate or your venti pumpkin spice latte and you're scrolling through your favorite social media site, would you stop and look at your own graphic? Would you read your own article? Or would you just keep scrolling through to look at the cute corgi video that @WeRateDogs just posted. Because if you're not going to stop and look at your own content, why would your fans? Why would your student-atheletes? Why would your alumni base?

The Starbucks Test is pretty simple. But what are some methods that you guys use to help keep your graphics, stories and content innovative and fresh? Feel free to respond to our discussion post on CoSIDA Connect or email me with any of your ideas at kwhaley@stcloudstate.edu. Thanks for coming to my Kelsey talk!

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  March 25, 2026

Calendar

Important Dates

All Events +

• 06/23/26 / 11:59 P.M. M/W At-Large Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
• 06/30/26 / 11:59 P.M. M/W Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA)
• 07/07/26 / 12:00 P.M. W At-Large Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
• 07/08/26 / 12:00 P.M. M At-Large Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
• 07/14/26 / 12:00 P.M. M Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA)
• 06/07/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
• 06/08/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
• 06/09/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
• 06/09/26 / 11:59 P.M. Baseball Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA)
• 06/10/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
• 06/16/26 / 12:00 P.M. Softball Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA)
• 06/16/26 / 12:00 P.M. M/W At-Large Academic All-District Released; National Voting Begins (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
• 06/16/26 / 11:59 P.M. M/W Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America Nomination Deadline (NCAA, NAIA)
• 06/23/26 / 12:00 P.M. M/W Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-District Released; National Voting Begins (NCAA, NAIA)
• 06/23/26 / 12:00 P.M. Baseball Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA)
• 06/23/26 / 11:59 P.M. M/W At-Large Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
• 06/30/26 / 11:59 P.M. M/W Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA)
• 07/07/26 / 12:00 P.M. W At-Large Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
• 07/08/26 / 12:00 P.M. M At-Large Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA, College Division)
• 07/14/26 / 12:00 P.M. M Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-America Announced (NCAA, NAIA)
• 06/07/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
• 06/08/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
• 06/09/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas
• 06/09/26 / 11:59 P.M. Baseball Academic All-America National Ballot Voting Deadline (NCAA, NAIA)
• 06/10/26 / All Day 2026 CSC Unite Convention in Las Vegas

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The Starbucks Method for Content with Kelsey Whaley - Presented by the CoSIDA New Media Committee College Sports Communicators

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