Meet the Milwaukee Admirals “Adsmin”: Connecting Nashville Predators Fans to the AHL Admirals Stars

today we are pulling back the curtain on a unique job in the world of hockey with our very special guest Kimberly Bates director of digital content for the Milwaukee Admirals you may know Kim best as The Sassy adsmaniac on Predators your daily podcast on the Nashville Predators part of the locked on on podcast Network your team every day welcome to the lock on Predators podcast and thank you for making us your first listen of the day we are your free daily Nashville Predators podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day want to kick off this special episode with a shout out to our lock on pred heads those are our everyday listeners who tune in Monday through Friday to talk Nashville Predators hockey with us we appreciate your support and we love that we get to spend just a little bit of your day with you I’m Anne Kimmel I am a writer at Penalty Box radio and in a moment I will be joined by my partner in crime Emma lingan who is the site editor and beat reporter covering the Nashville Predators for the hockey news Emma and I are so excited to introduce you to Kim Bates Kim is the director of digital content for the Milwaukee Admirals Kim has made quite a splash this season with her fun and Sassy social media posts helping the fans get to know more about the Milwaukee Admirals players and covering a phenomenal season in Milwaukee in part one of our interview with Kim today she’s going to share her Sports origin story and tell us the best and the most challenging parts of her unique job before we dive into all that do want to let you know today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply hi we are joined today at lock on Predators by a very special guest we are joined by Kimberly Bates Kim is the director of digital content for the Milwaukee Admirals best known by one of the coolest nicknames in sports she is the adman and if you follow the Milwaukee Admirals on social media you know that Kim is an absolute social media genius and if you don’t follow the Milwaukee Admirals on social media I don’t know what you’re doing with your time so Kim thank you so much for jumping on and joining us when I came down uh or came up actually to Milwaukee to see a game I was excited to talk to the players Carl Taylor I got to see the pirate ship but literally when I found out you were a real person it was like I have met Santa Claus and he is as wonderful as I thought he was I felt it you were like I uh Charlie um said this is Kim she’s the one that does all of our social media and your face like just lit up and was like I’ve been meaning to find who you are like I’ve been so excited to meet you and I’m like me really me and you and Zach Gilchrist at the same time he was also like oh my god I’ve been wanting to meet like the person behind the Twitter and the Instagram and I was like it’s just little old me you would not suspect it I can promise you that I did I did fan girl a little bit on you and so I apologize for that awward tone it down for okay so I wanted to kick off Kim and just ask you what is your sports origin story like what has led you to connecting into a career in sports have you always been interested in sports how did you kind of get into this whole Arena of sports yeah so um I grew up a pretty big tomboy not like um not like ice box from the Little Giants but definitely someone who like wanted to find any way I could to bond with my dad and my older brother and I saw that that was through football and through baseball um I don’t really care like I love football but as a as a woman I can’t play football I mean I’m sure I could now but back then like I was fascinated with baseball um because that’s you know like my dad and my brother traded baseball cards together and um like the real like big thing that brought us all together and like other than us being being like a family um like we all like found this love for baseball and for football and so I played softball growing up because that was the closest thing I could get to playing baseball like my brother did um we grew up big Kansas City fans and I never really really wanted to work in sports I never had that idea um until I was probably like After High School um I didn’t have a lot of like women to look up to in the Sports World so I didn’t really know how possible it was or like how real it was and so I kind of like discouraged myself and was like why would I do that I don’t even know if I can what would I do with that um but my mom is a journalist she’s a print journalist and has been my entire life um and she always told me like my personality and how I can just walk up to a tree and make friends with it like I should be a journalist I was like no I don’t want to do anything that you do like I want to be my own person and honestly as soon as she stopped telling me I should be a journalist I was like you know what I think I should be a journalist um so I went to college for TV journalism I wanted to be on MLB Network journalists in particular it was like I mean it was social media existed but it was preco at this point um social like journalists in particular I loved the storytelling aspects of sports um that was how I connected to football and baseball when I was younger like I wanted to know what these guys favorite color was and I wanted to know like what what these guys like where they came from their origin stories like I didn’t care about their stats I didn’t care about anything I could find at ESPN like I wanted to know them as people which is kind of what led me into wanting to do the journalism side of it because I wanted to bring other people’s favorite athletes or athletes they don’t even know would be their favorites into their households via TV or social media and help them get to know them as if it was them behind the camera asking them the questions and talking to them um so so I went to University of Iowa majored in TV journalism and uh Sports studies was my double major and then I minored in women and gender studies um and I graduated in May of 2020 Peak covid uh and that killed quite a lot quite a lot of our dreams I think uh our uh 2020 graduates dreams but um I saw how like clubhouses Arenas stadiums they weren’t allowing media into anywhere so then I saw how journalists were able to connect with the athletes and the sports and the teams through social media and I was like oh well that’s really cool like I used to do some stuff when I was in high school for 17 magazine and their social media and like I knew kind of how to be not like an influencer but I knew how to like speak about a brand and Market it and kind of connect with it digitally just just never for a sports team other than when I was working for the TV news station in college and I had to like promote my own stories so um I covered Iowa Baseball um Iowa women’s basketball pretty Caitlyn Clark that would was so cool if I was part of that um and women’s field hockey and after I graduated I was like I kind of want to go into the digital sphere and this is before colleges really started offering social media classes um so I kind did it all on my own um I moved to Arizona after I graduated college and because I knew there was nothing for me in Iowa during covid and um just tried my best to find a sports job I wanted to work for a spring training team but there was no spring training that season and no Minor League season um and so finally I just got a a social media job that wasn’t in sports because I was like if I can’t find a sports job I’m at least going to get another job or a job on the other side of this career that I want so I can fine-tune my skills that one that opport comes I’ll be ready for it finally got my dream job uh where I thought was my dream job in baseball um I got a job as the public relations and digital media specialist I want to say was my title for the Springfield Cardinals which is the doublea affiliate of the St Louis Cardinals um and it was great but I learned that it is not what I wanted out of a job um and so I kind of kept my options open found uh actually an opening with the Brewers here in Milwaukee and I was like a year shot of experience with them and uh the woman I was talking to who would have been hiring me she was like I like you need to get out of Springfield Missouri so let me help you like find something um which like she never had to do and I’m eternally grateful for her because she said like oh how much do you know about hockey and I was like nothing I couldn’t even tell you how many points a goal was worth like nothing and um she was like okay well the hockey Admirals are hiring it’s the minor league hockey team that’s in town long story short here I am after my first season and I don’t think I would ever work in another sport that’s not hockey ever again coming up Kim talks about the way different players view social media and she also reveals which Admirals player chirps her the most want to let you know today’s episode is brought to you by our friends at game time if you are looking to attend great summer events but you want to avoid the ticketing hassles you need to check out game time game time is the fastest and easiest way to get tickets to your favorite sporting events concerts theater and more the game time app takes the guesswork out of buying tickets they show you your all-in pricing upfront so you’re not surprised by excess fees at checkout and you can even get a view from your seat to know exactly what you’re paying for right now game time has great deals on the Nashville Sounds musicals a teac Lil Wayne and a lana s’mores set who are headed to Nashville and with game ‘s lowest price guarantee if you find a ticket in your row and section for Less game time will credit you 110% of the difference so take the guest workk out of buying tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed love I love that you started in baseball because I did as well um and I still kind of have a foot in baseball in my career right now but I I love what you say about how like I mean I unlike you I did grow up a hockey fan as well but I definitely like Prof professionally had only ever really been in baseball and so I I agree there’s something different about hockey and hockey people not just the players but like just the people in the sport that it it makes you think like wow how could I ever go work anywhere else or do anything else because these people are so special it’s crazy and like you don’t know it until you’re on the other side like yeah like I said like my job at the Cardinals was my what I thought of was a dream job like it was so cool I was able to do so much with the players and like get to meet all these really cool people and interact with them in a way that like sometimes I think we take for granted is like I’m having everyday conversations with these people that most people would just want like a high from and I’m like chirping them you know like it’s it’s just one of those things but hockey is just the personalities are different the G like the like humility is different like the genuine kindness I think is so different and that goes for players coaches front office people like even like people on other teams like it’s it’s crazy I I don’t know how to explain it or put it into words but it is like the best difference I could have ever like found I feel like hockey is just I mean once you get into sports in general especially Pro Sports you realize what a small world it is and then hockey it’s like even smaller and it just seems like everybody not necessarily that everybody knows everybody although that tends to be true sometimes too but it’s like everyone like you said they want to help each other out and they want to you know it’s almost like in a way especially if you’re part of like a travel party with a team which I used to be with the Predators too it’s almost like trauma bonding a little bit you’re like we’ve been through this together and like no one really like you said you don’t really understand it until you’ve been on that side but I I want to go back really quickly to something that you said um about chirping the players because that is something that is how I endeared myself to the Predators players pretty quickly when I started there so I have to know who from the Admirals has maybe like who has chirped you the best uh Ander okayer really the rookie reaer the rookie okay I don’t know what it is I don’t know if it’s the redhead like connection but like he like we will just chirp each other so much like he when I’m taking their rival pictures he will never look at the camera unless I’m not the one taking the pictures of the video then he’ll look at the camera he will not look at the camera and like I’ll even like just like cheese at him when he’s walking in and he’ll just like shake his head and look down um or he’ll like I’m trying to think of like specific examples but like he’ll just talk crap to me when he’s leaving the rink and then but it’s like the most endearing thing like it all comes from like a very good place like I don’t think he would do it if I could if he knew I couldn’t handle it um because I give it right back to him so uh and that’s the key yeah like it shows that they’re comfortable with you like that is if they’re always Uber polite to you then like that’s nice but it means they’re not totally comfortable with you they’re comfortable if they chirp you and you you get that from some of the Vets too but I think I think the rookies have a little bit more fun just because like it is their first season um not saying that the Vets don’t have fun but you know you know like I think there’s a difference in how they look at front office people and or even how they look at Social the social media admin right like I think the rookies are more likely to see me as part of the team like I’m one of them whereas the Vets are like she’s part of the front office and so that that line is like kind of like it’s not murky water but you really know like who looks at you what way do you think it’s a generational thing as far as comfort with social media because like look like I I social media to me is the scariest place on Earth um for sure so I wonder if just because they’ve grown up with it maybe the younger players are just more comfortable sharing stuff on it for sure Cal O’Reilly Ryan’s older brother kind of just like he will he’ll do the Tik Tok for sure but he’s not as like interactive with it as Zack laroo or even yoim kemel right I guess I never thought about it being super generational compared to it just being guys with it orality Personality yeah um but because I don’t think there’s any guy that’s on that will come out on social media that it’s not his personality in person I think it’s all very much like some guys just don’t like the camera and they don’t like Phil thomasino Dodges my Tik toks all the time all the time and there’s one I’m literally chasing him down the hallway to make him do the video because he is just like he just like eyes me and just like speed walks and I’m like we’re not doing this we’re not doing this today but we do because I’m not like there’s only so much I can do right but there is a video of like I have of where I’m recording him coming out of the locker room and I’m literally chasing him down to get him to do this video and he does he do it no but honestly that’s part of it too it’s like they’re comfortable enough to dodge me rather than like h fine I have to do it like they’re comfortable enough to say no and like I just like and I kind of get a read on them too like I would never chase down say C Riley if he doesn’t want to do a video or if a guy’s kind kind of having a bad day like he just walks by the video I’m like okay that’s fine like that I don’t care I’m not gonna push you but people like tommer I will like hunt down to do these videos what is the best part of this job for you I kind of I kind of said this already but like the relationships that you build with these guys like I I really have to like myself how lucky I am and um I don’t remember I think it was I think it was Zach Laro told me like like he kind of had to bring me down to reality or I guess bring me up to reality where like so many people would kill to be in my shoes and I kind of just think of it as a job like these guys are just guys like I don’t see them as like people who would get stopped in the street like if they were I mean it’s I think it’s different in Nashville because they’re more recognizable faces um like with the Predators but um like even just with as as fans like fans seeing me on the benches during warm-ups and guys will like um Anthony Angelo would always uh spray me with the water bottle and he said every time he does that he either scores or we win and it’s literally rang true which is terrifying um but like people will see that behind the glass and they’re like that’s so cool um and I’m like what it’s just it but but I to remind myself like this isn’t normal for people and like you get to know these guys on such a different level and that’s honestly what I love about my job is that I TR I want to try to bring that to social media and I’ve had some fans find me like on my personal Instagram and Twitter and DM me and say like this is the most I’ve ever felt connected to the Admirals like this is the most I’ve felt like I know the guys versus like in years prior because like their personalities just shine on social media granted I’m going to be the one that says like that’s not me it’s literally just the guys but the fact that the fact of the matter is that people are feeling more connected to that and like that’s just such a feel-good moment of like that is why I’m in this job because I want to bring these athletes to people’s phones and to their homes and feel like they’re part of their family and their team and just to get that recognition like it’s just something I have to remind myself of sometimes that like I get to wake up and do this every day that’s insane to me I love that and just from the Nashville perspective which you know I know that Milwaukee you know the Milwaukee Admirals are their own team with with their own fan base in Milwaukee and an amazing atmosphere but just from the Nashville perspective it’s such a gift because it builds up in Nashville and among the fan base this excitement about hey I know a little bit more about Zachary laroo or Yokum cell or Reed schaer and I love the connection that it builds across Milwaukee to the Nashville Predators as well it really is a gift to people here as well we’re going to wrap up part one of our interview with Kim coming up she’s going to share the most challenging part of her dream job first today’s episode is brought to you by ultimate hockey GM ever dreamed of becoming an NHL GM and managing your hockey franchise do you think you could run the Predators better than Barry trots well your dream can come true and this game is most definitely for you manage every strategic aspect of your team play through the seasons and Lead it to Glory you can hire the right coaches and staff trade players or draft picks navigate through free agency in the draft all in a challenging and realistic game world as the pr span you know there is no off season jams are constantly making moves at every point of the year to improve their team’s chances and that’s why I think you are going to love this game ultimate hockey GM is completely free it’s playable offline you can play on the go as you want and when you want to by the way locked on network listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo code locked on NHL in the game store so make sure you check it out to download the game just visit hockey gm. apppp or look it up in the app stores ultim hockey GM start your Dynasty today what is the most challenging part of this job um well right now content in the off season I don’t have guys to harass and Bug every day for Content um but I think I I I actually posted about this on my personal Twitter the other day um it’s hard not to take comments on social media about what happens on the ice like personally to you it’s diff like you know it’s coming to my personal phone and like I’m get and this for example with with the Coachella series I’m getting all of these po all these tweets and all these comments and all these uh story replies to my personal phone and like I’m able to like bring myself back to Earth and like okay it this isn’t about me but it’s hard when it you’re that’s all all you’re getting like I don’t even see notifications like like texts from my mom or anything because the notifications are so prevalent and like it’s one of those things where I can’t really turn the notifications off because it’s part of my job um but at the same time like just learning the boundaries I guess um and I think the way I can I kind of cope with it is like I probably chirp more fans than most teams in the league because like if you’re like it’s kind of like trauma humor like if you’re gonna talk crap to me on social media I’m gonna put you on blast and I’m gonna let my fans take care of you like and I mean some people do it now on purpose because they want the attention but um like learning not to take things like from a team perspective and a brand perspective personally and I think that’s something that every social media manager will always deal with is just kind of setting that line and I mean not say I’m never going to say I’ve the hardest job in the world because I think I have the most fun job in the world but like I don’t get an off button like I don’t get to log off for the day or something you know like I’m pretty sure I when Utah released their Jersey designs I quote tweeted it with like the eyebrow raise Emoji at like 10 o’clock at night like I saw it and I’m gonna post about it and like that’s my choice but it’s still like I think I’m on our feed and our uh social media accounts and I am on my own personal social accounts which is a blessing and a curse like a good and a bad thing but I think uh there’s very few difficult Parts about my job but I think that’s that’s probably like the one I I like what you I mean that’s a really good point that you make about you know it’s coming to your personal phone your personal computer but also a lot of times these people are talking about or taking shots maybe not at you personally but they’re taking shots at the people who have become like your family like these people that you know and you care about and like you said you know them as people and they’re not just like okay maybe he he missed a a shot or messed up a play or or something like that but he’s still a good person it’s like you get kind of protective of your people and I I struggled with that as well like I still do sometimes because I know these guys on a much more personal level and again it not quite to the same level as you being you know in charge of the social accounts but as a journalist you know it’s the responsible thing to kind of have your finger on the pulse of what the fans are saying about the team and you know what they care about what stories they want to hear so sometimes it is a necessary evil where you have to look at the dreaded comment section and see what people are saying and it’s like stop talking about my friends like that it’s it does get hard I I totally feel that and it was like like one of the uh the only one I can think of like at the moment is like when people will call like Zach laroo a rat or or something or about like or a bully on the ice or something I’m like don’t you say that like I’ll get so protective because it’s like I know him I know he’s nice I know he’s not a rat but nobody else does and so it it is like like I could say that about my my brother but you can’t say that about my brother like it’s just that protective like and there have been some of them that have told me like I’m just like the older sister that they never had and like that’s like the I guess unique relation ship about it um but like when the comments roll in like kind of talking and you know the fans will be like why aren’t you scoring more on Twitter like what do you think I’m doing I’m I’m just behind a computer not me so that’s where it’s like okay all right but then yeah it’s it is hard but kind of just like taking myself back a little bit and realizing that these guys don’t care so why do I care is and you also so I find it helpful to sometimes remind myself that like okay if these people are getting this upset about a hockey team that they have nothing to do with like then you know what maybe maybe my my life is actually pretty good if this is what is getting them really riled up like if your biggest problem in life like so much to the the fact that you feel the need to tweet me about it is that your hockey team isn’t scoring then I kind of feel bad for you I feel I feel a little bit of pity for you yep like I’ve been a sports fan for a while and even though like I uh have used social media for a while I don’t like I don’t think I’ve ever had the thought cross my mind like oh the Royals aren’t playing well I’m gonna tweet their Twitter and yell at them about it and tell them what to do and tell them what to do yeah like okay well why don’t you put some wheels on buddy and you get out there and then tell me how how to do this I think that’s the equivalent of the guy like the old drunk guy in the stands yelling shoot it like do you think they’re listening to like I mean to me doing that on social media is the equivalent of that and I I’m I’m totally with you I’m like some people I think they just they need to they need an outlet and they need to feel heard um and and they want the attention and that’s just how they’re going to do it and it does it is unfortunate though because there is is a real person reading all of those tweets there’s a to that for sure it takes a lot it takes a lot and like I mean again when I worked for the Predators even now still but like sometimes people will take shots at me personally but I like on social media those upset me less but like when they’re coming at Cody glass and and saying I’m like oh I will I will throw hands right now if you talk about him so call you can call adman like probably an ugly person behind the laptop and like yeah you like they don’t know what they’re talking about like they don’t even know if I’m a girl or a guy half the time hopefully they figured it out because I’ve taken enough Puck pictures that they they’d see my nails but like they’ll like say like oh adman is just like an ugly troll behind this screen I’m like okay probably I don’t know depends on the day did I do my hair today I don’t know but like if you come after our players or our coach and you’re like oh coach Taylor needs to figure this out or he’s gone like don’t you say anything today say not today not today my grandfather always used to say some people would kick if they had both legs cut off and sometimes when I read repeated comments coming back and coming back and coming back on social media I have a moment where I’m like my grandfather was a wise wise man there are just some people who would kick if they had both legs cut off and you see it on social media that’s exhausting y i and it’s just like you have to remind yourself like if you were face to face with these people they would never say anything to you like they would smile and wave and tell you how great of a job you’re doing but because they can they’re keyboard Warriors behind the screen like take it with a grain of sugar honestly because yeah you’re gonna need it Emma and I want to thank Kimberly Bates for joining us on today’s show be sure to tune in tomorrow as we wrap up our conversation with her Kim is going to share her best career advice for anyone wanting to get into social media and sports she’s going to share her first impressions of hockey culture and reveal some Insider information about the players in a fun game of Rapid Fire question that’s going to do it for today’s episode of the lockdown Predators podcast thank you for making us your first listen of the day we’ll be back tomorrow with part two of our talk with Kim we’ll see you then

The Nashville Predators AHL affiliate Milwaukee Admirals had a deep Calder Cup run after a record setting regular season, and fans of Zachary L’Heureux and Yaroslav Askarov got to know those players better thanks to Kimberly Bates, Director of Digital Marketing for the Milwaukee Admirals. On today’s Locked On Predators we reveal the real person behind the engaging, sassy, informative Admirals social media accounts and learn more about this unique job in hockey. Kim shares her sports origin story, an inside look at her first season with the Admirals, and the best and most challenging parts of her job.

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