Well, 4 days after I critiqued the International Handball Federation’s (IHF) inability to update their webpage for 42 straight days, an article was finally posted on their site. More notably, a few days later an article highlighted the IHF’s need to revamp their web presence.
“Requiring a new face for its Homepage, the IHF has invited the media agency Enfaktor. In a joint meeting Enfaktor will present ideas and solutions for a more progressive web presence.”
According to Enfaktor’s website they’ve helped the IHF manage their web presence during World Championship events. As the IHF website does a pretty good job during those competitions this can only be a good sign.
While Team Handball News does get its share of web traffic emanating from Basel, Switzerland, I wouldn’t even begin to take credit for the decision to improve the website. It was so obviously needed, they had to be getting the same feedback from so many sources that action being taken was only a matter of time.
I would argue, though, that the IHF could save some money if they would just talk to the folks in Vienna that have designed the European Handball Federation (EHF) website. www.eurohandball.com (No doubt, that it was Enfaktor will probably do.) The EHF site is by no means perfect, but it is an order of magnitude better than the IHF and other continental federations. There’s lot of timely articles, information on upcoming events and their web TV platform, ehfTV, www.ehftTV.com is a shining example of what can be done to promote the sport. There are so many Champions League matches available for viewing that I’m still trying to catch up with last weekend’s matches. My only gripe is that while it’s great that the videos are free of charge, the video quality is substandard. I’ve mentioned this to the EHF folks several times and have implored them for a premium option that would provide better video for a price, but so far this has fallen on deaf ears. Ideally, the video quality would match the old HBL.TV www.hbl.tv platform that the German Bundesliga had before they switched to another company and geoblocked most of the world. What is it with these Euro outfits that don’t want to take my money? It’s frustrating, but common sense suggests that I just need to relax and wait. With money involved and other sports showing the way, it’s only a matter of time before my TV dream becomes reality.
THN (1 Oct 09): 42 Days and Counting: IHF misses the boat on self promotion and new media: http://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.836
IHF Website (14 Oct 09): Busy days at the IHF Head Office in Basle: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=57&idart=2145
Enfaktor Website: Three World Cups in a Month: http://www.enfaktor.net/nachricht_197_0.php
THN (22 Sep 09) German Bundesliga blocks internet Handball broadcasts to rest of world: http://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.827