Hockey’s Social Media Evangelist

Growing up in Burlingame, Calif., Rebecca Friedman ’15, ’15 CERT loved her hometown hockey team, the San Jose Sharks. The now 25-year-old says that it was her childhood dream to work for the NHL. That dream has become a reality. As the manager of social media programs for the NHL, Friedman manages the relationship between the league and all 31 teams’ social media teams and is in charge of covering NHL events and initiatives, such as the Winter Classic and Global Series, for the league’s channels. Friedman also supervises 37 social contributors who produce content for teams on a nightly basis during the season. She went to Northwestern with the intention of becoming a sports journalist, but “my classes and professors showed me that there was a different opportunity to use those same skills you have from journalism to analyze and connect with an audience through social media.” After working on the media team for Digitas and the audience development team at TechCrunch, Friedman jumped at the opportunity to join the NHL’s social media team. With one year under her belt, Friedman continues to push the boundaries. She and her team are driving video content on Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram to connect with a younger audience. In late October she traveled to Finland to cover two NHL games as part of the league’s initiative to reach international fans, another target market. Even though she checks her Sharks fandom at the door, Friedman brings her affection for the sport into the office every day. “The sport is so fast-paced, exciting and unpredictable,” says Friedman, who lives in New York. “I love the culture of it all. I want to keep spreading the sport of hockey.”