Chris Yates

Chris Yates has been building businesses since his early teens, when he started a watermelon stand and worked six days a week in the hot Laredo summer sun. The lanky teen was also in the movie rental and delivery business with his uncle and was known as a local expert on sports. He hasnt let up yet. The former television sports journalist has brought that passion for business to his own company, Huddle Productions, a social media and video firm, which handles big-name clients such as Budweiser, the American Heart Association, Golds Gym, Michaels Stores and Verizon. As a journalist, you are always an entrepreneur by creating stories from scratch, Yates said. I thought Id be a sportscaster my whole life, but the novelty wore off, and I really needed a new challenge. By the time Yates needed a new challenge, he had spent 20 years in broadcast news covering the likes of Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Troy Aikman and Mike Modano. Hed covered seven Super Bowl runs, Stanley Cup championships and was a weekend anchor for the local Fox broadcast network. He has won three Emmy Awards for his work. He recently won a fourth Emmy Award under the Huddle Productions name. With some thought to the future, Yates studied entrepreneurship at Southern Methodist University and began thinking of his next step. It wasnt that Yates wanted to change what he did he is a video storyteller, he said. But he did want to change the outlet of the media and aid business communications with consumers. Its no longer a question of whether a business needs to do social media, its now part of our culture and our customers way of life, Yates said. The biggest issue most business owners have when starting is content. Its tough to keep it fresh and interesting for their customers. Its about developing content for the new prime time: online video. Yates has worked with Michaels Stores to take the retailers consumer events online, which ultimately stretches marketing dollars past a single event. A Golds Gym in Houston wanted to run a campaign highlighting youth-focused exercise tips and programs. Huddle Productions produced a video of the personal training capabilities for children at the gym and posted the video to Facebook. The response was overwhelming, Yates said. The new training program went from zero participants to 150 enrolled students within a month, he said. When Bud Light wanted develop brand loyalty from a younger demographic, Yates and his camera crew went in search for the Bud Light Ultimate Tailgater, which was filmed through Gameday Rivals, a Huddle Productions brand, at college football tailgating parties throughout Texas. The tailgating rivals for example the Texas Longhorns and the Baylor Bears game were captured on video and put on YouTube and Facebook, where other fans would vote for the ultimate tailgater for the game. The Bud Light Ultimate Tailgater program has scored nearly 300,000 hits, he said. In his television career, Yates typically saw immediate rewards for his hard work. Building a business is more difficult, he said. Creating something from ground zero has not been easy, Yates said. I didnt think it would take this long. I expect instant results. The hard work has been paying off with his current clients and a recently signed deal with Dallas-based Hambric Sports Group to film and advertise the groups PGA golfers, including Dustin Johnson, Justin Leonard and Bob Estes. The financial details of the contract were not released. Its all about promoting Hambric Sports Groups clients in an effective way, which is video, said Roscoe Hambric Jr., president and CEO of the firm. Social media is beginning to grow and this is a way for us to promote our clients, Hambric said. This is an intermediate step for some golf clients that do not keep up with Facebook or keep up with video. This will give fans and potential fans more insight into the golfers lives.

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