Induction Weekend 2026

A dispatch from covering the 70th annual Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Induction Weekend.

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FRI 8:39 am The time has come! The W/S Social team is packed and ready to head down to Macon for Induction Weekend 2026. We’re loaded up with sugar free gum, multiple phone tripods, great attitudes, more phone chargers than we can count, microphones, ibuprofen, a box of assorted cables and snacks. Let’s go!

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FRI 11:10 am Arrival in the movin’ and shakin’ city of Macon. We got straight into content gathering for a reel that we pre-made to set up the weekend. One of our favorite traditions from covering this event over the last 5 years is getting lunch at the Rookery, a must-try establishment. Wrap lunch and onto the Hall where we will be working most of the weekend.

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FRI 3:20 pm After setup we spend a few hours test shooting and gathering content that we can deploy throughout the weekend. This content will get posted asap to set the scene for the new inductees into the Hall. We spend a good amount of time shooting photo and video of the new inductees’ jackets that they receive at the ceremony Friday night. After getting everything gathered and saved we head out to get situated with our lodgings for the weekend.

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FRI 5:30 pm We get back to the Hall around 5:30pm to cover the Jacket Ceremony. Live stories, arrivals, drone content and athletes with their exhibits take up most of our time. Before the ceremony starts, we go live to capture the moment each inductee dons their new apparel. After we get a Class of 2026 group photo our team likes to get solo headshots of each inductee on a fun background that we can use to show off the personality of the class. We clock out late before heading to a brewery to get the final things posted over a bite to eat.

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SAT 9:30 am Possibly our favorite pit stop every year in Macon is Macon Bagels. We grab breakfast while we game plan who is in charge of what for the day and check in on all platforms and how our content is performing.

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SAT 11:30 am Saturday is the big day, and it starts with one of the most fun events of the weekend, Fan Fest. Upon arrival at the Hall, we get our plans and equipment set up so that, as soon as the lines of fans begin to form, we can execute on the post ideas and creative that we have outlined: fits of the day, interactions, memorabilia and inductee content, etc. 

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SAT 2:30 pm Shooting content with former athletes, coaches and sports figures is fun and you never know what they will say, or what ideas we will have to pivot.

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SAT 3:30 pm We wrap on shooting at the Hall. Packing up our “war room” is one of the worst parts of the trip, it starts to feel like home when you use it as a refuge away from the crowds of GA sports fans. Every piece of gear gets loaded up, destination Airbnb, where we will finish editing all the content from the day, picking out audios and publishing last-minute posts. A brief pause for pizza en route.

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SAT 5:30 pm The team is suited up and ready for the coup de grace, the induction ceremony at the Macon Auditorium. We arrive on scene and scour the room for a hidden table we can use to dump and edit content throughout the night.

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SAT 6:30 pm As the event kicks off, we each have our orders, shooting invitee interactions as well as behind the scenes before the Inductees hit the stage. The night moves fast from introductions to surprise awards and speeches so our team works quickly to make sure we are capturing everything we can and getting it published as the event rolls on. The Inductee speeches are the highlight of the weekend; funny, witty and inspiring. 

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SAT 9:30 pm We make our way to the stage in front of the packed auditorium to take the last pieces of content of the night, inductee group and individual plaque photos. From here we pack, say our goodbyes and see you next years’ before heading back home. 

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SAT 10:30 pm Our team sorts through all the night’s content from our mobile HQ and writes captions for the final posts of the weekend before packing up and calling it a night around midnight. One last scroll before bed so we can get up early and make it back to Augusta to watch the USA bring home the gold over Canada in hockey.

That’s all she wrote, see you in 2027!