In case you didn’t know, I’m a big social media advocate. I love what it can do for people and business alike, creating content, conversation and active communities. In turn, when I see unique opportunities and promotions based around this space, I love to share them here, which bring me to the “Ultimate Sports Social Media Job” program created by Xfinity.

Here is a quick summary of the contest and what the winner can receive:

“Comcast’s Xfinity Service is launching a contest to hire an individual who will serve as the new voice of Xfinity in the sports social media space and go behind-the-scenes at some of the biggest nationwide sporting events in 2012, sharing exclusive insights and updates with fans. The contest, entitled “Xfinity Presents: The Ultimate Sports Social Media Job,” runs from January 13 through March 25 in search of the next sports social media star.”

“The winner will receive a one-year salary and will be responsible for tweeting from the @XFINITYSports Twitter handle on continual basis,  reporting live from premier sporting events throughout 2012, and educating and engaging avid sports fans in social media communities. In addition to live event access, the winner will also receive all the electronics for the ultimate sports pad, including televisions, home audio/video equipment, etc.”

Anyone who is interested can apply through their Facebook page at Facebook.com/Xfinity. You have to share a video (up to 2 minutes) pitching why you’re the perfect person for this role based on your knowledge and passion for sports, social media and Comcast (after all, the winner will be working for them!). The top entries will be featured on this page and voted on by fans, with the top 5 advancing to the finals. These lucky five will get a trial run covering a premier sporting event in early March, and then a panel of celebrity judges will make the final decision on a winner who will get to travel to and cover some of the biggest sporting events for an entire year.

So, if this is your ultimate sports and social media dream job, make sure to enter ASAP. Also, if you are a reader of this blog and decide to apply, please let us know in the comments so we can check out your entries. I’d love to throw my support behind one of our fans, sharing your entry on the site and in the newsletter. Good luck!

My full-time roles in the sports industry have been focused on the CRM and database space, and these positions can have lots of fun and interesting responsibilities, such as:

• Consolidating data to build a complete picture of each fan and customer
• Building distinct customer segments for targeted marketing campaigns
• Managing digital communications using email, web, PURLs, social media and more
• Creating detailed customer profiles to understand who are fans are
• Measuring the results of sales and marketing initiatives
• Generating new leads and building models to predict sales and renewals
• Using marketing automation to generate incremental revenue
• Analyzing ticket sales and survey research data to identify trends and opportunities
• Leveraging technology to build efficient sales, service and marketing departments

In case you haven’t checked out the Event Calendar, we have two more sports networking events scheduled for this month!

The Business of Sports – New York Networking Event

• Wednesday, January 11 at Slattery’s Midtown Pub
• Open networking from 6:00 to 9:00PM
• Free to attend, all backgrounds welcome (No resumes please!)
• Details and RSVP here!

The Business of Sports – Atlanta Networking Event

• Tuesday, January 17 at Buckhead Bottle Bar
• Open networking from 5:30 to 8:00PM
• Free to attend, all backgrounds welcome (No resumes please!)
• Details and RSVP here!

Our goal is to create a regular series of sports business networking events in as many major markets as we can. These events provide opportunities for sports professionals on all levels to connect with other like-minded individuals and build up their professional network. Our feedback from these events continues to be tremendous, so we will keep seeking out new locations and new ways to help support this wonderful community. We hope to see as many of you as we can at one of these events very soon!

Today’s post is courtesy of guest blogger Dave Fogelson.

In all likelihood, people aspiring to “work in sports” are over-looking the sporting goods industry, particularly the retail end of the business, as the starting point for a career path. Retail is where people seeking entry-level jobs can find the most opportunities to apply their sports interest and knowledge and acquire invaluable, real world experience.

The $52 billion sporting goods industry is home to some of the most recognizable and iconic consumer brands and biggest names in retailing. National chains like Dick’s and Sports Authority, regional stores such as Modell’s and Hibbett, specialty retailers in the team sports, golf, running and outdoor segments and many other brick and mortar and on-line outlets have an on-going need for people who either have or can acquire product knowledge and possess a commitment to customer service.

Working the past two years as a retail sales associate at a sporting goods chain, I’ve influenced more sales than during the combined 13 years I spent as the head of public relations for two athletic footwear and apparel companies. I oftentimes think about how much more effective I (and most of my corporate colleagues) would have been in our brand marketing positions had we possessed some of the insight that comes from working retail.

So, what knowledge, experience and skills can you expect to acquire at retail that can help you land that “dream job” in sports?

-  Selling and business development:  Every organization in every industry needs people oriented to generating business. Sporting goods retail associates play the critical role in the space known as “the last three feet of the sale.” It’s the epitome of missionary salesmanship and not merely order-taking.

- Product knowledge:  Having the capacity to understand and embrace the features and benefits of the products/services you represent is essential to any job you’re likely to perform in sports marketing. A product or service’s unique selling proposition is the foundation of an effective marketing campaign.

- Listening and communicating:  Having acquired product knowledge, the ability to apply it by listening to customers, understanding their needs and clearly and concisely communicating the features and benefits of products that meet their requirements creates more business for your employer now and in the future. Aren’t the majority of (if not all) sports marketing programs predicated on building and sustaining customer/fan loyalty to the sponsor’s brand and products?

- Prioritizing and working the plan:  In addition to dealing with customers, retail associates handle a myriad of responsibilities. From organizing inventory to merchandising product displays, many balls must be kept in the air simultaneously. The ability to take on and handle multiple assignments is one of the hallmarks of a successful sports marketer.

- Working (well) with others:  Working retail requires flexibility, a willingness to pitch-in whenever and wherever situations demand and a thick skin. Among managers and sales associates, retail’s “we’re in this together” mentality is comparable to the work environment and expectations you’ll encounter throughout the sports industry.

- Understanding what truly resonates with customers:  Retail (the Place) is where the rubber meets the road for the other three “Ps” – Product, Promotion and Price. Working retail provides insights into what truly motivates consumers to part (or not part) with their cash for products and services. People with this insight are better able to create and conduct more targeted sports marketing campaigns that utilize brand resources more efficiently and effectively.

With this knowledge and experience, in tandem with your educational background and special interests, aspiring sports business executives are in a much better position to pursue and secure more rewarding positions of greater responsibility.

• If your heart is in retailing, there are corporate level positions as a buyer, in merchandising, operations and marketing.
• If retailing isn’t for you, brands across the spectrum of the sporting goods industry need people in product development, marketing and sales who’ve experienced first-hand how consumers and retail sales associates respond to product features, advertising and promotional campaigns and price promotions.
• Non-sports brands that sponsor sports along with their agency partners need people who’ve experienced at the retail level how event sponsorships and athlete endorsers can be leveraged with the consumer to generate sales and create brand loyalty.

The retail environment isn’t glamorous and can be down-right difficult. The challenges you’re likely to encounter at retail, coupled with the modest compensation, are best surmounted by taking a broader view and looking at the time and energy you’re spending on the sales floor as a means to a greater end.

In the majority of instances, the investments brands make in product development and marketing are greatly diminished absent the sales associate creating connections for the product and brand with consumers. Creating these connections is the stuff with which attention-getting resumes are built.

Within this context and keeping in mind your career aspirations, every retail floor assignment, no matter how mundane, every customer interaction and sale you generate have greater significance. Leverage this experience and the insights you’ve gained in your ongoing communications with the organizations you’ve identified as prospective employers and networking with industry contacts.

Dave Fogelson is the former head of public relations for adidas USA and Reebok. He’s also held public relations positions with The Miller Brewing Company, Pan-american Sports Network and Sharp Electronics. For the past 2-1/2 years, he’s served as an athletic footwear and golf sales associate at a major sporting goods retail chain.

Last Friday I had the chance to attend the 2011 Ivy Sports Symposium, which every year offers an impressive array of speakers, informative panel discussions and wonderful networking opportunities. If you haven’t already, search for the Twitter hashtag #ISS2011 to see some of the updates that were shared during the event. During the breaks between sessions, I tried to grab a couple of video interviews to share with you this week, along with a larger event recap post coming soon.

Next up is my interview with Scott Minto, Director of the San Diego State University Sports MBA Program. Scott talks about the value of an advanced sports education degree and how attending events like the Ivy Sports Symposium is critical for young sports professionals.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyZpR7iJIYY

You can connect with Scott on Twitter at @SDSUSportsMBA or at the SDSU Sports MBA Facebook page.

(Please pardon the slightly unusual shape of the video box – I took the video vertically on my iPhone. I’ll stick to landscape for future clips!)

For those of you in the Northeast, I wanted to make sure you know about a great event coming up in a couple of weeks down in Philadelphia!

The 6th Annual Ivy Sports Symposium @ Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Friday, November 18, 2011 from 8:00 AM to 7:30 PM (ET)

Today is the final day to register for the 6th annual Ivy Sports Symposium (formerly known as the Princeton Sports Symposium) on Friday, November 18 at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The Ivy Sports Symposium is an annual sports business conference established in 2006 by Chris Chaney (Princeton ’07) at Princeton University. Click here to view the 2011 Symposium agenda.

The Ivy Sports Symposium is one of the global sports industry’s premier conferences that sets the standard among college-based sports business events. It is widely considered the best and most comprehensive one-day event. The Symposium has gained industry-wide recognition since its inception by featuring more than 180 unique speakers from around the world representing all facets of the sports business.

The Symposium aims to advance the sports business by facilitating interaction among students and professionals, providing a forum for communication and debate, and enabling some of the most successful executives in the industry to share invaluable knowledge with their peers and successors.

Click here to register today for the 2011 Ivy Sports Symposium.

Digital Fan Marketing Summits, created and organized by Pat Coyle, are educational events designed to help attendees increase revenues through digital media. Pat normally hosts a few of these per year, most recently in Los Angeles and New York. His next event is coming up on October 11 in San Francisco, and I highly encourage folks to attend.

As a special offer for our readers, you can use the discount code sportsbiz to get $100 off the cost of admission!

Each summit attracts leading practitioners in digital publishing and brand marketing who share their experiences and latest thinking, build relationships and debate emerging opportunities such as:

• how to attract fans in digital channels
• how to generate value for these fans
• how to drive revenue from fans
• how to evaluate emerging trends and emerging technologies

Major discussion themes will include: social commerce, mobile commerce, location-based services, games, analytics and more. These 1-day events will feature keynote speakers, panel discussions, Ignite presentations, and ample networking opportunities.

For more information and to register, please visit http://dfm11-sf.eventbrite.com/.

I am excited to announce that we’re bringing our networking events back to Texas, specifically the Dallas/Forth Worth area!

The Business of Sports – Dallas Networking Event

• Wednesday, September 7 at Hully & Mo’s (2800 Routh St, Dallas)
• Open networking from 5:30 to 8:00PM
• Free to attend, all backgrounds welcome (No resumes please!)
• Details and RSVP here!
• Special thanks to Brian and Brandi Connolly, Jamie Acks and Tom Scovic for making this event happen.

Our goal is to create a regular series of sports business networking events in as many major markets as we can. They provide great opportunities for sports professionals on all levels to connect with other like-minded individuals and build up their professional network. Our feedback continues to be tremendous, so we will keep seeking out new locations and new ways to help support this wonderful community. We hope to see as many of you as we can at one of these events very soon!

Also, please check out the photo gallery from our last New York event, courtesy of VenuesToday.com.

I am excited to announce that we have two more sports networking events scheduled for this month and they are in the two biggest markets in the country!

The Business of Sports – Los Angeles Networking Event

• Thursday, August 18 at ESPN Zone at LA Live
• Open networking from 6:00 to 9:00PM
• Free to attend, all backgrounds welcome (No resumes please!)
• Details and RSVP here!
• Special thanks to Joshua Boren (Populous) and Ara Messerlian (Par 5 Events)

The Business of Sports – New York Networking Event

• Wednesday, August 24 at Slattery’s Midtown Pub
• Open networking from 6:30 to 9:30PM
• Free to attend, all backgrounds welcome (No resumes please!)
• Details and RSVP here!
• Special thanks to Joshua Duboff (The Sports Business Exchange)

Our goal is to create a regular series of sports business networking events in as many major markets as we can (we’re actually working on coming back to Dallas/Fort Worth very soon). These events provide opportunities for sports professionals on all levels to connect with other like-minded individuals and build up their professional network. Our feedback from these events continues to be tremendous, so we will keep seeking out new locations and new ways to help support this wonderful community. We hope to see as many of you as we can at one of these events very soon!

Major League Soccer’s National Sales Center (MLSNSC), which I wrote about almost eight months ago, recently sent their fifth set of graduates into the difficult environment of selling soccer tickets in a down economy. To refresh your memory, the MLSNSC is (and I quote from their official website) “a highly selective 45 day sales training program, this experience provides a one-of-kind learning environment and exposure to the fundamentals of MLS ticket selling. Trainees will have the opportunity to apply what they are learning to actual selling of season, group and mini plan ticket inventory for different MLS clubs during the program. At the conclusion of the session, those trainees earning specific benchmarks throughout the program will have the opportunity to interview for sales positions at MLS clubs.”

Bryant Pfeiffer, Vice President of Club Services for MLS, commented on the changes that were made over the course of the first five sessions. “Initially we were thinking we would try to facilitate close to 6-7 sessions in 2011,” commented Pfeiffer. “After getting a better handle on both recruiting and placement flow in 2010 we felt it worked better to run four total sessions in 2011 that were more spaced out in between them.”

In terms of placement for the first four sessions, 40 candidates went through the program with 39 of those securing employment with an MLS club. Many of those graduates continue to keep tabs on each other. Jacob Hanselman, a graduate of Session IV, was hired by the Chicago Fire in March 2011. “Since we have been out at teams we keep an email chain that we are able to share stories with the entire group about different situations that have occurred or tips on questions some people have,” said Hansleman. “We grew to be very close and there hasn’t been a week were you won’t get a phone call from someone in the session or talk on Facebook comparing numbers and how everyone has been successful. I wouldn’t have been able to have the success that I have had thus far without any of the other 10 people that were in session IV not having a profound impact on me.”

One of the most valuable tools in the program is the instant feedback each candidate gets regarding their techniques. The feedback is not based solely on whether a sale was made or not. Pfeiffer mentioned, “We have added much more emphasis on video and audio recording of sales calls as an instant feedback tool. Trainees have consistently highly rated the impact this technology has on their development.” For Hanselman, the feedback was invaluable. “The most challenging part of the session for me was the refining of the sales process,” commented Hanselman. “Every one of our calls at the MLSNSC was taped, so even when you did make what you thought was a good call, we could go back and analyze and break it down; much like watching game tape. After each one you would see that we still had a lot of room for improvement.”

It’s easy to see after the first five sessions that the MLSNSC is going strong. “Fourteen MLS clubs have either hired or interviewed National Sales Center graduates,” said Pfeiffer. “Dallas and Houston have both hired six graduates so far.” With the blessing of the MLS head office, and strong recommendations from it’s previous graduates, MLSNSC will begin it’s sixth session on July 25th.

A successful candidate will “show a strong to desire to keep improving themselves, a strong competitive spirit, and refuse to be outworked wherever they are.” If that describes you, you can apply by visiting the MLSNSC website, scrolling to the bottom and clicking ‘Apply now.’

I normally don’t post job openings on the blog, but in this case, I had to make an exception because…I used to hold this position! Comcast-Spectactor (the parent company for the Philadelphia Flyers, 76ers, Wings and more) is hiring for a CRM & Technology Analyst. This is a unique opportunity for anyone with an analytical marketing background and a passion for the sports industry.

In general, CRM and other technology and analytics-based marketing programs are becoming more and more valuable for sports organizations, and people with this type of experience are in more demand across the industry. The knowledge and experience you would gain from this position is tremendous, and I am speaking from personal experience. My career would not be where it is today without the time I spent at Comcast-Spectacor.

Take a look at the posting below, and if you have the background and interest in this area, I encourage you to apply right away.

Summary: This entry level / experienced position resides in the Technology Solutions department at Comcast-Spectacor. This position will be aligned to Sales, Marketing and Customer Service departments of the entities inside Comcast-Spectacor to assist them in fostering and developing new and existing business through analysis of the CRM data and other sales and marketing technologies. This position will be the leader and expert in Comcast-Spectacor’s CRM and marketing automation systems (sales, service, and marketing) and will also measure the effectiveness of these and other technologies and campaigns that drive through these organizations.

Responsibilities Include:

• Develop a yearly business plan for this role and the ability to measure the results
• Configure the CRM and marketing automation systems to help achieve ongoing business goals for ticket sales, customer service, and marketing
• Mine the CRM system to create targeted list for emails, mailings, and other marketing campaigns
• Configure, support, measure and report on innovative sales and marketing campaigns to support the various assigned entities and departments
• Create targeted direct marketing campaigns for ticket sales using direct mail, emarketing, hypersites, PURLs, and call campaigns
• Create and manage campaigns to increase entities database and newsletter subscriptions
• Track monthly, quarterly and yearly count of entity newsletter sends and subscriptions
• Work with ticket sales and marketing to acquire new lead lists through various means
• Provide training and support for ticket sales, customer service, and marketing on sales and marketing systems and other technology products and solutions introduced to the business
• Utilize web traffic reporting and tools to generate opportunities for advertising and ticketing sales
• Occasionally work with the ticketing service provider to best maximize the use of the ticketing, auctions, and marketplace sites to integrate with entities’ respective websites
• Keep up to date on the latest technologies and work to keep respective entities ahead of the curve
• Work with the respective Leagues and member clubs to best maximize tools available to generate leads and sales opportunities
• Familiarity with SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and online advertising campaigns

Qualifications – Required:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Ability to work comfortably with Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook

Qualifications – Preferred:

• One to two (1 – 2) years of experience in business operations of a professional sports organization, preferably in marketing, sales or technology
• Experience with Salesforce.com and / or Eloqua
• Working knowledge of HTML, JAVA and Photoshop
• Experience with database applications such as SQL / MS Access

Click here for the full job posting and to apply.

I have a couple of quick announcements to share with everyone today!

I am very excited to announce that I’ve been selected to be an official blogger for next week’s Global Sports Forum in Barcelona, Spain! This conference has a tremendous lineup of international speakers from UEFA, Rio Olympics, Sochi Olympics, FC Barcelona, Havas, IOC, adidas, Li Ning, IMG, EuroSport and more. Over the three days of the conference, I will be posting updates here and on the GSFB blog. You will also be able to follow the conference on Twitter via the hashtag #GSFB.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJvBMPLADOI

If you are interested in attending the conference, they are running a last-minute, 30% off special offer. Visit www.globalsportsforum.org for the details. And if you are going to be there, let me know so we can have an informal, international networking event!

Speaking of networking events, we have added two new events to the schedule!

The Business of Sports – Philadelphia Networking Event

• Monday, March 28 at the Field House
• Open networking from 6:30 to 9:30PM
• Free to attend, all backgrounds welcome (No resumes please!)
• Details and RSVP here!
• Special thanks to Haynes Hendrickson (Turnkey) and Caleb Mezzy!

The Business of Sports – Los Angeles Networking Event

• Saturday, April 2 at Big League Dreams in West Covina
• Food and drinks, networking and softball from 11:30AM to 3:30PM
• Free to attend, all backgrounds welcome (No resumes please!)
• Details and RSVP here!
• Special thanks to Joshua Boren (Populous) and Ara Messerlian (Par 5 Events)

I’m also hoping to have information on New York, Phoenix, Dallas and Boston events very soon. Stay tuned!

This weekend I had the chance to email back and forth with Lou Imbriano and J.W. Cannon, who a few weeks back started a weekly event on Twitter called #sbchat. It’s another valuable resource for the sports business community that everyone should take advantage of. Here’s what they had to say about it.

First off, what is #sbchat?

Lou: Every Wednesday at 8pm EST on Twitter, a group of sports business professionals utilize the #sbchat hashtag to discuss various topics about the business of sports. This one hour chat is a great exchange of concepts, opinions and philosophies concerning topical sports business issues. JW Cannon and I moderate and lead the direction of each week’s chat to keep the chat efficient and helpful to all participants, rookies and veterans alike. At the end of the chat a transcript of the hour exchange is provided in case any participant missed any comments or if those interested in sports business were unable to attend.

Why did the two of you decide to start it?

JW: To be completely honest, I think that the biggest reason that #sbchat was started was because we were sick and tired of seeing sports business “professionals” peddling “advice” for a business that they haven’t even worked a day in their lives in. Much of the information they were sharing (often with a price tag) was inaccurate or factually misrepresented, and we felt that it was leading the young folks coming up in our business down the wrong path. Unfortunately, nobody was really calling them out on it, and we saw this as a potential forum to set the record straight – not by throwing jabs, but with proven advice and commentary from savvy sports business professionals that had actually done the work. It sounds cliché to say that Lou and I want to “give back” to the industry, but we really do.

What are your goals for the weekly chat?

Lou: The goals of #sbchat are to introduce a topic that is relevant to the business of sports at the time of the chat in order for sports business executives to exchange best practices, while answering questions for those new to or interested in getting into the industry. The intention is to provide some transparency about the business of sports, while exhibiting mentoring and lending advice for those who are seeking direction. The hopes are that experienced pros will not only help those entering the business but also others in the field by providing their philosophies and experience.

What has the response been like so far?

JW: The response thus far has been great. We have a broad range of folks from all across the industry participate on a weekly basis – from the property to the brand to the event side, and usually average 20-40 folks per week participating. What’s most positive has been the participation from the up-and-comers in the industry, who are not only coming to share their opinions, but also to learn from other folks in the industry (without paying $19.95, that is).

Finally, what is the best piece of advice or insight that you’ve seen in #sbchat so far?

Lou: There has been an ample amount of great advice since the genesis of #sbchat. Each week there are nuggets of gold that folks share that are not only helpful, but also thought-provoking. One theme that seems to have surfaced a few times is that sponsorship is only as good as the activation efforts that are put into motion to bring it to life and drive consumers. It’s a concept that experienced sports business executives would think to be a given, however many companies miss the mark quite often. The reinforcement from multiple #sbchat participants has displayed that no one should assume that any proper practice is a given and discussion about all facets of the industry is healthy and helpful.

JW: There’s been so much good advice passed though #sbchat that it’s hard to pick out just one tidbit, but I’ll try. I think in our very first #sbchat, we talked career development, and someone made a very good point about working in this industry and the work-life balance we all face. The point was that we all work long hours, weekends and holidays, but that’s no reason for us to completely sacrifice a life outside of the office or to neglect your loved ones. We’re not saving the world or curing cancer, so we all need to stop, take a step back, and at times, work a little more efficiently to ensure that your significant other, your family and your dog all remember who you are.

Thank you to Lou and J.W. for providing this great resource. Make sure to check out the next #sbchat tomorrow night!

Editor’s Note:  You can use any Twitter interface (twitter.com, HootSuite, TweetDeck, etc.) to monitor and participate in the chat. However, I personally prefer to use TweetChat.com which has a very nice web-interface designed specifically to track a chat-specific hashtag like #sbchat.

I tend to be a fan of many of the business initiatives that the Phoenix Suns put together. They are a very creative, forward-thinking organization, and that comes through in their marketing, service and digital media efforts.

Last week, someone on Twitter (update: Thanks Emily Huddell!) sent out a link to the Phoenix Suns New Business Team website. The website, branded with the header “Where All-Stars Happen,” is an HR/recruiting site promoting the opportunity to work on the Suns’ sales and business development team.  Many organizations will simply post their sales openings on a page or job board, knowing that they will get a tremendous number of applications for the position no matter what. For the Suns, having a website dedicated to promoting the benefits of being part of their sales team shows the value they place on recruiting top talent at every level of their organization, and this can be a great asset in building a quality staff. I have had the chance to work with a few former Suns employees, and have always come away quite impressed.

In particular, the section of this site that I like the most is the “Where career growth happens” page. Here, the Suns have highlighted how members of their sales team have gone on to succeed in bigger positions, some still with the team and some with other organizations. I like how proud they are of the success that their employees have had, and it emphasizes how their organization can help launch a person’s career.

If I was a potential applicant, seeing a website like this would really encourage me to try and become a part of their organization. It helps to instill passion, build confidence and motivate applicants to succeed.

I normally don’t post job openings here, but Robert Campbell, the Digital Media Coordinator for the Cleveland Indians, sent me an email about new openings with their organization that I feel are worth sharing, especially for those of you looking for great entry-level opportunities.

The Indians have three “Executive Development Fellowship” openings, one each in marketing, business analytics and finance/accounting. Here’s a quick overview from the job descriptions:

“The EDF will be exposed to all facets of the Indians business operations during this intensive, structured 12-month immersion into the organization. The EDF will participate in comprehensive orientation program, regular feedback meetings and take part in a cross-functional mentorship program to facilitate enhanced organizational and career development. The outcome of this work will assist with current and future strategies and practices.”

According to Rob, “The Executive Development Fellowship program was created by Indians President Mark Shapiro and he is very active in contributing to each fellow’s growth as well as providing feedback and opportunities. For example, as a fellow last year I received the latitude to manage all social media communication for the organization as well as the entire PR and marketing campaign for Indians Snow Days.” His experience as a fellow has led to his full-time position with the organization.

People often ask me how they can gain experience working with a professional team, and positions like this are easily one of the best ways you can do that. Not many organizations have “rotational” style positions that can provide a wide range of experience in just one year, which makes these types of openings so valuable. For more information, visit the Cleveland Indians Job Opportunities webpage here, and click on the “View job postings” button. Good luck!

Due to the snowfall expected in the Northeast over the next two days, we’ve rescheduled our upcoming New York Networking event.  The new details are:

- Tuesday, January 18 from 6:30 to 9:30PM
- Slattery’s Midtown Pub, 8 East 36th St (same location)

We hope that you can all still attend. If you have previously RSVP’s but cannot attend the new date, please send an email to russell@thebusinessofsports.com.If there is anyone else that would like to attend the new date, you can still RSVP here.

Don’t forget to check the event calendar for upcoming events in Los Angeles, Phoenix and more!

Thank you, and we apologize for any inconvenience.

Through this website, I’ll often receive resumes from individuals looking to break into the sports industry (I’m actually thinking about adding a resume bank section to the website – I’ll revisit that idea in 2011).

Anyway, one particular resume that I received over the weekend had such a glaring flaw in it that I needed to share it here as a warning to all future sports business applicants.  Here’s the snippet of the offending resume (with identifying information removed)

Honors and Skills:

• Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel Certification
• XXXXX High School — Raider Award
• Varsity Soccer Team Captain
• Varsity Soccer Team XXXXX State Runner-Up
• 2007, 2009, 2010 XXXXX Fantasy Football League Champion
• 2009 Erin Andrews is Amazing Fantasy Football League Runner-up
• 2008, 2009 XXXXX National Roto (Fantasy Baseball) and 2010 League Runner-up
• 2009 XXXXX Fantasy Baseball League Champion (Manager of the Year/Silver Slugger)

The rest of the resume was fairly standard for a current undergraduate that is about to graduate but does not have any sports-specific experience yet. However, just because you don’t have sports experience, doesn’t mean that your fantasy sports success should go in a resume! There is absolutely NO situation where this type of information should be listed (except maybe if you are actually applying to be a fantasy sports analyst). On top of that, he actually listed a league called “Erin Andrews is Amazing” – even if the rest of his resume was good, there’s no way he can be taken seriously.

In addition, the items about his varsity soccer team being state runner-up (which I assume is from his high school playing days) has no place in a resume. The items about being a team captain or winning a team award don’t add any value unless you can provide some type of detail in how your experience as a high school team captain relates to the position you are applying for. In the current context, all this does it highlight that you are an athlete and a fan who still doesn’t understand how the industry works.

(Update: As an additional note, if you are currently a high school student or just graduated high school, then you have a lot more freedom to include items like this since you probably don’t have work experience yet. But if you are about to graduate from college, including these high school details would just make me wonder what you’ve been doing the past four years in college. Some people might think I’m being overly critical, but I want applicants to have the right perspective and put themselves in a position to succeed.)

I tweeted about this over the weekend, and people were stunned that someone would include this information in a resume. Unfortunately, I have seen this before, so I want all potential applicants to learn this lesson now and maybe we’ll stop seeing it in the future. Here is my top five list of items to keep out of any sports-related resume (and thanks to the folks on Twitter for contributing!)

1. Your favorite team or sport
2. How much of a fan you are
3. Anything related to fantasy sports or video games
4. Statistics from high school / college / amateur sports
5. Typos and grammatical errors

What else would you add to this list? Share your own resume pet peeves in the comments.

Update -  More reader suggestions:

• From @cannonjw:  Stupid emails, ie bootysnatcher8@[redacted].com, not appropriate (actually rec’d). Don’t care if you’re good @ snatching booty or not
• From @JimOToole:  “I am passionate about sport….”

I am excited to announce that we have THREE sports networking events scheduled for January, and they are in the some of the biggest markets in the country!

The Business of Sports – New York Networking Event

• UPDATED! Tuesday, January 18 at Slattery’s Midtown Pub
• Open networking from 6:30 to 9:30PM
• Free to attend, all backgrounds welcome (No resumes please!)
• Details and RSVP here!
• Special thanks to Joshua Duboff (The Sports Business Exchange)

The Business of Sports – Los Angeles Networking Event

• Wednesday, January 19 at Busby’s East
• Open networking from 6:30 to 9:30PM
• Free to attend, all backgrounds welcome (No resumes please!)
• Details and RSVP here!
• Special thanks to Joshua Boren (Populous) and Ara Messerlian (Par 5 Events)

The Business of Sports – Phoenix Networking Event

• Rescheduled for February – details coming…

Our goal is to create a regular series of sports business networking events in as many major markets as we can. These events provide opportunities for sports professionals on all levels to connect with other like-minded individuals and build up their professional network. Our feedback from these events continues to be tremendous, so we will keep seeking out new locations and new ways to help support this wonderful community. We hope to see as many of you as we can at one of these events very soon!

If you are a sports industry professional or a job/internship seeker in the Philadelphia area, then there are two events you should take advantage of next month!

Philadelphia Sports & Entertainment Career Fair

• Wednesday, December 8 at the Wells Fargo Center
• Career Fair from 2:30PM – 4:30PM
• Meet with personnel from the Flyers, Sixers, Phillies, Eagles, Wings and more
• Includes a ticket to that night’s Flyers/Sharks game
• Contact Erin Dunn at (215) 952-5749 or edunn@comcast-spectacor.com for more information or to register.

The Business of Sports – Philadelphia Networking Event

• Tuesday, December 13 at The Field House (1150 Filbert Street, Philadelphia)
• Open networking from 6:30 to 9:30PM
• Free to attend, all backgrounds welcome (No resumes please!)
• Details and RSVP here!

The career fair is a great way for job seekers to get a foot in the door with local sports organizations, and our networking events provide opportunities for sports professionals on all levels to connect with other like-minded individuals and build up their professional network.

Keep an eye out for additional networking events coming soon, including tentative dates for New York in December and Los Angeles in January!

My friend just sent me a link to a news story about the Golden State Warriors, and I need to share the story with all of you. The Warriors have just hired a new Director of Basketball Operations, which is generally an important position for the team-side of the business. An announcement like this wouldn’t normally be an unusual story…except in this case, the owner’s son Kirk Lacob got the job.

OK, well maybe he has a lot of relevant experience. After all, it’s pretty common to see the children of sports owners and executives also work in sports, so he might be qualified for the position. Well, you can see his LinkedIn profile here, but the highlights are:

• Stanford Men’s Club Basketball President and Co-Founder (Just graduated this year)
• Intern positions with Chegg Inc, Fortinet, Evolvence Capital, Ithmar Capital and the Boston Celtics
• Coach for Matt Lottich Life Skills, LLC.
• Founder and Director of Woodside Sports Camp for Boys

Now, I’m not writing this post to criticize the Warriors or their owner. One of the benefits of owning a team is being able to make decisions like this, and he must have felt that this hiring was in the best interest of his team and his family. In addition, I’d imagine that there are other senior executives in basketball operations that will keep things moving and train Kirk as he goes.

To me, one of the biggest takeaways from this is how it highlights the challenges associated with working for a professional sports organization, especially for those recent graduates dreaming of working on the team operations side of the house. We constantly see organizations hire friends, family and former players for these positions, creating even more obstacles for “outsiders” regardless of their qualifications. I don’t expect this to change, but I also don’t want to see “favors” replace the process of hiring passionate and qualified candidates.

In addition, I think most would agree that we’ve seen the industry become so much more advanced over the past ten years, in both the business and on-field aspects of running a team. Reading about a hiring like this does make me wonder about how other aspects of their organization are being run. Too many organizations still operate in the mode of “that’s how we used to do it, so let’s do it again.”

I still wish Kirk Lacob nothing but success in his new position with the team. I just hope it’s the right decision for both him and the team.

Update: Here’s a quote from owner Joe Lacob on the hiring: “Is this a good thing to do? It’s a complicated question. But I intend to be in this business for a long time, and I intend to have him involved if he wants to be involved.” (SFGate.com, 11/16/10)

September is a great month to connect with your fellow sports business peers.  Following up on another successful New York networking event, we have THREE more events scheduled for this month:

Atlanta – Tuesday, September 7 from 5:30 to 8:00 PM at Buckhead Bottle Bar (268 E Paces Ferry Road)

Phoenix – Thursday, September 16 from 5:30 to 8:00 PM at Macayo’s Depot Cantina (300 South Ash Avenue, Tempe)

Philadelphia – Thursday, September 30 from 6:30 to 9:30 PM at The Field House (1150 Filbert Street)

Click on one of the links above for full event details and to RSVP.

In addition, Pat Coyle has two upcoming Sports 2.0 Summits. According to his site, “These events are built for executives working in the digital, sports and media business. We cover a broad spectrum of topics from digital strategy, to social media to mobile, always honing in on the most practical ways to drive fan engagement and revenue.” I’ve heard great things about these summits. The first one is September 21 in San Francisco and the other is October 21 in Atlanta.  The registration fee is $250, but if you follow @sports20 on Twitter, you may stumble upon the occasional discount or ticket giveaway.

That’s five more ways to learn, build your network and advance your career. If you’re near one of these locations, I hope you can attend, and please pass the word along to your friends and colleagues. Thanks!

I’m happy to announce that we’ve scheduled our next The Business Of Sports – New York Networking event! It is taking place on Wednesday, August 18 from 6:30 to 9:30PM at Slattery’s Midtown Pub (8 East 36th St). As always, the event is completely free to attend.  You can click here to complete the RSVP form.

Here is what some previous attendees had to say about our events:`

• From @Isatten – “Every event has high-caliber representation from across the sports industry. I always walkaway having made new, meaningful connections.”
• From @gosam – “Russell’s events provide the best opportunity for NYC sports industry professionals to step away from the computer & network face-to-face.”
• From @JCingari – “The events are a great way to connect with people from all sides of the sports business industry. The best part: the ‘no resumes’ rule.”
• From @CMarzi84 – “SportsBiz NYC events – definitely worth checking out, fun event full of sports pros from great organizations.”
• From @SponsorPitch – “Great way to network with other sports biz pros in a relaxed atmosphere. I always come away with at least one new connection.”
• From @peteraiello – “An NYC Sportsbiz Networking Event is THE place to go to make real sports industry contacts.”

Please pass this along to any friends and colleagues who would also be interested in attending. Each event has been bigger and more successful than the last, and we want to keep it going!

In addition, we are always looking for opportunities to launch networking events in new areas. Below you will find a list of spots that we’re either working on, or hope to get to soon. If you see a city near you and you can assist with local event logistics, please leave a comment:

• Phoenix – Working on the details for our 2nd event
• Atlanta – Hope to have a 4th event announced soon
• Philadelphia – Had one there before, but need some local help
• Boston – Also had one there before, but need some local help
• Charlotte – Wishlist city, looking for volunteers
• Los Angeles -  Wishlist city, looking for volunteers
• San Francisco/Northern CA – Wishlist city, looking for volunteers
• Miami – Wishlist city, looking for volunteers
• Chicago – Wishlist city, looking for volunteers (also check out the Painless Networking group here)
• Baltimore/DC – Wishlist city, looking for volunteers

Thanks for your support and I’m looking forward to seeing many of you in New York on the 18th!

(Special thanks to Joshua Duboff from The Sports Business Exchange. These events wouldn’t happen without all of his hard work.)

I wanted to remind everyone that the next The Business Of Sports – New York Networking event is just one week away, on Wednesday, May 5 from 6:30 to 9:30PM at Slattery’s Midtown Pub (8 East 36th St). As always, the event is completely free to attend. Our last event had over 150 attendees, and I’d love to see even more of you this time.

Earlier this morning, I had the opportunity to be a guest speaker at Farleigh Dickinson University for an undergraduate business fundamentals class. This is an area that I am very passionate about (hence the reason for my blog, my Twitter usage, my LinkedIn profile, etc.) and I was excited to give a talk on the topic.

In my efforts to turn the presentation into an interactive example, I streamed it live through Ustream. The talk lasted almost 90 minutes, but I think there are some good nuggets of information throughout. So here is the video if you’d like to check it out. If you do watch, I would love your feedback on the presentation and suggestions for things I can do better next time. Thanks!

Today’s post is courtesy of guest blogger Matt Weinberger. Make sure to read Part 1 from last week!

The sports industry is an exciting place. Too often I get questions asking how one can go about getting into the industry. In response I have created my personnel list of 10 things one MUST do to get into the sports industry and be successful.

5. Find out what your core competencies are – Core competencies often come up in talks about what a company or organization’s most significant value creating skills are. In essence, they are an organization’s areas of expertise. But here, you want to focus on YOUR core competencies. What kind of value can you add to an organization? What do you bring to the table? And, what is your personal brand?

6. Get Creative – Listen, this is the sports industry we are talking about. This isn’t rocket science, and don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise. The sports industry is a fun, exciting, creative, and sometimes intense industry. As such you need to be on your toes at all times, but also never lose your creativity. Each day organizations throughout the industry are coming up with interesting, thought provoking and unique ways to generate business. Be creative at all times, find new avenues and ideas people in the industry aren’t talking about and own them!

7. Cover Letter and Resume – Too often this is an afterthought. Make sure your resume and cover letter are synchronized. When you apply for a job these two documents are your chief selling points, so make sure that’s exactly what they are – SELLING POINTS. For more reference, see this recently published NY Times article. Resumes and cover letters alone may not get you the job but they surely can lose you the job. There are many organizations in the sports industry (which shall remain nameless) who are notorious for throwing out resumes with even the slightest mistakes whether grammatical or stylistic. As such, take time to work on your resume and constantly update it.

TIP: Have at least three other sets of eyes look at your resume. You would be surprised the small mistakes that others may spot that you haven’t. In addition, don’t be afraid to hear others critiques/comments about your resume. While everyone has a different opinion on style for resumes, it is a positive step to hear comments from others and then use your own judgment as to whether you want to incorporate their suggestions into your resume.

8. Internships – Internships are a place to get into the industry for those who aren’t. While they often require you to work for free (or for school credit) they can provide invaluable experience and opportunity.

TIP: Websites like sportscareers.com, workinsports.com and teamworkonline.com provide a good starting point for seeing what internships are out there. You can also check team specific websites, agencies websites or league websites who all in some form or another have a job board where internships are posted. Another good place to start is in the minor leagues and college athletics. While professional sports teams are pretty limited in number, the amount of college athletic programs and minor league teams (specifically baseball) are in the hundreds. I assure you that almost all of these teams offer opportunities to get involved, check them out. It’s a great place to start you career on a small level and learn how things work in a grassroots type environment.

9. Who’s Got Your Back – This one is my favorite, so I saved it for last. Okay, so your finally in the industry. You are doing successful, working your way up the ladder into key decision making roles. But take a second to ask yourself. WHOSE GOT YOUR BACK? By this I don’t mean who is going to back you up in a fist fight. Rather, I mean who are you going to turn to when you need advice, help with personal decision making, or when you are at a crossroads in your career. Do you know three people who you can turn to at this critical time? If you don’t you might want to think long and hard about who those people CAN be. The professional “superman” myth and the going at-it-alone philosophy won’t work in the sports industry. Deep, trusted relationships will offer encouragements, feed back and concern when you need it most. Find people who will be open and candid with you, and won’t just say what you want to hear, those people often have your career best interests at heart.

Good Luck and enjoy the ride.

Matt Weinberger is a graduate of the Sports Management program at the University of Massachusetts and has held various intern positions at professional sports organizations in the NYC area. Matt is currently studying at New York Law School in New York City. You can follow Matt on Twitter (@MattWeinberger) and he can be reached via email at Matthew.D.Weinberger@gmail.com.

Today’s post is courtesy of guest blogger Matt Weinberger. Make sure to check back next week for part 2 of his column.

The sports industry is an exciting place. Too often I get questions asking how one can go about getting into the industry. In response I have created my personnel list of nine things one MUST do to get into the sports industry and be successful.

1) Be Proactive - This is your career. If you want to be successful at it you need to take matters into your own hands. In the sports industry, you can get lost quickly if you sit still on the sidelines (excuse my pun). Being proactive means talking to people, finding out what they do and what a daily day is like in their current position. The more you know about the industry, and how teams/marketing agencies/league offices function, you will better be able to pinpoint exactly what type of job you would like in the future. Too often people ASSUME they know what a Marketing Coordinator, General Manager or a Group Sales Manager does for an organization on a day in and day out basis. But think long an hard…do you REALLY know what these people do in their positions on a day in and day out basis? If you don’t then it would be wise to find out, because the more knowledge you acquire the better you are able to position yourself effectively in the industry by correctly matching up your skill set, wants, and desires.

TIP: Find people that are currently in positions that you would one day desire to have. Take time each week to try make contact with some of these people. Send them an email – not in a harassing way, but a polite way. Ask them a few questions about their job, and maybe some advice. Kindly let them know that you appreciate them taking time to answer you. You never know when their information/advice could come back to help you. Remember, not everyone will always write back, but I can assure you that most people are very helpful if you approach them properly – after all they most likely are in the position they are in currently because someone else took the time to help THEM.

2) Network - Listen, we hear it all the time… network this and network that. Sometimes just the thought of the word “networking” conjures up a thought of a stuffy awkward conversation. But the truth is, it really does work. It’s time tested, and for sure recession proof. With that I mean that whatever the current job market situation is, networking with people never fails. Again, learning about other people and their careers can go a long way to influencing and helping your own. In the era of web 2.0, there are a variety of opportunities to network. Blogs, Twitter and LinkedIn are all first steps to cultivating meaningful and long lasting conversations. Look around, throughout the internet space there sport industry professionals chatting and sharing ideas with each other. Join in with them. Take time to hear them out, and make connections with them. Be careful, in the era of 2.0 there is a temptation to lose touch with personal networking, that is live in person face-to-face conversation. This type of networking is still way and above better then any done online. Take time to seek out networking events, and try your best to attend each and every one.

TIP: TheBusinessOfSports.com regularly organizes sports business networking events. As a first step, check those out!

3) Read – With the Internet these days the amount of material on the sports industry is astonishing. It’s almost overwhelming. Information overload is certainly a problem with all of the various sources of “news.” But yet reading is still key. Things happen in the sports industry at a rapid pace, it’s part of what makes it so appealing, so adjusting to the information flow is crucial. Finding areas of the industry that interest you is a good way to prevent information overload. For example if you one day aspire to be a sports lawyer, a good place to start would be the Sports Law Blog, which contains commentary from some pretty experienced sports lawyers and professors.

TIP: Find a few reliable sport BUSINESS outlets to follow and follow them consistently. But look in the right places. Sure ESPN, FOX Sports etc are great places, but if you want to be in the Sports Industry, you are going to want a place where you can find Sports BUSINESS news. My suggestion: the Sports Business Journal and Sports Business Daily.

4) Understand – Understand how the sports industry works. Realize that the sports industry is 24/7. Unlike a typical workplace 9-5 job, sports events take place at “odd” times – nights, weekends and on national holidays. On a given day, while your friends head to the local bar at 5 PM for happy hour, you and your organization may be prepping for a game stating at 7 PM against the cross town rival. Can you handle working at these so called “odd” hours? If you can’t and aren’t prepared to do so then this might not be the industry for you. Remember, the excitement comes with a price. Just ask some coaches or general managers how many times they have moved across the country for new positions.

TIP: Take time to access what you are willing to give up and what you aren’t willing to give up for a career in the sports industry. If you do this now, you will save a lot of headaches and possibly even heartaches in the long run.

Check back next week for the rest of the list!

Matt Weinberger is a graduate of the Sports Management program at the University of Massachusetts and has held various intern positions at professional sports organizations in the NYC area. Matt is currently studying at New York Law School in New York City. You can follow Matt on Twitter (@MattWeinberger) and he can be reached via email at Matthew.D.Weinberger@gmail.com.

I wanted to remind everyone that there are two sports business networking events scheduled for this week.

Our 2nd Atlanta event is tomorrow, Wednesday, March 10 from 5:30 to 8:00 PM at Meehan’s Public House in Sandy Springs. Click here for full details and to RSVP. We already have over 75 responses, so this should be a great follow-up to our first Atlanta event from late last year. Special thanks to J.W. Cannon, Aldo Kafie and Jenny Schmitt for all of their help in making this happen!

Our first ever Dallas/Fort Worth event is this Thursday, March 11 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at The Londoner Pub in Addison. We will have a private room upstairs and this should be a convenient location for people working around the DFW area. Click here for full details and to RSVP. We’re up to 50 responses now, so this should be a great start to building a series of regular networking events in this area.  Special thanks to Walker Simmons for his help in getting this going!

Please pass these links along to any friends or colleagues that would also be interested in attending. The more people we can bring together, the better networking opportunities we can create for everyone.

Remember to keep an eye on the Event Calendar page for future networking events.

Our sports business networking events are so popular that we’re expanding again to a new location. I am excited to announce that we’ve scheduled our first Dallas networking event. It will take place on Thursday, March 11 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at the Londoner Pub in Addison. We will have a private room upstairs and this should be a convenient location for people working around the Dallas metro area.

If you are interested in attending, please click here to RSVP! Pass this link along to any friends or colleagues that would also be interested in attending. The more people we can bring together, the better networking opportunities we can create for everyone.

Special thanks to Walker Simmons for his help in making this event happen!

Remember to keep an eye on the Event Calendar page for future networking events. I’m hoping to have dates set soon for Phoenix, Atlanta and New York!

I wanted to remind everyone that our next sports business networking event is next Wednesday, January 13 from 6:30 to 9:30PM at the Galway Hooker Pub (7 East 36th St). Our last two New York events drew nearly 150 people and we expect attendance to keep growing! If you are interested in attending, you can click here to RSVP.

Please pass this along to any friends or colleagues that would also be interested in attending. And keep an eye on the Event Calendar page for future networking events in New York and other locations!

Thanks as always to Joshua Duboff from The Sports Business Exchange for his continued help in organizing this event!

Last week, the Sports Business Journal released its annual ’50 Most Influential’ list, naming the top 50+ influential people in the sports industry. While there was a bit of an international bend to the list (Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee, claimed the top spot), it was dominated by figures that most Americans will recognize. And in the spirit of giving, I present to you the top five ways to make the SBJ’s most influential list:

1. Become the commissioner of a professional sports league: Roger Goodell (2, NFL), David Stern (4, NBA), Bud Selig (7, MLB), Gary Bettman (12, NHL), Tim Finchem (18, PGA), and Don Garber (33, MLS) all made the list by being their sports’ head honcho. While I bet it feels good to be king, all of these men have taken shots for their decisions over the course of 2009, and some are feeling the heat for the decisions of others (Mr. Finchem, I’m referring to you). Regardless, becoming the Commish is a pretty good way to gain influence (but we can’t guarantee that people will like you).

2.  Head up a major television conglomerate:  George Bodenheimer (3, ESPN/ABC Sports), Brian Roberts & Steve Burke (5, Comcast), Dick Ebersol (6, NBC Universal), Chase Carey & David Hill (8, Fox/News Corp.), Sean McManus (10, CBS Sports), John Skipper & Sean Bratches (19, ESPN), David Levy (21, TBS), Jeff Shell (29, Comcast), Steve Bornstein (31, NFL Network), and Tracy Dolgin (50, YES Network) all saw their name in print because, as we’ve been reminded of many times in the past 12 months, television is big business for sports. Rights fees, retrans fees, carriage fees… it’s harder to grasp than the legalese on that credit card application, but for those who are schooled in the language of TV contracts, chances are good that they’ll hold some sway over the sports industry.

3.  Work your way up at an agency (or start your own):  George Pyne (26, IMG), Casey Wasserman (32, Wasserman Media Group), Michael Levine & Howard Nuchow (37, CAA Sports), Scott Boras (38, The Scott Boras Group), Tom Condon & Ben Dogra (44, CAA Football), Phil de Picciotto & Rick Dudley (47, Octagon). Whether you’re representing the athletes in major sponsorship deals or representing major companies in their deals with sports properties, heading up an agency guarantees people will pick up the phone when you call.

4.  Own an NFL team:  Jerry Jones (9, Dallas Cowboys), Robert Kraft (13, New England Patriots), Pat Bowlen (35, Denver Broncos). Some joke that Kraft has as much power as Goodell. Regardless, these men have a strong voice when it comes to decisions that swing millions of dollars… from players to owners, from small-market teams to large-market teams (or vice-versa).

This might not be a road map for your career, but it does give you an idea where to concentrate your energies if you want to become one of the 50 most influential people in sports business. Oh, one final note:

5.  Be a man:  Only one person on the list of 50+ can wear a skirt to work without getting sidelong glances. Katie Bayne (46, Coca-Cola) was the sole female on the list this year. Hopefully, this is a trend we’ll see changing over the next few years as more women advance to senior positions in the industry.

The 4th annual Princeton Sports Symposium takes place this Friday, December 4 at Princeton University. I attended this event last year, and really enjoyed all of the panels as well as the opportunity to network with the presenters and other attendees.  You can click here to read some of my recaps from last year’s symposium.

This year, the agenda (PDF) features over 60 speakers across 11 different panel discussions. Visit www.sportssymposium.org for more information. I will be in attendance again this year, so please make sure to say hello if you’re there. Looking forward to meeting some of you on Friday!

——————–

2009 Princeton Sports Symposium sponsored by Leverage Agency
Friday, December 4 from 10am-6pm
Friend Center, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

You can register at www.sportssymposium.org. Space is limited. The registration fee for non-students is $50, and includes continental breakfast, lunch and reception. Please email info@sportssymposium.org with any questions you may have. You can also connect with the symposium on Twitter (twitter.com/sportssymposium) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/sportssymposium).

Time for this week’s edition of Sports Careers Saturday, one day early!

Career Tip from Mark Tudi: Commitment and Follow-Up – Simple Words, Simple Meanings

I have attended a number of trade show and career fairs across the country where I have met hundreds of people who desired employment in the sports industry. I appreciated their enthusiasm and desire. All of them told me that either they were going to call or send their resume to me. Few individuals followed through.

There are many reasons for this kind of behavior. One may be that they found a job. Others probably deal with being timid, thinking that they don’t want to bother the individual. Or my favorite ” I forgot to write down their information.” Then the most common, procrastination; taking too long to do something and allowing the moment or opportunity to pass.

The best way to deal with the excuse of forgetting is to make sure that you write it down in your calendar and then complete the task. There are hundreds of reasons why we procrastinate. Whatever the reason, the person who we didn’t follow through with has formed an opinion of us. That opinion is usually a negative one.

Human behavior is such that we do the things that immediately give us the highest amount of satisfaction. That’s why calling a friend to setup a golf game gets done before finishing that 24-page school report. To overcome this behavior we need to decide which event, in the long run, provides us with the most satisfaction or moves us closer to accomplishing our goals. Being committed, doing what you say your going to, is just that. You see the end in mind of what really matters most to you.

The next time you tell somebody that you are going to do something, write it down and follow through in a timely manner. With follow-up like this, not only will you surprise a lot of people but ultimately you will achieve what matters most to you.

Four Hot Jobs of the Week:

• Technical Project Manager – Mobile – MLB Advanced Media (New York, NY) -The Technical Project Manager will be responsible for managing the development and maintenance of text messaging, mobile web, iPhone, and other mobile platform applications.
• Regional Manager – United States Bowling Congress (Arlington, TX) – As bowling increases in popularity, we seek enthusiastic candidates to join our team at the national headquarters for the organized sport of bowling, located in Arlington, Texas. We are currently looking for qualified Regional Managers to work with our Associations Development Team!
• Strategic Planner – NIKE Inc. (Costa Mesa, CA) – Work with executive leadership team in the development of the company’s strategic planning function through the execution of strategic business initiatives, business planning/reporting, internal strategy consulting, and new business development.
• Technical Director – PGA, Sports & Entertainment – Turner Broadcasting (Atlanta, GA) – Responsible for work that will be executed by cross functional teams and organized according to a balance of business priorities and technology needs for the PGA and PGA Tour web sites.

Sports Careers offers weekly, monthly or yearly subscriptions that provide full access to their career resources and job listings. Visit www.sportscareers.com for more information.

Time for this week’s edition of Sports Careers Saturday!

Career Tip: Preparing for the Interview

They want to see if you have the right stuff. It’s okay to have butterflies. Most people do, even if they don’t admit it. What you do to get ready at this point is crucial to increasing your chances of success.

I’m talking about the interview and how to best prepare for it. Most people don’t like the stress that interviews cause. However, this is part of the game. If you know what you’re trying to sell, you will already be holding some of the cards.

Your goal is to be clear, concise and to the point. When they ask questions like, “Tell me about yourself,” don’t start rambling and giving too much information. What the employer is looking for is what you can bring to the table.

A better way to answer this would be give them four words that accurately describe what they are looking for such as, hardworking, loyal, trustworthy and enthusiastic. You will need to have explanations to go with the descriptions.

The reason you need stories is it make the information come alive. They have already read your resume so now they want to know the real insight into you. Think of stories that will make you stand out in an employer’s mind so you can give yourself a step up in getting into the big leagues!

Five Hot Jobs of the Week:

• Director Ad Sales, Technology – ESPN (New York, NY) – Responsible for partnering with our ad sales and production teams to ensure that our site is delivering innovative ad solutions that adhere to our technology guidelines.
• General Manager – North Adams SteepleCats (North Adams, MA) - The position will be responsible for coordinating all facets of operating a summer baseball organization.
• Sports Writer – Texarkana Gazette (Texarkana, TX) - Responsibilities are covering local high school sports, although some college and pro coverage is possible. Opportunities in sports coverage, including sports features, advances, statistical.
• Account Manager – ESPN (Seattle, WA) - Position will be responsible for generating, analyzing and communicating sales proposals to the sales organization for presentation to clients.
• Spring Training Operations Intern – Ripken Baseball, Inc. (Myrtle Beach, SC) - Join our team as an Operations Intern, where we are ‘Building Excellence One Player at a Time’.

Sports Careers offers weekly, monthly or yearly subscriptions that provide full access to their career resources and job listings. Visit www.sportscareers.com for more information.

Time for this week’s edition of Sports Careers Saturday!

Career Tip: The handshake can say a lot!

We have all heard that when shaking someone’s hand, you shouldn’t squeeze too hard, present a wet noodle or shake too long. But did you know that there are guidelines telling us how many pumps, length of time and the amount of firmness used, as well as the little known fact that artisans, doctors and musicians are exceptions to the rule(s).

According to Brian Yates, author of the “How to Knock em dead” series, handshakes shouldn’t last more than 30 seconds. Pumping the hands should last between three (3) to six (6) pumps. And when dealing with artisans, doctors and musicians, be courteous when squeezing, they rely on their hands for their occupations and shouldn’t be judged by the firmness with which they present themselves. So, the next time you are out with friends, bore them to death with your “useless” trivia; however, the next time your on an interview, make sure you’re ready for the handshake.

Five Hot Jobs of the Week:

Don’t forget that we have an internal posting for a virtual internship with this site. Click here for the details on the position and instructions on how to apply!

• Director, Remote Operations - The Golf Channel (Orlando, FL) - Oversee all technical aspects of the tournament and studio type remote productions and other special programming. Responsibilities involve pre-planning and managing all technical activities on location including site surveys, new technology applications, managing vendor relationships and coordinating with host broadcasters.
• Associate Athletic Director for Development - Utah State University (Logan, UT) - The Associate Director of Athletics for Development/Major Gifts is responsible for raising gifts to support the mission, vision and priorities of Athletics. The position will focus on the cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of identified athletics major gift donors.
• Assistant Women’s Golf Coach - San Diego State University (San Diego, CA) - Responsible for assisting in the direction of the Women’s Golf program, performing a variety of coaching functions related to the sport of Women’s Golf in the Athletic Department. Assist head coach in managing program within budget and assuring that program is effectively coordinated with training, equipment, and travel staff.
• Network Sales Manager - National Hockey League (New York, NY) - The Network Sales Manager is responsible for the procurement of advertising dollars from various revenue streams for LIVE event programming and original intrinsic programming on our Network.
• Sports Reporter - ASP Westward, L.P. (Houston, TX) - As a leader of community newspapers, we are seeking a community minded journalist for a Reporter position located in the Northwest Houston area. Under the direction of an editor, the reporter is responsible for gathering and analyzing information of newsworthy events in the community and writing stories for publications.

Sports Careers offers weekly, monthly or yearly subscriptions that provide full access to their career resources and job listings. Visit www.sportscareers.com for more information.

In order to help build a community around the people who visit this site and attend our networking events (including last night’s New York event, which was our biggest one yet), I created a new LinkedIn group appropriately called “The Business of Sports.” I encourage all of you to become a part of this group – click here to join today!

Also, I’m going to try and do my best to keep this group focused on sports business. A lot of other sports-related groups on LinkedIn have become so large that they are hard to sift through to find valuable content and discussions. I hope that the members of this group will use this new group as another tool to make valuable connections and generate on-topic discussions related to sports business.

Finally, for those of you that prefer Facebook to LinkedIn, we still have The Business of Sports Facebook Fan Page, which is now up to 350 fans. If you have any questions about either group or if you have ideas that can make them even better, please let me know. Thanks!

Time for this week’s edition of Sports Careers Saturday!

Career Tip: The Power of Maintaining Your Network

Almost all the literature I have read about networking goes into detail regarding the necessity of expanding your network. Always building your network base. Former President George Bush made it a point to contact ten new people a week. Now, I won’t sit here and discount the theory because, well I believe in it, however, somebody just asked me the other day, what do you do with all the older contacts? What about the necessity of renewal?

This inquisitive individual wasn’t talking about those contacts you’ve made that are putting on a few more candles each year, she was talking about the contacts made a few years ago, last year or even those made during your last convention. Well, it is just as important to stay in touch with those you met as it is to stay strive to meet new ones. Dr Peter Titlebaum said it best during a Sports Careers Conference, “try to send a little something to a contact you’ve made. It could be a funny comic strip that reminds you of a conversation, it could be a business article, a book title you recommend, anything. It can even be a short e-mail saying hello.” The point Dr Titlebaum is making is that just staying in front is enough to maintain the “mind share” with the individual.

When the time comes to conduct business, get advise, or even get some help from your network, if you managed your network properly, people will remember you and be more willing to listen. Of course, you can only manage the contacts that are in your network, so you should also spend time growing our network. Reach out to industry leaders, schedule informational interviews, and attend networking events like the ones put on by The Business of Sports. Building and maintaining your network is the key to lasting success in the industry.

Five Hot Jobs of the Week:

• Director, Series Marketing - NASCAR (Daytona Beach, FL) - Looking for a dynamic marketing professional who will manage and oversee our three national series sponsorships: Sprint, Nationwide, and Camping World.
• Assistant Manager, Marketing & Promotions - University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) - Assist Manager of Marketing & Promotions with all aspects of DRIA marketing initiatives, including creation & implementation of marketing plans for multiple sports, design of marketing collateral and development of advertising strategies.
• Assistant Athletic Trainer - South Dakota State University (Brookings, SD) – Assist the head athletic trainer and athletic training staff with administering athletic training services for 21 men’s and women’s intercollegiate sports teams.
• Head Golf Coach - Eastern Washington University (Cheney, WA) – It is the responsibility of the Head Women’s Golf Coach to design, organize, implement, facilitate, oversee and evaluate all facets of a Big Sky, NCAA Division 1 golf program.
• Project Management Intern / Films - National Football League (Mount Laurel, NJ) - Project Management is responsible for assessing the creative needs of Producers & Directors, and determining the fiscal and material resources needed to complete projects. Interns will support these tasks by being available to support Project Managers with their job responsibilities.

We also have an internal posting for a virtual internship with this site. Click here for the details on the position and instructions on how to apply!

Sports Careers offers weekly, monthly or yearly subscriptions that provide full access to their career resources and job listings. Visit www.sportscareers.com for more information.

Earlier this week, we had our first TheBusinessOfSports.com networking event in Atlanta.  Here’s a quick recap of the event from the hosts:

Atlanta Sports Networking Kicks-off!

Atlanta is now officially part of the Business of Sports networking series as a crowd of nearly 50 people attended the event at Five Season Brewing Co. last night. The diversity of the crowd (agencies, teams, students, entrepreneurs) facilitated great conversations and new connections. There are a lot of people that expressed interest in future events so our hope is the Atlanta event grows through some good word-of-mouth advertising! Thanks to Russell for his hard work in facilitating the creation and management of the event and look forward many future collaborations.

Cheers,
The Atlanta Business of Sports Team (Aldo, J.W. and Jenny)

——————–

Don’t forget that our next event is in New York this Tuesday, September 29 at 6:30PM at the Galway Hooker Pub. Click here for all of the details and to RSVP now! We are also looking for 1 or 2 local students that would be interested in assisting with some event-night details. If you are interested, please let us know through the “Contact Us” page.  Thanks, and we’ll see you Tuesday night!

It’s time for this week’s edition of Sports Careers Saturday!

Career Tip of the Week: School or School of Hard Knocks?

Sport is a highly competitive field. Not just on the field, but in the job market as well. Sometimes hundreds of applicants apply for just one opening and the largest media organizations receive thousands of resumes a year. How do you make yourself stand out? It’s a difficult question with many factors. Experience is an important one, and we’ll take a look at that now.

The catch-22 of sports employment is that to get a job you need experience. But how do you get experience if you can’t get a job? One way is through a graduate degree. Graduate programs help bridge the gap between what you already know and what you need to know to succeed in sports.

“A good graduate program will develop or enhance the skill sets applicable to a career in sport management,” says Dr. Andrew Kreutzer, Associate Professor at the Sports Administration and Facility Management program at Ohio University. “It enables you to bring you current experience in line with individuals who already have a knowledge of the industry.”

Graduate programs have sprung up at more than 100 universities nationally in the past few years. With such a large number to choose from, the prospective applicant needs to consider a few factors before enrolling:

• Reputation – How long has the program been in existence? What kind of track record do graduates have? How do people in the industry view the school?
• Curriculum – What areas of study does the school focus on? Is it geared toward business? Law? Exercise Sciences?
• Access to Experience – What kind of practicum or internship programs does the school offer? Can you get hands on experience, or is all learning done in the classroom?
• Program Length – Can you graduate in one year? Two? How much time can you spend out of the workplace? Can you attend classes and work a full-time job?

Granted, there are other concerns, but these should help in making a decision to return to school. Even if a graduate program isn’t for you, there are other options to gaining experience. Volunteering, for one. Many events and organizations rely on volunteers to help meet their staffing demands. You’ll learn the business and perhaps catch someone’s eye. Internships are another. Because the supply of applicants is high and the job-openings few, organizations use interns to save money. Find the right one and you may turn it into a full-time position. Whatever your choice, remember that experience is the key to getting a first look in sports. Get it wherever you can and use it to your advantage.

Five Hot Jobs of the Week:

• Director of Athletics – Georgetown University (Washington, DC) – The Director of Athletics shall sustain three-fold commitment to educational excellence, competitive success and integrity by leading and inspiring a staff of coaches, student?athletes and athletic administrators, while maintaining a collegial environment within the athletic department as well as among University administrators and faculty.
• Editorial Assistant - Golfweek (Orlando, FL) – Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, editing and posting original content and wire copy; writing headlines, blurbs and daily wrap-ups; preparing photos, graphics and agate and reacting to news and breaking stories.
• Ticket Sales Executive - Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (Waldorf, MD) – Selling season tickets, partial plans, and group tickets to companies and individuals via phone, prospecting, personal appointments, and at games.
• Stadium Operations Internship - CD Chivas USA (Carson, CA) – Assist in the set-up for game day. Set-up of locker rooms for (referees, opposing teams). Supervision of pre-game activities, halftime activities, set-up and breakdown.
• Sports Editor - Daily Times Leader (West Point, MS) – Responsibilities include covering area sporting events, writing headlines and cutlines, compiling round-ups as well as covering area high school sporting events.

We also have a bonus posting for a virtual internship with this site. Click here for the details on the position and instructions on how to apply!

Sports Careers offers weekly, monthly or yearly subscriptions that provide full access to their career resources and job listings. Visit www.sportscareers.com for more information.

It’s time for this week’s edition of Sports Careers Saturday!

Career Tip: Interview Follow Up

You just finished your interview and of course followed up with a thank you note. The next step is to sit back and wait for some sort of confirmation. During this stage of the game patience is the key to success. Do not rush into anything, you may present yourself as being desperate in such a manner. However, there are a few things that can be done in order to ease the pain.

• First, get as many details as possible about the contact process. If the interviewer tells you to expect a call you in a week, try to get a specified day of the call.
• Secondly, ask if you can contact the interviewer if this time frame has come and gone, your call will be more of a friendly reminder in this situation.
• Lastly, if the response will be mailed to you try to find out when this might be postmarked; this will give you a window to work with.

Remember, you will probably have to wait in most cases, so be prepared by asking the right questions.

Five Hot Jobs of the Week:

• Director, Ticket Operations – University of Miami (FL) Athletics – Responsibilities include supervising day-to-day operation of the Ticket Office, building seasons and oversight of single-event set-up in ticketing system.
• Head Athletic Trainer / Men’s Basketball – Georgia State University Athletic Department – The primary responsibility for this position is the daily practice/competition medical coverage and associated travel with Men’s Basketball.
• Director of Track and Field Operations – University of Oregon Athletics – Responsible for administrative operations of the track and field program.
• Web Programmer/Developer – Easton-Bell Sports (Irving, TX) – The Web Programmer/Developer will assume responsibilities for programming, testing, deploying and maintaining all web-based efforts for our Sports network or Team Sport sites.
• President / CEO – YMCA (Stockton, California) – The CEO is responsible for the development, implementation and articulation of the mission, vision and goals of our association. Including fundraising, capital expansion plans, strategic planning.

Sports Careers offers weekly, monthly or yearly subscriptions that provide full access to their career resources and job listings.  Visit www.sportscareers.com for more information.

Today’s post is courtesy of guest blogger Tim Newman, Associate Professor of Sport Management at York College.

I started my career in the sports industry as a certified athletic trainer.  While earning my Master’s degree in Athletic Training at the University of Virginia, Joe Gieck, long-time Head Athletic Trainer said something I will never forget. In his thick southern accent, Joe said, “You need to learn peopling before you learn athletic training.” This very simple advice changed the way in which I approached the profession.

The fact of the matter is that the sports industry is about people. It is about the relationships that are built in order to help individuals and organizations meet the wants and needs of their consumers.  As a professor, I constantly talk about networking and building relationships. I also try and impress upon students that it is not a one-way street. Students seem to always ask other people to help them but rarely ask how they can help others. David Silverman from HarvardBusiness.org wrote an excellent piece about this on August 31st called “How to Ask a (Near) Stranger for a Favor.” This is just one example of learning “peopling” before learning the sport industry.

The sport industry is no different than any other industry in terms of dealing with people.  Everyone encounters all types of people…some you like, some you don’t like; some you get along with, some your personality conflicts with…regardless, professionals need to be able to relate and talk to everyone. Whether it is the angry mother whose son didn’t get a piece of birthday cake on the party deck or it is the out-of-town family that traveled a long distance only to have the game rained out.  The individual who learned “peopling” will be able to diffuse these situations and will ensure that customers come back again and again.

Here are some tips that I share with my students:

1. Be genuine – show people you care
2. Be honest – people want the truth and not false promises or lip service
3. Be kind – remember to do the little things (being polite and respectful, saying hello and smiling makes a big difference)
4. Listen to others – don’t interrupt people while they are talking, respond to their concerns and handle their issues
5. Go the extra mile – if you are asked a question and you don’t know the answer, find it out and get back to them with something helpful
6. Follow up –  after you meet someone contact them via a follow up email/letter/phone call (especially after an interview)
7. Be proactive – look for ways that you can make things easier for others instead of simply focusing on how they can help you
8. Do it right the first time – it is much easier than trying to fix a problem after-the-fact

Generally speaking it all comes back to the things you were taught when you were young…put yourself in the shoes of the other person and treat them way you want to be treated. Make “peopling” your priority and the rest will fall into place!

Dr. Tim Newman is an Associate Professor of Sport Management at York College of Pennsylvania.  His interests include curriculum writing/design, experiential learning, sport marketing and social media. Click here to learn more about the Sport Management program at York College.

Welcome to the 2nd weekly installment of Sports Careers Saturday, featuring a new career tip from Mark Tudi and five hot job listings courtesy of SportsCareers.com.

Career Tip of the Week – Informational Interviews

“I know I could get a job if I only had a network in the industry. They always say it is not who you know but who knows you”. Sound familiar? A conversation you might have had this past weekend in fact. Well, might I suggest that you dedicate yourself to conducting a few Informational Interviews.

Informational Interviews can be a great way to develop your network. These interviews allow you to find out key information that will ultimately lead to your success in your job search. Asking key questions regarding daily work experiences will shed some light on the responsibilities and duties you will have to be prepared to perform when you apply for a position. A different line of questioning will show you the career track that your interviewee took in order to get to where they are today. This information can help you plan your career track or at least help you discover new possibilities.

The informational Interview will be a great asset to your job search. The experience will only enhance your knowledge about the industry. And, if conducted professionally, at the end of the interview you should have a new contact in the industry.

Five Hot Jobs of the Week

• Director, Series Marketing – NASCAR (Daytona Beach, FL) – We are looking for a dynamic marketing professional who will manage and oversee our three national series sponsorships: Sprint, Nationwide and Camping World.
• Accounting Coordinator/Accounts Payable – Washington Capitals (Washington, DC) – Responsible for the accounts payable process of both teams, the calculation of monthly sales commissions, preparing sponsorship and miscellaneous invoices, and other related duties.
• Desktop Technician – Los Angeles Dodgers (Los Angeles, CA) - We are looking for a talented individual to join our Information Technology team. This role will be responsible for client desktop certifications and updates, and provifing 2nd level end user and server support when needed.
• Sports Marketing & PR Internship – ESBL Sports Management (New York, NY) – I currently do the Marketing and PR for 4 elite NFL players and am looking for 2 interns in NYC this fall. I need you to be hard working, motivated, knowledgeable of the NFL, and hungry for success.
• Vice President, Finance – San Diego Padres (San Diego, CA) - Develops, motivates and leads a well-trained, efficient team that represents our organization in a positive and professional manner. Oversees and manages finance, accounting, purchasing and payroll, and prepares the annual budget.

Sports Careers offers weekly, monthly or yearly subscriptions that provide full access to their career resources and job listings.  Visit www.sportscareers.com for more information.

We have a new weekly column to share here, courtesy of our friends at SportsCareers.com.  Every Saturday, we’ll feature a new career tips from Mark Tudi, Founder and President of Sports Careers, along with a few of the top job postings that you can find on SportsCareers.com.

Career Tip of the Week:

“The happiest people in the world are those who find out that WHAT THEY ARE DOING and WHAT THEY SHOULD BE DOING is the same thing”.  When I repeat this quote from my grandfather, most people ask me, “How do I do that?”  Here is a quick and easy homework assignment to help identify it :

DO WHAT YOU DO BEST (SKILL SET)

1. List the skills you utilize most when you are enjoying your work:
2. List your strengths:
3. List your weaknesses:

BE INVOLVED IN WHAT YOU ENJOY MOST (AREA OF INTEREST)

1. List all the things you do not like in your job (Rank in order of max dislike):
2. List all the things that you like in your job (Rank in order of preference):
3. Now, list all the things that you would like to be included in your ideal job (Rank them in order of importance):

STAY MOTIVATED

1. What kind of environment keeps your motor running best?
2. What kind of work gives you the greatest satisfaction?
3. What kind of people do you work best with?

If you take the time to focus on these questions, in order from  your skills to your interests to your motivators, it will beas much easier to figure out what you should be doing and head down the career path that will make you the happiest.

Five Hot Jobs of the Week:

• Associate Director for Development / Major Gifts – University of Central Florida – Contact, solicitation and stewardship of leadership and major gift prospects; coordination of donor activities at select athletic events.
• Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning – College of Charleston Athletics – Program design, guiding student-athletes through a regimen of exercises to optimize performance and decrease injury potential; assisting with the oversight of sport-specific conditioning programs.
• Head Women’s Basketball Coach -The University of Texas at Tyler – Recruit, coach, and mentor responsible and academically driven student-athletes for the women’s basketball team.
• MLB Editor – Yahoo! Sports – We are seeking a creative and versatile editor to coordinate Major League Baseball coverage for the largest sports audience on the Web.
• Sponsorship Sales & Service Intern – Boston Celtics – Assist with creating and preparing sales presentations. Create and maintain material directory. Assist with game-night sponsor hospitality events and promotions and other game night sponsor needs.

Sports Careers offers weekly, monthly or yearly subscriptions that provide full access to their career resources and job listings.  Visit www.sportscareers.com for more information.

The Business of Sports has officially announced the date and location of our next networking event:

• Who: Everyone reading this who live in the New York area
• What: TheBusinessOfSports.com Networking Event
• When: Thursday, August 13 from 6:30 to 9:30PM
• Where: Slattery’s Midtown Pub, 8 East 36th Street, New York, NY (upstairs room)
• Why: To network with others who work in the sports industry
• How: Click here to RSVP now!

So far we’ve organized free sports business networking events in New York, Philadelphia and most recently Boston (click here for the recap). All three have been quite successful, particularly in New York where we had over 100 people in attendance.  Having a strong network has never been more important, so come out and connect with others that share your passion for working in sports. All backgrounds are welcome, from those just starting out to industry veterans. Our only rule is “no resumes” – bring plenty of business cards and good conversation.  Click here now to RSVP for the event!

Please pass this along to any friends and colleagues that would also be interested in attending. And keep an eye on the Event Calendar page for any future networking events, including a potential Atlanta event coming up next month!

Thanks as always to Joshua Duboff from The Sports Business Exchange for his continued help in organizing this event!

We’ve scheduled the next official “The Business of Sports Networking Event” and it will be our first one in Boston!  It is going to take place on Thursday, July 23 starting at 6:30PM at Clarke’s at Fanueil Hall (21 Merchants Row), and the event is completely free to attend.

Come out and network with other sports business professionals that work or live in the Boston area. Having a strong network has never been more important, so this is a great time to connect with others that share your passion for working in sports. All backgrounds are welcome, from those just starting out to industry veterans.  Our only rule is “no resumes.”  Bring plenty of business cards and good conversation.  Please pass the word along to any friends and colleagues that would also be interested in attending.

Click here to RSVP for the event!  Unlike our previous events, we have some space limitations for this one, so please make sure to RSVP. Also, check back for other networking events coming soon, including our second New York event that is tentatively scheduled for the 2nd week in August.

Special thanks to Joshua Duboff of The Sports Business Exchange for organizing this event.

It’s day two of the Sports Careers Conference in Dallas, TX (held in conjunction with the Association of Luxury Suite Directors conference), and things have gone really well so far.  I’ve had the chance to talk in two different panels – the opening panel on getting started with a sports career track and a panel on using social media to build your network.  I received some great feedback on both panels, so I’ll share some of the details here for y’all (hey, we are in Texas):

Panel on Career Development:

• Start with your skills: Too many people come into their sports careers search just wanting to work for a team because they “love sports” or “want to get a foot in the door.”  This shotgun approach is ineffective and even dangerous, as it can set you up for failure if you end up in a position that doesn’t match your best skill set.
• Educate yourself: There are so many great tools out there (blogs, journals, social media, networking events, etc.) that there is no excuse not to learn about the industry first before you try and find a job.
• Tailor your approach: If you are applying for three different jobs,  you should have three different resumes with three different cover letters, each tailored to the specific detail and requirements of those jobs.  The HR departments get so many application to go through, that if you don’t tell them exactly why you fit their needs, they’re not going to look at you.

Panel with Lewis Howes on Social Media:

• Valuable tools: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and blogs are all valuable tools in developing your network if you use them the right way.  You still need to make quality connections and start relevant conversations to get the most out of them.
• LinkedIn: Don’t underestimate how valuable it can be.  Make sure your profile is complete.  Pursue and give recommendations.  Paint the best picture of yourself that you can.  Use groups to find people with common interest and reach out to them, but make sure you explain why you want to connect with them.
• Twitter: The Four C’s of Twitter are just as relevant for building up your personal brand through Twitter.  Use search.twitter.com to seek out people who are talking about the things that you are interested and join in the conversation.
• Blogging: Running your own blog can definitely help build your reputation and personal brand, but it is a huge commitment so make sure you are dedicated to it.  If you don’t want to run a blog, you can still use other blogs to education yourself and contribute comments, which itself could lead to great conversations and networking opportunities.
• Take the online offline: Develop your network through online tools is great, but its even better if you can take the online connections you’ve made and turn it into a face-to-face connection. Seek out conferences and networking events whenever possible, or if someone is local, just invite them out to lunch.
• Hustle: Lewis has done an incredible job of building his profile and network through these tools, both online and offline, and he’s done it because he works hard at it.  There is no substitute for effort and hard work.

Lewis tried to stream our social media panel online via uStream, but there were some technical issues.  You can still check out some of the clips from the panel here. (Warning – they are broken into clips of varying size from 1 to 5 minutes long. If we can get everything pieced together into one clip, I’ll post an updated link!)

I wanted to remind everyone that the next Business of Sports Networking event is in Philadelphia next Tuesday, June 16 at 6:30PM.  The first event in New York had a great turnout, and I’m hoping we can do just as well in Philly!  You can still RSVP for the event by clicking this link and filling out the RSVP form.  Please pass this along to  your friends and colleagues.  If everyone brings 1 or 2 extra people with them, the evening will be an even bigger success.

Thanks again to Julie Lanzillo for her help in planning and promoting this event and to Joshua Duboff for his help with all of the Business of Sports Networking events.

Keep an eye on the Event Calendar page for a full list of upcoming networking events in all areas.  We’ll be back in New York near the end of July and we’re working on the details for events in Atlanta and Boston in the coming months!

Because of this blog, which includes a direct link  to my LinkedIn page, I get a lot of “Join my LinkedIn Network” requests, and often from people that I have never met or spoken to before.  Now I don’t mind this – in fact, the reason I included the LinkedIn link is so that people can learn more about me and I can use the site to grow my network.  However, I do have one small “issue” with some of these requests that I want to point out, and hopefully people can learn from this (note – some of the inspiration for this post comes from Lewis Howes of www.sportsnetworker.com, who does a lot of great work with LinkedIn).

This weekend, I received a “Join my Network” email in my inbox from a name I did not recognize, so I opened it and here was what it said:

“Joe So-and-So has indicated that you are a fellow group member of group XYZ:

I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

- Joe

View invitation from Joe So-And-So.”

That’s it.  Now if I knew Joe So-And-So in real life, I don’t need him to include any more information.  However, I know nothing about Joe – I’ve never met him, spoke to him, or heard his name before.  I’m sure Joe is a great guy, and I can go look at his LinkedIn profile to learn more about him.  But why am I just going to accept his invitation with that type of request?  Will I benefit from having Joe in my network?  Does he want to discuss my blog?  Do we have similar interests? Is he looking for job opportunities?  I have no idea why I should accept his invite.  Now that’s not to say I won’t accept LinkedIn requests from people I don’t know.  In general, this blog, Twitter, and LinkedIn have been great for me in building a “virtual” network of people that I communicate with and trust without having ever met in real life.  But if you are going to make a request to someone you don’t know, there is a right way and a wrong way to do it.  We just saw the wrong way – here’s an example of the right way:

“Mike So-And-So has indicated that you are a fellow group member of group ABC:

Russell,

I’ve been reading your blog for a few weeks and wanted to connect with you on LinkedIn. I also work in the sports industry, specifically doing XXX. I think we’d be able to help each other regarding our similar interest in YYY. If you have time, I’d love to discuss this with you more. Thanks for the connection and continued success with the site.

- Mike

View invitation from Mike So-And-So.”

What a difference a couple of sentences makes! In three lines I learned how Mike found my LinkedIn page, what he does, what our common interests are, how I could benefit from connecting with him, a request for a follow-up, and a thank you. It also shows a genuine interest in making this connection, instead of sending a 5-second default request message that tells me nothing. Now I’m interested in learning more about Mike and 99% of the time I will accept this request.  It only takes a couple of minutes and a little effort to send this type of invite, but the added benefit is tremendous, and you could end up making a valuable addition to your network.  LinkedIn is a great site, and has been essential to me in growing and managing my professional network, but you need to use it in the right way in order to succeed.

Over the past couple of days, I’ve seen a New York Times article called “In Sports Business, Too Many Hopefuls for Too Few Positions” passed around via email and Twitter.  The article is interesting, as it discusses the increased popularity of students pursuing degrees in sports management at a time when there are fewer jobs in the industry.  The author paints a pretty gloomy outlook for people looking to enter the sports world.  If I was a current undergraduate student interested in sports, I’d probably feel quite worried about my prospects after reading this. However, I have a few thoughts in response that I want to share:

• Sports Management is indeed a “sexy” degree, particularly in undergraduate programs where students have pipe dreams of being GMs or super-agents.  The truth is that a large majority of these student pursue this major with unrealistic expectations.  They know very little about how the business of sports actually works, but they assume that the degree will somehow turn them into the next Theo Epstein.  These students will definitely struggle to find valuable work opportunities and will most likely fall back into other professions.  But is that so different from other majors?  This is not to say these programs aren’t valuable (I graduated from a Sports Business MBA program about a year ago, which was incredibly valuable), but ultimately you need more than the piece of paper to develop a career. 
• The students that develop a good understanding of how sports business works and still want to pursue it will seek out ways to gain experience.  This could be through volunteering, internships or low-paying, part-time positions.  Right now, because sports organizations have made cutbacks, there is a tremendous opportunity to gain experience via these types of roles.  Students and recent graduates that make the most of these opportunities can definitely succeed in sports.  It might seems like a struggle in the short-term, but they will more than make up for it as their career progresses.
• The article also talks about the recent staffing cuts made by some teams and leagues.  Yes, some people lost their jobs, but this is reflective of the economy as a whole, and not the sports industry.  The fact that most sports organizations have been able to avoid cuts of any type over the past 10-20 years is an incredible feat.  Now that the economy has finally impacted sports, some cuts were made, but they are either consistent with or smaller than the cuts made in other industries.

If I were a student reading this article, I would try to take away the importance of developing a realistic view of the industry and my career options, based on a combination of education and as much hands-on experience as I could find.  This is how you can start your career down the right path.  On that note, there is another website that I think could be quite valuable to help you develop that careers – www.SportsCareers.com.  I have worked closely with the folks at SportsCareers, and I believe that the site offers a lot of valuable career-related content, including a customizable “Opportunity Development Plan” that is designed to help people set goals for themselves that will help develop their job prospects and build a career.  You can also search through job and internship postings, or get them sent to you via email alerts.  Finally, they are organizing the 18th Annual Sports Careers Conference, which takes place June 28-30 in Dallas.  This should be an excellent event for anyone looking to build a career in the sports industry.

I firmly believe that even with our current economic state, if you put in the time and effort, you can succeed in this business.  I’m still on the early side of my career, but my experience so far has been incredible, and I hope others can find the same satisfaction.

So the first official “TheBusinessOfSports.com Networking Event” has come and gone, and I couldn’t be happier with how it went.  We had over 100 people show up, and everyone seemed to be in the right spirit.  Everyone was talking and connecting with new people, trading stories and business cards.  We had people from a wide range of companies (ESPN, NBA, MLS, NY Giants, NJ Devils and SBJ among others) and backgrounds (students, agents, salespeople, marketers, entrepreneurs, VPs and more).

I’ve received a few tweets and emails afterwards, and everyone seemed to agree that the event worked and that there’s a need for these types of get-togethers, so we’re going to keep moving forward with scheduling them.  The next event is going to be in Philadelphia on June 16th, and we’ll probably have the next New York event sometime in July.  Keep an eye on the Event Calendar page for a full list of events.

Thanks again to everyone who came out last night, and a special thanks to my co-host, Joshua Duboff (www.thesportsbusinessexchange.com). If you have any feedback on the event or ideas on how we can make it even better, please let us know.

Just wanted to share a quick update with everyone regarding the upcoming networking events we have scheduled.  The response for the New York City event scheduled for next Tuesday, May 26 has been great. We just had our 100th RSVP, so we expect to have a very nice turnout.  You can click here to see all the event details, including the RSVP form.

The details for our Philadelphia event have also been finalized.  That one will take place on Tuesday, June 16th at 6:30 PM at McCormick and Schmick’s (1 South Broad St).  You can click here to RSVP for the Philadelphia event.  Thank you to Julie Lanzillo for her help with the logistics.

Please remember that we do have one rule - do not bring resumes.  These events are about building a network with others working in the sports industry.  All experience backgrounds are welcome, from students to veterans, so bring plenty of business cards and good conversation!

Joshua Duboff (from The Sports Business Exchange) and I are really excited about these events, and we expect to host them quite regularly (either monthly or bi-monthly most likely).  In addition, we should have an announcement about a Boston event in the coming weeks.  You can always visit the Event Calendar page for the most up-to-date information.

We’ve scheduled our next official New York City Sports Business Networking event!  It is going to take place on Tuesday, May 26 starting at 6:30PM at the Galway Hooker pub (corner of 5th Ave. and 36th St. in Manhattan).

Come out and network with other sports business professionals that work or live in the New York area. Having a strong network has never been more important, so this is a great time to connect with others that share your passion for working in sports. All backgrounds are welcome, from those just starting out to industry veterans. Make sure to pass the word along to any friends and colleagues that would also be interested in attending.

Please click here to RSVP for the event.  As of now, we do not have any specific space limitations, but its possible that we may need to cap it if we get a strong response, so RSVP early!  Also, check back for other networking events coming to the Boston, Philadelphia and D.C. areas in the near future.

Update: I’ve been asked a couple of times, so I’ll mention it here. This event is completely free to attend.

Sporting events are a great way to bring people together.  So with that in mind, the Lakewood Blueclaws, a minor league baseball team near my home in New Jersey, are running an event called “Nine Innings of Networking“ on Thursday, May 28.  Buying a ticket to the event gets  you into the game, a full buffet, discounted drinks, and the chance to network with other professionals from the area at a beautiful minor league ballpark. Click on the link to view all the event details.

While this networking event isn’t sports specific, I think it would be valuable for any sports professionals local to the area.  You never know what type of connections could turn into potential business partners down the road.  I know that I plan on attending, so maybe I’ll see some of you there.  Also, for those Twitter users out there, the team is also holding a Tweetup the same night starting at 4:30 – click here for the details.

On a side note, I am working on adding a Sports Business Event Calendar to the site.  I will use this calendar to announce and track future networking events, or any other sports business-related events that I learn about.  If you have an event that you’d like added to the calendar, use the Contact Us link at the top of the page.

The most common fear that people have is public speaking.  The idea of being up in front of a large audience, whether that audience is sitting right in front of you or listening to you on radio or television, can be very intimidating.  However, it is important to try to overcome this fear and develop your skills as a public speaker. 

This is very relevant in sports, whether you are a player, coach, sales rep, marketer, PR director, vice-president, GM or intern.  There are just too many situations, both internally within a company and externally to the public, where you have to stand up and speak confidently and persuasively.  Do not think that if you’re lower down on the totem pole that this does not apply to you.  This is a skill to develop now before you’re in a position of more authority.  In fact, being a strong speaker will help you advance much faster. You will be able to present your ideas more effectively to your co-workers, helping you stand out from the crowd.

The reason I’m writing about this today is because of yesterday’s episode of PTI.  On the show, they had Greg Paulus, the former Duke point guard, come on for their “Five Good Minutes” interview segment.  I was listening to the interview and was immediately distracted by how often he was saying “you know” in the middle of his sentences.  It was his “hesitation phrase” the way a lot of people say “um” when they speak.  You can visit the PTI page on ESPN.com’s Podcenter and listen to the April 16th episode and hear it for yourself (skip to the 10:35 mark).  I went back to listen again, and counted 62 times that he said these words.  I’m sure he didn’t realize he was doing this, and I’m not trying to pick on Paulus as I’m sure he’s a nice guy.  The point is that you need to evaluate yourself as a public speaker so that you can avoid embarrassing moments like this.  You will definitely benefit in the long run!

If you’ve been reading my blog regularly over the past few weeks, I’m sure you’ve realized that I am a strong believer in the power of using social media tools to engage your audience.  Dan Beeman from Sponsorship Insights Group also feels this way, and as such, he is looking for a couple of virtual interns to help in this area.  Here are links you can use to get to the intern job descriptions:

• Blogger Internship
• Public Relations Internship
• Generic Internship

Here is a message from Dan about the positions and how to pursue them:

“I invite you, a potential intern, the opportunity to write your own job description.  As you know I am looking for smart, driven, proactive students to help grow my business and position as a thought-leader in the sponsorship and sports marketing arena.  You job may be to strategize on a revamp of my website, a build-out of the PR portion of the website, a contributing author to the blog, a business strategy person (analyzing and editing my business plan), a social media marketer or some other project that you create.  As you know, it is an unpaid internship. However, what I offer is a unique experience and great learning and networking opportunity in a unstructured, flexible environment.  You work from you home computer and set your own hours. Still interested? Here is what you need to do:

1. Using the information I have just shared. Go to the website and find the existing job descriptions. Now write your own. It should include daily and weekly activities and an objective to complete as a project by the end of your internship
2. Include minimum hours per week to work
3. Have a beginning and end date of your internship
4. Submit it via e-mail in a word document within two weeks
5. Be creative and have fun with this project!”

This seems like a great opportunity for a current college student or recent graduate to get experience in this area.  So if you’re interested, follow the instruction in the job descriptions to contact Dan, and good luck!

Today’s post is courtesy of guest blogger Joshua Duboff, Founder of The Sports Business Exchange:

Greetings from Joshua Duboff and The Sports Business Exchange. I’d like to first thank Russell for giving me the opportunity to post on his fantastic site. 

I, like many other twenty-somethings in the sports industry, was seeking to share my thoughts and theories on the business of sport to an audience that would appreciate and be interested in what I had to say. Unfortunately, there was no medium at the time where I could submit an article, have it published, and have it read by sports business professionals across the country.  My first attempt at getting an article published was back in college when I was writing my thesis on collegiate athletic administration. I got several high remarks from my professors and decided to seek a publication to submit my article. I ran into a brick wall; no one wanted an article from a college student. My second attempt at submitting an article came back in December and I ran into the same roadblock that I had experienced in college. Sure, I wasn’t in college anymore, but I was not an upper executive of my company either. Without the fancy title and the 20+ years of experience, no one wanted to publish my article. To be honest, there weren’t many publications I could even find that was appropriate for my article either. I knew then that there must be other young sports business professionals who are experiencing the same frustrations as me. Thus, The Sports Business Exchange was created.

The Sports Business Exchange (TSBX) is a collection of articles written by young sports business professionals. TSBX is a forum for intellectual articles on issues and concerns in the world of sports business. These articles are written strictly by young professionals in the sports business industry who often otherwise lack a platform for writing articles on current events. All articles go through a review process and only the best articles are accepted for publication. Additionally, there is a list of requirements that authors must meet in order to qualify to submit an article (mainly, minimum and maximum years of experience). Issues of TSBX are released online quarterly and articles range in a wide variety of sports business-related topics.

If you are a young sports business professional interested in writing an article, feel free to submit an article through our Article Submission Form or contact me via Twitter or LinkedIn.

Here are a few useful links to learn more about The Sports Business Exchange and to connect with me: 

• The Sports Business Exchange website
• Requirements for Submissions
• TSBX Article Submission Form
• TSBX on LinkedIn
• Follow Josh on Twitter

I know its not a lot of notice, but I’m attempting to organize a small meetup/networking event in New York City on Monday evening.  The details are still being worked out, but I think it could be a lot of fun and give everyone the chance to meet some great people. 

I’m also going to promote this event via Twitter, a sort-of Tweetup if you will, as well as LinkedIn.  If you are interested in attending or if you have any ideas on a location, leave a comment here.  Thanks!

UPDATE: We’ve set a time and location.  We’re going to be at the Galway Hooker (by the corner of 5th Ave and E 36th St), starting around 6:30PM.  I hope we can spread this around and get a good turnout!

Today’s post is courtesy of guest blogger Dan Beeman, Founder of Sponsorship Insights Group.

Have you wondered about the value of social media – the return on investment of time?  With all of these weird-sounding names and new medium like blogging and micro-blogging, who has time for that and who cares?

In 2008, I decided to dive into this new media world to promote my news sponsorship agency and develop a position as a thought-leader.  Mind you, I am a 44 year old technophobe.  As the same time, I am widely regarded as the most powerful voice in social media when it comes to sponsorship insights.

My story is a good one and I owe it all to LinkedIn.  Last year, I started my sponsorship consulting company under the name of “Beeman Sponsorship Consulting.”  We provide sponsorship valuation, advisory and sales representation services.  A short while later, I started a LinkedIn Group for Sponsorship and Marketing professionals called Sponsorship Insights Group (SIG). 

The group membership took off with very little marketing and now stands at 3,000+.  It is the largest one for Sponsorship and Marketing professionals to network, share insights and find exclusive discounts on vendors goods and services.  My value proposition was simple to members – I would provide free quality content, a place to network and share information with others and a chance to learn more and find opportunities. 

On January 1, my New Year’s resolution was to blog every day and the following for my blog has also grown quickly.  More recently, I have also built a group on Facebook which replicates the LinkedIn Group and can be found on Twitter. I quickly realized that the social media practices that I put in place generated a significant amount of recognition for Sponsorship Insights Group.   Then, I realized there was more equity associated with SIG in the marketplace than BSC.  So, I changed the name of my business to that of my group. 

I now literally get inquiries for my services Every Day from properties and agencies throughout the world – they want to join my group, tap into our knowledge and seek our services.  If you look at my profile, you’ll see that LinkedIn is a tool that I use on a daily basis for business.

Time?  I’d say it was well-spent.  ROI? Absolutely!

For more information on Dan and all of his social-media related initiatives, check out the following links:

• Sponsorship Insights Group – My business website
• www.linkedin.com/in/danbeeman – My profile, recommendations, work examples and more
• Sponsorship Insights Blog – New content daily
• Join my LinkedIn Group on Sponsorship - Connect with thousands of sponsorship professionals
• twitter.com/danbeeman – My tweets for Twitter folks
• Sponsorship Insights Group on Facebook- A replication of our LinkedIn group for Facebook users

Earlier this week at the National Sports Forum, I had the chance to sit down with Mark Tudi, President of Sports Careers.  Mark has a long history of working in sports and helping other develop their own careers in the industry, which he has taken online through SportsCareers.com.  We covered several topics, including:

• Some background on Mark’s career and the history of Sports Careers
• Information on the services that are available through SportsCareers.com
• His approach to developing a career in the sports industry
• Why you should focus your job hunt on your skill set before you focus on a market segment
• Advice for getting a job or promotion in the current economic landscape, including his thought on which segments may offer the best opportunities today
• A preview of the official Sports Careers Conference, which will take place this June in Dallas, TX

You can use the audio player below to listen to the current episode in your browser. You can also use the links below to download the MP3 directly or subscribe to the podcast through iTunes. If you do subscribe through iTunes, please help promote the podcast by leaving a positive review. Thanks!

Download audio file (TheBusinessOfSportsPodcast-20090130.mp3)

Download the MP3 | Subscribe via iTunes

Today’s post is courtesy of guest blogger Dave Fogelson:

Amidst the economic doom and gloom that’s ravaged other industries and is now taking its toll on the sports industry, I keep thinking about all the people – many of them perhaps just starting their careers – who have or are about to lose their jobs.  Having realized a life-long dream to “work in sports,” many are now seeing those dreams shattered.  Adding to the pressure of trying to find a way to make ends meet is the very real prospect that as the industry contracts getting back into sports will be more challenging than it was to break in.

For industry veterans, the situation and outlook aren’t all that much better – and in some respects may even be worse.  We’ve spent all or a significant portion of our adult lives working in an industry we could be truly passionate about.   For me, it was serving as the adidas PR guy and later the Reebok PR guy.

As a PR person who loves sports, how do I top that?  While working in sports isn’t as glamorous as many “civilians” may think, how do any of us top the unique experiences and working relationships this industry affords us?  People up and down the sports industry hierarchy are now on the outside wondering how they will ever get back in.

While I’m no career expert, the one piece of advice I can offer is a belief based on my own experience: you can make things a lot easier as you’re looking for a new job by not confusing the passion you have for sports with the passion to want to work in sports.

You can’t read an article about the sports business without reference being made to the importance of passion.  There are many things to be passionate about other than sports, but people who are into sports are THE passion experts.  We live, eat and breathe this stuff.  And while it’s OK (within reason) to obsess over your favorite team, it’s not healthy – and can be downright debilitating – to obsess over the perceived need of “having to” work in sports.

Even if you suddenly find yourself no longer working in the industry or finding it that much more difficult to break in, one of the unique aspects of sports is that it provides many options for people to express their passion.  You can continue to root for your teams and follow the action at the stadium, on TV, on-line or in your favorite sports bar.  You can play sports recreationally.  Get out to the range and start working on lowering that handicap.  You also have the option of demonstrating how much you really know about the “X’s and O’s” by volunteering to coach your kids’ teams.

Think about it.  What other combination of vocation/avocation affords similar opportunities to unleash our passion?

When I was with adidas USA, Bruce Springsteen sang about “Glory Days.”  “Glory Days, yeah they’ll pass you by.  Glory Days, in the wink of an eye.”  So, what do you do when “in the wink of an eye” your Glory Days in sports have passed you by?  When your buddies no longer live vicariously through your experiences?  When you can no longer get your family discounts on the latest “kicks” worn by the athlete endorser you just hung out with at a press conference?  When you actually have to pay to attend a game – just like everybody else?  When you’re not the one standing on the sidelines wearing a credential allowing you to arrive early and stay late?

First, you accept the fact that the games will be played and the athletic footwear sold without you – at least for the time being.  The next best thing you can do is re-direct your passion and the many, highly transferable skills you acquired working in sports to something else that may be as equally important and satisfying – if not more so.  With the way things stand now, successfully marketing yourself in these difficult times and demonstrating an ability to balance your personal budget are major accomplishments qualifying you for work in many industries.  All the while, you keep your eyes and ears open for that next opportunity to work in sports.  You can come home again.

Don’t get me wrong, working in sports is great, and I’ve been extremely fortunate to have had the opportunities that came my way.  I’ve worked with really terrific people.  I was on the “inside” at great events and as a PR person worked with the media on many high-profile stories.  (And the footwear and apparel discounts weren’t bad either!)  But I’ve also worked outside sports, which enabled me to broaden my knowledge, and taught me that passion doesn’t always have to be spelled s-p-o-r-t-s.

Understanding there are many ways to stay in the game opens up a world of possibilities.  You’ve already got the passion part nailed down.

Dave Fogelson was most recently Director of Worldwide Communications for Octagon.  He’s held PR positions with adidas USA and Reebok in addition to the Miller Brewing Company and Sharp Electronics.  You can reach Dave via email at dfogelson@optimum.net.

A friend of mine who works on the HR side of the industry is looking for a Database Coordinator for the Kansas City Wizards of the MLS.  It seems like a great position for someone with a background in CRM, database marketing, and ticketing systems.  The details of the position are below and you can click here to apply.

Job Description:
• Identify and activate multiple methods of name capture via person-to-person contact at stadium, Wizards-supported events, partner relationships, Wizards website, email, and other resources
• Expand database vertically by adding new names and information
• Use Archtics system as primary database system. Become a resident expert with Archtics, Mail Manager and Account Manager by assisting sales staff with software questions.
• Manage input of data into central database system, eliminate duplication, and maintain a high level of informational accuracy (90%+).
• Repsonsible for meeting strict sales goals via sale of season and group tickets throughout the 2009 season
• Identify and implement on-line survey system. Be responsible for writing surveys that the Wizards send to various parts of the database regarding all forms of the Wizards experience. Then formally summarize survey results and work with Sales on action plan for improvements based on survey results.
• Expand database horizontally by adding more demographic and psychographic detail to the primary database
• Work with ticket sales team to create specific sales and promotional opportunities for database
• Quickly be able to design emails for last sales campaigns.
• Contact collected database and present ticket and merchandise offers, events and partner promotions via email, celebrity call, sales team phone calls and other methods to sell
• Manage and improve website sales process
• Provide weekly customer service update report describing current and long-term projects, box office concerns, email campaign progress, and timeline for critical events
• Enhance CRM processes to help Sales team proactively organize and qualify leads
• Provide Sales Reps with qualified sales leads when needed
• Document all plans, strategies, tactics and results for company record.  
• Assist with multiple tasks/projects from VP of Ticket Sales and Director of Ticket Sales and Operations

If you have a position that you’d like me to promote here, please use the Contact link at the top of the page.  Also, be sure to check out SportsCareers.com for an up-to-date list of sports jobs and valuable content on developing a career in the sports industry.