The
shot I took with the New York RedBulls wasn't on the pitch. The shot
I took with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms didn't happen on the ice. My
swings with the Reading Fightin Phils and Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs
weren't misses either. Also, there was a brief scoring opportunity
that successfully landed with the Lehigh Valley Steel Hawks. No, I am
not talking literal, or am I meaning metaphorically landing a new
job.
Today,
the new PPL Center in Allentown held their first annual career fair.
Since I am a year through school, which I am loving, I know I was
going to approach this in the manner as everyone else who had
attended, which I'll get to how some of them acted a paragraph or so
down. MY goal, which is immensely different, was to network. I will
graduate in October of 2016. I have time left to really start to
inquire about positions. But the most important area of my studies,
besides maintaining my 3.75 GPA, is networking. I need to build
relationships with the business professionals in order to allow the
industry to work for me. I don't want to be one of the ones (like
many I saw today) that graduate and are lost in an ocean of “What
do I do now?”.
Now,
nothing against anyone else education. Kudos and congrats for
pursuing your dream. Now with that formality out of the way, my real
thoughts- Full Sail University is preparing me better than anyone I
happened to meet today at this career fair. Naturally I had to jump
right into some conversations that I could not take listening to
anymore, and again, that starts below. It did start off on the wrong
foot though. I, being there for networking purposes, did not bring
resumes, but business cards. Cards with a QR code to my about.me
profile and a link to my LinkedIn profile- my digitally formatted
resumes if you will. So it wasn't like I wasn't giving the team
representatives my resume, it was just better than letting my resume
fall into the pile that will order into a filing cabinet. Instead, my
card will end up in pocket, or a wallet and be seen again surely. So
all it takes, is two clicks of a smart phone to access my resume, and
not sorting through thousands. Everything is digital now anyway
right?
So
my first interaction was with the New York Redbull and Joe. He,
immediately stated upon the conclusion of our conversation, and with
some force, that his advise was to bring resumes to a career fair.
Maybe some of that was my fault because I really didn't properly make
my intentions clear. After that, I figured out my pitch, and everyone
I had interacted with at the booths went amazing. I was able to
convey my intentions and land myself contacts that I will surely take
advantage of during my time left at school. The message that seemed
to be lost amongst the other students, that is emphasized day one at
Full Sail, is the need for networking. It's largely about who you
know. And that was my sole purpose.
Also,
there had to have been a limit to how many times they all could of
heard “I took sports management, here's my resume, I need a job.”.
There was a genuine look of relief from most people when I had told
them I was in school for Sports Marketing and Media and my intentions
were for networking, they all seemed beyond willing to help me in
anything I would need throughout my education. In one line in
particular, there was perhaps, thee most negative person i'd ever
experienced. WOW. He must have been too many years removed from
school or just high cynical of all things that didn't go his way. For
sake of the article, i'll refer to him as J since I didn't catch his
entire name. J was complaing every time I had stepped near him about
the lack of positions actually available, how it was a waste of time.
“I gambled and obviously lost.... that's 17 dollars I won't ever
get anything from..”
Well
then he should of left. And when J started to bad mouth the 76ers,
whom weren't even in attendance, I had to jump on the conversation.
He, through whatever local school and single track major, was so
narrow minded in his grasp of the sports as an industry. It's simple
to understand sports. It's simple to understand business. But he
seriously seemed to lack the understanding of what it sports is as a
business. I really should of asked J where he went to school. But
instead I decided to just shut him up with my words and knowledge of
sports.
So
here's what went down: the 76ers aren't good by their record. But
they are rebuilding and using the up coming NBA draft to do so. So J
slammed them, “They suck, I don't understand how they sell tickets,
they aren't good. But somehow they are selling out near tops in the
league and I heard that teams actually ask them how they do it... But
I don't know, they suck though....” SOO this is where I stepped
in.. because if you know me.. I won't back down in a sports
conversation...
So
I chimed in with my expertise... The 76ers just ran a crowd sourcing
campaign in which the younger fans of the 76ers were able to
virtually create a brand new mascot for the team. Their fan outreach
in this sense was sensational putting an actual figure of the
franchise into the fans hands. So, with children being so in tune
with the team and feeling like they had power in making a difference,
and maybe not utterly aware of how bad the team on the court might
be, they probably ask their parents to go to games. The team, through
its crowdsourcing, gives off that they solemnly care about what the
fans want. So in turn the fans are wanting them. So while the
children felt empowered and responsible for the creating a mascot,
get their parents and friends to go to the game and it's probably a
bargaining chip for good grades and for getting homework done. It
doesn't have to be about the product on the court, fans are loyal and
in Philly, their the most passionate fans there are.
So
then, J... kind of just.. I thought he wet himself to be honest. He
didn't know what to say and muttered, oh well, yeah, wow, I guess
you're right, I didn't even know. Yeah I see that. His buddies, sort
of snickered and then we had a hearty conversation of Philadelphia
sports while J stood in quiet for the first time that I saw.
But
it made me thankful. Thankful for my love of sports and my education
from Full Sail. It separated me today. In my eyes, and I hope in the
eyes of some of the people I spoke with. Before I closed out my day,
I returned to the Red Bull stand and talked with Devin this time and
threw him the same pitch I had everyone else all day. And he loved
it. He even told me that he “genuinely enjoyed this (our
conversation and my pitch)”. So I then cleared up the air with Joe
because I didn't want him to think I was ill prepared from out
initial discussion and he definitely saw where my intentions were.
I
would like to thank all those I was able to connect with today:
Devin
and Joe from the Red Bulls
Chad
with the Phantoms
Brad
with the Iron Pigs
Mike
with the River Sharks
Stephen
with the Fightin Phils
Lauren
with the Steel Hawks
Ricky
with CSN Philadelphia
And
also, thank you Full Sail for preparing me the right way for what I
have ahead of me. I especially took notice today how lucky I am to
have chosen Full Sail and how much more motivated I am. Next step is
a networking event in Philadelphia in two weeks with the 76ers. I
cannot wait.
