A personal networking success story: Round 2

A few months back, I published a post about how I was able to secure a job with Kraft Sports Group through networking. You can read that post here. Well I have used social media to my advantage again and have a new networking success story.

After starting this blog, I decided it would be important to link it with my twitter account (@DanSullivanSM). I started to follow someone with the twitter handle @bosprtsthennow. After we exchanged tweets (retweeting each other and engaging in light twitter conversation), he sent me a message, asking if I was interested in attending his networking event, Blogapalooza. I looked into it more and found it very interesting, so I started to talk to him on facebook. It turned out his name is Joe Gill, the owner of Boston Sports Then and Now.

As we began to chat about the event on Facebook, I started to speak to him about my site. After a few months, the event rolled around and I attended. I was able to speak briefly with Joe at the event and we kept in touch afterwards. We continued to speak via Twitter and Facebook, then eventually LinkedIn.

One day, I asked Joe if he could give me some advice on my site. He was more than happy to help me out and which I was very appreciative of. Joe liked what he saw on my site and soon thereafter, he asked me if I wanted to write him a sports business column for his site. I jumped at the opportunity and I am now a contributing writer at Boston Sports Then and Now.

My first post was published yesterday (on the national site: Sports then and Now). You can read my article: “USA Starts Well at the FIFA World Cup.”

The bottom line here is that networking is so easy to do. It is as easy as engaging in conversation with people through various means of social networking. Just start some conversations and see where they will lead!

The Second Coming of Boston Sports Blogapalooza

As you may recall, I wrote a recap of a networking event geared towards Boston Sports Writers and Bloggers back in May. If you forgot, you can read it here: Blogapalooza Recap. Well, good news is here. It’s coming back. Blogapalooza was such a hit the first time, scoring sponsors like NESN and Dirty Water TV, that it couldn’t be just a one time thing.

Saturday, November 6th, Blogapalooza is coming back. It will take place at the Baseball Tavern in Boston. Definitely something you want to attend if you are in the Boston area, or even New England. It’s free, you get to meet tons of people, and you get to talk sports and blogging.

If you are interested, feel free to join the Facebook fan page here: Boston Sports Blogapalooza. Definitely check that out. More information with constant updates are available on the Facebook fan page.

Just a teaser, according to our Producer Joe Gill, it is rumored that some major New England media outlets are interested in covering Blogapalooza. Stay tuned for more information.

On a site note: I will now be a contributing writer at Boston.SportsThenAndNow.com. I will be doing a sports business column and will alert my readers at DSportManagement.com anytime I make a new post on Boston Sports Then and Now.

Should replay in the MLB be expanded?

Anyone who is interested in sports has seen the recent event that occurred after first base umpire Jim Joyce blew a huge call in Wednesday’s game between the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Indians.

Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga had a perfect game going into the ninth. The last batter up hit a grounder to first, Galarraga covered, and the batter appeared out by a half step at least. Joyce called him safe, breaking up the young pitchers perfect game. Upon review, the runner was so clearly out it was a call that anyone could have made.

Jim Joyce later admitted his mistake, saying “It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the **** out of it.” He hugged Galarraga, apologizing repeatedly for the error, even breaking into tears. No apology can take back the error he made, or the disappointment he caused for that young pitcher.

Here is the issue: The out would have been the last out of the game, so should the MLB be allowed the review the play and overturn the call? Instant replay is not used in baseball under most conditions, only on a limited basis. Should they expand baseball’s replay policies to other things as well?

This could change the game as we know it, but many people are calling for it after a call like the one we saw from Joyce on Wednesday. What do you think? Should there be more replay in baseball?

Joyce

Recommended readings for sport management and business professionals

Here are a few readings I would recommend. Some of these I have read in school and others I have read in my free time, but regardless, they are all useful resources and can teach you valuable lessons that can be applied to your career.

• The Game Starts Here – Lewis Howes  (“How to take your career to the next level in the sports industry.” I couldn’t find a link for this, but the book is contributed to by the authors at SportsNetworker so you can check that site out as well)

• Linked Working – Lewis Howes (This book is all about using LinkedIn to further your career. I threw this one in there because I cannot stress enough how important being on LinkedIn is for any professional, regardless of their field)

• They Don’t Teach Corporate In College – Alexandra Levit  (Geared more towards recent college graduates)

• Good to Great – Jim Collins (Can help companies that are already in existence improve their practices, along with help set up companies for success)

• Me 2.0: Build a powerful brand to achieve career success – Dan Schawbel (Great book that can help you brand yourself, helping to further your professional career)

• Crush It! – Gary Vaynerchuk (Great all-around book, written about wine production, yet contains so many direct connections to the professional world. Useful for improving personal practices and learning to self-promote and further your business)

Enjoy! If you have any suggested readings, leave them in the comments section. Hope you find these useful!

The Sports Executives Association

I recently joined the Sports Executives Association (SEA), which I highly recommend. This is an interactive community of people interested in sports business, which can provide you with valuable opportunities to network and exchange information. The site is run by Lewis Howes, who also owns SportsNetworker. According to Sports Networker, these are the things you will receive upon joining (again, this is taken DIRECTLY from Sports Networker):

• The Sports Sales Mindset Blueprint

• Membership to the SEA at an introductory rate

• How to Take Your Career to the Next Level in the Sports Industry: Ebook

• One ticket to the inaugural SEA members only event in NYC

• Instant access with other sports executives in the members only forum

Within the first two weeks you will also receive:

• The Online Sports Networking Mind Map

• Sports Sponsorship Guide

• Live Q&A Call

The site is great and it’s cheap. At just $10 per month, you can’t really go wrong. It’s a great way to facilitate relationships with other sports business professionals and exchange information quickly and easily. Want to join? Here is the link, as I would highly recommend it.

Sports Executives Association

Dan Sullivan Sport Management has a Fan page on Facebook

Dan Sullivan Sport Management now has a Facebook fan page. If you are interested in joining, here is the link to the page:

Dan Sullivan Sport Management Fan Page

The Business of Sports Awards Winners

Awards

Here are the winners for the Business of Sports Awards. This in depth list can be found on the Business of Sports site. Here is the overview of the winners and what category they fell into:

Best Sports Business Blog:

Darren Rovell’s SportsBiz

Second place went to “Partnership Activation” run by Brian Gainor

Best Sports Business Twitter Account

Winner: Kathleen Hessert (@kathleenhessert)

Runner up: Maury Brown (@bizballmaury)

Best Sports Business Content (company):

Winner: Sports Business Journal

Runner up: IEG

Best Sports Business Up and Comer:

Winner: Peter V. Amador

Runner up: Ash Read

Best Alternative Sports Business Content:

Winner: Sports Business Radio

Runner up: The Row Show

People’s Choice-Sports Business Social Media Contributor of the Year:

Winner: Lewis Howes

Runner up: Brian Gainor

Again, all of this information can be found on the Business of Sports website, which is linked at the top of this post. Enjoy!

Networking works: A firsthand experience!

I began using LinkedIn over the summer in an attempt to stay in contact with people from previous jobs. Taking a step away from Facebook, I was drawn to LinkedIns’ more professional approach and decided to pursue it. I have been adding connections, but until a couple months ago, I never used it to meet new people, rather just keep in touch with those who I knew already.

Lewis Howes is a social media expert who wrote a book titled, “Linked Working” that describes in detail the benefits of LinkedIn and tips on how to use it. I read some of the suggestions and one of them was to use groups. Groups on the site are basically collections of like-minded people who are interested in a particular topic. I initially joined several groups related to my location and my interests, such as sports and business. It wasn’t until I started blogging that I decided to join some sports bloggers groups. I joined about three, some of which are national and others that are local but I had no idea they would be of such value to me.

I met a few people in them and got some tips, applying them to my own blog, which was my main intention in joining the groups. I also came across an event called Boston Sports Blogapalooza, which I attended recently (a networking event for Boston Sports bloggers). Another tip that I heard from Lewis Howes was that it is important to simply talk to people in various positions within the industry to find out about them. People love to talk about themselves, so those who aren’t too busy love to share some information on where they come from and how they arrived at their current job.

I started doing this without much experience with it. I asked basic questions, such as where they went to college, what they studied, and what previous jobs they have held. After a few trial runs I had it down and conversations began to flow. Within my sports bloggers group, I came across a woman named Kisha Tapangan, who is a writer for the Patriots Insider and a fellow blogger. I decided to send her a message, asking about her background in the sports industry. We began talking and before I knew it, we were having an in depth telephone conversation about her experiences.

Kisha currently works at Gillette Stadium for Kraft Sports Group. In speaking with her, I began to share a bit about myself as well. I expressed to her how I am interested in entering the field of sports when I graduate and I am trying to build up my resume. In our conversation I told her about some extracurricular activities I participate in, such as my membership in REACH Peer Education. REACH is an organization at my school dedicated to healthy living and smart decisions for peers. The REACH acronym stands for Real Education About College Health and the group is a great place to give input on the policies and procedures at the school, along with discuss current issues. Students may express their concerns about topics like drunk driving, alcohol abuse, eating disorders and healthy living to name a few. I personally joined because of my concern for the high levels of drunk driving amongst college students and my desire to help them be safer.

Gillette Stadium

I told Kisha about what REACH was and immediately she told me she had heard of a position that had recently opened up at Gillette Stadium. The position was for Drunk Driving Prevention Coordinator and was through Kisha’s supervisor. I was immediately interested as Kraft Sports Group (the New England Patriots) as it is a very prestigious organization and is well known in the sports industry. Just getting a foot in the door is hard enough in this field, which is why I jumped at the available position. Even though the actual position itself is not completely related to sports, I will be able to enter the industry, work for a high profile organization, and hopefully work my way up. Everyone starts low and builds themselves up.

Kisha, after notifying me of the available position, gave me the contact information of her supervisor. She also got into contact with her, notifying her that she knew of someone who was interested in the open position. I called and left a message with her supervisor, expressing that I was a friend of Kisha’s and was interested in the job opening. I heard back a couple days later and they asked me to come in for an interview.

The interview went really well and they told me they would get back to me within a week with their decision. I ended up getting the position and just look at how easy that was. All I did was strike up a conversation, tell Kisha a bit about myself, and a job opening was suggested to me. Networking will not always work this way and its not always so easy. This does drive home the point that you need to be constantly meeting people, talking and gaining information, as the more people you talk to, the more connections you make, ergo the more potential opportunities that may present themselves.

The bottom line is, do something to better yourself in the industry. Meet people and make connections, as it can go a long way. Something as simple as a basic inquiry as to a persons’ background in the industry can strike up a conversation and lead to something like this.

So get out and meet some people. Create a LinkedIn or  Twitter and get your name out there. You never know who is out there and who you might meet. Introduce yourself and be friendly, as it can benefit you greatly in the long run.

You can find Kisha’s blog at Necessary Roughness with Kisha. A special thanks to her and I look forward to working at Kraft Sports Group!