Archive
Digital Content Monetization (DCM) 2010: NYC
The DCM 2010 will take place in New York City from October 4-7, 2010. The conference is focusing on how to monetize new types of media and brand assets. With a focus on new types of media and the ways to capitalize upon their use (from a business standpoint), this should provide for an extremely interesting conference.
The impressive list of speakers include representatives from:
- NFL
- NHL
- ESPN
- NASCAR
- Fox Sports
- Portland Trailblazers
- Miami Dolphins
- Baltimore Ravens
- MTV
- CBS
- Universal Pictures
- Atlantic Records
- NBC Universal
- SEGA
- VH1.com
- MSNBC.com
- Fox
- Gamestop
- ABC News
- YouTube
- And many more…
Here are some of the major topics to be discussed:
- How to price and license copy for maximum profitability and fan impact
- Delivering monetized, must-have mobile content
- Identifying the optimal revenue model for different types and formats of sports content
- Working out how to extract the most value from the 3D boom
- Using social media to build fanbase loyalty as well as to generate revenue
A great benefit of this conference is to hear the testimonials of various teams and organization from around the country who tried various types of digital business models. The varying experiences will be discussed, providing a great learning opportunity for anyone interested in digital business models.
If you are interested in attaining more information as it relates to this event, you can do so here:
I would recommend looking into this event. I will personally be attending in October to experience this. Definitely an excellent opportunity to broaden your knowledge of the digital business world and to learn some valuable lessons from other companies.
A call for abstract submissions and scholarship applications: 2010 International Sports Management Conference (Lausanne, Switzerland)
I wrote a previous post related to the 2010 International Sports Management Conference in Lausanne, Switzerland. You can read that here. Again, to reiterate, that event is taking place November 4-6, 2010. Heres it the website of the 2010 International Sports Management Conference
I got in touch with some of the organizers of the conference and they informed me that they are looking for abstract submissions. Not only that, but they are also looking for people to apply for scholarships that they are offering. Below is the information related to both the abstracts and the scholarships.
Participants who wish to become part of the program, may submit an abstract which will be reviewed by the Program Committee. Results of this review will be communicated via email, to each applicant. Please note that ONLY THE ABSTRACTS OF THE REGISTERED PRESENTERS WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE PROGRAM – no exceptions will be made.
- Please review the proposed modules and themes.
- Authors of accepted abstracts for presentations are required to submit a full paper via the website.
- All submitted papers will be published on the conference website (post conference. PPT may also be submitted yet not be substituted for the full paper.
- The Work-in-Progress abstracts are to be submitted directly on our Interactive Site.
- If your abstract is selected, oral presentations are not required in a given format. You should allow 20 minutes for your presentation followed by five minutes for questions.
Abstracts of all presentations accepted for inclusion in the Conference Program will be published as part of the conference program booklet to be issued at the commencement of the conference.
- Application deadline is July 9, 2010. Notification of Authors is July 16, 2010.
Please use the form below to submit your application..
All abstracts should reflect unpublished material and should be written in English.
There is no limit to the number of abstracts each author may submit.
If you are interested in submitting an abstract, you can find the link and submission information here: Abstracts.
For those who are interested in scholarships, there will be ten awarded at the conference. Here is the information related to the scholarships:
2010 ISMC OUTSTANDING AWARD
One 2010 ISMC Oustanding Award will be presented. This will provide:
A single registration to attend the 2010 International Sports Management Conference
The Award recipient is expected to attend the 2010 International Sports Management Conference to receive the award. The award does not include any other conference costs or fees or travel expenses.
The Awardee is expected to write a comprehensive conference report to be published on the conference website. This will be accompanied by the author’s picture and bio.
2010 ISMC YOUNG INVESTIGATOR SCHOLARSHIPSTen 2010 ISMC Scholarships will be presented. Each of these scholarships provides:
The Scholarship recipient is expected to attend the 2010 International Sports Management Conference. The scholarship does not include any other conference costs or fees or travel expenses.
The Scholars will be expected to generate a report on a session, panel discussion or groups of talks by topic. Each such report will be accompanied by the author’s picture and bio.
DEADLINEAll applications must be submitted by July 9, 2010. Winners will be announced by July 16, 2010 via email.
You can find the requirement for scholarship and award applications here: Awards and scholarships. Make sure you hurry if you are interested because the deadline is quickly approaching (less than a month)! 
The Asian Association for Sports Management Conference 2010: Kuala Lumpur
The 6th annual Asian Association for Sports Management Conference (2010) is being held October 14-16, 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
According to their website, the theme for the conference is: “Best Practice in Asian Sport Industry: Managing Changes, Embracing Differences, Forging Alliances.”
The conference is looking for the follow abstracts (they are still accepting submissions if you have any).
- a. Managing Changes in Sport Industry: Lessons for and from Asia
- b. Unity in Diversity: Best Practice in Global Sport Management
- c. Forging Alliances: Bridging Asian and Global Sport Best Practice
- d. Training for Trainers in Sport Management Education and Sport Performance (Mass and Elite Sports)
- e. Sport Participation Programs : Promotional and Sustainability Factors
- f. Community Sport and Social Cohesion Experiences in Enhancing Sporting Culture
- g. Issues and Challenges in Asian Sport Business
The format of submitted abstracts can be oral (25 minute presentation, including a 5 minute discussion) or a poster presentation (90 cm x 120 cm). They may cover either completed research or on-going research.
For more information on the abstracts, you can refer to this: Abstracts Explanation . For more information, including registration information, here is the MASMA website.
UKSN Sport Networking Event (Manchester, England)
There is a Sport Networking Event hosted by the UK Sports Network. It will take place on Thursday July 8, 2010 in Manchester, England.
The location is:
Manchester Metropoliton University Business School
Aytoun Building
Aytoun Street
M1 3GH Manchester
United Kingdom
It’s not too expensive either, so for anyone who is in the Manchester area, I would recommend looking into it.
For more information, click here: Sports Networking Event Manchester.
Sport and Technology Conference 2010 (London)
The Sport and Technology Conference 2010 will take place in London, England on July 16th at the BT Centre. If you want to register or gain more information, you can visit the site: sportandtechnology.com
The following is taken directly off the sport and technology website for this event. These are some of the topics to be discussed:
“- Where next for broadcast technologies?
Television sport has come a long way, but does anyone know where it’s going? The broadcast industry is ever changing with a recent number of new technologies aiming to improve the broadcast delivery and viewer experience: 3D, High-Definition, interactive scheduling, TV on demand amongst many others. The production and delivery of sport is also changing. This conference will analyse these latest developments, the potential and pitfalls of these technologies and assess how they will impact on the public at large and not just early adopters.
– Better activation of sponsorship through technology.
Sponsorship activation techniques have developed significantly through the adoption of new technology. Few campaigns can now be successful without. Internet and mobile platforms have become a fantastically valuable resource for sponsors. The growth of video file sharing sites have ensured sponsors a new platform to distribute content and merchandise. Whilst even a traditional sponsorship tool – perimeter signage has seen technology improve it. Sport and Technology: The Conference 2010 will take a look at these technological strides and how they can be harnessed to offer greater value and return for sponsors.
– The booming area of Fantasy Sports
Fantasy sports are a maturing area in the sports industry with an estimated 100 million players around the world. Whether free or paid these games offer a fantastic opportunity for brands and sponsors to reach out to a targeted core of fans and supporters. Several media companies are creating their own games, which are free to enter and draw more traffic and hence, more advertising revenue. Which partnerships can best take advantage of the co-marketing, advertising and sponsorship opportunities? Soccer is still the dominant sport but others sports are rapidly developing their own games. On July 16th we will take a serious look at this vibrant, and growing area of the sport’s industry.
– The stadia in 2020 – developing the next generation of sports arenas and facilities.
Panel Focus: Sports fans are changing and so are the sports arenas they visit. Vision, creativity and leadership are key in the building of the latest generation of stadiums. From access control and smartcard technology, through to synthetic turf, security, HD screens seating solutions and temperature control and carbon free solutions. This conference will analyse these developments and look to what the stadiums of the next decade will deliver.”
Speakers include representatives from: IMG Media, BBC Sport, Mastercard Worldwide, and UEFA Events to name a few.
Again – the above information about the conference was taken directly from the sport and technology website.
If you are already sold on this and want to register, you can do so here: Register for the Sport and Technology Conference 2010.
Digital Sports Marketing Seminar 2010: Barcelona
The Digital Sports Marketing Seminar 2010 will take place on October 27th and 28th in Barcelona, Spain. The major topics included will be using Social Media to generate revenue in the sports industry.
You can find more information here: Digital Sports Marketing Seminar 2010. This is a two day event and should be very interesting.
According to the website above (these are the topics – again, taken directly from the above site – that will be covered at the seminar):
- The Future of Digital Sports Media & Media Presence of the Future
- Case Studies on successful use of Social Media & Digital Marketing
- Mobile Apps: The Next Frontier for The Sports Industry?
- Sports Consumption in the Digital Age: Consumers Take Control
- Digital Sponsorship 2.0
- Sports Consumption In the Digital Age: Why Social Media Is Crucial For Sports Teams: Focus on Football
Some of the panelists listed are: Manchester United, Coca Cola, Xbox, Adidas, Nokia, Sky Sports, ESPN Mobile (TBC), Volvo, and T-Mobile.
Again, this information was taken directly from the Sports Marketing and New Media site, which is listed above. Check it out for more information on the event!
International Sport Law and Business Conference 2010
The International Sport Law and Business Conference 2010 is happening between September 6-7, 2010 in Istanbul, Turkey. This event is a combination of the following organizations: “Istanbul University Law Faculty Centre of Comparative Law, Moroglu-Arseven Istanbul Law Firm, Nomos LLC, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Sport Management Graduate Program, and the International Association of Sports Law (IASL)” (http://istanbul2010.islbc.org/).
According to the website above, these are some of the suggested topics to be discussed (again, these are taken directly from the Istanbul 2010 website):
- International sport governance and policy, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, and legal challenges/conflicts
- Self-regulation of sport v governmental intervention
- Political science, economy, and international relations in the context of sport and international governing bodies
- Change management and organisational decision-making in sport institutions and governing bodies
- Human rights and sport, discrimination and classification, age, colour, disability, gender identification, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status issues
- Athletes’ migration, transfers, restrictions, and governing bodies’ regulatory frameworks’ legal/policy challenges
- Foreign policy, immigration law, citizenship, naturalisation, “home-grown” rules, and foreign players’ limits in sport leagues
- Players’ agents, licensing systems, legal and ethical challenges
- Players’ and coaches’ contracts, trends and contemporary problems
- Sport labour and unionisation
- Intellectual Property in the digital age, public domain extensions, entertainers’ and athletes’ rights of publicity
- Gaming and Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games
- Gambling, sport betting, liberalisation v state monopolies, and licensing systems’ legal/policy challenges
- Tax and Real Estate law, sport facility financing, state subsidisation, and debt management
- Bankruptcy Law, special liquidation mechanisms for insolvent sport clubs, and state intervention
- Competition-Antitrust Law, exemptions, and specificity of sport
- Interscholastic and intercollegiate sport and education policy issues
- Torts, negligence and institutional liability, safety v privacy, defamation, assault and battery in sport
- Criminal Law and sport culture, hooliganism, violence, and legal/policy interventions
- Doping, performance-enhancing substances, genetic manipulation, new science, and drug-testing systems’ legal/policy challenges
- Risk Management, insurance, and economics
- Sport Communications, Broadcasting, New Media, and legal, policy, marketing, management, and financial challenges
- Entrepreneurship in the sport industry
- Strategic Management, human resource management, and competition in the sport industry
- Sport Marketing innovation, ambush marketing, and sponsorship
- Sport economics and forecasting
- Sport analytics, statistics, and research methods’ applications in sport
- Litigation and procedural strategies in sport.
See the above link for more information. Should be a great event.
Again, to reiterate, all this information is taken from the event website, these are not my own words.
Washington DC Event: Play by Play: Sports and Social Media
This is a free event and it is taking place in Washington, DC on June 23rd from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. This is the location:
APCO Worldwide DC Offices
700 12th St. NW
8th floor
Washington, DC 20005
To register click here.
This event is meant to discuss sports and social media and how they go hand in hand. Should be interesting. For more info, click on the link above.
Webinar: Career Opportunities in Sport Management
This free webinar will be aired by American Public University. They will be discussing the various opportunities for careers in the sport management field. This will be useful for anyone interested in sports or sport management who is looking to either change career paths, or who wants to further themselves in the industry. Check it out and see for yourself. Hey, it can’t hurt, after all it is free. It will take place on Wednesday, June 30th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. If you can’t make that time, you should still sign up, as they will provide you with a link to watch a recording of the webinar after it has aired.
Here is the link:
Career Opportunities in Sport Management
Note: You don’t have to be affiliated or even enrolled at the school to take part in the webinar. You simply have to fill out a bit about yourself (i.e. name, email, state) and when asked, select that you are not enrolled at the school (if that is the case).
Studying Sports: How to maximize your status as a sport management student
This post is geared towards the sport management students who are reading this blog. Here is a great resource, written by a professor of mine, Dr. Chrystal Porter. The book needs to be bought but I would definitely recommend it. After reading this, I was able to reshape my opinions of what I need to do in my college experience, along with helping to direct me towards my goals. Any student who is studying sport management or sports business, I would definitely recommend this book. If you want to get in touch with Dr. Porter, you can find her website at Dr. Chrystal.
Here is the link to purchase her book:
Studying Sports: How to maximize your status as a sport management student
If you want to find out more about Dr. Porter, as I will be posting more of her material in the future, you can find her website above, or her Facebook page here: Dr. Chrystal.
Do you have a valuable sport management or sport business resource? Feel free to share it with me by commenting below, or sending me a message. Thanks!
Useful resource: Pro Edge Sports Academy
This sports academy, run by Jared Lane, is an up and coming organization that could be very useful for those interested in sports business. They offer great, informative, online courses which are easy to watch and can be taken from home. Here is the link: Pro Edge Sports Academy.
Enjoy!
Networking event: The Sports Marketing 2.0 VIP Summit (NYC)
The Sports Marketing 2.0 VIP Summit is a networking event taking place in New York City on June 16th, 2010. Here is a link to buy your tickets: The Sports Marketing 2.0 VIP Summit.
The event is hosted by Sports Marketing 2.0. They recently had another event in Chicago, which looks like it would have been a great experience. Be sure to check it out if you are in the New York area.
Have NBA officials lost their credibility?
Ever since the Tim Donaghy scandal from a few years back, the NBA has had to deal with countless questions and criticisms related to the credibility of their officials. Now, watching the current NBA playoff series between the Celtics and Magic, all kinds of negative thoughts are being stirred up for me.
Tim Donaghy
I would hate to think that games are being “thrown,” which would completely erase any remaining credibility the NBA has in my eyes. I love watching the NBA but I constantly find myself asking whether a particular call was serious. A major problem is that all officials are different in their perceptions of what constitutes a foul, or a travel for example. Traveling all together is out of control in the NBA and it seems as if it is rarely called, despite the fact that it happens often.
Foul calls are another subjective area for officials. It seems like sometimes officials will call any kind of contact a foul, which often leads to me yelling at the TV to let them play. Other times, nothing is a foul. Then again, sometimes, one team is getting called for everything, while the other gets called for nothing. Furthermore, we even see the calls shift to favor one team, while neglecting another. As a huge Celtics fan, when I attend games, I sometimes find myself staring at the JumboTron looking at the foul category. Seeing all of one team’s players with 2, 3 or even 4 fouls and the other team with 0 or 1 for each player, makes me question the officials.
Take a quick look at the Celtics Magic series which is going on right now. In game five, Kendrick Perkins, received two technical fouls. This lead to his ejection from the game in the second quarter and a possible suspension from the league (as those were his sixth and seventh technical fouls of the playoffs). The first technical was a bad call, as Perkins accidentally elbowed Gortat when his hand slipped off of Paul Pierce’s as he tried to help him up. The second technical call was absurd. Perkins was called for a foul and as emotions run high in the playoffs, walked away from the referee to express his emotions somewhere else. He was called for a technical foul as he walked away, leading to his ejection.
Perkins
The referees single handedly could have altered this playoff series with their technical foul calls. Perkins’ second technical was rescinded by the league, meaning he can stay in the series. Had the league not rescinded it, however, this could have completely changed the fate of the Celtics. By eliminating their best low post defender and most effective big man, the Celtics would no longer have someone to effectively combat Dwight Howard.
I hate to say it but the NBA officials have lost the benefit of the doubt in my opinion. I find myself asking whether or not they are being serious with some of their calls. Other times it seems like they aren’t paying attention. Hopefully, and I mean hopefully, it boils down to them not being good at their jobs. I say hopefully because I’d rather the reason be that they aren’t good ref’s rather than them cheating and throwing the games. The bottom line is at times officials are having too much impact on the outcome of these games. A single foul or technical foul can swing momentum in favor of one team, against another, and potentially change a game or even a series.
If another scandal is found out, there would be huge consequences for the NBA and league commissioner David Stern. This would change professional sports as we know it in the United States. Basketball as a business would be very negatively impacted and the league would have a long road building their credibility back amongst fans. Advertisers may be less willing to shell out their money, as it could lead to them being associated with a cause that isn’t credible and is known for cheating. On a smaller scale this is the reason why so many sponsors dropped Tiger Woods after his scandal. The impact of another referee scandal would have enormous repercussions for the business of the NBA.
What do you think? Is the NBA still credible in your eyes?
Upcoming Networking Events
For those who are interested in the sports industry and information related to it, a great resource is Joe Favorito’s site. He sends out a weekly newsletter that is very informative, listing upcoming networking events, interesting articles, and sponsorship opportunities to name a few. He compiled a list of some networking events which I am relaying to my readers. Again, this is from Joe Favorito’s weekly newsletter (5/9/2010).
Sports Related Cause Marketing: How to get in the game
May 12th from 8:30 am to 10:00 am.
Location: ESPN Zone at LA Live (Los Angeles)
NSMN Networking Breakfast and discussion on “Online Sports Content- The Paid vs. Free Paradigm.”
Speakers: Tracy Dolgin (President and CEO of the YES Network), Michael Aresco (CBS Sports Programming Executive Vice President), Terry Denson (Vice President of FiOS Content and Programming, Verizon), John Kosner (GM, ESPN Digital), Jeff Price (President and Publisher, Sporting News), and Jody Shapiro (Senior Vice President/GM, NHL Network).
RSVP Online, there are no walk-ins.
Russell Scibetti’s Networking Event
May 25th (Tuesday) from 5:30 pm-8:00 pm.
Location: Gordon Biersch Brewery in Buckhead (Atlanta)
Sports Marketing 2.0 by Pat Coyle
Time: May (Chicago) and June (New York)
Sports Video Group – College Sports Video Summit
June 8th and 9th
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Women in Sports and Events (WISE)
Wednesday, June 9th (Luncheon)
Location: Marriot Marquis Hotel (New York City)
Sports Management and Networking Night (Lakewood [New Jersey] Blue Claws)
June 17th
Lakewood, New Jersey at FirstEnergy Park
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.
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!
Boston Sports Blogapalooza
Today I went to my first real networking event. It was called Boston Sports Blogapalooza and it basically a meeting of the minds of all types of sports bloggers from the Boston area. It was a great experience and everyone was very friendly. I was able to meet tons of people in a great environment (The Baseball Tavern on Boylston Street) and get some tips for improving my practices.
One of the things that I decided to do after attending is to branch off of Dan Sullivan Sport Management with a new blog called Dan Sullivan Sports. I decided to focus more on sports in the new blog, as it is important to find a niche. I was feeling pressured to keep posting something, regardless of the topic, to the sport management blog. This is a poor practice and it is important to find a niche and write towards it, as opposed to just writing to fill space and update.
I met some great people. I met Kisha Tapangan there, who writes a blog called Necessary Roughness with Kisha. Other connections I made are Cornelius, who writes about hockey at Hockey Blog Adventure , Sarah Connors, who writes at Tea Party Throwdown, and Adam Vaccaro, a New England Revolution writer who can be found at Six States, One Blog. I also was able to meet a few other people, including one of the most interesting people I met all night. His name was George Kippenhan (Kippah) and he writes on a site called TownieNews. The funny thing about George is he is constantly carrying around a life sized cardboard cutout of Tom Brady (aka Brades- George’s BFF). Definitely a character. Hilarious guy.
Myself, Brades and Kippah
I got some great tips and met some awesome people. Things that I gained from this networking event and tips for the future:
-Don’t be shy. Everyone is there for the same reason: to meet people and make connections. Step out of your comfort zone and introduce yourself.
-Bring business cards, so people don’t have to be writing down your information. I luckily had some printed recently and it went a long way, as I handed out a good amount of them.
-Learn from the mistakes others have made. Don’t just think your blog will be different or you are a better writer. Take the advice of other people and apply it to your own work.
-Be open minded towards others’ styles and work. Not everyone is writing about the same things and it is good to look into topics that you don’t always focus on. I found it interesting to hear about the New England Revolution from Adam Vaccaro, which was a nice change of pace from the usual Boston Sports people are writing about.
-Bring a pen.
Overall this was a great experience. I met awesome people and gained tons of constructive tips that will help me in my blogging career. I can’t wait to do it again. Thank you to Joe Gill, who was our host, and The Baseball Tavern.
The Business of Sports Awards
Every spring, “The Business of Sports” gives awards to the most prominent personnel in the sport business industry. These awards are given to people who have the best content, those who have made an impact on the industry, and those who have just entered. Here is the link for the nominees:
I personally have looked into many of the nominees listed and my personal favorite is Lewis Howes. He runs a website called the Sports Networker, which is a very interesting site regarding sport, media and networking. It was nominated as one the “Best Sport Business Blogs.” They list several other blogs, which I would definitely suggest looking into. They are all informative sites that can help further your professional career if you have the ability to utilize the information.
They have awards for the Best Sports Business Blog, Best Sports Business Twitter Account, Best Sports Business Content (Company), Best Sports Business up and Comer, Best Alternative Sports Business Content and People’s Choice (Sports Business Social Media Contributor of the Year).
For those of you with Twitter accounts, I would definitely suggest following these people who have been nominated. Twitter is a great way to get information in an easy manner, along with share your own opinions. I personally follow most of them and find they provide great articles and information, which I find useful in my daily life and in my drive to further myself in the sport business field.
Visit the website and check out the nominees. I would definitely suggest looking into the different people and sites, and see what help they can be for you in your own professional career.
site meter
DS Sport Management 