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:

DCM 2010

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 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!

2010 Lausanne International Sports Management Conference: Bridging Research and Practice

Lausanne, Switzerland is hosting the 2010 International Sport Management Conference. The event will take place between November 4-6 and is featuring a long list of prominent speakers.

The conference will have panel discussions, lectures, slideshow presentations, and product demonstrations according to the website (worldeventsforum.com).

Check out the Facebook Fan page.

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!

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.

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.

NBA Referees and the state of the NBA: What to do?

Throughout the playoffs this season, the NBA referees have been consistently horrible. I have previously written about this issue, and just wanted to follow up. Some games, the referees are all over any kind of contact, calling a foul on seemingly every play. Other games, they let them play. Last night’s game between the Celtics and Lakers was a game in which, for the most part, it seemed the players were allowed to play.

Being at the game, I noticed there were fewer horrible calls than in the previous games. It would be foolish to say that the NBA ref’s are completely impacting the outcome of the games, but they do have the ability to have some effect. By slowing momentum of one team, they can stop scoring runs and reverse the flow of the game. Although they aren’t putting the ball in the hoop personally, they are having an impact on the game.

I hear a lot of people saying, “let them play.” I completely agree. When the game is stopping every two seconds, it completely takes away from my enjoyment (I don’t know about you). I like fast paced, hard-nosed games with lots of excitement. Not games that stop every two seconds so teams can’t get a real good flow going.

I know this is a drastic idea, but I don’t see any other solution. I feel that David Stern needs to assess the referee situation and do some type of overhaul. In my ideal world, it would be a complete overhaul, replacing all the referee’s. The bottom line is the ref’s are just not good at their jobs and it’s impacting the games. It also have an effect on the fans, who are tired of this.

Another thing is that the ref’s are buying into this new type of play with flops and screams, in an attempt to get calls. As a Boston fan, I can’t say we don’t do it, but there are certain players who are known for doing such. Being at the game last night, watching Pau Gasol was the most frustrating thing I have seen in a while. He complains on every call, flops, and screams to try to get foul calls. The worst part is the ref’s buy into it at times.

I don’t want to say it’s a European thing, but it kinda seems like a European thing. Don’t get me wrong, I love soccer and I have nothing against Europe. I’ve traveled there multiple times in my life and love the different areas. That doesn’t negate the fact, however, that they play a different style of basketball.

The game needs to be cleaned up to make it more enjoyable to watch. Half the time it isn’t who plays better, it’s who can act better. By flopping and getting fouls called against the other team gives an opponent the ability to remove certain players from the games by getting them in foul trouble.

What do you think? How should David Stern address the referee issue?

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).

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!

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

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?

Will new technology spell the end of referees?

Every year we see technology related to sports advance further and further. I recently read an article called “How Technology is Affecting Sports,” written by Michael Coco on SportsNetworker, which inspired me to write this post. We see technology advance each and every year in Olympics and in professional sports as well. We have seen instant replay become slower and more defined. Instant replay is being used in almost every major professional sport, including some college sports.

The article cites the use of Radio Frequency Identification Technology, which is being experimented with in European Rugby.

“This micro location technology can transmit the exact coordinates of the ball and players at an astounding 2000 times per second. It can also be used to calculate movement, speed, accuracy, and even force of impact. If this technology was implemented in the US it could do away with any type of bad call in relation to ball location and it would essentially eliminate the guess work from officiating. Not only that, but the type of data we could receive before, during, and after every play would be nothing shy of amazing” (Coco 2010).

The use of this type of instant replay could eliminate the need for officials. If this was broadcasting the call, depending on the location of the ball, we wouldn’t need to use the officials’ eye to tell us whether the ball is out of bounds or not. As technology advances, we may see something that can sense where players feet are on the field. This would help us determine whether a player had both feet down or not or was out of bounds. The NFL is the league that would most benefit from this type of replay. Challenges would be no more, as the computer would tell us where the ball was or whether the player was down or not. The computer could tell us if the ball touched the ground or not, or if someone had caught the ball (depending on the location of their hands and the location of the ball).

This would play a huge role in baseball. It could tell us the location of a foul ball, whether it was foul or fair. Eventually, we could see technology make the call of balls and strikes, eliminating the subjectivity of an umpires strike zone. We already can see the pitch zones in games, which doesn’t seem to be perfected at this point (I see myself saying, “there is no way that pitch was that far outside” relatively often).

Technology like Dartfish is being used in the olympics, allowing athletes to perfect their form. Looking at replays of their previous runs and comparing it to their practice runs can help them to perfect their mechanics and determine what they are doing wrong. This raises the question of whether or not we have an oncoming asterisk era, similar to what we have seen in baseball with steroids. In the past, these athletes didn’t have the advantage of replay or technology to perfect their skill sets. Today’s athletes appear to have a severe advantage when compared to those of the past.

The NHL uses replay to determine whether a puck crossed the goal line. If the puck had some type of chip in it and the goal line was hooked up with the puck, we could use this technology to determine whether a shot was a goal or not (same with the NFL in determining whether the ball crossed the plane of the goal line or not). This would eliminate instant replay on that type of play.

Regardless of the sport, as technology increases, we less of a need for referees to be present. As of now we will need them in all sports for particular things, however, we may see their presence decreasing as technology advances. This would change sports as we know them. What do you think?

What Dana White, President of the UFC, can teach us about sportsmanship

When people think about the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), many are under the impression that it is bunch of bruisers and meatheads who lack any type of sportsmanship, entering the ring to simply defeat their opponent in the most violent and exciting way possible. This is completely false and the UFC is an organization extremely focused on sportsmanship.

Dana White is the president of the UFC and although he doesn’t fit the mold of your typical president, he is doing an excellent job. At first glance, White appears at a press conference with his shirt unbuttoned, lacking the professional aura that is typically given off by presidents in other professional sports. He is one of the best presidents in all of sports and the best thing about him is he doesn’t care what anyone thinks. He swears, publicly calls out fighters, and doesn’t always dress in the most professional manner, yet he gets the job done.

White sticks to his guns so to speak. After Anderson Silva defeated Demian Maia in five rounds at UFC 112, White went off. Silva is arguably the best pound for pound fighter and in a very one sided fight against Maia he can be seen dancing around the ring, taunting his opponent. He could have easily defeated Maia yet chose to embarrass him instead, drawing out the fight until the end. His extremely unsportsmanlike behavior can be attributed to the fact that Maia insulted him and didn’t show enough respect (in the eyes of Silva). After the fight, White was so displeased with the Silva’s actions that he didn’t even know how to respond and actually walked out of the fight. He handed the championship belt to Silva’s manager and left. Here is the post-fight conference (Beware, there is some colorful language):

This past Saturday was UFC 113 and one of the fights was Josh Koscheck against Paul Daley. Many fights in the UFC have an element of trash talking between the fighters, often occurring before the fights, but in Saturday’s matchup, Josh Koscheck whispered something in the ear of his opponent Paul Daley at the end of the fight, prompting an extremely unsportsmanlike act. The bell rang and as Koscheck began to walk away, Daley went after him, hitting Koscheck with a left hook after the bell had clearly rung and the fighters should have been walking to their respective corners. Daley was immediately subdued by the referee and the fight was over. Koscheck won the fight by decision, yet Dana White had words for Daley after the fight.

“I don’t give a s*** if he’s the best 170 pounder in the world, he’ll never come back here again.” He later went on to say, “that stuff like the eye gouging, the hit after the bell, will never be tolerated. He’s done. I don’t care if he fights in every show all over the world and becomes the best and everybody thinks he’s the pound for pound best in the world. He will never fight in the UFC again.”

White has extremely strong opinions yet he is changing the perception that most people have of this sport. His opinions and values that he has, which are protecting the credibility of the sport, are providing people with a new picture. This is not such a barbaric, violent sport, but one of skill and sportsmanship. Fighters are not to defeat their opponent by any means necessary, but are mandated to stay inside the rules. Anything like this will not be tolerated as White said and will result in a potential termination of contract.

The perception that people have of the UFC being an unsportsmanlike sport is being erased by White. Behind the perceived violence is true sportsmanship. It is extremely admirable that White is willing to terminate a fighter, despite having the potential to be one of the best in the world, as a result of an unsportsmanlike act. We don’t see anyone’s contract being terminated in the NFL, the NHL, MLB or NBA. The only consequences of league violations or unsportsmanlike play, if any, are fines and suspensions. Occasionally we will see a lifetime ban from the sport, however, this is extremely rare.

Dana White represents true sportsmanship. He stands up for what is right for the sport and is willing to make difficult decisions regarding fighters, regardless of their popularity. His attitude towards sportsmanship could definitely be used in other sports. Imagine if a player who was caught doing something unsportsmanlike was eliminated from their respective sport. This would completely change the games, cleaning them up for the better.

The bottom line is not to judge Dana White based on how he presents himself, but rather the values that he stands for. His attitude towards sportsmanship could definitely be used in other sports. The values that he expresses are altering people’s perceptions of the UFC from a violent, barbaric sport, to a sportsmanlike game.

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.

Changes

I have decided to make some changes to this blog. I created a new blog on WordPress to separate my sports posts from the sports business posts. I have begun to blog a lot about game recaps and interesting sports topics, which I will start to put on the separate site. This will be more focused on Sport Management and Business. Here is the link to the new site:

Sports by Sullivan

Why Americans dislike soccer

Soccer (football) is the single most popular sport in the world. In the United States, however, soccer has failed to become very popular. I have my own ideas of the reasoning for this. It does not come down to publicity, but rather the nature of the sport.

People in the United States love exciting, violent sports. Some of the most popular sports in the US are american football, hockey, basketball and baseball. Baseball is one exception, but basketball, hockey and football are extremely physical sports. Lacrosse and the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) are two other up and coming sports, constantly growing in popularity, which are also very physical.

Soccer can be looked at as one of the least physical sports, when compared to these others. Most people assume it is not physical, however, a soccer fan can see that it actually is. Slide tackles can be extremely violent, sometimes resulting in graphic injuries. In any sport in the United States, injuries are taken very seriously. People do not act injured or pretend to become injured throughout the course of play. Soccer, on the other hand, is very different.

People, in my opinion, don’t like soccer because there are constantly stoppages in play for injury. Watching a game can be extremely frustrating when players embellish injuries in an attempt to get a call from the referee. Faking injuries is not part of the game in the United States, and seeing people fake injuries in soccer leads to stereotyping soccer players are babies or wimps.

I personally am a huge soccer fan and find the games to be very exciting. I also find it very frustrating to watch games in which players ‘flop’ to try to get calls. This usually doesn’t accomplish anything but slowing the game down. I feel like pulling my hair out seeing a player fake an injury and rolling around on the ground, as if they will lose their leg in the near future. Once they realize they aren’t getting the call, they get back into the game as if nothing happened.

They are taking away from the excitement and fast paced aspects of the game of soccer, which gives the game a bad reputation. Soccer will not gain popularity unless there are less players faking injuries. A rule change where players are penalized for faking injuries could be one solution to the problem, however, it seems to be very ingrained in the game. Here is a video of soccer players faking some injuries. Come to your own conclusion.