Tic Toc Tic Toc, Countdown to the finish line, or the halfway mark, at least...

        I started the morning off by driving to Monroe in a 15 passenger van with volunteers to pick up courtesy cars.  I am sorry, but the excitement over driving Escalades, and brand new SUV's is beyond me.  I was just fine driving back in whatever car they gave me, and when it happened to be a New Tahoe, I wasn't disappointed, but by the time I got back to the office, I was happy to not have to drive a huge, expensive car, that wasn't my own.  Besides, my Acura gets better pickup! 
        Today was a lot of the same; solving some problems and creating others.  AND...Clemson is now calling OFF THE HOOK trying to get the Bid for the Meineke Car Care Bowl.  They put something on their website with several of our staff's contact numbers for fans to call and request Clemson's presence at the bowl.  What is no doubt meant to be seen as enthusiasm, has started to make work towards the ACC Championship this week less effective.  Come on Clemson,  give Charlotte Collegiate Football a break until the end of the Championship Game at least! 
        Tomorrow, Sarah and I will be meeting with Chris and the Conference about setting up for the Night of Legends.  Tomorrow night, there is a Bridgette Tatum (who sings the ACC Football theme song) concert at Whisky River, so we will probably make an appearance there. 
        One more thing...last night I had a dream about bugs crawling out of my ears.  It was too weird not to investigate on the internet.  Not shocking what I found, the bugs crawling out of my ears symbolize anxiety over an issue,  or stress over a lack of control over an issue and stress dealing with a person in authority....HMMM

ACC CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK!

        It's finally here...the first game!  I have email sent to my phone from work, and when I checked my phone tonight I had 176 email messages...and it was the same yesterday.  That is an indication of the work load will be for the next while.  We are tying up loose ends, dealing with any issues that have come up with tickets, and dealing with leatherheads as this is the last week they can get in their ticket sales.  Needless to say, it's been hectic and 12 hour days are only going to get longer. 
        I have spoken with several...interesting...people trying to tie up loose ends.  Some can't read the most simple of instructions, some are mad at the world and taking it out on the first person they speak to, and some are offering me teaching jobs and asking me to meet up with them on game day.  There is a wide spectrum of attitudes represented with the ticket holders and it's been a reality check in customer service.
        Sarah and I were supposed to meet about the Night Of Legends with Chris Clouden and Allison today but we were so swamped that I had to stay behind and deal with game day stuff and leatherheads.  And Sarah missed our meeting with leatherheads about our hosting duties.  I think it's the most time we've spent apart in a work day! 
        I have nothing to wear for the Night of Legends event so I need to grab something, but there are two problems...I don't know when I will get off early enough to shop AND I don't have a huge amount of money to work with.  We'll see where that goes...maybe I can learn the art of dressing up a trash back like ke$ha...kidding.
        So tomorrow we have to head to Monroe to pick up the courtesy cars...two hours of time in the day that I don't have to spend, but it has to be done.

DOWN TO THE WIRE!!!!

The Ticket Puzzle

There are only so many ways you can say I have been counting tickets-checking section, row, seat, section, row, seat, section row seat-doing inventory, filling out fedex labels and sending out ACC championship tickets day after day for the past couple of weeks.  There's not much to tell other than to say that I spent several 12 hour days in the office last week, eating bad food, and responding to countless emails about when people are getting their tickets.  It's almost like a a GIANT puzzle.  Every ticket package you send out with zero problems is a piece of the puzzle that fits (fan packages are easier, like the end packages), corperate packages can be like trying to piece together the flower field kodak picture puzzle if you don't have all of the elements there...or if you are missing a ticket.  When you find missing tickets, it's like finding the pieces of the puzzle that have been nudged off the end of the coffee table by the dog's nose that no one realized until you happen go to find another piece you know has been dropped.  Does this make any sense?  I think Sarah would appreciate the analogies.  We have almost completely pieced the ACC Championship Ticket Puzzle together...just waiting to send out terrace packages tomorrow (hopefully) and we'll be good! 

Ticket Hell, Judy Rose, and Clemson Tigers

        I've been in a little world I like to call Ticket Hell for the past week and a half.  We have GOT to get tickets out to ACC Championship so we that means packaging up ticket orders, putting in parking passes as needed and creating hundreds of Fedex packages.  Not too much to write about BUT Will Webb was kind enough to send us to the City Club for lunch with Judy Rose. The lunch was the perfect way to break up the monotony of the week, and what an awesome experience! Judy Rose is the Athletic Director for UNC Charlotte and one of the most well-respected figures in the profession.  Judy Rose's bio can found on the the UNCC website (http://administration.uncc.edu/cabinet/Bios/rose.html).  Most recently, she has led the efforts to bring football to to the 49ers, and with great success.  The 49ers will play their opening season in 2013!  She was also the first female to serve on the selection committee NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Committee.  Rose got her start as a GA at University of Tennessee and got the chance to work with legendary Women's Basketball Coach Pat Summit and they remain close friends to this day!  From their, she headed to UNCC where she started out as head Women's basketball coach and tennis coach, graduated to Head Women's Basketball coach and Associate Athletic Director, and then was selected as Athletic Director (i believe that was the order of events?!)  It was so refreshing to hear a positive, non-feminist, outlook on women in this sport profession.  She had a positive experience moving up in the profession, and seemed to offered more opportunities than she could even take (including being a finalist in the run for the head coaching position with UNC Women's Basketball...wow!).  She told us that she was treated, for the most part, as an equal to the men she was working with.  In fact, it was the women who treated her differently because she did not try to put herself into typical All-Women's sports corner.  She could not have been more down to earth and interested in our career aspirations.  Other than sports and careers we just talked about Charlotte, and she even shared with us how she met her husband...kind of just like a girl's lunch!  Sarah and I had so much fun...and I hope she did as well!
        On Friday, it was back to the ticketing grind, except without Sarah because she was getting her Side Line Reporter, which meant that I couldn't get away with leaving work early and subsequently missed out on all bu the last minute of the Belmont Abbey/ Clemson exhibition basketball game.  Luckily, I ran into Will Qualkinbush, got to sneak in through the tunnel with him, and got to hug Ryan as he was running off the court at the end of his game.  I got to talk to Susan, and all of the Basketball staff, Coach Brownell's girls, and even got to talk to Frank Smith (an assistant coach on OP's staff)!  He was very impressed with my weather appropriate outfit, as he once called me out for not wearing a jacket and breaking down my immune system, and one week later I got Mono.  Frank is starting his own drug testing company now and seems to be doing really well.  It was really great to see a member of the old staff...brought back memories!
        After the game I got to meet up with Mackenzie, Ansley Faria, and Amanda Suiter for a girl's weekend of fun!  A girl's weekend of fun got invaded by Will Sartin (I know...how many Wills can one girl know?), but it was SO great getting to spend the day with him and his best friend from home, Brooks.  It was his first game day off in his college career and I was so glad he chose to spend it with us!  Again, on Sunday I woke up and did NOT want to head back to reality.  It is so sad when you go to say "hey! I'll call you tonight and head over to hang out" and then realize that you will be in a different state in a couple of hours and that will be impossible.  I'm pretty sure this will be my last weekend out of town for a while, but these weekends with college friends have been so rejuvenating and have served as a very important reminder to me of the importance of great friends.  I wish I could see ALL of my friends...but those were some pretty good representatives for sure! 

OH YEAH!  And we beat NC STATE!!!! WOO HOO (I will be slightly less excited on the job...obviously I am very objective).  During the game, I stopped by the Raycom Truck and Jimmy (in charge of Raycom Production) gave me a tour of the entire thing!  I could tell that he enjoys teaching people about the profession that he is an expert at.  He was so sweet to do that.  I got to see what the difference is between the Producer, the Director and Technical Director's jobs.  He also showed me the audio room and I got to hear the sound that was coming in from the Parab (the job I did when I worked the game).  While we were in there, Rob (the producer) was trying to figure out which camera got the shot of Coach Steele passing out so that they could use it as a feature story for the next game.  The truck was high energy during the show, the fun, easy-going characters that I know from the offices become ALL business and have no time to joke around. I loved just getting to see how that whole thing works. 

Encouraging words in the Football world

        "I don't fear the waves because I trust and know who made the Ocean".  This was the opening statement that Bill Stewart, head football coach at West Virginia, made when he spoke at the final Touchdown Club Luncheon of the year today.  I was reassured of the power to do good in the Sports Industry during the Touchdown lunch today.  In the opening prayer, the Father that typically does the invocation prayed that Football programs would bring joy to those who watched, and I thought, yeah!  If it's that easy to bring a smile to someone's face, why not work in sports?  And then I heard Bill Stewart talk about his football team.  If I'm a new fan of any football program it's going to be West Virginia after the speech he gave today.  He said he trains his team members to be *good husbands* *good dads (not father's but dads...he made the distinction)* *strong men of society* and *men of faith*.  As Coach Stewart was speaking I found myself thinking, I want my son to play football at West Virginia.  I don't have a son, and have also never given much thought to the West Virginia athletic program in general, but it didn't register with me how weird and out of left field it was that I was wishing my unborn, nonexistent child could some day play for a team I do not cheer for (and would certainly cheer against, should they play Clemson), until after the speech was over.  It sounds like they do it right in West Virginia.  They dot their I's, cross their T's, and tell their players to be good boys, according to Coach Stewart.  They train their players to be men of character, AND get them to buy into the program.  The boys are committed to playing the best football, and that COMBINED with the top priority being good men of character makes the football program great.  I mean, despite the loss this past weekend, I don't think many would argue that WVU has a strong football program.  But they do it the right way.  In the past several years they have had a very impressive graduation rate.  In 2008, Coach Stewart graduated all but 2 of his players (the 2 who did not graduate went on to play in the NFL).  In 2009, his graduation rate was %100.  Bravo.  Yes sports are fun.  Yes the industry is part of the entertainment industry, and can seem frivolous and silly in the realm of the world.  But I was reminded today that not only can this industry bring joy to those who participate in it or consume it, but it can also cultivate good leaders in our society.  Bill Stewart: you are alright in my book!
        We spent a total of MAYBE 2 hours in the office today which was a much needed change of pace for me.  Instead of counting tickets for hours on end, we ended up having meetings at Charlotte Convention Center to tighten up several aspects of the ACC Night of Legends event, at the Epicentre to talk about Fan Central and other events leading into the ACC Championship weekend, and Fuel Pizza to talk about media day.  Today was good.  Much better than yesterday.  Today I felt energized at the end of the work day. 
        As I'm writing, I'm watching the election results roll in, which has turned out to be a pretty incredible and historical political event.  I am so embarrassed to say that I was unable to vote today, as I was not punctual enough about looking into ordering an absentee ballot, and couldn't make it to Greensboro. But I did get to have dinner with a few of Ann and Bobby's friends.  They literally ordered dinner specifically to watch mid-term election results roll in.  A glimpse into the future...but I did enjoy the company of the Blanchfields and Mr. Murphy.  By the way, it blows my mind that these news stations can make their projections based on 2 PERCENT of the vote.  It baffles me!  I'm still trying to figure out how these numbers add up...On a side note, the Blanchfields have an unbelievable home on more than several acres in Charlotte, and a backyard with not one but two ponds that run down the hills.  You can hear running water no matter where you are in the house.  My mother would die.  They also had the sweetest boxer named Maddie that was the closest in age to me, so naturally I hung with her for the majority of the night. 

Back on Track

Let's knock this out and get back on track...


Chris Clouden called Sarah and I and asked if we would volunteer for this Amazing Race that the Charlotte Sports Commission was putting on with Visit Charlotte. a couple of weeks ago  Participants came from all over the area, most worked in sports industries, and were considering bringing some kind of sporting event to Charlotte-whether it be a youth league or an event.  The "race" was set up so that people would have to make stops at some of the most well-known places around uptown Charlotte.  There were stops at The Panthers Stadium, Time Warner Cable Arena, the site for the future baseball lot, Wachovia Plaza, Bojangles (i have no idea), Ri Ras, etc...We were set up at Alexander Michael's a little restaurant that is known for their fried pickles.  Each team had to come by and eat a basket of fried pickle's at our stop.  These teams were serious about winning the race, and getting to Strike City to bowl the first strike and win the event, so much so that they were stealing each other's cabs while teams were inside finishing their challenges.  It wasn't too bad of a deal for each of the participants...winners or not, each person received an iPad for doing the race and participating in the three day event.  Afterwards, their was a party at Strike City for the racers and volunteers, and once again, we really enjoyed getting to know some of the Sports professionals who were selected to help run this race.  We did have to bowl, and I had to show my ability to laugh at myself, as bowling is NOT. MY. SPORT. 

The next day we headed out to the ACC Basketball Media Day where we got to see lots of all of our favorite BBall stars.  They had it set up so that there were several different rooms, one for Raycom (the ACC Network), one for Fox Sports, one for Radio, one for Print Media, and one for other television stations.  They rotated pairs of players from each team around to the rooms...and were there for approximately 5 minutes a piece.  It really ran like clockwork.  In the ACC Network room, they interviewed each player individually, but in the "other stations" room, they interviewed press conference style.  They also had another station set up at ESPNU where the Coaches were stationed, and they with the players half the way through the day.  I had no idea how a media day was run so it was cool to see.  Not what I expected. 

Other events we attended in the past couple of days-

Touchdown Club Luncheon featuring John Randle:  What a funny, INTENSE guy. 
He loves him some trash talking.  Here's a little nugget of fun for you all:

http://www.youtube.com/user/nieminenj

He said that he'd spend hours studying video and knew when a guy would be making a passing play versus a running play based on whether he had one chin strap buckle fastened or two.  He would also study his opponents personal lives and find out ways to get inside their heads on the field.  Interesting guy with a good game plan.

The Charlotte Sports Commission Golf Club:  Cold. Rainy. Inappropriately Dressed for the weather.  But we did get to watch a lot of men golf, some were funnier than others.  For example, when one guy teed off and literally hit the ball into the parking lot BEHIND HIM.  Hilarious.  We sold some extra point passes, but I don't know how many extra point passes we would have had to sell to make the weather conditions really seem worth it.  We had several people bring pieces of clothing by, and one guy even ran up to another hole where they were serving apple martinis and brought some back to us. 

Other than these events, we got tickets in this week and have been trying to get inventory done.  Do you know what that means?  It means we look through every single ticket we get, and cross referencing them with a list of every single ticket we are supposed to have.  Tedious.  It literally made Sarah feel sick today.  YIKES.  But it's got to get done, and honestly it's not the worst job in the world if you do it in doses. 

Thank you for your patience with the blog these past couple of weeks!

I owe you a bunch of blog posts

I know.  It's been a long past week, filled with out of the ordinary events, long days at the office, and feeling a bit under the weather which has led to major blog regret.  I apologize...major literary party foul on my part.  I'm just going to jump right in so bare with me.  

PARAB: Saturday, October 16, 2010

        The Clemson vs. Maryland game was my first time working for Raycom's production side, and I must say that I could not have had a more positive experience.  As a Clemson fan, the ultimate experience is to get to stand on the field and watch a game.  The ultimate experience is to be in borderline inappropriate proximity to C.J. Spiller throughout the entire game.  The ultimate experience is to get to listen to the Dabo Sweeny and his boys talk football in there huddles.  The ultimate is to watch the Tigers cruise to victory...in short, the ultimate is to work the Parab on the field during a Clemson game.  I had the ultimate Clemson (and work, for that matter) experience that Saturday. 

        But let's start from the beginning of the day.  We were expected to check in at the Raycom truck by 8:30 and head up to the Press Box for breakfast.  The first person I ran into in the press box was Mike Hogwood (Raycom sideline reporter), and I got to introduce myself to him, which was cool because he is actually a friend of Uncle Chip's from Greensboro.  We got to meet a lot of the people on the Raycom production team during breakfast while we were waiting to hear our assignments for the day.  Several of those people were ones I interacted with throughout the day and the entire production staff for Raycom could not be more accommodating and fun to be around.  By 9:15 we were told our assignments: Sarah and I would be working the parabs that day, which I later found out is short for Parabolic, because of it's shape.  I don't know if you are familiar at all with this...and again, this is a rookie explanation, as are every one of my production explanations...but the parab is the bubble like shape that you will normally see guys holding on the sidelines of a football game.  

This picture was found on the following website: http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_13674073.  Photographed by Michael Owen Baker, Daily News staff photographer.

        More about that later.  We didn't have to report anywhere until 11:15 so we had a large amount of time to simply hang out with the production staff and walk around the stadium which was one of the many highlights of the day for me.  The production truck had a lot of people going in and out of it, and everyone was working on some kind of job, whether it was organizing the pregame show for the broadcast, or editing graphics that would appear when players were being discussed during the game.  We also walked into the "First and 10" truck.  Yes, there were 2 guys who's sole purpose was to move the first and 10 line throughout the game.  Most of their work was done before the game ever started, and needless to say, their is potential to get quite bored if you are working first and 10 for a game in which you are not emotionally involved.  I suggested they bring an extra laptop next time and pull up other games on the Internet to keep themselves entertained throughout the 3-4 hours of isolation in a truck.  SO if in the next couple of weeks you are watching a Raycom Broadcast that seems inaccurate, it could be my fault.  

        We still had plenty of time so I walked out to the empty stadium and looked out over the perfectly manicured field.  The sky was clear and blue and the balloons had all been secured by Central Spirit at the bottom of the hill and were ready for release when the time was right.  There was no one out there, no fans, no football players, and yet you could still tell it was game day.  Death Valley has that intangible quality on a game day and I got chills just walking up and down the steps.  When I stepped out on the field, I got that feeling that I used to get before a lacrosse game in High School.  I don't know if it was that I have never stepped on that field on Game Day, or that I knew I was about to work a device that I had no idea how to operate, or that we had lost the past 3 games, and I could feel the added pressure to win, but I got a nervous feeling that I haven't felt in a long time when I realized that I would not be heading up to the comfort (and I use that term loosely) of the student section. 

        I reported to my station at the 20 yard line 45 minutes before kickoff for a quick rundown of what I was going to be doing during the game.  I found out that I would be holding a Parabparab.  The things you want to pick up are any clear contact with the ball (kicks, big catches, etc...), tackles and fumbles, and banter on the field and in the huddle among coaches and players.  It was like discovering a whole new part of the game the first time I heard each of these sounds.  I found myself experimenting with the best way to capture the most clear sound.  I found that I almost wanted to try and get up AND over the sound, so for me holding the parab up higher and tilting it slightly forward often worked best.  You have to be careful about where you point it, because if you are aiming at a play, but the parab is also in line with the band, that is all you will hear.  I mean, this device picks up a clap from across the field, so you can imagine what a marching band would sound like in your headphones. 

        Highlights of the game were: Actually enjoying the parab (many find it boring but I found it fascinating!) Getting to enjoy a game day experience at Clemson on the field.  Standing next to C.J. Spiller for the vast majority of the game...I didn't reach out and touch him, against the wishes of many of my friends, for fear of being fired.  Almost getting tackled 3 times!!!...So close to making sports center.  The last time it happened I seriously considered NOT running backwards out of the way.  Overall, I learned a lot that day and enjoyed every tiring minute of it!  

TBC...with more adventures from this week!

COMING SOON (as in hopefully tomorrow):

Monday Night Amazing Race with Charlotte Sports Commission and Visit Charlotte

ACC Media Day: Basketball

Clemson Game

Peer Mentoring...is that a stretch?

        OH! I forgot to mention that we had a peer mentoring session today as well.  Will Webb's friend's daughter came into the office today to talk to him about breaking into the sports business.  She is a senior at USC (as in University of Southern California) and wants to be a sideline reporter, so really...she had a lot more in common with Sarah as far as career aspirations.  Those of us who want to break into sports are pretty much all in the same boat.  At least those of who choose to do something about it.  I'm sure I've mentioned this before but one of my BIGGEST pet peeves about the entire job search process was talking to my guy friends about what I wanted to do with my career, and listening to them laugh at me and say "oh yeah, I used to want to work in sports too, and then I stepped back into reality".  There are quite a few of you, and you know who you are.  It's a matter of taking initiative, calling and emailing everyone you know, getting your name out their in multiple markets, feeling like you are being borderline annoying (while managing that fine line so that you stay on the right side of the border).  It's about being slightly talented, knowing the right people, working hard, and REALLY wanting it.  So I'm glad i never stepped into the reality of my friends, and I hope that the girl that came by the office today steers clear of that reality as well.  Sarah and I talked to her about volunteering for everything she could, sticking her hands in ALL things sport (whether in television or not) and trying to learn everything she can.  That is what we are doing after all.  We also gave her each of our cards.  For the first time, even before landing a full time job, I felt like I was giving back an opportunity that had been afforded to me by all of the contacts that people helped me out with.  We encouraged her to stay in touch.  And IF she does get in touch, I am going to promise never to neglect to respond.  If she can't get in touch with Sarah or me, who CAN she get in touch with?  Anyways, talking to her brought back a lot of feelings about the terrible job search process, and made me remember both the good and the bad, the productive and unproductive meetings I had.  I hope she felt like this was a productive meeting.  Also, it reminded me that I could be doing this exact same thing, again, in a couple of months.  YIKES!

University of Charlotte Collegiate Football, at Raycom Sports

        Sarah really set the tone for the day this morning when she sent me a BBM that read "Can we be casual today on this rainy morning?"  I was off to work in my jeans before you could say "Brooks Brothers".  When we got to work this morning, we realized that we LEGIT had nothing to do, so we had to get creative.  And thus began my learning experience at the UCCF RS (University of Charlotte Collegiate Football at Raycom Sports).

        We decided to head up to the production hall to do some voice over work for fun.  Unfortunately, our trusty production intern, Duzan, was in God's Country (Clemson, for those of you who are sadly uninformed) today, and he was the one who offered to set us up to do some VO practice.  Instead, we decided to mosey around the production area to see what we could learn.  Luckily, they were feeding the ACC Football Impact show.  Don't worry, I didn't have any idea what that meant either, but I'm going to take my best stab at explaining it.  So they were "feeding" the show to a network in Atlanta.  I am not going to be able to describe this technically right, but my best understanding is that essentially, they are running a show from our raycom office and sending it to a the local network, which in this case was located in Atlanta.  So when we (as in Raycom) run it, they (as in Atlanta, or other local network) have the ability to record it, and they have 2 recording options from which to choose, HD and SD (standard definition).  From the Raycom end, Peter Rolfe was sitting at a desk with a phone, waiting to answer any questions or respond to any problems that the Atlanta network might have dealt with.  During the feed, they noticed a little glitch in the show.  It was so small that it almost seemed like an effect, but it was indeed something that needed to be fixed before it aired.  Luckily, Raycom feeds it twice with a couple of hours in between each feed, so they have time to fix any glitches.
        And I finally figured out the commercial thing.  So you know how there are all these different commercials some local, some that you see nationally?  Have you ever wondered how they are placed during commercial breaks? I have. But it's cool.  So the larger, national or regional companies make deals with networks like Raycom and so Raycom has those commercials "on file", pull them, and place them in the show BEFORE it gets fed to local networks.  Now the local networks have deals with local companies and so they have the local commercials on file.  When Raycom feeds the show to Atlanta, it is fed with the larger company's commercials already placed in it.  So those are set.  But it also has room for local commercials that the Atlanta companies can place at their discretion.  The space just is fed as a period of black. I'm sure I have massacred TV language and the general explanation of how a television show is run, but that is my general understanding.

        After our lecture, Sarah and I took a field trip to South Park mall to perform some research on clothing pieces that we might use for several CCF events.  After surveying a few floors, we found several options that I am sure will work well, so we decided to treat ourselves to a lunch break at Arther's.  Going through the lunch line, ordering simple sandwiches, I remarked to Sarah about how terribly we used to eat at the start of this internship, and how much better we had gotten.  That lasted through lunch.  On our way out of the mall, we took a convenient wrong turn that led us right past Yoforia, a frozen yogurt joint ( I tried to write "Fro Yo here...it just doesn't sound right coming from me).  I'm still contemplating whether or not to hold a grudge against Sarah for 'making' me walk into the store. But I'll be honest...I did not put up much of a fight.  

        When we got back, we went to our next 'class' with Professor Pitts on Sponsorships.  He showed us the contracts and presentations he has come up with for each of the prospective sponsors.  I asked Will if it was hard to be a Sales Person, like whether it's not easy to sell something that people are not necessarily excited about buying.  He said it was hard, but he enjoys what he does.  We talked about how it was hard to sell something that is not so much a physical product, but more of an experience.  We also talked about how to target prospective clients.  For instance, why would Bank of America want to be a title sponsor of the Bowl game?  Their logo is literally on every piece of collateral we use for both of the games already because we are using the Bank of America Stadium, so they would be paying extra for advertising that they are pretty much already enjoying the benefits of.  We also brainstormed some more innovative ways to cultivate relationships with prospective sponsors.  Productive class.  

        Our last lecture was with Chad Swofford on marketing strategy.  We have 1 pair of tickets to give away during the entire period leading up to the game.  What I want to figure out is how to best utilize the tickets in a way that is fun for our followers, but also promotes increased followership...Have I mentioned that I reserve the right to use questionable words in these posts?  One option I discussed was maybe putting it out there that we need to reach a certain number of followers and once we do that we will be giving away tickets.  We could use our current followers to invite their friends to the site, in the hopes that we will have this contest...the problem is that we don't know if people will care enough to invite friends.  It's frustrating because we are trying to promote 2 games that are essentially irrelevant until at least November.  Anyways we had some interesting conversations about all of this.  If you haven't already PLEASE follow us on twitter: @MeinekeBowlGame, @ACCFOOTBALLCLT, and @ExtraPointPass and "Like" us on facebook.  I'm trying to reach a social media goal here people.  Help me make the grade.  

***Disclaimer: I am fully aware that the analogy was QUITE corny.  Thanks for baring with my sad attempt at creative writing.***

Getting to know the family, on this side of 20

        I forgot to mention yesterday how much I enjoyed going to dinner with my cousin  Bobby the other night.  Like I've said before, I am loving my job, and really enjoy living with Big Bobby and Ann, but I don't have much social interaction outside of work here, and really don't get out of the house much besides my weekend trips, which have been happening quite consistently this fall...thank you college football. SO when little Bobby called to get food at the Pizza Peel, I was very excited.  We had really candid, really great conversation about everything.  Girls, guys, worries, family, and Faith were among the many topics that occupied our conversation.  Coming from a big family, closeness among the cousins has been cultivated in us since the beginning.  But in the past couple of years, I have really enjoyed getting to know personally some of my older cousins on a more adult level.  It is really special when you realize, these are the people that I would be LUCKY and honored to have as my friends, even if they weren't in my family.  Bobby is both an Excellent women's high school basketball coach, and a religion teacher at Charlotte Catholic.  I knew how much he loved coaching.  Seriously, he is talented, and the girls really respond to his coaching methods.  I honestly never thought about how invested he was in teaching these kids about faith, and helping these high schoolers struggle through figuring out where they stand from a spiritual standpoint. I've had this experience with several cousins in the past couple of years.  While I do miss the days of being carefree kids, and Carrie, Erin, Lander, and I being known as the 'little girls' (we're still pretty much referred to that way), I am really enjoying this new 'Adult'  where I am getting to know who everyone really is...whether that means finding out how dysfunctional we all are or not.    At the same token, growing up means dealing with different struggles and I want my family to know that I am praying for each of you.  
        On this whole family note, Uncle Bobby was at home for the first time right after work in I don't know how long.  We were testing out his new iPad and decided to watch a few YouTube videos.  Ann and Bobby both had great choices, and I wanted to share one of those with you now:

Ladies and Gentlemen: Georgia Congressman (D), Mr. Hank Johnson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs23CjIWMgA

...and the "Brother and Sister Dental Odyssey":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig-pZ4OyidY

 

Enjoy!

 

 

       

Working and Tigers and Bears, Oh my!

        So tonight I'm going to play a little catch up.  Only because Friday was full of interesting little tidbits that I left out in the previous post.  I had to make my Friday night post short for two reasons: 1, because I had limited battery use while traveling, 2, because I had two very distracting friends in the front seat while I was trying write, and 3, because when I mentioned that I couldn't talk too much in the car because I needed to blog, Blake told me it was the dorkiest thing he had ever heard me say.  I will admit, It's a little embarrassing every time I have to say the words 'my' and 'blog' together.  So here is the rest of it...
        Friday started out as just one of those days...except a couple of hours earlier.  We had another Hood-Hargett monthly breakfast.  At this breakfast, there was no legendary Hugh McColl speaking, but there was a man named Chip Bell, a consultant based in Texas who essentially based his entire speech on customer service on his love affair with the the Jack Daniels distillery and how they keep their customers loyal.  He had some valid points, like involving your customers in your process.  Make them feel like their participation is specifically important to the success of your business.  Actively and personally seek feedback, and when you are seeking feedback, shy away from the defense mode.  Essentially, make your customer's feel like you are personally invested in them....I think.  His speech really wasn't the most memorable part of the entire breakfast.  The Jerald Melburg Gallery was the sponsor for this event, and the sponsor always has the opportunity to speak.  Mark Packer, better known for his work as the Packman- a sarcastic sports talk local radio celeb in Charlotte, has been MC'ing these events for seven years and as the MC, he must introduce the both the speaker and the sponsor.  Well, if any of you are familiar with Mr. Packer's tone, you would not be surprised that when he gets up to speak at these events, you can kind of feel the tension rise, like no one knows what he's about to say, and it could be get a little hairy.  Sure enough, it got hairy on Friday.  Mark Packer introduced the sponsor with a story about his latest trip to France, where he visited the Louvre.  He recalled the moment when he saw the Mona Lisa and said "Art, I just don't get it.  I mean that thing was tiny, and there were about 50 people standing around it!"  We got an email later that day that said the Hood Hargett Breakfast Club would be going in a different direction for their MC choice at any further Breakfast Club meetings.  A lesson in social graces for sure.  

        Sarah wasn't at work on Friday so it was just me in that big office, and I actually got a lot more done.  Will and I went to meet Mike Crum, Chief Operating Officer of Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, at the Mint Street lot where we would be designating space for a tailgate for 600 people from the CRVA.  They had a great idea to do their Christmas Party at the ACC Championship Game.  They are using the money they would spend on a big Christmas party and purchase a large block of tickets for their employees and family members instead.  The Baseball Lot is one that Will decided to purchase for the games so that we would have control over the use of it, so we have decided to use it for Tailgate space for clients like the CRVA.  Other than that, a large portion of Friday was spent on ticket programs (ones which, I found out today we might not be using).  I feel like this has been happening a lot lately.  Sarah and I will work on something for weeks, drafting it and getting it approved, and then changing it (upon request), redrafting it, changing it again, and then dropping whatever it is (upon suggestion).  I guess that is the life of the intern...use them as the guinea pig to see what works. 

       Like I mentioned, I went up to Chapel Hill this weekend, thanks to the generosity of Blake and Bridwell.  It was a nice trip, minus a couple of hours. Saturday there was this Clemson game.  Enough Said.  But on Saturday night, we stopped by Greensboro to have dinner with my parents.  Mom made Shrimp and Grits, which were awesome, and it was nice for my parents to get to meet some of my friends.  I did find myself laughing about nothing...for no reason at some points.  It was very awkward TV show moment of me, but I just couldn't help it.  I was waiting for either my friends or my family  to share SOMETHING with the other part of the group that I did not want shared...Luckily, that didn't happen too often.  Essentially, they just all agreed I was sort of a smart ass, and the conversation flowed naturally from there.  

        Kevin Conrad, Chris Conrad(the Conrads' cousins from Chicago), and Kevin's girlfriend  had come into town this past weekend for the Chicago Bears vs. Carolina Panthers game this weekend, and Uncle Bobby managed to scramble up lots of tickets to the game, so we all tailgated and went to the Bears VS. Panthers game on Sunday.  After a bad weekend of football, at least from my perspective, I decided to forget about my home team loyalties and cheer for a winning team.  Go Bears.  Ryan and I got to sit in Club seats, which meant that we had the best seats in the house to watchwatch ANY more football for the rest of the weekend.  

        This week has been a busy one, even in just 2 days.  We had Meineke (Like actual members of the company) join us for our Monday bowl game meeting for the first time since I've been working.   I had almost forgotten that Meineke Car Care was an actual company, with an identity outside of the bowl, because this is the only experience I've had with Meineke...even though I've probably said and typed the words several hundred times over the past couple of months.  

        Colin, over in Raycom invited Sarah and I to sit in on their New Media meeting which was actually interesting, because it got some ideas flowing for things we can be doing better with Bowl and Championship media.  Last week I noticed that we have really dropped the ball on our attention to our social media pages, and so we've tried to be more intentional about our social media use this week. 
        Ticketing has been the other item on the agenda for the week.  And with a few new projects, I feel like I have gotten a crash course in Ticketing, mapping availability, and pricing over the past 2 days.  
        Alright, a police man just knocked on the door.  He had the wrong address...but bottom line, it's time to go to bed after a scare like that!

Live, from the Mariott in Chapel Hill

As I am writing this blog post, I am sitting in the car with Blake and Bridwell on my way up to the Clemson/ Chapel Hill football game!  It was a very last minute decision , that I made as I was packing up my work space this afternoon, when Bridwell called me for one last invitation.   For anyone who needs leverage to get me to do something: if at first you don’t get a yes…ask, ask again!  Chances are, you can convince me.

I felt really good about the last few days of work.  On Wednesday we met with the General Managers (team captains) or the Leatherheads, to discuss ways to encourage leatherheads to sell.  There is an enormous amount of pressure to make the ACC Championship a sellout during its first year in Charlotte.  We came up with a challenge for our leatherheads that should be an awesome incentive for increased sales during the month of October.  The October ACC Ticket Challenge will start on Monday and will go as follows.  Everyone who has sold 200 tickets  throughout the entire sales period (January-October) will be entered into a pot.  Everyone who sells 200 tickets during the challenge period (October 11-October 31) will be entered into the pot.  Leatherheads are eligible to be entered twice, but only qualify for one prize.  If leatherheads sell more than 300 tickets they will automatically win one of four prizes, based on the number of tickets they sell.  The prizes are things to REALLY get excited about. 

-Two tickets, 2 field passes, and a parking pass to the Carolina Panthers  vs. New Orleans Saints

- Two tickets to the BCS National Championship Game

-Two ticket books to the Men’s Basketball ACC Tournement

If that doesn’t get these guys to sell, I don’t know what will.  The Leatherheads are going to have to go through us (the interns) to make this sale so we’ll will be getting some great practice with ticket sales in the next month!

Yesterday we had a Meeting with Chris Clouden of the Charlotte Sports Commission to go over the ACC Night of Legends event, which was much needed and brought up some really good questions as far as food and decorations go.  The price points for the food are a little high.  I’m not sure I can talk price points in the blog, but it is shocking how much people can charge for a beef oscar with a crab meat garnish.  It is really interesting to talk putting on a dinner for 1000 people.  Essentially, the best thing to do is go to a the group and give them a price point “all in” meaning including tax and gratuity and ask them to get creative and give you the best they can for that price.  There is a difference in having an hors d’ouevres (if someone can tell me how to spell that…it’d be great) station and passing them around.  When you pass, people take less and it ends up being less expensive for the committee.  With wine, we have to pour so that we can manage tables with players at them.  All things you don’t think about while you are sitting at these dinners, but things that must be discussed in planning them.  I also had to talk to figure out who was taping the show at the night of legends and we need to figure how much space they are going to need to shoot.  I learned a LOT in that meeting. 

Stop the Flu BEFORE it stops you!

        Good news folks.  This kid will not be getting sick in the flu season.  I know what you Clemson people are thinking: 'Bryson can go through a year without getting sick? Impossible.'  But I'm getting 8 hours of sleep almost every night, and I got the key ingredient to health through the winter today...A flu shot!  Thank you, Raycom Sports.  It was funny to see everyone's reactions to the shot, until I got up to the front of the line and realized that the needle was 2 inches long.  Yikes.  Oh well, if I don't have an adverse reaction to the shot, I will be flu free this year!
        In other, more applicable, news, I have signed up to crew for the Clemson vs. Maryland game next weekend and I am really excited to see and work in the production side of Raycom.  From what I've heard, whatever responsibility they give to the utilities staff should be pretty simple, maybe even a little bit boring.  BUT, I'm just excited about working and being right in the middle of all of that game excitement. 
        I got the call today.  The wake up call.  I am 4 months out from being potentially unemployed.  I've started looking at job openings, but it's not like it was before I got this job, when EVERYTHING was potentially interesting to me.  I've narrowed down what I want to do, and there are not as many opportunities.  Also, I hadn't been searching for opportunities with other bowls before, and now I don't know where to go to find the available postings.  This is the bad part of being a glorified intern, as soon as you settle into one job, you've got to making your next career move.  Kind of scary!
        OK, y'all.  If you are living in the Charlotte area, I'm plugging it to you again.  Buy your Extra Point Passes.  If not for the benefits at restaurants like Fox and Hound, Morton's, and Ruths Chris, then do it because it's good for Charlotte and a great way to support the games!  We want to KEEP the ACC Championship in North Carolina, and we need to make the first year a major success to do so!  Go to www.extrapointpass.com to purchase your passes.

Monday, Monday...

        There was an unannounced meeting this morning for the bowl at 9 am, which was awesome because I had not prepared one thing for it, having not known about it.  Luckily, no one else got the memo either, so half of the regular attendants weren't even there.  It was a nice small group, and luckily there was no need for updated materials, as there was no one to present updated materials to.  Typically, we have a 9 AM Monday morning meeting with the Bowl, and a 10 AM meeting for the Championship.  By typically, I mean that we will have the meetings on some Mondays, but should apparently be ready for them every week.  Note to self.  Anyways, on our way to the next meeting, there was a traffic jam in the reception area of Raycom.  Literally, at least 30 people were standing in the reception area crowded around a 32" flat screen, watching the 21 year old American teammate on the Ryder Cup, Jeff Overton, make an incredible shot towards the end of the tournament.  It was pretty hilarious, actually.  Will Webb literally announced to the front office that our meeting was going to be pushed back 10 minutes.  When we finally made it to the board room, we opened the blinds to the window that faced the television, which meant that NO ONE was paying attention to the meeting, and that everyone, except for Will Webb, watched the US lose the Ryder Cup. 
        Other than that, we worked on some of our ongoing projects for most of the day.  One of those projects was to make sure people who've purchased ACC championship tickets have actually payed for them.  One of our fabulous customers didn't even realize she had purchased tickets.  She said she was an SEC fan and didn't have any reason to purchase the ACC tickets (although we had records of her doing so).  Any guesses as to which school this clever customer was a fan of?  That's right University of South Carolina.  Clever bunch of folks, aren't they?  Sarah's dad came into the office today to meet the group and take her out to lunch.  Sarah and I have actually talked a lot about family and friends.  It's been cool to get to know her on a personal level, and it was nice to put a face with the name of one of the people she's told me about.
At 4 we headed over to the Stadium to begin planning for the Coaches Reception in Suite 87.  Liz Ballenger took us around to show us how guests would enter, where each of the food stations etc...would be set up, and what we needed to order to bring in.  We talked menus too, and I am going to have their chef send us some different options to decide between.  We asked Liz about how they created meals for all the suites and she said that at the beginning of each season the chefs will cook EVERYTHING on the menu for any new suites.  That way the person in charge of that suite will know what each thing is supposed to look like and will no whether or not they need to send it back to the kitchen if it looks under cooked or whatever.  So they have this huge taste testing around June.  I told Liz that it is a possibility that I will be unemployed at that point, and if so, would be happy to be contracted out to taste test for a living.  Seriously,  people joke that all we do is go to meetings and talk food, but really...it's a large portion of the job description right now! 
        I talked to Will Qualkinbush, sports information extraordinare from Clemson, and it made me miss College.  Who am I kidding, I always miss college, but he made me miss the people there.  On the plus side, he totally helped me pick out my outfit for tomorrow.  If he ever reads this he will die, but folks, Will put a lot of thought into tomorrow's ensemble.  I'm pretty excited about it.

ACC Football Impact Shoot

        Note to self: do not ever skip eye makeup.  I didn't wear mascara to work yesterday and both Courtney and my Aunt Ann asked me if I was ok...yikes.  Tuesday night we went to the shoot for ACC Football Impact Shoot.  It is crazy how much stuff goes into shooting a 30 minute show.  Moving lighting centimeter by centimeter, wardrobe changes, anchor placement, etc.  Danielle Trotta, who is the field reporter for Nascar is the host of the show, and was SO sweet.  Sarah has actually had lunch with her because she's essentially doing Sarah's dream job.  It's funny because I went into Clemson thinking that I'd want to get into broadcast, but realized quickly that I don't have the look or the talent for that.  On top of that, I realized the other night that the broadcast thing is not for me.  Watching Danielle do her job really stressed me out.  First of all, production shoots 4 shows in one night, so she has to remember her lines for the segments, times 4.  Interesting fact: the last segment of the show is the highly entertaining ACC Roadtrip Footage.  Because they shoot the shows for the month before the games happen, Danielle has to pretend like she's seen what's been shot when it really hasn't happened.  Furthermore, the script has to be specific enough to introduce footage, but vague enough to allow for changes in the Roadtrip shoot.

ACC Football Impact Shoot

Daniel Trotta getting ready to shoot

        I don't understand how you remember all that material, and make it sound like it's second nature to you.  While it wasn't what I'd want to do with my career, necessarily, every aspect was pretty interesting..  For instance, the camera stand called a Jimmy Jib (ha...i liked the name), is set to move in the opposite direction of where you move your hands.  I likened it to steering with a rudder, but no one understood my sailing reference in the room.  Oh well.  I thought Dad would appreciate that. 

Home Sweet Greensboro, who knew?

        If someone could figure out how to do a time released coffee injection system, that would release coffee into your system approximately 15 minutes before your alarm system,  I think-i know- that the person would make a fortune.  It was one of those recurring thoughts this past week as I struggled not to yawn in meetings.  Something came over me, maybe change of seasons, maybe change of pace is starting to catch up with me, it's definitely not lack of sleep, but something made me extremely tired last week.  So if I could get hooked up to a coffee IV, I'd be all about it.
        On Thursday night, we had a going away party for Jeremy "Worm" Williams at Morehead St. Tavern.  Worm is one of the production guys in Raycom who is INCREDIBLY talented...so naturally he got snatched up by the UFC (that is Ultimate Fighting...eek...for those of you who aren't aware) to do production for them in Las Vegas.  Not a bad gig!  Anyways, he's that guy in the office that holds a special place in everyone's hearts.  Sarah and I were lucky enough to get close to him in a short period of time, so after the party, Jeremy, Sarah, Chris (an intern on the production team) and I all went out to dinner at Black Finn afterward.  We used our Extra Point Passes and got 3 FREE appetizers-well worth it.  It was really fun to have the last supper with Jeremy, and it's been so much fun to get to know him over the past couple of months-a small town, Ed Hardy loving boy from South Carolina who's gone on to do great things in his career. 
        This was the first weekend I had nothing to do-so naturally I slept in on Saturday.  I actually woke up earlier, realized that I would have nothing to do if I got out of bed and went right back to sleep.  Homesickness set in for the first time that morning, and so I decided to go up to Greensboro for the weekend.  Seeing my family was just what I needed this weekend, and as an added bonus, I got to see LANDER!  She's been out West and has finally returned home, at least temporarily.  I think she is in the process of being inherited by my family.  My mother is getting pedicures with her, they are cooking dinner together, and apparently starting sewing classes.  I'm starting to wonder if Barbara has gained a new favorite daughter.  After dinner, Mary Catherine, Lander and I went to see "You, Again".  Lander wanted me to go hang out with her friend Phil, but I really just wanted to be with my family, so I asked if she wouldn't mind us just going to see a movie instead.  By the time we got around to going to the movie, both of my parents had backed out-lame.  Overall, "You, Again" was relatively average acting, an OK plot, but still pretty funny I thought. 
        When we got back from the movie my parents were already asleep, so Lander convinced me to go meet up with Phil and his roommate, Tim, for a drink.  I reluctantly headed out, but ended up having a good time.  By the way, for all of my Clemson friends, Phil is the nephew of the owner of Spill the Beans- I know how much all of you will appreciate that!  We headed back to their house to play SCRABBLE (of all things-I know, just another crazy Saturday night...HA).  Naturally, I won the worlds longest word game, ever, but I will confess that Tim-who is an admittedly competitive scrabble player (and, on a side note, has FABULOUS taste in music)- gave me a helpful hint in the beginning that really changed the game for me, so I can't take all the credit...but I still kicked his butt.  And then we got a reality check when my Mom texted me at 3:45 in the morning, suggesting that Lander and I should probably not be out that late.  Honestly, we had no idea what time it was, but I have never felt more like a high school kid about to get grounded than at that moment. I am ashamed to say that I did not go to church the next morning...but Tim and Phil did, and out of all churches they attended my parents'!  That will be one of those stories my Mom will most likely not let me live down for a little while. 
        We were supposed to be at a golf tournament today in Kannapolis.  The plan was to meet at the office and carpool to The Club at Irish Creek for the 13th Annual Charlotte Sports Commission Golf Outing, so it made sense for me to stay in Greensboro for the night and just meet the group in Kannapolis.  I made great time this morning, in part, thanks to Mary Catherine who cooked me eggs-2 different kinds!  In fact we were supposed to meet at 10 AM but I was scheduled to pull in at the tournament at 9:20.  I was very happy that I was so punctual, and then I got the call.  The outing was canceled and it was just going to be another day at the office, meaning that instead of being 40 minutes early for work, I was going to be 45 minutes late.  It is not a good feeling to be stuck on the highway when all you can do is drive and watch

The Wonderful World of Web

        I am so embarrassed.  I just figured out how to keep track of how much action my blog is getting.  I'm actually a little surprised because, as I've said several times, I feel like it would make no difference if I was writing in a diary.  However, when I finally managed to click on the stats button I found that my blog has been viewed 347 times since the middle of August. 

        I've discovered a new world of stats that I'm actually interested in...and it's kind of fun to look at!  You can see how many "page views" you've had that day, week, month, and over time.  You can track what search terms have led people to find your blog, which pages have click-throughs to your blog, and which posts are attracting the most initial attention.  So, for instance...big shout out to Margaret Austen because her blog has been a source of several click throughs to my blog.  http://www.thomasandmargaret.blogspot.com/  By the way, if you are interested in reading about a crazy life, read her blog.  Margaret is Married to Thomas Austen, former Clemson football star who is trying to break into the NFL world...they are living like nomads right now and Margaret is great at describing that lifestyle.  Check her out.

You can also see what country your blog is getting hits in.  OK, I KNOW that this has absolutely no reflection on the influence my blog really has in the blogosphere, but y'all someone has viewed my blog in Canada, Denmark, Spain, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, and Hong Kong...HA!  It's just cool to think that my ongoing letter to friends and family about my life experiences is being stumbled upon (sporadically) across the world!  What I want to know is how they are searching it, because when I try to google my blog, it's not easily searchable.  There are ways to make your blog more accessible and I think that it might be a cool experience to try and expand the regular audience of the blog, just to see if I can do it!  Stay tuned...we'll see how it works.  Anyways, I just wanted to share a new hobby: looking at graphs about viewership of my blog...vain, I know.  I'm hoping the novelty will wear off soon.

        I'm not really a big fan of posting my blog on my facebook or twitter pages, asking people to read my latest post...right now at least.  But if anyone has any tips about how to make blogs more accessible, I'd love to hear them.  Trying to increase my following will hopefully be a new fun project for me...a amateur experiment with a grassroots promotional effort if you will.  

        

        Today was a bit busier in the office.  I continued to update the Meineke event manual and 4 more extra point passes today!  Seriously y'all.  If you live in the Charlotte area, you should definitely get a pass www.extrapointpass.com .  10 percent off Ruth's Chris, free appetizers at Blackfinn, $5 off your ticket to the Meineke Car Care Bowl.  Just to name a few deals.  You'll make your money back using it once or twice!  Do I sound like a used car salesman yet?  Really, though.  It's a good deal and a great way to support the 2 games being in Charlotte.  We also worked on the Newsletter today and tried to figure out Constant Contact, which is an email marketing site.  Essentially, you gather a database of email addresses that you want to reach out weekly, monthly, whatever, and format a newsletter to send to them with whatever updates you have.  We have 4 newsletters that we regularly send out.  Don't get me wrong.  Constant Contact from an operating standpoint is extremely self explanatory.  However, from an editing standpoint...quite frankly, it sucks.  Formatting is severely inefficient and some simple editing tasks are near impossible on the site.  Kind of annoying.

        Amy Yukola came from ACC headquarters today to spend some time working on the championship and I think-I hope- we finally locked down gifts for the championship game!  This has been a back and forth struggle because we are dealing with pressures from vendors, the ACC, and our own opinions in Charlotte Collegiate Football.  I'm hoping that what we came up with today for our media, VIP's and players will be well received by the rest of the ACC staff.  Here's to hoping and praying!
        I apologize that these posts have been less work intensive these past couple of days.  I was just sharing some other interests of mine.  More Game posts to come!

You Can't Shit A Shitter

        Excuse the french, but I think it's a valuable lesson.  If there has been one constant in phone conversations with my mother since the summer, it's been about her dreams of my teeth falling out because I haven't been to a dentist.  So when she called today while I was at lunch with Sarah, and I still hadn't scheduled the appointment, I told Sarah that the teeth conversation was going to happen again and I was going to tell my Mom I had scheduled it, and call when when I got back to work.  Well, sure enough my mom is still have dreams about my toothless smile, and I fed her the story.  The problem was, that she didn't bite.  Her exact words were, "OK Bry, did you really call, or are you just saying you called and now you are going to rush back to the office to deal with it?" Sarah heard her, and we both burst into laughter.  I couldn't even try to cover my tracks.  I'd lied and was totally found out.  Mom's response was, "you can't shit a shitter" and it's so true.  By shit a shitter she meant, you can't fake a faker.  I will be expecting another phone call about my teeth, and about publicizing my mothers use of cuss words, but I think it's a good point that extends beyond the little white lies about scheduling appointments.  You can't fake your way through anything and when you try to, you get burned.  It just doesn't work- in friendships, in your job, in your spiritual life.  It's funny because I read last night in "The Message" which is the New Testament written in contemporary English, from Romans 1-2.  


        "You didn't think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he's such a nice God, he'd let you off the hook?  Better think this one through from the beginning.  GOD IS KIND, BUT HE'S NOT SOFT (I love this line).  In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life change.
        You're not getting by with anything.  Every refusal and avoidance of god adds fuel to the fire....If you go against the grain you get splinters, regardless of which neighborhood your from, what your parents taught you, what schools you attended.  But if you embrace the way God does things, there are wonderful payoffs, again without regard to where you are from or how you were brought up.  Being a Jew won't give you an automatic stamp of approval.  God pays no attention to what others say, or what you think about you.  He makes up his own mind"


        OK a couple of notes.  First of all, I always thought that preachers used the topical search index in the back of a study bible to find the verse that proves the point of a story that happened in the week prior.  In reality, that could be true in some cases.  On the other hand, it could be a myth I've created due to my lack of discipline, spending time in the word.  One night of reading the bible matched with one trivial conversation and I've put together a spiritual lesson for myself.  Huh.  Second of all, if we go back to the original Shitting the Shitter lesson, and relate it here...we will have to rephrase.  In my mom's case I'm shitting the shitter because she may be just as bad about making a habit of 'faking it' as I am.  But with God, he's no shitter...he's the real thing.  So you can't shit....the highest, the all knowing?  Finally, I have this sinking feeling that this will be the first post that my grandparents read, and if so...I am sorry for my use of language!  I just thought there were some parallels in points and this blog has become the best forum for me to share most of my experiences.  I also offer an apology to anyone else offended by the use of the word shit as a verb connected to a conversation about God.  It's not conventional, but I'm not even going to pretend to have the world's cleanest mouth all of the time.  
        In the spirit of being honest, we didn't do...anything in the office today, really.  I mean, I went over the event manual with George Johnson, which is helpful to hear him talk through the events he is responsible for coordinating.  Other than that, Sarah and I got to pretend to be metropolitan professionals and sit outside of Dean and Deluca for lunch.  Our favorite pastime, besides learning everything there is to know about this industry (obviously), is watching female professionals walk by and pick apart their outfits.  The corner of South Tryon and 4th street was a great place to people watch!  Hoping to go downtown for lunch more often.  
         Tonight Ann and I went to the Pizza Peal for dinner and chocolate cheesecake.  We talked about my jobs, taking everything you can from a company, and learning your place in the hierarchy of a business.  All valuable things to keep in mind when interacting at work.  Loved dinner and conversation with my Aunt!   

I AM making the dentist appointment tomorrow. 

Clemson. You are so dumb. Fo Real.

        Auburn is like visiting Clemson in your dream.  It's like, you feel like you're in the place you know in love, but something's just a bit off.  We left Charlotte on Friday after work and made our way down to Clemson to meet Ansley and her friend Drew.  Overall, the trip took about 5 and 1/2 hours (I think?) and was filled with a car ride full of good music, great dance moves all around, and over-enthusiastic fight songs and cadence counts.  When we arrived in Auburn around 10pm (c) and after dropping Drew off, Ansley's boyfriend Wes gave us 11 minutes to get ready to go out.  Anyone would have been impressed with how quickly 3 girls were able to get dressed made up and ready to go with one mirror and one bedroom...I wondered why that was so easy, until I got to the bars and realized that I had not come prepared.  On our way to the first bar, I realized I had forgotten my ID, and so from that point on I had to sneak into everywhere I went downtown...as a college graduate.  C'est la vie.  We had a lot of fun in downtown Auburn (which puts downtown Clemson to shame as far as size) and saw a LOT of Clemson friends. 

Downtown Auburn with the Ansley's, after our 11 minute routine...Alabama heat really did a number on this girl's hair.

        We got home and promptly went to sleep on a futon in the hallway of Wes' apartment.  We woke up an hour later to one of Wes' friends, Mac (who we did not know at this point but got to know pretty quickly soon after) running up the stairs, knocking on another roommate's door and yelling "Corey! Your floor is raining into the kitchen!"  Corey did not seem immediately concerned about the flood starting on the first floor but eventually got out of his bed and went downstairs to deal with the situation.  Once I thought the issue was taken car of, I tried to fall back asleep, which almost happened.  Then I heard Corey and Mac's conversation (In the truest Alabama accent): "DUDE, make me an Eggo", "Shut your butt".  At this point Ansley (who had not uttered one word throughout this entire process, and whom I thought was fast asleep) and I burst out cackling in unison.  After that, there was no going back to sleep for Ansley Faria, Mac, or Me and we went downstairs to hang out with our new hilarious friend Mac for the rest of the night...I literally mean the entire night.  Bailey, Another one of Wes' roommates came down at 6:30 the next morning to go get the tailgate spot ready, and could not get over the 3 of us who were still up, at this point, sharing YouTube videos, and making fun of each other.  

        By 8:30 we were up and getting ready to head out for a day of tailgating.  We spent the entire day outside tailgating with Wes and his friends.  The location was perfect, because we ended up getting to see a lot of Clemson people...again.  The sad thing is that now that I think about it, I saw very few of my close friends that I know were there, but that I didn't come with.  Anyways, there was lots of good food, beer, football on a flat screen, and plenty of Orange to go around...a great tailgate scene if you ask me.  

This picture does not reflect how...hot we were the entire day.  Good ol' Alabama heat.

        When it was time for the game, we headed to the stadium to watch the eagle fly in.  I am SO disappointed that I didn't get a picture.  I figured that an Auburn site would give the best description, although I wish you could have seen Mac telling the story, dressed in his pajamas and his Auburn full brimmed hat.  Pretty hilarious, but it is a cool story.  This account came from auburnwareagle.com: 

"During the first ever Auburn-Georgia game back in 1892, there was an aging Civil War vet in the crowd. The old soldier brought with him, that day, his pet eagle- a bird he had found on the battlefield during the war. He had nursed this eagle back to health and eventually adopted it as his own. At some point during this game, the eagle leapt from the soldier’s arm and soared high above the field. While the eagle hovered overhead, Auburn took the lead with a dramatic touchdown drive and students began chanting “War Eagle!”

Auburn won the game however, when the game ended, the eagle took a nosedive onto the field and died. Still, he became an instant legend and gave birth to the “War Eagle” battle cry tradition.

During Auburn’s pre-game festivities, the eagle is released and gracefully circles the stadium until landing in the middle of Pat-Dye Field while Auburn fans yell “War Eagle, Hey!” The flight of the eagle became a game day tradition after Tiger’s first flight at the Wyoming game on August 31, 2000. This is the only University where the eagle flight takes place."

        

http://tinyurl.com/35w5rmw the result of a viral video sensation, and a phrase that had already been a theme for the weekend...how appropriate after our final kicking scheme that cost us the game.

        When we returned to the tailgate, I realized that, not only had my tigers taken a beating, my ankles had as well.  Y'all...over the course of the day I had developed CANKLES like you wouldn't believe.  That is one feature that I do not possess, but I think after an entire day of standing up all the blood had rushed down to my feet.  I refused to take a picture of them because I did not want to remember what they looked like, although the image is hard to shake.  I decided that I could not be in public with the tree trunks attaching my knees to my feet, so Ansley and I made our way to find a cab.  We had every intention in the world to come back to hangout, until what we thought might be a 20 minute ordeal to find a cab and take us 5 minutes down the road, turned into an hour long process.  By the time we got home to get changed and head back out, Ansley and Wes and friends were calling suggesting we just order a pizza and call it a night...a welcome suggestion. 
        On Sunday, we woke up to the sad realization that we were not heading back to Clemson to sit in harts cove in our pajamas and watch movies all night with each other, and instead we were each returning to our respective homes, to go to prepare for work on Monday.  Furthermore, what I realized is that, in a normal world, a Clemson football loss stinks on Saturday, and still stings on Sunday, but by Monday it's all over with.  In my world, it stinks on Saturday, still stings on Sunday, but gets even worse on Monday when your job centers around how ACC football teams perform for their conference.  And it doesn't help when your lack of voice serves as a constant reminder to all colleagues that you were a participant in the Clemson Football experience on the Saturday before.   
        Don't let me fool you, I am still LOVING my job, but I'm missing college friends and college life more than ever right now.  Ansley Zarra and I were talking on our way home from the game about missing college and I realized that I wish I had one more year in school, knowing all that I know now, to enjoy the college life.  If I had that one more year, I would use it to make Christ an even more central part of my college career, let go of petty disagreements more quickly, love my friends more actively.  Ah, oh well.  I am thankful for the 4 years I was given.  This one goes out to you, dear Clemson Friends-from every year- you know who you are!
        Also, I don't know how I forgot to mention this BUT on the way back from Alabama, I got a very unexpected call from the great Continent of AFRICA from Lindsay Hook.  Congratulations to the future Mrs. Goeghegan!!!  And good luck trying to perfect your new signature with a last name like that!

Blogging At Work...NCSU/CINCY viewing party

        Days are getting busier and busier...but this is the first time I've written from my desk at work!  I'm leaving for Auburn after work today with Ansley and Ansley and I can't WAIT.  It's casual Friday, and so obviously I'm CLEMSON T-shirt.  Lois, the receptionist was wearing an orange sweater set and Will Webb was wearing an orange tie (both by accident, but still wearing orange), and it made me feel at home!  I have gotten plenty of comments about the game this weekend though...and my choice of attire. 

        So much to catch up on in just 2 days of taking a break from the blog.  Wednesday was a long day of promoting the NCSU vs. Cincinnati Bearcats game and our viewing party.  I think some things will happen differently the next time we do a viewing party at the Epicentre from both ends.  We found out that a couple of VIP pass holders had been turned down by the pass at the bars earlier in the week and so we had to deal with that situation.  In the end, it was a good thing this happened early on, so that we can remedy the situation before it becomes a bigger problem.  All of the bars' staff members are completely on board now and it should no longer be a problem.  But because the a couple of the bars were kind of confused about there general role with the Extra Point Pass Program, we were nervous about giving them something EXTRA to promote on the night of the viewing party.  Of course, a large part of the viewing party was to promote the pass and the program, and so I told Will and Courtney that I thought the extra specials were pretty much an essential element of the parties.  This meant that we had to scramble to figure out what would be best for both the venues and for our purposes.  It was kind of messy but it got done, and over all the event went well....AND the Wolfpack won.  Which is good for us...I think...depending on which prospective I'm coming from.  It's a confusing role to represent the ACC in two capacities and the Big East in another, especially when they are playing each other.  

        On a social note, Ansley came in town on Wednesday and got to see the office!  It was really weird having my former roommate come and visit me.  I'm used to us coming home to each other!  But we met Ansley for dinner and then some other friends (Christie, Lauren, Carrie, Caroline, and Kate) at Angry Ale's afterwords for trivia.  Also, good ol' Mike Morrel came into town earlier this week and we were supposed to have a drink but in his words, he "punked out".  He says he'll be in town again next week, so we'll see whether he punks out again.  
        I texted with Will for a moment the other day, and he said that he wanted to talk on the phone to catch up.  Naturally, I was ecstatic about the suggestion but I have not heard from him and he hasn't returned my call.  If anyone speaks to him, please inform him that I desperately want to talk to MY BROTHER!   
        Alright, back to work...won't have time to write again until Sunday, but I'm sure visiting Auburn will leave me with several stories to share at the end of a weekend!