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!

To catch everyone up:

Hey friends...thanks for reading!  Overall, my hopes for this blog are to keep a digital log of my experiences as a recent graduate and young professional in the field of sport promotion.  I want to actively participate in the learning process of my new job and feel like a blog is a great way to hold myself accountable to this goal.  I also wanted an avenue to share my experiences with you: my friends and family, or whoever else might be interested.  This is an exciting time for me.   I am certain that I am about embark on a journey that I will not soon forget, and would love for you all to share in these experiences with me through these blog entries.

The past couple of months have been bittersweet scary, chaotic, and exciting for me as I graduated from Clemson in one of the worst job markets our country has seen.  For those who don’t know, I graduated without a job, as did many of my friends, and without any certain plans.  I knew I wanted a job in sport promotion, and I knew that those opportunities were few and far between, but could not broaden my field of search out of fear of losing sight of my true ambitions.  I was fortunate enough to be able to ride out my lease in Clemson this past summer and continue my work in the Men’s Basketball office thanks to the generosity of our new head coach Brad Brownell and his staff, who had no reason to keep me on…they had only known me for a brief period of time.  As summer crept by, and job opportunities seemed to slip through the cracks I realized that I might have to come to terms with the unthinkable: that after 4 years of living on my own, I was going to have to move back in with the Parents.  I was getting used to the idea and trying to line things up in Greensboro for when I returned and then one morning I woke up, sitting straight up in my bed (getting up for me is usually a much more drawn out process) and thinking ‘I cannot move back home…my mom will make me throw away half of my clothes!’. 

As trivial as the thought was, it was the first of several events that led to the start of a career path.  That same day I received an email from a college friend and classmate, Leslie Farmer, saying that she was leaving her current position at the South Carolina Technology and Aviation Center (former Donaldson Center in Greenville, SC) to pursue an opportunity with meals on wheels and that she was looking for a qualified replacement.  The job was not in sports…in fact it was the farthest thing from it.  It was also not a full time position, but it was an opportunity to manage the public relations and Communications efforts for SCTAC and seemed to certainly be the type of job that would open doors to future careers in general PR.  I was unsure about the job, but even less sure about moving back home, so I decided to meet with Jody Bryson, CEO of SCTAC.  After meeting with Jody, I felt completely at peace with my decision to jump on board with their team.  I got the job on Friday, started Monday (my close friend Channing was so great to let me crash with her for the week), and I had so much fun in my first week learning about the job and SCTAC.  I never thought something so technological in nature could be so interesting to me, and I called my parents every night to tell them how much I LOVED what I was doing.   

Coincidentally, on my way home from work after my third day, I got a call from Will Webb, Executive Director of Charlotte Collegiate Football, offering me an internship position.  Charlotte Collegiate Football is a nonprofit that runs the ACC Championship Football Game and the Meineke Car Care Bowl game, and is located in the Raycom Sports office.  I began going through their application process in February which ended for me in the middle of July with the understanding that I would not be interning with them.  When I got the call, my immediate reaction was that, because of my job at SCTAC, I would have to let the opportunity pass me by.  I thought there was no way I could leave a job I had already taken, especially one that I enjoy.  I spent the rest of the night praying and speaking to family about the situation.    The general consensus among a few of my close friends and family members was that ultimately, this was a business opportunity and that I would regret it for the rest of my life if I let the opportunity of my dreams slip through my fingers.  Ultimately I had to come to the decision that the position with Charlotte Collegiate Football was an opportunity that I simply could not pass up.  This is the opportunity that I have been praying for and I knew that if I didn’t seize it, I may never be offered a chance to break into sport promotion and pursue my passion again.  All that to say, I went into work on my fourth day and quit my job.  It was one of the tasks that I have dreaded most in my time as a young adult, but Jody Bryson could not have been more gracious to me.  He told me that it was exciting that I was getting the chance to pursue my dream career and even asked to stay in touch.  I will never forget the unnecessary kindness that he bestowed on me as it allowed me to pursue my dreams in full force, without guilt, and also reassured me that the decision I had made was, in fact, the right decision for me. 

I started interning today and don’t think there was one moment where I didn’t have a smile on my face.  Even though the day was filled with simple tasks and typical ‘first day of work duties’ like setting up my new computer, meeting the team I will be working with, and touring the Raycom Building, I enjoyed every minute of it.  Sarah, the other intern, and I got to familiarize ourselves with the Meineke Car Care Bowl Game and ACC Championship Bowl Game social media sites that we will be heavily involved with (you can follow both on twitter: @ACCfootballCLT and @MeinekeBowlGame) and also tried to figure out the new seeding and selections for the 2010-2011 bowl games…we are still not sure if we got all the information right!  We will definitely be taking a second and probably third look at that tomorrow.  We also got to learn about a lot of the promotional events we will be working with, which is really exciting!  The only moment that I did not enjoy was when one of the team members asked me whether I had a Blackberry or a Droid, and I had to ask him to insert a third option.  I quickly realized that I was the only one at the table without one of the two communication devices, and was immediately aware of my dyer need for a smart phone! 

Overall, the day was great.  I’m living with the Conrads right now (My aunt and uncle) and Carrie and Ryan (cousins) are still here so it has been fun getting to spend time with the family during the fabulous dinners they have prepared for the past two nights!  I will be updating this blog regularly, but do not anticipate a post ever being this long again…just wanted to catch everyone up at once.  Excited for my second day tomorrow!