Day 47 of MSBA 2013: Doug Smoyer, NY Giants VP Of Business Development, Inspires MSBA

Post by Ethan Shibutani for July 18, 2013

Connect with Ethan on Twitter and Linkedin.

In the middle of the hottest week of the summer, we had the pleasure of hearing from Doug Smoyer, the Vice President of Business Development for the New York Giants.

Gathered in Leverage Agency's conference room, Doug asked us to start by telling him our favorite sports team as we introduced ourselves, a nice change of pace from our typical introductions.
Surprisingly, nobody said the New York Giants (Let’s Go Eagles!).

Being a diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan, it was hard for me to get over the fact that Doug opened by telling us that he was a big Pittsburgh Penguins fan.

The Penguins are also where Doug got his start in the industry, first as an intern and then as an account executive. Doug’s experience as an intern is extremely relevant to all of us at MSBA, and he stressed (like many others have) just how important it is to make a good impression at your internship every single day.

One thing that Doug said that really resonated with me was that it is easy to get into a groove as an intern after getting comfortable with your coworkers. However, it is important to remember that we are constantly being evaluated, whether we know it or not. With three weeks to go in my internship with Foot Locker, this is something that I will keep in mind in order to finish strong and leave a lasting impression on my bosses and coworkers.

Doug also spoke about his role as the VP of Business Development with the Giants, explaining it as a combination of sales and relationship management. This was interesting to me because I have had two “Business Development” internships in the past and have always thought that this area was extremely vague. Doug’s description of his area of the business was excellent, and it allowed me to look back on my past internships and really grasp the meaning of the work that I did.

With the Giants, Doug works to find new “partners,” an important distinction because the Giants believe in a closer relationship than a typical “sponsor” relationship. It is his job to foster relationships with brands such as MillerCoors and Walgreens and make sure that the partnership is working for both sides, oftentimes getting to know the parties on the other side of the deal on a personal level. With only a week left in MSBA, the speaker series continues to impress. While I’m sad that we’re down to the last week or so here, I’m excited to see what’s still to come in a busy final week.