Day 26 of MSBA 2013: Relationship-Building 101, Trip to Barclays Center & the NBA Draft

Post by Aaron Malave for June 27, 2013

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As the week winds down, it is beginning to hit me that the end of this week means the end of the first half of this summer’s Manhattan Sports Business Academy.

The MSBA staff warned us that the summer would fly by and with a month of the program complete, I wish they were wrong.

 With that in mind, I set a personal goal for myself to maximize the remaining month I have left in New York City. Since so much in the business world is about relationships, I began reaching out to professionals that I felt I couldn’t leave without speaking to.

This week I had the opportunity to meet with the Vice President of Marketing for Madison Square Garden, Adam Thier, who was one of the members on the panel for our first Friday Field Trip. We met up after work and I was fortunate enough to hear him speak in depth about the events he has put on for Madison Square Garden and the ins and outs of his 14-year career with MSG. More importantly, he allowed me to express both my professional and personal goals and gave me advice on how to achieve them. I am truly appreciative of the time Adam took to speak with me and I know this connection could not have been made had it not been for MSBA.

Reporting live from the NBA Draft at Barclays Center
— Aaron Malave (@MrMalave_) June 27, 2013

This summer I am interning at Catch-New York, working on the AND1 account. Yesterday, my boss asked me to sit in on a conference call regarding the social media plan going forward for the brand. After that conversation it was revealed to me that I will be running the company’s twitter handle for the rest of the summer. Being the social media/twitter junkie I am, I came away from the meeting extremely excited. Furthermore, I now expect all MSBA affiliates to follow @AND1basketball. This past Thursday night we were free from speakers and field trips so a couple of us decided to attend the NBA Draft at Barclays Center.

As a Heat fan, I was more than happy to sacrifice seeing my team make a draft pick live for last week’s Championship win. But still, I decided to tag along. It was the first time for all of us at a draft so we were all excited to see the workings of something we could previously only see on TV. I was especially excited for Chris Stathos, a Cavaliers fan, who had the once in a lifetime opportunity to see his favorite team make the first overall pick (even if no one has ever heard of him). We picked the right year for our first draft, because it was full of surprises. The Barclays Center was definitely on my list of must-sees this summer and it didn’t disappoint. When we got there I was astonished at the architecture of the newest arena in the NBA.

The buzz in the arena was unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of; with fans checking twitter for all the latest trade news and speculation and sharing it with other fans. All in all, it was an electrifying atmosphere and I’m glad I got to bare witness on a night that young men’s dreams of playing in the National Basketball Association were realized. Four weeks down, four to go. As Dr. Seuss once pondered, “How did it get so late so soon?” Here’s to making the second half of MSBA more memorable than the first.

Day 25 of MSBA 2013: Moving Without The Ball

Post by Justin Vine for June 26, 2013

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Move without the ball.

They are four words that I haven’t forgotten since they came out of ESPN Sports Business Reporter Darren Rovell’s mouth on opening night. I understood the metaphor.

Being an avid basketball fan, I took the few short words upon myself and for three weeks straight I tried to live those words. Do more to separate from the clutter. Make yourself open so when the ball is passed to you, then you are free for an easy dunk.

This past Wednesday, I was nonstop busy — reviewing contracts, filling out applications and playing phone tag, trying to put together a proposal on an issue that that had us bogged down. After several hours, they were done. And it was lunchtime.

A fellow MSBA’er and I popped out of the office to get some fresh air. We got back sat down and I got on the Internet to see what I had missed all morning. Aaron Hernandez had been arrested and released by the New England Patriots. Someone on Twitter had posted a link to watch the Aaron Hernandez arraignment proceeding, which we decided to upload and follow along. At this time my employer and mentor, Jason Belzer (Founder of GAME Inc., and Forbes Contributing writer) questioned our productivity in watching videos on the Internet, only later to find out the significance of what we were watching.

Under a sense of urgency, Jason instructed me to drop everything I had been working on and focus solely on the arraignment. I was to write an article for Forbes on the legal ramifications of Hernandez being charged with first-degree murder. A morning of nonstop turned into an afternoon of nonstop, which culminated in a published article on Forbes. An opportunity like this doesn’t fall into everyone’s lap. But this opportunity wasn’t granted out of left field. It was built on trust. All of the small and unnoticed tasks over time allowed me to build a relationship with my mentor that revolves around trust, a trust that credits its support from moving without the ball. I took 20 minutes to enjoy this achievement, but had I achieved? I co-authored an article that was being reported by every major news outlet across the world. That’s nice but that’s not the kind of accolade or success that I have my dreams set on. Stay humble and hungry.

After work, the MSBA group met at Platinum Rye to hear from Senior Director of Marketing, Mark Zablow. To be blunt, I didn’t have the slightest clue what Platinum Rye or Mark were about. But to be frank, I walked away from his speech more moved and impressed than I was with any other speaker. Mark had a form of passion and enthusiasm about his job that I hadn’t noticed with other speakers. He discussed a similar path that we have all experienced in MSBA thus far in our lives. Mark had been the full time intern just like any one of us except he had proven his net worth was worth more being paid.

He had broken through with a certain level of that PHD mentality that embodies the best; the desire to learn and build a recognized brand name not because he is the first born son of XYZ but rather with his own two hands. Mark had swagger; he knew what he was doing and was confident that he was good at it but never displayed any arrogance. This brings me to one of the prophecies he lives by — “Eat your own shit.” Be proud of what you do and wear it on your shirt. It clung to me. When I originally joined MSBA, I had my doubts. All in all, I was paying money to be provided a free internship. Let me repeat that; I was paying tuition and receiving an unpaid internship. Obviously there were other benefits that came with the program as well, but this stuck out. 

However, looking back at the four weeks I have been involved in this program, I can gladly say “I eat my own shit.” To start, I may have even paid more money for the jumpstart in my career MSBA has provided. In that time, I have written articles for Forbes, had two unbelievable experiences working for the Nets and Game Inc, and met a great group of peers that I will one day call my colleagues. I eat my own shit. If hearing Mark speak wasn’t enjoyable enough, Mark left us with Duracell Powermat’s that would be attached to all NBA draftees phones on Friday night. The hashtag is #takecharge. It sure seems suitable for what I took away from Mark’s speech.

Day 24 of MSBA 2013: Grand Opening of Prince Tennis Store in Wimbledon Village, Trip to Arthur Ashe Stadium

Post by Nicole Cho for June 25, 2013

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Week 3 was a complete whirlwind for me, especially since I’m lucky enough to have two internships this summer with NPM | PR and Harlem Junior Tennis. Throughout the week, I continued my work with Natalie from NPM | PR for Prince Tennis.

With the grand opening of their retail store in Wimbledon Village approaching (took place this past weekend), right before Day 1 of Wimbledon, Natalie and I were completely wrapped up with contacting media outlets in London to alert them of the event. Considering my passion for PR, MSBA couldn’t have placed me in a more perfect internship than with NPM | PR.

I’ve quickly realized that one of the main benefits of interning with a smaller independent company is that I’m able to be part of a process from start to finish rather than being one of the countless assisting hands on a given project and not being able to see the end product or result. Regarding the grand opening of Prince Tennis’ store in Wimbledon Village, I got to see firsthand how publicists such as Natalie reach out to major media outlets and organize for reporters to make an appearance at a given event, resulting in valuable media coverage and publicity for the company/brand.

One of the major British media outlets I contacted on behalf of Natalie was Sky Sports, who responded that they were interested in sending one of their reporters to the event. It was really interesting seeing Natalie arrange for the Sky Sports reporter to have a private interview with renowned tennis coach Nick Bollettieri of the Bollettieri Tennis Academy, as he was making a guest appearance at the grand opening along with John Isner and the Bryan brothers. Monday was an extremely rewarding day as lots of positive media coverage was published about the opening of Prince Tennis’ Wimbledon Village Store by major media outlets, such as Sports Business Daily’s Global Edition.

With Prince Tennis looking to generate new excitement and global attention around their brand and determined to stay a step ahead of their competitors, I could see how crucial it was to have a PR team or publicist who could ensure that the rest of the world heard and took notice of the company’s latest endeavors. As for my internship at Harlem Junior Tennis, I got the unbelievable opportunity to work at their 41st Anniversary Celebration gala and Celebrity Pro-AM tennis tournament. At the gala, I got to check in influential individuals such as Patrick McEnroe and Herb Williams; it was amazing being in the presence of people such as them and to hear personal stories from the students of Harlem Junior Tennis about what the program has done to improve their lives on and off the court.

The day after the gala was Harlem Junior Tennis’ Celebrity tennis tournament, which took place at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center out in Flushing Meadows. The best moment of working the tennis tournament was having the once in a lifetime experience of standing on Arthur Ashe Stadium, right in the middle of center court. Since I idolize players such as Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova that have played and won the U.S. Open on the very court I got the opportunity to stand on, it was a moment that I knew I’d never forget. I can easily say after my first three weeks in MSBA that each new week continues to top the last.

Day 23 of MSBA 2013: Networking 101 with MSBA Founder, Ben Sturner

Post by Alex Mise for June 24, 2013

Connect with Alex on Twitter and Linkedin.

Before starting my summer with the MSBA, the one skill I had already resolved to improve upon was my networking abilities. I’ve never been particularly good at juggling all sorts of contacts, staying in touch with people, or actively seeking out individuals I knew could help me get where I wanted to go.

With all the people I was going to meet over the summer, whether through my job, the various speakers, or my fellow MSBA class members, I knew that this was the perfect opportunity to finally start making an effort to be better at networking.

At the start of our 4th week (can’t believe it’s going so quickly) we got a lesson in networking from the man himself, Ben Sturner, the Founder of Leverage Agency and the MSBA. Ben invited the whole MSBA crew down to Leverage and gave us a presentation on some of the finer points of networking. When Ben showed us his binders full of business cards from various industry leaders, it was clear that he knows a thing or two about making connections and utilizing them to their fullest potential.

The biggest thing that I took away from Ben’s presentation, which covered topics from researching someone before meeting them to avoiding becoming the person at a conference that people can’t stand, was the networking is not just some activity that you do every once in awhile. It is a constant activity, with opportunities springing up all the time.

You have to be able to keep an eye out for your chance to connect with and make an impression upon someone. Ben talked about having an “elevator pitch” ready at all times. He meant that, given just 30 seconds or so, would you be able to pitch who you are and leave a good impression on someone? It was a level of preparation and anticipation that I hadn’t even thought of; I now realize that it takes that level of dedication to succeed and stand out from the clutter.

Finally, I liked the fact that Ben told us to stay away from treating networking like some cold exercise. He urged us to be genuinely interested in people and to take the time to build a real relationship. All in all it was a lot of great information and tips for how I can get the most out of my MSBA experience. I’m excited to expand my horizons using all the connections I make this summer through networking.

Day 22 of MSBA 2013: Inside Access to the National Lacrosse League

Post by Adam Daroff for June 23, 2013

Connect with Adam on Twitter and Linkedin.

Although it feels like we just arrived, MSBA is now heading into its fourth week. The time has flown by but I have done as much networking in these three weeks as I’ve probably done in the last year. We have a very busy schedule in the program and that is allowing us to maximize our eight week stay in NYC. I am interning with the National Lacrosse League, the premier North American men’s professional indoor lacrosse league.

The league headquarters are at 36th Street and 6th Avenue. The league currently has nine teams in the United States and Canada and unlike most lacrosse leagues, the NLL plays in the winter and spring. Because there are only four employees and three interns in the office, I have been able to wear a few different “hats” thus far.

I am primarily working for Brian Lemon, VP of Lacrosse Operations, but he works in Florida so most of my work with him is surrounding NLL conference calls with owners, general managers, and head coaches. Since it is the NLL’s off-season, I am spending a lot of time working on preparations for the league’s fall entry draft. The NLL’s draft is similar to those in other leagues and I am currently preparing a list of all the graduating college seniors that played NCAA lacrosse for distribution to the teams. This will serve as part of their list of draft-eligible players.

Additionally, I have and am working on some competitive analyses for Justin Rubino, Director of Business and Administrative Operations. Two examples have been comparing the NLL’s attendance versus that of NCAA lacrosse at the Division I level and Major League Lacrosse, which is an outdoor summer professional league. Lastly, I worked on an assignment which required me to put together a list of all the players that participate in both the NLL and MLL. Because the league schedules do not overlap (except for maybe two weeks), many players participate in the NLL and then the MLL in the summer. My experience at the NLL has been fantastic so far and I look forward to spending the rest of my summer there.

When not interning or participating in the awesome MSBA speakers and events, I’ve been able to network and either meet up or talk with some fantastic people in sports. I’ve had the chance to speak with some of our MSBA speakers a few days after they spoke and have arranged to meet up with a few others in the coming weeks. With networking being such a vital part of the industry, I have really taken Ben’s motivation to do so to heart. Additionally, I was able to meet my MSBA mentor, Matt Lacks, for the first time last week, as we met for lunch and discussed my interests, his career, and some of the advice he had for me.

I look forward to meeting and talking with him more the coming weeks and hopefully months and years as he is a wealth of knowledge and seemed extremely interested in helping me as I hopefully soon enter the industry. With five more weeks to go, I cannot wait to see what else Ben, David and the rest of the MSBA staff have in store for us. I’m most looking forward to the diverse speakers and our usual Friday field trips as they both give us an experience that no one outside of MSBA may ever have the chance to be a part of.

Contagious: Why Wharton Marketing Professor, Jonah Berger, Catches On

Post by Myles Robinson

Connect with Myles on Twitter and Linkedin.

When I initially received the email that our MSBA group would be traveling to the MLB Fan Cave I was pretty happy. Then I saw we would be hearing from the renowned Jonah Berger and I suddenly couldn’t control my excitement. Have you ever read a great article, watched an interesting YouTube video, or seen an inspirational tweet you just had to share?

I vividly remember sitting on my bed back home in Birmingham, AL watching this video as I was preparing to come up to NYC for the summer. I was so inspired by what I saw that I naturally shared it on my Facebook page. I also began to watch the video every day for a week. I would have it playing as I was doing mindless tasks like brushing my teeth, browsing the Internet during the day, etc. I could almost quote the first half of the video by the time I arrived for MSBA.

Little did I know that I was learning my first lesson in marketing 101: top of mind means tip of tongue. Meeting Jonah in person was quite an experience. The MLB Fan Cave, located in the heart of New York City’s Greenwich Village on 4th Street and Broadway, was very elaborately decorated and a haven for baseball fans. Instead of a traditional speech about his background, Jonah gave a presentation about his New York Times Best Seller: Contagious: Why Things Catch On. In the book he talks about how to get more word of mouth using these key six STEPPS: social currency, triggers, emotion, public, practical value, and stories.

A Wharton Marketing Professor by profession, Jonah gave all of us a lesson of why things catch on and go viral. I found it interesting that through Jonah’s extensive research more things go viral through word of mouth than traditional advertising.

For the marketing nerds like myself in the audience, Jonah challenged us to understand the psychology rather than the technology of what makes things “remarkable.” With the example of this Panda Cheese commercial we also learned the “currency of conversation” is stories. I finally realized why I like certain commercials more than others. Like the Panda Cheese example, great marketing messages, Jonah explained, have a moral hidden inside the story that takes the brand along for the ride.

Excited to go on @mlbfancave ! pic.twitter.com/HemnFJRDYJ
— jonah berger (@j1berger) June 18, 2013

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Jonah. The visit to the MLB Fan Cave was easily one of my top three experiences thus far this summer. I’m learning that sports business is just that…business. Knowing the nuances behind sports is a great, but when one begins to explore other avenues outside of the industry, it makes it fun to “connect the dots” back to sports later. As Jonah mentioned after his presentation, what makes sports so great is that its principles are applicable to many subjects.

I recommend the below articles by Jonah for all aspiring sports business professionals seeking to learn more about viral marketing.

Jonah Berger: Twitter Therapist (via Fast Company)
Viral’s Secret Formula (via the Huffington Post)
How to Make Your Personal Brand Sizzle (via LinkedIn)

Day 21 of MSBA 2013: In-Depth Look at the '360-Degree' MSBA Experience

Post by Daniel Kaplan for June 22, 2013

Connect with Daniel on Twitter and Linkedin.

Before entering MSBA this summer, I had a feeling the best part of the program would be the impressive line-up of guest speakers. We are three weeks in and that premonition has come true. The diversity of perspectives we have been exposed to from Rob Simmelkjaer, Erik Martin, Jonathan Blue, Carlos Fleming, the guys at MSG, and others has been unbelievable. That access is simply something you can’t get anywhere else.

It may be cliché, but sometimes the best way to learn is to be a sponge and absorb everything around you. For me, so far, so good on that front. Last Monday, after a long day of research and meetings at Lagardère Unlimited, former CMO of Eastman Kodak Jeffrey Hayzlett came to the EHS Library to discuss all things business. We were all fortunate enough to receive a copy of Hayzlett’s latest book Running the Gauntlet. Hayzlett was as much a motivational speaker as a seasoned business professional.

It was impossible not to feel motivated after Hayzlett described the dizzying array of appearances, book signings, speeches, meetings, and consulting ventures his team schedules on a daily basis. Hayzlett has quite literally created a business empire solely around his self-dubbed moniker as a “Global Business Celebrity”. In many ways, Hayzlett is a living example of what tireless work, coupled with a strong vision, can achieve. The Hayzlett Group’s appearance at EHS hammered home the desire of the MSBA leadership team to offer a wide range of experiences to the students. Quite simply, MSBA does not pigeonhole the student experience into just sports business.

We gain insight from speakers that have experience in all areas of business, marketing, broadcasting, sports, social media, and entrepreneurship. That is what a “360 degree” experience refers to. After only 3 chapters of Hayzlett’s book, I have gained an entirely new perspective on business, leadership, and decision-making. The rumor is some people in the MSBA program even put 4 pages of notes from Running the Gauntlet in their “important things folder”. I cannot stress enough how candid Hayzlett, and almost all other speakers, are during our conversations.

The investment these accomplished professionals seem to have in our program has been one of the pleasant surprises of MSBA. On Wednesday night, Spira CEO Andy Krafsur, an old friend of Ben's, came in to talk to MSBA about the challenges of entrepreneurship. Andy’s plight in the industry is unique because of the radical change he made in his career at a time when most wouldn’t have had the courage. After founding a successful law firm of 20 attorneys, Andy suddenly quit his law practice to start a shoe company utilizing revolutionary “WaveSpring” technology developed by his brother, David Krafsur. Andy did not sugar-coat the struggles of entrepreneurship. His stories about trying to break into an ultra-competitive footwear business dominated by powerhouse brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Asics illuminated just how difficult it is for a start-up to gain a loyal base of customers. Andy is well on his way, though, towards gaining 22 more loyal customers after providing the entire MSBA team with free Stinger XLT running shoes.

This Friday afternoon we took a little bit of a different approach to our Friday Field Trip. The MSBA team headed all the way down to Basketball City in Pier 36 to play ball with the High School of Sports Management. While this was technically supposed to be a mentor-mentee event, it just turned into a bunch of sports fans enjoying good times, laughs, and basketball. Even though we are supposed to be the mentors in this case, on the basketball court, the High School of Sports Management was able to teach MSBA a thing or two. After three weeks of constant work, internships, speakers, and networking, it was nice to finally be able to catch our collective breath. Looking back at the end of MSBA, I think our trips to Basketball City to unwind and link up with the High School of Sports Management will be up there among my favorite memories.