There is one simple solution and that is for you to take your social media game more seriously. Social media channels (Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram, Etc) are changing everyday which can be overwhelming learning how they all work together. There is a strategy behind using them effectively and by committing to learning, creating and distributing content that will 100% change a career and business for the better. In todays digital world, like it or not it’s our reality and also our greatest opportunity. Social Media used properly opens up the world to all of us. And by this I mean it provides everyone with the most import elements in business. Trust and relationships. How will it help your career and business? We’ve all had jobs which we become unchallenged and eventually hit a wall. It can effect our personal life without having that sense of fulfillment and purpose in our careers. The amazing opportunity in today’s digital world, you don’t have to stay stuck behind a career that hasn’t taken off or stalled. If you are willing to make a change, we all have the chance to reengineer our careers by creating a digital voice that brings value to the world through our writing, voice or video. The value of not just helping others but showing the world your expertise in areas of your passion. 10+ years ago it was a much greater challenge and honestly harder to build this digital voice as all the channels and platforms weren’t connected. But today they all connect in this one continuous flow of shared information and content puzzle. One major hurdle people face with utilizing social media still today, is not knowing how to put that puzzle together. Coupled with most people frankly being uncomfortable and paranoid by being judged from friends, family and coworkers. Do you tend to stay in one lane only posting occasionally on Linkedin and every once in a while comment or like a post? This behavior and wondering why nothing is happening is like whispering at a concert. No one hears you. The core reason for being uncomfortable is rooted in not truly understanding how to use social media channels. Some people are just more comfortable and seem like an open book online and it’s easy to scorn them for being brash or self serving. But the thing to remember is that you are reading, listening or watching their content and they aren’t consuming yours. They won. It takes time and effort to learn all the tricks and psychology behind being effective and building trust in the digital space. It also takes time to get into a rhythm of producing the content that is authentic to your personality. After years of figuring out all the software tools that helped me start producing professional content with simple things like building a website, graphics, launching a daily podcasts and then discovering platforms to distribute all this content without it taking up all my free time, can be overwhelming. Six years later I have developed, over time my social media confidence. How I did that was by committing to learning how to do it effectively, understanding what my network liked and establishing a process to produce and distribute content everyday, 24 hours a day. The transformation for me was when I watched and listened to my engaged followers and tested content until THEY told me what was valuable to them. Until I shared with the digital world my stories through blogs, video and podcasts which at the time only my circle knew these things about me, everything than ramped up very quickly with a few bumps along the way. What if I told you I can help accelerate your digital branding and career development? So how I can help? I provide one on one career coaching and training in developing your digital media voice. I will take you through step by step tips, tools and hacks of social media content creation and massive distribution tool that will give you the confidence to master the digital space and transform your career and business. So let's take that first step on this journey and sign up on by click on the webinar tab about. Make It Mater Today! - Rob
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Time is the number one currency for investors. The same applies for those seeking sports start up investments. Vetting the right opportunities can be arduous and time consuming. Is the business the right fit, is the product or service an in an industry the investor knows and likes? Does the business fit within the investors portfolio? Does the investor like the product and leadership team? Is the investment opportunity clearly presented? What is the challenge in the market? Is the solution scalable and clearly defined? Are analytics, cash flow projections and the competition clearly outline? Are you seeking funding for growth or a merger/acquisition? Does the investor bring more than funding to the partnership; relationships, expertise and backend resources? What is the funding going to be used for; marketing, product development, head count, etc? "So many variables and allocated time goes into seeking, connecting, vetting and researching to determine if there is a match" I started and sold my first sports business by the age of 24, raised millions for my own start ups and been on both sides of buying and selling sports businesses/minor league franchises. I funded my businesses every way possible and learned the hard way through loses and a few wins. "It isn't all about the amount raised, rather what your investor brings to the business other than capital" After 25+ years in the sports and entertainment industry, my mission today is to help connect the dots with start ups and investors, bring attention to your story and big idea, vet investors and mentor start up leaders. Entrepreneurs are typically financially and emotional so invested in their day to day operations that many times an outside voice and another pair of eyes to advise and connect the dots is the difference to going to market, growing and ultimately surviving. Besides funding needs the second biggest challenge for start ups, is attention. If no one knows about your product or service this can end your dream before it even has a chance. If you have been nodding your head and what I have written hits home, let's have a quick discussion so I can learn more about your business, dreams, funding needs and explore ways that I can potentially help - rob@robthompsonlive.com I am not a recruiter or one of those you can work from the beach social media guru's by any stretch of the imagination. I'm really no different than you trying to stay educated with what seems like daily changes to social media capabilities. Constantly exploring how they integrate together, where are the eyeballs all without having to ask my kids. My goal now is to share information on what I find interesting or have experienced in the sports industry (Good and Bad) and more importantly, help bring value to your career / business. The roadblocks that I keep hearing from my audience is; "I called and emailed my resume to over 100 companies without one response" or "It's getting impossible to get to the decision maker now, no one picks up their phone or returns an email". Sadly it's the world we live in. Meaning, how you connect with decision makers has changed. The gatekeeper is no longer the assistant or front desk administrator. The decision makers are really no different than you and I. Think about the last time you actually answered your cell phone. Even if you did recognize the number chances are it wasn't a good time to pick it up. Unless it's your mother! How often do you return an email from someone trying to sell you something? Lets face it, texting is the best way to connect with family and friends. So think about how we screen people we don't know. We look them up on Linkedin or Facebook first before we decide if we want to connect. We look at pictures, perhaps we drill even deeper and look at websites and maybe read a blog or watch a video. Depending on that first impression through social media is typically how we decide if we want to spend anytime with that person. Decision makers are no different. How good is your content on there right now? Have you created a professional digital brand that gets their attention and cuts through the clutter where they remember you in a good way? The one advantage you want, if you don't have a personal connection to them, is if they already know who you are by seeing your content somewhere online before your call or email. Do you share and post content relevant to their business or interest? Have you followed them on twitter or Instagram before contacting them? I share in this free eBook the tips and the tools that I have used through a years of trial and error. By watching and learning from others that I have admired online, I basically followed their process and educated myself on the science of building a following and getting the attention of influencers and decision makers in the industry now playing the long term game down the road. Most of the tools that I share in the eBook are off the shelf free software that will quickly and economically help you build consistent, professional looking; websites, blogs, social media graphic designs, podcasts and social media scheduling/data software. I am still learning and evolving as the digital capabilities change and new platforms are introduced to the market everyday. However, I am now at a place where I have an understanding of utilizing the tools and have learned to adjust and create content based on what the market responses to and have created a system to distribute that content across all my platforms on a daily basis without spending a massive amount of time and money on execution. Since discovering my digital voice in this space, I benefitted from tremendous growth, which has resulted in scaling my network organically connected me to countless new opportunities without picking up a phone or sending out an email. Once I invested the time learning the available tools, making time each day to create and distribute content and discovering what works for me, I am very confident that this eBook will deliver the results you desire at a much quick learning curve. As a result and at this point in my career, I felt obligated to share what I have learned and this my friends is the golden rule to what I have experienced first hand on how to build your digital brand. "Share what you are passionate about consistently, professionally and go all in with helping others without expecting anything in return" That is the simple core and essential element to building your digital brand and creating a digital resume of your body of work for others to see and ultimately help you stand out from the crowd. This eBook will provide you with a step by steps playbook to drive the attention you want with potential employers and clients. He started his career sampling Mellow Yellow soda for a local Coke bottling distributor out of Charlotte, NC right out of college. Traveling to race tracks, college football tailgating and concerts. That experience sparked an interest in the business and launched a career that put him on tour working for Momentum and IMG leading activation for several blue chip brands. Today he leads business development at Bristol Motor Speedway and wrote a book to help recent college grads and young professionals trying to figure out their careers "MindShift Getting A Job In Sports". He provides a great perspective in working on the agency side which gave him a base of understanding brands and connecting to consumers. "Agency's are fantastic places to learn from the sidelines but working for one gives you a valuable perspective on the sports industry because of the vast areas needed to support a brand" This was one of my favorite podcasts and guests, Steve Hogan. Tremendous information for anyone starting or building a career in sports management. Steve shares practical advice on how important it is to follow your passion, doing what you love and the value of building and utilizing relationships to help your career. "It's better to do what you love at less money on the front end than to get up everyday miserable" The lessons learned selling cell phones and newspaper advertising early on and leveraging that previous experience to knocking his very first project at Florida Citrus Sports out of the park. Managing the annual Citrus Bowl Parade. But when given the opportunity, he didn't question why, he just dug in and got the job done. So he went out and tripled the parades revenue in his first year which set the course of a 22+ year career which is now leading and carrying on the proud legacy of the Florida Citrus Sports Association. I implore you to learn more about Steve's story and listen to this weekly podcast "Interview with Influencers". I'm not sure if I was just too young at the time to know better or just incredibly eager to start a business out of what I saw as a need in college recruiting. But I jumped in with two feet and started my first business with an idea I had way before the digital age of recruiting services that are around in abundance today. It was 1991, I had just returned to the states after playing American Football in Europe, got a position coaching college football and discovered that making seven thousand a year coaching wasn't going to cut it in the short term financially. Although I loved coaching, but wanted to get married and start a family with my college sweetheart Margaret. So I had a to make a decision or create an opportunity for myself to start a career or business. What I did love the most about coaching was the recruiting process and helping athletes. One of my responsibilities coaching college was recruiting Junior College transfers and my assigned territory was California. Which if you know the business is loaded with talent and schools. But during that time without the internet or recruiting services, the challenge was how do you find and evaluate talent without having to call every coach and shift through how is a fit for your school efficiently. It's obviously doable but by being 3,000 miles away was certainly a challenge. Until one day I met a retired Juco coach and athletic director from Santa Barbara community college. He already had established what I was looking for that helped student athletes and colleges looking for those athletes. However in those days his service wasn't very sophisticated for the times nor was it a business, it was his passionate to help connect people together. So out of his garage which sat high in the hills next to the Santa Barbara Community College Campus, overlooked the Pacific ocean with this amazing post card view, he had this wonderful set up of a row of TV's, VCR's, grease board, a desk and an endless supply of home made California red wine. He knew ever kid and coach on the West Coast. It was a one stop shop. Get your prospect list, drink a bunch of wine and listen to all his incredible stories. Plus he was an East Coast old school Italian. I felt like I knew him forever and trusted his evaluations. So in 1991, recently married, living in a small apartment, Margaret was pregnant and I was volunteer coaching at my old high school and working odd jobs, I had the epiphany to start a my own high school recruiting agency from our kitchen table modeled after my Italian California friend. Armed with a wall dial phone, a stack of index cards and a thick directory of every college in the US, I picked up that yellow phone, standing next to the wall, I started dialing. I called every college and sent out hundreds of letters. Although it was Connecticut overlooking our small apartment living room and not the Pacific ocean, the positive response I received from college coaches was encouraging. Encouraging enough to eventually move out of the kitchen and into my own office. I wish I took a picture of the place. You actually had to pass through an empty set of offices that had wires hanging from the ceiling and the lights didn't work. So at night I had to blindly go through a maze of wires, boxes and lord knows what else to escape that office every night. My little wood paneled office in back had a mis matched furniture that I pieced together from left behind tenants, folding lawn chairs from Walmart, a two thousand pound metal desk that had to be there twenty years unable for any human to move, old TV's, VCR's, grease boards and a small fridge filled with Bud light. But to me it was big time. I had my own business. That dingy office hosted many college coaches passing through town, sharing stories, laughs and cold beverages. We discussed prospects, talked about their families and the war stories of finding those diamond in the rough prospects. I wanted to help and knew there was a need to connect the coaches and athletes who I felt were under the radar geographically. Even though I had zero business experience, as a criminal justice major in college, I didn't take business or finance courses but was suddenly thrown into accounting, marketing, sales and operating every single aspect of my business. The valuable lessons I learned from just doing it out of necessity, was invaluable. I had no one to blame but myself and the pressure of providing for my family was certainly a motivator to work harder and harder. That right there was so vital to setting the bar for my career. Those lessons starting a business from scratch taught me the most valuable business lesson I could ever learn about real life practical experience. If you have an idea, see a need in the market where someone will actually pay you for that service or product and you can bring value to someones life, you need to figure out a way to start executing that idea right now. Don't over think it, or wait to have the perfect logo or website, you don't need anything fancy to get started, just start. The market will tell you if it's a good idea by the revenue you bring in. Starting and operating my own business at such an early stage set a foundation for truly understanding how business really works. Managing cash flow, balancing a budget, driving new business development, servicing clients and building relationships were so vital to my long term career as it gave me an appreciation and curiosity of how it all works. I understood the value of both sides of the table. Not just whats in it for me, but how can we both benefit. I eventually merged my little college recruiting agency with a more establish agency that was primarily sending pro baseball players to Japan and we eventually started recruiting for American Football leagues and teams in Europe and Australia. So the business evolved and I had a massive sense of accomplishment from having an idea and taking that to market. So from that cool garage in Santa Barbara to our kitchen table to that dingy office, ideas and businesses are born everywhere, be curious, follow your instincts but more import, execute on our ideas. By the way, there is still a two thousand pound metal desk somewhere waiting for you! The world is a much different place then when your parents and certainly your grandparents where wide eyed and ready to start a career. They were most likely raised to go to a good college, get a job with a pension, buy a house, have kids, load up the family truckster and save their way to retirement. It’s interesting how the world has changed. We now live in an on-demand world of a freelance work force with a swipe of a smart phone or asking a talking hockey puck for on-demand transportation, on-demand housing, on-demand dating, on-demand food and status symbols that are rooting in “The Experience” rather than material possessions. The massive difference is that most of our parents and grandparents settled for the safe road and probably didn’t chase what they were really passionate about for their careers. Not sure many were satisfied unless they found a purpose. Life may have got in the way and they didn’t have a chance the explore more or simply didn’t want to take on the risk of change. That was not always a bad thing, but the benefit of today’s world is the ability to create more time through an on-demand culture. By creating time, I define that as having access to faster resources that allow gaps in the process. In the late 80’s, colleges were in the infancy stages of incorporating Sports, Media & Entertainment into their business schools and just started to acknowledge that this was an industry that could stand on it’s own because of the massive interest. That era is very similar to the where the business and interest is with ESports today. Today there are over 450+ colleges around the world offering undergraduate and post graduate degrees in sports management and the talent pool entering the marketplace is extremely crowded and competitive. Because of the amount of talent entering the workforce, and this is very important to know that landing a job in sports today is much easier than keeping a job in sports. What will keep you employable is a diverse skill set to first and foremost have the ability to do one of these three things really, really well; create, sell and execute. Always remember it’s a business first and the value of entertainment and consumers experiences is the result of sustainable profits over time. Now where does this leave you to figure out what you love to do by landing and keeping a job in the industry? I mentioned in the title you will figure out what you don’t like before you find out what you love. A good portion of your discovery process besides education is practical experience. So think about the following; Did you like accounting, legal and finance classes? Did you enjoy collaborating on case studies and analytics on consumer behavior? How was it volunteering for the 5K setting up tables at 5am and going home twelve hours later dirty, broke, tired and hungry? Did you lose sleep the night before knowing you had to cold call 100 businesses the next morning? Did you enjoy being creative with graphic design software or editing short form videos? My point is you will find the things you don’t like to do through this elimination process by doing a little bit of everything. Now write down what did you enjoyed during the process. What did you do well in school and working? Do you like interacting with the general public? Do you like the creative side with design, social media, video, etc? Do you like outside work with getting dirty? Was it on the client side with activation, hospitality, solving problems? How did you do planning, scheduling and the behind the scenes work? Now here is the point that will help you with a long career more than anything else. Despite how smart you are or how smart people say you are, having a true sense of self awareness is critical. Look yourself in the mirror moment. It is a sign of maturity when you can accept the fact that perhaps you may not be great at designing graphics but you are obsessive about details, love checking off your task lists and P&L’s. You will need to get there mentally to focus on landing and doing a great job. Going all in with what you enjoy doing because you are really good at it, combined with your passion in that specific area / sport is the magical moment of clarity and will be your career compass. But what you should do is create time. Time to explore geographically, teams, leagues, vendors, agency's and time to try as many areas of the industry you are interested in and finding out what you don’t like will lead to what you love. When you reach that point of meeting on the corner of self awareness and passion, your career will take off regardless if you’re still dirty, broke, tired and hungry. But I do promise you one thing, you will be satisfied with your journey. I was lucky enough to have amazing mentors along my career journey, but none made as big of an impact in my life both professionally and personally as much as Coach Tommy Groom. I never played for Tommy, he was retired from coaching when we met. It was perfect timing as I was just starting out on my career and trying to figure how it all worked with a young family and very little business experience. Tommy was one of those once in a lifetime characters you meet and if you read this all the way through you will be inspired and hopefully entertained as he had some crazy stories! His advice to me on the day we met. "Everything will fall into place, if you're headed to the right place" This is his story... Tommy grew up in a very small town in what he liked to say, West "By God" Virginia. His blue collar, coal miner DNA, naturally allowed him to break down life into it's simplest common sense form. He never made things overly complicated or dramatic. Always looking for the good in people. Tommy had a great college football playing career at Virginia Tech in the late 1960's and then spent the next 30+ years coaching at the D1 level. Like most coaches he went through a gypsy life of transitions, packing up and starting over several times and even being married several times. The one thing I really admired about coach was that he never seemed to miss a day of living without maximum effort, a slick grin and most important that infectious positive attitude! I can remember this moment like it was yesterday. I asked him; "Out of all the places you ever coached, where was the best time in your life"? At that moment this brilliant response forever changed my perspective. "The best placed I've ever worked, is wherever I'm At" He would tell me "Don't worry about your next job, make sure you are taking care of the one you're current in". Practical advice and 100% true. Coach and I traveled around the world for several years operating the National Football League's Youth Development programs. We put on hundreds of NFL youth events, camps, clinics, tournaments from Boston to Bangkok and as you can imagine we had the experience of a lifetime. We were very lucky and we knew it. Never taking it for granted. We worked with incredibly passionate administrators, coaches and players from all corners of the globe. All though there were communication challenges, all of us had one shared goal of expanding a sport we all loved and having the platform to make a difference in kids life's through sports. A natural bond. Tommy and I spent thousands of hours together on planes, trains, in airports, hotels, on football fields and occasionally in some of the wackiest bars on the planet. We were invited into countless homes of our host coaches to explore their culture and spend time with them and their families. Even though we were tired from travel and long days running events, he pushed us not miss a chance to I discover new things and build friendships that have lasted 20+ years. He always said that no one really cares about how much experience you have or where you went to college, it's always about the relationships you build along the way that will be the single most import aspect to your career 3-5-10 years from now. He was spot on. His thoughts on experience were summed up in this classic Tommy quote: "You can no more do, what you don't know, to come back from where you ain't never been" Let that one sink in. Each trip was unique and special. We discovered how small the world really is and that there are so many generous, caring people in this world. That was our common connector on every stop, we heard and shared amazing stories about overcoming obstacles and resources and how sports is a microcosm of life. I shared a front row seat to listen and learn from all his incredible stories and was a participant on a great deal of new ones. But I will never forget one of the many classic Tommy moments. This one in particular was in Tokyo on a promotional tour for an NFL pre season American Bowl game. What Tommy liked to do out of respect for our hosts, would be to attempt to begin every press conference or event when he addressed an audience for the first time, he loved to say hello in the language of that country. He gave me the task of helping him learn it on our way to each event. Sometimes I would have to remind him what country we were in let alone learn a second language. I would usually spend half the flight repeating how to say hello in whatever language over an over until he could finally say his standard greeting. Sometimes I would be left to write the phrase on napkins, but he didn't just look for my help, typical Tommy would include everyone around him. He would practice on the flight crew, the people on the plane and just about everyone in the airport regardless if they were from the country we were traveling to or not. I really do give him credit for trying, but he never got it right. So this particular time in Tokyo, after practicing on the 11 hour flight, we entered the press conference room, I looked him in the eyes and had him practice one last time, which he nailed. I'm not sure what happened in the five seconds from the time he said Konnichiwa, to the moment he bowed, hit his head on the mic, looked at the crowd, grinned and says in Spanish...Feliz Navidad! The room went dead silent, we couldn't believe what we just heard and the look on everyone in that rooms face was a mix between confusion and sadness. Until finally our Japanese interpreter respectfully broke the silence with a soft response of "Merry Christmas Coach". It was July. Tommy had so many incredible stories that were so out of this world crazy, but as I spent more time with him, I began to understand how and more importantly why they happened. I could listen to his stories over and over again on our travels. They never got old. The lessons of life he would weave into these stories were masterful and always relevant to what he knew was troubling me or anyone else we wound up meeting on the road. His passion was people and he always had a way to put challenges into perspective, regardless if we were in South Korea of South Carolina. A sad but a legendary Tommy story and the absolute moment when I knew he operated at a whole different level then the rest of the world was from a phone call I received from him right after the New Years in 1998. Although it was very serious and horrible event, his positive attitude was like a slap to the head on a persons character being revealed through challenges. But on January 2, 1998 I received that call from Tommy which revealed who he truly was. "Hey My Man, I have good news and bad news." I hesitated to ask, ok whats the bad news? In a cool, deliberate voice and I kid you not he said "I burnt my house down"! I shocking ask, "How did that happen"? His response was "Deep frying a turkey on my back porch"! I was shocked and wasn't sure if he was fooling around "Coach are you and the family ok". "Yea we are all good, you know how quick I am on my feet, got them all out safe except for the kids pet turtle, that thing was always too dang slow"! Somehow he found a way to let me know it's going to be all right. We just cracked up. I said "Well if the bad news is your house burning down, what's the good news"? Without missing a beat..."We get a NEW HOUSE"! So one day after such devastation, he still found it in him to find the positive side of life during an incredibly sad situation for him and his family. Sadly, they lost everything. The kids Christmas presents, all their clothes, family photos and 30 years of championship rings, team pictures, mementoes that I am sure were very sentimental his coaching career and life. He found a way which I'm sure was so painful at the moment to find something positive out of this unimaginable event. At the time it obviously wasn't funny but as time passed and he sorted out his housing and got life back in order for his family, he would tell that very story with such gusto and detail it too became part of his legacy. He simply would never allow himself of anyone around him act like the victim in any situation and was never looking for sympathy, he turned it into a lesson for all of us. He lived his life exactly how he lectured so often about. The funny thing was he never brought up that you should never cook a deep fried turkey inside a covered porch attached to your house. That part was assumed by everyone. When you did complain to him about challenges or people he would always say "If you can't roll with it, buy new tires". I learned from coach that it's all in your perspective on how to tackle a challenge you are facing. No matter how large or painful at that moment. He would tell you to take a second, think about it, don't get emotional and break it into common sense and find a solution. He loved to say this about the tough decisions: "Once you make a decision, it will be the best one you make"He lived by the words he preached. His zest for life, football, people and enjoying the exact moment that he was living in was contagious. He believed in how you carried yourself, was how others would perceive you. He would sarcastically say, "I always have a chance to prove them right once I open my dang mouth! Regardless of the occasion, coach was always the slickest dressed in the room. He always wore a standard sport coat, polo shirt, jeans and cowboy boots. Out of our group of khaki and sneaker wearing schleps he was the boss. We would always tease him about his year round tan. Which you should know, was only on his face. I even asked him one time "Why don't you ever tan anywhere else but your face"? In coaches pure common sense he says "My man, it only matters what I look like walking into the bar". Another life lesson learned coach! Coach Tommy Groom passed away at the age of 55 in his sleep March 2003. He was attending a coaching clinic doing what he loved. Helping and teaching others. Coach had a major impact on all those who knew him, worked with him, lucky enough to be coached by him and call him a friend, dad, brother or even an ex husband! I was so incredibly fortunate to have spent all those years with him and honestly never seen him mad or hear him say a bad word about anyone. I do think of him often and the massive impact he has had on my life. Especially during trying times. What an incredible mentor. I only wish I had an opportunity to say good bye and thank him. But I hope how I lived my life by always trying my best, helping others, staying positive and enjoying every moment is my thank you to coach...wherever he's at. If you had a mentor make an impact on your career and life, please leave a comment and share. Rob Thompson Former NFL, Walt Disney Company Executive and host of the weekly podcast "Interview with Influencers in Sports and Entertainment" Sundays 7pm EST www.RobThompsonLive.com By now I am assuming you already had a few jobs that pretty much confirmed what you do not want to do for the next 5, 10, 15 years of your life. However the burning question I imagine that keeps you up at night..."Where do I start, who do I call and how do I break into the sports industry"? Well here is the secret sauce...you need relevant experience. Here's the good news, relevant experience is transferable skills which you may have already gained at your previous job. I can tell you that the market is extremely competative and no industry employer wants to hear you say "I'm a huge fan". Become a fan of the industry and leave your emotional connection for the team at the door. So what are the skills and relevant experience that will help you land that dream job? Number One: Sales Everyone, and I don't care who you are unless you are a bit demented and love to crank call complete strangers, probably hate making cold calls. This is normal, as it's uncomfortable, not glamorous and good luck getting anyone to answer. But if you have had any type of sales experience: cold calling, B2B, B2C or even worked a call center for a fundraiser, political campaign, etc, this experience is a HUGE plus. If you consider yourself a bit socially shy there are plenty of areas that might be a better fit rather than direct sales. Number TWO: Graphic Design / Content Development / Video Editing Can you design social media content, snap filters, presentations, promotional collateral, edit short form video? Again very valuable skills. Number Three: Social Media Advertising Are you experienced with Facebook/Instagram Ad's, SEO, Google Ad Works, Sales Funnels, Utilizing Constant Contact, Email Campaigns and Analytics? If so, this will make you stand apart. Number Four: Social Media Strategy How many followers do you have, are you an influencer? Do you have a blog or vlog audience? All of these skills are transferable and will be looked upon as relevant experience. Ok, so you have a few of these skills and experience in some form...now how do you get a job? If and when you get an interview, bring examples, case studies, presentations, videos, of everything you have done regardless if it was for a hair salon, summer camp or lawn care service. It's not theory, it's practical experience that will help you stand out with the interviewer. So, you landed an interview but sadly you weren't offered the job. Now what do you do? Number Five...Volunteer You should call the person who interviewed you, politely ask what you need to do to get the job next time and any advice they can offer. Thank them for the opportunity and before you hang up, offer to volunteer in any areas they may need help at any upcoming events. This will demonstrate your enthusiasm and at the same time keep the door open for future opportunities. So if they except your offer to volunteer, be prepared to miss the parties, beach or that music festival with your friends. You show up, smile and know that you are one step closer to landing your dream job. "You are better off to invest on the front end to train and provide ongoing education for your security staff than having to pay on the backend for lawsuits". James DeMeo a twenty two year experienced security professional and retired NY Detective is CEO and President of Unified Sports & Entertainment Security Consultants. He explains why security is critical to your guests overall experience and the importance of thinking strategically about how it fits into your planning and execution. This is James DeMeo's story.... Peter Arch was part of the original British invasion of youth soccer in the 1980's. This influx of British soccer coaches changed the landscape of introducing millions of US children to soccer in a fun, kids first approach...with a little twist. The British approach to teaching kids the fundamentals of soccer was perhaps unconventional from US standards at the time. The understanding that attention span and athletic ability of children U2-U12 is drastically different and you need to teach an 8 year old different than coaching a 12 year old. By coaching in small groups, adjusting the training space and providing full participation in short periods of time without a lot of standing along listening but rather doing is the magic ingredient. Mix in a bit of Monty Python shtick and thats where the intersection of fun and youth development meet. After 25+ years of building a national youth soccer summer camp business and the expansion into 14 regional offices, tournaments, European tours and a massive team uniform and merchandise business, Challenger Sports is now woven into the culture of youth soccer in the United States and millions of kids, families and certainly the explosion of youth soccer in the US are the result. This is Peter Arch and Challenger Sports Story.... Here is a true or false exam...
What will happen if you take twelve college sports management students, give them seven days advance notice (Ok maybe five) provide them with a map, tell them they have to get to an event on their own in NYC and they absolutely have to be there exactly at 12:30pm on a Saturday, tell them the event is going to be chaotic so be flexible, attendees may not be nice and be willing to do whatever is asked, eat before you get there and remember to have fun because this is the sports business. True or False...they all show up on time and do exactly what we asked them to do? If you're thinking FALSE this generation doesn't want to work and has no drive...wrongo! In fact they were waiting for me to arrive. There is nothing more rewarding than being around young adults who are incredibly eager to learn and experience life and more importantly, follow direction. I wanted to give them not only a unique opportunity to work an event for the NBA which they hopefully will be able to tell this story on an interview, but gain practical experience working in the sports industry. It's drastically different than being a fan. Sitting in class listening to an old guy like me tell them what it was like in my day....zzzzzzzzz is never that intriguing, but to get in there and figure it out when it's loud, hot and chaotic. That is when the magic happens. The proud moment of watching them jump right in, ask the right questions and take over is when I know they applied lessons they learned from the amazing sports management professors at the University of New Haven (That plug was for a free lunch). Experiential learning, which is the core of the educational process at UNH, is vital to arming all students with the tools that will help them land their first job in the industry. So if you answered TRUE... thank you. Young adults aren't all lazy or unmotivated. In fact they are incredibly aware of the world and opportunities more so than I ever was at their age. You might be confusing unmotivated with them being bored or uninterested. They will continue to push us as educators, coaches and administrators to think bigger, become more aware of the ever changing way they communicate, learn and set goals. Now if I could only figure out this GPS thing to drive out of NYC.... Leave a comment below and tell us your perspective on practical real life experience for college students. Rob Thompson 25+ year sports and entertainment executive and current Associate Director of Athletic Development at The University of New Haven. Think for a second when that moment you may have been the crazy parent at your kids game?
It happens to all of us...yes it has happened to you too. You may not be the loud parent at your kids game screaming what typically is the obvious to everyone else in earshot...."Let's get a hit Tyler John". No kidding dad, we all can't wait to watch 12 pitches and then a walk. By the way... why do yuppie parents call their kids by their first and middle names in public? Do they not know their friends will call them their nick name by the time they turn 12 for the rest of their lives? Anyways so you may not be that parent, but at one point you will lose it. It may be in the car ride home, or in that moment of questioning a teammates actual age or the decision the coach made to play the slow kid who can't run, throw or catch and who seems to be more interested in what is happening in the park lot. We all experienced that blinding moment. For most parents I believe there is a clarity and a sense or reality that our kids are average. So we tend to uncomfortably make a comment or two about our kids shortcomings. It makes us seem like we get it in front of the other parents. But times moves on and the talented kids will move up the food chain of youth to HS athletics. Things become more clearer at that moment. Now the big leap is moving onto college. Tyler John is now known as TJ and he still can't run so now he becomes an "Academic" prospect. Recently I had an dad call me about his son who was a "great" HS athlete but decided to go the prep school route to get his "game right" and his grades up. Come to find out, he quit playing after a month to focus on his grades, still not sure how that works? But he wanted a second chance to play college ball as he was focused now. So Prep School dad asked for a visit. Which of course I connected him to the HC to arrange for a visit along with the other incoming Freshman. When Prep School kid arrived, he was obviously not in shape, in fact it looked like he never even touched a weight in his life. After touring the campus, eating lunch, meeting the coaches and sitting through several meetings reviewing all the academic requirements to play at an NCAA school, the father comes up to me and asks... "So can we sit down and discuss your scholarship package for my son"? What do you say? Well you tell dad what you wanted to say several years ago at that little league game..."He's not ready to play college ball and here are the reasons why". You tell them the hard truth. No parent politics, not worried about hurting the kids feelings, no uncomfortable praising of a kid. Just give the parents the truth and suggestions on what they need to do with some options if this is what the kid wants to do. Why can't youth coaches do this several years earlier? Because it might be unfair to determine the future of a kid too early when they still have plenty of time to grow and mature athletically. However, a fair and honest assessment earlier on can help manage parents expectations, if the parent is willing to listen. A great tool for this type of early assessment is www.isport360.com. This platform provides up to the minute coaches assessment, tracks player growth and provides suggestions for player skill improvements. This tool is extremely helpful for youth all the way up to HS athletics. Another useful tool for parents is www.lockerroomtalk.com. When you are evaluating colleges, this platform provides tremendous insight into what players have to say about their college coaches and athletic experiences at a school. Managing expectations and real honest player assessments are so import to help young athletes develop and more importantly providing parents with a guide and feedback to set a clear path to realistic goals. It certainly will make those 3 hour little league games more enjoyable and maybe Taylor John will hit a homer next and and if we are real lucky right into the windshield of dad's Audi. I'm not sure there is a one size fits all model or example for what makes each of us happy. And let's face it the secret to life at the end of the day is about your personal happiness.
Your personal happiness does effect others around you. Our own definition of happiness comes in different forms, from simple moments of time each day, to reflecting upon our life journey. I believe happiness comes in the form of daily successes and those daily successes add up to overall satisfactions or our "Happiness". Those successes take on many forms and for the most part are the results of our daily decisions. Did I decide to call an old friend or colleague? Did I decide to help someone without them asking. Did I decide to address an issue that was bothering me? Did I decide to show up today and be positive? Human nature, generally speaking pulls all of us in the direction of enjoyment, respect from others and being around positive, friendly people. I recently heard one of the greatest examples of the "Secret To Life". Scott O'Neil, a legend in the sports industry, during a recent interview said two profound things that resinated with me. "You should be able to explain your life and job in three words. It shouldn't be any more complicated than three simple words". His "Secret To Life" is very simple. Here it is... "When your feet hit the ground in the morning, you should want to sprint to work. Excited about your day and what you do for a living. And...When your day is over, you should want to sprint home to be with your loved ones". It's rather pure and simple. Your happiness is the secret. Happiness in being truly fulfilled whatever your definition of personal fulfillment may be. Perhaps it's financial freedom, respect at work, great friends, helping others, spiritual, a loving family. Or a combination of all of these. It's not about how much money you make, rather how you make your money that defines you. My secret to life is summed up in these three words. "Keep It Simple". Whats yours? It's not the NFL or College Sports. It's not about media rights deals, sold out stadiums and ungodly salaries. I't not even about Saturday afternoons at the local dusty little league field with volunteer moms and dads slinging hot dogs and freeze pops. It's now about why paying $30 to watch your 8 year old play soccer is only the beginning of the story. It's also about the culture of "My kid is not missing out" and you can argue a big part is the parent brag factor on facebook. The "My Kid is an Honor Student" pumper sticker has been replaced by the team photo in front of the ESPN's Sports Complex globe posted for all their friends, families and coworkers to see. It's also about families investing in the "Experience". Many of these mega sports facilities popping up across the nation are funded by private and in most cases public money. Ten years ago it was about minor league or pro stadiums, today it's about family travel and tourism. The projections of filled hotel rooms, restaurants, shops and amusement parks are now an investment into the community. Today's mega youth sports facility services the community, helps small businesses and typically ensures that open spaces or depressed properties become a focal point of community pride. The family investment in youth sports tournaments, elite programs, family sport-cations, equipment, uniforms, private coaching, digital media platforms, hotels, sports commissions, brand activation and overall access to mom and dad consumers are all feeding into a multi billion dollar youth sports industry. There is no bottom in sight as the generation of parents grew up with this boom. Long gone are the days of local recreational leagues, orange slices and stopping for an ice cream as a post game celebration. Today it's about travel teams, weekend long tournaments, hotel rooms, flights, sports drinks, pop up tents, condo coolers, 7 uniforms, paid coaches, indoor training facilities, $50 dry fit shirts and $150 cleats...and that's just for the parents! Youth sports are on a national and international elite stage. Even those kids who aren't considered elite, parents are still willing to invest in travel. It's the new version of "Keeping Up With The Jones". Regardless, most of our kids will never experience that next level in the upcoming 5-6 years and beyond. Honestly it doesn't matter. So as a family to go through this experience together in what is such a small window of time is a great thing! These kids are active, they learn how to compete within a team dynamic, they build friendships, they socialize without social media and build memories through late night swims, cold pizza and competing together. Team travel is the ultimate bonding experience. It has replaced summer camp. Why else will kids and families get to explore other areas of the country most of which we/they would never visit. Besides, when would you ever get a chance to spend a weekend in Scranton? (No offense to those from Scranton, it's a nice area in the summer). The Family "SportCation" segment of the sports/travel industry is real revenue, massive amount of participants and what is an endless supply of parents who are willing to invest in their kids youth sports experience.....Although maybe not every weekend in Scranton! Leave me your comments below, tell us about your experience with youth sports travel and please share. Rob Thompson25+ Year global sports and media executive, investor and start up advisor. Are you one of those people who writes down your daily goals when you wake up in the morning and recaps when you go to bed at night?
I actually love the concept and have done this a few times but seem to run out of goals each day. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong? My Hypothetical Daily Goals...
I survived 25+ years in the sports and media industries and lived to tell my crazy stories. That pretty much sums it up. Direct, honest and It also qualifies if I want to spend any part of my time with that person. If they go "oh that's nice", I pull my phone out my pocket and pretend that I have an urgent call from one of my kids "Who BTW only text me". Really tragic that they only call their old man unless they need something. However, or if they go, really what stories? They qualify. Generally the conversation is very similar to they way I write these blogs, it's usually my POV based on real life experiences and sharing those successes and my failures but most of all my general day to day real life stuff that just happens to everyone in life and business. Because stories of your kids are just boring to everyone, including your own extended family unless it's something they did that is stupid, I tend to stick with business. Here is my go to...
Boy have I learned a lot about people from all those years but most of all I learned about the end user and that is you and me...the people that buy stuff and tell our friends about the stuff we just bought and how great that stuff is. I also learned that relationships with people are more important than impressions and views. People expect bad service, bad attitudes and negativity. Is it so hard to be nice, follow up and help someone without looking for something in return? Unless of course it's your kids looking for money...then you expect to get at least a Thank You! _______________________________________________________________ Today I help businesses and brands figure out their digital voice and personalities and help them understand there is a massive difference in having having fans versus having followers. That's the science to social media. I would love to learn more about your business, challenges and big visions and figure out if there is a way that I can help you... Please leave a comment below, it gives me hope that people are actually reading my rants or even better share this post if you found it interesting. By now you are probably tired of reading about and seeing the massive reaction and interest on POGO. It certainly opened up everyones eyes to those in marketing, advertising, media, etc. It has forced us to rethink consumer engagement and wonder "How can businesses monetize" this technology and ultimately figure out what is the overall appeal. Ultimately what we all should be looking at is the mindset of the end user. What is driving 7-25+ year olds to spend time chasing imaginary characters around neighborhoods? General speaking the "Why" factory is obviously the generation of gamers. Those that are embracing the culture of gamers are going to win. Miami of Ohio video gaming is now a varsity sport. The Pac-12 Conference is also embracing e-sports and supporting tournaments and games between schools. ESPN has invested in the media rights to broadcast eGames. Colleges are scrambling to create majors as the "industry" is estimated at a half of billion in revenue across events, prize money and revenue generated from twitch ad supporting viewing. The naysayers inside and outside of the industry don't understand the appeal simply because they didn't grow up playing video games our was part of their entertainment with friends. Same people also consider social media as silly. Pro Soccer teams in Europe and NFL teams are now signing e-sport players to represent them in EA Sports tournaments. POGO is clearly an indication that the culture is more than ready to embrace this form of entertainment and willing to spend time engaged in it as a participant. In my POV POGO it sent the message home that this form of digital engagement is here to stay for a long time. Now the technology is cool enough to get gamers out of their homes and into the streets in massive numbers is a game changer. The verification that users not only embrace new forms of gaming be it hand held, participating or attending tournaments that take place in 20,000 seat arenas is here to stay. It will only get bigger as technology is built around it with the software companies like Nintendo and ES Sports. We will continue to see pro teams, leagues and colleges offering scholarships to not only players but the back end professors, administrators, programers, marketers, event operators and media companies scramble to recruit talent to this emerging industry. So if you see this 49 year old running around the park this weekend with his kids chasing imaginary characters, don't be afraid to join in and I would appreciate help understanding what the heck is a Pikachu? Please share and comment below your opinion and what you level you are on! When we are no longer here, as sad as it is, Our Facebook posts are our time capsule and part of our legacy. Be careful what you post as it will be there for your family and friends to remind them of us FOREVER. What may seem bothersome or troubling to you today, In a year from now it probably will not be a big deal. For all those "See I told You" or "There They Go Again" political or racial posts it will seem silly and honestly it's boring. Share all the wonderful, positive and funny experiences and POV's in your life because that's what you want your friends and family to remember you by and what makes people positively respond to you today. Blaming others and being the victim at work and in society is an excuse for lack of courage, hustle, self awareness and persistence. You don't want to be remembered that way and perceived that way today. We all have an obligation to each other to be successful in our life. That comes in many forms none of which is financial success. That will come with our efforts, words and actions, but it all adds up to what we receive in return by what we give to others. Most of which is time. 50 years from now when this post will still be available for my kids and grandkids to read, I want them to see and read what defined me as a person... Not as a has been jock or businessman but as someone that squeezed ever last minute out of living a fulfilling life that hopefully made in difference in my wife and kids lives, shared my adventures with others, mentored those that worked for me and hopefully made those around me lives a little more enjoyable. We all have a story to tell and not all of it is pretty...tell yours the way you want the world to know the good you. Rallybus.net a community mobility platform that offers pop-up mass transit to and from sporting events, concerts, and festivals, announced today a partnership with Major League Baseball. The partnership is intended to make transportation to and from MLB games easy, comfortable and most importantly, fun for fans. Available immediately, it’s easy to catch a Rally ride to the ballpark: just find the game through the Rally mobile app, website (rallybus.net) or when purchasing tickets online at MLB.com and the official Club website, choose a convenient Rally point (bus stop) for travel direct to the stadium, and then sit back and relax with a drink and family and friends! Among the teams confirmed to participate include: Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals. Partnering with MLB is a defining moment for Rally and the latest in a series of recent exciting announcements from the company. Since its inception, riders have reserved 500,000 rides in over 1,400 cities to events and destinations across North America using the platform. Rally has successfully crowd-powered community travel to and from a number of major events including the Kentucky Derby, Super Bowl, Daytona 500, Beyoncé, and the recent visit by the Pope. More recently, “We’re thrilled to partner with Major League Baseball and are excited that they see the potential for their fans to really enjoy using our service,” says Numaan Akram, CEO of Rally. “We are hopeful that with this launch we will be able to get more communities to baseball games and help them extend their fan experience beyond the game with an enjoyable travel experience. "As we say here at Rally, Travel is better together.” Rally was accepted into Techstars prestigious international Mobility accelerator. For more information on how your group sales and marketing departments, music festival or convention can partner with RallyBus please visit: www.rallybus.net. or email rob@robthompsonlive.com for more details. |