Tales from the offseason #5

Its a mild January morning in Erie and I am a little annoyed with how mother nature is messing with our emotions. Showing us glimpses of early spring when baseball season would be just a few weeks away rather than a few months. Oh well, she can toy with my mind all she wants if it means no snow.

Even though the season is over 2 months away, there is a sense of urgency around the ballpark. Operations is starting to make decisions on food vendors, ticket sales are making cold calls and trying to get groups, sponsorship sales is wheeling and dealing and myself, well I am always busy. We just held our wolfpack makeup auditions a few weekends ago and also tried out a new mascot. All went well as we hired all 3 wolfpack folks back and were very impressed by our newest C.Wolf. Things are really starting to fall into place with my entertainment staff. I really like my wolfpack this year, our host is going to be great, and between our two mascots, there are sure to be lots of smiles on kids' faces.

I just got back from Dayton last week where I spent three days at on-field host bootcamp. That was a pretty fun experience for myself and our new host, Erin. The weekend included walking through all of our on-field skits from intro to outro, taking part in some hilarious improv exercises, learning how to juggle and make balloon animals, and busting out some pretty sweet dance moves. Overall, it was a good experience for myself to better understand what our host needs to do and how the contests need to be executed but even more beneficial to Erin to really become comfortable with what shes going to be doing for 71 games this season. Next month we head back to Dayton for mascot boot-camp.

Until then, its time to start planning Opening Day which I am happy to announce that this years the festivities WILL include a military flyover which I am super stoked about! I also need to setup some rehearsals for that day, an entertainment staff orientation, start ordering props for on-field contest, order new equipment items for PA room, and we have National Anthem auditions March 13th. so there is lots to look forward to and prepare. Oh, and one other bit of good news that mostly only tech-geeks will appreciate is that our new Cannon GL2 arrived this past week in great conditions. We now have 4 cameras for in-game use...AWESOME.

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Tales of the offseason #4

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! Yeah so I am a little late but its heart-felt nonetheless. I had a great holiday season with family, friends, and of course LOTS of food. As usual, it all came and passed so quickly it was hard to truly take it all in at once. For me, it was a unique Christmas because it was my wife Beth and I first Christmas together. Enough of this mooshy stuff, lets get down to business:

Things are definitely picking up a bit around the ballpark. The first of the year means increasing sales calls for our sponsorship and ticket people, preparing inventory for the upcoming season for our ops guys, and setting staff in place and focusing on opening day for myself. Last time I posted I was close to hiring our 2010 on-field host and that I did just a few weeks before Christmas. I am very excited about bringing this person on board and know that they are going to do a GREAT job and enhance our entertainment. In fact, in just a week and half, she and I will head to host boot camp for a weekend of learning the ins and outs of being a great on-field host.

I am also looking forward to this saturday as we will be auditioning the last of our wolfpack members for next season and a potential new mascot for next season. I am particularly pumped about the mascot try-out because this person has some experience serving as a mascot for another team and seems very excited at the opportunity to be a part of our crew.

In the meantime, I am filling in the role of marketing/promos as well until our new hire starts next week and helping to set up a block party here at the ballpark this summer. I am also trying to get some things in place regarding pocket schedules and poster schedules so when the new person starts its easier for them to get done. I am also trying to get national anthem auditions setup and work out some kinks in arranging a flyover for opening day. We are involved in a wedding show this saturday so I am responsible for putting together a picture slideshow and some print material to promote our ballpark for receptions-pending I get a cd with pics from last season's wedding we had at the ballpark.

All in all, the new year brings about some stuff to do and believe it or not, begins to raise a sense of urgency. After all, opening day is only 3 months away!!!

P.S.-We are now on Twitter...FOLLOW US!!!

2009 Christmas E-Card

Tales from the Offseason #3

The Christmas season is in full swing! Besides the beginning of baseball season, this is my favorite time of the year. We are actually keeping fairly busy around here with mascot appearances w/ Santa, a Toys for Tots event this coming weekend, and bell-ringing for the Salvation Army. I get the best of both worlds with baseball and spreading Christmas cheer.

Its been almost a month since we had our auditions for 2010 on-field positions and we have not made any final decisions. We are bringing one individual back in for a second audition as the on-field host for next season. I've got a pretty good feeling that this person is right for the job. My only concern following the auditions was the mascot position as we did not have anybody who overly-impressed us. Then just a few days ago, I received an email from an individual who served as mascot for another minor league team a few years ago and expressed great interest in becoming C.Wolf next year. I'm supposed to chat with this person on the phone at some point so hopefully we can setup an audition and find the perfect person for the job.

Other than that, I am currently interviewing interns for 2010. I have a few people that are all legitimate candidates so I have some decision-making to do. No final decisions will be made until after the new year. I am also trying to get motivated to start putting together a Director's handbook containing all of our audio/video for appropriate situations to reference during games and Production schedules for every skit we do. It seems every time I get ready to start these tedious tasks, something else comes up and I get side-tracked. I am confident that by the end of this week I'll have a good start on it.

Currently, I am filling two positions as our director of marketing/promotions left us for another job. I am just serving as the point of contact for her and over-seeing some of the promo items for next season. Some of these tasks also tend to get me side-tracked from some of the stuff I have to get done. I am also scrambling to get our PA cluster for 2010 recorded and sent off to our creative department as they are trying to get all entertainment-type stuff done before the end of the year.

So, as usual there is enough going on around the ballpark to keep me busy. I must say its hard to focus on next season when I look outside and see snow on the ground but I guess in a way, its motivating.

P.S.-We are now on Twitter...FOLLOW US!!!

Tales from the Off Season #2

Just over 2 weeks since my last post about the off season thus far. Not a whole lot has changed or happened in the world of working in baseball since then but a few progressions towards the 2010 season have taken place.

This is the time of year when the intern search begins. Perhaps not so much for short season teams but the full season folks such as myself are already looking ahead to who can be the most help as an intern. I feel confident saying that small market minor league teams such us ours rely on interns more than anybody in any profession. We only have 11 full time people in our front-office staff and that number will double by the time next season rolls around as we will hire 11 interns. I myself was an intern twice over the past 3 years and I completely agree with the fact that young, career-driven, hard working, college kids are the pulse of much of the operations of our organization. Anyways, interns are awesome and important and we are in the process of seeking some of the best. I recently attended a job fair at Mercyhurst College to recruit some worthy folks. I have since reviewed some reels and resumes and I am still receiving emails from folks.

Today was a big day for the Entertainment department as we held our first ever Wolfpack Auditions. In search of some energetic, enthusiastic, and entertaining people, we auditioned almost 20 people in front of 3 judges from our front office to find the next fan-favorite entertainer at the ballpark. We auditioned for wolfpack members, on-field host, and mascot through various skits, dances, and ad-lib/improv exercises. Over all I feel that it went very well. The toughest position to fill for next year is going to be our on-field host and if we could find a qualified candidate for next season, than today was a success. Well that we did as a few individuals definitely made a strong impression and seemed like they have what it takes to grab the attention of thousands of fans every night. We also came across plenty of great wolfpack candidates and even a few potentially great mascots for the 2010 season.

So monday, it will be non-stop reviewing of judges' notes, video, and resumes of all the people we feel will make our show better.
As far as other off-season stuff goes, I'll continue to watch movies for situational clips, listen to music for appropriate sound bites, and work on organizing a master entertainment binder that catalogs everything from funny movie clips to entertaining skits. I will also be recording some audio in the near future of some of our front office staff chanting our team's name and then I will send it off to have a made into a version of AC DC's "Thunderstruck"....its going to be pretty cool, I'll be sure to share when its finished.

In the meantime I continue the countdown to opening day 2010...100 work days remaining til baseball returns.

Tales from the Off Season #1

I have found that a very common question amongst folk who do not work in baseball is: "So...(awkward pause) what do you do in the off season?" I think the pause is in there because they are hesitant as to whether or not you get laid off or they do not want to offend you and question your work ethic. Either way, I have become very used to answering the question by saying that we spend most of our time always thinking about how we can prepare for next season.

Sure its only November and the season is 6 months away but as far as I am concerned, its NEVER too early to start thinking about baseball. Especially in Erie when it snows for 6 months out of the year, the thought of spring and summer at the ballpark helps warm the soul. Not to mention that as an Indians fan dealing with the lack of postseason experience, I have become very accustomed to thinking about "next year" all the time.

So as a way to keep people informed about what we do in the off season (besides obsessively checking facebook of course) I am going to blog throughout the dark months of fall/winter about whats going on in the world of working in baseball.

Currently, season ticket renewal letters are out and wolf pack "all you can eat" plan has been determined as well. The phones have started to pick up a bit with season ticket holders interested in renewing and taking advantage of the popular A.Y.C.E. option. Sponsorship sales are moving forward as our folks are targeting potential new sponsors and following up with those from years past about plans for the 2010 season. Promos/Marketing are helping out with proposals and proof of performances for sponsors and laying out designs for some of next season's print material. Soon, they will be sitting down and discussing the 2010 promo schedule. From the my end of the spectrum, entertainment, I spent three days at a director's brainstorming/review session and now its time to plan for auditions for the 2010 on-field positions including wolf pack, on-field host, and mascot. The auditions will be taking place November 14th. In the meantime, I am upstairs in the control room organizing all of our music and adding new songs, organizing and adding new videos, and putting together a director's handbook that will serve as a reference to all of our audio and video material. We have also tentatively set dates for when we are bringing in an outside entertainment act to perform next season. I am also required to watch a movie weekly and try to pick out clips that can be used for different situations during a game.

Believe it or not, this keeps me pretty busy throughout the week. The season has been over now for 2 months and we are already well on our way to preparing for next season so stay tuned for more "Tales from the Off Season..."

Keep Pumping Out the Player Intro Videos!

So this vid is from the end of the season (late August) and I am just getting up on my blog now. If you would have asked me in April if I thought I would put together 4 intro videos I would have said "No way! 2 maybe 3 tops will be enough." Well I got tired of playing the same videos and was inspired by my intern to do one last video to close out the season.

Part of the idea for this one came from our Director of Marketing and Promos who said we should shoot some player prep footage for the intro video...makes sense right? Video of a player getting ready for the game fits well in the "Intro" Video. So while the team was on the road, I had my intern dress up like a player and got some cool closeups of him lacing up his shows, strapping on his batting gloves, etc.

One other element I tried to incorporate in this finale was the players embedded onto building downtown, similar to what I did in my senior capstone video.

The video premiered and played throughout the final two home stands of the season.


CHECK IT OUT

"VJ" for a Day

This time of the year, things are really slow around a minor league ballpark. Of course there is much preparation for the 2010 season already taking place but as far as keeping busy during every minute of the day, it gets rather difficult at times.

I am the type of person that likes to always keep busy so when I heard about a charity check presentation taking place at the ballpark I went into video journalist mode for the first time since college. My thinking was that I could put together a brief news-like package to put our website. Good publicity could never hurt right?

So I shot the press conference and check presentation, edited the footage, recorded a voice over, and posted the story to the web. I basically was a VJ for the day except I only covered a single story. I really enjoyed the process and it felt good to brush up my news editing/writing skills and made me realize why obtaining a solid news background from Westminster College was so important.

In my opinion, people are going to be more prone to click and watch a video to learn about the charity work we are involved with rather than reading a story. Plus, its tough to keep the content on our website fresh and up to date during the off season when there is not much going on so I thought this would be a nice piece to put together.

Reviewing for a Reason...the End of the Season!

Remember back in March when I blogged about getting my first full time job with a minor league baseball team? I can't believe that was 6 months ago. Since then, the season has come and gone and I have grown so much (luckily not horizontally despite all the ballpark food I ate all season long.)

How can I forget being so nervous the night before Opening Day back on April 7th, staying up til 3am getting moving headshots edited for the following day. Or staying at the stadium til 1am getting things in order in the control room and helping out with operations stuff around the ballpark.

Since then, I've sat through 70 some games, one that lasted til 1am and spent 5 months around the game of baseball...no complaints really. I have grown a lot and have a much better understanding of the flow of the game from an entertainment standpoint.

1.Scripting the Game-yeah I wish I could script the actual game and make the SeaWolves win every time but what I am talking about is the script for in-between inning skits/entertainment. It was a great learning experience to have the opportunity to build the scripts before every game and it gave me an opportunity to understand what kind of stuff works in what part of the ball game. For instance, putting something with high energy and fan participation later in the game work because whether the team is getting killed or the game is close, it keeps fans energy level high and they remain involved.

2. Understanding the feeling of the fans-after sitting through game after game, it starts to become pretty easy to get the feel of the fans. During my inaugural season here in Erie, I learned to pickup on the mood of the crowd and was able to aim our entertainment and inning breaks towards the fans. For example, when fans seem bored and not into the game, cue the dance music and a fan cam or how about a pump-up video...it always works!

3.How to utilize the full capabilities of our videoboard-Erie's videoboard is pretty nice. It has to be one of the nice boards in the Eastern League. Before I arrived, the board's capability was being used minimally. Through some experimentation, I discovered ways to use the entire thing and make it light up like the 4th of July! I was able to utilize the sideboards for video which was something that had not been done before. I took a great sense of pride and satisfaction in this and was glad that our awesome videoboard was being used the way it was meant to be.

4.Understanding the importance of sponsorship obligations-one of my biggest pet peeves is when someone on staff informs me that we have to drop-in a sponsor' read or video the morning of the game after I've already put the scripts together. Well, now I realize how important our role in the scoreboard room is to please current and potential sponsors. We truly do hold much of the power and influence in getting a sponsor to re-invest or invest with the organization. Through the smallest things like drop-in PA reads and short 15 second videos, we are able to please and impress some of our biggest sponsors.

5.Working as a team for our team-No matter what your job description says or what your role is, there is always things to do that may not exactly match your initial responsibilities. Running a minor league team takes a lot of work and with only 11 people on staff, there are times when I had to do things that were way out of my realm, but to be honest, I always enjoyed taking part. For example, tarp pulls are a regular early in the morning and late at night after the game. Or, how about serving lunch to youth baseball campers, or one of my fondest memories, cooking and wrapping a 1200 hot dogs for local elementary students on school days at the ballpark.

All in all, the season was GREAT. There were times that I could not wait to get to the ballpark and of course, there were times I was dragging out of bed in the morning. Either way, I look forward to doing it all over again because how can I complain about doing what I LOVE?!


CHECK OUT THE SEAWOLVES 2009 SEASON SLIDESHOW:

Journalistic Editing Meets In-Game Entertainment

Long time no BLOG! My apologies...the past month has included a slew of home stands, lots of work, a wedding and a honeymoon. Two of those things were TONS of fun and the other kind of wore me out...(make your own assumptions).

Now that the team is on the road for almost two weeks, I get to sit down and do some editing, something I thoroughly enjoy doing. A few weeks ago I shot an interview segment with starting pitcher Pat Stanley. Pat is a real nice guy who was more than willing to speak with and share his story of his "road to the show." The idea to put this segment together came from an Indians game where most of my ideas and influences have come from.

I shot the interview on the fly one evening shortly before the gates opened to the ballpark and our show began but I was pleased with my choice of a backdrop. This was the first instance I noticed my journalism skills as I setup for an interview-type segment making sure the lighting was good and that I was utilizing a good interviewer/interviewee setup.

Questions were flowing from my mouth as I interviewed somebody for the first time since college. I must confess, I had nothing written down and little preparation. I just knew that I wanted Pat to tell his story and I would gear my questions towards getting that out of him. And that I did as again I felt that my broadcast journalism skills were helping me ask some pretty solid questions that would eventually make editing much easier.

And finally, the final product. Putting it together was a lot of fun and I felt as if I were editing an interview segment for Westminster College's "The County Line." Piecing together a good story in the amount of time we have in-between innings to run the spot (1:30-2:00 min) was somewhat challenging but I felt I did the best I could with what I had. As soon as I finished watching it, I emailed my college broadcast professor to show him that I had not completely forgot the skills that he and others had taught me.

'The Road to the Show" was a great example of how a journalism style of editing can be utilized for in-game entertainment during an inning break at a minor league baseball game. I am very excited to debut this to fans and tell Pat Stanley's great story of how he got into professional baseball. I am also glad to see that my college education and my broadcast journalism degree is being put to use.


Check out "The Road to the Show"

4th of July Celebration

It turned out that we did not play baseball on July 4th. The team was on the road which I am not complaining about since it was nice to have the day off. However, we definitely made sure we had a little celebration of our own on the evening before.

Friday July 3rd was our big "4th of July Celebration" which consisted of a Blues Brothers appearance, Harleys, a celebrity first pitch, color guard, white doves, a beautiful rendition of God Bless America, a marriage proposal, and of course, an awesome fireworks show to cap off the night.

The rain messed with our plans somewhat, but overall, it was a great night with a sold out crowd and plenty going on from pregame to end of game to keep fans entertained and excited about the holiday weekend.

I must admit, this was my favorite game of the entire season because there was just so much going on in the way of entertainment and it definitely put me in the mood for the 4th of July. The Blues Brothers were so fun to watch with all of their singing and dancing (I could of sworn John Belucci was on the field), the Harleys sounded pretty powerful as they made their way around the warning track with C. Wolf, and the white dove release at the conclusion of the national anthem always gives me goose bumps. Not to mention the fireworks at the end of the night were pretty amazing (until we had to pick up all the pieces after the game...haha!).

If you were so unfortunate as to not have been able to make it out on the July 3rd, below is a brief montage of what you missed out on.