A Baseball Winter Meetings (First-Timer’s) Journal

Lynn University sports management student details her job-seeking – and her successes

by KRISTIN GREY

Sunday, December 2, 2007

3:15 pm CST

Here’s the deal: I’m a sophomore from Philadelphia, studying sports management at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. I have worked in professional hockey with the Trenton Devils and I know that industry well – but I don’t want to be one-dimensional and I want to be certain that I am entering a field for which I really have a passion.

And so, here I am – in Nashville at the 2007 Baseball Winter Meetings, along with my sports management professor and 15 of my fellow Lynn University students who all came to turn this event into our own private conference on the business of baseball. Here at the Gaylord Opryland Resort, there also are about 1,000 baseball insiders and around 500 college kids looking for jobs. They all know baseball. I don’t.

Boy, do I feel a bit out of place.

5:30 pm CST

At the stroke of half-past five o’clock, the mad rush to the Job Posting Room was on. Every year, this Job Fair – set up by Minor League Baseball and PBEO (Professional Baseball Employment Opportunities) – draws hundreds of wannabes looking for jobs and internships which clubs thumbtack on large bulletin boards in the Job Fair’s nerve center.

When that Job Posting Room opened to all of us, I felt as if I was chasing after a Tickle Me Elmo circa 1999 at Target on Black Friday. It was crazy! I saw a few opportunities that caught my eye and I gently placed my well-edited resumes in the collection boxes corresponding to those job listings. If a club is interested in me, a team official will post my name on the Interview Board. We’ll see what happens.

8:35 pm CST

Let’s just say that I’m slightly freaking out. Kristin Grey knows hockey, but maybe not baseball stats – at least not like everyone else here. At dinner, everyone was talking about someone named Santana getting traded. Who? I’m trying to put that aside and focus on what I do know, which is the business of the sports product.

Monday, December 3, 2007

8:15 am CST

A morning check of the Interview Board and…wow! I actually got contacted for an interview – for a Press Box Internship in Jupiter, Florida at Roger Dean Stadium, the spring training and Class A home of the St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins. I feel a little more optimistic about this experience now. I had a goal of going on at least one interview, and hey, I accomplished that, so it can only go up from here!

11:20 am CST

This experience so far is extremely overwhelming! Everywhere you go there are famous people (not that I can actually identify any of them…). There are lots of folks just jumping at the opportunity to stand two feet away from these men. Whatever. I know that it isn’t about the stats or the rosters – it’s about business and how you do your job.

1:25 am CST

I met a nice man in the lobby and started making small talk. After parting company, one of my friends breathlessly told me that was the general manager of the Detroit Tigers. I just realized something: My lack of baseball fanaticism might just help me – there are so many important businesspeople here, and I’m treating them like any other professionals instead of fawning over them.

2:45 pm CST

Well, I was walking (cue “This Land is Your Land”) down one of the many hallways here and I spotted two guys in Trenton Thunder windbreakers. Finally, something I recognize! Working for that team in the Trenton market, which I know really well, would be a perfect fit for me! But before I can summon up the nerve to go introduce myself, they turn and walk away.

3:35 pm CST

Our group of 16 Lynn University students just had a great meeting with Jay Miller, the Chief Operating Officer and President of Ryan/Sanders Baseball and the Class-AAA Round Rock Express. Our professor, Ted Curtis, set up four days of exclusive meetings for us, here in our own conference room, with team presidents, general managers, sports agents and baseball journalists. All of these meetings really are teaching us about the business – and making us all question whether we all came here for the right reasons. Would this experience really be worth it for me?

5:50 pm CT

A final check of the Job Board and Interview Board before Minor League Baseball closed it for the day. The Trenton Thunder minor league team had a few postings, but unfortunately none were internship positions. That’s really disappointing. Hopefully they will post something tomorrow. Argh – I should have introduced myself to those guys from the Thunder when I had the chance.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

10:45 am CST

There they were again – the Trenton Thunder windbreakers. Rapid heartbeat. I really regretted missing the chance to introduce myself yesterday. Not today. Turns out, one of the men was general manager of the Thunder and took my resume. We’ll see!

1:20 pm CST

While sitting in one of our many fantastic meetings in our conference room, I felt my phone vibrating -- and saw the magic 609 area code, which belongs to none other then Trenton, New Jersey. It was Jason, a representative from the Thunder, asking if I would speak with him about internship opportunities. Right away, I left our cozy Ryman Studio conference room and met with him. It looked like the perfect fit – and then he actually offered me an internship on the spot! I couldn’t believe it! Sure, I still had an interview with Roger Dean Stadium, so I told Jason that I would let him know soon. I have a really good feeling about the Thunder, so this shouldn’t be a hard decision!

4:00 pm CST

Interview time with Roger Dean Stadium rolled around quickly. I had a great meeting with Brian Barnes, the stadium’s terrific assistant general manager. He offered me some really positive feedback about how I “sell” myself and present myself in an interview – and then he offered me an internship opportunity with the ability to work around my schedule. When it rains it pours!

4:45 pm CST

Time for ice cream! Some of my fellow students and I have become buddies with the guys at the Nestle Ice Cream stand at the massive Baseball Trade Show. While we enjoyed Drumstick cones, they told us about the synergy they have developed between their company and minor league baseball. Amazing how huge this industry really is!

5:50 pm CST

Last check of the boards for the night. A downer – I didn’t see my name on the tough-to-read handwritten interview lists of Wilmington or Williamsport. Maybe it’s a “W” thing? But, as I have learned these past few days, amazing and unexpected opportunities seem to lie around every corner. Strangely enough, the Camden Riversharks (again, right up the road from my home) had a posting, even though they are not an official affiliated club. I have always believed everything happens for a reason -- I landed an interview with the Riversharks tomorrow at 11.

9:25 pm CST

At dinner in the sports-themed restaurant at this massive resort, I met a few general managers of minor league clubs. They told me that, yep, I would pretty much be an idiot if I didn’t accept the Thunder offer. As they told me, it’s a great franchise to break into -- 2007 Eastern League champs! -- and make a name for myself. It seems that a key to this industry is gaining respect. Once you do that, the possibilities are endless.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

9:10 am CST

Nothing new on the Interview Board for me, but I guess I shouldn’t be complaining. Two job offers and one more interview today! Half of the people here would do anything for this. This is why I came here right?

10:15 noon CST

Well, my Riversharks interview is in 45 minutes. I hope this doesn’t make my decision any harder!

11:50 pm CST

That was frustrating. I went to the Interview Room, but the Riversharks were no where to be found. Automatic bad feeling. Minor League Baseball officials explained to me that because they were an unaffiliated team, they were only given permission to post jobs, not to conduct interviews in the MiLB facilities. Maybe this is the baseball gods’ way of telling me I really need to accept the Trenton internship. I tracked down the team GM’s cell phone number, arranged a meeting and enjoyed chatting with him a while.

2:35 pm CST

Decision time. You know when you just have to go with your gut? You know that inner voice? It was shouting at me, and that hasn’t happened for a while. Before rejoining Professor Curtis and my classmates in our Ryman Studio conference room, and heading to the airport, I called Jason from the Thunder and accepted the internship. Wow!

6:40 pm CST

Southwest Airlines is moments from taking us back to south Florida. I have learned so much in the past four days, let alone established some great contacts. By having a goal, I was committed to learning, establishing connections, and networking to better my potential. I could focus on the main reason I was at the Winter Meetings, and I truly believe that is how I enjoyed such a valuable experience. This summer, the Trenton Thunder await – and so does the next step in my career in professional sports. Play ball!