1/2713 - 2/2/13

This week marked my first day of working in the office. Coming into it I did not really know what to expect. I wondered how much I can actually help or contribute being a lowly intern. Turns out, they like to keep you busy and learning at all times. When I first got there I learned my way around the computer system and how to log on. Then I was separating tickets and organizing them but name to prepare them to be picked up at will call for Saturday's upcoming game. After that task, I was sent by Jason Jones, the director of ticket sales of the Worcester Sharks, to deliver fliers to schools in Mendon, MA. When I first received the orders, I was a little confused and felt as though it was a "typical intern job". Thinking more critically about it, Jason knows what he is doing. The Sharks have won awards for their excellence in selling tickets. Schools are such a vulnerable place to sell tickets because there are so many kids that go to a school, and all of those kids have parents or guardians. This is one of the ways they get group ticket sales. When I got back from my short trip, I was to help Brett Sawin, the Community Development Coordinator for the Sharks. Brett had me going through the donation requests that the received and that they have already acted upon and keep track of what we sent to each organization. I learned a lot more about Brett's title in completing this task as I was starting to understand the importance of creating a relationship between the organization and the community.

On Saturday, the Providence Bruins were in town again, looking to defeat the Sharks at home for the second straight week. This was a special night at the DCU Center, as it was "Pink in the Rink" night. It was to raise awareness of breast cancer. The Sharks wore pink jerseys and the ice was pink too! The jerseys were sold in a silent auction and proceeds went to breast cancer research. It was a great event to be a part of.

This week I was in charge of operating the Kid's Club located on the concourse of the DCU Center. The Kid's Club is a table where anyone can go to, pay a dollar to spin the wheel, and win the prize it lands on. It is a little corny but it is similar to supervising the Shootout Booth in the sense that it brings a smile to kids' faces, creates memories, and is selling the experience. Also involved in Kid's Club is trying to sell the Kid's Club membership to parents. Up selling is one of my stronger suits based on my past work experience. The membership gets a kid a Sharks shirt, bracelet, plastic megaphone, a free spin of the wheel, and a check list that every ten times they visit the table, they get a free ticket to a game...all for only $10! Selling the membership came pretty easy for me. The incentive is to sell five memberships and you get $5. I ended up selling eight! Everyone was impressed with my up selling and congratulated me on reaching the incentive. The Sharks lost again 2-0 and don't have another home game for three weeks.

First Week. 1/22/13 - 1/26/13

My first day was Tuesday January 22nd at the intern orientation, which was basically just information overload. The two supervisors in charge of the interns, Kristen Moore and Matt Catacchio, introduced themselves and we proceeded to go around the room and introduce ourselves to our future co-workers. The ice breakers were the easy part, as we had a lot ahead of us. We went over all of the duties that we will be responsible for during our time with the Sharks. We learned the rules, responsibilities and expectations that we have to follow. There was nothing that they told us that had me concerned at that point. It was a lot of obvious and common sense material. After going over all of the boring material, we went for a tour of the DCU Center to see where we would be working for the next few months. We visited every station where we would be working and at each stop Kristen and Matt reiterated what had to be done for each job. Seeing the ins and outs of the DCU Center was interesting and got me excited for the game coming up on Saturday. Upon leaving for the night, I had a headache due to all of the information, but I was confident and ready.

Saturday marked the first game day. The Sharks took on the Providence Bruins. Right away I was thrown into the mix. My first job was to prepare the list of rosters to hand out to all the fans upon walking into the stadium. After helping hand out the rosters and programs, I was put in charge of supervising the Shootout Booth in the main lobby. The Shootout Booth is an isolated area with a net, hockey sticks and balls where kids line up and take shots at getting the ball in the net. When a child scores a goal we all go crazy and congratulate them. It is always a good feeling being able to put a smile on a child's face, but in this instance it means a whole lot more. Creating memories is creating repeat customers. If we create memories, the child and their family will want to come back to the games all the time, and when children have kids of their own, they will bring them as well. The importance of selling the experience was evident right away at my first game. Unfortunately the Sharks lost the game 4-3 in an exciting shootout, but it was still exciting to officially begin my internship.

I am currently taking part in a Spring 2013 Internship with the Worcester Sharks at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Sharks are a professional hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) and are an affiliate of the San Jose Sharks, who play in the National Hockey League (NHL). Their first home game in Worcester was in 2006, and since then their fan base has been on a steady incline.
Interns are important to the Worcester Sharks organization. The interns help the organization, while the organization helps the interns. During my time with the Sharks, I will be responsible for performing many various duties in te office as well as on game days. In return I will attain my ultimate goal for the internship, which is getting a first hand experience of how a sport team is run.
I hope to learn more about all of the little things that go into a sport organization that I did not know before.
I am really looking forward to working in the office, to learn what kinds of tasks need to be performed outside of the team to have a successful organization.
I am excited to learn about how all of the game day operations are run and what the required duties are for that.
I really hope to contribute in any way possible my education in Business Communications and Sport Management to the Worcester Sharks perform at a high level during my Spring 2013 internship.