The only thing on the agenda for my last week with the Sharks was just one game on Wednesday against Springfield. It is Worcester Sharks tradition to not hold office hours the day before or after the game. I was not complaining. Everyone was tired and could not wait for this final game. Luckily for me, I was able to hang out with Finz as I was put on Finz Handler. Being a Wednesday, it usually is not that busy, but it is the last home game of the season, so we were doing a lot of Fan Appreciation promotions. We had to follow the regular itinerary with promotions and birthday visits, as well as special promotions and special visits. We delivered flowers to a season ticket holder battling cancer, and helped a man propose to his wife
in the second period. It was a long, eventful, but fun night and a perfect way to end it.
Looking back on the internship, all the office hours, game days, lessons learned, projects and overall experience, I am very satisfied. I wanted a position that would allow me to utilize my education and desire to be in business communications and sport management. The sport industry is a unique field to work in, and definitely requires experience in order to land a job in it. Now that I have worked for a professional team, my career objective to work for a professional sport team has not changed, and has only grown bigger. I am very thankful for the opportunity the Worcester Sharks and all of the front office staff have given me, and I look forward to staying in touch with them and using them as a reference in my search for another job after graduation.
My time with the Sharks is starting to wind down as it appears as though our chances of making the playoffs are almost impossible. Now is the point in the season where we start looking forward to next season and seeing what we can improve upon in the next few months. On Sunday we lost to Manchester in overtime. I was on Credentials and it was another very busy night. Before the game there was a lot of youth hockey games being played, and I was in charge of making sure all the players were in the right rooms, got on the ice at the right time, got off the ice quickly, and after the game, make sure all equipment is gone and that they exit through the correct doors. Besides the youth hockey, it was a relatively slow night. It was the last youth hockey event of the season and they went out with a bang.
On Friday, the Sharks played host to Norfolk. They lost the game 3-0 in a game that pretty much ended all playoff hopes the team had. My job tonight was Tank Team. Tank Team is still my favorite job, however this game I learned some of the negatives that go along with it. The first time I was on Tank Team, it was really fun and easy because the Sharks were dominating the opponent and the fans were engaged in the game and willing to be loud and proud with us. Tonight was a slow and frustrating game, which made it so much harder to get the crowd pumped up. People were even starting to leave early. This brings up a debate that has been discussed over the history of professional sports: What do you do to make your fans happy, when your team is not good? You can only do so many promotions, giveaways, and cheers until the fans realize it isn't worth it for what the product is on the ice.
Saturday night was another loss to Norfolk and it was another busy night on the concourse. I was on Kids Club. I was a little rusty as I had not done Kids Club since the second game of the semester. I was forced to quickly catch on as the gates opened early for a Bruins alumni game before the Sharks took the ice. As it is almost the end of the season, it is time to start trying to sell Kids Club Memberships for next season. This is a little harder than selling memberships for the current season because telling people that they will receive something instead of actually giving it to them can be a huge difference. It was a very long line all night at the prize wheel as I was spinning the wheel getting people walking by to come give it a spin!
There were no office hours this week because the game fell on Tuesday. This was a must-win game for the Sharks if they wanted to stay in the playoff hunt. They have been losing a lot of games lately and if the season ended today, they would not be in the playoffs. A Tuesday game may be more slow than a Wednesday game. But it is not too early to start thinking about next year. One of our supervisors, Kristen Moore, told us that tonight would be a good night to take note of anything that should change. She suggested that if we have any better ideas about how a certain station should be run, we should write it down and ask her about it. They are always looking to improve and make things easier. I was with my buddy Finz again today. It was a really easy day as there were no birthdays and not too many promotions in the game. We had a lot of time to visit with fans and sign autographs. A lot of people were happy because he usually doesn't have as much time to interact with fans individually as he did today. The Sharks lost 4-2 but and our playoff hopes are hanging on by a thread.
At this point in the internship, all of the interns are pretty close and all really good friends. This is to be expected because we spend so many hours a week together and have no choice but to get to know each other. It is fun getting to know and work with people from different colleges. I am glad I have gotten to connect not just with the people in the front office, but my fellow interns as well.
Sunday's game against the Hershey Bears also marked Finz' seventh birthday! The whole night was one big birthday party for Finz! On Finz' big night I was selected as Finz Handler. He had a lot planned for him. Every promotion was planned around his birthday or had a birthday theme. He also still had to visit kids who share the same birthday as him. It was going to be a very busy night as it was, but if that wasn't enough, Finz had some of his "friends" come along to the party as well. There were five additional mascots on hand including the bear from Polar Beverages, Moola the Cash Cow from Southbridge Savings Bank, and Slyde from the New England Revolution. So I was a little more than Finz Handler on this day, my title was more like "Mascot Handler". The hardest thing was getting them all together at the same time. The best part of the night was the mascot hockey game on the ice during the second intermission. it was 3 on 3 and Finz team won. He scored all three goals! It was a very crazy night that also included collecting birthday cards from fans. I thought that was awesome that fans don't even know the man under the mask but know he is such an important aspect of the Sharks. Everybody loves Finz. We also made a Harlem Shake video with all the mascots after the game!
During my office hours this week I got a very cool assignment. I had to go down to the locker rooms after the Sharks finished their practice and have them autograph signs. All the players had to autograph "This is Shark's Territory" signs, and the four players featured on a promotional poster had to sign 30 of the posters. It was an awesome experience communicating with the players and introducing myself. I was the one telling these professional hockey players what to do. It was a different role for me but I loved it! They were signing these autographs for future promotional giveaways, contest winners, and donation requests, as well as for their own friends and family. There was also a card they all signed for a youth hockey player in Chicago who was diagnosed with cancer. All the players were asking about him and his condition.
The next day we had another Wednesday game against the Manchester Monarchs. There was another youth hockey game before the Sharks game and my job during that was to control the crowd. The parents and other attendees of the game have to stay between two sections of the arena and must leave the DCU Center immediately following the game. So my role was "the tough guy" and I had to tell everyone that thy had to leave as soon as the game was over. During the game, I got to do a new job. I was put on Chuck-a-Puck. Chuck-a-Puck is a promotion that they do every game. Fans can buy a bag of foam hockey pucks with numbers on them. Its "six pucks for five bucks". Each puck has a number on it. When you buy the puck, we write down your name, phone number, and the numbers on your pucks. At the end of the game the put a target in the middle of the ice and everyone throws their pucks onto the ice. Who ever had the number puck that landed on the target or closest to it could win $200 or autographs from the Sharks players. My job tonight was to sell the pucks to people. It was difficult because it was such a slow night again, being in the middle of the week, but I did pretty well because I have experience in up selling.
I did not have any hours in the office this week due to my Spring Break, but there was still a game on Saturday against Providence. I was put on Credentials and it was a very busy night for us. Before the game there was a youth hockey championship, so I had to make sure the two teams were going to the right locker rooms and getting right out when the game was done. This was important because after the youth hockey game was the sixth annual Guns N' Hoses game. This is a game that pits the Worcester Fire Department against the Worcester Police Department. A portion of the money from the tickets sold for the game goes to the departments. It is a great event to be involved in and be a spectator of. The event ended up selling a lot of tickets and the event was a success. But what was headlining the entire night at the DCU Center was another appearance by a local sports hero. New England Patriots' offensive lineman Logan Mankins was at the game signing autographs. Luckily for me he had to go through the Credentials Table first so I got to meet him and see him up close! Two weeks in a row of seeing a sports star at work! It was a long nine hours at the Credentials Table but well worth it.
As the season is quickly approaching its finish, it is time to start planning for next season. The Sharks have a few dozen season ticket holders. Season ticket holders are very important to the team and the team is important to them. They get to experience benefits that non-season ticket holders don't. They are typically seen walking around the DCU Center in game worn jerseys that they won in silent auctions. These are the die hard Worcester Sharks fans that share the ups and downs of the season with us. They are almost a part of the team. Some of them know front office staff by first name and visa versa. I assisted the Senior Director of Sales and Marketing of the Worcester Sharks, Suzanne DeGeorge, in sending out letters with proposals and order forms to renew their season ticket package for the 2013-2014 season. The offer is a lower price as well as free playoff tickets if the Sharks make the playoffs. It is quite a good deal. Organizing, folding, and addressing these forms was time consuming and required perfection.
On Wednesday I got to experience the first mid-week game of the year as the Sharks took on the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. I was on the Credentials Table again but it was a lot different from last time. Being a Wednesday and not a weekend night, it was a lot less busy and stressful because the attendance is a lot lower. Therefore there was not a lot of extra media or scouts checking in. However, before the game there was a college hockey game going on that my very own Nichols College club team was playing in. Not only did I get to help in the production of that and tell the players where to go and when to go on the ice, but I got to cheer on the Bison! Unfortunately Nichols lost, but it was still something fun to do on a slow night. But the Sharks won 5-1!
Wilkes-Barre Scranton was in town again on Friday for a game in front of a much bigger crowd than Wednesday. Before the game I helped set up some pregame promotions and helped stuff programs to give out to fans walking through the main doors of the lobby. When the game started I was Finz Handler again. This is a job that I am growing to enjoy, not just because of the work it involves, but because the person who plays Finz is a fun guy to work with and talk to. Tonight was a very big night at the DCU Center because Boston Celtics' player Avery Bradley was in attendance to sign autographs! It made for a really crazy and busy atmosphere but it was awesome seeing one of my favorite professional athletes at my job! Not many people can say that! The Sharks lost the game, but it was one of my favorite nights at the DCU Center so far.
After a weekend off from games, it was back in the office where I got my wish to work on something new and different. Every season the Sharks invite all of their sponsors to a game as a way to honor and thank them for their donations. Working with my supervisor Matt Cattachio who also hold the title of Corporate Partnership Coordinator for the Worcester Sharks, I reviewed all of the companies that sponsor the Sharks. I got to see the wide variety of businesses and organizations that sponsor the team, where they are located, and how much money they donate to us every year. It was interesting to see that side of a sports organization. I helped to develop what could be referred to as a guest list for the upcoming sponsors game. Each company would be contacted and invited to the game. Having sponsors are a very important part of a sports organization, as sport organizations can be a very important part to a company. They both benefit each other .
On Saturday we had a big game against our rival Providence Bruins. But it was not just a big game for the Sharks, but for the people working the game as well. It was Finz Bobble head night and the first couple of hundred people received a bobble head. This was a very hectic scene and began early in the day before fans even arrived. First we had to open all of the boxes of bobble heads and prepare them to be given away. Then we had to bring them all from upstairs in the office to downstairs to the main lobby. The process was a struggle and time-consuming. Then we had to hand them out to the fans. Matt and Kristen warned us before the game that people go crazy on bobble head nights, and they were not lying. People were physical and impatient until the had their bobble head in their hands. Even when they were all gone, people who did not get them begged for them and those who had them wanted another. This made my night even more interesting becuase I was assigned the task of Finz Handler. It is similar to what I had to do a few weeks ago with David Gwozdz at the school, but this is a little more intense. David is not Finz at the Sharks games. Being Finz Handler at a game requires you to follow a very tight and packed itinerary to get Finz where he has to be at different parts of the game. While Finz Handler, you are in communication with the production assistant. You have to make sure that Finz is is on the ice when he has to be, visting birthday parties and more. This job was a little more hectic on this night because it was Finz' bobble head night. It seemed like everyone wanted pictures and autographs from him, but it was hard keeping him moving, interacting with fans, talking with the production assistant and keeping everyone happy. It was a very busy night and required a lot of running around but I had fun and it was a good experience, despite the Sharks losing 4-3 in a shootout.
The only thing on the agenda for my last week with the Sharks was just one game on Wednesday against Springfield. It is Worcester Sharks tradition to not hold office hours the day before or after the game. I was not complaining. Everyone was tired and could not wait for this final game. Luckily for me, I was able to hang out with Finz as I was put on Finz Handler. Being a Wednesday, it usually is not that busy, but it is the last home game of the season, so we were doing a lot of Fan Appreciation promotions. We had to follow the regular itinerary with promotions and birthday visits, as well as special promotions and special visits. We delivered flowers to a season ticket holder battling cancer, and helped a man propose to his wife 
