2/17/13 - 2/23/13

This week was a long and eventful week, and it still is not over. I got to do a lot of different tasks between the office hours and the busy weekend of games. One weekend every season, the Sharks have three home games in a row on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I understand why it is only once a season...it is exhausting! Starting with my office hours on Tuesday, I got out of the office for the whole day to  make a Finz appearance at a school near Fitchburg. I went along with David Gwozdz, the Merchandise Manager for the Sharks. Finz is the Worcster Sharks mascot and often makes appearances around the community whether it be for fundraising, recognition, or community service. In this case, Finz was invited to the school to remind the kids and get them excited for their Sharks game they had coming up for the weekend. David was in the mascot suit and I was his handler. Since he can't talk I had to do all of the communicating to all of the kids all while making sure none of them were mauling Finz and making sure none of them got injured. It was a pretty hectic experience, but it was definitely an awesome feeling seeing all the kids smile and get excited. Who knew a guy in a shark suit would get kids so rowdy?

On Friday, we had our first home game since the second of February against the Mancester Monarchs. For this game I was put in charge of manning the Credentials Table. The Credentials Table is a very important job because you are in charge of checking important people into the DCU Center, whether it's the media, performers, National Anthem singers and more depending on the night. It is important to stay organized and check people off the list as they arrive, direct people to where they are supposed to be, write out credentials for unannounced guests such as scouts, making sure that people aren't wandering around, and no letting people in if they are not supposed to be there. Essentially, the Credentials Table is viewed as a form of security for the Sharks, making sure everything flows smoothly and the right people are in attendance and where they are supposed to be.

Saturday's game was against the Portland Pirates, and so far is the most fun I have had during the internship. I was put on Tank Team for the night. Tank Team is a group of typically four interns that only have one job: make sure everyone is having fun. This means that we start chants, dance with fans, get involved in promotions during games, throw shirts, and just always be positive. My crew that I was the leader of did all of that and more. We were loud and proud and had everybody engaged with the game. We danced to all the songs and made a few appearances on the big screen. We even started a wave, which my supervisor Matt said is a very rare feat by any Tank Team in the past. After the game, everyone came up to me and congratulated me on a job well done and some even said we were "the best Tank Team ever". As fun but unprofessional as the job sounds, it still serves as important to the Sharks family and fun culture they try to develop. We want to create memories and sell the experience. People had fun and we played a huge part. Fans were even taking pictures with us! Best of all, the Sharks were victorious! Also, the team wore specialty jerseys tonight to raise awareness for Autism. The jerseys were auctioned off at the end of the game with proceeds going to Autism research and awareness charities.