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.
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