I Made It Across the Pond!

Hi All!

Here I am for the first time in the UK, and what a beautiful country it is. The city that we are staying in, Coventry, is spectacular. Lush, green vegetation, lots of clouds and rain, along with cool old school buildings. One aspect that I have really enjoyed so far is that it is not a huge tourist attraction, and therefore we are getting a true feeling of what it is like to live in the UK, rather than just a tourist feeling.

Back in Dallas, NACDA finished off with a solid day 3, and we were lucky enough to go to a Texas rangers game that night. What a cool ballpark! We had great seats, but really just being in that atmosphere was electric. I may have been convinced to cheer for a second Dallas team......uh oh. Anyway! The following morning, we left the hotel and made 3 stops on our way to the airport. First was Anthony Travel, a company that partners with universities all around the nation to take care of travel arrangements for their athletes, coaches, and fans, and even go as far as planning the whole trip for the university (i.e. if a team is traveling to a bowl game, they may take care of every single arrangement like parties, etc.). It was neat to see that side of the business and see how much really goes into it. Our second stop was at Learfield Sports, which has an amazing office. I mainly say that because they have ESPN on all the time, but what a cool environment it was and would be to work in. They had a few different people talk to our group, including 2 interns which was great because we could really relate to them and ask questions to see how we could possible be in their shoes next year. Our final stop was at the headquarters of Conference USA, where we talked to the commissioner along with a handful of other people in the office. I have truly never felt so welcome, and after leaving there, I am definitely a fan of what they do. You can see their Instagram picture of us here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150885346155741&set=a.10150684470880741.392358.92716040740&type=1&theater

They made us feel like they were the ones who were privileged to host us, when really we were privileged to be there. That attitude of service was evident in every person in that office and was very refreshing to see.

Our flight across the pond was not as bad as I though it was going to be. The 9 or so hours seemed to go by faster than it could have, even though I did not get much sleep. We checked into the hotel yesterday around 1, and it is a little different! They have 2 different sized beds, which I was not expecting at all.

Like I said in the beginning, Coventry is a remarkable town! We had class today, and the university is spectacular. I was schocked to hear our local professor Neville (he is teaching one course along with Dan Wickman, U of A professor) say that they have 24,000 undergraduate students. I am anxious to find some free time and get out there with my camera. If you didn't see, I put a link to my Flickr stream of photos for the trip on the right hand side. They are mostly my artsy photo ones but I will include some in these posts as well that depict the places we have been.

I am actually really looking forward to the school side of this trip, not just all the spectacles. While yes, often getting up earlier than i would like might not sound exciting, we are studying sports! When you are passionate about something, it makes it fun and entertaining, and I can tell you that pretty much everyone on this trip is passionate about sports which should make for a fun and entertaining yet still educational classroom environment.

The food here is outstanding. Tonight we went to a noodle bar that was really tasty and cleared everyone's sinus's out. As we left, we all said that we are going to come back before we leave, but no joke we have said that about every single place we have eaten so far. And from what I hear, the best food is yet to come! It is also a little strange to be able to order a beer with my lunch, but it is just the culture. We have been trying different local beers to try and immerse ourselves as much as possible. That really goes for everything we have done though. We want the ultimate experience and we are doing as much as possible to make that happen.

I was able to Skype with the family (and Ginger) last night at roughly 2:45 AM Coventry time, but definitely worth the hour of sleep I missed to see them! That is all from me tonight.


Until next time,


Ben

NACDA Update

Hi Everyone!

I am writing you after a very long and tiring 2 days at the NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) Conference 2012. While it has been long and tiring, it has also been knowledge filled and invaluable. There have been so many different opportunities to network among the best and the brightest in collegiate athletics, and maybe, just maybe, meet the right person to help you get your foot in the door.

We have heard various presentations throughout the past 2 days from extremely bright individuals, including the Senior Vice President of Southwest Airlines, athletic directors from major BCS schools, and panels made up of marketing employees in universities across the nation. However, no presentation was better than that of Kevin Plank, President, Founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Under Armour. His presentation was energetic, information packed, and really told a story that we could all relate to about how to run a successful business. He had a few quotes that stood out, and that I found to be very profound. The first was a quote that he has on the doors of every meeting room at the Under Armour headquarters in Maryland that says "We have not yet built our defining product." As a company that is famous for its innovation in sport apparel and more specifically the sweat absorbing gear used in warm weather (although Nike often seems to get the credit for this), I saw the quote and motto to be very humbling for that company. As a business and a brand, they are not satisfied or caught up enough in past achievements to stop working towards future ones. I think that no matter what the company may be, this attitude can always be applied to make a positive impact on the way you think and how hard you work.

The second and possibly most profound quote I have ever heard said this: "Smart enough to be naive enough to not know what we could not accomplish." Once again, I was taken back at the attitude of this company, which was really exude by Kevin Plank. He started this business in the basement of his Grandmother's house, but he didn't want any limitations. He looked at being naive as something to be proud of, something to drive you to dream big and produce even bigger, which subsequently Under Armour has done. Although I have always been a Nike guy, this presentation made me rethink my loyalty to Nike. Kevin has created an amazing company.

As I said, the days have been long and challenging, but I will definitely reap the rewards. Not only in a networking aspect, but it the amount I have learned from listening to the best and the brightest in college athletics.

The countdown to London is on! 48 hours from now I will be somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, headed towards a huge unknown. I cannot express my excitement for the weeks that lie ahead, and at the same time I am feeling so blessed to be a part of this program!

That's all for tonight. My pillow is calling my name.....  :)

Until next time,
Ben

Could I Really be a Cowboys Fan?

Oh my gosh I think I am becoming a Cowboys fan.....

Well maybe not a fan, but WOW! What a facility. To call it just a stadium does Jerry Jones an injustice, for it is much, much more. I could not believe my eyes for a majority of the trip. Everything in the building was so precisely thought out. For heavens sake, in the areas that looked like hotel room lobbies, they made sure to shape the chandeliers like footballs to remind people where they were. It was all completely breathtaking. We started the tour with a good overlook of the field and some facts about the stadium, which is worth a grand total of $1.2 BILLION, including the $40 million TV in the middle of the field. We proceeded to club level reception areas, executive suites, and then down into the cheerleaders and players locker rooms. Following that, we go to head out onto the field, going through the same tunnel that the players do when they head out on game day. Being on the field was remarkable. I can only image what it would be like if there were 80,000 people in the building watching me as I did so.

Our group got a picture on the star at midfield, and then proceeded into the stands as one of Brent Seebohm's (faculty member on the trip) former colleagues spoke to us, because he now works for the Cowboys. There were 2 takeaways that stuck with me. The first was what he said about sports and being a business, particularly that often times he forgets that he is really connected with a sports team. I found that somewhat ironic. But secondly, he talked about sales. He told us that we have to be able to sell ANYTHING if we want to move up in this business. Whether it be selling ourselves in an interview, or selling an executive suite for the Dallas Cowboys, sales are everywhere.

We have settled into the hotel for the evening, and are ready to root on the cats! I am very excited for this upcoming week, really hoping to start to network and learn as much as I possibly can and make this a truly valuable experience.

That's all for now!

Ben

PS....I will be uploading more pictures and linking it to the blog somehow. I obviously can't attach them all to every post, but I still want to share them. I am hoping to have that done soon!

Finally Underway!

Hi everyone!

Well, it has been a little over 24 hours since our program began, and what a whirlwind it has been. We started off yesterday with mostly administrative nuts and bolts at McClelland Hall, but ended our time there with 2 guest speakers. First was Dr. Len Jessup, the Dean of the Eller College, who came down and wished us well, and reminded us that we are truly lucky to have this unprecedented experience and to represent our college, university and country well. Our 2nd guest speaker was Olympic Silver Medalist, World Champion and NCAA Champion and Woman of the Year Lacey Nymeyer-John, who talk to us about the StepUP program (peer responsibility and leadership) and her own Olympic Experience. I think I can speak for a majority of the people in that room when I say she gave us goosebumps! It made everyone very anxious to get to London.

After we left the U of A, we checked in at our hotel and then headed out to the Tucson Padres minor league baseball game. It was a great atmosphere to interact with everyone on the trip and start to get a little more familiar with one another. Then, bright and early this morning, we all went over to the ropes course at the U of A (picture below - credit Sports Management Facebook) and participated in all sorts of team building exercises with our own teams! We have been divided up into 7 teams for projects and such on the trip, and this was a really useful event to learn all about our teammates. After the course, we grabbed some lunch, and headed back to the hotel where we are now (Star Pass - great views of Tucson!). We leave tomorrow morning for Dallas, with a full week ahead of us. We will be attending a huge collegiate athletic conference with high ranking executives from many companies and schools, namely the CEO of Under Armour. Our 4 faculty have promised that this week will be especially exhausting, but that it is similar in that sense to working in collegiate athletics. I cannot wait to see what we have in store for the next couple days!

Although the trip is just getting under way, there is already a feeling among the group that we have a really strong group of students and that we are going to have an incredible upcoming 6 weeks.

Until next time,
Ben

Cool Article About the Trip!

There was a cool article in UA News about our trip the other day that you can read here:


http://uanews.org/node/47771 


Just about 24 hours until this crazy summer kicks off....I can't wait!


-Ben