Fanatics’ Post

I love basketball. Mostly the NBA. Especially the Boston Celtics. My love of basketball is different than my love of golf. I won't go into why, but if you also love both, let's talk! Lots of people discuss the similarities between sports and work teams. It's usually in the context of collaboration, teamwork, leadership. But I haven't seen much discussion about the reasons/motivations for the individuals to join those teams. The Celtics are having a great season. If you live in Boston, or follow the NBA, you know that. One of the reasons for that can be found in the stories and career arcs of the players. Al Horford left the Celtics ~4 years ago to chase the money. After 2 years, he realized he had made a mistake. He came back to Boston, and signed a contract extension for less money and a smaller individual role with a winning team. Kristaps Porzingis was a star last year. He's in his prime. He was traded to Boston (his desired destination) and signed a contract extension for less money than expected. He is averaging fewer points per game this year, but is on a winning team for the first time in his career, and has been GUSHING about how happy he is. Jrue Holiday was traded to the Celtics this year after averaging 19 points per game last year as the Bucks second best player, and leading them to an NBA Championship two years ago. This year, Holiday has had 1 game where he scored more than 19 points. He has sacrificed individual statistics for team success. Two of these three players sacrificed money for team success. All three sacrificed individual statistics and accolades. So what does this have to do with work and why am I posting this on LinkedIn? Something I've heard from other job-seekers and experienced myself is recruiters and hiring managers wondering why candidates would be willing to accept a lower title or a lower salary in their pursuit of their next role. I've even had recruiters message me after I've applied for a role to say "I don't think we can pay you what you want" without asking me what my expectations are! I understand recruiters are drowning in applications, many of which are junk, but if someone who seems "over-qualified" or "too expensive" for the role has taken the time to apply, why would you just disqualify them? Wouldn't you be interested in talking to them if they checked all the boxes AND applied? Maybe the role isn't a fit, but find out before disqualifying! Getting back to the Celtics example: Can you imagine if the Celtics assumed those three players were not interested in playing for them without ever discussing money or individual goals? Everyone has a different story, a different career arc, and different reasons for why they make the decisions they make. It's a mistake to disqualify great candidates without hearing their story. PS - I know there's a big difference between NBA players who make millions and real world people who don't make millions 😉 , but the analogy still fits!

𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄... 𝗝𝗲𝗻 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘇𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 We'll be regularly shining a light on sports merchandise industry professionals around the globe and finding out a little about their careers and insight into their roles. Next up, Jen Pertzborn. 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 Jen Pertzborn 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲 Merchandise Manager 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Green Bay Packers 🇺🇸🏈 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀? 2️⃣2️⃣ years 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲? Being able to use my creativity to select unique items that influence the purchasing decisions of our customers. Developing exclusive items only sold in our stores and online and seeing those items be successful is rewarding. I also enjoy traveling and developing strong friendships with vendors and co-workers.   𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁? Managing inventory in a retail environment that heavily relies on the performance of the team. It’s a daily balancing act to make sure you have the right goods in inventory at the right time. Due to the high level of fiscal responsibility in this role, the extended work hours can also be challenging at times. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 / 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁? My proudest and favorite moment so far in my sports career has been working with the team when they won Super Bowl XLV. Going through that experience as a member of the buying team is something I will never take for granted. It was an invaluable learning opportunity and a once in a lifetime experience. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆? I know a lot of individuals in this industry who started at the bottom and worked their way up. If you are interested in a career in sports, entry level positions can get you familiar with the team and the way the sports industry works. It is also important to network. Inform those people of your interest and stay in close contact with them. Thanks, Jen! We enjoyed getting to know you! #sport #sports #merch #merchandise #podcast #industry #talent #professional #networking #insight #retail #merchandising #licensing #brand #greenbay #greenbaypackers #USA #fooball #NFL National Football League (NFL)

Time to meet Evan Jones, our Manager of Partnership Development! 🤝 Q: Tell us a little bit about what you do at the Chargers. A: I work with various brands to maximize the full value of their partnership with the team and make sure they feel like members of the family. Building strong relationships both internally and externally is the most important thing we do. We interact with every department in the organization on a daily basis to involve our partners in all phases of the Chargers. Q: How did you get started? A: I always knew that I wanted a career in sports, so I took advantage of the opportunity to work at UC San Diego's athletics department in marketing throughout my undergrad. Once I graduated, I bounced around a few opportunities before getting my first pro sports experience with the San Francisco 49ers in their Partnerships team. That led me to the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans before eventually settling down with the Chargers, where I've been fortunate to spend three seasons. Q: What is the most rewarding part of your job? A: Seeing all the hard work come to life on game days. A lot of our work is done over months of planning, so the culmination at SoFi Stadium in front of tons of Chargers fans really provides a huge feeling of satisfaction. Q: Any advice for those trying to get a job in sports? A: Care about what you're doing. Taking pride in what you do will only lead to maximum effort. Putting in the same effort in the small tasks as the big tasks will take you very far, and that comes from caring about your work. #workinsports #partnerships

Versatility Growing up in a small school, I learned to play many different positions on the baseball field. Third, first, pitcher, and heck even some outfield. That experience and team first mentality helped as I continued my playing career in college. Professionally, versatility appears to be a valuable asset. When I was working with a sports start up, there wasn’t a lot of manpower, so I had to learn to become versatile. Much like my playing career, my team first mentality looked for places where help was needed and I jumped in head first to help. We needed help with sales, I pounded the pavement and built relationships with over 40% of the NFL in 6 weeks. We needed to get attention and brand awareness on a new product, I made multiple commercials. We needed a presentation to impress a major client, take a guess who did it? That’s right me. Not bad considering I was brought in solely to build a catalog. Which I did, and I built a CRM for it too! The trouble facing versatile #jobseekers like myself is so many organizations are looking for specific experience in specific roles. They aren’t looking for someone who has experience playing first base, third base, and outfield. They are looking for a third baseman with a specific amount of experience. Now I’m not saying all organizations are like this by any means. I know some smaller ones require people who can wear a lot of hats. Wearing a lot of hats, producing results, and helping are all major pillars of who I am. Versatility….embrace it! Do you need it? If so, let’s talk!! #versatility #jobsearch #networking

Versatility Growing up in a small school, I learned to play many different positions on the baseball field. Third, first, pitcher, and heck even some outfield. That experience and team first mentality helped as I continued my playing career in college. Professionally, versatility appears to be a valuable asset. When I was working with a sports start up, there wasn’t a lot of manpower, so I had to learn to become versatile. Much like my playing career, my team first mentality looked for places where help was needed and I jumped in head first to help. We needed help with sales, I pounded the pavement and built relationships with over 40% of the NFL in 6 weeks. We needed to get attention and brand awareness on a new product, I made multiple commercials. We needed a presentation to impress a major client, take a guess who did it? That’s right me. Not bad considering I was brought in solely to build a catalog. Which I did, and I built a CRM for it too! The trouble facing versatile #jobseekers like myself is so many organizations are looking for specific experience in specific roles. They aren’t looking for someone who has experience playing first base, third base, and outfield. They are looking for a third baseman with a specific amount of experience. Now I’m not saying all organizations are like this by any means. I know some smaller ones require people who can wear a lot of hats. Wearing a lot of hats, producing results, and helping are all major pillars of who I am. Versatility….embrace it! Do you need it? If so, let’s talk!! #versatility #jobsearch #networking

In Lieu of the pending #SuperBowl, we wanted to take a minute to share some thoughts from our VP of IT, Steve Conley. It serves as a data-backed testament to the effect that understanding your audience can have on both bottom and top line sales. Our team got to experience the effect #TaylorSwift can have on an industry first hand. We love seeing our #Customized #Solutions work wonders for our partners. "With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, I was thinking back to championship runs I was involved in and how fun and special these types of events are for everyone involved. Regardless of the position you hold, you get caught up in being part of something bigger and it is an amazing experience. I don’t have a rooting interest in either team this year. Other than hoping the scores match my squares, I like to see stories come out the data leading up to and during the event. For this year’s Super Bowl one interesting fact is seeing how the Taylor Swift effect is influencing and growing the fan base for the NFL. I have seen first hand how the Taylor Swift effect works. TendedBar poured drinks during Taylor Swift’s the Era’s Tour this summer and our marketing team ran an experiment that tied our product directly to the concert. In a creative move, all drinks were themed around different Taylor Swift songs. The result? A resounding success that not only elevated the concert experience but also transformed the way consumers engaged with our TendedTrends feature. It's proof that catering to the passions of the audience can redefine the norm. Now that the NFL has hopped on the Taylor Swift band-wagon, it’s clear that the direct effect this woman has on any industry is unparalleled. If you’re into data like me and enjoy digging into these types of topics, I invite you to check out the newly launched “Pour Report” from TendedBar. This collection of insights was fun for our team to make, and we are very excited to share it with all of you. Click the link below to check out the “Pour Report”. Finally as die hard Patriots fan, I don’t want to have the Chiefs contend with the Dynasty built by Brady and Belichick but you have to respect what they have done so far and Taylor tipped the scales - “Go Chiefs” With a special shout out to all the behind the scenes employees to both organizations.   #TendedTrends #ConcertExperience #DataInnovation #TendedBarTech"

Caitlin Clark just got passed over for a spot on Team USA because she "didn't have enough experience." 🤨 And pardon my language here, but that's the dumbest f***ing thing I've ever heard. First off, Caitlin Clark is the best thing to ever happen to women's basketball. 🏀 She's an absolute baller who is so fun to watch, but more importantly for the league, she puts butts in seats. And that's not just anecdotal, Data shows that WNBA Attendance Is 105% Higher When Caitlin Clark Plays 🚀 For those tracking at home, that's DOUBLE the number of people. 🤯 Now I know what you might be thinking, "okay Matt, so she draws people to games, but is she actually good at basketball compared to others who made the Olympic team?" That answer there is a big, emphatic "hell yes." 💥 Here is her average per game stat line for the 2024 👇🏻 16.3 points 4.9 rebounds 6.0 assists 1.5 steals Now compare those numbers to the other guards selected for Team USA and you'll find that: Caitlin Clark is ahead of 75% of the other players in at least 3 of these 4 categories 📈 So what's the real reason she's not on the roster? Simple = veteran players feel threatened because a rookie has entered their league and is making such a huge impact, which is something they haven't been able to do themselves. Now lets quickly apply this thinking and example to business, shall we? 🤔 How many of y'all have ever had this happen to you? Where you are going after that next step in your career, the internal promotion, or that new job that's a step above where you're at today. You've got the stats and stories to demonstrate why you deserve it, but you still get passed over because you "don't have the experience" I've especially heard this a lot from candidates trying to get their first job in #RevOps, So if you're a hiring manager out there, I've got two pieces of advice for you. 1️⃣ Don't dismiss people just because they haven't done the job before. Instead, look at whether they're capable. 2️⃣ And secondly, if you're hiring for any position out there, Hire someone who is better at that job than you would be. Sure, it might be a hit to the ego to admit that, But just think of how good you'll look when that person comes in and absolutely crushes it? 😏 Remember, it's not your job to be great at everything, It's your job to hire people who can be great at the things you are not. #rantover Happy Thursday y'all ✌️ #revenueoperations #salesops #salesoperations #marketingops #marketingoperations, #mops #sops #GTMops #AllTheOps #hiring

Here we go again. That fine line between good-hearted fun ... and being an a$$hole. And yes, this is sparked by the #stanleycupplayoffs There is a distinct difference between playful "chirping" and flat out salty, judgmental and mean-spirited stuff. For non sports fans, "chirping" is a term used to describe playful and within sportsmanlike boundaries banter. Sometimes also called "trash talk". Right now the Vegas Golden Knights are deep in Round 1 of the #StanleyCupPlayoffs. Playing against the Dallas Stars - a team they met later in the playoffs last year. Last year's engagement was contentious at best and utterly despicable at worst. Those would be words to describe Jamie Benn, the Stars team, management and many of the fans. We all want our teams to win. BUT when your team loses and you think appropriate response includes grotesque gestures, language of violence and even threats of death to the team that wins ... that's not okay. To be clear it's not ALL Dallas fans. I have some dearly beloved friends who live in Dallas, are from Dallas and/or cheer for Dallas. But taken in aggregate the things I've seen online, which I won't repost because that perpetuates the hate and negativity, they're an example of how things get out of hand with language. That's it. That's the post. And yes, I posted this image with this post as a direct chirp. So neener neener :) #leadership #languagematters #sportsmanlikeconduct #honor #unleashedleadership #fixyourendoftheleash #compassionatecandor #communication

I wanted to learn about Dean Blandino's mindset. You have nothing to lose: When you walk up to someone to initiate a conversation. Dean Blandino is a FOX Sports rules analyst for the National Football League (NFL) and college football coverage. Blandino provides viewers with insights into plays, calls, and situations involving interpretation or explanation of the rules. His career journey started as an intern for the officiating department of the NFL. Blandino became a full-time employee after the 1994 NFL season. From 1999-2003, Blandino served as an instant replay official. He worked two Super Bowls and two conference championship games. Blandino oversaw the NFL instant replay program from 2003 to 2009. From 2007 to 2009, Blandino was the director of officiating and served under Mike Pereira. Blandino supervised day-to-day operations by managing the support staff and game officials’ schedules. He formed his own company in 2009 to provide training and evaluation for replay officials. Blandino returned to the NFL in 2012 as the director of officiating. He managed projects such as editing the official rulebook, training for on-field officials, and participating in community initiatives. Blandino oversaw the hire of Sarah Thomas, the first female official of the National Football League. His extensive work experience played a role in his transition to his current position as a rules analyst. You cannot underestimate how an interaction can impact your life. Building relationships is the key to life. 🔑 ~~~ ♻️ If you found this helpful, reshare this post to your network. #aaronsencounters #buildingrelationships #marketing #personaldevelopment