Shadowing my boss

On Thursday April 11, 2013, the Philadelphia Flyers played the Ottawa Senators. As a game day presentation intern, I have to be at every home game but this specific game I wasnt doing my normal task. I had the chance to shadow the Senior Director of Game Presentation, Anthony Gioia. Anthony is in charged of overseeing the marketing department on a day to day basis. However his job is not just a normal 9 to 5 office job. On game days, he is in charge of making sure that everything that has to do with any aspect of the presentation of the game, along with the fan experience, goes according to plan. Prior to the doors even opening, Anthony and I walked around the concourse many times making sure everything was in place and ready for the game. In the atrium at Broad Street as well as 11th street, they are tables and stand set up that companies pay big money for the product or service to be placed there as a marketing tatic because of the large amount of eyes that will see it. We made sure that everything was set up correctly. Beyond this, we had to check all the signage on the concourse. During the game, they Flyers were running promotions on their apparel,  in order for the fans to be aware of the promotions, their were posters advertising these promotions. We also checked to make sure these were printed correctly and in the right place. I learned a good deal from this because as an advertiser or  marketer, you must seek perfection in your work and make sure all the small details are in place, in order for success.

During the game, Anthony is located up in the balcony suite, were the press box and control room is. From there, he calls everything that happens during the game, by this I mean, any promotion, song, anything the announcer says, etc. is called and executed by Anthony. Prior to the game Anthony writes a script and the schedule for the game, however everything is very tentative because he has to go according to the feel of the game. During the third period, he let me make the calls. This was a really good learning experience because it taught me to think on my feet and make fast, but still thought out, decisions.

Shadowing Anthony during the game was a great experience, it taught me a lot about marketing and pleasing a crowd but at the same time the clients who have paid to have their products promoted.