NACDA Review

It has been a while since my last post, but believe me much has been happening. Below is but a taste:

• Vanderbilt baseball won the SEC Tournament
• Vanderbilt baseball garnered the No 1 overall seed in the Road to Omaha
• VU hosts first ever NCAA Baseball Regional
• Sold out all seats for Regional before Monday
• Lost Track coach; resigned
• Lost baseball regional in dramatic fashion Monday to Michigan
• Lost very successful women's golf coach - went to Texas
• My staff and I attended NACDA Convention
• I spoke on our customer service program at NACDA
• VU has begun our second Sales Academy
• VU football season ticket sales are about 37% ahead of last year

A big part of the time recently was attending the NACDA Convention in Orlando, FL. While I will try to speak in more detail soon, below are the highlights.

• Learned that ESPN 360 will soon become a major player in "television" rights game. ESPN 360 is espn.com's subscription service that has broadcasted some games so far, but will leverage their ESPN network rights agreements in the future to distribute many non-televised games but also could potentially supersede the RSN in the future. Stay tuned.
• Of course, we made some more really good contacts in the business. It is funny, my first year I was wasting time in the exhibit area because I knew no one. But now, I barely even noticed the exhibitors because I am becoming more familiar with the people at the various institutions.
• We talked more with CLC who will become our licensee in July. I am so excited at what possibilities exist as we move forward.
• Saw the Space Shuttle take off! Freakin cool.
• Learned that the college industry is VERY slow to adopt the pro sports sales model for selling tickets. While there is certainly momentum for hiring sales staffs, the movement is very slow. I don't get it. Everyone that has made the leap, reaps the rewards.
• Gave my presentation on our Deputy Dores program which is a group of volunteers performing random acts of kindness. It is shocking how many people are interested in customer service, yet have no sort of plan. I thought I did well, but certainly tailed off on the third g0-around of a 45 minute presentation.
• Listened to a pretty good speech by Head South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier. More on that later.
• Coined a term - Networking Nitwit. I ave discovered there are some people that have an uncanny ability to network themselves extremely well with very little substance. However, these people do end up getting good jobs in this industry. Makes me wonder ... who exactly is the Nitwit?
• Definitely wonder why some departments and schools choose not to send their staffs on a professional development trip like this. It just offers too much.

That's a good recap, and I will get back in the saddle with my posts now. Things I am paying attention to these days include:

• Obama's web strategies
• The iPhone launch
• Not the NBA Finals
• Whether the Cardinals can tread water long enough to get Carpenter back
• XM Radio - I just got a free portable receiver and a free one year subscription
• Vanderbilt Football
• My summer vacation at Daufuskie Island!

Take care.