Personal Branding

Fan Engagement, Personal Branding, Sports Business, Sports Marketing, Stadium Adventures

North Melbourne/Western Bulldogs AFL Fan Experience at Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, Australia 15/4/22

On a mild April day in Melbourne I set out for two games in the city with the first one taking place at Marvel Stadium in Docklands at 4pm before heading across town to AAMI Park later in the night.

I started my fan journey to Marvel Stadium in the city by catching the free 96 tram from our accommodation to within a 5 minute walk of the stadium gates. I first walked around the ground taking in the Kangaroos fan zone and members tent area with spin to win games, free GOAL cards and photo opportunities for fans young and old. I checked out the basketball court and the mural as well as some of the Marvel world entertainment like the pillar wraps and the rock climbing Spiderman wall that was not in use today. The walk from Southern Cross Station along the top concourse is always a special moment in Melbourne as thousands of fans make the pilgrimage in to the venue dressed in their guernseys and scarves.

I picked up my copy of the AFL Record and spoke to the seller who said that it’s still selling very well on game days as fans love the physical memento to take home. It’s sad in a way with QR coded digital tickets that we don’t have as many physical items to take from the game anymore like ticket stubs.

The match today was an AFL game between North Melbourne Kangaroos and Western Bulldogs that was scheduled for a 4.20pm bounce as part of the annual Good Friday Appeal match which both teams had worked well on for press all week in the city and thus resulted in a very good crowd. Tickets were well priced with myself being able to pick up a $15 Western Bulldogs ticket via a targeted Facebook post that had no extra booking fees added on as part of the deal.

The COVID check in process was seamless and easy with multiple friendly staff on hand to assist fans. I received a hello and welcome to the venue on entry and found it impressive to see the back of the staff shirts saying ‘Can we help you?’ as well as the IPTV screens displaying similar information about talking to staff if you need anything. I went around to the Customer Service Centre to ask some questions about the game day and found that the staffer here was very well educated on the game day and venue facilities. The hand sanitisers around the ground were mostly filled with one either not working properly or out of sanitiser. The toilets were clean and staff were seen to be doing a really good job of cleaning the venue as the game went on and of ensuring patrons were kept safe especially with the cordoned off roped area when the coaches were making their way back to the stands.

The joint banner and legends kick to kick were clever fan engagement ideas to bring people together for a laugh and a positive moment at the game and there was no doubt that a lot of funds were raised for the Good Friday Appeal.

The F&B options were plentiful with the standard fare of chips ($4.50), pie ($4.50) and hot dog ($6) however the best feature here is the free sauce! Not 30c, not 50c, not even a $1 for sauce but FREE! This might seem small but these things, these little things go a long way for the fan experience not least family budgets when it comes to things like buying food and drinks at a game. I really liked how the IPTV screens displayed the time til bounce and also how you can just pull up and drink a beer or have a bite on the concourse benches that run along the venue facing the field without being ushered on my staff.

There are many quality options to choose from and the pricing is quite affordable too including Smoke and Smouler BBQ, GAMI Chicken and Sweeter Life which was a hit with kids selling lolly bags and popcorn. It was good to see vegan options in burgers as well as gluten free pies making Marvel quite an inclusive venue when it comes to food options.

It was good to see the work the stadium does for accessibility and inclusion with their kids Stadium Sensory Room with sensory bags for kids including noise cancelling headphones, fidget tools, visual cue cards.

I loved the KEG Room I passed which when I ventured further around I thought could be a decent fan social space if you knocked out a window from the inside of it as it had an epic view of the field from up here. On the topic of beers, Great Northern’s were $10.50 while 4 Pines craft beer was $12.50.

Crews were collecting for the appeal while they were also giving out free hot cross buns to fans which was a welcome surprise.

I found it interesting that the inside of the venue had so much Marvel theming around the venue from life size statues to wall wraps and even height charts and photo ops yet they were branded with Marvel characters and not AFL players/themes. Maybe all kids like Marvel characters but I’d love to see an AFL all team character compare your height chart or an AFL footy photo opp booth. I know that the venues name has a lot to do with this but even the fan engagement on field was ‘pose like a superhero’ and not really AFL related.

The atmosphere was really pumping for this Good Friday Appeal AFL match and I was really impressed by the quality F&B on offer, fan engagement from North Melbourne, the team work from both teams media and marketing teams in the lead up to the game, the focus on inclusion and the venues focus on helping fans have the best fan experience they possibly can.

Fan Engagement, Infographics, Personal Branding, Resources

100+ Fan Engagement Ideas For Craft Breweries

Fan Engagement, Personal Branding, Resources

Froth Beer Mag: Crafty Careers: So You Want To Work In Craft Beer?


Crafty Careers: So You Want To Work In Craft Beer?

There’s never been a better time to get involved and start a career working in the Australian craft beer industry as the market continues to grow daily on the back of exciting trends including changing consumer tastes and an increasing loyalty from a passionate fan movement for locally produced, high-quality independent craft beer.

So if you’re looking to get a start in the industry could a career in craft beer be just for you?

This article explores why Australia’s craft beer industry is a thriving space to work in, the diverse roles on offer at breweries, my personal experience from having recently started at a Victorian craft brewery as well as providing some advice from experienced and knowledgeable industry leaders regarding the skills that are essential and how you too can get a job working in beer.

The Beer Boom

It’s an exciting time across the country as the craft beer sector continues to boom with new craft breweries opening in both regional and inner cities on a near-weekly basis while more and more artisan bottle shops, brewery tours and beer festivals are also being established to cater for the new wave of consumers who are passionate about experimentation, quality, freshness and knowing the source of their beer. The impact of this boom has led to positive outcomes including more jobs, the rise in craft beer tourism especially in rural parts of Australia, increased government support, record hop crop yields, new educational courses as well as creative innovations and sustainability initiatives that are collectively delighting craft beer drinkers and bringing local communities closer and closer together across the country. Furthermore, while the industry faces many challenges such as increasing market access, competition from multinational breweries and a global downturn in beer consumption, the positive contribution that these craft breweries add to local Australian communities and our economy is both significant and to be applauded.

From Beer Nerd To Brand Ambassador

My career path has involved working across the education, sports, music and tech sectors but as a craft beer nerd I’ve also been trying to champion the scene wherever I can such as through my writing, however at the start of the year I finally decided to follow my passion for Aussie craft beer and look for a start in the industry. Fast forward to the present day and working at Two Bays Brewing Co as a brand ambassador has been both a phenomenal learning experience and the best career decision that I’ve ever made. In the past six months I’ve regularly been out of my comfort zone learning new skills and insights about beer and while I’ve managed our events and got our beer into venues it’s been the small things like cleaning the beer lines, helping out on the canning line and learning about the brewing process hands-on with our brewers that have been the most rewarding to me.

Working at a craft brewery is challenging and rewarding but it’s also plenty of fun and while my perspective is based purely on working across sales and events, career pathways in the industry are diverse and can include many roles like brewing and marketing to venue management and accounting. Careers in beer can be for anyone that’s just starting out or wanting to pivot their skills but it’s essential to have a positive attitude along with a willingness to jump in and help out in other aspects of the business. This is exciting as you’re bound to learn plenty of new hands-on skills about beer along the way with Bad Shepherd venue manager Jenny Watts noting “having a passion and desire to learn is essential and I encourage anyone looking to get into the industry to have an open mind, be prepared to do the hard yards, start at the basics with a mind to work your way up and enjoy the journey because the Australian craft beer industry is an amazing network of fantastic, supportive like-minded people”.

Getting Started

There are plenty of simple things that you can do to give yourself a greater chance of securing a role such as volunteering at beer festivals, creating content such as blogs, attending events and workshops, researching and reading up on the industry in trade publications to building your knowledge and connections by networking with the industry either at the taproom, bottle-o tastings or festivals which are all effective ways to gain deeper insights into working in the craft beer industry. As head brewer at Stone and Wood Caolan Vaughan highlights on roles in brewing for instance “you should ask and volunteer at your local brewery. You never know what they will say. Go and study something related to brewing like chemistry or even better go and do a specific brewing qualification. There is plenty on offer around the world via correspondence and some are available right here in Australia.” From my own perspective I wrote stories, created infographics and educational content, built up my networks while on my craft beer road trip adventures, went to trade shows and workshops and even started a fun little Instagram blog showcasing Aussie craft breweries. All of these things went a long way in making connections, learning more about the industry and eventually getting a gig in the craft beer world and they’re also quite simple things that anyone else can do too to get a head start on their journey in beer.

Industry Advice

Having an understanding of some of the general skills and attributes required and how to get involved in the industry is vital when looking at a career in beer and so for this story I asked a handful of experienced and knowledgeable colleagues from across diverse roles in Australia’s craft brewing industry to provide some advice on what people can do to get started.

Up in the northern beaches of Sydney and Modus Operandi sales rep and certified cicerone Becky Centeno states that the best advice she could give anyone “is that it’s all about attitude in the sense of staying positive and fiercely determined. Getting involved in the industry takes a lot of dedication, time, and putting yourself out there, but also being humble and cooperative along the way is massive” while down in Melbourne at Hawkers, Cellar Technician Melinda Foulkes notes that “the ability to` problem solve and think on your feet are probably the most valuable skills when working in the beer industry”. Green Beacon’s Ella Gasparini provides further useful advice and reaffirms that anyone can forge a career in this industry by highlighting that “Obviously the starting point for a lot of us is a passion and love for beer but it doesn’t necessarily have to be the only thing. There are so many skill sets that add to this industry. Finding your place and a role that suits you is key. This is becoming a more and more diverse industry and a lot of roles are opening up that were previously non-existent”.

What Are You Waiting For?

The rapid growth of the industry illustrates that if you’re passionate about good beer and thinking about a career in this space then there’s never been a better time to get started. With new and diverse roles becoming available on a daily basis, breweries are on the hunt for creative, enthusiastic, dynamic and passionate people to help capitalize and continue this exciting momentum. The Aussie craft beer industry is a fun and challenging space to work in that has been built on the back of the positive and passionate people that comprise it and hopefully the insights provided here helps anyone out there whose currently looking to get a start in the industry. So, could a career in beer be for you?

Bio
Blair Hughes works in events and sales for gluten free brewery Two Bays Brewing Co in Dromana, Victoria. You can follow him on Twitter at @MrBlairHughes or at www.MrBlairHughes.com.

Fan Engagement, Personal Branding, Resources, Sports Business, Sports Marketing, Stadium Adventures

Macquarie Sports Radio Interview: Does Blair Hughes Have The Best Job In The World? (16/3/2019)

Radio interview with the Macquarie Sports Radio team back in March.

No I don’t have the best job in the world or in sport but I’m happy and have put myself out there over the years to create experiences, learn new skills and meet people all over the world. Everything I’ve done in my life across sport, education, digital and the music industry to now loving life working in craft beer has been about experiences, learning, networking and trying new things.

Anyone can get out and do what I’ve done. It’s nothing special. I’m nothing special. I’m lucky with what I’ve been able to achieve and there’s still a lot more I want to do. I love meeting people, learning and trying to challenge myself. My legacy is that I want to be able to sit down with heaps of grandkids one day and recite all the amazing experiences I’ve had and be proud of that. If people like what I do or learn something small from me then thats a bonus. 

Thanks for listening and supporting me.

Interview here: https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/overnights/fun-police-curbing-sport-fan-behaviour/11233648

 

NRL
Fan Engagement, Personal Branding, Sports Business, Sports Marketing

2017 NRL Fan Engagement

With the 2017 NRL season starting on Thursday night I thought I’d quickly put together a series of posts looking at what each of the clubs are doing for their fans this season. 

Be sure to check out my Fan Engagement Pinterest page which showcases 5000+ fan engagement ideas from teams across the world 

Check back over the course of the week to see what the other teams are doing as I’ll be updating this at 6pm every day til kick off on Thursday night.

Thanks for reading and bring on the 2017 NRL season.

NRL

New trading cards out this Thursday. 

2017 NRL Trading Cards

2017 NRL Trading Cards

 

Brisbane Broncos

  • Auckland 9’s Kiwi inspired jersey
  • Name the new mascot
  • Free posters for fans
  • Broncos Stable Mates
  • University Open Day visits
  • Trivia night with fans for the Club World Challenge
  • ISC Super Hero kits
  • 2017 Member’s Day Photo

 

Canberra Raiders

 

Canterbury Bulldogs

 

Cronulla Sharks

 

Gold Coast Titans

 

Manly Sea-Eagles

 

Melbourne Storm

 

NZ Warriors

 

Newcastle Knights

 

North Queensland Cowboys

 

Parramatta Eels

 

Penrith Panthers

 

South Sydney Rabbitohs

 

St George Illawarra Dragons

 

Sydney Roosters

 

Wests Tigers

audioBoom
Fan Engagement, Personal Branding, Sports Business

Goodbye to audioBoom and on to the next challenge…..

audioBoom

audioBoom

Today represents my last day at audioBoom as I’ve made the decision to move on from leading the company in Australia after three fulfilling years.

It has been a wild ride that has enabled me to travel the world and work with the Australian Open, Cricket World Cup, AFL and Netball World Cup along with major radio networks and podcasters throughout Australia.

I’m taking a career break now for a few months to focus on kicking off my PHD into fan engagement and to study the psychology of fans on a deeper academic level.

I’ll be looking for roles in fan engagement/fan experience, marketing and digital media around May/June/July.

I’m keen for a new challenge and would primarily like to spend some more time in the USA under the Visa E3 program where I can be employed via my degrees in behavioural studies and education that directly relate to working with a team or stadium in fan engagement under these rules.

I’m on the hunt for a club or stadium in the US to take me and my enthusiasm, life experience and background in adolescent teaching, music business, sports industry and passion for fans on. Jump? Well how high can we jump together? Heading back to London/England to work with a team is also an option I would strongly consider.

Please hit me up if you have an idea about how we could work together.

I’m also really excited to be starting a podcast soon around the topic of fans, which is something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time and I’m going to throw myself into some volunteer work around helping unemployed people get back to work through personal branding.

Fans Podcast

Fans Podcast

Thanks to audioBoom for the opportunity to represent the company down under as it’s been a dream gig for the past three years.

Best wishes to all of our content partners who are in good hands with my colleague Alana here in Australia and the rest of the Boom team in the US, UK and India.

All the best, thanks

 

 

Fan Engagement, Personal Branding

My Kind Of Scene: The Brisbane Sounds Project 10 Years On

Brisbane Sounds Logo 2010 (Moonshine Madness)

Brisbane Sounds Logo 2010 (Moonshine Madness)

Launching Brisbane Sounds 2008

Launching Brisbane Sounds 2008

 

September 9 2006: Brisbane Sounds is born at approximately 2am on the back steps of the Zoo Nightclub after an Iron On gig. With a scrapbook in one hand and a cold Cooper’s Green in the other and the smell of rock and roll (a delightful mix of vom, sweat, sugar soap and beer) in the air after the clean up I took the first steps in putting together a project that was designed to promote Brisbane’s exceptional music talent.

I became a fan of the Brisbane music scene in the late 90’s as a teenager hooked on Aussie alternative music of the time thanks to Brissy bands like the Gurge, Custard, Powdies, Gota Cola, Rhubarb, Screamfeeder, Butterfingers and well the list goes on. I always had such a great time hanging out with mates supporting local bands at The Zoo, The Arena, The Step Inn, X and Y Bar, The Troubadour and The Tivoli while grabbing local bands merch and records at Skinny’s, The Record Exchange and Rockinghorse. In my opinion Brisbane music and the history of where it came from was something to be commended and promoted and I was always looking at ways in which I could do that and get people from home and far away places in to our music history.

10 years ago to the day and I was finalising an education degree and getting set to take up my first teaching post in Mildenhall, England which was due to start in December. Having also wanted to do something to promote the Brisbane music scene while living in the UK, I decided I’d make a compilation album and give copies out to local radio stations, PR agencies, A&R reps, venues and anyone who would listen to me talk about Brisbane bands throughout my travels. I owe a lot at this point to the crew I was working with at The Zoo Nightclub in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley who offered up a lot of ideas and support to make Brisbane Sounds happen. From Joccy, Jase and Vicki to Bridget, Roger and Chris and Matty and Will- you guys were all such legends and I was extremely lucky to have learnt many skills and life experiences from you.

The Zoo Nightclub Crew 2007

The Zoo Nightclub Crew 2007

The first edition of the Brisbane Sounds record titled ‘Brisbane Sounds 2007‘ was made out of supplies courtesy of in-kind support from one of my jobs at the time in the department store Target in Buranda, Brisbane, a budget of about $100 and a six pack of our go to post Zoo shift beer (Cooper’s) for ideas generation. The CD lacked any real design unless you can call the word doc printer ink DIY job I did a design and was pressed completely unprofessionally without any mastering or any real idea of what I was doing. I literally had no skills in anything to do with production, marketing, PR, social, design but I did have a vision. I had my heart in the right place and was just trying to do something positive to promote Brisbane music from back home which I was so proud of.

Brisbane Sounds 2007

Brisbane Sounds 2007

While hardly a professional start, the first edition of the album and the subsequent learnings that took place as I networked with music industry reps in artist management, PR, marketing, social media and venue operations across the UK, Europe, USA and Australia paved the way for improving Brisbane Sounds year after year as well as developing my skills in these areas in what was always a very kinaesthetic and practical way.

Promoting Brisbane Sounds in Amsterdam, 2007

Promoting Brisbane Sounds in Amsterdam, 2007

Brisbane Sounds lasted a solid six years and produced some really beneficial outcomes for the Brisbane music industry locally and globally for which I’ll always be proud of. On a personal level it was also one of the greatest things I ever did to invest in myself and learn as much as I could about the music business and also about fan engagement, marketing, social media which has helped me get to where I am now in my current role. While tertitary educational music business courses (and any study for that matter) are worthwhile, nothing will ever compare to investing your own money, taking calculated risks, getting your hands dirty and throwing yourself passionately into a project you love in order to make a difference. I found it so important to make mistakes, learn from those mistakes and come back stronger with my skills every time and I’d often go on to talk to my students about this and why resiliency is so important in our lives. That is the power of life long learning and in more simple terms, getting off you’re arse and making awesome shit happen.

Over the years I was privileged enough to have a chance to work in the industry at venues in Brisbane and London (Hammersmith Apollo), promoting gigs and putting together and executing the BS vision which was always to shine a light on our local music industry.I worked my butt off for those years traveling the globe on my teacher salary and some grant funding and doing whatever I could to be a spokesperson and advocate for the Brisbane scene. I owe plenty of thanks to everyone who helped me along the way from street press, radio, record stores and graphic designers to photographers, website designers, venue managers, bands and artists and of course our fans all over the world who helped our team. I must have worked with hundreds of different individuals over the years so it goes to show how large the arts scene is and why its important for our local and federal governments to continue to support it.

Without throwing myself into Brisbane Sounds I wouldn’t have been able to work at QPRFC or now have a dream gig at audioBoom where I get to talk about fan engagement all day long (to the chagrin of many I bet). But alas I love everything to do with fan engagement with looking after and going the extra mile for people, customers and fans and always will.

Here are some stats to recap on the Brisbane Sounds project:

  • Showcased 100+ artists on the five compilation albums and associated gigs.
  • 100+ events from nightclub gigs, school showcases, music industry workshops and of course our Pop-Up shop.
  • 13,100 FREE Compilation albums produced and distributed worldwide.
  • Received 21,000 in grant funding. Thank you BCC, Brisbane Marketing, QMusic and QLD Government as well as any one who bought a copy or came to the gigs which all helped with running costs
  • Developed the first ever Australian gig guide app, BRISSOUNDS in 2010 (Thanks DevGeeks)
  • UK/USA/Europe showcases along with a 15 date tour for SEALS in 2011.
  • Close to 20K fans across various social media platforms
  • 27 music industry job starts given to young music business/arts students or kids trying to get a start in the industry.

Along with this some of my favourite memories were:

  • Flood Bank. Raising $15,000 for QLD flood victims in 2011 and Violent Soho smashing out a great set at the end.
  • Having fans download our app in far off places like Russia and Afghanistan.
  • Getting to learn from leaders in venue management in Joc at The Zoo and Heiko at The Hammersmith Apollo in London.
  • Booking and touring a band around the UK for a 15 date tour
  • Getting Brisbane Sounds records into Amobea Records LA and Rough Trade Records in London. There’s possibly still stock there too.
  • Talking Brisbane music with Spencer Howson on a weekly ABC Brisbane radio spot to showcase the latest in local music news.
  • Attending major music showcases and festivals like SXSW, Liverpool Sound City, The Great Escape and BigSound.
  • Getting copies of the albums into the hands of major artists like Tegan and Sara and B.R.M.C to The Kills and Emmy Lou Harris who then helped to promote BS.

I certainly had my battles with the blatant bullshit nepotism of the music industry along the way and I might not have always been the easiest to work with (I hear my graphic designers agreeing here) as I wanted to always stay out of cliques and do things professionally by the book because I wanted to help everyone I could and never play favourites to uphold the professional integrity of the project. Brisbane Sounds was always about promoting the artists, the venues, the arts scene workers and the fans but I do apologise If I ever pissed anyone off along the way as I put that down to being young and thinking I knew it all. I didn’t know it all but you learn from that with age and life experience.

Thank you to everyone who shared my passion and enthusiasm for Brisbane music and helped along the way. It truly was a collaborative team effort from so many in the Brissy music community and you all deserve praise for helping along the way. I never could have started or continued to improve the project had it not been for all of your skills and it’s been great to watch so many of you continue to support the Brisbane music industry in your careers as well as go on to bigger and better things.

Brisbane Sounds was a very professional project that delivered a lot of successful outcomes for the Brisbane music scene for which I’ll always be immensely proud of and this week I finally got around to sorting out the framing of the five compilation albums as well as some of the gig posters. Whenever I look at it, I’ll think of you and what we achieved, thanks.

All the best,

Blair Hughes

9th September 2016

Sports Geek Podcast
Fan Engagement, Personal Branding, Resources, Sports Business, Sports Marketing

Blair Hughes interviews Sean Callanan on Sports Geek Podcast

Sports Geek Podcast

Sports Geek Podcast

Blair Hughes interviews Sean Callanan on Sports Geek Podcast

Last month I had the pleasure of interviewing Sean from Sports Geek for the Sports Geek Podcast.

Sean has helped on my journey from teacher to sports business so it was a pleasure to talk to him about his personal brand, his story into sports and digital as well as his lessons for young people looking to craft a career in the sports industry.

In this episode we discussed:

  • Where Sean’s passion for sports comes from
  • How Sports Geek business card idea came about
  • How Sean nearly started working in sports in 1993
  • Why Sean was behind the first AFL Club TV show – Bulldogs TV
  • How a USA sports trip was a big reason behind #SportsGeekTrip
  • A look back at Mountain West data analysis project
  • Why Sean barracks for Collingwood
  • How Sean secured first Sports Geek clients back in 2010
  • Please count how many times Blair says Fan Engagement
  • How the skills of digital teams has seen Sean working more with ticketing and sponsorship teams
  • How community radio helped build skills for podcasting and radio
  • Why Sean is thrilled that Sports Geek clients are amongst the most avid listeners to the podcast
  • Why Sean is blown away from listener emails
  • Why podcasting is getting so much press right now
  • How Sean is looking forward to pushes more into podcasting
  • What exactly is CHUNKY media?
  • Wait for Sean’s rant on fan engagement

Read the latest in sports business news and sign up here to the Sports Geek newsletter Sports Geek HQ

Listen here:

FE Monthly Round Up Articles
Fan Engagement, Personal Branding, Resources, Sports Business, Sports Marketing

150 Fan Engagement and Fan Experience Articles for January 2016

FE Monthly Round Up Articles

FE Monthly Round Up Articles

Just in case you missed any of the key stories from the world of fan engagement and fan experience during January, sit back and have a read through some of these articles from sports business sites including Sports Geek, Sport Techie and We Play to name but a few.

Each month I’ll try to collate a list of some of the fan engagement/fan experience articles that I think are worth having a read.

There’s a whole host of interesting content in here from leagues such as the BBL and NFL to what’s happening in the area of drones, virtual reality and ibeacon tech.

Dive in and take a read.

All the best.

  1. Super Bowl party starts early with opening of downtown fan zone
  2. University of Tennessee plans renovations at Neyland Stadium
  3. The Cameras That’ll Make the Super Bowl Way More Interesting This Year
  4. Eaton’s New Ephesus LED Systems to Illuminate NHL and AHL All-Star Games
  5. ESPN set to debut ‘Virtual 3’ technology for NBA broadcasts
  6. WHAT’S THE VALUE OF LOYAL FANS? [INFOGRAPHIC]
  7. The Fan Experience is Changing as Tech is Making Game Interactive
  8. Gaming the Six Nations
  9. Silicon Valley rolls out red carpet for Super Bowl
  10. ESPN Virtual 3 Technology Is Being Introduced Today To Literally Highlight 3-Pointers In NBA Broadcasts
  11. One Step Beyond into the WBA Fanzone
  12. NHL Fan Fair presented by Bridgestone opens Jan. 28
  13. Topgolf To Reimagine Sports Entertainment For Millennials With World Golf Tour Acquisition
  14. Miami Heat take the fan experience outside the arena with digital signage
  15. Wallace and Selfeo Look to Fully Immerse Fans into NASCAR Experience with Daytona Partnership
  16. Fan Fair provides perfect start to All-Star Weekend
  17. Sacramento Company’s App At Heart Of Super Fan Chase Event
  18. The Drone Racing League Makes Its First Mainstream Play
  19. If the Raiders move to Las Vegas, we’d like to see a few of these features worked into their home games
  20. Scottish football fans unite against SPFL’s bid to bring in facial recognition cameras: ‘Plan will drive punters away’
  21. South Carolina Seahawks Fans Enjoy “Surreal” Experience at Divisional Round Playoff Game vs Panthers
  22. Cardinals’ use of virtual reality technology yields record season
  23. Sacramento Kings To Premiere NBA’s First 4K Ultra HD Center-Hung Video Board Featuring Largest Screens And Highest Resolution In The League
  24. The world’s first live VR boxing match promises to be a knockout
  25. Big Bash League 2016: How BBL is attracting kids, families and females to cricket
  26. The Australian Open is getting increasingly creative on social media
  27. Government fan plan on club strategy will be written into league rules
  28. F1 bosses want fans to vote for “driver of the day” at each race
  29. SPFL discusses face recognition system for unacceptable conduct
  30. Australian Open details data analytics improvements driving digital engagement
  31. Orlando Magic keen on UK specific partners as it looks to fuel international expansion
  32. Australian Open details data analytics improvements driving digital fan engagement
  33. Sporting Innovations has a new name
  34. Manchester United boost fan engagement in India with Adidas involvement
  35. Panthers president special message to fans: ‘Keep Pounding’
  36. Now Anyone Can Play Goalie for the New York Rangers
  37. LIVERPOOL FC PARTNERS WITH SKYPE TO BOOST FAN ENGAGEMENT
  38. Australian Open crowds aren’t all for the tennis
  39. Sports Teams Running Out of Fans
  40. Why should clubs use Snapchat?
  41. Suns Launch “Shazam with the Suns” Contest
  42. 2015 NBA World Champion Golden State Warriors Select SignalShare To Deploy Arena Wi-Fi
  43. Lucas Oil Stadium ranked first in NFL stadium experience for fifth straight year
  44. Super Bowl 50: Your Haute Guide to Nine Days of Festivities
  45. Lyon set to debut swanky new £186million stadium this weekend – see inside the Euro 2016 venue here
  46. THE KEY TRENDS SET TO SHAPE THE DIGITAL SPORTS INDUSTRY IN 2016
  47. Editorial: Team finds one more way to enhance fan experience
  48. Every Alabama And Clemson Player Will Have A Player Tracking Chip In Their Shoulder Pads Tonight
  49. The Sacramento Kings Are Building the NBA’s Techiest Arena, a ’21st Century Coliseum’
  50. How College Football Playoff Optimizes Fan Experience On Championship Game Day And Throughout The Year
  51. Kiswe Mobile Teams Up With Monumental Sports Group To Give Fans More Control When Watching Sports Broadcasts
  52. Sensoria Launches New Products To Create Full Body Wearable Platform
  53. Fans’ View: The Fans’ View experience
  54. Letters to Lambeau connects Packers fans
  55. The Whole Nine Yards: What The NFL Can Teach Marketers About Brand Engagement
  56. STRIVR Labs Launches Fan Experience and VR Production Division
  57. Report excerpt: New Wi-Fi at Ole Miss
  58. Notre Dame Stadium rated best college football experience in the country
  59. What the Minnesota Vikings’ terrible temporary home can teach Seattle, Chris Hansen
  60. Rangers adding new scoreboard, foul poles to Globe Life Park in 2016 (Photos)
  61. Miami’s Sun Life Stadium to Enhance Fan Experience and Energy Efficiency with Eaton’s Advanced Ephesus LED Lighting System
  62. English Soccer Club Manchester United to Launch 24-Hour TV Channel in China
  63. NBA Twitter is Changing the Way We Watch Sports
  64. How Periscope Is Building A Community In The Midst Of Twitter’s Turmoil
  65. Snoop Dogg On Why He’s Investing in GameOn
  66. Three Sports Technology Trends Emerged In 2015 That Will Change Sport Forever
  67. Wildcats color Memphis purple at pep rally
  68. Video: Watch the Melbourne Renegades celebrate the Indian community and culture
  69. Melbourne Stars’ import Kevin Pietersen says he is honoured to be part of BBL
  70. Washington Capitals And Wizards Owner Ted Leonsis On Big Data And The Future Of Sports
  71. Jason Guarente: Flyers alumni game will light up Reading
  72. New York Jets Add Virtual Reality Experiences For Fans
  73. NBA New York Knicks Use Ridiculous Giant Minigun-Style T-Shirt Launchers
  74. Influence Mobile geared to female sports fans
  75. Halifax Hurricanes Boxing Day Home Opener
  76. NBA And NHL Teams Use Unique Smartphone Experiences To Attract Millennials
  77. Visit Tampa Bay announces Vols fan winner of Outback Bowl VIP Experience
  78. Atlanta Hawks Eye Better Retail Customer Experience with New Partner
  79. Utah Jazz have brought the fans back with exciting players and hope for the future
  80. IBM launches consortium for sports venues
  81. Panasonic presents video featuring large-screen solutions
  82. Browns tight end Gary Barnidge rents entire theater, joins fans to see ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’
  83. Silicon Valley tech companies jump on the Super Bowl bandwagon
  84. FB as fan engagement medium
  85. Grandstand Offers Hot Take-Free Football Highlights, Bowl Season Simplicity
  86. Cowboy Stadium ranked as Southland’s top venue by Stadium Journey
  87. CSN Bay Area and CSN California to Launch “Authentic Fanuary” on New Year’s Day
  88. College Football Playoff National Championship using Super Bowl XLIX as blueprint
  89. Chelsea and England forward Eni Aluko eyes growth of women’s game
  90. U.S. Bank Stadium Setting Up for Easy Fan Navigation
  91. Fusion Sport Timing Systems Support Michael Jordan Brand For Fan Engagement Event
  92. The College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience Celebrates the 2015 Hall of Fame Class in Atlanta on Dec. 30
  93. Wi-Fi to the RV: Oklahoma brings Wi-Fi services to RV parking lot
  94. How The Kansas City Chiefs Use Social Media To Enhance The Fan Experience
  95. Texas Rangers Add to Visual Experience with New Daktronics LED Display
  96.  Football fans’ ‘manifesto’ launched at Scottish Parliament
  97. World Sailing taking the sport to the masses in 2016
  98. Formula E Teams Up With Gigya to Drive Fan Engagement
  99. Packers fans invited to enter Associated Bank’s “Keys to Lambeau” Sweepstakes for exclusive tour of Lambeau Field
  100. STRIVR Launches New Division To Create Virtual Reality Content And Experiences
  101. Brand our beer and name our ale!
  102. Feature: Breaking Down The Sensory Barrier
  103. The Skill Set: Loic Remy
  104. The Magic Was Real | Portland Timbers 2015 MLS Cup Champions
  105. NBA, MLB COMMISSIONERS STILL BELIEVE IN FAN EXPERIENCES AMID TECH WORLD
  106. Cascade High nominated for Statesman Journal’s Fan Experience Award
  107. Silver Spurs Arena Improves Visual Experience with Daktronics Products
  108. Cuban: Fans shouldn’t look at phones ‘while the ball is in the air’
  109. Vikings’ growing media network takes game to fans ‘365/24/7’
  110. Technology Firm From Israel Set To Upgrade Real Madrid’s Mobile App
  111. College Football Playoff Fan Central in full swing
  112. Sydney Thunder: Kids Eat Free
  113. ‘All over the UK’: NFL’s growth in Manchester ‘phenomenal’, say Inside the Huddle duo
  114. Super Bowl 50 bound Denver Broncos partner with PrimeSport as their official fan travel partner
  115. Feschuk: The future of sports will look like this
  116. Silicon Valley Is Commandeering San Francisco’s Super Bowl
  117. Broncos use technology to deepen fan support
  118. Facebook needs more friends in its new Sports Stadium
  119. Here’s what Broncos, Panthers fans will shell out for their Super Bowl experience
  120. Super Bowl 50 and fan events: Locations to know in the Bay Area
  121. Why Every Marketer Should Be Watching Virtual Reality
  122. Snapchat’s linked with the NFL to sell big-name brands for a Super Bowl Live Story
  123. Top 10 Sports Business Trends to Watch in 2016
  124. Super Bowl 50 puts tech in its starting lineup
  125. Why Australia’s Big Bash League Is Changing The Professional Sports Paradigm
  126. Baylor Enhances Fans’ Gameday Experience at the Ferrell Center
  127. A San Francisco Super Bowl Experience, With or Without a Ticket
  128. Fan experience key to fun at CareerBuilder Challenge
  129. AHL commissioner talks league, ‘Hogs, outdoor games
  130. Mark Hollis gives his take on fan engagement at MSU sporting events
  131. How to maximize your experience at Braves FanFest
  132. Islanders moving to Metro Bank Park
  133. 49er fans aren’t thrilled with the stadium that’s hosting Super Bowl 50
  134. 5 BURNING QUESTIONS THAT SPORTS MARKETERS HAVE ABOUT FAN DATA
  135. Uber gets exclusive deal to pick up and drop off passengers at Super Bowl 50
  136. Fox Sports will offer live virtual reality along with regular broadcast of Garcia-Guerrero title fight
  137. Nuggets rank 21st on Forbes list of most valuable NBA teams
  138. U.S. Bank Stadium’s High-Res Video Boards in Place
  139. Are Texans, NRG ready to go wild on Wi-Fi? Why, yes
  140. The NBA’s Least Engaged Fans
  141. Stadium Managers Are Still Learning How To Monetize Fans
  142. Are Sports Fans Ready for a Virtual NFL Experience?
  143. Lifelong fan enjoys inner sanctum experience
  144. Infosys And ATP Partnership Brings Data Analytics To The Australian Open
  145. 3 local food favorites coming to Progressive Field
  146. How the Super Bowl will handle millions of selfies
  147. Effect of time and location on sports fan engagement using mobile
  148. Fan Engagement | How to get bums on seats and keep them there
  149. Digital lens: scoring stronger fan relationships
  150. SUPER BOWL 50: WHAT CAN YOU SEE AT THE NFL EXPERIENCE
Personal Branding, Resources

15 Steps to Career Reinvention.

On Thursday morning 27/2 at 530am Brisbane time (1.30pm EST USA 26/2) I’m speaking about my career reinvention through personal branding with the University of Boston, Massachusetts in their emerging leaders program. If you would like to register for free and watch then here is the link:http://www.leaders.umb.edu/index.php/leaders/webinar_reinventing_you/

It goes for an hour and features Dorie Clark who is the author of the book which has revolutionised my life, ‘Reinventing You’

Below are the 15 steps which I will be talking about that I have gone through in my own reinvention.

15 Steps to Career Reinvention

15 Steps to Career Reinvention

Fan Engagement, Personal Branding, Resources, Sports Business

London Sports Business Internship Blog #1: How I Scored An Internship at Queens Park Rangers Football Club

9.10am. Queensway tube. Hunters & Collectors ‘Talking to a stranger’

Match Stats:

  • Born in Brisbane, Australia in 1984
  • Graduated with degrees in Behavioural Studies and Education from the University of Queensland in 2006
  • Have worked as a high school teacher since 2007 in Brisbane, Central Queensland as well as in Newmarket, Cambridge and London.
  • Currently employed in the tertiary sector in Australia teaching event management, communications, marketing and artist management.
  • Have extensive music industry experience from managing bands, booking gigs, planning events, international tour management, venue management and maintaining digital media strategies.
  • Previously worked at the Brisbane Cricket Ground (The Gabba) from 1999-2006 managing stadium hospitality services as well as at music venues The Zoo in Brisbane and The Hammersmith Apollo in London.
  • Undertaking Masters of Business (Sport Management) through Deakin University, Melbourne in 2014 (online).

Teaching AFL at a school in London

Teaching AFL at a school in London

At SXSW Music Conference in Austin, Texas

At SXSW Music Conference in Austin, Texas

Presenting a speech at a Brisbane Sounds event

Presenting a speech at a Brisbane Sounds event

With my primary school students in Mildenhall, Suffolk.

With my primary school students in Mildenhall, Suffolk.

The Pre Game: How I got an internship at Queens Park Rangers Football Club.

This is one hell of a crazy story. However if you know me, you’ll know that my whole life is one crazy story after another. From teaching in challenging London high schools where I’ve had a knife put to my neck to tour managing bands around the UK and running a PR and events business that has taken me all over the world promoting the Brisbane music industry, I don’t sit back and wait for things to happen. I get off my butt, seek out opportunities and live out my dreams as well as actively encouraging and inspiring my students to do the same.

Brisbane Sounds Logo

Brisbane Sounds Logo

SEALS UK Tour 2011

SEALS UK Tour 2011

Flood Bank 2011 Disaster Appeal Gig

Flood Bank 2011 Disaster Appeal Gig

Brisbane Sounds 2010 Event

Brisbane Sounds 2010 Event

This is why 100 days before I turn 30 I’m about to embark on a life changing trip back to London to reinvent my career by working in the sports business. From December to January 2014 I’ll be working at global football club Queens Park Rangers in Shepherds Bush, London where I’ll be completing an internship in event management, communications and marketing with the aim of refining and improving my skills in these areas and bringing that knowledge back to Australia and securing employment in the sports business (or trying to get sponsored and work in the UK/Europe). However, the whole process to get this amazing opportunity sorted out has not been easy and is an example of my strongest qualities with those being dedication, positivity and enthusiasm. But how did this all come about?

Queens Park Rangers logo

Queens Park Rangers logo

Loftus Road Stadium

Loftus Road Stadium

Player Biography

Going back to early 2012 and I was getting very disillusioned with working in the music industry, particularly in my hometown of Brisbane where I had worked tirelessly since 2006 promoting 1000+ artists, building a 16K strong online community, networking internationally, running events and spending over $85,000 of my own money on the business. I cut my event management and communications teeth with my business, Brisbane Sounds during this time but I also learnt life lessons in business as well. It’s a ruthless and stressful industry to work in and I kept feeling that my morals were being tested and knew I had to get out so made the decision to finish up the business in April 2012 and direct all my focus on improving my practice as a teacher.

Brisbane Sounds 2008 Gig

Brisbane Sounds 2008 Gig

Brisbane Sounds 2010 Compilation Album

Brisbane Sounds 2010 Compilation Album

Around the same time as working at a high school part time, I also started working as a teacher part time at a tertiary institution. It had always been a bit stressful going from one job to the other each week, packing and unpacking my bag each Wednesday over the past two years and managing 100 odd teenage and adult students. However this year I had a student I was close to pass away through illness, a past student in England also died and I’ve had multiple learners with challenging diverse needs to support so it was probably one of my most stressful years as a teacher.

In this same period I had to reapply to keep one of my jobs, complete an extensive four month training course for the same job and then someone maliciously damaged my beloved 4WD. Things just kept going from bad to worse but I had to radicalize positivity and get on with life. I was finding that when I took students to see the counselor I’d be feeling as though student issues and teaching were starting to really weigh me down emotionally. It was very difficult being this super positive teacher for my students and helping them through their own personal troubles so I knew I needed change and I knew I was the only one who could do something about that. Therefore decided to focus all my efforts to get back into marketing, branding, event management and communications but this time with a focus on the sports business and not the music business. I do wonder how other teachers cope sometimes with all the pressures in their own lives but also wanting to do everything they can for their students in times of need.

My 4WD

My 4WD

Usually every year I would take myself off to the UK or USA and set up professional development and networking opportunities with people I admire and want to learn from while mixing my passion for sports and music by seeing gigs and games at stadiums and venues around the world. So in February of this year I decided to head to Europe for my 29th birthday as one of the teams I support,  West Ham United were playing on the weekend of my birthday and my favourite band, who I’ve done some work with in the past, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were playing in Brussels on my actual birthday two days later.

West Ham vs West Brom at Upton Park

West Ham vs West Brom at Upton Park

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club gig in Brussels

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club gig in Brussels

This time around though, I decided to set up meetings with key players in the UK football industry. I emailed, sent letters or called every London club from the Premier League to the lower divisions and eventually got meetings with Fulham, West Ham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and QPR along with a few other clubs throughout Europe.

Meeting at Allianz Arena, Munich

Meeting at Allianz Arena, Munich

Meeting at Arsenal

Meeting at Arsenal

The meetings that I set up were to talk about the roles these people had, careers in the sports business and how a global club is run. At the end of each meeting I asked all of them for an internship and told them about myself, my skills and how they could help me achieve my dreams of a career in the sports business. As luck would have it QPR agreed to an internship for December. I walked away from the stadium telling myself that nothing was set in stone and to go with the flow with whatever was to come. To this day I owe the lady who set this up so much gratitude and admiration as in just a short 45 minute chat she could see my potential.  There is no doubt that she is on the Christmas shopping list!

Over the next few months I continued to focus on teaching however by July I had made the decision to resign from one of my teaching posts and focus all of my efforts into reinventing my career in the sports business by looking at what I’ve done up to this point in my life and looking at where I wanted to go. I realized that I needed a break from teaching young adults, parents, paperwork, marking assessments and all the stressors that go with that life.

Game Day Strategy

From July to now I really began getting into personal branding and started reevaluating what I wanted to do with this next phase of my life. I found this amazing book called ‘Reinventing You’ by US based author Dorie Clark which hit me like a soccer ball to the head in terms of how life changing it was. I started writing out a list of all the personal branding and career reinvention jobs I had to achieve before I left for London. The list started out with a few simple things like getting new business cards and a website to networking and completing volunteer work.

'Reinventing You' by Dorie Clark

‘Reinventing You’ by Dorie Clark

I have been adding to the list on a daily basis and intend on writing a book about this experience but for now the list is up to 33 elements which I have ticked off. These include:

 

1. Creating a personal brand statement: ‘I’m a creative and ambitious communications and event management professional with seven years of experience visualizing, developing and facilitating major events and communications projects with a high success rate of delivering exceptional outcomes for clients in both local and international markets. I’m a leader, networker and life long learner skilled in social media, marketing and public relations with exceptional interpersonal skills and a proactive and passionate approach to executing outstanding results.’

2. Refining my LinkedIn with a focus on key word optimization.

3. Setting up a website  www.mrblairhughes.com which sells my personal brand and story.

www.MrBlairHughes.com

www.MrBlairHughes.com

4.  Setting up a logo.

Blair Hughes Logo

Blair Hughes Logo

5. Having a professional photo taken.

Professional Photo

Professional Photo

6. Setting up all the same branding on social media sites.

Social Media Branding

Social Media Branding

7. Networking through social media with leaders in the sports business.

8. Producing a personal infographic that sums up my story in a visual form.

Personal Infographic

Personal Infographic

9. Completed volunteer work in my new field to get my name out there.

10. Had testimonials and endorsements from past clients and colleagues written.

11. Defined my title in a few words.

12. Created content for my website and social media sites such as infographics.

Infographics

Infographics

A-LEAGUE Infographic

A-LEAGUE Infographic

A-LEAGUE Infographic

A-LEAGUE Infographic

A League Infographic for Brisbane vs Melbourne

A League Infographic for Brisbane vs Melbourne

13. Went to conferences in this new field.

14. Participated in Twitter live chats.

15. Continued to learn from listening to 100+ TED Talks, instructional videos, online workshops and webinars along with reading countless articles.

16. Made a new email and email signature.

17. Created business cards.

My new creative sports business themed business cards

My new creative sports business themed business cards

18. Participated in Skype sessions with leaders in this field.

19. Bought 20+ books on personal branding, sports business, leadership, marketing and event management.

Renegades Write the Rules

Unknown-1Unknown-2Unknown-3

20. Crafted my stories and storytelling from my past experiences.

21. Subscribed to industry magazines and publications.

22. Bought new clothes and completely revolutionized my wardrobe and style to match this new career.

23. Started to blog and share ideas.

24. Worked on helping others with this knowledge of personal branding. Found that I would be offering advice not only to students but also other adults in the area of personal branding.

25. Sought out the leaders I wanted to emulate and went about setting up meetings both locally and internationally.

26. Created a Pinterest account to share ideas on sports fan engagement and marketing ideas.

Pinterest site

Pinterest site

27. Investigated study options and chose a course in Melbourne to study in 2014.

28. Talked to people and friends about what I wanted to do. Started selling my brand more vocally because you never know who is listening and who can help you on your journey.

29. Found mentors in my field who I wanted to assist me.

30. Expressed my ideas and plans.

31. Did a career path self assessment.

32. Started work on a short film showcasing my skills, dreams, goals and past work experience.

33. Developed a new elevator pitch.

Leaving the Sheds

Getting to work at a major football club in London was not easy though. Around early September I was contacted by the club and told that I would need a visa for the trip as the UK immigration department deemed what I was doing as ‘work’. As I had already completed my working holiday visa from 2006-2008 the only available option was to get an immigration lawyer involved at a cost of $1000AUD and figure out what visa options were available to me in this unique situation. Acquiring the services of an immigration lawyer was probably the best money I spent though as the lawyer was exceptional from start to finish and really helped me out with some of the problems I faced in getting back to the UK.

Ready to send my Visa application to UK Immigration.

Ready to send my Visa application to UK Immigration.

What problems though? Well, having put together the 50 pages of documents (CV, bank statements, cover letter, return airfare ticket, letter from my employer about when I was due back for work in 2014, letter of offer from the club, accommodation details, passport, passport photos and visa application forms) for my visa application I then had to call the $15 a minute UK Immigration hotline in Canberra after their online system charged me $140 twice for the biometrics payment.

On calling to sort this out I was questioned about my visa application and told in no uncertain terms that my lawyer had got it all wrong, the visa I was applying for was wrong, my visa application would be refused, I wouldn’t be allowed into the UK and every time I travelled I would be hauled off for questioning due to having had a visa application refused. I was told that they had never heard of an Australian going over to work at a club before, that it probably wouldn’t be worth wasting my money on the visa application and also that the majority of times most people just rock up at the gate at Heathrow and state their case and 9 out of 10 get allowed into England. I politely told her that I had a lot on the line here and I did not want to risk being the 1 out of 10 which was denied as I had invested a lot of time and effort into all of this.

She also happened to mention that she was a Chelsea supporter….

The crisis was averted when the lawyer got involved to further explain the situation and immigration decided to check with their Manila office regarding my visa queries and got back to me 35 minutes before my biometrics meeting in Brisbane city to advise that it was all ok and good to go. Phew!

Kick Off

So here I am, 7 days out from heading back to London to start this new period in my life. I’m absolutely buzzing as my mind is in a better place especially from the cardio boxing sessions I’ve been doing over the past three months which have prepared me for the fight ahead while also losing a total of 23KGs. The future is unwritten and I’m out to carve my name in the sports business. Exciting times await so thank you for reading this lengthy first post about my upcoming adventure.

Contract Negotiations

I’m obviously on the look out for employment opportunities in marketing, fan engagement, event management and communications in the sports business either in Australia or abroad so if you would like to learn more about me, link me up with people who could help me on my journey or better yet offer me a job then please get in touch.

Thanks

Personal Branding, Sports Business

London Sports Business Internship Blog #8: Day 2 at QPR

4.55pm Holland Park tube. Old Crow Medicine Show ‘Methamphetamine’
Started the day making a power packed nutritious salad for lunch which turned out to be delicious even if it was a 5 degree kinda day. I left the flat at 8am and made the hour journey to White City with time to spare so I’ll probably start earlier as I’m really enjoying all the work the team are giving me.
As soon as I got to the office I was quick to work researching aspects of interest from the QPR fans for the fan forum tomorrow night. I was tasked with finding some information on policies and laws on e-cigarettes and safe standing in English grounds along with wifi networks in stadiums. These were all areas in which the fans had requested information on.

Morning in Arnos Grove

Morning in Arnos Grove

I tried to get in touch with my contacts at Suncorp Stadium and The Den through the Brisbane Roar but by 10am here it was already after 7pm back in Brissy, so i’ll take this up again tomorrow. I got to speak to a few organisations from the Safe Standing road show and Footballers Federation and tonight I’m going to shoot off an email from my smart new QPR email to Western Sydney Wanderers who have purchased rail seats for Parramatta Stadium to ask them some questions. I put together the following information for  safe standing and it really makes for a good understanding of the issues as to why it has been banned for so long…. Well for one its not illegal! But take a read.

Loftus Road at 2pm

Loftus Road at 2pm

I then started to research e-cigarettes in stadiums and put together this table (will add later) on the 44 EPL/Championship teams who allow smoking areas or e-cigarettes. I then got to call the Premier League office and speak to them about these issues as well, very exciting stuff. Ended up with the following research:
1. Safe Standing

Overall Research Conclusion:
Many clubs are keen to have SS, momentum is growing with fans and other clubs around the world, rugby/music etc allow it as do league 1 down but the laws need to be changed first for championship/EPL to allow it. Overwhelming feeling is that it will be allowed soon in EPL/Championship on a trial basis due to its success in other parts of the world, especially Germany’s Bundesliga.

• LAW: The legislation relating to standing in football grounds derives from section 11 of the Football Spectators Act 1989: ‘The Secretary of State may, by order, direct the licensing authority to include in any licence to admit spectators to any specified premises a condition imposing requirements as respects the seating of spectators at designated football matches at the premises; and it shall be the duty of the authority to comply with the direction.’

• The law does not say that standing is illegal but that grounds need seats, however it is contrary to the football league ground regulations.

• In England and Wales, standing is permitted at rugby union and rugby league venues, as well as at speedway and horse-racing. It is also permitted at football grounds outside the top two divisions.

• Safety is commonly perceived to be the main reason for all-seating. The Taylor Report refers to capacity control, stating that seating allows those in charge to know the exact number of supporters in a particular part of a ground. He also refers to swaying and surging, stating that these cannot occur in all-seated stadia, where, he says, “involuntary and uncontrolled crowd movements occasioned by incidents in the game are effectively eliminated”.

• This has been mitigated by access technology, as laid down by the Green Guide at all major UK football grounds. Longer crush barriers allow a far shorter unhindered run. With rail seats, where there is a barrier along every row, surging is physically impossible.

• See site http://www.safestandingroadshow.co.uk/ who are leading the way

• The Safe Standing Roadshow works alongside the Football Supporters Federation
http://www.fsf.org.uk/campaigns/safe-standing/  to promote rail seats. The FSF see ‘rail seats’ as the most suitable safe standing solution for Premier League and Championship stadia,as they enable clubs that have an expectation of playing in European competition to provide accommodation for standing spectators at domestic games while being able to convert such areas to all-seater configuration to fulfil UEFA and FIFA requirements. The roadshow has persuaded some clubs to support safe standing.

• The aim of the FSF : To persuade the Government, football authorities and football clubs to accept the case for introducing, on a trial basis, limited sections of standing areas at selected grounds in the stadiums of Premier League and Championship football clubs.

• As of May 2013, a total of 25 clubs in England and Wales playing in the Premier League and Football League have backed safe-standing. Premier League clubs who have expressed support for safe standing include Manchester City, Aston Villa and Swansea City.

• Vote passed recently  by 55 out of the 72 Football League clubs recently at their AGM, where they approved a motion to “explore the steps necessary” to run safe standing trials.

• An example of what Brisbane Roar do in Australia at Suncorp Stadium with their active supporters area is allow a scaffolding structure to exist around fans with a guy on top barking chants etc. 

• The Western Sydney Wanderers (Australia) plan to install German style rail seating into the Red & Black Bloc active support section of their home ground Parramatta Stadium, as part of a larger capacity and facility upgrade in 2014.

• One country that has developed such alternative forms of standing accommodation is Germany.

• All German Bundesliga grounds permit standing and many have very large standing areas. Until as recently as 2004, for instance, top-flight German club Borussia Mönchengladbach’s home stadium, the Bökelbergstadion, provided standing accommodation for over 25,000 fans and seats for under 9,000.

• Today, Borussia Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park (aka the Westfalenstadion) provides standing accommodation for 27,000 fans.

• Example of “RAIL SEATS” in German stadiums, currently leading the way in terms of safe standing.

• New stadia, such as Morecambe FC’s Globe Arena (opened in 2010) with standing for over 4,000 spectators and St Helens Rugby League Football Club’s Langtree Park (opened in 2012) with standing for almost 8,000, continue to be built with terraces and are operated safely in accordance with the Guide.

• Bristol, June 2013. Bristol City look set to become the first club in the UK to incorporate safe standing rail seat areas into their ground.

• The only sad thing about the plans is that unless the rules change between now and August 2015 only supporters of the club’s new groundshare partners, Bristol Rugby, will be allowed to stand at the rail seats. For football games the stadium will still have to offer only “seated accommodation”, so the rail seats will be unlocked to enable them to be used as seats.

• Good video here to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apX5V1IJCW4
2. E-Cigarettes

Overall Research Conclusion
Health benefits still unknown therefore health groups wary of allowing the promotion/advertising/de-normalising of smoking, regulated as medicines in other countries, will be regulated in UK from 2016, has not stopped some clubs signing sponsorship deals with e-cig firms, EPL will be banning e-cigs anyway from 2013/14 season.

• LAW: Because UK law allows building owners and landlords to determine policy for themselves, clubs and stadiums have the right to limit or restrict vaping, or any other activity for that matter. There is no rhyme or reason to it, but there’s also nothing that football fans can do about it.

• Last month the UK  Government announced electronic cigarettes were to be classified as medicines in a bid to tighten up regulation.

• The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency says it will regulate e-cigarettes as medicines when new European tobacco laws come into force.

• Jeremy Mean of The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the government had concluded that e-cigarettes currently on the market do not meet appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy.

• In some countries, such as New Zealand, e-cigarettes are regulated as medicines and can be purchased only in pharmacies.

• In other countries, including Denmark, Canada and Australia, they are subject to restrictions on sale, import and marketing. Complete bans are in place in Brazil, Norway and Singapore.

• Although they contain nicotine, electronic cigarettes are marketed as being less harmful than real ones because they do not contain harmful toxins such as tar.

• But research has shown the levels of nicotine each e-cigarette contains varies from batch to batch.

• Fearing the unknown consequences, some countries, such as Brazil and Mexico, have banned them altogether, even though actual tobacco remains legal.

• Derby County and Merthyr Town FC, Burnley and Celtic have had sponsorship deals with e-cigarette companies. Derby even gave away free e-cigs to supporters, however the big issue from health groups is that there is just not enough evidence/research yet to say definitively that e-cigs are OK to smoke. So for one angle to counter the e-cig issue in LR, there’s obviously big health concerns still to be addressed.

• Football fans in Shrewsbury and Telford will now be subject to some policy changes relating to the use of electronic cigarettes on those football grounds. In Shrewsbury, e-cig vaping has been banned at the Greenhouse Meadow stadium, while at the New Box Head stadium Telford, e-cig users can still use their e-cig devices, but only in designated vaping areas.

• Manchester City and Chelsea have both banned the electronic tobacco alternatives in their stadiums. In Manchester City, one fan recently had his season ticket suspended specifically because he used an e-cig whilst on the concourse.

• From 2014/15, the Premier League will ban e-cigarettes inside stadiums.

WIFI
• Brilliant article on MLS team Sporting Kansas and their new stadium http://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content…
From 2-3pm I got to sit in on a marketing sales pitch from a telco company offering direct call back and sms services. It was interesting to see the backend of how these systems work, sending out 30,000 odd targeted texts at 2-3p a pop. Enjoyed the sales pitch which included street press advertising too which was interesting to hear from a London football club perspective rather than music industry.
There were plenty of other jobs I got to work on today but for privacy reasons I just will not be disclosing them however its safe to say I have learnt so much in just 2 days that this is just such a thrill.

Home cooked goodness

Home cooked goodness

Personal Branding, Sports Business

London Sports Business Internship Blog #10: Day 4 at QPR

Walking into the stadium

Walking into the stadium

9.21am White City tube. John Butler Trio ‘Bound to Ramble’
Got in at 9am today to follow up on some work from yesterday.
Sent off more emails and made calls to premier league and championship clubs regarding fan engagement , this has been a great way to network and add top industry people to my contacts list. Certainly a valuable asset if I’m looking to work in the sports business

EPL Quality Assurance Checklist

EPL Quality Assurance Checklist

After a few emails I had a meeting with two older lads who were ex Euro 96 and detective inspectors with the MET police but who now provide security consultations to stadiums across the UK. I was able to interview these guys in depth about the change in tactics of hooligan gangs and firms and found out interesting insights such as the rise with the problem of flares and smoke bombs in that children were being used as flare mules to carry this stuff in as well as how the firms and gangs had changed over time so that now the old boys don’t get involved as much yet train the young ones up to do the violence. However what was interesting was learning about the sociology of these groups in that usually they start young with the violence then ease off as they have kids but then kick back into it once they’re in their 50’s. Often the older lads are up for a bit of a fight however the young ones generally back off at the sight of police.
It was interesting to hear that when a team plays away they have a few local cops from their area who travel with the away supporters and who relate intelligence and information onto the home teams police. I was told that a big reason for this is that away supporters often think they’re invincible away from home however with a cop from home ready to yell at or warn a badly behaving away supporter it really does act as a deterrent as in ‘Oi you, i know you, stop it or you’re nicked’ anyway interesting stuff.

QPR trophy cabinet

QPR trophy cabinet

Got to talk to a few security people about the reason you don’t see many supporters wearing jerseys to games. When you watch these games live on TV in Australia and you see everyone rugged up and without a scarf you just think ‘oh its cold’ however the three main reasons for the lack of jersey wearing are;
1. Most pubs ban ‘colours’ in their establishments. When I went to a Liverpool vs PSV Champions League game in 2007 I was refused entry to a pub in the city centre on the basis I was wearing a reds/PSV combo scarf (i’m not a Liverpool supporter but love buying merch of games I attend) and just this year ahead of the QPR vs Wigan game I was told I couldn’t enter a restaurant for a pre game feed until I had removed the QPR jersey I had on (I also like to collect kits of teams I visit). The rationalizing behind this is that wearing club colours could cause violence amongst rival fans.
2. Wearing the jersey/colours can be seen as showing off your allegiance to your club to rival fans and could cause you to be singled out and harassed or worse.
3. The sheer cost of club jerseys has skyrocketed even since I first came to live here in 2006. Jerseys with badges, name and number are now upwards of £70-80 meaning that the average family or supporter just cant afford to buy a jersey. I bet you if you actually looked at each stand to see who wears their teams 2013/14 jersey it would be quite rare.
All in all I think this all shows that the team jersey as we know it, totally needs to be taken back to the drawing table. Not least so that the principal sponsors are able to get their brand out there. Either that or shirt sponsors should start advertising on Bench, North Face or SuperDry jackets!
Was nice to be told today how adaptable I am in that I’ve just got stuck in and asked for work and jobs from various departments. If I can make anyones job a bit easier then its fantastic and its great I’m doing some serious jobs and not just making coffee. Not that I’d mind that but my skills and life experience do illustrate that I know what I’m doing here in marketing, ent management and operations and that this is the career I need to focus on.
After lunch I had a fascinating chat with the support liaison officer about fan engagement and customer services and it was great to share my Pinterest site (www.pinterest/mrblairhughes) which i has been working on in the leas up to starting here with him.

QPR fan engagement

QPR fan engagement

I got a great insight into the PL’s Visit Football quality assurance scheme as well which is a marking system designed to assess various factors of a stadium and match day experience.

QPR pitch

QPR pitch

Found out that drugs such as cocaine are a huge and rising issue in football and ground management and that majority of the trouble happens outside the stadiums on match days rather than inside the grounds meaning that CCTV and police intelligence are vital tools in the fight against this bad behaviour.
Another top day at Loftus Road
Personal Branding, Sports Business

London Sports Business Internship Blog #11: Day 5 at QPR

6.10am Arnos Grove flat. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds ‘Easy Money’
I picked up a few boxes of fruit mince pies from my local Tescos for all the departments who have helped me out this week by giving me work to do and showing me a lot of respect by treating me as part of the team. Thought Vegemite wouldn’t have gone down quite as well!
I started the day by picking up where I left off yesterday in that I was researching all of the Premier League clubs membership and loyalty schemes to see what interesting merchandise items, loyalty schemes and incentives each of the teams had. The research I did into fan engagement is invaluable stuff and really needs to be actioned by some A-League clubs back home. I absolutely love checking out the various membership packs of sports teams as some can be jam packed with amazing items and creative ideas whereas like I found today some are just plain bland and boring with no real idea of their demographic or with cheap generic items. For instance, a pen for a 5 year olds pack…. Be a bit more creative. How about a giant club logo branded pencil or a stylus for a tablet device? From teaching kids I know that the majority don’t even write, so a pen is kind of redundant.
I researched the club membership packs and in my opinion the best value for money was either Crystal Palace or Liverpool who both really clearly identified  their membership markets and added heaps of merchandise.
Feeling a bit flat today, possibly as a result of boxing last night however it has been a very busy week at QPR.

North London Boxing

North London Boxing

Fired off a few emails and set up meetings with support liaison and fan engagement officers with Southampton, Everton, West Ham and Vero Communications, the latter of which helped strategically plan major events like the FIFA World Cup.
I’ve had such a great first week, everyone has seen how passionate, enthusiastic and self motivated I am so its been great to get stuck into some work and really open my ears and eyes to everything that goes on at a major football club.

QPR Pitch

QPR Pitch

I got a copy of the match day program at 3pm and don’t these just look amazing. The English football clubs have really got these down to a fine art. 80+ pages of beautiful writing and images really drives home the value and experience in coming to the football here and picking up a match day program.

QPR match day program

QPR match day program

I had a bit of time to check out what FA Cup games I’m going to head to over the weekend of the 4/5 of January and it looks like I’ll head to Charlton vs Oxford on the Saturday and Nottingham vs West Ham on the Sunday. Should make for another big weekend of football trekking over England.
Final preparations were organized with the Sky broadcast trucks being organised around cars that had parked in their way outside the stadium. The big match which is 1 vs 3 or QPR vs Leicester is broadcast live across the country on Sky Sports tomorrow and as its a huge match everyone in the office is buzzing.

QPR Kids Zone

QPR Kids Zone

The more I think about what I’ve done in the past, the skills and life experience I have from traveling and working abroad and having worked as a teacher and in event management in the music industry as well as the fact that I have easily slotted in at a major sports club really drives home to me that I don’t need to go back to Uni to study these fields. I know I’m more than capable of showcasing my skills at a major club so my goals really need to be to start applying for jobs now.
One thing I have been doing has been to use the creative fan engagement ideas I have been collating on my Pinterest page to contact Australian clubs from my QPR email and give them a pat on the back for their creative CRM and fan engagement ideas while at the same time getting my name and brand into their heads.
Anyway absolutely stuffed so going for a curry and beers with my flatmates to look back on the week.
Personal Branding, Sports Business

London Sports Business Internship Blog #7: Day 1 at Queens Park Rangers

QPR AAA staff card

QPR AAA staff card

I woke up at 7am today feeling slightly nervous and with a bit of self doubt but knew that this was normal for anyone starting a new gig, let alone in another country or industry. I remember the last time I started working here as a teacher in 2006 when the backpackers I was staying in the night before my first day caught fire and I was left feeling a bit frazzled, so this would be have to be easier. But would people like me? Can I actually do this? Am I out of my depth? How much ribbing would I get for the Ashes?
I have invested a great deal in this career reinvention and have put a lot on the line to make this happen, but I backed myself to do this, to change my life, find a new passion and cant express how emotional it was to stand on the side of the pitch and say in my mind ‘Well done, you did it’.Theres plenty of people who have helped along the way and this moment would not have happened without their help and guidance.
I needed to start work at QPR at 930am so intended to leave the house at 8am for the trip north to west but as the house had just been painted over the weekend the bloody door was glued shut so I had to try to get out through the ground floor window before I eventually woke up one of my flatmates with my banging, who was then able to pry it open. 8.25am with a 55 minute journey in London peak hour was going to be touch and go and being late on my first day would not set a good example and is certainly not one of my traits as I’m a stickler for time management.
However I made it to the White City tube stop by 9.21am and walked the short distance to the Loftus Road stadium.

White City tube

White City tube

I took a deep breath before entering, telling myself ‘lets do this, its time to roll’ before going through to reception and waiting for the lady who organised all of this to greet me. I still cant get over the fact that this person had faith in me, believed in me and had the time to want to take me on. I’m still just so blown away by her willingness to give an Aussie a crack at this! Going back to April and my first meeting with QPR where I had the guts to ask for an internship I just cant get over how she kept her word. She could have just said ‘yeah sure’ then reneged or after the visa issues given up and told me that this was all too much work but she didn’t and she backed me and for that I’ll be eternally grateful.
I started the day with an induction to the different teams, from marketing to digital media, hospitality to finance and HR to my department, operations. Everyone was so welcoming and lovely and really put me at ease, especially as we all shared some Ashes jokes.
I was taken through a very professional workplace health and safety package then on a tour of the whole ground taking in the corporate boxes, media areas, control room, player dressing rooms, the tunnel and finally the pitch.

A feeling of overwhelming satisfaction!

A feeling of overwhelming satisfaction!

QPR stadium

QPR stadium

 

Sky Sports box view

Sky Sports box view

Standing on that pitch (the artificial side, not the real pitch as I’d get yelled at!) felt amazing in the cool breeze and light rain and I got this huge overwhelming sense of emotion knowing I’d really started something special with my new journey.

QPR pitch side

QPR pitch side

View from corporate box

View from corporate box

I was lucky enough to help assist in completing some work on a really interesting crowd safety issue as well as engage in lots of office banter, something that I really wanted to experience with this role by learning more about office culture.
I knocked off at 4pm having received my professional looking AAA staff card and made my way onto a cardio boxing class in North London to keep my fitness up while here.
An epic first day on my sports business internship with Queens Park Rangers.

The stands

The stands

In the tunnel

In the tunnel

 

Personal Branding, Sports Business

London Sports Business Internship Blog #9: Day 3 at QPR

6.10pm. Marble Arch tube. The Smiths ‘There is a light that never goes out’
Today was a late start owing to the fact that we had a fan forum happening tonight from 530-730pm. One of the interesting things to learn by working at a major sports club has been to see how the team manage their week. All departments work 5 day weeks but then also work home matches, making this week a 6 day week due to the Liescter game on Saturday. Therefore there is no real staff timetable as theres so much on in terms of meetings and matches so being flexible is a must with this job.

Not sure how this got here!

Not sure how this got here!

I had a brief sleep in followed by a quicker transit due to less people on the tube and made my way to the stadium at 10am to get stuck into more of the research I was doing yesterday. I sent off a few emails to a few organisations followed by some emails to some A-League teams regarding their great fan engagement ideas which I was going to bring up at the forum tonight in response to fan queries. Im really passionate about promoting the great work that the FFA and the clubs back home are doing so I’m taking every opportunity I get to talk about the growth of the game down under.
Heres a link (www.pinterest.com/mrblairhughes) to the Pinterest site I set up to collate my ideas regarding fan engagement and marketing in the sports business. Great to see so many A-League ideas on here now.

1967 League Cup trophy

1967 League Cup trophy

Had a few meetings around disability services on match days and issues involved in dealing with these laws plus a 100+ year old stadium and how best to manage situations. Interesting too that the turnstiles have had to be widened and bigger stretchers ordered due to rise in obesity amongst fans not just here but across the UK. Got to make a few calls to the Premier League, wo…rked on collating information on EPL/Championship clubs membership packages for the box office and had detailed discussions with 2 old boy ex MET police detective inspectors now security advisors regarding firms, flare issues and crowd behaviour. Finished up at 8pm after a fan forum looking into stadium wifi, stewarding issues and safe standing and e-cigarettes the latter two of which I collated information and research on and got to talk about what Suncorp stadium/bris roar do at games regarding safe standing. Interesting if anyone wants to know but my info found 6/44 championship/epl clubs have allowed e-cigarettes or have smoking areas, but as my call to the premier league office found out that from 2014/15 all smoking or as they call it here for e-cigs ‘vaping’ will be banned under ground regulations. Also interesting re Hillsborough/standing but its not actually a criminal offence/illegal to stand at games, however it IS a ground regulation to sit on seats therefore failure to do so warrants ejection. Anyway not long til England trials safe standing. Bristol City already have the plans in place for their new ground.

Another pitch view

Another pitch view

I then moved onto collecting some information for the box office in terms of what the Premier League and Championship clubs are doing in terms of memberships, ticketing and loyalty schemes. It will be great to see the game get to a point over in Oz where we have loyalty schemes in place with a points system to purchase tickets for games.
We had an operations meeting in the afternoon which touched on how the club provided disability seating and services. It really brought home how important it was the cater for all fans as well as how far facilities and services for disabled fans around the world has increased over the past decade.
 Another solid day of learning! Everyones been super nice and are giving me heaps of work to do.Massive game coming up 1 QPR vs 3 Leicester on Saturday. Ill get to sit in with the football police unit (thats right a dedicated unit of London Police that control football matches) from the control room on saturday, should be a huge insight!Never stop learning and asking questions, it will get you everywhere!
Fan Engagement, Personal Branding

London Sports Business Internship Blog #4: Kit Business Card

4.58pm. Arsenal tube. The Beatles ‘The Word’

One of the cool ideas I had to promote my name and personal brand while over in the UK was to do up a football jersey with my name, logo, colour scheme and social media information so that I could give these out to industry experts that I’d meet along the way.

My jersey business card

My jersey business card

I have always really liked the idea that Tony Fernandes, owner of Air Asia and of QPR gives everyone he meets an Air Asia cap and takes a pic of them for his social media feeds. I thought why not try something creative like this as well to spread my personal brand.

Tony Fernandes with his signature cap presentation

Tony Fernandes with his signature cap presentation

Tony Fernandes with his signature cap presentation

Tony Fernandes with his signature cap presentation

I designed the jersey using templates from the Argentina, Marseille, Melbourne Victory and Wigan jerseys and adding my own touches. It’s pretty funny really but I think it’s a good tie in to get my name out there in the sports business.

Lucky enough to have a friend in Vietnam who runs a sweat shop free garment factory who could get these made up for me in time.

Here are some pics of the jerseys.

Logo and year on front

Logo and year on front

Front of the kit

Front of the kit

 

Back of the kit with Twitter and Website information

Back of the kit with Twitter and Website information

 

Personal Branding, Sports Business

London Sports Business Internship Blog #3: Internship Goals

7.55am. Arnos Grove tube. The Cruel Sea ‘Woman with soul’

I hit the ground running at Queens Park Rangers FC on Monday morning and below is a list of all the goals I wish to accomplish or learn about during my time at the club.

My background is in marketing, event and venue management from previously working in the music business as well as at the Gabba sports ground in a Brisbane however the more I look into workplace health and safety (especially in the sports industry) the more I’m getting intrigued by this as a possible area to specialise in. Anyway good to keep the options open and to learn as much as I can across all the areas while at this global club.

These are my internship goals and areas I want to learn more about in order to refine my skills and bring these back to Australia to improve our events and fan engagement experiences. The list will continue to be updated.

1. Understand major event management processes and improve my operational management techniques
2. Learn about sport law/public liability for major events
3. Improve my PR skills/learn more about sports PR-media relations
4. Learn about corporate hospitality
5. Improve my understanding of organisational management structures in sports organisations
6. Learn about sports marketing and promotions
7. Learn about facility/sports stadia management
8. Learn about strategic management such as future planning, environmental analysis, strategy formation, implementation and control.
9. Experience more about office culture (odd to some but as a teacher you don’t experience ‘office’ business culture)
10. Learn about enterprise risk management (risk culture, monitoring risks)
11. Online marketing/digital media engagement
12. Fan engagement strategies
13. Keen to learn more about violence/bullying/hazing in the sport industry (possible idea for research paper I have)
14. To learn more and help out with the women’s game
15. Player welfare (possible area I think I could go into from being a teacher)
16. Anti-social behaviour at games. How it’s addressed
17. Safety at games. Crowd behaviour, workplace health and safety, evacuation procedures
18. Understand more about future trends in the sports business (from broadcasting to fan engagement)
19. Athlete management (career development, retirement, role of player, manager, staff, club)
20. Role of football police squads
21. Learn more about financial reporting, analysis, understanding accounting concepts, interpreting corporate financial reports.
22. Understand advertising/sponsorship procedures and selling

Personal Branding, Sports Business

London Sports Business Internship Blog #1: How I Scored An Internship at Queens Park Rangers Football Club

Match Stats:

  • Born in Brisbane, Australia in 1984
  • Graduated with degrees in Behavioural Studies and Education from the University of Queensland in 2006
  • Have worked as a high school teacher since 2007 in Brisbane, Central Queensland as well as in Newmarket, Cambridge and London.
  • Currently employed in the tertiary sector in Australia teaching event management, communications, marketing and artist management.
  • Have extensive music industry experience from managing bands, booking gigs, planning events, international tour management, venue management and maintaining digital media strategies.
  • Previously worked at the Brisbane Cricket Ground (The Gabba) from 1999-2006 managing stadium hospitality services as well as at music venues The Zoo in Brisbane and The Hammersmith Apollo in London.
  • Undertaking Masters of Business (Sport Management) through Deakin University, Melbourne in 2014 (online).

Teaching AFL at a school in London

Teaching AFL at a school in London

At SXSW Music Conference in Austin, Texas

At SXSW Music Conference in Austin, Texas

Presenting a speech at a Brisbane Sounds event

Presenting a speech at a Brisbane Sounds event

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With my primary school students in Mildenhall, Suffolk.

With my primary school students in Mildenhall, Suffolk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pre Game: How I got an internship at Queens Park Rangers Football Club.

This is one hell of a crazy story. However if you know me, you’ll know that my whole life is one crazy story after another. From teaching in challenging London high schools where I’ve had a knife put to my neck to tour managing bands around the UK and running a PR and events business that has taken me all over the world promoting the Brisbane music industry, I don’t sit back and wait for things to happen. I get off my butt, seek out opportunities and live out my dreams as well as actively encouraging and inspiring my students to do the same.

Brisbane Sounds Logo

Brisbane Sounds Logo

SEALS UK Tour 2011

SEALS UK Tour 2011

Flood Bank 2011 Disaster Appeal Gig

Flood Bank 2011 Disaster Appeal Gig

Brisbane Sounds 2010 Event

Brisbane Sounds 2010 Event

This is why 100 days before I turn 30 I’m about to embark on a life changing trip back to London to reinvent my career by working in the sports business. From December to January 2014 I’ll be working at global football club Queens Park Rangers in Shepherds Bush, London where I’ll be completing an internship in event management, communications and marketing with the aim of refining and improving my skills in these areas and bringing that knowledge back to Australia and securing employment in the sports business (or trying to get sponsored and work in the UK/Europe). However, the whole process to get this amazing opportunity sorted out has not been easy and is an example of my strongest qualities with those being dedication, positivity and enthusiasm. But how did this all come about?

Queens Park Rangers logo

Queens Park Rangers logo

Loftus Road Stadium

Loftus Road Stadium

Player Biography

Going back to early 2012 and I was getting very disillusioned with working in the music industry, particularly in my hometown of Brisbane where I had worked tirelessly since 2006 promoting 1000+ artists, building a 16K strong online community, networking internationally, running events and spending over $85,000 of my own money on the business. I cut my event management and communications teeth with my business, Brisbane Sounds during this time but I also learnt life lessons in business as well. It’s a ruthless and stressful industry to work in and I kept feeling that my morals were being tested and knew I had to get out so made the decision to finish up the business in April 2012 and direct all my focus on improving my practice as a teacher.

Brisbane Sounds 2008 Gig

Brisbane Sounds 2008 Gig

Brisbane Sounds 2010 Compilation Album

Brisbane Sounds 2010 Compilation Album

Around the same time as working at a high school part time, I also started working as a teacher part time at a tertiary institution. It had always been a bit stressful going from one job to the other each week, packing and unpacking my bag each Wednesday over the past two years and managing 100 odd teenage and adult students. However this year I had a student I was close to pass away through illness, a past student in England also died and I’ve had multiple learners with challenging diverse needs to support so it was probably one of my most stressful years as a teacher.

In this same period I had to reapply to keep one of my jobs, complete an extensive four month training course for the same job and then someone maliciously damaged my beloved 4WD. Things just kept going from bad to worse but I had to radicalize positivity and get on with life. I was finding that when I took students to see the counselor I’d be feeling as though student issues and teaching were starting to really weigh me down emotionally. It was very difficult being this super positive teacher for my students and helping them through their own personal troubles so I knew I needed change and I knew I was the only one who could do something about that. Therefore decided to focus all my efforts to get back into marketing, branding, event management and communications but this time with a focus on the sports business and not the music business. I do wonder how other teachers cope sometimes with all the pressures in their own lives but also wanting to do everything they can for their students in times of need.

My 4WD

My 4WD

Usually every year I would take myself off to the UK or USA and set up professional development and networking opportunities with people I admire and want to learn from while mixing my passion for sports and music by seeing gigs and games at stadiums and venues around the world. So in February of this year I decided to head to Europe for my 29th birthday as one of the teams I support,  West Ham United were playing on the weekend of my birthday and my favourite band, who I’ve done some work with in the past, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were playing in Brussels on my actual birthday two days later.

West Ham vs West Brom at Upton Park

West Ham vs West Brom at Upton Park

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club gig in Brussels

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club gig in Brussels

This time around though, I decided to set up meetings with key players in the UK football industry. I emailed, sent letters or called every London club from the Premier League to the lower divisions and eventually got meetings with Fulham, West Ham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and QPR along with a few other clubs throughout Europe.

Meeting at Allianz Arena, Munich

Meeting at Allianz Arena, Munich

Meeting at Arsenal

Meeting at Arsenal

The meetings that I set up were to talk about the roles these people had, careers in the sports business and how a global club is run. At the end of each meeting I asked all of them for an internship and told them about myself, my skills and how they could help me achieve my dreams of a career in the sports business. As luck would have it QPR agreed to an internship for December. I walked away from the stadium telling myself that nothing was set in stone and to go with the flow with whatever was to come. To this day I owe the lady who set this up so much gratitude and admiration as in just a short 45 minute chat she could see my potential.  There is no doubt that she is on the Christmas shopping list!

Over the next few months I continued to focus on teaching however by July I had made the decision to resign from one of my teaching posts and focus all of my efforts into reinventing my career in the sports business by looking at what I’ve done up to this point in my life and looking at where I wanted to go. I realized that I needed a break from teaching young adults, parents, paperwork, marking assessments and all the stressors that go with that life.

Game Day Strategy

From July to now I really began getting into personal branding and started reevaluating what I wanted to do with this next phase of my life. I found this amazing book called ‘Reinventing You’ by US based author Dorie Clark which hit me like a soccer ball to the head in terms of how life changing it was. I started writing out a list of all the personal branding and career reinvention jobs I had to achieve before I left for London. The list started out with a few simple things like getting new business cards and a website to networking and completing volunteer work.

'Reinventing You' by Dorie Clark

‘Reinventing You’ by Dorie Clark

I have been adding to the list on a daily basis and intend on writing a book about this experience but for now the list is up to 33 elements which I have ticked off. These include:

 

1. Creating a personal brand statement: ‘I’m a creative and ambitious communications and event management professional with seven years of experience visualizing, developing and facilitating major events and communications projects with a high success rate of delivering exceptional outcomes for clients in both local and international markets. I’m a leader, networker and life long learner skilled in social media, marketing and public relations with exceptional interpersonal skills and a proactive and passionate approach to executing outstanding results.’

2. Refining my LinkedIn with a focus on key word optimization.

3. Setting up a website  www.mrblairhughes.com which sells my personal brand and story.

www.MrBlairHughes.com

www.MrBlairHughes.com

4.  Setting up a logo.

Blair Hughes Logo

Blair Hughes Logo

5. Having a professional photo taken.

Professional Photo

Professional Photo

6. Setting up all the same branding on social media sites.

Social Media Branding

Social Media Branding

7. Networking through social media with leaders in the sports business.

8. Producing a personal infographic that sums up my story in a visual form.

Personal Infographic

Personal Infographic

9. Completed volunteer work in my new field to get my name out there.

10. Had testimonials and endorsements from past clients and colleagues written.

11. Defined my title in a few words.

12. Created content for my website and social media sites such as infographics.

Infographics

Infographics

A-LEAGUE Infographic

A-LEAGUE Infographic

A-LEAGUE Infographic

A-LEAGUE Infographic

A League Infographic for Brisbane vs Melbourne

A League Infographic for Brisbane vs Melbourne

13. Went to conferences in this new field.

14. Participated in Twitter live chats.

15. Continued to learn from listening to 100+ TED Talks, instructional videos, online workshops and webinars along with reading countless articles.

16. Made a new email and email signature.

17. Created business cards.

My new creative sports business themed business cards

My new creative sports business themed business cards

18. Participated in Skype sessions with leaders in this field.

19. Bought 20+ books on personal branding, sports business, leadership, marketing and event management.

Renegades Write the Rules

Unknown-1 Unknown-2 Unknown-3

20. Crafted my stories and storytelling from my past experiences.

21. Subscribed to industry magazines and publications.

22. Bought new clothes and completely revolutionized my wardrobe and style to match this new career.

23. Started to blog and share ideas.

24. Worked on helping others with this knowledge of personal branding. Found that I would be offering advice not only to students but also other adults in the area of personal branding.

25. Sought out the leaders I wanted to emulate and went about setting up meetings both locally and internationally.

26. Created a Pinterest account to share ideas on sports fan engagement and marketing ideas.

Pinterest site

Pinterest site

27. Investigated study options and chose a course in Melbourne to study in 2014.

28. Talked to people and friends about what I wanted to do. Started selling my brand more vocally because you never know who is listening and who can help you on your journey.

29. Found mentors in my field who I wanted to assist me.

30. Expressed my ideas and plans.

31. Did a career path self assessment.

32. Started work on a short film showcasing my skills, dreams, goals and past work experience.

33. Developed a new elevator pitch.

Leaving the Sheds

Getting to work at a major football club in London was not easy though. Around early September I was contacted by the club and told that I would need a visa for the trip as the UK immigration department deemed what I was doing as ‘work’. As I had already completed my working holiday visa from 2006-2008 the only available option was to get an immigration lawyer involved at a cost of $1000AUD and figure out what visa options were available to me in this unique situation. Acquiring the services of an immigration lawyer was probably the best money I spent though as the lawyer was exceptional from start to finish and really helped me out with some of the problems I faced in getting back to the UK.

Ready to send my Visa application to UK Immigration.

Ready to send my Visa application to UK Immigration.

What problems though? Well, having put together the 50 pages of documents (CV, bank statements, cover letter, return airfare ticket, letter from my employer about when I was due back for work in 2014, letter of offer from the club, accommodation details, passport, passport photos and visa application forms) for my visa application I then had to call the $15 a minute UK Immigration hotline in Canberra after their online system charged me $140 twice for the biometrics payment.

On calling to sort this out I was questioned about my visa application and told in no uncertain terms that my lawyer had got it all wrong, the visa I was applying for was wrong, my visa application would be refused, I wouldn’t be allowed into the UK and every time I travelled I would be hauled off for questioning due to having had a visa application refused. I was told that they had never heard of an Australian going over to work at a club before, that it probably wouldn’t be worth wasting my money on the visa application and also that the majority of times most people just rock up at the gate at Heathrow and state their case and 9 out of 10 get allowed into England. I politely told her that I had a lot on the line here and I did not want to risk being the 1 out of 10 which was denied as I had invested a lot of time and effort into all of this.

She also happened to mention that she was a Chelsea supporter….

The crisis was averted when the lawyer got involved to further explain the situation and immigration decided to check with their Manila office regarding my visa queries and got back to me 35 minutes before my biometrics meeting in Brisbane city to advise that it was all ok and good to go. Phew!

Kick Off

So here I am, 7 days out from heading back to London to start this new period in my life. I’m absolutely buzzing as my mind is in a better place especially from the cardio boxing sessions I’ve been doing over the past three months which have prepared me for the fight ahead while also losing a total of 23KGs. The future is unwritten and I’m out to carve my name in the sports business. Exciting times await so thank you for reading this lengthy first post about my upcoming adventure.

Contract Negotiations

I’m obviously on the look out for employment opportunities in marketing, fan engagement, event management and communications in the sports business either in Australia or abroad so if you would like to learn more about me, link me up with people who could help me on my journey or better yet offer me a job then please get in touch.

Thanks

 

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