Innovision Spring 2019

SPRING 2019 | 23 How did you find yourself at this position for your internship? Inmy Intro to Sport Management class, I interviewedMike Robinson, the Executive Director of Community Relations. He offered me an internshipduringChristmas at the StadiumfromNovember toDecember 2017. This led to a game-day internship with the Fightin’ Phils in the summer. I learned how to do their 50/50 raffle, Toss-a-Ball and Kid’s Club booth. The required office hours taught me how to sell tickets, make cold calls and send out mass emails for Kid’s Club. I then had the opportunity to become a full-time group sales intern. What are some of your duties as an intern? Some of my duties are to cold call businesses for group outings or sponsor a town night. I follow up with group leaders from previous years to see their interest in doing similar events. I have to be able to understand and use Ticket Return/SCORE CRM. I also assist in the in-game script activities. What were some of the challenges you faced when starting your internship? A challenge that I faced was knowing who to call and what to say to them. Initially, I would write a script for what to say to businesses when I would call them. Now that I have been doing this for two months, I have gotten better. My internship site paid for us to do a group sales training, which helped me get more comfortable on the phone as well. Other challenges were remembering the different price points for groups and handling rejection. What did you learn at KU that made you feel the most prepared for your internship? In the Sport Management Department, our classes consist of project after project. I learned a lot about teamwork and communication. I think that is what prepared me most for my internship. It helped me strengthen my communication skills and my ability to speak in public. What do you think are the most important qualities for someone to excel in this role? Should they prepare to be open minded, self-motivated, or creative? You have to be self-motivated. Sometimes you’re required to make more than 50 calls a day and it is your responsibility to make the calls and to make the sales. You must ask questions. It is better to put someone on hold and ask a full-timer than to tell someone the wrong information, which could cost the company money or potentially deter a group from coming out. Name a memorable moment that happened during your experience? The most memorable moment of this internship so far was walking in the 4th of July parade last summer as a game-day intern wearing a German/Dutch inflatable suit that was not inflated.We forgot to bring the battery pack, so I marched in a 40-minute long parade wearing an un-inflated suit. I was sweating a ridiculous amount, but I embraced it. What is something you didn’t expect from your experience at your internship? When I initially started as a game-day intern, I would have never guessed that I would be the one volunteering to hop on top of the dugout to do theYMCAdance or offering to be in charge of the “ChuckleChallenge.” I have never been an extrovert, but this internship has helped me break out of my shell and try new things. Is this where you saw yourself as a freshman? No. I enrolled as a Psychology major my freshman year. My goal was to graduate and get myMaster’s andDoctorate inCounseling. I wanted to be a special victims counselor. It all changed my sophomore year when I realized I wasn’t enjoying what I was learning. I chose to switch my major that spring to Sport Management because I have always loved sports.Two and a half years later, I can say that I am so happy I switched. CASSANDRA FERREE ‘19 Cassandra Ferree is a senior Sport Management Major with a minor in Psychology. She is a Group Sales intern for the Reading Fightin’ Phils. “I marched in a 40-minute long parade wearing an un-inflated suit. I was sweating a ridiculous amount, but I embraced it.”