Action from HP Pavilion as the San Jose Sharks defeat the Minnesota Wild
Apr

15

San Francisco: Day 2

Oregon MBA Blog / Warsaw Sports Marketing Center Blog  Posted by / 0 comments

Warsaw students Aaron Klein, Perry Hammond, and Elizabeth Brock pose behind home plate at AT&T Park

Editor’s Note: This post is the second in a series of entries chronicling a recent study tour by first-year MBA’s from the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, who spent the first week of spring term visiting the offices of nine major sports properties in San Francisco. The San Francisco study tour is an annual Warsaw Center trip that exposes students to a variety of sports agencies, teams, corporations and product companies in the Bay Area, providing excellent opportunities for experiential learning and networking.

Following an action-packed first day in San Francisco, we were allowed to sleep in just a bit as we prepared for another event-filled day in the Bay. After meeting in the hotel lobby at 10:15, we headed over to nearby AT&T Park, home of the reigning World Champion San Francisco Giants. We arrived a few minutes before our meeting was set to start, which gave us time to pose for photos with the Willie Mays statue in front of the beautiful waterfront ballpark.

At 11 o’clock, we were greeted by a Giants representative, who led us inside the park and into one of the press rooms, where we were greeted by Tom McDonald, Executive Vice President for Consumer Marketing, and Jeff Tucker, Vice President of Sales, both University of Oregon alumni. Tucker began with a presentation on the Giants’ dynamic ticket pricing strategy. Back in 2009, the Giants teamed up with start-up software company Qcue to test out a pilot program of 2,000 seats in the View Reserved and Bleacher seats. Given the success of the test run, they went on to dynamically price the entire venue for the 2010 season. The Giants turned out to be trailblazers in this respect, as many other professional teams across various sports have moved to this model since then.

Warsaw students mingling in the lobby at EA Sports in Redwood City

After Tucker’s presentation, we heard from McDonald, who talked to us about the Giants brand marketing campaigns, using the similarly themed slogans from the past few years, “Together We’re Giant”, “Together Again,” and “Together We’re Champions”. He discussed the concept of the club not only as a baseball team, but as an entertainment company, and explained how they have been able to leverage their two World Series wins by taking the trophies on nationwide tours. He highlighted their commitment to customer service and how everyone in the organization views the club as a “community trust”, to ensure that they serve the best interests of the entire community. To wrap things up, he showed us commercials from this season’s marketing campaign, which uses players to communicate the club’s strategies.

We climbed back into the vans for a drive down Highway 101 to Redwood City, home of video game giants EA Sports. We were welcomed by the President of the company, Peter Moore, and a trio of Warsaw Alums in Dave Rosen, Director of eCommerce Partner Marketing for EA, Tabitha Hayes, Director of Online Marketing for EA, and Tyler Vaught, Product Marketing Manager at Sony. The main topic of discussion circled around the changing platform of video games, as they move from chips to digital and focus more on in-game add-ons to enhance the digital experience. They provided several examples of this within their own games, including the “Origin” platform, which is the new name of their online store, and the popular player trading cards in FIFA 2013, which allows video gamers to build a dream team of soccer players from around the world.

We then headed further south to the HP Pavilion to meet with Malcolm Bordelon, the Vice President of Business Operations for the San Jose Sharks, who gave us a well-rounded view of the club’s front office operations and touched on a current public relations issue within the organization. That very morning, the team had traded for Raffi Torres, widely known around the league for his tough guy reputation and previously despised by Sharks fans for having injured a couple of the team’s players. It was an intriguing real-time opportunity for us to see how a professional organization deals with such matters. Following our discussion, Bordelon presented us with San Jose Sharks hats, key chains, and “Sharks Territory” placards. We then moved from the offices to the stands to watch the Sharks take down the Minnesota Wild, 4-2, in an exciting game. Worn out from the long day, we loaded up the vehicles once again and headed back to San Francisco for a quick night’s rest as we prepared for another day of visits on Thursday.

Action from HP Pavilion, where the Warsaw students witnessed the San Jose Sharks take down the Minnesota Wild, 4-2.

Written by Perry Hammond

Perry is a first-year (2014) MBA student in the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center.

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Apr

10

Honors Program Alternative Spring Break to Costa Rica

Undergrad Blog  Posted by / 1 comments

During Spring Break from March 23-31, 2013, a group of fourteen students from the Lundquist College of Business Honors Program traveled to Costa Rica for an Alternative Break. We teamed up with non-profit Courts for Kids to build a basketball court in El Higueron. Below is a day by day journal of the trip.

Day One

We finally made it! After two plane rides and a bus, we made it to Campo Vida in El Higeuron, Costa Rica. Orlando and his wife, Yselda created Campo Vida from scratch. They received the land from the government and have turned it into a farm and retreat destination. More information on Campo Vida can be found on Campo Vida’s  facebook page . Upon arrival we were served a delicious dinner of rice, beans, meat, and star fruit juice. Orlando and his family are so incredibly nice and some of the most welcoming people I have ever met. I am looking forward to see this place during the day.

Day Two

The community leveled the ground and put a border of cinder blocks around the edge of the court. When we first saw the outline of the court, it was a daunting task, the entire area was dirt with a massive pile of sand right in the middle and multiple piles of rock on the outsides. But we got right to it. Everyone picked up a shovel, bucket, or wheel barrel and starting making concrete. For the most part it was just us working on the court with a few exceptions. We learned Costa Ricans don’t work on Sundays, because it is their resting day. It was Palm Sunday though and during the middle of the day they had a procession through the town. And one man was dressed up like Jesus and came in riding a horse. It was really cool to see and gave us a brief insight into their religious culture. The local Peace Corp Volunteer that set up the entire trip for us, Rachel, said they dressed up the man as Jesus just for us. It was things like this that made us truly feel welcomed into community.

The local women’s group cooked us lunch and it was delicious! For the most part it was rice, beans, meat, and bread. But Rachel asked them to serve us more fruit instead of bread. It was interesting to learn that the locals rarely eat raw fruit. For us it was one of our favorite things!

Day Three

The women’s group did a presentation on their history and what they do. The group was formed four years ago and became nationally recognized 3 years ago. Together they have started to create businesses, such as making popsicles and jams. They are hitting a lot of obstacles however and have not been able to start distributing them yet. They received a grant for a factory and a refrigerated truck, but they need to have certain packaging before they can be sold. In America we see entrepreneurs starting new businesses every day, and it was eye-opening to see how much work and persistence it has taken for this small business to begin. After four years, they are still not quite there yet.

On the court we had a ton of help from the local men and boys, we even had five more Peace Corp Volunteers from around the country come help. We nicknamed a couple of the locals Superman, Hercules, and mini Hercules. They were so incredibly strong and had an incredible work ethic. Costa Rica as a whole is known as being a male dominant society. And it was prevalent while working. It could be seen in the locals interactions with each other and in their interactions with us. We definitely surprised them when we walked up with 12 females and 8 males. But all of us worked right alongside them. By the end of the week a couple of them mentioned that we changed their opinions of Gringos. And on the last two days of work a couple of local girls and women came to help us with the manual labor, which was really cool to see. Because we knew all of us Gringo women working hard inspired them to break society norm and come help out too.

We took a break during the heat of the day and a couple of the locals took us through a pineapple farm to the river. The pineapple farm was incredible with the volcano in the background and they even grabbed a couple pineapples for us to share. At the river we saw an anteater in one of the trees and relaxed in the cool water until we went back to work in the late afternoon.

Day Four

Back to work again! We can see the finish line at this point and the hoops are in place and ready to be put up. During our break today members of the Maieku indigenous tribe came to talk to us about their history and culture. And they brought some of the crafts they sell for us to buy. They made beautiful masks out of balsa wood. They also made hand drums out of iguana skin and beautiful jewelry.

Day Five

We finished the court!!! After countless buckets and sore muscles the court is done! It feels amazing to have it all done. And the town threw a party tonight as a celebration and thank you. The school children performed traditional dances and a man brought his horse to do tricks for us. The horse prayed, walked on its knees, and even brought a girl a flower. They had a band going all night playing traditional music, it was all incredible! The food was amazing and during one of the dances the children pulled us onto the dance floor. It was a great way to finish the court. After that night I forgot all about all the sore muscles.

Day Six

We went zip lining and to the hot springs at the Blue River Resort and Hotel. It was definitely a little different than what we were used to in El Higueron.  We went zip lining through the canopy, then walked on a path right by the Blue River, which is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Then we took a tour through the botanical gardens, went into a natural sauna and had a mud bath, then finished the day relaxing in the hot springs. It was a very relaxing day.

Day Seven

Orlando showed us around Campo Vido taking us through the forest parts and describing the different plants and animals. It is amazing to see pictures of the property before Orlando and his family turned it into Campo Vida. Him and his wife have adopted approximately twenty at risk youth throughout their lives and giving them a place to call home at Campo Vida.

Today is Good Friday, and the community usually has a small procession for Stations of the Cross, but since we are in town they decided to act it out for us. We got to the church and everyone was all dressed up in costume ready to reenact the Stations of the Cross.

Day Eight

This morning we met all the children and community members at the court and played some basketball, volleyball, and soccer with them. Here the pictures say more than I ever could.

Day Nine

We drove to San Jose last night to get ready to depart, so this Easter Sunday we went to a local flea market and did some shopping before flying back for class in the morning.

Quotes from Students

Overall, the trip was incredible, and below are a couple quotes from other students about their experiences.

“My favorite part was giving shoes to the locals who had helped us all week and seeing the kids playing on the court and knowing that we had created something that would have a lasting impact on the community.” -Natalie Millar

“The big takeaways for me are that we are lucky to have everything that we do and other people around the world need opportunities as well. This trip was a great way to give back.” – Aaron McGinley

“I think the thing that resonated with me most powerfully is that people have the capacity to surprise each other in a positive way. Our group members surprised ourselves and each other with how hard we were able to work, the locals were pleasantly surprised by our ethic, and our eyes were opened to the warmth and generosity of the community there. I’ve always believed that people are inherently good, and this trip strongly reaffirmed that in ways I didn’t expect.” -Rachel Bruce

“Being in the small, rural community of El Higueron really showed me how kind hearted and welcoming people can truly be. They showed me the joy that can come from putting an emphasis on family and relationships, something that can be all to easily forgotten in our fast paced lifestyles.” – Amber Hull

“It was an incredible experience, I felt not only welcomed into the community but into their families. And all the hard work and sore muscles disappeared as soon as I saw the smiles on all the kids faces.” - Bridgette

 

Written by Brigette

I am a senior in the Lundquist College of Business Honor's Program at the University of Oregon and am finishing up my accounting degree this June 2013. In June I am moving to Portland to work as an Intern for KPMG.

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Apr

09

Warsaw MBA’s Enjoy a Week in San Francisco: Day 1 Recap

Oregon MBA Blog / Warsaw Sports Marketing Center Blog  Posted by / 0 comments

Editor’s Note: This post is the first in a series of entries chronicling a recent study tour by first-year MBA’s from the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, who spent the first week of spring term visiting the offices of nine major sports properties in San Francisco. The San Francisco study tour is an annual Warsaw Center trip that exposes students to a variety of sports agencies, teams, corporations and product companies in the Bay Area, providing excellent opportunities for experiential learning and networking.

Last Tuesday, April 2nd, marked the official start of the 2013 Warsaw Sports Marketing Center San Francisco study tour. After six months of anticipation, we were thrilled to finally embark on our first of three study tours offered through the center. The night before, the class had convened in San Francisco after traveling from various spring break locations and several of us split off to attend either the Oakland A’s Opening Day game or the San Jose Sharks vs. Vancouver Canucks hockey game.

Ron Li and Aaron Klein get pumped for Warsaw San Francisco study tour at Sharks-Canucks NHL game

On Tuesday, we started “bright and early” with a visit to Pac-12 Enterprises. We were hosted by Araceli Ortiz, Manager of University Digital Properties. Araceli began the meeting by giving a brief presentation of the chronology of Pac-12 Networks, which officially launched last August offering 24/7 Pac-12 sports programming. Following Araceli’s presentation, we enjoyed a Q&A session with a staff panel made up of Directors of Programming Dustin Rocke and Ky Bell, as well as Director of Marketing Research Natasha DeRivi. Some of the primary discussion points involved opportunities for the Pac-12 Networks to improve brand positioning of the conference, increase exposure for women’s and Olympic sports and highlight academic accomplishments of member institutions. Natasha also gave a thorough explanation of some of the market research that was conducted to determine demographics and consumer behavior for the fan base of each Pac-12 university.

After the Q&A session, Araceli led us on a tour of the facility. On the tour, we made stops in the master control room, production control room, changing room and studio floor. It was incredible to learn that the entire facility had been constructed from February-August 2012, in order to be ready for football season. Check out a few pics from the studio tour below:

Zack Weisz, Jordan Bloem and Ron Li at Pac-12 Enterprises

Stephanie Baugh, Elizabeth Brock and Rachel Whipple at Pac-12 Enterprises

After our visit at Pac-12 Enterprises, we took a quick lunch break then headed to an afternoon appointment at GMR Marketing, an international event marketing agency.  At GMR, we were hosted by Kelsey Philpott, a 2011 Oregon MBA graduate from the Warsaw Center, who is now an account executive at the agency. GMR specializes in “engagement marketing”, which involves developing and operating events that help brands connect with consumers by leveraging consumers’ interest in sports and entertainment. Kelsey and GMR Marketing EVP & Chief Strategic Officer Dave Rosenberg gave an engaging presentation discussing some of the core elements of sponsorship development, activation and evaluation.

Along with this discussion, Dave and Kelsey also presented case studies of some of the impressive projects the agency had completed in recent years. My favorite was an incredible activation event GMR coordinated along with EA Sports and ESPN to promote the launch of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2010.  The companies staged a 3 hole match between Tiger Woods and late night TV personality Jimmy Fallon on the Wii version of the popular game in the center of Times Square in New York City. The match was commentated live by ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt. In total, the event produced 3,000 live viewers, 98 articles and blog posts recapping the star-studded match up and a total of 35 million consumer impressions.

To wrap up Day 1, Paul Swangard (WSMC Managing Director) hosted an alumni reception at Palimino Restaurant. About 15-20 Warsaw alumni who are now working in the Bay Area for organizations such as Electronic Arts, Visa and the Golden State Warriors attended the event. The reception provided a great opportunity for us to develop relationships with alumni who were in our position just a few years ago.

Complete with informative meetings and engaging events, our Day 1 agenda was a great way to kick off our time in San Francisco. Keep checking the blog this week for more recaps of the remainder of the stops along our tour!

Written by Dan Hall

Dan is a member of Oregon MBA Class of 2014 concentrating his studies within the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center.

Team members Alexandra Velasco, Sven Gatchev, Pam Birkel, and Peter Kaupert provide their findings to the Mountain Rose Herbs team, including primary contact and Director of Social and Environmental Responsibility, Alyssa Lawless
Apr

08

Measuring Impact at Mountain Rose Herbs

Center for Sustainable Business Practices Blog / Oregon MBA Blog  Posted by / 0 comments

Last week, I had the opportunity to chat with Sven Gatchev and Pam Birkel, two second-year CSBP students who are part of the SPP team working with Mountain Rose Herbs (MRH), about their project and what they’ve learned so far.

What exactly does MRH do?

MRH sells herbs, teas, and essential oils. About 97% of their products are organic, and they blend and package these ingredients at their facilities into their own proprietary varieties for retail.

 

What is your project all about? What have you been working on?

We are working on a 2012 Baseline Sustainability Report, focusing on 9 key areas of impact: buildings, landscape, water, energy, waste & recycling, products (sourcing, packaging, shipping), employee benefits, philanthropy, and prosperity. We also had the opportunity to conduct a Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Analysis for MRH’s Scope 1 & 2 impacts, which was great because it allowed us to directly apply some of our classroom knowledge obtained during our LifeCycle Analysis class with Joshua Skov. Moving forward, we’re going to take a deeper look at the findings of the baseline report, and make recommendations for improved performance, and provide MRH with tools for tracking and management of their impacts and initiatives.

 

What have you learned so far? What have been the biggest surprises and challenges?

One of our major takeaways is that MRH is already doing a really great job, but there is always room for improvement. Something that’s been fun to see in action, and be a part of, is the company’s informal policy to “do something crazy and controversial every year” (with regard to sustainability), and realize that a relatively small group of people (150-200 people) with a similar perspective can create a significant positive impact. One surprise/challenge we’ve faced is actually the company’s financial success. MRH is a firm that shies away from the term “profitability”, instead preferring to use the more appealing term “prosperity”. Part of our job has been to convince them that this success is not only great for them, but a large part of sustainability in general, as they set a good example for other firms, and have increased flexibility to implement creative sustainability solutions.

What do you expect to see as the impacts of your project?

As a result of our baseline report, MRH will finally have a clear and concrete document to centralize and give structure to their sustainability efforts. Having the baseline in place will give them a great jump-off point for future ideas, and has definitely helped them realize their role as leaders. Our contact, Alyssa Lawless, provided a great soundbite when she said “We didn’t realize how awesome we were,” and that was really satisfying for us, to help our client gain a better understanding of their true impacts, both positive and negative.

 

It sounds like a very satisfying project overall, how do you think you’ve benefitted personally from working with MRH?

It’s been amazing to see firsthand the amount of success a company can have when they truly put people and planet before their own prosperity. Looking at the “big picture” of MRH’s total footprint, and having the ability to impact that, and help shape the way it moves forward, is an extremely valuable experience. We’ve really gained a lot of exposure to the core ideology and vision that motivates the employees of MRH, and we’ve really drawn on that energy, and been treated as full partners in this endeavor, and that’s been a wonderful experience for us.


Written by Andrew White

Andrew is an MBA Candidate in the Center for Sustainable Business Practices. A native of Massachusetts, he came to UO to refine his business skills and build his expertise in the sustainability arena. His primary interest is in helping organizations implement environmentally and socially sustainable strategies for long-term success, and he is a regular participant on many of the MBA intramural sports teams.

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Apr

03

Warsaw MBA’s Gain Consulting Experience with Nike

Oregon MBA Blog / Warsaw Sports Marketing Center Blog  Posted by / 0 comments

In the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, MBA students enjoy many opportunities to gain industry experience as student consultants for prominent sports properties. In this post, Aaron Klein (MBA ’14) recaps an opportunity to present digital merchandising research at Nike Inc.’s headquarters in Beaverton, OR. 

For our Marketing Sports Properties class project we worked with a Warsaw Alum, Merryn Roberts-Huntley, from FIXX Consulting on a project for Nike. Specifically, we worked with Nike’s Wholesale.com country teams to analyze the digital merchandising of their global accounts. We spent about three weeks on the project doing research in the digital merchandising arena and coming up with proposals for best practices and recommendations for the accounts. At the end of the three weeks, our group got the opportunity to present our findings to Nike.

As a follow up to our initial research, our group was tasked with researching consumer behavior as it relates to shopping on mobile devices. We spent another 2 weeks doing this research and again presented our findings to Nike’s Wholesale.com country teams. The experience was second to none.; researching a real problem and presenting our recommendations to a real client was an amazing experience. The most rewarding thing for me was to find out that our recommendations were actually being put to use and would be shared with Nike’s Wholesale.com accounts. Our group definitely took a lot away from this project, and added a nice piece to our resumes.

Written by Dan Hall

Dan is a member of Oregon MBA Class of 2014 concentrating his studies within the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center.