(This is a guest article by Jason Kobeda)

The ability to network has become an essential skill for those seeking employment in the sports industry. When I began pursuing a career in the NFL, I quickly learned how much competition there was. I traveled to the Senior Bowl week of practices and NFL Combine, where NFL personnel congregate during the off-season to evaluate talent. This presented rare opportunities to meet key people and I returned the following three years while completing my degree.

These are a few methods I used to put myself in the same room with the NFL personnel who had the power to hire me. These tips relate to football events, but are transferable to other sports business conference, MLB Winter Meetings, NBA Combine, etc.

1. Write introductory letters: Anytime you know you’re going to see someone that’s important to your career search, always write them a letter beforehand telling them what you want to do and that you’re hoping to meet them at the event. It is then much easier and more effective to approach that person and say, “Mr./Mrs. —-, my name is Jason Kobeda, it’s nice to meet you. I’m not sure if you got my letter last week, but may I have a minute of your time to discuss potential internships in your department?”

2. Offer to volunteer: If you’re attending an event that lasts several days, offer to volunteer for a team. Many of these teams don’t bring a full staff in order to cut down on their travel and overhead expenses. Don’t get frustrated if you don’t receive responses to most of your letters, you always have to be willing to take a shot.

3. Try to get credentialed: If the teams are not receptive to your offers to volunteer for them, do what you can to get credentialed for the events. The Senior Bowl and NFL Combine will give you credentials if you can provide proof that you’re a journalist or if a team will vouch for you. This is another area where you may need to get creative, but if you can get credentialed, it will give you more privileges and make the networking process much more effective.

4. Stick to the beaten path: The official hotels for these events are often luxurious and pricey, but staying in the same hotel as your networking targets is important. The opportunity to meet an executive in the elevator or the lobby can mean all the difference. If there’s a coffee shop in your hotel, get there very early, buy a newspaper and wait. I’m willing to bet the majority of people you want meet will pass through that coffee shop in the morning. The same goes for the hotel bar at night. I’ve met several front office personnel by bouncing around different hotel bars once the work day was over.

5. Provide a service: Being able to provide a prospective employer with services they need is a great way to show your worth and increase your chances of getting hired. At the Senior Bowl, I noticed that several coaches and scouts would arrive at the stadium after the kickers and punters had already practiced, so I got there early and started to record the lengths and hang-times of individual players’ kicks and provided those stats to whoever wanted it. Many of them were very happy to have the information.

6. Do your homework: Know what your networking subjects look like and what personnel changes have recently occurred in their organization. Before I had the convenience of an iPhone, I would type notes with pictures of new coaches or GM’s that I wasn’t familiar with.

7. Bring personal business cards: The small cost you will pay for business cards is worth the message they send when you hand them out. A simple, professional looking business card with your name and contact information is a quick way to show that you’re on top of your game.

8. Be prepared to interview: I was interviewed on the spot in the bleachers of a football stadium. Be sure to bring any resumes, portfolios or sample work you would need in the event you’re granted an interview. Also, always dress like you’re looking for a job (keep a suit nearby). Never wear team colors or logos to these functions as you’ll need to be prepared to interview with anyone, even your favorite team’s rival.

9. Don’t be shy: When you approach an executive, keep in mind that you may never see this person again. It’s easy to get shy or intimidated when Bill Parcells sits down next to you in a coffee shop, but put yourself in his shoes. If you want to work for him you have to show that you’re confident and professional enough to handle anything. Rejection is part of the networking game, so you shouldn’t fear it.

10. Follow up: Each time you meet someone and have a conversation with them, make a note about the person and the conversation and reference it in your follow up letter to them. Be sure to write the follow-up as soon as possible so that the encounter is fresh in your mind and, more importantly, their mind.

Over the four years that I made these travels, I met only a handful of other young people in my position. Executives are much more engaging and helpful when separate you yourself from the crowd. These are certainly not the only ways to make an impression, but I hope they’ll help you to think creatively when pursuing your career in sports.

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Jason Kobeda is Business Specialist at the Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh. His previous experiences include operations positions with the Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers and Football Scout at Joe Butler’s Metro Index Scouting Service. To learn more about Jason connect with him on LinkedIn.

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Images by SportsBusiness

About Lewis Howes

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We are about to enter Sports Symposium season.  This Friday is the granddaddy of them all: The Princeton Sports Symposium.  Amongst the panelists are former Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox general manager Roland Hemond, Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci, President of Ponturo Management and chairman of the Leverage Agency sports marketing firm Tony Ponturo, IMG agency’s executive vice president of sports programming Barry Frank, etc.

Other fantastic symposiums that are right around the corner include the UF Sports Law Symposium on January 29, 2010 and the University of Miami’s 13th Annual Entertainment and Sports Law Symposium on February 5, 2010.  Travel costs in this economy are not always easy to justify, but these events are some of the best places to learn about the business of sports.  They are also the premier spots to network with the sports industry’s leaders.

If you are fortunate enough to attend at least one of the major sports symposia, you should go to the functions fully prepared to network effectively.  Below, I provide some Dos and Don’ts so that you are able to venture to these locations with a full arsenal.

Dos

• Bring at least 100 business cards.  Don’t have a company?  No problem.  Get creative.  Symposiums are great places to meet a bunch of new people.  For the people you already know or have communicated with, don’t waste their time exchanging the paper.  Pretend that you care about the environment and keep the cards in your pocket.  For the people you would like to know, start with a handshake and ease your way into a conversation before you exchange your contact details.  Grab other peoples’ cards and after the symposium, use that information to link up with them on sites like LinkedIn.
• Put your nametag on the side of your body that you shake hands with.  Simple thing that many people miss.  I am terrible with names; do everything you can to make me remember yours.  If you shake with your right hand, put your nametag on your right lapel.
• Talk to as many people as you can during breaks. Breaks are not for coffee and cake.  They are the primetime to network.  Find someone who is not on a phone and not already with a group of people.  Introduce yourself.
• Get to the symposium early and stay late.  Use every moment available to try to meet new people.  Make yourself seen and stand out as much as possible.  Leave the lime green button down at home (unless you can pull it off…and kudos to you if you can), but make people wonder why you seem to be so important.
• Smile.  No one got great sleep the night before and everyone is going to be groggy by the end of the day.  Cheer other people up with your brilliance.
• Butter up the organizer.  No matter how much prep you put into this day, the organizer of the symposium has put 10,000 times as much effort into making sure that the event runs smoothly.  The organizer is someone you want on your side, as he/she had to secure all the speakers to attend.  You better believe that the organizer has quite a few connections.

Don’ts

• Skip panels to network.  While the networking is great, the main purpose you are there is to learn from those who have a lot to share.  Skipping the panels to network is frowned upon.  Bathroom breaks are permissible, and small talk from the room to the bathroom is fine.  There will be plenty of time to schmooze.
• Talk about how you can’t wait to get out of there.  Then why are you there in the first place?  You have to have something better to talk about.
• Lack enthusiasm.  This is your one chance to be in front of the “decision makers” in this industry.  You don’t have to call a central office and be redirected to a voicemail, only to never hear back from the person you are trying to contact.  Drink 10 cups of coffee and be ready for showtime.
• Forget your notepad.  Jot notes about the topics discussed on the panels, but also keep notes on the people you meet outside of the rooms.  Don’t do it in front of those you just talked with, but when you have a chance, make some notes so that you have something to follow up on with the subjects you met.

If you are at this Friday’s Princeton Sports Symposium, make sure to come say hi to me.  I will be a panelist on the Partnership Activation Rising Stars Panel along with some other awesome young entrepreneurs.  It’s at the same time as Lewis Howes’ panel, so you better be going back and forth between the excellent panels instead of trying to network with those taking a bathroom break!

About Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner is a CEO, sports agent, journalist, entrepreneur, and innovator. Darren created the first sports agent blog on the internet, SportsAgentBlog.com, which receives upwards of 5,000 unique visits per day from sports agents, athletes, media sources, and the general public. In the blog, everything from contract negotiations to endorsement deals are examined, providing the framework for a great deal of information upon which he has been able to depend. In 2009, Darren created EntertainmentAgentBlog.com, which has the same purpose of SAB, but focuses on the entertainment industry. Darren is also the CEO and Founder of Dynasty Athlete Representation, a full service sports and talent agency that handles contract negotiations, marketing endorsements, financial planning, legal services, etc. Darren graduated from the University of Florida in May 2007 with a Political Science Major and was valedictorian of his class. He is a member of many Honors Societies including, Florida Blue Key, Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi. He is now in his third and final year at the University of Florida Levin School of Law, where he is serving his second consecutive term as the President of the Entertainment and Sports Law Society.

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