The San Francisco Giants enjoyed a banner year in 2010: they won the World Series and embraced social media as a means of engaging diehard fans at AT&T Park and across the country. We sat down with Bryan Srabian, the Giants’ Director of Social Media, and asked him about the successes in 2010 and the future of social media in sports.

How long have you held your current position as head of social media for the Giants? What were you doing beforehand? What skills do you feel were necessary in preparing you to manage the day-to-day social media operations of a pro sports team?

I began my career with the Giants as an intern in 1995 working my way up to Director of Marketing and Entertainment. In 2008, I left the Giants to relocate my family. I returned in January of 2010 to head up the Social Media for the Giants. I believe my background in marketing, years working behind the scenes with the Giants, being a fan of the Giants and understanding the fan behavior have all helped me with my role in Social Media. Every day I am learning more, talking to and trading ideas with experts in social media and listening. It’s an exciting time to be in social media because it is so new and changing so much, I love my job.

The Giants won the World Series this season. In what ways did social media play a role in the team’s push to the World Series?

It was truly a remarkable year for the Giants. Social Media played a pretty big role in keeping our fans connected throughout the season and post season, as both Facebook and Twitter accounts experienced huge growth.

As always, we tried to bring our fans up to the minute news and behind the scenes content, but mostly it brought fans together from all over the country. I think the biggest role Social Media played for the Giants was bringing fans closer to the game. We learned a lot from listening to our fans, answering a lot of questions, having fun with promotions, contests, and engaging in conversation.

The World Series was just amazing, but watching it though the eyes of hundreds of thousands of fans was even better. I love hearing from fans who tell us they really appreciate the behind the scenes photos, access to the players and more.

We definitely made an impact with our fans using social media in 2010. But of course, winning has a positive effect on any effort, so we were lucky enough to benefit from the Giants post season run.

The Giants held the team’s first official tweetup on Friday, April 30 before the game against the Rockies. The tweetup included Giants pitcher and avid Twitterer Jeremy Affeldt, @JeremyAffeldt, and executives from Twitter. How did the tweetup go? When did the team have the idea to host the tweetup? What things would you change for future tweetups next season?

TweetUps are nothing new. In fact we modeled it after a few other teams, but wanted to put our own spin on it. Our Special Events department got behind this as did our ballpark operations. The goal was to reach out to the tech community in the Bay Area. We had a great panel, including Twitter Founders Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey, we had a charity component, where $1 of every ticket went to Room to Read, a fantastic non-profit. We gave away an exclusive Giants Tweetup Shirt with our Twitter Address featured on it, and we had Jeremy Affeldt there taking photos, signing autographs and answering questions, all in the brand new Triples Alley, which allowed fans to watch Batting Practice from the warning track inside the ballpark.

As for future tweetups, we plan on having more informal tweetups at events, bringing our fans together.In fact, we try to allow our fans to create their own tweetups and provide support to them.  But we looked for a way to incorporate our tweetup into a ticketed event. It actually was an amazing deal – $19, which included game ticket, tshirt, drink ticket.  The game ticket itself was $35, so twitter fans had a great time, and we found a new way to sell tickets.  We are planning for more in 2011.

The Giants have had several players on Twitter including Affeldt, whose Twitter experience has been largely positive, and Brian Wilson, who closed his Twitter account after an incident with the media in April, 2009. How does the Giants organization approach players on Twitter? Do the players have specific guidelines for social media?

The Brian Wilson incident happened in 2009 before the Giants had someone running social media and it’s too bad. Brian had one of the most entertaining and genuine twitter accounts out there, which I think is quite rare. I think he was ahead of his time and we definitely would have stepped in to diffuse the situation, which to me was completely blown out of proportion. Twitter has evolved, the media has evolved, and if that situation happened today, maybe everyone would have taken a different approach.

Who knows, maybe he will get it up and running again, but I understand how it could be a distraction and it was probably best for him to move on.  It would be great if more of our players were on Twitter, our fans would love it. But the players have to want to be on for it to work.

Jeremy does a great job of using twitter for a charity he is close to called Not for Sale.  Jeremy is a very passionate person, you can tell through his blog and tweets.  That’s the type of authentic voice you want to have on Twitter, no matter what you are talking about. Just be yourself.  This past season, we made a decision to focus on the Giants brand and use creative ways to connect Giants fans with our players through the team twitter account.

In 2011, we might branch out and see if anyone would like to have their own voice in our clubhouse.  We know our fans want more players on Twitter, so we will work on that this offseason.

In what ways can organizations prepare their employees (and/or players) to use social media as a means of representing the organization?

It definitely is something teams have to prepare for as the social graph continues to grow. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter continue to grow in the work place. It can definitely bring more to your organization and increase communication. But it comes down to trust, and building that trust within the company.

I think the Phoenix Suns do a great job of allowing their employees tweet on their behalf, but other teams want a more structured policy.  As with anything, it has to be clearly defined and communicated, whatever the policy is, that is the first step.

I do think there needs to be someone running Social Media as a resource to guide employees and management on any policy set forth.  I also think there is an opportunity to train employees how to use facebook and twitter to help boost events and promotions from within their own networks.

What has been your biggest personal success story when it comes to social media? What has been your biggest disappointment?

I think it’s easy to discount the growth the Giants had because they are World Champions, but we started with just 3500 followers on Twitter and ended the regular season above 40,000. I am really proud of our steady growth, and the response from our fans. It doesn’t get any better when I hear from fans how much they appreciate the replies, answering of questions and the timely updates.  I really love helping our fans out as much as possible and using our twitter as a customer service channel as well.

I also am proud of how well the Giants organization embraced Social Media.  Matt Chisholm our Media Relations Coordinator deserves a lot of credit for creating the twitter account before a lot of baseball teams had last year.  He has done a tremendous job of bringing the player and baseball operations vantage point into social media, which our fans love. I add the marketing flavor and we are a devastating tag team.  Disappointments?  There’s been a few, but looking at it as a whole, this is all new and we knew not everything would be perfect. One thing I have learned is patience, you can’t grow overnight and you certainly can’t accomplish everything from scratch.  We kept our focus on our fans and giving them what they wanted.  We want to build on that this offseason and keep our momentum up in 2011.

In what ways do the Giants use social media to engage fans in attendance during games at AT&T Park?

We didn’t do enough and that is a priority in 2011. We did a few promotions that our fans really enjoyed.  We allowed fans to request music directly from our ballpark DJ. We gave away tickets and tshirts as well.  But in 2011, we want to immerse our in game experience, and take our social media to the next level.  There are some great ways to activate it inside the ballpark and we are looking at a few of those now. I would say this is one area where we really see more growth and are excited about this. I also see a huge opportunity to increase our ballpark activation with our social media elements. There are some great venues that have created some very cool areas to bring the social media live and in person. Again, we want to keep the focus of our fans on the field, you try to avoid distractions. But if there is a way to bring fans closer together and closer to our product, we are going to explore those avenues.

Recently more and more teams are developing their own official mobile apps. Do the Giants have plans for an official mobile app? Do you believe that mobile apps, with their ability to sell tickets and merchandise and potentially offer ticketless entry into games, are the future in the sports industry?

Major League Baseball Advanced Media has been working teams on mobile apps. I don’t have any info on the Giants creating an App, but the future of mobile is moving in that direction. Buying a ticket and then walking into the park using your phone without a ticket is in the near future for the sports industry.  I know the Phillies were experimenting with an app that allowed you to order food for in seat delivery.

Apple just announced that the MLB At Bat App was the #1 app of the year in terms of sales. I really love the At-Bat App, and see a future with in stadium activation if MLB chooses to go there. There definitely is something to be said about mobile apps and live sporting events.

Recently CNBC sports business reporter Darren Rovell wrote that the position of social media coordinator will be one of the newest and most exciting positions available in the sports industry. Do you agree with his assessment? What are some things applicants can do to stand out when applying for such positions?

Darren Rovell is a very smart man so it’s very flattering to read that. I saw that and I retweeted it immediately. I’m really surprised more teams don’t have a dedicated person running their social media, but I think that change is coming in 2011. It’s not a part time job, it’s very time consuming and yes, it’s really exciting. You need someone who is involved in the mix, has access to the action, whether that’s the team clubhouse, on the field, or information about an upcoming event.

I think the same advice goes to applicants of this job as any job.  Just because you know social media, or have experience, the most important part is to know your brand you are applying to.  If someone was applying to the Giants, they should know what we are doing in the social space, what we aren’t doing it and understand everything in between.  Just because you have 1,000 followers on Twitter and a blog does not mean you understand the dynamics of a sports team.

It’s all so new, teams sometimes don’t know where to turn.  This is a huge opportunity for applicants to make an impression.  Spend some time to make your pitch as to what you could do, what other teams are doing, and what you have done with other brands.  Some teams have definitely figured clever ways to utilize social media, ask yourself what you would do with the opportunity.

In what new ways do you think social media will impact the sports industry in 2011? What do you believe will be the biggest change in the industry a year from now?

We are just scratching the surface in the sports industry. I think there are a few teams in the NBA who are really doing some interesting things and pushing the envelope. I think Geo-location has a lot of potential, as does Streaming and bringing fans closer than ever to their favorite athletes.

We are still learning the basics and the technology moves so fast, it’s exciting.  I am still very excited about Twitter and think we can accomplish even more, and reach more fans. Fans definitely have responded to getting closer to their favorite athletes, accessing more behind the scenes, and teams/athletes are learning new ways to communicate with fans.

We need to continue to bring our team closer to the fans, bring the players closer to the fans, and continue to look for ways to learn from our fans.  I am excited what the next few months will bring to us, and open to hearing from what my colleagues have to say.

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About Brendan Wilhide

Brendan Wilhide runs Sportsin140.com, a site that covers sports and social media. He is currently co-authoring a textbook on social media for the sports industry. Follow him on Twitter: @BrendanWilhide and @Sportsin140.

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Welcome to the second week of the Overtime Post, where we take a light and sarcastic look at the week’s posts and other sports and business news around the world.

Other than my Vancouver Canucks who have won six in a row (and I suppose I have to give the San Fransciso Giants a little bit of props for winning the World Series), it’s been a week filled with losers and I can’t decide who was the biggest loser this week: Kevin Garnett, Charlie Villanueva, Randy Moss, Brad Childress, the Texas Rangers team, or the San Francisco rioters. Your guess is as good as mine.

Onto this week’s posts:

Monday:

David Barton-Ginger on All Blacks Rugby and Social Media

I admit that I’m not too familiar with the sport of rugby but I know two things: 1. it is an extremely physical sport and only people who have a little bit of crazy play it, and 2. rugby fans are ridiculously passionate about rugby so its of no surprise to me that the All Blacks are one of the most recognizable sports brands on the planet. By the way, if anyone wants to start a #LewisHowesDoingtheHaka hashtag, I’m all for it.

Read the full post.

Tuesday:

Playing Within Facebook’s Rules

Most social media guru’s preach the importance of engagement through Twitter and Facebook, but I wonder how many take time to really look at the nitty gritty? While Facebook is a fantastic social tool, there are also plenty of rules to play by. The best players in every sport know the rules of their game inside and out, and Joseph shows you how to use Facebook’s rules to your advantage.

Read the full post.

Wednesday:

Demise of the Dallas Cowboys

As a fan of a team who has never won any championships, I can’t feel too sorry for Michelle, but I definitely know how it feels to know when your team sucks. Oops, ‘suck’ is a bit harsh eh? Well, I take it back if they actually do one of the things on Michelle’s list (I like option c).

Read the full post.

Thursday:

Playing Golf Without A Membership

Golf at a pro course, network with golf enthusiasts. have great food, and then go home and tell the wifey that you were out doing charity work? And I’m NOT lying?  Sounds like a plan to me.

Read the full post.

Friday:

Connect with Tribes Instead of Crowds

The core difference a tribe and a crowd is a sense of purpose. Tribes feel empowered, while crowds all wonder what the guy next to them is doing there. Learning how to connect with a tribe is crucial to any sports organization’s success. We at Sports Networker are proud members of The Third Tribe (Disclosure, Affiliate Link) and if you’re interested in learning more about how to reach out to tribes, that’s a good choice that we personally recommend. Oh, and although not completely related, this post reminded me of these crazy people:

Read the full post.

The Links:

Rioting Occurs After Giants Win World Series

Of course they had to tweet about it, Silicone Valley wouldn’t have it any other way.

Kevin Garnett Calls Charlie Villanueva a ‘Cancer Patient’. Upset CV Tweets About It

In other news around the 5th grade lunch room, little Johnny Wilkenson stole poor Sarah Walker’s lunch. Also, name calling is bad.

Tiger Woods is No Longer the World’s Best Golfer

Lee Westwood has overtaken the now infamous golfer. Tiger was previously number one in the world for 281 straight weeks. If you googled to see who Lee Westwood was, please raise your hands.

Nuns Sell Rare Honus Wagner Baseball Card for $200K

Too many jokes, cant. stop. to. writ

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Image by keithallison

About Sam Chan

Sam is the community manager of Sports Networker and the Sports Executive Association. He is passionate in all things sports, mobile, and social media. His dream is for the Vancouver Canucks to win a Stanley Cup in his lifetime, although so far, its looking kind of bleak. In the past, he worked with BlackBerry and helped relaunch their Business-to-Business network. With his experience there, he can probably help you change your ringtone, maybe. When he finds time (never), he also writes infrequently at his personal blog. If you would like to talk sports, write a guest post for us, or argue about why iPhone > BlackBerry, you can find him on Twitter, Facebook or email.

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Recently, when we talked to you how we can improve Sports Networker, a lot of you gave us (essentially) one word: more!

Now, we have been bringing you posts Monday through Friday, give or take a sick day ever since our inception. This is about to change.

Welcome to The Overtime Post, where each weekend I will give you a casual highlight of our week’s posts, along with some of the hottest news in social media and sports business. The posts will be more light-hearted and relaxed, since most of us have traded in our weekday suits for football jerseys and foam fingers anyway.

Think of it as a weekly Sportscenter – something you can read between downs or during timeouts. I know a lot of you have a lot of trick-or-treating to do, so without further ado, this week’s posts:

Monday:

Sports 2.0 and the Age of Social Media

It appears that Lewis has crossed the line to the other side, referring to himself as an ‘old folk’ as he compares watching sports today to a time before it was cool to socialize online during a game. Seriously, does anybody else remember those days besides Bill Simmons?

Tuesday:

Taking Online Connections Offline

Ash continues his blog series on utilizing social media to build a sports team’s fan base by talking about taking online connections offline. The Sports Networker team are big supporters of offline networking and putting faces to our online connections and for November, we are putting our money where our mouthes are. Besides the L.A. Networking event, Lewis is going to be in four other cities during the next two weeks (Las Vegas, San Francisco, Dallas, and San Diego). As for myself, I’m going to be in New York from November 13th to 19th. Get at us in the comments below or shoot us an email if you want to meet up!

Wednesday:

10 Tips to Help You Land Your First Sports Job

I think I was told that I’m not supposed to pick favorites, but I’m sorry, this was absolutely my favorite post of the week. Besides 10 solid tips on how to land that first sports job (they are absolutely true and work by the way), the image of Brendan mascot-suiting up brought a smile to my face for the rest of the day.

Thursday:

Who Ya NOT Gonna Call?

I’ve heard my fair share of football references to describe business advice, but only Michelle can incorporate football, business, and the ghostbusters all in one post. Ever the savvy entrepreneur, Michelle dissects the art of knowing who to lean on for business advice at what time.

Friday:

LeBron James Shares New Image Through Nike Ad

To say that Mr. Taggart has a passing interest in Mr. James would be an understatement. Sam (the cooler one) drops a massive analysis of LeBron’s latest Nike ad and his first two games as a member of the Miami Heat. I almost wish LeBron went to the Knicks just so Sam could get an even better look at LBJ’s game on and off the court.

The Links:

Hit the Ice with Hockey Community

Taking advantage of the social media and the love for hockey in Canada (it’s on our money, really), Vancouver entrepreneurs have created a brand new way for pick up games across the country. Organize games, rate players, and talk hockey, all on one network.

Facebook Acquires Drop.io and Sam Lessin

While this has nothing to do with sports per-say, this is big news in the business world. Like Cliff Lee signing with the Yankees big.

Rondo’s triple-double is one for the ages

While the first week in the NBA’s focus has been on the Heat (and rightfully so), I simply can’t ignore Rondo’s line on Friday. 10 points, 10 rebounds, and a whopping 24 assists on Friday. And of course it was against the Knicks. Wow.

World Series Ratings on Pace for Record Lows

How could I create a list of the best sports and business links without talking about the World Series? Wait, you didn’t watch it either? My bad.

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Image by yuri1970

About Sam Chan

Sam is the community manager of Sports Networker and the Sports Executive Association. He is passionate in all things sports, mobile, and social media. His dream is for the Vancouver Canucks to win a Stanley Cup in his lifetime, although so far, its looking kind of bleak. In the past, he worked with BlackBerry and helped relaunch their Business-to-Business network. With his experience there, he can probably help you change your ringtone, maybe. When he finds time (never), he also writes infrequently at his personal blog. If you would like to talk sports, write a guest post for us, or argue about why iPhone > BlackBerry, you can find him on Twitter, Facebook or email.

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Did you ever wonder which teams in Major League Baseball really get the most bang for their buck? Sure the Yankees won the last World Series last year but weren’t they supposed to win when they had the highest payroll in baseball? Each year the Pittsburgh Pirates have one of the lowest payrolls in baseball so shouldn’t fans expect them to finish in the basement of their division each year?

I have calculated a formula called the “Payroll to Results Rating” that examines teams between the years of 2000-2009. I took into consideration their average payroll, total wins, and playoff success and ranked them from 1 to 32.

1. Florida Marlins

The fish have an average payroll of under $36,000 over the last 10 years and they were still able to scrape five 80 plus win seasons along with a World Series title. If this formula were calculating numbers over the past 15 years, their rating would be even higher.

2. St. Louis Cardinals

Talk about having productive years, the Cards have won the National League Central six times in the last ten years and won a World Series in 2006. Only the Yankees and Red Sox have won more game since 2000. One of, if not the, most underrated team of the last decade.

3. Minnesota Twins

Although their payroll is around $90,000 for 2010, over the past ten years there payroll has been about half that amount while Joe Mauer and Johan Santana helped guide the Twins to five American League Central Division titles.

4. Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays go from a team that had a payroll of around $25,000 for much of the early 2000s, to a team that won the American League pennant in 2008. The most improved award for the past decade, hands down, goes to the Rays.

5. Oakland Athletics

Billy Beane just knows how to find talent for a low price. Although they have struggled over the past few years, it is hard to argue their success during the days where their pitching staff consisted of Tim Hudson, Barry Zito, and Mark Mulder.

6. Philadelphia Phillies

In the early 2000s the Phils had the low payroll, in the late 2000s the Phils produced the results. Philadelphia is like the father figure to Tampa Bay, yet they have one thing they Rays would love to have, a ring.

7. Arizona Diamondbacks

Three National League West titles, one World Series championship, and six seasons with 80 or more wins since the year 2000 allow the Diamondbacks to be considered a fairly successful franchise, largely due to the likes of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson in the early 2000s.

8. Chicago White Sox

If there were one world in the dictionary used to describe the White Sox it would be consistency. They have kept a moderate payroll, average about 86 wins per season, and have one World Series title over the last 10 years. Barack Obama and other White Sox fans cannot be too disappointed with the productivity of their ball club.

9. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Some people may have thought the Angels would be a little bit lower on this list but they did have an average payroll of approximately $88,000 over the past 10 years, but there is no doubting their success as they won the America League West five times and captured one World Series title over that same time period.

10. New York Yankees

Yankee fans can finally silence some of the critics that say they pay for their wins. Sure they have the highest payroll in baseball but they also have the most wins over the last 10 years as well as two World Series titles and four American League pennants.

11. Boston Red Sox; 12. San Diego Padres; 13. Atlanta Braves; 14. Colorado Rockies; 15. San Francisco Giants; 16. Pittsburgh Pirates; 17 Cleveland Indians; 18. Washington Nationals; 19. Houston Astros; 20. Kansas City Royals; 21. Milwaukee Brewers; 22. Cincinnati Reds; 23. Detroit Tigers; 24. Chicago Cubs; 25. Toronto Blue Jays; 26. Los Angeles Dodgers; 27. Texas Rangers; 28. Seattle Mariners; 29. New York Mets; 30. Baltimore Orioles

About Matt Clark

Matt Clark is currently an intern for Sports Networker, studying sport management and public relations at York College of Pennsylvania. He has an extreme passion for learning about new trends in social media and technology and how it is revolutionizing sports. He has contributed as sports editor for the York College newspaper, been an event manager for collegiate sporting events, intramural supervisor, contributor to the sports information department, and executive board member on the Sport Management Student Association. Matt is heading into his third season as part of the game-day entertainment with the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees. Connect with him on Twitter @mattgclark

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Every athlete growing up has dreams of winning the “big game”; hitting a home run in the World Series, making that one-handed touchdown catch in the Super Bowl, or hitting the game winning shot in the NBA Finals.  As most of us will only dream of these moments we are lucky enough to have a member of the Sports Industry Network share with us his experience pitching in and winning the World Series.

Chad Durbin pitched in game 4 and 5 of the World Series for the Philadelphia Phillies.  Although he is completely bombarded by parades, events, autograph signings, family celebrations, and trying to realize that his dream came true, he was gracious enough to sit down with me to share his thoughts about his World Series experience, the role networking has played into his success and his latest sports business, ShowcaseU.com.

Lewis: How nervous were you playing in the “big game” and has it sunk in yet that you are a world champion?

Chad:  Nerves.  Let me just say this…you are nervous almost to the point of throwing up, but it’s a motivator and something every athlete has experienced at some point.  You have to love the old “performance anxiety!”  The thing that stood out about all those nerves was that once you were active in doing something you’ve trained to do, the nerves dissipated.  It was the sitting and waiting, the thinking, the watching that built up all the anxiety.  Once you were in the act of warming up or pitching, it was more manageable.

It hasn’t sunk in that we’re World Champs, yet.  I see the articles.  I’ve watched the news.  I’ve worn the sweatshirts, hats, and t-shirts that say we’re world champs.  It hasn’t set in.  When you watch the games on TV, the announcers and production build it up and present it in a way that makes it seem like the World Series.  When you’re playing, you’re trying to block out those additional variables and concentrate on winning and doing what got you there.  So, it’s sinking in, slowly but surely.

Lewis: Briefly take us through your experience.  How important is mental visualization in your success and what went through your mind before, during, and after you took the mound in the World Series?

Chad:  Mental visualization is key to achieving your goals.  I can’t say that I have mastered this process at all, but I use the visualization to repeat my past success.  I see and feel myself going through each step of the process leading up to facing a hitter.  I can control most of the variables to that point.  Then, once I’m in the game…I let the game dictate which variables I’ll be able to control from there.  It happens quickly, very quickly, so making it part of your routine for the long-term allows you to perform with less mental effort.  I’ve heard it said and I agree, the closer you get to the lines on each playing field, the faster the game moves.  It’s 100% true.

Lewis: Did the series seem more intense than the rest of the playoffs, or was it just another game under your belt?

Chad:  The playoffs were very intense.  I’ll tell you what, though…the most intense part of the season was the last three weeks of the regular season.  As a team and as an individual, you knew what was at stake.  We were either going home or we were going to the post-season.  It was time to perform so we could get the chance to win it all.

Lewis: How does this win affect your athletic career?  Are there a number of sponsorship opportunities available from all of this, or do you simply take a short break and head back into training for next season?

Chad:  This win affects each player differently.  Some will benefit immensely during arbitration or free agency.  Some will be released and find a job somewhere else next year, and benefit because they were a part of a world championship.  In my case, I will focus on home for a couple weeks.  I’ll spend as much time with my wife and 15-month old boy as I can.  I’m sure there will be some fall-out from the World Series Championship, but I’m not anticipating much change going into next season.

Lewis: Tell us about your latest sports company, ShowcaseU.com.  What is its main purpose, and how did the concept come about?

Chad:  ShowcaseU.com is a Do-It-Yourself type of athletic recruiting resource.  Student athletes are looking for scholarships or the right school to continue their education.  With the economic crisis and hard times right now, an affordable tool ($99/year) to gain leverage and exposure for parents of student-athletes is extremely important.  Essentially, each family is marketing itself to colleges.  These students will be learning to market themselves for the rest of their lives in so many different ways.  Whether the student athlete is a future engineer or future major leaguer, we want to provide the best resources so each student can determine which opportunities may be available to them.  ShowcaseU.com wants to be a hub for community, knowledge, answers, and more.

The idea or concept came about when Jake Chapman, Co-Founder, reflected upon a bad experience with a recruiting service over 15 years ago.  He and his family gathered the money necessary (a little less than $1,000) and hired the service to promote Jake.  In a short amount of time, Jake and his family realized that the company was no longer running and had eaten the money and ran.  After playing together for 3 years in the Kansas City Royals minor league system, Jake and I kept in touch on a regular basis.  In 2005, Jake contacted me with an idea for a community/database where student-athletes could promote themselves and coaches/colleges could recruit by criteria (GPA, SAT, Height, Weight, 60-yard dash, etc.).  That was the genesis and it has grown from there.  I’ve had some major input, but the man behind the whole gig is Jake Chapman.  He has a huge heart for people, a great business mind, and wants to make a difference.

Lewis: What is the most compelling part about ShowcaseU and why are others so excited about it?

Chad:  The most compelling aspect of ShowcaseU is having so many tools available for each member’s use.  Creating a culture of communication and needed information available at the click of a mouse is what’s exciting from my standpoint.  Parents, students, coaches, investors, and many others are excited because many companies have tried and succeeded to gouge the market over the years and at ShowcaseU.com our vision is one of affordability and integrity.  One of the most important things to us is consistently doing the right thing for our users.  The site is going to be driven by the community using it, so any improvements or changing will most likely be initiated by our user base (which is exciting and unique).

Lewis: What are some of the major challenges with starting your own company in the sports industry?

Chad:  One of the major challenges is establishing yourself as a company and person with a good reputation.   We have the credibility at ShowcaseU.com, with over 20 years of professional baseball experience, but convincing our customer base and the coaching community that we’re in this for the right reasons (the student athletes) is a major challenge.  From a business standpoint, as a startup there are so many challenges coming at you…tough decisions to make on matters ranging from hiring personnel to content for each page of the website.  Because the community will have such a big impact on how the site grows, listening to the coaches, parents, facility owners, instructors, and student athletes is difficult but very rewarding process.

Lewis: How important has networking been in your athletic career and with ShowcaseU.com, and why do you feel others should take time to build their sports industry contacts?

Chad:  Networking could be the most important thing anyone does in any industry.  Meeting and connecting with the people you do business with and through is an enormous advantage.  Personal relationships cannot be beat…the business world is tough, but creating a strong network of contacts you can trust will make many of the pitfalls easier to walk away from in the end.

Chad Durbin has been a professional athlete for 13 years.  He is currently pitching for the World ChampionPhiladelphia Phillies and on his 5th Major League Baseball club.   Feel free to leave him a comment on this site or if you would like to connect with Chad and learn more about ShowcaseU, please e-mail him at chad@showcaseu.com or view his LinkedIn profile.

About Lewis Howes

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