Karen Chen...and the Two-Minute Drill

At nearly 12-and-a-half years old and one of the youngest competitors in the Novice Ladies competition at the US Figure Skating National Championships in San Jose, CA, Karen Chen wowed the audience with two amazing performances last week. She was the only novice to try six triple jumps en route to her 10-point win.

Karen, who is a local Bay Area skater, from Fremont, CA, is coached by Sherri Krahne-Thomas and Gilley Nicholson.

Karen doing a spin

As a few reporters were waiting as Karen was tying and retying her skates at Sharks Ice, the Practice Ice for the competition, we learned that it typically takes her a while before she gets on the ice. According to Gilley, “It just how long it takes. She only has one pair of skates and they have to feel just right. She warms up the same way, has a special routine…warming up and stretching, which is needed for the spins. Otherwise, there could be injuries.”

The maximum skating time for a pair of skates for Karen is six months. They just break down from the impact of landing. New skates cost $1,000 pair.

Karen practices six days a week, two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. She is home schooled, which gives her a little more balance in her schedule (not having to wake up so early for practice!). She does miss playing with her friends on the playground, but keeps up with them through email. However, Karen was quick to add that she loves what she is doing.

I talked to Karen after she won the 2012 Ladies Novice Championship and here is what she shared.

PJ: How did it feel winning your first US Nationals?

Karen: I was excited. I put in lots of effort for this, tons of hard work. When I won, I was partially shocked. I did not perform as clean a program as I would have liked. Yet, I still hung on for the gold.

After I landed my first three jumps [in the long program], I felt so far, so good. I was enjoying it and got momentum and tried to keep it.

PJ: Which program, long or short, did you like the best?

Karen: I really like my short program. It’s much easier. It’s more graceful. The Tango has sharper movements, a different facial expression for the music [more serious] and it’s harder.

PJ: What is your favorite move?

Karen: I like the spins. It’s hard work to get them and I finally got back to where I feel good. I look up at the ceiling and it feels…it’s what I want to do. I try not to think of too many things or I lose focus. I am concentrating on the current position I am doing and try not to get ahead of myself.

PJ: What is it like to have Kristi Yamaguchi as a mentor?

Karen: I appreciate her help. She gives suggestions, answers questions. [For example] she said, for the butterflies I get right before I step on the ice, ‘pretend you got an invitation, like to a party…go out and have fun out there.’

It’s exciting and feels almost unreal to skate with an Olympic champion. It feels like a dream.

PJ: What is the most important thing you get from your coaches?
Karen: I appreciate their help very much. I’m not perfect and there have been lots of times things are not working. They are always there to help me.

PJ: Do you have a special place at home for this gold medal?

Karen: Yes, I do. I have some trophies on a specific corner of a table. When I look at them, I feel proud of myself.

PJ: I saw all the stuffed animals that were thrown on the ice after your performances. Do you have a favorite one?

Karen: I got a huge cinnamon roll. I love it so much! One of my friends made it. The ones I like the most I keep on my bed and some on a shelf. I like Snoopy and I love the rink in Santa Rosa with Snoopy on the Zamboni.

A kindred spirit—we are both Snoopy fans. The rink in Santa Rosa, California, is the one built by Charles Schulz, Snoopy’s creator.

Remember this name…Karen Chen…she will be on the US Olympic team one day.

Sights and sounds from the US Figure Skating Championships

A skating fan’s dream: to be in a crowded elevator stuck between Peggy Fleming and Brian Boitano.

The only thing is…it isn’t a dream.

It really happened to me last night after the Opening Ceremonies at the US Figure Skating Championships.

I guess I should back up a bit to share with you all how I got in that corner of the elevator squeezed between these two all-time greats.

As the co-captain of the media room many different activities get thrown my way during any given day. I joke that I never know what my day will look like when I walk through the black curtain separating the media relations and communications team of the US Figure Skating Association and the media or the curtain separating the skaters’ lounge from the copy center. The other day I had to make the Sharks Ice run—taking the draws, judges sheets, and results to get posted at the practice ice.

On Thursday night my co-captain, Ginna, and I got the plum assignment of escorting former skating champions from the Bay Area to the press for interviews prior to the Opening Ceremonies.

And, yes, I did have the honor of escorting Peggy Fleming and her husband, Dr. Greg Jenkins. And, if you read my post from the other day, you will know that Peggy is in my top three all-time favorite women skaters. So, as you can imagine, it really was special to meet her. And, no I am not one to be star struck. After all, I have interviewed numerous athletes as a sports writer from Grant Hill to Edwin Moses. But, for a moment or two, I couldn’t believe this was actually happening and I just had to compose myself.

The other skaters who were honored were Brian Boitano, Debi Thomas, Rudy Galindo, Charlie Tickner, and Kristi Yamaguchi. Kristi had a prior engagement and wasn’t able to attend, however she was at the event earlier in the week watching the Ladies Novice competition.

At the Opening Ceremonies Rudy Galindo was the only one to skate a short routine. The others skated to center ice and to their spots. Karen Chen, the 2012 US National Ladies Novice Champ skated on Kristi’s behalf. Many young kids from the area also skated. Afterwards, I caught up with Rudy and thanked him for skating for us. He lit up, as only Rudy can do, and shook my hand. Clearly, he appreciated being recognized. He coaches now and doesn’t skate too much these days. You couldn’t tell by the way he performed. He was great.

So, we are almost at the elevator.

As I was getting ready to head up to the seats to watch the senior women’s short program competition, a coach needed to be escorted to the area where the skaters were who performed in the Opening Ceremonies. A job of a volunteer captain is never done. As we walked just about all the way around the ice, near the Zambonis, we found them. The kids were getting group photos taken with the former champs. I stood and watched for a while and as they broke up, I headed back around to the elevators.

As I came up to the elevator…there they were…Debi, Brian, and Peggy. We must have squeezed 15 people in a 10 person elevator. And, I was in the back next to Brian with Peggy and her flowers squeezed in tight. With Brian joking about getting stuck in elevator…

...and I was thinking…so this is what Brian Boitano does!

Brandon Marshall...back for the Two-Minute Drill

Last time we talked to Brandon, that Olympic wrestling hopeful, he was doing rehab and hoping his ligament in his elbow would grow and get stronger without surgery.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

After a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, of the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, Brandon and his parents knew that surgery was the only way to heal the bad tear—he had to have Tommy John surgery. Dr. Andrews has done more than 2,500 of these operations with a remarkable success rate. This surgery will help stabilize his elbow, replace the ligament, and is the best option to preserve the integrity of the nerve in the process.

After his surgery in front of 
another Marshall's football jersey

An interesting fact about Dr. Andrews is that he is the first call a professional athlete makes when there is a possibility of needing surgery on their elbow, shoulder, or knee. Athletes he has operated on include golfer Jack Nicklaus (his knee in the 1980s, and, btw, Jack won a Master’s after his surgery), quarterback Drew Brees (shoulder, and yes, Drew won the Super Bowl after his surgery), quarterback Donovan McNabb (knee), pitcher John Smoltz (three shoulder surgeries), quarterback Brett Favre (shoulder, ankle), and pitcher Tim Hudson (elbow).

So, on Thursday, January 5, at Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze, Florida, Brandon underwent a surgery that lasted an hour and a half. It took 15 minutes to replace the ligament and his parents were allowed to be in the room taking photos of that part of the surgery (and, yes, Brandon thinks the photos are “cool”). The very next morning he was in first therapy session.

I talked to Brandon Saturday to learn more about his surgery and next steps.

PJ: How rough was the surgery?

Brandon: The only time I was down was when I first woke up. I walked everywhere and started school the following Monday. They wanted me out and moving to get it back to where it needs to be. In my first therapy session I did things to get my shoulder stronger, because I was in a sling they didn’t want that to weaken. I did wrist movements and tried to keep muscles moving so they didn’t get stiff when the cast came off. My first session was about 20 to 25 minutes.

There were a few athletes in therapy while I was there and they treated me the same, which was nice. A number of them just had surgery like me. There was a football player from Purdue, a guy from the Kansas City Chiefs, and someone from Army Flight School.

PJ: What was your next stop?

Brandon: Athletes Performance. This is a training facility that has an association with the Institute. They give you safer ways to lift and tell you what to eat to get your peak performance. They were a lot of college football players there training for the NFL combine, including a senior from Notre Dame who was a running back. And, there was someone from the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Minnesota Vikings.

PJ: You are three weeks in, what’s next?

Brandon showing his Wisconsin spirit

Brandon: I was in the cast for one week and my stitches were removed last Thursday. Now, I wear a brace all the time except when I am icing my arm and taking showers. Everyone who knows me calls me Robocop because of the brace.

I am doing rehab at the nursing home where my mom works. I go three times a week. This [past] week I went Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with a day in between to rest a bit.

They wanted me to have therapy, get my stitches out, do more stretching—get my arm out and moving. The goal is to move my arm all the way out and back without a lot of pain in six weeks. That’s when the doctor will check it again.

After six weeks if I can move my arm all the way out and back, then I can get rid of the brace and start a little wrestling-related work and get my strength back—not just my motion.

PJ: You’ve gone through a lot in a short time.

Brandon: Yeah…it was kind of just settling down, then it was Christmas break and we learned I had to have surgery. I had hoped I didn’t have to get it, but it was worth it.

OK…another shot at your favorite movie: I used to watch True Lies all the time.

Favorite wrestler: I admire Anthony Robles. He was the NCAA National Champion this year [going 36-0 for Arizona State University and wrestling in the 125 lb. weight class] and wrestles on one leg. Now, I can kind of understand what it feels like, although it’s really not the same thing.

Keep reading this blog for updates on Brandon and his journey.

Notes from Day 1 at the US Figure Skating Championships

For the next week I am the co-captain for the volunteers in the Media Room at the US Figure Skating Championships in San Jose. Well, really it’s the Media Room/Communications/Copy Center…but, that’s a mouthful…so, I’m sticking with just Media Room!

It was a tremendous honor to be asked by the amazing folks at the San Jose Sports Authority (Patricia Ernstrom, Dave Eadie, and Carrie Benjamin) to pitch in to help out in this capacity. They work tirelessly to bring sporting events to San Jose—in the next year alone, the city is hosting this event, the US Gymnastic Olympic Trials, and the first and second round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in 2013, among others.

I have been a figure skating fan (yes, I admit I like almost all sports) from early on. I remember watching film of Peggy Fleming skate at the Grenoble Olympics and think I was hooked from that moment. Her grace…her beauty…it all captured my imagination.

Ask me to name my top three favorite women’s skaters of all-time. Easy. Dorothy Hamill, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Peggy Fleming.

Of course, I cannot skate—I spent most of my youth on that frozen pond at the zoo not in an upright position. And, my brother spent hours every year trying to get me to stay up—I guess I wasn’t meant to skate. But, I have enjoyed watching all of it—men’s, women’s, pairs, and even ice dancing.

So, for this skating fan and blogger, it was a no-brainer for me to say yes, when asked to help this week.

My co-captain, Ginna Baldassarre (who is an amazing teammate), and I have been working to get our volunteer schedule set for the week, and are now settling in to getting folks trained up on their assignments and making sure everything is running smoothly from our end. And, as you can imagine, after a day of practice and the first day of competition, things are evolving at a fast pace…it’s a good thing I’m wearing my running shoes to keep up!

Sunday was mainly the novice group competing and a great way to ease into the event. A small, but appreciative crowd of nearly 300 (ok, that may be a bit generous) filled the seats and cheered and threw stuffed daisies onto the ice after the skaters finished. Most of those in the stands were friends and family and they were cheering for everyone. It was nice to see many of these first time competitors get so much love from the audience.

Quite a few local skaters competed…with Karen Chen standing out as the leader in the ladies novice. Karen is supported by Kristi Yamaguchi who was on hand afterwards to give some words of encouragement. Karen is one of the youngest competitors in her group. The youngest competitor on the men’s side is Vincent Zhou, another local skater. Vincent wowed the crowd with his spectacular skating and his personality. At 11 years old, he already knew how to answer the reporters…"I can only control what I do, not what other skaters do.”

Names to remember in the pairs are Danielle Viola and Alexander Johnson. They took fifth place in the short program, however they were flawless, strong, graceful, and breathtaking.

I spent a good portion of my day escorting the skaters from the “kiss and cry” area to the mix zone for interviews with the press and the locker rooms. One thing that struck me was that each one performed so beautifully—they are true athletes—and you forget for that moment in time that they are so young. Then, once they are off, they are talking about what any other 12 year old would be talking about. It’s fascinating to see that shift from competitor to kid. And, yes, I had one skater who cried. As one former skater told me today, you train so hard for that competition, and in one moment all it takes is one mistake.

Thoughts on football, life, and tragedy

Typically we use sports as an escape. It takes us away from our real lives for a while. We don’t have to think about the stressful things—jobs, relationships, health issues, money, etc.

However, there are those rare times when we can’t escape what is happening in the real world. It is too overwhelming. 9/11 was one of those times where everything came to a standstill and some games were cancelled. In 1945, during World War II, Major League Baseball cancelled the All-Star game.

Other times tragedies occur and games aren’t cancelled. We saw this earlier this fall during the college football season. The Oklahoma State football team played a game, just days after learning that a plane crashed with no survivors. The plane was carrying the Cowboys' women's basketball Coach Kurt Budke and Assistant Coach Miranda Serna. Oklahoma State faced Iowa State in their only loss of the season—an overtime loss. They came out and took an early lead, then let Iowa State tie it up.

Some sports pundits were surprised that the game was not rescheduled. And, it could be said that team was overwhelmed with grief and it was too early for them to play a game. On the flip side, it also could be argued that Iowa State just outplayed them on that given day. We will never be able to measure the affect that this tragedy had on the players and the coaches that day. However, we do know that they are human and can only imagine how they felt. They felt an extra burden to win…to help those in pain forget…for just a little while. They wanted to win to honor the memory of those lost.

Most times we don’t get the fairy tale ending we’d like to have.

This was true Sunday when the New York Giants played the Green Bay Packers in the NFC playoffs.

On Monday, we learned that the body of 21-year-old Michael Philbin (son of Joe Philbin, the Green Bay offensive coordinator) was recovered in the Fox River in Oshkosh, WI, after he had gone missing the day before. He drowned. Michael’s funeral was held Friday, just two days before the game.

A dejected Aaron Rodgers

According to Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Philbin is “very important to our success.” “The day to day stuff — all the coaching responsibilities he has, installing plays and explaining plays, his role in those meetings, the way that he helps get practice run the right way. He does a ton for us. As players we probably don’t even see half the stuff he does to get us ready during the week…We all love Joe, me probably as much or more than anybody in here just because of how much he’s meant to me and my development. Just how important it is, the time we get to spend each week, how he gets us prepared and just his presence around here, it’s just tough to see him and [wife] Diane and the family dealing with this.”

Without Philbin to help them prepare all week, the burden fell on the other coaches and each individual player.

Packer Coach Mike McCarthy preached to his team, “the ability to separate” the tragedy from the game—a difficult thing to do. For those of us who have lost someone close, we know the pain and the struggle to “separate” just days after to continue on…to go to work…to be professional. And, we also know that, for the most part, we are not at the top of our game.

The Packers lost in a lackluster performance. It seemed like everyone was off their game. Starting with Rodgers, last year’s Super Bowl MVP and one of the best, if not the best quarterback in the league—his passes weren’t sharp, and he didn’t lead his team like he typically does. His receivers had too many drops on balls that were catchable. And, the defense, while not one of the best in the league, is known for takeaways. They had only one and the defensive game plan seemed confused. With the confused part coming on who was covering...leading to no one covering the receivers and giving up way too many yards.

Troy Aikman, one of the announcers calling the game, said that the Packers did not seem emotionally up for the game when he talked to them the day before and that carried over into the game.

Earlier in the week, Rodgers said, “It gives you perspective on … as much fun as we have playing ball…there are some bigger issues that we deal with each day.” He continued, “You have to be able to separate the off the field from the on field stuff and make sure when you’re at work it’s your main focus, but we’re human as well,” he said. “The human element in this is that it’s on your mind….”

Once again we ask the question, how much did this tragedy affect the Packers? They wanted to win for the Philbin family, for the Packer family. They felt that extra weight on their shoulders to carry on and perform at a high level.

Another big question is how much were the Packers affected by not having Coach Philbin at practice all week?

On this given day, one thing we do know for sure: two days after the Packer family buried one of their own; the NY Giants outplayed them and rightfully earned their spot in the NFC Championship game and a shot at going to the Super Bowl.

After the game, the Packers stood up and took this hard loss. No excuses. They just didn’t come to play.

Even with one of the best quarterbacks and with the best record this season (15-1), the Packers were not able to overcome their grief and put this aside. They were not able to separate. They were human, just like you and me.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Philbin/Packer family.

FanFeedr...Transforming the way we get Information

I’ve lived in Racine, WI; Madison, WI; Chicago, IL; Danville, VA; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; and San Jose, CA. I have not always lived in the same city or state as my favorite team. And, at times it has been difficult keeping up with what is going on.

It has gotten easier through the years with the Internet; however I am always looking at multiple sources to read everything. I know I am missing something.

Well, there is now a solution to my issue (besides moving!)—FanFeedr. This site aggregates all the best stories on your favorite team in one place (as well as creating some original content). My life just got so much easier. What am I going to do with all that extra time I have?

Ty Ahmad-Taylor, Founder & CEO of FanFeedr, recognized the challenge that most fans, including myself, face. He did the research and found that we typically search four to six websites and that 57% of us don’t live in the same location as our favorite team or player. And, he found that a fan’s interest is with the player, team, or league—not where they get their information.

So, Ty seized the opportunity to create a website where the sports fan could control the content based on his/her own personal interest (player, team).

I sat down with Ty, who is also a social media guru, to learn more.

PJ: Your business model changed a bit. Where are you now?

Ty: We are a lean start-up doing a ton of customer development. We learned how our customers were using the site and what they wanted to see. After the research this fall, we did a pivot. Our audience wanted news and information around their favorite team, not teams. We learned that people follow an individual team. So, we went from a multiple team concept to focusing around a single team.

On the metrics side of things, we have seen deeper engagement and more time spent on the site as a result of these changes.

Ultimately, we are hoping to be the first place a person goes to for news and information on their team. We hope to grow virally by leaps and bounds.

PJ: What’s next for FanFeedr?

Ty: We are continuing to streamline this. And, we will be migrating to other verticals—music and finance. So, in music this will look like…a Radiohead fan getting all the news in one place, which is strategic and advantageous. We have a passion for trying to provide the best solutions for a user’s interest graph.

PJ: What do you see as the next thing in social media?

Ty: I see an increase in brands committed to instill value through social media, not just marketing.

Companies are being more open and transparent about what is going on. Recently, the Lowe’s controversy ended up playing out on Facebook [Lowe’s pulled their ads from TLC’s All-American Muslim last month after receiving complaints from a conservative group. They were facing calls of religious intolerance and bigotry. So, they turned to Facebook to issue an apology, which, in turn, caused more turmoil.].

On the marketing side of the social media space, there is a reduction in price on platforms [that help build a fan base, communicate and engage with that fan base, and monetize.]. For example, FanBridge is offered at a lower cost. Marketers are getting savvier without using third parties.

 To help make your life easier, check out the site http://fanfeedr.com/

SF Giants, Dynamic Pricing...Game Changers in Ticket Selling for Baseball

“We started dynamic pricing three years ago and the St. Louis Cardinals did it last year. The joke in baseball is that if you do dynamic pricing and have a full ballpark, you’ll win the World Series!”
                      Russ Stanley, San Francisco Giants, Managing Vice President, Ticket Sales & Services

If only that was the secret sauce to winning the World Series…the Chicago Cubs would have signed up years ago!

While it may not lead to winning the World Series, dynamic pricing is definitely revolutionizing the way baseball teams sell tickets. And, if you don’t live in San Francisco or St. Louis and haven’t heard of dynamic pricing…watch out, according to Russ Stanley, it’s coming…and soon. Fans of the Oakland A’s will experience dynamic pricing this season.

So, what is dynamic pricing? Basically, the prices for single tickets change on a daily basis depending on the pitcher, the match up of pitchers, who your team is playing, and other variables. So, technically, if you are a fan it might make more sense to buy your tickets earlier…before many of these variables come into play.

Before the holidays I sat down with Russ to learn more about this innovative new way to sell single game tickets.

PJ: How does dynamic pricing work?

Russ: Dynamic pricing has simplified things for us, and in turn, for our customers. We partnered with Qcue in Texas. They built an algorithm and portal and we can quickly change a price, leave it alone, and make an update in the system. We can do all games in an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. Then, we send the file to Tickets.com and Major League Baseball (who updates the website). It’s pretty complex to make changes—1,600 prices each day.

We’ve created a better/easier ticket buying experience for the customer. They can view prices on games from a few days ahead to behind. They can evaluate prices against comparable games in the series, etc. Or, the fan can just look at the least expensive seats in any game.
We will see more teams following this model. They are seeing the value and asking questions. Getting a 7-8% lift in revenue last year and the year before is pretty impressive.

PJ: I know the number of season tickets you’ve sold has increased the last few years in this ballpark, what does this year look like? And, are you limited on the number you can sell?

Last year we sold 28,000 season tickets; 21,000 the year before. We’ve slowly lost some single game inventory and we need to be more accurate with pricing and be more fine-tuned this year.

Dynamic pricing is more challenging with 29,000 to 30,000 full season ticket holders. You have less single game tickets to sell. We have to be more accurate with fewer tickets to sell.

Once you hit 30,000 season tickets you can’t go higher. Major League Baseball gets 12,000 for playoffs and you need to provide them with this inventory. Even with 12,000 tickets per game it is over 972,000 tickets to sell over the year. That’s a lot to sell. Although, it’s still a lot less than previous years.

PJ: Does it make more business sense to sell fewer season tickets and more single game tickets?

Russ: There is a fine line from a business standpoint. You could argue selling more single game tickets bring in more revenue. But, selling more season tickets is secure and we are willing to take in less revenue for this security. We could sell only 5,000 season tickets and sell more single tickets and bring in more revenue. But, we find it is easier to navigate and know what we need to sell this way.

PJ: How did you decide to take a shot at such an innovative model for your industry?

Russ: It made sense on paper. Most businesses set their prices based on supply and demand. In the airline industry people get that flying on certain dates cost more. Same with hotel stays. I wasn’t sure the sports fan would understand and buy into our thinking that “every game is created differently.”

We did a small scale test that generated $500,000 more in revenue. I kept looking at it—impacting the bottom line by 7-8% is big. We also had to be careful with our season ticket holders. They wanted price protection to know they were getting the best price.

We’re lucky we have great ownership. They took a risk—totally changing the pricing in sports and letting the ticket guys manage it. They understood it and took the risk.

PJ: This is not the first innovative move on the ticket front for the SF Giants.

Russ: When we built the ballpark we thought about bringing the secondary ticket market, which was done in the parking lot, into the box office. [The Giants sell only full season ticket packages. This move allowed season ticket holders an easier way to sell the tickets for games they could not attend.] It was done electronically through the Giants and changed the world of thinking there, too. This business turned into Stub Hub.

PJ: Why aren’t other teams doing this?

Russ: We will see more teams following this model. They are seeing the value and asking questions.

I want to shake them and ask why they aren’t doing this. They say they are too busy and fear it would take too much time. For me, if the impact on my bottom line is 7-8% per year…then, why not do it?

We are working with Qcue to make the system more automated. We think the algorithm is close to being spot-on—we are accepting a higher percentage of prices now. This happened through asking a lot of questions over the past few years. We’ve helped fine-tune this for the SF market; however it would need to be adjusted for Chicago.

I think in the next three years every team in baseball will be doing dynamic pricing.

PJ: Would dynamic pricing work in other sports?

Russ: Baseball is so different from other sports. Each game is different. Other sports don’t have the variables or inventory of tickets. Basketball is played indoors and doesn’t have rain or snow. The lineup really doesn’t change much from day to day. Football doesn’t care if they sell out.

In baseball, we could play the same team three games in a row with Timmy (Lincecum), Matt Cain, or Ryan Vogelsong on the mound. In each game, the perceived value is different to customers and we have to react differently.

PJ: What’s next for the Giants?

We’re two-for-two so far! I think about what’s next all the time. How do you come up with something bigger than these two ideas?

We aren’t waiting around, we are aggressive. We want to make the season ticket experience better for the customer. They own 81 games—that’s a lot of games and a big commitment from the fan.

We are looking at digital. Maybe transferring tickets through cellphones. For example, if I am running late, I can send you the ticket on your phone. Maybe it’s not a huge revenue builder, but it’s high on customer satisfaction. Then, it turn, it might generate revenue.

The Giants are on the cutting-edge of the ticketing world and we are always hearing of companies wanting to get into the business. We meet with at least one company a week with new ideas or new technology. I guess it helps to be the baseball team up the street from Silicon Valley!