The first seminar is being presented by one of the top agents in the sports field, Bobby Barad, who will talk about his 20 years of experience being a sports agent. Well before the time of Jerry Maguire, the sports agent field was one of the most popular avenues of the sports business world. Bobby will be speaking about sports industry trends and developments as well as sharing some stories about representing some of the top players in all of sports including former AL rookie of the year Evan Longoria and World Champion second basement Robinson Cano. He will also stick around after for questions from the audience.

The next seminar is less area specific and will be more focused on the dramatically changing face of sports business as a whole. The landscape is shifting drastically with advanced technology and streaming media applications taking a much more active role in everyday business. Diamond Sports has embraced this change and will be showing live demonstrations of their own virtual studio and how it can be adapted to different businesses. This can also be a valuable tool for aspiring students as well as coaches and athletic directors.

For more information and how to register for these events please the upcoming events page of the Diamond Sports website.  For more information on the potential benefits of programs and some tips on how to extract the most from them please see my earlier blog post entitled “The value of seminars for students“.

I look forward to seeing you there!

The sports business industry is as difficult an industry to find an occupation as you will find in today’s day and age because of the popularity of sports and the increase in colleges which offer the education required to excel in this field. This is why I can’t stress the importance of attending these seminars and workshops while in high school as well as college. Really any students at that level who are interested in sports would both enjoy and benefit from attending. Below is a list of specific reasons high school and college students interested in the sports business world should attend such events.

1. Its all about networking – At the end of these events the attendees are given the opportunity to stay after, exchange business cards with, or pick the brains of the presenters. These are the people that down the road could be interviewing you or be an integral part in finding you employment in the industry. Meet these people, stay in touch with them. This will be a great way to separate you from the other thousands of applicants companies such as ESPN or the New York Yankees receive.
2. Learn the industry – Listen and ask questions. You can bet whomever the speaker is has a wealth of knowledge based on their years of experience doing what they do. Learn from their mistakes, and jot down what worked for them on their path to success. Who knows these could be lessons that could prove important to you in any type of industry.
3. Future Trends - Even if you do not plan on entering the work force for five or more years you can still get a leg up on the competition. These speakers have a way of seeing industry trends and having an idea of what is going to be important next. For instance, if you learned about social networking three years ago and mastered it on your own then you would have had an easier time finding a job this past year than those who were trying to catch up.
4. Strength in Numbers – Come with your friends, your teammates or just your family. A lot of the speakers in one way or another reference team work and speak about how important it is to success. Use these events as a building block for your own team or your own family to work better as a unit with the same common goal.
5. Bolster your Interview – I can speak from experience on this one that certain quotes I hear from these events I memorize and bring them up when I go on interviews. This shows the person who is interviewing you that you really did your research and you are interested enough in this industry to take time out of your busy day and sit and listen to a legend like Bobby Valentine speak. It also shows that you are eager to learn new things, which may seem like a small trait  but not to a person looking to hire.

These are only a few of the many benefits high school and college students can get out of attending Diamond Sports events. Stay tuned for updates on upcoming seminars, reviews of past seminars and more information useful to those looking for an occupation in the sports business industry.

Diamond Sports Executive Producer Mark Jeffers with Brian Cashman

Over 800 attended, including Jeff Wilpon, Omar Minaya, Jim Nance, Chris Russo and Brian Cashman. Bobby’s father in law Ralph Branca delivered a stirring rendition of God Bless America, and the MLB World Championship Trophy was on hand.