Friday was definitely my favorite day of MSBA thus far and I viewed it as an embodiment of how the rest of the summer would be. My day was extremely long, and by the end of my first week with MSBA, I was exhausted. However, I can already tell that the experiences that took place this week, and Friday in particular, will last a lifetime.
My day begin with my internship at Foot Locker, Inc. This was actually my second week at 112 W 34th St. as I arrived in New York City a week before the rest of my MSBA colleagues. I am working in the allocations department and feel that I am really beginning to grasp how the department works. The people that I am working with in the department have been crucial in my successful integration into the company. They have been great mentors and are willing to show me what goes on in all parts of the department. Specifically, my supervisor has done a great job of showing me the ropes while my other coworkers have gone beyond their responsibility to ensure that I understood everything and had all that I needed.
On Friday, we visited the local Foot Locker stores. These stores included the one right next to the office building that has underground tunnel access from the office to the store. We visited a House of Hoops Foot Locker, which is the only House of Hoops in the country that has an entire floor dedicated to their Nike basketball product. Superstars like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant spearhead this campaign so it was an amazing thing to be a part of. My personal favorite store was a new concept store known as Footaction. This store focuses on setting the tone in athletic fashion apparel and has a Flight 23 shop located inside the store, this area is dedicated to Michael Jordan and even showcases shoes that he wore in NBA Finals.
After the tour ended at 2, I immediately headed to Madison Square Garden where we were preparing for a Q&A panel with MSG’s finest sports business professionals. I was excited for this panel, as I would finally be able to meet my mentor, Dan Asip, who was unable to attend our event on Thursday. Dan is the Manager of Service and Retention at MSG and I know my relationship with him will be invaluable by the end of the summer. Other members of the panel included Vicki Shapiro, Dan Rosenthal, Christina Milano and Matt Ungaro. During the panel I was able to compare my experiences at the University of Virginia ticket office with arguably the biggest stage of ticket sales in the country. MSG is known as “The Mecca” and what stood out to me the most is how close the panel seemed. They made it a point that we have to utilize the people around us to be successful. This has been a recurring theme thus far, and I know that the relationships created this summer will be crucial in my professional development. After the panel, we went on a tour in the most impressive building I had ever seen. We saw $1.5 million suites and got so close to the arena floor. MSG, and the rest of our first week, was absolutely mind blowing. Week 2 cannot get here soon enough