Over winter break I went to Orlando, Fla. for Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings to pursue my dream of becoming a professional baseball announcer. I had never been to Florida before and I had no idea what to expect of baseball’s famous networking event that only happens once a year.
These meetings are the largest gathering of baseball executives in the world. League and organizational meetings are conducted between luncheons, banquets, galas, and tradeshows. In the background, a job fair is conducted for those like me trying to get into the business.
In any business, especially baseball, it’s who you know. I knew some people, so I contacted them for some advice.
“Don’t wear a tie,” Mitch Duggins, assistant scouting and player development video coordinator for the Chicago Cubs, told me.
Jon Paul Morosi, national MLB writer for FOX Sports, told me to dress for the position and look professional. I played it safe and loaded my luggage with everything from three piece suits to a polo and khakis and headed to Detroit to catch my flight.
The Winter Meetings were held in Disney’s Swan and Dolphin resort. The resort features two five star hotels separated by a 400-yard walkway over water. The Swan is where most of the 600 job fair attendees spent their time while competing for the 400 jobs offered. Meanwhile in the Dolphin, everybody who’s anybody “worked.”
I parked at the Swan and filed in line for a chance to view the job postings. If I wasn’t 6’3” it would have been impossible to distinguish me from the other job-seekers in our suits and cheap nametags. This could not be the path to getting a job in professional baseball.
In the ballroom, unemployed fans crowded around the rows of bulletin boards that advertised entry level jobs as ticket sellers. Each posting had a number in the top right-hand corner that was to be placed on a resume and put in a box to be considered for the position. After the quick application process was finished, we headed to the workroom and waited. Every half hour, a guy in a white job fair shirt would come out and post a piece of paper on another long line of boards listing which candidates were lucky enough to have a personal interview. Within seconds, he was trapped in a crowd of unemployed sports fans.
I did not have time for this waiting game. I headed over to the Dolphin. I walked in the lobby and up the escalator and immediately knew this was where I needed to be. The MLB Network was rolling live on their set backed by a 40-foot Christmas tree and a huge sign reading, “Baseball’s Winter Meetings, Orlando 2013.” Ken Rosenthal, FOXSports.com’s senior MLB writer, stood not 10 feet away, furiously tweeting MLB rumors. To my right, Clint Hurdle, the Pittsburgh Pirates manager, slouched against a pillar in a Hawaiian shirt.
I was surrounded by all of the owners, managers, agents, scouts, and media in baseball and nobody seemed flustered. This wasn’t a fan meet and greet or a place to get autographs. It was a workplace that I desperately wanted to be part of. I quickly realized that if someone was important, they were either wearing a suit much nicer than mine or they were simply wearing jeans.
From that point on, I ditched my fellow job fair freshman and began to network. I started everyday at 8 a.m. and I didn’t quit until 2 a.m. I handed out over 100 business cards in four days. I shook hands with former Phillie and ESPN talent John Kruk, former Detroit Tigers skipper Jim Leyland, and Rosenthal, just to name a few. I watched as the Mets announced their $60 million, four-year contract with Curtis Granderson. I was in the mix.
I only received one interview from the job fair and I didn’t even have time to go to it. I was busy working out the details of job offers for teams that didn’t advertise positions.
In baseball it’s about who you know. The Winter Meetings is a perfect place to get to know people. For the most part, nobody is above shaking a new hand and offering a minute of advice for those willing to take the initiative. I now know people some would consider to be celebrities, but for me, they’re mentors and potential employers.