A good story about Erin Blank’s growing mascot camp.

Mascots in training
To add sizzle to their half-time skits and fun to their on-field antics, some mascots attend a workshop taught by Erin Blank, 36, owner of Keystone Mascots in Lancaster, Pa. (pop. 56,348).

Last summer, Blank coached about a dozen mascots—including an overstuffed Toucan, a Robin, Cedar Tree, Baron and Pirate—in practical matters, such as how to stay cool in their costumes, sign autographs in paws and claws, and use props to pep up their acts.

“A car shade can be a surfboard,” Blank says, stepping on a piece of cardboard and teetering with outstretched arms. “I want you to use ordinary objects in ways that they were never intended to be used.”

With music booming, the mascots get cracking with creativity in a room with a mirrored wall so they can see their silliness. Soon, the Toucan is sitting on a red ball as if it’s an egg and checking to see if it hatched, the Baron is using a baton for a Q-tip and the Cedar Tree is wearing a head scarf as a blindfold.

Come football and basketball season, these spirited school ambassadors will parade into stadiums and gymnasiums—some dressed in decades of town history and team tradition—to cavort, cheer and create as much hoopla as possible to support the home team. (complete story)

Erin has been on the mascot scene for more than a dozen years and is now operating a costume company along with these yearly camps.

I interviewed Erin back in September of 2000, you can read that interview here.

-Cudo

“Last week, six Pittsburgh Penguins players, including MVP Sidney Crosby, hand-delivered season tickets to the homes of 24 season-ticket holders. The team chose the full- and half-season ticket holders randomly. The fans were told about the delivery ahead of time to ensure that they would be home. But they weren’t told exactly who from the Penguins would come to their door. “I think it’s a great idea,” says Crosby. “It’s a good opportunity for the guys to say thanks personally.” - (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

The use of players is becoming more rare….thus, more special. Putting players in contact with fans, in positions they can succeed in, and building connection between fans and players is the best thing a team can do. I’d argue it’s better than winning.

–Cudo

Congrats to Michael Zerillo and Hugo the Hornet for being selected NBA Mascot of the Year by his mascot peers at this year’s NBA Mascot Conference.

It is unusual to publicly name an NBA mascot, however Mike is also the retiring Hugo the Hornet performer. After 17 seasons (and three cities) Mike is hanging up his Lycra tights and bug wings.

It has been a pleasure of mine to know Mike for nearly 18 years and enjoying his performances and having the chance to work alongside him on several occasions. He is a true professional and an amazingly talented athlete and performer.

I am also excited to announce that Mike has agreed to an upcoming Gameops.com Interview to discuss mascotting, his career, cajun food and much more. I expect this interview will be part of the November 2007 Update (but don’t hold me to that).

Congrats Michael. All the best from your friends and fans here at Gameops.com.

-Cudo

Fun Is Good Veeck Conference Set for November 5-6

His name is synonymous with “fun” and he is now positioned to share his no-fail techniques on creating a fun and prosperous work environment in Mike Veeck’s Fun Is Good Conference that takes place November 5-6 at The Marriott Charleston.

As co-owner and president of the Charleston RiverDogs baseball club, it is Veeck’s belief that anything is possible and no idea is too silly. By returning “fun” to his six minor league baseball clubs – including the RiverDogs – Veeck, in his 2005 book “Fun Is Good,” relays that his formula for success in the ball park can be transferred to the business world.

For registration information, please refer to www.funisgood.net or contact Stacy Danosky at 843/529-1246.

There are a handful of conferences for game operations professionals, but I think this may be the most valuable, since it goes beyond mere game operations and into topics about improving your workplace. We’d love feedback from any attendees.

-Cudo

After a bit of a delay the September Update has been posted.

We have another game review, this one from north of the border in Calgary, Alberta with the CFL Stampeders.  We review all their promotion inventory and apply another promotion pill.  These pills are tools you can use on all of your promotions and entertainment to see if there are ways to power up your entertainment.  This month we look at the value of creating movement during promotions.

In lieu of a Spotlight on Promotions, we instead link to our archive of spotlights which includes over 50 promotions and tools from the last nine years of Gameops.com features.  With over 600 pages of Gameops.com content sometimes its good to just look back at this more complete library of archived ideas.

We also have rebuilt the YouTube database pages.  We are over the limit of 500 videos on YouTube….so we added a second account, since there are a lot more videos out there.  We have indexed over 500 videos so you can quickly see whats going on all around sports.  Mascots can see skits and “best of” videos, dance teams can see routines and formations, scoreboard operators can see videos and in-game features, and much more.

A slight tweak in the blog…we have added a “Book Mark” category, making it easy to find blogs that have featured book links (a reader suggerstion).

As always, we appreciate any feedback on our content.

–Cudo

The blog is back after a longer than normal break. Not only was I a little burned out from the daily blog in August, but I also was out for vacation last week and buried with a hectic month as teams are gearing up for their seasons on Gameops.com.

This week I will be adding content daily, making up for the lack of a September Update….so be sure to check back for those featured pieces including more promotions, new store products, and another Promotional Pill Game review…check the home page for the updates.
I also have added a new blog category: Book Marks. As you may have noticed I often cite books in the blog, either as sources of game operations related ideas, history of sports entertainment, or promotions. I just thought it would be a helpful category for searching for content or recommended reading. All the Book Marks include links to the books on Amazon.com.

On vacation I finished the politically charged sports book Welcome to the Terrordome by Dave Zirin. The book covers the connection between social and cultural issues and sports, and it’s really a great read. Among the topics Zirin connects are race relations in baseball thru Roberto Clemente, public financing of stadiums and how politicians often exploit sports figures.

I Book Mark this book for any one interested in the convergence of politics, politics, cultural issues and sports. I also found a couple interesting promotion notes inside.

As part of his chapter on Clemente, Zirin describes a July 24th 1971 game named Roberto Clemente Night. The team flew in thousands of people from his Puerto Rico homeland. For the first time in baseball history the game was presented in both Spanish and English. This tribute to Clemente was fitting for his life long struggle and accomplishments toward opening the major leagues to Latino players.

The book asks why the Yankees have not yet held a “Sheep Testicles Day” (page 150)….but I will let you read the back story on that for yourself.

-Cudo