the last lap

So today is my second to last day of this internship. Don't be sad... I'm going to update throughout my semester abroad as well. Yesterday I got to go to lunch with the head of the PR Department for the New York Knicks. I had emailed him a few days before about meeting and he was glad to find time for me. The lunch was really great - I learned a lot from him and about him that will help me in the future. He hasn't been around the office much because his main office is in Tarrytown at the Knicks training center, so I didn't really know much about him other than that he was the one telling us to try and find the cemetaries where former Knicks were buried or that we missed an article in clips (if our supervisor(s) didn't catch it first). We talked first about social networking and social media as twitter has become a very controversial point of discussion in the sports realm now that athletes and television personalities alike use it to dish out their thoughts and feelings. I found it interested that he said sometimes the 'tweets' of athletes alienate their fellow athletes because some people, like David Lee for instance, don't want their personal business broadcasted for the world to see like Nate Robinson and Eddy Curry often do. We also talked a lot about females in sports media since I am interested in sports broadcast or just the sports media industry in general. His best advice for me in that department was to develop a strong sense of professionalism from the start because even so much as a giggle or a slightly inappropriate choice of dress can completely deplete a female television or media personality of their credibility despite their analytical abilities or talent. He referred me to one of my supervisors, one of the only females on this floor and the only female in Knicks PR, because he said that she demonstrates a very respectable form of professionalism that does not completely erase any trace of being female, but does eliminate the idea of gender differences from her work. He explained his path to the position he currently holds for me, which began as a math major in college, went to an intern at the New Jersey Nets then to a part-time college and high school sports writer for Newsday then eventually to the PR department of the Charlotte Hornets. He explained how he received a phone call from the former head of Knicks PR completely out of the blue and had no intention of moving back to NYC, as he grew up in Brooklyn. Yet, the Knicks gave him an offer he could not refuse so he moved up here in 2000. He also had a lot of interesting stories about trying times in his career from which he learned a lot about how to deal with crises. He spoke to me about how he dealt with the death of a Charlotte Hornets player when he lost control of his vehicle while racing his best friend/teammate to their traditional post-shoot-around, pre-game pancake breakfast. There had been a lot of controversy around that regarding whether or not they would play the game that they were scheduled for that evening and later that week with the NBA. It was also important for the PR department to protect the player who had been racing the man who died because the media, especially in New York, which is where the first game after the accident took place, is always willing to hound people to get any information, any bit of a quote. He also told me about similar circumstances like after Eddy Curry's child's mother was murdered right in front of his child or right after a player in the NBA died of a heart attack after Eddy Curry (or maybe it was a different player, I forget) had refused to take a DNA test to see if he had a condition similar to that which the player who passed away had before the incident occurred. In situations like that, PR people have to protect the player and protec tthe other people involved in the situation. In the case of his child's mother being murdered, the player had to refrain from saying anything that would compromise his case in the court of law regarding the custody of his child. In the case of the player who had refused to take a DNA test regarding the heart condition, he had to downplay his fear, but exhalt the life of the player who had passed away for the sake of the wife and children he had left behind. You would never think that so much thought and consideration for other individuals and circumstances goes into the work of a team's PR department... I found this interesting. He also talked to me about the "nightmares" that took place with the controversy with former coach Larry Brown and the GM because Brown thrived off of internal conflict and would do anything to create tension between team members and between himself and the GM. The other "nightmare" was the notoroious Isiah Thomas sexual harassment case... or just Isiah Thomas in general. I'm not going to disclose the details of what he told me over the internet, but know that it was a trying time for Knicks PR when Mr. Thomas was around... not just during the lawsuit, but also beforehand. I loved finally learning about how hands-on PR works... the experiences you gain when you're outside the office. I wish I would have the time to do an internship during a sports season so I could really come to understand the field-play of public relations. I don't know if I've really been exposed to the right side of PR to make a decision on whether or not I would want to do PR in my future. Maybe if I hated Wake Forest I would be willing to give up another semester. Or if I wasn't going abroad... wasn't on dance team... wasn't double majoring... and minoring. Yea, maybe then I'd do it. Anyway, I can't believe how quickly this summer went by. Even though there were a lot of days that I killed hours playing solitaire, I did have a lot of great experiences. I've met quite a few influential people. I got to work at the NBA Draft. I got to work at the Knicks City Dancer auditions. I got to compile an article for Dance Spirit Magazine, on which I'll have a byline (apparently). I just contributed to an undisclosed project that required research of all-stars and playoff contenders from the past few years. I got to try and find where dead former Knicks playres are buried. I got to wake up at 630 am 6/7 days a week. I'm a big girl now! I knowhow to do things! Woohoo! Well, I'm sure I'll want to provide some more information tomorrow or when I'm on the airplane on the way home or something, but that's all I really have for now.