The Ugly, the Bad, & the Ugly
So here's where Penn State loses serious points with us. All in all the visit to State College, PA was great, but it wasn't perfect.
As you may have read elsewhere in the blog, Drew has previously traveled to all 30 MLB parks and all 30 NBA arenas. Before visiting each locations, he writes/calls the organization and asks "Is there anything you can do to make the visit a bit more memorable?" Never has he asked for anything specific, and the help an organization could offer could be as simple as a photo with the mascot or information on what to see at the park. Some teams really embrace the idea and get creative with their help & others just keep it simple.
After visiting over 70 organizations, only one had given him "the snub" ... until now...and Penn State took it to a whole new level!
On August 2nd, I emailed Jeff Nelson, the Penn State Assistant Athletic Director of Communications with a simple request of "Can you offer any help to us, if not just let us know and we'll move on."
On August 10th, Jeff responded with:
Drew:
will you be intown the night of Friday, Sept. 4? We have our Football Eve event at the stadium at 7:30 p.m. and that would be a good opportunity for you to meet the Nittany Lion and get a possible mention at the pep rally, which has drawn 20,000-plus last 3 years
jeff nelson
We had originally planned on attending the Baltimore Orioles game that evening, but thought we would jump on this offer and cancelled our tickets to the Orioles game and asked Drew's brother to take off work Friday to drive us up to State College a day early.
A response was sent to Jeff on that same day. No response was received over the next two weeks and a follow-up was sent to Jeff on August 27th asking for some further details on "football eve."
After no response was received, another follow up email sent on August 30th. At this time, we began to think that Jeff may have come down with polio so we tried other members of the Penn State staff including Greg Myford, Guido D'Elia, Jeff Fisher, & Dave Baker. Apparently they couldn't find the reply button either.
On August 2nd I once more emailed Jeff and company as well as left them voicemails. Finally I gave up. I understand, we're all busy with our careers. For Penn's sake, the members of this tour often work 70 hour work weeks, but it's clear that they were now blowing us off.
So I made one last attempt and emailed Athletic Director Tim Curley and Associate Athletic Director Fran Ganter. I wrote them the message below and gave up on Penn State.
Mr. Curley,
I wanted to write and express my disappointment that I've experienced with your staff in trying to enhance our visit to State College, PA this coming weekend. As you may or may not have heard, myself and my friends are visiting every Big 10 school this fall while holding down our 7 to 7 jobs Monday through Friday. We've asked each of the schools to help out in even the smallest way - a photo with the mascot, a parking pass, anything that shows some support. After Mr. Nelson responded to me in early August with the email below, I changed my original travel plans so that I could attend the Friday event he mentioned & subsequently tried to contact him, but he and some of your other staff members have become suddenly unreachable. Honestly, what we've requested pales in comparison to what the other schools have offered to us during our visits to their schools, so I'm somewhat perplexed as to why they can't follow through on their original offer.
This is extremely disappointing to me as I've recently told local newspapers and radio stations that PSU was my "home team" and the game I was most looking forward to in my travels. In my lifetime, I've visited all MLB and NBA venues and only once did I have a front office that could not even respond to my inquiries. Penn State now raises that total to 2 of now over 70 organizations contacted. I realize that we're not a reputable reporting organization, but we do represent the "real" fans of the world & present an unbiased view of the locations we visit. I would hpe that the staff would at the very least show some professionalism and respond to an inquirty; even if they were unable to help out. Reneging on a previous offer by blowing us off makes the situation even worse; almost childish. I realize that everyone is busy with their careers, but I cannot understand why your organization would lack manner and courtesy to a group that is attempting to show your organization in a positive light to hundreds of thousands of web viewers.
I thank you for your time and wish you the best of luck this season,
Andrew Cieszynski
The Big 10 Tour
The Los Angeles Lakers are a world-class organization because they understand how to respond to inquiries. There's an organization down in Dallas the is the most valuable in professional sports because they hire people who know professionalism. We had the time of our lives at Michigan State because their staff connects with their fans. Penn State has some of the best fans in the world, but also has a lot to learn.
After visiting over 70 organizations, only one had given him "the snub" ... until now...and Penn State took it to a whole new level!
On August 2nd, I emailed Jeff Nelson, the Penn State Assistant Athletic Director of Communications with a simple request of "Can you offer any help to us, if not just let us know and we'll move on."
On August 10th, Jeff responded with:
Drew:
will you be intown the night of Friday, Sept. 4? We have our Football Eve event at the stadium at 7:30 p.m. and that would be a good opportunity for you to meet the Nittany Lion and get a possible mention at the pep rally, which has drawn 20,000-plus last 3 years
jeff nelson
We had originally planned on attending the Baltimore Orioles game that evening, but thought we would jump on this offer and cancelled our tickets to the Orioles game and asked Drew's brother to take off work Friday to drive us up to State College a day early.
A response was sent to Jeff on that same day. No response was received over the next two weeks and a follow-up was sent to Jeff on August 27th asking for some further details on "football eve."
After no response was received, another follow up email sent on August 30th. At this time, we began to think that Jeff may have come down with polio so we tried other members of the Penn State staff including Greg Myford, Guido D'Elia, Jeff Fisher, & Dave Baker. Apparently they couldn't find the reply button either.
On August 2nd I once more emailed Jeff and company as well as left them voicemails. Finally I gave up. I understand, we're all busy with our careers. For Penn's sake, the members of this tour often work 70 hour work weeks, but it's clear that they were now blowing us off.
So I made one last attempt and emailed Athletic Director Tim Curley and Associate Athletic Director Fran Ganter. I wrote them the message below and gave up on Penn State.
Mr. Curley,
I wanted to write and express my disappointment that I've experienced with your staff in trying to enhance our visit to State College, PA this coming weekend. As you may or may not have heard, myself and my friends are visiting every Big 10 school this fall while holding down our 7 to 7 jobs Monday through Friday. We've asked each of the schools to help out in even the smallest way - a photo with the mascot, a parking pass, anything that shows some support. After Mr. Nelson responded to me in early August with the email below, I changed my original travel plans so that I could attend the Friday event he mentioned & subsequently tried to contact him, but he and some of your other staff members have become suddenly unreachable. Honestly, what we've requested pales in comparison to what the other schools have offered to us during our visits to their schools, so I'm somewhat perplexed as to why they can't follow through on their original offer.
This is extremely disappointing to me as I've recently told local newspapers and radio stations that PSU was my "home team" and the game I was most looking forward to in my travels. In my lifetime, I've visited all MLB and NBA venues and only once did I have a front office that could not even respond to my inquiries. Penn State now raises that total to 2 of now over 70 organizations contacted. I realize that we're not a reputable reporting organization, but we do represent the "real" fans of the world & present an unbiased view of the locations we visit. I would hpe that the staff would at the very least show some professionalism and respond to an inquirty; even if they were unable to help out. Reneging on a previous offer by blowing us off makes the situation even worse; almost childish. I realize that everyone is busy with their careers, but I cannot understand why your organization would lack manner and courtesy to a group that is attempting to show your organization in a positive light to hundreds of thousands of web viewers.
I thank you for your time and wish you the best of luck this season,
Andrew Cieszynski
The Big 10 Tour
The Los Angeles Lakers are a world-class organization because they understand how to respond to inquiries. There's an organization down in Dallas the is the most valuable in professional sports because they hire people who know professionalism. We had the time of our lives at Michigan State because their staff connects with their fans. Penn State has some of the best fans in the world, but also has a lot to learn.
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