Message for our team: What I learned by listening to Peter Guber address Minor League Baseball audience

Hi everyone. Wanted to share a speech I was lucky enough to hear this week.

Being a member of the sports industry is really a special place. Because our business is where the people all come to enjoy themselves, our industry attracts successful people from all walks of life to join our ranks.

At the baseball winter meetings, we had the chance to hear from Peter Guber. I don’t want to waste valuable time explaining who Peter is. If you don’t know him, please google him. Other than his introduction, he spent exactly zero time talking about ANY of his past successes. He’s just looking forward. Here are the nuggets I took from him and felt should be shared with the world.

Quotes are directly from Peter – the words after are my own interpretations and thoughts.

“Mindshare is the most valuable currency in an experience industry.” – As an industry we have to continue to focus on how we gain greater space between the ears of everyone near our team. That’s not just attendance; but where they live, what they think about, and what they do first when they have free time.

“Attitude over aptitude. Curious not critical.” - These came in rapid fire succession. We’ve heard the first one often. The second item was new, and I will probably repeat it often. We MUST continue to be open minded to all possibilities. However, we can’t do it but suggesting that a new idea is wrong immediately. Curiosity will fuel our growth if we can avoid the temptation to immediately find cracks in every new idea.

“Take risks continuously. What’s possible not just what’s profitable.” – Another duh statement coming from those who have been successful, but we’ve got to keep it in our minds daily. Follow the rules. Stay the course. But we need to layer in risks that help us grow. Going back to my younger days of playing baseball, I remember coaches saying “its OK to make errors of aggression, just don’t make mental mistakes.” Same thing applies here. Use your head. But if you have thought through consequences, understand the upside, and most importantly, BELIEVE in your idea, the GO and make it happen!

“The audience must tell our story. Must he daring. Willingness to try new.“ – This one got my head spinning. How are we building memorable experiences so that our guests can all easily share, with joy, their time spent at Greater Nevada Field. Is everyone greeting everyone everywhere? Are we seeking out that fan who is looking around awkwardly and clearly doesn’t know where to go? Are we creating instagrammable moments to be shared with our guests social circles? Does our food make you want to take a picture of it? Does our music make you want to get up and dance? Where can we improve? Will we all commit to helping our fans tell our story?

“Emotionally move fans and partners to embrace risk.” – Just repeat this one a few times to yourself. Do our fans and partners have faith in us to take them on a journey they have not experienced? Are we our own biggest fans, and are we all excited about every new initiative? Whether or not they join us for a game, a season, or never, does everyone we talk to know that we LOVE our experience and believe everyone should be a part of it?

“Recognize we are in the location based entertainment business. Reward your audience.” – Thanks to facebook, everyone is an event planner. We no longer have exclusivity in putting people together for a fun time. We need to reward our audience (through the concepts above) for giving us their mind share, time, and limited resources. 

“How do we reduce friction in customer experience. Must vary the experience to shift friction into an asset. Focus on the investment of time. Most be valuable in what we give them.” – From buying tickets, to finding parking, to getting into the stadium, to getting something eat, are we focusing on reducing the drag in the experience? If there is friction, how can we use it to our advantage? Think about all those spaces…… can Archie greet cars waiting to get into the parking lot? Can we sample concept menu items while people wait for food?

“Convert problems to opportunities.” – Peter used his phone to demonstrate this one. We’re all addicted to our phones. 271 times a day we look at our phone. It’s the first, middle, and last points of contact with our fans at every turn. The world isn’t going back to any “good ole days” so let everyone else complain about what has changed and focus on being the one to figure out how to use it to our advantage.

The entire speech could be boiled down to a few key thoughts. Seek growth. Be a lifelong learner. Make every detail important, and then make it great. 

What a wonderful time to be a part of our dynamic world in the sports industry. I was there twenty years ago. And I plan to be here in twenty more years. Growth and change is the way!