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This is a BP Premium article. To read it, sign up for Premium today! March 16, 2009 12:00 am
Circumstance and necessity can create some perverse changes in value. About ten years ago, I did some really cool and fun research for one of the large casino resorts on the Las Vegas strip. It was a rather long engagement that lasted over a year total, and involved both qualitative and quantitative research. It was good work, too, because it was interesting, and the client was serious about doing what was necessary to act on the results.
This is a BP Premium article. To read it, sign up for Premium today! March 4, 2009 10:44 am
Manny Ramirez, doom and gloom in the East Bay, and what else is going on as we move into the New Depression. In the first of several 6-4-3 conversations, BP's Gary Huckabay sat down with one of baseball's leading agents for a conversation about Manny Ramirez and his observations about the impact of the economic downturn on the industry. The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe. This is a BP Premium article. To read it, sign up for Premium today! July 1, 2008 12:00 am
When everyone gets it, active collaboration becomes a reflection of the kind of progress that's been made. So, it's time to check back in to see how the story ends, and my thanks to those of you who have stuck around for the full ride. In case you missed it, you can check out part one of the series here, and part two right here. In short, there's kind of a Dilbertesque house of cards that I've built as an illustrative abstraction, with a consultant, some middle management, budgetary constraints, and uneven communication, all taking place in the front office of a club that wants to find a way to be competitive and outperform reasonable expectations. I realize this is a little bit like asking new viewer to start watching Lost for the first time about 50 episodes in (and insisting that they do so while sucking down an unholy blend on Jagermeister and Oxycontin), but bear with me for a bit. If you can, please take a couple of moments to go back and read at least one of the previous two parts to the series, and hopefully, things will become a bit more understandable and interesting. The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe. This is a BP Premium article. To read it, sign up for Premium today! April 13, 2008 12:00 am
Having set the scenario, Gary explains what happened when he presented the concept to middle management. Time for a quick "Previously, on Adventures in Consulting…" (read using your best Don LaFontaine voice…) The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe. March 14, 2008 12:00 am
Talking to those on the inside about what might make sense from the outside. I think it was Einstein who said, "Answers to questions should be as simple as possible, but no simpler." Almost every job I've ever had involved finding answers to operational questions. One of the the most interesting projects I ever worked on was for a major league organization that didn't just want an answer--they wanted the question, too. The engagement was pretty simple; I can't identify the client, nor can I use specific data, but I think this is still an interesting case study. I hope you'll find it worth your time to read; if not, you might as well skip the next 6-4-3, too, since it's going to be Part Two. So let's dive in… This is a BP Premium article. To read it, sign up for Premium today! December 17, 2007 12:00 am
Replacement Value isn't something quite so fixed and abstract as some might posit. There's a process to writing these pieces. I can't generally do things as quickly as most of the other writers here at BP; I used to be able to, but that's not a skill I managed to retain over time. However, one of the benefits of having a longer process in place is that I get a lot more feedback before the piece is published than I did previously; it's nice to have a few people who serve as crap detectors in the loop. If I'm overinflating something--as I'm wont to do to make a point--I find that out before it gets wide exposure. Similarly, if I'm making my most common error, which is failing to explain how I got from Point A to Point B, I hear that as well. But it's kind of like asking engineering to vet marketing copy. You might ask them just to review the technical specs to make sure everything's kosher, but they inevitably comment on other stuff, like the ad creative, or the overall communication strategy. In my experience, the worlds of these two groups don't mesh well together. Most technical people aren't really certain about what marketing people actually do, and most marketing people would prefer the technical folks stick to the technical stuff, and leave the marketing to those who know how to do it. The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe. This is a BP Premium article. To read it, sign up for Premium today! November 21, 2007 12:00 am
When the answer to "who's now?" becomes "not you." The term "jump the shark" has become common parlance for an entire generation that wasn't even forced to watch Happy Days. Not that I'm that old, but a whole bunch of crap that would be relegated to the low 300s on DirecTV used to be on network television, and people watched it, primarily because there were only about five TV offerings available, even in big markets. But since we're condemned, as a species, to always view the past through sepia-toned or rose-colored lens, we tend to think that the dreck we used to consume is somehow more virtuous and wonderful than it really was. The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe. This is a BP Premium article. To read it, sign up for Premium today! October 5, 2007 12:00 am
Gary finishes up his conversation with a pair of front office execs, touching on umpiring, agents, and slotting. I recently sat down to talk with executives from an AL Club and an NL Club. They agreed to the interview only if their identities were protected. In the interest of full disclosure, the executives had final edits of their statements in this two-part interview. To answer the inevitable questions, yes, this is an easy way for me to generate content, but readers seem to like it, and no, I won't tell you who these guys are, nor are you the only person to email in, either asking for their names, or letting me know how certain you are about who they are.-Gary The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe. September 25, 2007 12:00 am
A conversation with a pair of baseball execs on hiring practices and living the life on the inside. I recently sat down to talk with two executives, one from an AL club, and one from a NL club. They agreed to the interview only if their identities were protected. Also, in the interests of full disclosure, the executives had final edits of their statements in this two-part interview. To answer the inevitable questions, no, I won't tell you who these guys are, nor are you the only person to email in, either asking for their names, or certain you know who they are.-Gary February 11, 2005 12:00 am
One of our own says goodbye. It's been nearly 10 years. They've been great. Great and hard. I've met people, made friends, had fun, picked up an ulcer, accomplished all the original goals, established some new ones along the way, grown a couple of businesses, made some mistakes, talked to literally thousands of baseball fans, been called pretty much every flattering and unflattering thing a guy can be called, and just generally had a blast. This is a BP Premium article. To read it, sign up for Premium today! December 6, 2004 12:00 am
Focusing on the baseball players' use of potentially performance-enhancing drugs and the men who supplied them misses the real issues emanating from last week's grand jury leaks. Anyone with access to a keyboard, microphone or telephone has weighed in on this. Local and national talk show hosts are more than happy to point out any number of things that may or may not be true, may or may not be relevant, but sure as hell serve to put the speaker in a position of perceived moral superiority, whether or not said position was earned. The remainder of this post cannot be viewed at this subscription level. Please click here to subscribe. May 25, 2004 12:00 am
I found out about Doug Pappas' tragic passing on Friday. There were phone messages on both my cell phone and home phone from a number of people, all with a more serious tone to their voices than you'd really like to hear. None of the people actually left the momentous news, but rather some version of "Give me a call the second you get this message." Moments later, I checked my e-mail, and a barrage of messages with the header "Sad News" scrolled up my screen. Doug Pappas had passed away. My friend, a colleague for whom I have immense respect, and all-around good guy, had departed from us too soon. My initial response was the same during those horrid times when another friend had died; it sounds strange, but my first impulse is to give him a call and find out what was really going on. It can't be right, you know? This has got to be some sort of misunderstanding, right? Doug's only 43, in good health, and a standup guy. Must be someone else. There's definitely a big ball of confusion out there, and this is completely out of left field. I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach and stolen the air from the room, but I knew it was a mistake. Had to be. It wasn't. And we are all diminished because of it. Doug's particular chosen role was a particularly difficult one--to call the powerful on the inaccuracy or dishonesty of their public statements. That's not easy. Over the years, Doug came out and publicly pointed out the inaccuracies, contradictions, and misleading nature of Major League Baseball's financial disclosures. He did his homework, explained his position, made sure that the MLB functionary's agenda was understood by the public, and stood by his work. It was an often thankless and misunderstood role, but the public interest was well served because Doug was willing to vigorously undertake it. Doug Pappas had passed away. My friend, a colleague for whom I have immense respect, and all-around good guy, had departed from us too soon. My initial response was the same during those horrid times when another friend had died; it sounds strange, but my first impulse is to give him a call and find out what was really going on. It can't be right, you know? This has got to be some sort of misunderstanding, right? Doug's only 43, in good health, and a standup guy. Must be someone else. There's definitely a big ball of confusion out there, and this is completely out of left field. I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach and stolen the air from the room, but I knew it was a mistake. Had to be.
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