NBA Lockout 2011

No sports fan likes it when there’s a lockout. It really affects everyone in one way or the other. The longer the wait on an agreement, the longer there’s no games to play or to watch. In the case of the NBA the disagreement was between the owners and the league in relation to the CBA. While everyone was waiting for an agreement it caused the loss of games which meant loss of money. Some owners were willing to go 50/50 with the league but then you had some that weren’t willing to go below 52 percent. Players wanted to keep a similar system like the old one. They thought that there were too many restrictions in the owner’s proposal. As this lockout is going on, the people that work at these arenas are affected too. Everyday people with normal lives don’t get a paycheck. In my opinion, the fact that the players make the team, I didn’t think there should be a 50/50 split either. After 161 days,  they finally came to an agreement of 49/51.2 split, a flexible salary cap but harsher luxury tax. This lockout had a negative impact on the economy due to the large NBA cities losing revenue that was generated by the games and television networks losing ratings as well as advertisement revenue.

Even though it was eventually settled, I look at this as a factor when working in the sports field.  The NBA has had four lockouts. There’s no telling if another one will occur. It doesn’t really matter what league you decide to get into because they all have went through a lockout before. I understand that agreements need to be made. I just hope that this doesn’t happen once I get in the field but if it does, I got to have a back up plan so I am not majorly affected by it. I love sports and with anything you have to take the good with the bad. It’s all an experience.

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/28/nba-lockout-2011-games-cancelled_n_1064786.html

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45528171

Keep This In Mind As You Lead And Succeed

I wanted to touch basis on two subjects that has a lot to do with any business you decide start which is leadership and success. I listened to two TED speeches that I thought were interesting and informative. Four-star general, Stanley McChrystal talked about his experience as a leader. Mr. Richard St. John spoke about success.

As a leader you have to build a shared purpose amongst the ones whom you are leading in your company. It can be a situation where you are leading people with different levels of education, skills and are in different age groups. That can be challenging but it’s also a reality. Mr. McChrystal mentioned that during his experience throughout the years he learned how to listen more because there were times when he was leading people over video chat, email, etc. This was new for him….more technology was involved. He was learning and holding his position at the same time. He had to develop new leader techniques as things around him started to change. It’s typically the same when running a business. You may be in charge of someone that has more skills than you. McChrystal said” Your not a good leader because your right, your good because you are willing to learn and trust.” He talks about how being a leader isn’t easy and there’s possibility of failure. When it comes to the people you lead, they will help you up because you have built enough faith in them. As a leader, CEO or whatever the title may be, you have to listen and learn in order to lead.

Mr. St. John talks about success not being a one street. Some people reach success and end up failing. They feel like once they have reached success they don’t need to work at it anymore. Richard shared his experience of reaching success and how he didn’t stay focused on his clients and ended up failing due to distractions and not staying persistent. He ended up starting over but it took him 7 years to do so. If you want to avoid failing after succeeding, you must understand that success is a continuous journey. It involves 8 principles which includes: passion, work, focus, push, ideas, improve, serve and persist. Bottom line is that the same work you put into reaching success is what you need in order to stay there.

Leadership and success is essential to starting a business. In the entertainment business field you have do what you need to do in order to “stay in the game and stand out”.

Stanley McChrystal:" Listen, learn ... then lead"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmpIMt95ndU

Richard St. John: "Success is a continuous journey"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgNx9Bgac1I

I Never Knew But I'll Consider It

During the past few years while working on completing my bachelor's degree I narrowed down what I wanted to do. I've noticed that I was good at marketing. As another career option, I would like to become a NFL agent. I came across an article about a former agent on how things go in that situation. He spoke about the highs and the lows as far as trying to be successful in that field. He expressed what he went through at the time and how he learned from his experience. He explained the difference in being an agent and being on the team side. He gave a breakdown of whats going on in the NFL as far as agents working and what the process is. After reading his article, it gave me a realistic view from in my eyes an "expert". His opinion is based off experience. I still would like to be a agent but now I have to consider more things that I didn't know before. My major obstacle is having to invest in the player before he gets his money once he's signed. I don't mind competition but in this particular situation  I would need to seriously weigh the pros and cons. I'm not the type to let things hinder me but financially I would need to be in a comfortable place where I can build my clients, get my name out there, and cover whatever expense needed. The bad part is no matter how much you invest in a player,you can still end up losing them to someone else. This article along has placed a little doubt in my mind about becoming a NFL agent but  I'm still going to go for it  and learn my own lessons. That is really all I can do but Mr. Brandt gave me more to think about.



http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8681968/nfl-agent-life-all-glamour

How A CEO Handles Business

I interviewed a rising CEO named Ulyssia Seawell. She has started her own company called Organeyez'd Grind Entertainment. It's an artist management company. Ms. Seawell is a graduate from North Carolina A&T State University. She always had a passion for the entertainment field. She currently manages a few artists in different locations. She plans for her company to flourish into something big, successful and she doesn't plan on stopping there. This is only the beginning for her. I decided to interview her on how she goes about negotiation when it comes to working out issues for her company.Here are some questions I asked and her responses:

1- How do you handle positional bargaining tactics?Do you try to understand the other party's interests?

" I keep in mind the main points of what I want the outcome to be and try to persuade the other party to believe it is beneficial to them as well. Yes, I do try to understand the other party's interests, but I do not let that detour me from my goal.", Ulyssia S. 

2- Have you ever negotiated with another party and couldn't come to an agreement? Or despite the difference in positioning, was there a mutual gain? 

"Yes, I have been in a situation with another party and we could not come to an agreement. The situation was when one of my artist wanted to release an album, and did not have the proper timing for it to be released. It tried to negotiate with him to wait so that we could have good promotion and other factors in place before the release. The problem was he had already done his own promotion promising a release date. We could not come to a mutual agreement. In the end he ended releasing the album anyway. The mutual gain in this situation was knowledge. I learned that he had lack of knowledge on the process of releasing an album and he learned the process in which to do so.", Ulyssia S.

3-A BATNA is a best alternative to a negotiated agreement.Do you have one when dealing with another party in a negotiation?

" Yes I do have one when dealing with another party in a negotiation. I always think ahead, and think of different scenarios that could be the outcome of the negotiation. Once I have the scenarios in place I think of how it could effect the goal I'm trying to attain, and what steps I should take if the outcome has a negative affect on that goal.", Ulyssia S.

4-What would you do if a negotiation isn't going your way? Do you use any kinds of tricks to tame a hard bargainer? 

"I listen carefully to everything the bargainer is saying and I try to sway them back in the direction of my goal. I make them feel as though I am understanding their position but at the same time I know in my mind I am not moving from my position. I often use a questioning method to help guide them back in the direction I want to go. During that method I ask questions that will help them see the subject from my point of view but its never a situation where they are being pressured or tricked.", Ulyssia S.

5- Sometimes its hard to just deal with the problem without dealing with the people and what they bring to the situation. How do you separate the people from the problem when your negotiating?

" I have to look at the people and their different personalities as a distraction from reaching my goal. I can not let the distraction hinder me from reaching the goal. So therefore I have to overlook dealing with them in order to handle business and negotiate properly.", Ulyssia S.

https://www.facebook.com/organeyezdgrind

A Name That Rings Bells

Whether you know his track record or not, you have heard this name before.... Sean "Diddy" Combs. His journey has been a long one but yet a successful one at the same time. Since day one he's been focused on his goals. You don't even have to know him personally to know that he's a focused individual and he's business savvy. He believes that in business you should take risks because in certain situations if you wait to get all the information an opportunity can pass you by. In his interview with Bashir from ABC News, he mentioned that he would market anything that's organic to him. Combs has managed, put out albums, had a few reality shows, restaurants, a clothing line, vodka and a fragrance line. He's an all round entrepreneur. His signature quote is "I thought I told that we won't stop". Sean Combs literally means that and lives that. I almost forgot to mention that he's been in a couple plays and on the movie scene as well. I would want to intern for him because despite his ups and downs he's a great example of a businessman. He has experience in almost every aspect of the entertainment industry. He was named one of the richest people under 40 in 2002. The business ventures don't stop there. He's working on a cable channel too. Forbes mentions, "that he's the closest to becoming a billionaire". His success shows that. Some people that have worked with or for Combs say that he's "cut throat". I think that when it comes to business, you have to do what’s right so you can flourish. If he made every decision based off emotion or what others may think, he might not have been as successful as he is now. I have respect for him as a businessman. The company I'm starting is dealing with artist management and recording so his journey always been of interest to me. So far I've learned that Sean Combs isn't a limited businessman. He not only took risks but he makes sure his investments benefit his brand and that he makes profit from it.

References:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfrxxacWzzE

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eeel45igfm/1-sean-diddy-combs-550-million/

 http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/622/Bad-Boy-on-the-Rise-Sean-Combs-Makes-His-Mark.html

How Important is the RIAA?

The RIAA also known as Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization. They support and promote the creative and financial vitality of major labels. members create, manufacture and/or distribute about 85% of all recorded music and sold in the U.S. The RIAA works to protect the intellectual property and First Amendment Rights of labels and artists. They also conduct consumer, industry and technical research. This association stays on top of regulations and policies. RIAA are the ones that certifies albums gold, platinum and multi-platinum.

RIAA has some technical standards that I believe are good and are definitely in the best interest of the artist.To name a couple would be watermark payload specification and Global Release Identifier. They also have this service called SDMI which stands for Secure Digital Music Initiative. One of the things this service do it enables copyright protection on artists' work. I believe that this organization could affect the industry in a positive way. They try their best on their end to uphold their mission for labels and artists. Now they been dealing with piracy for a long time but slowly they are putting it to an end. Nothing happens over night but they are finding ways to shut down these file sharing websites. In my case I'd like to create a company where I'm dealing with artists so I'm all for what they are doing. There's always room for ideas to make things even better. Its important to have this association in our corner as far as the music industry is concerned because they protect our rights and creativity.If they weren't around we would have a worse problem with piracy. Not only that but people in the industry be able to get away with anything. The music industry wouldn't have made it this far if it wasn't for the RIAA so I'm one out of millions that is grateful for what they do.


http://www.riaa.com/index.php

Leaders Inspiring Action

I just finished watching a video by Simon Sinek from TED.com. He talked about how great leaders inspire action. He believed in a simple method called The Golden Circle. Sinek's speech helped me get a better understanding of the topic.He broke down how business basically sell their product and used Apple as an example. Apple is regular computer company but what makes them stand out? Sinek figured out that when it comes to the Golden Circle, Jobs started from the inside circle which represents "why" and worked his way out. I found it to be inspiring and informative. Sinek made it clear that this wasn't just his opinion but how the brain work as well.I found him to be inspiring because in my opinion he was thinking outside the box and that is what is needed to start a business. His speeches was clear and to the point. I didn't find nothing confusing about it. I would listen to more of his speeches as resourceful information that i could possibly use in the future. Sinek says,"People buy why you do it". In other words he saying that more people will buy your product because of why you are doing it,not what your selling. People are more interested in your belief or passion for doing something. That is what will attract customers.

Mr. Simon Sinek is a confident and enthusiastic speaker. His speech had me intrigued. Sinek was able to get his point across without losing anyone's attention. I found him to be very knowledgeable. The goal is not to sell to people who need what you have. But to sell to people who believe what you believe. He used good examples of Langley, Wright Brothers, and Martin Luther King. If you talk about what you believe,you will attract those who believe what you believe.


Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4