AVP Crocs Tour

What more can you ask for than working in the San Diego sun surrounded by hundreds of beautiful volleyball players and fans? The great scenery and location were not the only benefits of working at the Crocs AVP Tour this weekend at Mariners Point in San Diego. My fellow classmates and I worked with the Marketing Coordinator for AVP to help promote and run the weekend event. It was interesting to work with her and the Crocs marketing team, since we are currently discussing ways to activate event sponsorships in our integrated sports marketing class. The real world knowledge gained from being at this event helped me write my final paper on sports marketing.
The tournament ran from Friday to Sunday and featured some of the top volleyball stars from around the world, I even had a ten minute conversation with Olympian Holly McPeak. While meeting athletes is great, being part of the event enabled me to meet some of the major players on the business side of the sport. I ended up working with the AVP Commissioner Leonard Armato's daughter-in-law, registering players and organizing transportation. The chance to rub elbows with some of the most important San Diego sports business people in the VIP tents was a welcomed bonus as well (not to mention the free food and drinks).
Of course every event has its problems as there were numerous times of hectic running around the sand looking for a player who was supposed to be giving an interview. Another interesting problem was the California Coastal Commission stopping by and requiring that the stands be lowered by 3 feet because it could impact the hunting of a local bird of prey. You learn that if you want to work on events, you need to be ready for anything. Overall, it was awesome to be a part of the “behind the scenes” work that goes into creating an event like the AVP. From my work at the San Diego event, I was invited back to help with the Manhattan Beach Open next month, so look for the next blog about the sun, sex appeal, and sand of the AVP tour.