Best of 2001: The Gameops.com Review
Jon Spoelstra Interview
The Curse of the Magic Donkey
Best of 2005: The Gameops.com Review
Pilates Starter Kit
Punch List
Shari Sharkins Peels Layers off the Dragons
Last year our panel picked the Dayton Dragons as the Best of 2003 Team Operations. Their operations have been often talked about since the team debuted in 2000. The team is owned by Mandalay Sports entertainment which owns several minor league teams including the Roughriders and the Las Vegas 51's.
All the Mandalay teams focus attention on their game operations. In a the 2003 August Gameops.com interview, President Jon Spoelstra explained that, "My feeling is that when a fan walks into the area or ballpark its the teams job to entertain them," so the attention starts at the top and has been impressed through-out the organization. (also see Jon Spoelstra Interview
They also won the PRISM award for excellence, so the Gameops.com panel was not alone in singling out the Dragons' for their entertaining presentation.
After hearing the praise from across the sports world, Gameops.com decided to take in a game first hand and see what makes their show so strong.
Shari Sharkins is the Director of Entertainment for the Dragons, a position she has held since their second season. Sheri's background in entertainment includes work as a dancer for Royal Caribbean Cruises and as an instructor, choreographer, and atmosphere manager for various professional entertainment shows. She has a Bachelors Degree in Performing Arts from Point Park College in Pittsburgh.
During her 4 seasons in Dayton, the Dragons have sold over every game, and each year every ticket is sold before opening day. Their entertainment has proven to be a hallmark of the team and the fan base has shown its loyalty by maintaining the sellouts during winning and losing seasons.
After watching the game on June 15, 2004 it was obvious that the praise and awards for the Dragons was well deserved. Three aspects of the show also stood out, which clearly helped the Dragons go from a good show to a great show. In a slightly different format from the standard Q and A Interview this month, Gameops.com will instead look at those aspects and why they help make Dayton show so special.
- The personality of the Director
- Multi-layered elements
- Preparation for each element
These elements ran through the Game Production. Each played a role in not only making the entire show entertaining and fresh, but each helped to make each inning break more engaging and memorable. We will examine those themes based on the visit to Dayton and hopefully will provide insight on how every teams operations can be improved.
In addition to the review of those 3 elements, this months feature will include a brief review of a few of the Dragon game elements, some related comments from others, and the usual array of links to related content on the web.
Best of 2001: The Gameops.com Review
Glen Gower of the Ottawa 67's
Developing a User “Fur”-iendly Mascot Program”
Peter Sorckoff Returns!
Recycled Anytime Tote Bag
