When I first got the invite to attend the Blogger Summit I was very excited but I also had no idea what to expect. I honestly pictured us being in a board room-type of space where we would all be sitting at a table and we would shoot the breeze.
When we were taken up to the 200 level and brought into a room with a bunch of tables with bright lights and cameras and a podium up front for Ted, I was extremely impressed (and also a little intimidated!). We were given our own name tags when we first got there and waiting for us in the room were notecards with our information to place in front of us during the event. I felt so official!
After we all introduced ourselves to each other, Ted Black came in and introduced himself. We were told that pizza and wings were arriving shortly, but beverages were already there if we wanted some. I went and grabbed a bottle of water and Mike Gilbert (Director of Public Relations) told me to get a beer. "We get beer?!" I thought. I don't know why but I thought that was really cool haha. I couldn't help but think if the media members get to have beer during their Q&A sessions. Sure, the bloggers don't have press box or locker room access (yet), but we get beer!
Kevin Sylvester was there to moderate the session and he did a great job adding some insight and he helped with the "flow" of the session. It was also good that Mike Gilbert and other members of the organization were there to provide additional information.
I didn't ask any questions during the on-camera portion, but my first question was asking Ted about the Sabres doing a "24-7"-type of documentary to give fans a more behind-the-scenes perspective on the team. Ted said that he'd be very interested in doing something like that, especially with the team going to Europe. I think it would be awesome to see more behind-the-scene things with the team, I thought the HBO 24-7 documentary was fascinating, so I would imagine that watching documentary in the same vein with the Sabres would be so much fun to watch.
I think my favorite part of the summit was when Ted brought out his Pegula Day app on his iPhone and started messing around with it and said that it would be fun to prank phone call Darcy with it haha.
It was also neat to hear that the Sabres players will be delivering season tickets to season ticket holders next season. That's such a fun idea, and it makes me want to add my name to the season ticket waiting list!
I was very impressed with how much time and effort the Sabres put into this summit, but I also enjoyed how informal it was. We could ask Ted important questions regarding the team, but then we could also goof around and ask silly questions (such as what type of aftershave does he use). I guess that's one of the perks about being a blogger, no?
I'm very grateful that I was able to participate in this event and I think it's awesome that the Sabres are embracing the bloggers and the fans like this. It was also great to meet with all the other people in attendance. We chat all the time over Twitter or in blog comments, so it was cool to finally meet people face-to-face. It is certainly a night I won't ever forget!
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