I think today might have been my best day at Baseball America so far!
I got to spend the majority of the day at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, I saw my name on the masthead for the 2011 Almanac and everyone was happy with the work I did! What could be better?
It wasn’t long after I arrived when Conor and Nathan came to work this morning to get me. They are the two guys that cover high school players, although I am sure they do a lot of other things too. Then we headed to the ball park so we could work on some video stuff. I wasn’t really sure what we were putting together or what kind of footage they had, but I knew the offices of the Durham Bulls had Final Cut Pro for editing, and so I figured I would be right at home. It’s the program I am most familiar with, thanks to school.
When we got to a computer we were able to use, I saw some of the footage that I was going to be putting into the video, which was on the top 10 high school prospects for the 2011 draft. Two of the guys that made the list didn’t have accompanying footage, but they did have still images we could use.
We decided to put together Conor and Nathan’s voiceovers first, and that might have been my suggestion because I know how much easier it is to pick out video to use when I know how long something has to be, and it makes it easier to match pictures to words. It took a few attempts for us to get the voiceovers right, but once we figured out the equipment we were working with and got through the 10 prospects, we were rolling right along.
Then it was up to me to pick and choose from the footage they had of the players and put it together with the voiceovers from Conor and Nathan talking about each of the guys. It wasn’t too hard, and there were only a couple of players whose footage seemed to take forever to go through.
We were there all day, and I didn’t get any lunch until we left, but time seemed to fly and I thought I got a lot done. I had put together something I thought was pretty decent for each of the 10 high schoolers and Conor and Nathan were happy with the final product, so I was satisfied with it too. From start to finish, we were probably at the ball park for more than five hours, but most of it was because the footage we were using came from outside the program I was using to edit, so it had to be constantly rendered. Not a big deal, just a hassle.
Finally, it was finished and we were on our way back to the office. I was really hungry and had been complaining about it, so Nathan stopped so I could get some food. And then he even paid for it! They were grateful that I had put together the video for them and he said that if they couldn’t pay me, they could at least buy me lunch, and that sounded great to me. That made for an awesome day in itself.
We got back to the office and they showed Editor 1 and Editor 2 what we had put together. The editors loved it and Editor 1 even called it “tremendous”. They told me I had done a great job and joked around about getting my visa extended so I could stay in the US longer. Even though they were kidding, I was pretty pumped about that. The compliments were flying in my direction and I felt good.
Editor 1 asked if I could write something up about what we had done and what we used, so they can put together a proposal for the big bosses to see if they can get some video equipment for the company. Everything they need is pretty expensive so I can understand if the big bosses would be a little hesitant, but if they really want to expand the Baseball America brand into online video, they definitely need at least an editing program around the office, if not a camera and microphone to accompany it. I wrote something up for him and sent it away.
When we came back from the park, there were a couple of pleasant surprises waiting for me. On my desk there was a copy of the masthead from the 2011 Almanac with my name on it! Apparently I am an editorial assistant for the book. That’s pretty awesome, although they listed the four of us in alphabetical order and someone made it in front of me, which is a rarity. It would have been awesomer if his last name wasn’t Brown. It couldn’t have been Carson or something that comes after the letter B.
And I received an email from the guy who I had sent my dreaded list of Division I contacts to. He actually said “Wow” and mentioned that he didn’t think I would get through the list so quickly. I guess his email to check in yesterday was really just him checking in, and not some secret way of calling me a slow poke. My bad.
But he also said that he would deal with the names of the teams that I had mentioned, that I wasn’t sure what to do with, so that means I am done with the list forever! No more Division I contact names! I am little more excited about that than I should be.
So I was pretty happy about that as well. And Nathan gave me his card and mentioned that perhaps he and his wife could take me out next weekend, since they are only gone on Thursday for Thanksgiving because of her job. Obviously, I jumped at the chance to hang out with people outside of work, so I hope that works out. I have no idea what else I will do with four days to myself, but I am sure I can find some BA work to do.
During our time at the park, I also mentioned that perhaps the place my program director works might pay me to write articles from Spring Training. Since the only reason they don’t have someone there is because they don’t want to pay for their flights and stay, and I go every year anyway, they can probably afford to pay for some writing, if I am good enough and can do what they want. When I mentioned this, Nathan said that I should tell Editor 1 because BA might have money to pay someone for writing from Spring Training as well!
I am excited about the job opportunities, though I don’t know for sure if any of them will work out, and I also hope to be able to make money somehow in the interim, but I am just happy that people are thinking of me for these things already. I will forever be in their minds as the girl who goes to Spring Training, so maybe I can start making a profit.
Today was a great day and I think everyone is really happy with the video I put together! I am excited to find out if it helps them with the big bosses. I know they would really like to expand to video and I hope that I can help them with that. In the letter Editor 1 sent me to give to the officers at the border, it said that BA was hoping that I would be able to help with off-season book projects as well as expanding the brand to online video. Though I am contributing to the books, I would really feel like I am accomplishing something if I can help them with this stuff. AND it might help them remember me forever and think of me whenever they have jobs or freelance work for anyone!
I am hopeful.
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