Exit Interview: Corporate Partnerships Trainee Kevin Brannon

Corporate Partnerships Trainee and Watkinsville, Ga. native Kevin Brannon is the first of the Gwinnett Stripers' nine trainees to accept a full-time position. He is heading to the University of Georgia, where he will be an Academic Advisor for the Sport Management program.
Media Relations Trainee Dan Reiner sat down with Kevin on his last day with the Stripers to reflect on his traineeship and how it has prepared him for his first full-time position.

Dan Reiner: What does your new Academic Advisor role at UGA entail?
Kevin Brannon: I'll be advising students regarding their schedules. I'll be giving them insight into what courses may be more difficult and how to better suit a schedule that will fit their lifestyles, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.
DR: You were a sport management major at UGA. Do you feel you're prepared to give them advice based on your own experience?
KB: I went through undergrad in Sport Management at UGA, and I also got my Master's in Sport Management at UGA. It was a very similar process. I also have relationships at UGA Athletics, which I can point those students toward so they can get experience or fieldwork, as well as a classroom base. I'll kind of give them a different platform; Not only do they get this academic resource, but they also get somebody who can point them in the right direction for coursework and fieldwork.
DR: That job doesn't seem to exactly line up with what you've done here with Gwinnett, but how has your experience here prepared you for the job you're taking?
KB: It looks like it doesn't really match up, but in reality, it kind of does. In Corporate Partnerships, it's all about being organized. We have to keep up with all of our corporate partners, email them, schedule meetings, be able to tell them information that is critical to their partnership with us. Essentially, that's what I'm going to be doing on a macro basis with the students. Sure, they're not partners or giving us X-amount of dollars, but we're setting up their schedules for them. Rather than having the 100-plus partners we have here, I'm going to be getting set up with hundreds of students to give them information that is important and vital to them.
DR: What lessons are you taking away from here that you didn't have before?
KB: One of the best parts about this is now I have experience in professional sports. Coming into this job, I only had UGA Athletics on my record, which is big collegiate sports, but nonetheless only collegiate. I can tell the students that I've done collegiate and professional sports, and I can give them valuable insight that they may be able to use. From a sports standpoint, I think it's really defined me in honing a skill - learning how to sharpen one skill in particular. In college athletics, you're spreading a wide cast and trying to reel in what you catch. In pro sports, you have your skill, you're in this one area and you have to concentrate on that to make it as sharp and refined as possible.
DR: What's your favorite memory from your time here?
KB: It seems like every time we'd do tarp pulls, I'd always forget to bring spare clothes or a rain jacket. When we'd have to go out there, I'd be the only guy in a polo and khakis, just getting drenched in the rain.
DR: I feel like if you've never worked in Minor League Baseball, you can't be prepared for pulling tarp.
KB: It's also much worse when it's at the end of the game, people have left, and you're trying to roll out this tarp with only like 12 people on it. You're pushing with all your might and it's hardly moving. Those were probably the most memorable moments...
...I think the best is that I've gotten to build relationships with everybody in the office. It's been fun to meet new people. Even if I don't work in professional sports again - I may or may not - I've extended my network to who knows where. You're from New York, Michael (McCoy) is from Washington, Rachael (DiLeonardo) has been all over, Alyssa (Fair) is from Michigan. My network could reach from the Southeast to the Northeast, Northwest, Midwest. I think it's just been fun to build relationships with people, and also partners in the local community.