Dawson Reale is a recent SPAD graduate who graduated in 2017. Dawson is from the great city of Sudbury and has always had a passion for the ticket selling industry. During his time in the program Dawson worked for StarOne Tickets which is a Canadian version of Stubhub. After graduation Dawson began working for the Sudbury Wolves and is responsible for managing the overall suite experience.
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My Story!
What are some of your greatest memories during your SPAD career?
By far the consulting field trip and going to the city of Washington. Being a Boston sports fan I really wanted to go to Boston so I'm kind of jealous of this year's group. The selfish vacation aspect of myself really wanted to go California but Washington was definitely a great experience. Given the projects we were able to work on with the team and being able to go with the class group we had was truly awesome and a experience I well never forget.
Buy a Ticket, Take A Ride
What made you enroll in the SPAD program?
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I've always had a passion for the sports business industry and that interest level has always been there for me ever since I was a kid. I'm a huge Boston Bruins and Red Sox fan and when applying to universities a few years ago, I asked myself why do a general commerce degree when you can do both? All the examples and problems in the textbooks related to accounting or payroll for a sporting team made it a lot easier to relate and understand to.
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How have you taken what you’ve learned in SPAD and applied it to ticket sales ?
Sales is exactly what I’m doing on a consistent basis. Selling tickets in general consists of playing catch with your customer to find out exactly their price range, what game they want tickets for, how many tickets they need and where they want to sit. Playing catch is something I can credit and thank Tom Blake's sales class for. SPAD in general brings you out of your shell and based on my experience so far you get to meet, network and mingle with a lot of people which is a great tool to have while working in the ticketing industry.
Where did you do your Internship?
I did my internship with StarOne Tickets. It was a great experience because it was cool working here in Sudbury for one week and working one week in Toronto. I acquired this internship based on prior connections made before SPAD. It was a stepping stone for me to gain experience in the ticket selling industry and make some new connections.
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Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
Working for a professional sports team on a bigger scale of some sort is definitely where I see myself in the future. What I'm doing now is a great opportunity for me to gain valuable experience. Working for the Bruins, RedSox, Jays, or MLSE is something I can certainly see myself doing in the near future.
Now that you’ve gotten experience in the sport-business world, what advice would you give to current SPAD students looking to break into the industry?
I recommend leaving every door open and keeping in touch with your contacts because you never know what opportunity might come about. I constantly send emails to connect with my contacts at MLSE if I need advice or I have a question I need an answer to. Even if they don't respond at first always keep in contact. When we were kids we all enjoyed collecting hockey cards. One thing I can say that I believe is very useful to everyone in SPAD is this: "collect business cards instead of hockey cards."
After graduating from a tough SPAD program and being successful in your career so far, is there anything you would have done differently during your time at Laurentian to better prepare yourself for your future?
In my first couple years I found myself doing the bare minimum. I scraped by in terms of attending SPAD social events. Looking back on it I would definitely advise current students to be active in the program and be there for your classmates at these events. You never know who's going to be their and a potential door for a job may become open. One of the best things about the SPAD program is the events they organize for you. It's definitely one of the main contributors as to why the program is so good and well known.
Author and Interviewer: Themis Vlahos
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Contributor: Dawson Reale
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JP Rains
SPAD 4146
March 6th / 2018
