Putting the Beat together

These past couple of weeks things have really started moving, even more than before.

One of the most exciting things: we have players!! We had an expansion draft, where we chose players already in the league, and an international draft, where we picked up players playing internationally in different professional leagues. Overall now, we've got 10 players!! Almost enough to field a team...(You need eleven for the field, but most pro teams have about 25+). It's going to be a really important part of the Beat's media to get the players in touch with the fans and the community, so now it's time to get with them and vamp up the website.

The website is actually really starting to come together. There are some really talented people that work here, and everyone has been working so hard. You can see all the progress at www.theatlantabeat.com, which is where we're starting to get the ball really rolling on our fan zone, our ticket buying process, and our advertising.

A challenge we have faced so far is selling tickets. I know that sounds like a major challenge, but there are good reasons for this, that will hopefully be solved in the next couple of weeks. Basically, the stadium is going to be awesome, it's going to be brand new, and it's going to be impressive...but, we can't quite yet release the location! All we can disclose is that it's in the Cobb location, and most Kennesaw Students should easily be able to figure that out based on construction around them (hint, hint). Anyways, when we go to sell tickets, or get pledges for tickets, we can't tell the people we're selling the tickets to where they will be going to watch the game!! That makes it quite difficult, but we have been able to get a few season ticket commitments, which is very promising.

Lately, with the addition of the new players, the website coming together, more and more people coming to work, and trying to work on advertising, ticket sales, and getting our name out there, it seems like there is so much to do and so little time! We're definitely getting there, though..and it's really exciting!

Getting the Rhythm

I've been here for a couple of weeks now, and it flew by! There is so much going on here now, and my days are starting to get busier and busier.

Construction for the new stadium has just begun, and it is already moving so fast. Within a day, the entire area was cleared out and it looks completely new. We took photos of the site for the webpage that is being worked on, and every time I drive by it looks completly different. It is very exciting to see the progress. It's not quite time to announce anything official about the stadium, but that will come soon, and it's just another factor that will make the Atlanta Beat grow even more!

I have been researching and writing about a lot of community events in the area this week. I also compiled them all in company calendar of events. We are trying to get the word out to as many people in the area as possible, and being at events in the area is the best way to do so. Last Saturday we had a tent set up at the Atlanta Cup where we were talking to the crowds, and also selling some season tickets.

Another part of reaching out to the community is through local clubs in the area. There are so many soccer associations and clubs in Atlanta alone, and that is exciting for the Atlanta Beat. We expect to work very closely with these clubs in many different ways, and hope to have their support and attendance once the season starts in April.

It's very interesting to be here at this time in the company. My first couple of days it was almost empty around here. Every day more and more people have joined, and now the office is close to full! I love seeing the growth and development of what is sure to be a successful company and soccer team.