Sunday, February 26, 2012

Open House at the Ballpark


The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings...

You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive...


A. Bartlett Giamatti
Former Commissioner of Major League Baseball
& President of Yale University


As Spring Training begins in Florida and Arizona, we will open our gates Friday and Saturday for Fan Fest 2012 in downtown Durham. Visit us either day from 11-2 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park for a taste of the upcoming season.

Take BP, play catch with your kids on Goodmon Field, clown around with Wool E. Bull. See what's new in the Ballpark Corner Store. Make a ticket purchase and get a free lunch!

...and here's a homework assignment: flip through the new on-line edition of Bulls Illustrated. Everything you need to know about ticket packages, entertainment options, promotions and events at the DBAP in 2012.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Coach K & the Family K


Last week's annual meeting of the Durham Chamber of Commerce was an astonishing event.

There was a record-setting crowd of 800 at the Sheraton Imperial. That's not the big news.

The Chamber's economic development work led to 52 companies locating or expanding in Durham last year - creating 2,316 new jobs. That's not the big news.

What was so amazing? Duke's Coach K was the speaker, and he did NOT discuss basketball!

Mike and Mickie Krzyzewski - and their family - received the Chamber's Civic Honor Award. That was unprecedented, too.


Instead of hoops, the Ks talked about their family's 32 years in Durham, and we received a pep talk on the Bull City.

As Mickie put it: We raised our children in Durham, and they are raising their children in Durham. Durham is our home. As they say at Cameron "This is our house!"


The Herald-Sun covered the K-fam's award and the Durham Chamber's annual meeting; click here for the story.

Of course, Coach K is a basketball legend, but the Emily Krzyzewski Center is his family's enduring legacy in downtown Durham.


Saturday, February 18, 2012

The Gray Monster



The Blue Monster is receiving a facelift during the offseason. The outfield wall looked more like a battleship last Thursday as a coat of primer was applied. By Friday, the Monster's blue hue had been restored. I'm not posting a photo of the finished product. You will have to join us - in person - on April 5th, Opening Day!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Bull City Buck$


Exploration! Entertainment! Eating! There's a new upside to those pursuits in Durham.

We unveiled a loyalty/rewards program Wednesday on the American Tobacco Campus. Scan QR codes around town, earn points and reap rewards with Bull City Buck$. It's sponsored by our downtown Durham neighbor, University Ford/Kia.

An app is in the pipeline. For now, hit the website: www.bullcitybucks.com. And check out this Herald-Sun story for more details.


QR (quick response) codes are a remarkable promotional tool. Bulls' staffers Mary Beth and Molly became human QR codes for the Bull City Buck$ kick-off. Yes, you could scan their t-shirts with your smart phone to register at the BCB website. They were good sports about the assignment, and it beat the alternative...wearing an old fashioned sandwich board sign.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Tops in Sports Marketing



We honored the company's top sales people last month. Obviously, revenue generation is a key metric for these awards, but the foundation of this recognition is our customers, aka clients, advertisers and sponsors.

Capitol's best sales people are without peer when it comes to providing effective marketing solutions for our customers. They know how to put our sports platform to work for advertisers. (Lots of moving parts: in-venue, radio, TV, web, mobile, social media, print.) You won't be successful year after year unless you help to make your customers successful.

Here are the best of the best from our Sports Group as they receive congratz from Capitol CEO Jim Goodmon...

Elizabeth Pritchett
Durham Bulls Baseball Club
Elizabeth began as an intern in the box office and moved into the sponsorship department. In 2011 she led the staff in renewals and new business, and she set the pace for cold calling and appointment setting. A high, high achiever!


Joey Powell
99.9 The Fan ~ 620 The Buzz ~ 1550 ESPN Deportes
Impressive stats: 111% of budget, added 25 new accounts, grew his key accounts 200%. Currently enrolled in Leadership Triangle and renowned for his bobble head collection.


Eric Quimby
Wolfpack Sports Marketing ~ NC State University Athletics
He was first to achieve his budget and the new business leader. Also, Eric manages our sports division's largest account. This is a 3-peat for Eric!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Battle of the Blues


This has not been an especially productive week. A prolonged hangover grips the world of commerce with the Super Bowl and the Carolina-Duke game occurring within three days of one another. If economists measured such things, it would be more bad news.

Here's a local broadcasting tidbit from last night's basketball game: WRAL TV5 logged a 21 rating with its Raycom broadcast. ESPN pulled a 6 in RDU. (Under the ACC's new TV compact ESPN was not blacked out locally; both telecasts were available.) While I'm inclined to give Capitol's mother ship all of the credit, what does it say about the "people's choice" regarding Rayom's Tim Brando vs. ESPN's Dicky V?

The hoops contest was an ACC classic, but my game-day highlight was the promotion we did on 99.9 The Fan. The station gave away a pair of tickets to the game, one to a Duke fan and one to a Carolina Fan. They were required to share dinner and sit together at the game.

Where bitter rivalry is the order of the day, this is our modest contribution to global reconciliation and world peace. The Fan will probably be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. (I've booked my flight to Oslo.)

Check out the video...



More on Duke's win over UNC from wralSPORTSfan.com.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

A Pillar of the Community


While baseball hibernates, real estate seems to be the big story these days.

Our CEO, Jim Goodmon, received a significant honor last week from the Triangle Business Journal. The publication recognizes leadership in the commercial real estate biz with its annual Space Awards. Per TBJ's report:

Goodmon was honored for the risk he took in undertaking the renovation of the American Tobacco Campus, adjacent to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Mayor Bill Bell presented the Pillar Award, the most prestigious award of the event, to Goodmon for his commitment to community service, real estate industry service and leadership.

My favorite Goodmon mantra:
A company can't claim to be successful unless its community is successful.
That's why he's outspoken on regionalism, education and diversity...