16. Laur
Chapter sixteen
Laur
M y heart beats loudly in my ears. This time with more thrill than nerves to finish the second round of interviews, even though part of my excitement is definitely Libby finally being all moved in.
Every time I walk past Bren’s empty room my heart sinks.
Having Libby there will lift some of the sadness out of my heart to see the room full again, especially when my best friend on campus lives down the hall from me.
I already finished the first half of the second round of virtual interviews yesterday before in person interviews happen—if they can make it to in person.
Truthfully, I’m debating pushing all final interviews to virtual with the larger team instead of in person.
Some candidates might live too far, and we did get a late start on interviewing.
I don’t want to waste anyone’s time; we only have five open spots.
The final interviews are for the other leads, Libby and Kat, who is the only other senior on the team but not close with our friend group, to flag any issues they see, so my mind will be mostly set on who I want to join the program by then.
To have the most positive end to the sessions, I chose to end interviews with the two candidates that I think have the most potential, Lena and Raven. There is no doubt in my mind that they both will get one of the five spots we have open.
Lena’s interviews went flawlessly. She was bouncing with glee her entire interview, reminding me of Bren’s bubbly mannerisms. She is an absolute yes. Truthfully, I see her being the lead of the program when she’s a senior .
Raven I am on the fence about. She has an extensive background in the fashion world.
I’m impressed by the number of events she’s been a part of, especially so young.
She’s supported over ten different charity fundraisers, galas, and auctions but it’s not clear to me why she wants to work with a hockey team.
Clearing my throat, I immediately inquire about this at the start of her next interview. I need to know why she thinks working for a sports team would be the right fit for her and why she applied to this specific program.
“Tell me why you want to work with a hockey team.”
Her eyes go distant as if she is no longer mentally in our virtual interview. “I have a family tie to the fashion industry,” Raven explains, her voice quieting. “It’s really helped me get my foot in the door.”
After a beat she continues, still not fully present.
“But I want something different.” She twirls her finger around her blonde locks and shakes her head, which seems to bring her back into the present.
“I think my experience with the charity events will translate very well.” Her voice grows louder with confidence.
Before I can ask her to elaborate, she continues. Good . She knows she needs to provide more details.
“I am most excited for the opportunity to help drive ticket sales and raise money for the team’s charity focus for the year.
I have a lot of ideas on events outside of games as well as events inside of games.
I’ll share an example.” She pauses, taking a breath.
“A picnic basket auction, which would be a less vulgar way of auctioning off the players.”
My chin perks up listening to her clever idea. Before I joined the team, there was an issue with someone’s stepmom and a player getting frisky when she won the auction for that player.
Elaborating on her idea, Raven explains, “Each player would create their own basket filled with food, drinks, dessert, and some type of activity they love. It could range from crossword puzzles to a board game to binoculars to bird watch. ”
My heart slows after skipping a beat hearing binoculars at first, thankful she explained it was for bird watching. This must be what others feel like when I mention my brother’s little black book. It’s harmless and insightful with hockey team and player insights galore.
Raven’s voice speeds up with enthusiasm. “People would bid on the baskets, not knowing which player created them. We could even have some type of prize if someone guesses each basket correctly to the player on the team—it would be difficult but people love to win hard things.”
She drums her finger on her chin, thinking. “There could be an entry fee to guess, maybe some type of raffle to support the charity.” She drums her finger on her chin. “Then people would also bid for the baskets so it’s two-fold, and we could raise even more money.”
My mind races, plotting out the concept.
This could be a way to ensure its public facing, and people would be bidding on mystery baskets so technically wouldn’t know which player made which basket.
Knowing the players, they would definitely need some support coming up with ideas, but luckily, that’s right in my team’s wheelhouse.
The guessing component as a raffle to raise probably double the amount of money? It’s truly remarkable. It’s evident she’s damn good at charity events.
“Great example! I have one final question for you,” I tell Raven, my voice dripping with eagerness.
Our interview has already gone over the hour I had planned, but I’m determined to hear more of her ideas around games.
“Can you give me an example of a social media post or campaign you would create prior to game day to grow attendance?”
“Can I ask some questions?” Raven replies, poised and calm under the pressure.
“Of course,” I respond, interested to hear her questions.
“Who are we playing? What day of the week is the game? Do we have any special or unique marketing opportunities for the game?”
Each question she asks is intuitive. Raven puts a lot of detailed thought into every answer she’s given me, except I realize she never gave detail on why sports marketing. Why is she so aloof about that? Libby or Kat will have to re-ask during her final interview.
“Great questions.” I clasp my hands together. “Assume we are playing one of our main rivals. It’s a Friday game. Any marketing opportunities, swag, whatever you can think of are fair game.”
A bright grin bursts across her face. “Perfect! I would focus on the rivalry and create a campaign around the rivalry. I’d maybe call it the rivalry rampage.” She pauses, thinking for a moment before continuing. “Scratch that I’m not sure what I would call it yet.”
“Let’s assume this opponent is someone we typically win against. Outside the arena, there would be a car with the opponent’s logo on it. The car would be donated from a local junk yard, already beat up but free to save on costs.”
My eyes widen with delight. I like where she is headed.
“People would be able to purchase a ticket. There could even be different tiers. You would place a bet on how much you think we will win by, which would enter them into the rivalry bet,” She giggles.
“I’m still workshopping the name. But people could spray paint their bets on the car.
We could also hit the car with a hockey stick and charge per hit, but from a safety perspective I’m not sure that would fly,” she whispers the last part to herself.
Thinking for a minute, I finally reply, “I’m not sure of logistics, but let’s just say we can do it for the sake of this hypothetical scenario.
” What I don’t add is how it would need to be an expensive stick with a high flex rating .
. . The old sticks the hockey department has wouldn’t work and we would not have a budget for endless new sticks.
A sheepish smile spreads across Raven’s face. “In that case, each person can pay for up to five hits, pay per ticket. Half the proceeds go to the charity and the other half goes to the winner, who is determined based on the best they placed. We are winning this hypothetical game.”
Pride fills my eyes, but I need to try to stump her. “I think this would draw a lot of attention. How would you handle people making the same bet? How would the winner be determined if over fifty people had the same exact score for the game?”
Tapping her finger on her chin, she slowly begins, “It’s a raffle, so everyone that guesses correctly would be entered—up to five times, each time you purchase a ticket to hit the car with the hockey stick you get an entry. If you guess correctly, then your tickets go into the raffle.”
Boom . She nailed it, this makes up for her strange response to the hockey question. Before I can ask any follow up questions, she jumps back in.
“There would be posts on social media, email marketing, posters around campus. I would love to do a fake promo video with the guys shirtless and hitting the car. Maybe a different car though.” Excitement dances in Raven’s eyes. “This would be so fun!”
A small, satisfied smile creeps onto my face, I cough trying to keep it from Raven’s view.
“Thank you for putting so much intention into your well-crafted responses. I will be in touch in the next few days regarding next steps. Do you have any more questions for me before we end?” I ask, still trying to hide my smile and remain natural.
“I just wanted to confirm—the next steps are the last round, correct?” Raven inquires, her voice slightly shaky.
“Yes. They will be the final interviews. However, I think they will still be virtual for the sake of time,” I inform her, “I’ll be in touch shortly. Thanks so much for your time.”
“Thank you for the time and consideration, Lauren. Have a great day!” Raven says chirpily, the confidence back in her voice.
“You too,” I reply, exiting the video call.
Something about Raven feels familiar, but I can’t put my finger on it.