Name: Stephanie Spees
Age: 26
Location: Sacramento, Calif.
Education: B.A. in Public Relations, Sacramento State in Sacramento, Calif.
Job Title: Manager, Events and Entertainment, Raley Field in Sacramento, Calif.
What She Does: Stephanie manages all non-baseball-related events that take place at Raley Field (home of the Sacramento River Cats), including concerts, brew fests, rib cook-offs, private events, high school graduations, boxing matches, and corporate softball games. She coordinates everything from staffing and marketing to ticket prices and parking signage.
How She Got Her Gig: Stephanie started out as an intern in 2005. Her first event was a concert with headliners Good Charlotte and the Black Eyed Peas. She made sure the performers had all the food and beverages they wanted, and transported them to and from the stage on a go-cart. “When I was taking the Black Eyed Peas to the stage, Will.I.Am stole my go-cart and started driving it around like a nutball,” she recalls with a laugh. “I was freaking out thinking he would crash and I would get fired!” It was a test of her ability to handle the unpredictable, and as it turned out, she passed. Stephanie was hired full-time in 2006. With an amiable disposition and a diligent work ethic, she advanced from assistant to coordinator to manager in a short time.
Just Roll With It: “There’s no manual on managing a brew fest at a ballpark,” she chuckles. “You learn on your own, and you’re bound to make mistakes.” Whether in the preparation or execution phase, Stephanie believes there is always something you can improve upon. “After every event I ask myself what I would do differently next time, and then make sure to implement it.”
Tricks of the Trade: “I am a pretty scattered person,” she admits. “So in my professional life I have to make sure I stay on top of things.” With a range of people relying on her organizational skills, from groundskeepers to radio DJs to the janitorial crew, “forgetting one detail could throw everything off.” A tool that helps curb chaos is the “event manifest,” a book in which all related information gets stored. “Once it’s created we have ‘manifest meetings’ with all the department heads. It gives me a chance to spot something I may have overlooked, and people can make suggestions so that issues don’t pop up the day of.” When stress does reach the boiling point, Stephanie shuts her office door and blasts the carefree tunes of the Dave Matthews Band (also a recent Raley Field guest).
I Wish Someone Would Have Told Me…: “Everything works out in the end.” On the nights before a big event, Stephanie used to lie awake bug-eyed, feeling the pressure to pull off a flawless affair. But her confidence was boosted with each successful occasion. “I just needed to trust myself,” she acknowledges.
This Job’s for You if: Cubicles don’t entice you, you’ve got a never-ending Rolodex, and the thought of working on the same project twice makes you yawn. The job has its perks—Stephanie meets everyone who performs and competes there, and gets free admission to every event. “But you’ve got to decide if you’re willing to dedicate the majority of your time to it,” says Stephanie, who often works 50-to-60-hour weeks. “At the end of each event I celebrate like I just finished a marathon!”
