Tech Topics - Fall 2008 - (Page 51) YELLOW JACKETS Braves Fan Makes the BIG LEAGUES Ryan McFerrin’s attendance-projection formula has helped him fulfill a dream By Van Jensen S ome of Ryan McFerrin’s best memories are of attending Atlanta Braves games at the old Fulton County Stadium with his dad, so it’s no wonder he said going to work every day at Turner Field “is a dream come true.” McFerrin joined the Braves’ sales office after graduating from Georgia Tech in 2005 with a degree in industrial design. He’s risen quickly in the organization and has earned some attention — including a story on MSN.com — for his creation of the “Attendance Projection Module.” The program takes past attendance figures and projects how many people will attend a given Braves game based on the day of the week, the game time, the time of year and the opponent. So far this season, it’s worked within about 5 percent accuracy and once was only 45 seats off of the actual attendance. “We’re surprised at how accurate it’s been,” McFerrin said. There is one thing the program can’t predict: Mother Nature. “That’s really where our model’s been off this year,” he said. “A rainy Friday night can throw us off by 5,000 or 6,000.” Major League Baseball sets the schedule of games for every team, but teams are able to request changes to their schedules. McFerrin said the program was designed to give Braves general manager Frank Wren concrete information to make such requests. “We want to be able to analyze a schedule as it goes through its phases of development,” McFerrin said, “to develop a tool that would allow us to have some hard data that’s going to back up anecdotal data.” Now that the Braves know how effective the program is, it’s starting to be applied in other ways. Staffing levels are influenced by projections, McFerrin said, and the team is considering other measures such as adjusting game times and changing how they offer promotions such as giveaways and discounted tickets. McFerrin is currently analyzing three years worth of attendance data on all major league games to potentially expand the program to be used by every team and Major League Baseball. While that might seem like helping out the competition, he wants to improve the game as a whole. “We want to make sure no team gets the short end of the stick,” he said. “We want to have the maximum attendance we can have, but [the attendance projection module] has a better use if it’s a tool that’s eventually available to everybody.” McFerrin credited the technical skills he picked up at the Institute, where he was a President’s Scholar, for the success he’s had through nearly three seasons with the Braves. Besides creating the attendance projector, he also conducts market research, supports sales representatives, works on the team’s Web site and COURTESY ATLANTA BRAVES Although he works behind the scenes for the Braves, Ryan McFerrin has garnered national media attention. helps design sales materials. He calls himself a “jack of all trades.” Just as important as his academic efforts was McFerrin’s involvement with athletics while at Tech, he said. In addition to driving the Ramblin’ Wreck for the Athletic Association while an undergraduate, he worked with the Athletic Association on marketing projects. “Being involved in the behind-the-scenes details of a game day really excited me, and I knew it was something I wanted to pursue,” he said. While working on the business side of sports has given McFerrin a different perspective of professional baseball than when he watched the team from the stands, he quickly pointed out that it’s still a lot of fun. Having grown up playing baseball, McFerrin loves the days he gets to step out onto Turner Field. “Every once in a while we get to play on the grass, and we have an employee softball tournament,” he said. “We’re all baseball fans, and we’ve got that bond. I tell people I never have a day where I wake up and I’m upset that I have to come to work.” Refereeing the Referees Ron Johnson goes from Army to overseeing NBA officials By Van Jensen After last year’s scandal of a referee conspiring to fix games, it’s no surprise the National Basketball Association looked for a stern military man to help right the ship. What’s surprising about retired Army Maj. Gen. Ronald Johnson, who has been named senior vice president of NBA referee operations, is that he comes to the league with very little basketball background. “I played intramural basketball at West Point, coached and played on a U.S. Army community team in Germany and blocked (fellow Tech alum) John Salley’s shot during a pickup game at Georgia Tech when I was a graduate student there,” Johnson said, before adding, “then Salley embarrassed me throughout the game after that.” While Johnson, MS OR 85, may never have been a basketball all-star, he brings to the NBA’s troubled referee operations a wealth of experience in leadership, management and technical analysis, skills he picked up at Tech and in 32 years in the military. Johnson said his “amazing” journey to the NBA began in 2006, when the league invited him to speak at the NBA Rookie Transition Program. “I was introduced by Commissioner David Stern and spoke to the rookies about values, responsibility, being a role model and about being more than just a rookie but instead a representative for the NBA,” Johnson said. “Apparently, I made a lasting impression on the commissioner.” After Johnson retired, he was surprised when Stern called. A few interviews later, they offered him the position “and the rest is simply a blessing.” Now Johnson is charged with helping the league’s referees overcome the scandal related to former referee Tim Donaghy, who was sentenced to 15 months in prison for conspiring to fix games, and a perception among some fans that the NBA influences referees to call games more favorably toward certain teams. Stern said he chose Johnson because he “has made a career of getting the very best out of people.” Johnson acknowledged the challenges facing him but said the same skills he’s always used will continue to serve him well. “It’s about applying my well-honed leadership and analytical skills to the referee operations throughout the NBA to make the game what it was meant to be,” he said. “I know that it will be tough, but I’ve got some great people and we are going to make it happen. “We should not allow ourselves to think that because one ref went astray they are all not well intentioned. Communicating that message in both word and deed is what we have to do now.” TechTopics | Fall 2008 51 http://www.MSN.com
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