Fantasy Sports Writers Association Newsletter
July 2006
~ Greetings FSWA Members ~
As mentioned in our June newsletter, we are attempting to identify what we can do to improve this organization. In addition, we are trying to gauge our performance in the recent months. In order to accomplish this, we are asking that you take two minutes to complete a brief survey. The link is
http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=xxfcgzkayubah1p208579
Thank you for your assistance with this endeavor.
Kirk Bouyelas
President
Fantasy Sports Writers Association
FSWA Establishes 3 Committees
It’s been said that we rarely accomplish anything in this world alone. There is certainly a great deal of wisdom in those words. Given the level of talent associated with the FSWA, the Executive Committee would be fool hearted to believe that we can do everything by ourselves. For the FSWA to grow and realize our full potential, we must tap into the valuable resources we have available to us. With that said, the Executive Committee has created several critical committees to help the FSWA grow and mature as an association in the coming weeks and months. These committees are as follows:
Membership Committee: The Membership Committee will be chaired by John Georgopoulos. The committee will be responsible for accomplishing two general goals. The first goal is to institute initiatives to bolster the membership of this organization. This can be accomplished through both traditional and non-traditional methods. Examples might include mailings, promotions and press releases. The second goal is to highlight and advance the accomplishments of our membership. An example we have asked John to consider is to highlight a writer each month in the newsletter. We would talk about the member’s accomplishments, experience, featured articles, etc.
In the coming weeks, John will be considering potential members for this committee. If you have any ideas that you would like to share with John, he can be contacted at johng@gridirongrumblings.com
Sponsorship Committee: Mike Beacom will be serving as the chairman for the Sponsorship Committee. The committee will be responsible for seeking out sponsors from an assortment of different entities and businesses. Mike and his team will seek to identify both monetary and non-monetary sponsorship opportunities for this organization.
In the coming weeks, Mike will be considering potential members for this committee. If you have any ideas that you would like to share with Mike, he can be contacted at mikebeacom@profantasysports.com
Awards Committee: The Awards Committee will be chaired by Emil Kadlec. The Awards Committee will be charged with coordinating the FSWA awards process for each sport. The committee will seek to identify writers that may be eligible for awards, streamline the submission and voting process and garner publicity for both the winning award recipients and the organization.
In the coming weeks, Emil will be considering potential members for this committee. If you have any ideas that you would like to share with Emil, he can be contacted at football@fspnet.com
Welcome New Members:
The following writers have joined our ranks since we last published: Geoffrey Stein, Mock Draft Central; John U. Miller, Draft Sharks; Matt Quinlan, Fantasy Football Helpers; Gene Hurgr, Fantasy Football Helpers; Eric Cohen, Fantasy Football Helpers; Tobin Williams (freelance); James Meyerriecks, Fantasy Info Central; Kevin McKee, Head 2 Head; Ken Daube, Talented Mr. Roto; and Chris Harris, Talented Mr. Roto. Thanks for joining!
Industry News & Announcements:
The Fantasy Football Times.com just released a brand new updated website for the 2006 season. It offers more personalized features for our users and is built with the latest web technologies to allow for optimum performance to handle the growing amount of content we publish, including our custom start/bench XML feed. We've also hired our first intern to our staff, who will contribute weekly columns throughout the season, and added two more scouts to our Scouting Dept. to bring that total to 10.
The Sandlot Shrink is ready for its second mock draft and could use a couple of reliable fantasy players to sit in. We are scheduled for Sunday, August 6 in Chagrin Falls, Ohio (Cleveland area). Anybody interested can email me at sandlot3@adelphia.net.
Job Openings:
Writers wanted! Big Dawg Baseball is searching for six fantasy baseball writers (one for each division) to write a weekly column from February 2007 through September 2007 on the fantasy happenings in their respective division. Each writer will be paid $175. If you are interested, please send your qualifications and a sample of your writing to Chris McDonnell: chris@bigdawgbaseball.com.
Are you interested in writing on a national stage? If so, Out2.com might be the avenue for you to realize your goal.
The managing partner of Out2.com, Sam Anthony, contacted our organization to recruit fantasy sports writers for their online publication. Anthony said “Out2.com is no different than the daily paper. We are aggregators of information. Currently, Out2.com has a readership which ranges from 150,000 unique visitors to as many as 400,000 daily.” This online publication has both local and national readership and features a growing sports section. The marriage of “fantasy sports” with Out2.com would be a great pairing. Contributing writers would be able to quickly establish a national presence through this unique opportunity.
If you would like to inquire about writing for Out2.com, please contact Sam Anthony at sam@out2.com or call us at 561-863-7877
Work Wanted:
Looking for full-time fantasy football writing and/or editing position: Joe Levit, a fantasy football columnist for SI.com and TheHuddle.com, is seeking full-time fantasy football employment. He has fantasy football radio, consulting and speaking experience in addition to publication in FF magazines such as Athlon, Lindy's, DraftBook and Tuff Stuff's.
Joe has completed football fan perspective pieces for the NFL and The Sporting News. Able to do the obvious tasks of player rankings, capsules, and projections, he also excels in developing innovative industry ideas. He is the creator of the Sleeper League model and many other game concepts.
He will create patron loyalty and interest in your company, but don't just take his word for it: Testimonials
"While there are a growing number of people who purport themselves to be experts in fantasy sports, Joe Levit is not a pretender…he's the real deal!" – Rob Egan, Front & Center, ESPN Radio 1430 and 1450
"Joe has taken subjects that might at first appear to be rigid and analytical and turned them into pleasurable readings that entertain yet still provide insight" – Dan Grogan, Publisher, Grogan's Sports Information, Inc.
"I do not allow such creativity, freedom and unchecked latitude with any of our other writers" – David Dorey, Co-Owner, The Huddle
"Our group was impressed at both your knowledge and ease of conveying actionable tactics and strategies for a successful season... We look forward to hiring you again next year." – Justin Wine, Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch Global Private Client Group
If you have current openings or foresee appropriate future positions, please contact him by cell phone at 617-448-0909 or email him at joe.levit@gmail.com.
