While waiting for the National Hockey League lockout to end, Buffalo Sabres executives have been taking the time to educate each other, literally.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays this month, team staffers are attending what’s being called Sabres University. It’s a program that has Sabres employees acting as teachers for their colleagues, with courses ranging from “Salary Cap and Player Transactions” and “Media Buying” to “Fitness and Nutrition” and “Photoshop for Beginners.”
Sabres University was created in response to team owner Terry Pegula’s mandate to use the downtime during the lockout to become better as an organization. Sabres staffers have not sustained any layoffs or pay cuts as a result of the lockout.
Really a great idea, and another piece of the puzzle in Pegula making this organization over. (Although someone might quibble with Regier teaching “Salary Cap and Player Transactions”. )
Dance Instruction, with the Earl of Bud
Chorus, taught and conducted by Doug Allen
Money and Finance 101, with Terry Pegula and special guest lecturers Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr
How to play efense, with An y elmore
Last edited by Taro Tsujimoto: 11-14-2012 at 09:01 PM.
The courses ranged from “The Do’s and Don’ts of Social Media,” to “The Scouting Process,” headed by general manager Darcy Regier. There was a seminar from the ice-making crew in detailing techniques required to create a smooth sheet of game-ready ice. And even Kim Pegula got involved by outlining the team’s mission under her and husband Terry Pegula’s ownership.
As for Ruff, he taught a class explaining how he gets his defenceman involved in the offensive rush.
A little more detail on "Sabres U" in latest Hockey News:
Quote:
Instead of making layoffs, president Ted Black and vic-president of marketing Brent Rossi devised a new and exclusive concept: Sabres University. "It was really the direciton of Terry and Kim Pegula, who have a culture of growing and bettering ourselves within the organization," Rossi said. "During the lockout, they challenged us to come up with something that talked to that culture."
Students were given a leather binder, schedule, core curriculum and options for electives. Classes were three credits each anmd 30 credit hours were required to "pass" the semester. "It put everyone on an equal plane in terms of trying to learn more about how each of us does our job,", Black said.
Sounds like a concept often used in some occupations of mandatory continued education to maintain licensure or certification - I hadn't realized that credit quotas were in place that all employees had to meet. Initially, it had sounded like a goodwill / morale building program that the Sabres were using to pass the time and which their employees could choose at their option to participate in or not.
)
