Kyle Bass
Q&A
Q. Where are you employed? What is your Title?
I am the Director of Ticket Operations for the Southern Illinois Miners, a minor league baseball team in Marion,
Illinois. We are entering our third season and are part of the independent Frontier League (no affiliation with any Major
League organizations).
Q. What is your favorite part of your job?
I would have to say that the favorite part of my job is making everything run smoothly. I take satisfaction in covering
all the bases our organization has with regard to our ticket management software, our ushers and ticket takers, season tickets,
group ticket sales, and individual ticket purchases. I prefer to be somewhat invisible in that respect...if my phone isn't
ringing off the hook, odds are we have no major ticket-related problems and everyone is happy. Then I can be happy.
Q. What do you consider to be your most valuable contribution to your organization for which you work?
Well, obviously there are many, many things I could name...The most immediate items are a couple projects I'm currently
working on. I'm working on implementing a secondary ticket market for our season ticketholders that, if successful, should
dramatically impact our no-show percentage as well as pad our gameday revenue. I'm also working with our ticket management
provider (Tickets.com) on transitioning into a new e-marketing tool that will help us maintain higher levels of contact with our
fans, among many other things.
Q. Given your career path, where do you see yourself in 10 years?
10 years is a long time! I was barely out of junior high 10 years ago...I'm honestly not too sure on this one. I don't
plan on still working in professional baseball, however. I love baseball, and it's my favorite sport, but it has the longest
season! Our season is only 96 games long, so we only have 48 home games, but still...doesn't an eight home game NFL season
sound better to you? We'll just have to see.
Q. Do you have any words of advice/recommendations? a. for undergrads still searching for a major-would
you recommend RST and why?, b. for the undergrads currently in the program c. for the senior currently looking for his/her
first position.
a. I would certainly recommend RST. A point from one of Ryan Gower's lectures still sticks out in my mind (sorry Ryan, just the one): the
leisure services industry is important to people. When a person looks back and reflects on his/her life, does he/she regret not working a few
more weekend shifts at the office or not filling out a few more cover sheets for TPS reports? Probably not...it's more likely that he/she looks
back on the good times and experiences with family and friends; opportunities that the leisure services industry seeks to afford. The RST
department at Illinois provides excellent opportunities to learn and work in these areas and has been a great springboard for me and many other alumi.
b. Work toward something that you're passionate about. If you don't know what that is yet, immerse yourself in as many different experiences
as you can and eventually, something will stick. If the program is just going to classes and writing papers, you'll have a tough time manufacturing
opportunities for yourself or taking full advantage of those that present themselves to you. Also, listen to Ryan Gower and do what he says.
c. Get out there and get yourself an internship. Obviously, bigger and better internships can open more doors for you, but getting any sort of
internship in the area you're pursuing is a huge step. There are tons of employment avenues that simply aren't available to you until you've had
some sort of internship, so get out there and do it! Also, listen to Ryan Gower and do what he says
Q. Please add anything else that might be helpful.
n/a