Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Giants ownership was similarly focused on retaining their fan base as the honeymoon period for their beautiful new ballpark was beginning to wear off. Larry Baer, COO, convened an internal Capital Investment committee to identify specific initiatives that would enable the Giants to continue capturing the attention of Bay Area residents in the years to come. The result: over $10M in technology enhancements to AT&T Park intended to entertain and captivate Giants fans at the ballpark, led by San Francisco Giants CIO and Wharton MBA, Bill Schlough.

On Thursday, July 26th, Dave Reibstein and Bill Schlough will join us to discuss some of the directions that professional baseball in America could be taking in the coming years. Discussion items will include:

- What baseball needs to do to go international.
- How American baseball has lost African-Americans as both spectators and also as players...and how to turn this tide.
- How does the league coordinate initiatives across all of its teams?
- How does baseball retain the interest of the current fan base? How can it gain new fans?
- What are the metrics that the league and the individual teams should be paying attention to?

Come join us in a new event format designed to allow Wharton professors to share their thoughts on current topics and keep Wharton alumni up to date on the biggest trends in various industries. Our conference call--modeled after the analyst calls that investment banks do with their investors--will be part lecture (the first 15-20 minutes) followed by a Q&A session and a lively discussion with Prof. Reibstein and Bill Schlough as to what we're likely to see in the coming years in American baseball.

Register Online

When: Thursday, July 26th, 2007

Time: 12:00 - 1:00pm west coast time
Where: Via Conference Call (Dial-in and pass code to be provided closer to event)
Registration: No charge for current WCNC members. Registration for this event closes at 5:00pm Tuesday, July 24th. WCNC Members only for this event. (Note: although there is no event registration fee for WCNC members, "seating" will be limited at this event--please register only if you are confident you'll be able to attend.)

Professor David Reibstein
David J. Reibstein is the William S. Woodside Professor and Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. At Wharton, he teaches Marketing Management and Marketing Research in the MBA Program. He developed and coordinated Wharton's Executive Seminars on New Product Development, Competitive Marketing Strategies, Advanced Industrial Marketing Strategy and Marketing Research. He was featured in Fortune magazine as one of the nation's eight "Favorite Business School Professors" and was named by Business Week as one of the "pick of the B-school crop" of professors. He has received the Wharton School's Excellence in Teaching Award every year he has taught since it was initiated in 1982.

Professor Reibstein received his Ph.D. in Industrial Administration at Purdue University, he was in the MBA program at Tulane University, and obtained his BA in Statistics and Political Science and BS in Business Administration at the University of Kansas. He received an honorary Masters from the University of Pennsylvania.

Professor Reibstein co-edited Wharton on Dynamic Competitive Strategy, and is co-author of both Marketing: Concepts, Strategies and Decisions, and Strategy Analysis with Value War and Cases in Marketing Research. He has authored numerous articles appearing in major marketing journals, including the Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Marketing, and Journal of Consumer Research. His primary research interests are in internet marketing, competitive marketing strategy, market segmentation, marketing models and understanding brand choice behavior. He is also the co-author of Marketing Metrics: 50+ Metrics Every Executive Should Master.

Bill Schlough, VP and CIO, San Francisco Giants
As Chief Information Officer, Bill Schlough is responsible for setting the technological direction for the San Francisco Giants. He joined the team in 1999, initially overseeing the on-time, on-budget construction of Pacific Bell Park's information technology infrastructure. Under his guidance, the Giants have demonstrated a sustained commitment to creatively leveraging technology to enhance the fan experience through innovations such as the "Double Play Ticket Window," "Ticket Relay," the "Digital Dugout," high definition TV, and the first 100% wireless facility in professional sports. Bill directs a team of dedicated professionals that provide day-to-day technical support while working with internal clients to develop, implement and support innovative IT solutions that enable the attainment of the Giants' strategic objectives.

A proven leader with diverse experiences in technology spanning various industries, before joining the Giants, Bill worked as a management consultant with Booz-Allen & Hamilton's Information Technology Group and spent four years as a technology consultant for Electronic Data Systems (EDS), supporting a wide collection of clients including AMD, Northrop Grumman and General Motors.

Bill's first experience in sports came at the World Cup in 1994, where he served as venue technology manager at Stanford Stadium. He subsequently developed a start-up technology plan for Major League Soccer's San Jose Clash (now the Houston Dynamo) prior to their inaugural season. An Olympic enthusiast, Schlough worked with the Atlanta and Salt Lake organizing committees and recently completed a three-month engagement in Torino, Italy where he managed IT operations at the Palasport Olimpico hockey venue. He also led the Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee's (BASOC) Technology Theme Team in San Francisco's bid to host the Olympic Games. Bill holds a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University and an MBA from the Wharton School.