A SportsGrad Meetup could lead to your next job in sport.

That's exactly what happened for Dan Morris in Sydney, Gemba's newest Account Manager.

Dan is now looking after some of the largest sponsorships in Australian sport.

If you’re keen to open doors for your career, read Dan’s story on how he networked his way into a dream job.

At the end of 2022, I went to the last Sydney Meetup in November. A week before the meetup, SportsGrad announced the guest speakers for the event. One of the guest speakers was Clare Stewart-Hunter, Director and Head of Client & Creative Services at Gemba.

As soon as Clare was announced, I did my research and looked further into Gemba.

I found out they created one of my favourite sport campaigns through New South Wales Rugby League & Transport for NSW speaking about Drink Driving. I did more research and felt prepared going into the meetup and planned to speak to Clare.

During the panel Q&A, I made a conscious effort to sit at the front of the room but also to ask a question no matter what.

When the floor opened to questions, I got in first and asked…

“What do you think the sports industry will look like in the next 5 to 10 years, will it be more player-to-fan or fan-to-player interaction?”

Clare said “to be honest I don’t know”, in my head I thought I had probably blown it by putting Clare on the spot.

After the Q&A, I went up to Clare and said sorry for putting you on the spot and we had a good laugh about this. We spoke briefly and I really enjoyed getting to know more about Clare & her experience. I spoke to Ryan who said…

“Make sure you stay in contact with Clare and talk to her after the event”. Making a conscious effort, I messaged Clare on LinkedIn.

This is what I sent:

"Hi Clare, great to meet you at the SportsGrad night, I was the one that asked you the first curly question (sorry about that). Would be great to connect get to know more about you & Gemba! Would be great to chat about the account management side of Gemba and what that looks like."

Clare messaged straight back and said she would be happy to catch up for a coffee and chat about Gemba. Soon after the Meetup the Account Manager job at Gemba was advertised and I thought to ‘strike while the iron is hot’.

I got to the second interview, which was with Clare, and instantly felt more comfortable knowing it was with her and that she knew more about my experience prior to the interview. We went through the process and sure enough…

I was then pleasantly surprised when I got offered the Account Manager role at Gemba!

I’m moving from Event Management into Accounts which I’m slightly nervous about but I cannot wait to get started.

I got introduced to the team and in the email, it mentioned that I was apart of the SportGrad Community and this is how Clare and I met.

It goes to show the power of these events and how many people are taking notice of the SportsGrad Community.

- Daniel Morris

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