A group of students from The University of Findlay is making its debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team.
   
And it’s probably not who you’d expect.
   
Upper-level marketing students at UF have been invited to help the Cavs out as honorary sales staff members.
   
Paul Bee, the group events specialist for the Cavs, visited campus recently to talk to students about a marketing and sales project that will pit the new salespeople against each other to see how many game tickets they can sell.
   
The student who ends up with the highest revenue wins a guaranteed job interview next year with the sales staff for the Cavs. The contest runs through the team’s regular season, which ends Dec. 12.
   
Bee said this is a great way to learn about the profession.
   
“This is a crash course in the sales process,” he said. “It’s a great way to get experience.”
   
There will be one winner from each class that participates in the project. Bee said he spoke with several classes about the opportunity during his visit to UF.
   
Students may opt out of the contest, and those who do choose to participate will get weekly updates from Bee about who is the top seller for each class.
   
Bee encouraged students to get information about the tickets they’re selling, which are available at a discounted price, to as many people as possible.
   
“Think outside the box,” he said, “and think big.”
   
He also told his new sales staff that this process would be helpful to them even if they did not intend to go into the sales profession.
   
“At some point in your life you will have to sell yourself, whether you’re trying to get a job or trying to get a date,” he said.
   
Chris Ward, Ed. D., assistant professor in the College of Business and professor of some of the classes participating in the contest, said this challenge is something both the faculty and the students at UF just can’t pass up.
   
“When there are opportunities to do things like this, we always say yes,” she said.
   
By Paige Aten, communication major, Napoleon, Ohio