Name: Barrett Davie
Position: InStadium Exec VP & Founder
Age: 41
Where I’m from: Chicago
Where I call home: Chicago
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Davie plans on attending the Grateful Dead's
concerts at Soldier Field this summer |
Focusing on right now: Rolling out InStadium TV (ISTV) in NBA and college basketball venues.
Best advice: Work hard, but work smart. We’re all so busy and it’s so easy to get distracted, so easy to confuse effort with results. I equate working smart with taking a breath, truly understanding what it is you’re trying to accomplish; what’s the end game. Use the resources you have at your disposal as effectively as possible.
A must for a new hire: Integrity and candor. We have a culture where we value the input and opinion of every employee in the company, and employees should feel comfortable coming into my office or anybody else’s office asking questions about why, or raising concerns or raising issues. There are interesting approaches that come from lots of different corners, and you’ve got to be willing to listen to those people.
Exec I admire the most: I'd say ABRAHAM LINCOLN. He came out of nowhere to become President, and he really understood the playing field. He understood the people he was competing against, and he brought them all into his Cabinet afterward. He was really good at understanding, "Here’s what my end game is, here’s what my resources are, they happen to be my competitors, I’m going to bring them close."
Best book I've read this year: I'm in a book club with 45 guys that meets six times each year and just finished reading one of the 10 best books I've ever read, “East of Eden” by JOHN STEINBECK. It’s a pretty big, meaty book but it’s got everything in it you’d ever want about life.
First thing in the morning: I'm usually up around 5-ish. I go to LinkedIn Pulse, I read some verses in the Bible on the Olive Tree app, and on my iPhone or iPad I’ll read 10 or 20 pages for a couple of minutes just to make sure I’m making progress on whatever book I’m reading.
Talking tech: We use Amazon on a daily basis in our family. There’s a package from Amazon at our door seemingly every day. I’ve been an Amazon Prime subscriber from Day 1. Unfortunately for me, I don’t get the suggestions for things I want because all the things I buy are things for kids.
Must have music: I’m a music nut, and a live-music nut in particular. I’m a huge fan of the GRATEFUL DEAD. I used to go to a lot of their shows when I was in college and have followed all the off-shoot bands since the mid-90s. The original members are getting together this summer for three shows at Soldier Field. I’ll have tickets, I promise that. I might even bring my kids to one of them.
Food for thought: My favorite restaurant is Alinea in Chicago. The presentation, the culinary experience are second-to-none. It’s a Michelin-starred restaurant. The chef there, GRANT ACHATZ, is a culinary genius.
How I unwind: I have three kids. I spend a lot of time with their sports activities. We also do a lot of skiing. We’re in Chicago, so our options here locally are in Wisconsin. We’ll buzz up and do some day skiing.
Day in the life: ISTV piloted in 41 U.S. markets last summer in MLB and MiLB parks, then we expanded that on January 1st in basketball. We run a new episode every two weeks. We’re rolling out into having a show that works for every sport that runs on the videoboard in the pregame, kind of like when you go to the movies and see ScreenVision before the trailers. The audiences watch and then they’ll play a game, take a quiz. InStadium has upwards of 470 pro, college and minor league teams in the U.S., and we’ve networked those teams together in their videoboards into what is effectively a national television network. It’s rated by Nielsen and it’s integrated by MRI into the planning systems.
