Geoff Schoenberg

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What does your Christmas dinner usually look like? Traditionally I have had a turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, carrots, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce (which usually is forgotten until 10 minutes into the meal).

Well, this year was different. Very different. My good friend Kerren brought me along to David and Doreen’s place where another David joined us and the five of us engaged in a dining experience. Instead of a traditional “put a whole bunch of dishes on the table and load your plate obscenely” meal, this was done in a restaurant style six course meal.

Early in the day (you can tell because I’m still upright) we begin our great meal prepared by David (head of table) with help from Doreen (front right of photo)

Course 1 – Asparagus wrapped in Leeks

A nice and light way to start the meal. The toasted sesame seeds on top provided the extra little bit to make this dish special.

Course 2 – Pan Fried Scallops

Everyone here could attest that I was salivating as this dish was being prepared.  Scallops are always a favourite of mine and the little touch of crispy fried leeks provided the texture in this well prepared dish

Course 3 – Gnocchi with Mushrooms

Mushrooms and I do not have a particularly fond history. However, I have recently decided to give them another go and dishes like this reinforce that notion. This was probably my favourite course of the night featuring Ricotta and Feta gnocchi with sauteed mushrooms in a porcini broth. It was unbelievably good. Truly a tremendous dish.

Course 4 – Crayfish

A simple piece of fish is always nice and this was a nice way to end off the pre-dessert courses. The wine had kicked in by this stage so I have forgotten what the sauce was, but I remember the shallots were delicious!

Course #5 – Dessert!!

With raspberries and pistachios playing off each other, this frozen desert was really delicate  and tasty!

Course 6 – Cheese!!!

What better way to finish off a meal than with some amazing cheeses and bread and port that is older  than I am?

We decided early in the day to make an effort to drink 100 years worth of wine… This is a photo of the damage we did…

Well, how did we do with our mission? Very accomplished. We stepped it up and ended up at 125 years between five of us. Three bottles of bubbly, three bottles of white, four bottles of red and a 26 year old bottle of port! Good job team! (On the list, the final bottle of bubbly didn’t make it)

To sign off, me holding 50 years of wine!!!

One challenge of studying and living abroad comes during the time around the holidays. This is the second time I have spent Christmas away from home. The first time was Christmas 2007 when I was doing the backpacker thing. Asides from being in Australia, the two experiences have been incredibly different. In 2007, six of us lost souls cooped up in a one bedroom apartment and shared our overseas Christmas together. We shared our Christmas traditions and with each other. We made some fantastic meals topped off by a very traditional Christmas dinner. I can’t speak for everyone (although I’ve been known to try) but it felt like Christmas was as good as it could be away from home. When I think of the important parts of Christmas to me (family, friends, church, good food, the sharing of gifts and other traditions) many of those were met that year.

Christmas 2009 has been a much different experience. In 2007 there were many of us away from home. This year, I’ve been on my own in my “awayness”. My Australian friends and classmates are either at home or went home for Christmas. This has meant I’ve spent a lot more time on my own. Because of this I’ve had time to reflect and realize what makes Christmas special for me. I went to church on Christmas Eve and sang Silent Night in a darkened church with candles. I shared a delicious meal and drank some fantastic wine (a whole other blog post to come on this). I spent time with people I care about. I spoke with family and basked in beautiful sunlight (okay, that’s a new tradition, but one I enjoyed!). Obviously there are plenty of Christmas traditions that I wasn’t able to do this year, but I’ve learned not to focus on the missed activities. Plus, I know they will be even more meaningful next year.

I have to say thank you to everyone who helped me feel welcome in Australia. Thank you for sharing worship with me. Thanks to those who opened their homes to me. Thanks for sharing your food and drink with me. I probably received at least ten different invitations to Christmas dinner/lunch and wish I could have attended all. I feel I could have knocked on any door and asked to join the meal and I would have been welcome.

Also, thank you to those who made me miss home. Your messages and well wishings have meant a lot. It’s weird to feel sad and loved at the same time. I love hearing the stories of your lives and the fun you are having and it’s nice to know that I am missed as well.

I was extremely nervous about this Christmas. In the end, tears were shed, friendships were created, traditions skipped a year, worship was shared and Christmas was celebrated in a slightly different way.

Blessings to all.

So, as I come up on three months of being in Australia and a little over two months of active study, many people are probably wondering, what exactly do you do at the start of a thesis writing process?

Answer: Spend a lot of time being overwhelmed.

Having never done any major research project (I didn’t do a Honours Thesis), this whole process is new to me. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out why I’m doing what I’m doing while also figuring out what I’m actually doing.

When I applied to Deakin University, I submitted a research proposal titled “Executive Directors: What does it take to become one?”. So far, my work has consisted of reading anything that might relate to this topic. Prior research in hiring processes, definitions of the roles of the CEO, trends in sport, sport governance, impact of CEOs, board performance, board-CEO relations, opinions on the importance of education, experience, qualifications and anything else you might think of. For every article I read, I wrote something about it. Sometimes it was two or three sentences (even a “This is irrelevant” sentence or two). Sometimes it was a couple of pages of writing. Often times, the best and most important part of an article was the reference list. Finding a good article would often lead to several great articles and provide a more thorough understanding of a topic from several areas.

The more that I read, the more I understood what the purpose was. By no means am I now an expert in the literature search, but I have a basic understanding of the importance. You need to read anything and everything in order to figure out a way to put two topics together for comparison. Plus, you learn more about what interests you and what piques your interest.

From a more practical standpoint, scholarly journal databases and I have become quite close. Ebsco, Emerald, ProQuest, I have spent a lot of time in each, although I have typically search for articles through the Deakin library search. (Sidenote: Some articles still are not online. Honestly, I have had to go to the library and actually find the journal. They have apps that can read an MRI on your iPhone, but not all articles are electronic, that’s mindblowing.) Also, another program I have found is EndNote and I think it’s awesome so far. Basically, it’s a super easy way to keep track of all your references. Most databases let you export the bibliographic information directly into EndNote so you don’t have to do any typing or anything. Then, EndNote can link with Word and insert the reference in where you need it and add the full citation to a list at the bottom. You can choose whatever format you want as well. Within the program, you can organise the references into different groups. I’ve been using two groups, “Unread” and “Read”. Can you guess how I sort them? It makes it easy to go and search and highlight a whole bunch of useful programs in a database, export them to EndNote and then track which ones you have read. All in all, a very cool program.

So what has this all led to? Well, last Thursday I went and met with my supervisor to discuss where I am at and what the next steps are. In preparation for this meeting I had to condense my 10,000+ words of notes into a relevant one page summary along with a list of the most important information. Going back and looking at everything I’ve read, I started to realise how much of it is no longer relevant with the direction of my topic. I also found that trying to link all the aspects of the research into one page was very complicated. It took lots of scribbling, flow charts, web drawings, random lists of ideas and several attempts to try and write something that made sense to me and summed up the basic research topic. So, after a very productive conversation with my supervisor I now have a title for my research………which I will reveal in the next blog. (Yes! TV style “To Be Continued”!!!)

Keep smiling people!

Maybe you’ve noticed, maybe you haven’t, but I’ve been trying to “tweet” (@GeoffSchoenberg) an interesting story at 3pm every day. If you have, then this post will not interest you much…

If you haven’t, then here is a recap of the posts from the last week…

Dec 12 – Another good reason to become an Olympic athlete… Free Protection! http://tinyurl.com/y9br3fx

Dec 13 – Nobody won a gold medal? The fallout of doping issues…. http://tinyurl.com/yagpv3c

Dec 14 – Is Canada the MOST underachieving nation in soccer? Apparently so… http://tinyurl.com/ycqw98a (A valid point I neglected to mention from @anthonyalsop/www.sportspiel.com.au – Australia is an emerging power)

Dec 15 – How much can you control employee behaviour on social media outside of the workplace? http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/135125

Dec 16 – Are you a close friend of any of these people? If not, maybe you should try to be…. http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/64387

Dec 17 – Good things to remember. 13 reasons to put your kid in hockey http://tinyurl.com/ybyknpy

Dec 18 – When did the voting take place? How much would the last month change the votes? http://tinyurl.com/yjhhj9w

Today I had one of those moments that helped remind my that I made the right decision to come to Australia to study. I was down in St. Kilda in the evening and went for a walk on the beach. It was the first time I’d been to the beach since I got here (unacceptable, I know). Just walking along the beach, hearing the water, smelling the sea air, feeling the sand between my fingers and watching the reflection of the sun was a reminder of why I wanted to come back here. Then, to top it off, I ended up in a nice beer garden at a chill pub with a heavily dreadlocked dude playing Dave Matthews Band, Ben Harper and other fantastic acoustic music while I watched the sun set.

I am in the right place.

Beginning a thesis is a trying task, especially when you have little to no research background. Sure, I wrote a few papers in my undergrad, but these were mostly done in a short period of time with fairly clear guidelines and expectations. There was usually a pretty specific topic and an argument or point of view was not hard to develop. I quickly learned how to find quotes that served my purpose, but didn’t take the time to read/understand the full context of the ideas presented by the author. I simply came up with my ideas and then looked for research that supported them.

A masters thesis is different. I need to have a complete understanding of the area of study before forming the research question and argument.  While, I have an overall concept of where the research will go, there needs to be justification for undertaking that research. This means actually reading the articles, understanding what what is being said, and trying to determine what the implications are for my own research. It means making sure that the research hasn’t already been done, that a fresh perspective can be obtained.

The first stage is to paint a picture of the current knowledge landscape using other people’s work. This picture (why not carry the metaphor further?) needs to accurately depict the ENTIRE landscape and, at the same time, reflect the details of each individual leaf and grass.

Part of the struggle so far was coming to understand the point of the literature review. Being new to research, I was confused by what the point of it was and is. The more I’ve read, the more I’ve seen how authors use a literature review to frame their topic and setup the purpose of their research. A well done literature review clearly makes the reader bob their head in agreement. The reader finds themselves intrigued as to the research done to help answer a clearly defined problem. The lit review is the setup, it frames the rest of the paper and is a crucial part of any good research. It is also a tool for the author. An excellent literature review will build itself from general knowledge to shared knowledge and will culminate in presenting the lack of knowledge in a specific area.

My next post will talk about what sort of strategies and methods I’m using during this intial phase…

Thank you to the SAIT Academic Faculty Association (SAFA) for awarding me the SAFA Dependant Scholarship. I am honoured to receive what was sure to be a highly contested award. Your funding was used to help my travel to the SMAANZ Conference held on the Gold Coast. This award help reinforce the committment that SAFA has to the well being of its members and their families.

SAIT Polytechnic (similar to a TAFE in Australia) is an institution that is filling an important need. My experience as a staff member for WorldSkills Calgary 2009 opened my eyes to the importance of the programs offered by SAIT. SAIT was a founding sponsor of the event and many SAIT Faculty were involved in a variety of ways. I was fortunate enough to work with a variety of SAFA members during WorldSkills and witnessed first hand the professionalism and passion that makes SAIT a successful institution.

For those of you who are not familiar with the SAFA organisation, you can get more information about http://www.safacalgary.com.

Happy Holidays!

While great work is found regularly throughout the members of SMAANZ, there were two people who earned well deserved additional kudos at the Conference Dinner. First of all, congratulations to Dr. Daniel Lock from UTS for winning the student award. Dr. Lock’s work has been on fan identification and culminated in his thesis, “New team identification: Sydney FC, a case study”. You can find it at the following link.

Secondly, SMAANZ awarded its inaugural Distinguished Service award. Professor David Shilbury is the Foundation Chair in Sport Management at Deakin University and was the Foundation President of SMAANZ. His full profile can be seen here. Listening as the award was presented, you could not help but be impressed by the achievements of Professor Shilbury. His importance in establishing SMAANZ and advancing the field of sport management worldwide cannot be overstated. I am extremely honoured to be working under his guidance and supervision.

Congratulations Professor Shilbury and Dr. Lock on your outstanding achievements.

SMAANZ 2009 was a great personal experience for me. Certainly more questions were created, but almost always in the context of new knowledge. My already confused emotions became more extreme. I found at times I was so extremely excited about what I have started and what I can do. At other times I felt soooo lost, so new and underprepared. I certainly know more about academia than I did before, but have also realised how far I have to go.

I certainly made a few more friends, well, colleagues at least. I would like to say thanks to everyone who helped make this a positive experience. Becca Leopkey was a great roommate and along with Cathy Mills helped me understand the options available to me as a Canadian. Alana Thomson and Christoph Hechelmann provided some great “official” support from SMAANZ and made me feel welcomed as a member. Adam Karg hosted a great gathering on the Friday night where I got to spend time with a lot of the other Melbourne crowd (including Sarah Broadbent, Kiera Staley, Emma Sherry, Donna de Haan, Susannah Ritchie and many others). So many other people, students and others made this a great experience.

I really don’t know what I’m going to be doing from here. From a short-term perspective, it’s all about continuing my literature search. There is still so much to determine/decide about the future. I got the taste of the joys of life as an academic. You get opportunities to go to different countries, incredible access to some of the top people in the sport world, inside looks to world class events. The joys of discovering new knowledge and theories and being able to share that. The camaraderie of academics and other passionate people and the knowledge of being part of a small and unique group.

However, I also saw some of the negative sides of the world. The pressure to publish, the long hours and demands of your time. For me personally, I experienced a rare feeling of inadequacy. I do not often question my ability and talent, but found myself wondering whether I fit in. Whether this is a world that I would enjoy. I can tell myself that this is most likely because I am so new and haven’t learned the lingo, don’t know the latest research, haven’t had conversations at this level. It was a little disconcerting and nerve-racking.

I know that I can do this. I know that I will do my masters at a minimum. There is still so much to learn about this new world…..

The 15th Annual SMAANZ Conference was hosted by Bond University on the Gold Coast at the end of November 2009. This was my first conference as an academic and my eyes are wide open after the experience.

To begin, not enough can be said about the great effort that the conference chair and organising committee put in to make this conference a success. Everything ran smoothly and was extremely convenient. The conference accommodation was tremendous, convenient and affordable. The conference facilities were excellent, with appropriate sized rooms, great lounging areas and terrific food and drink.

The quality and variety of research was very impressive to me and this knowledge came through was proven during the presentations. Below I’ve listed my five favourite presentations (in alphabetical order) from this conference. Congratulations to the following presenters and authors for their work.

• Paul Emery – What Type of Sport Managers Does the Industry Want? An Occupational Audit of Australia Sport Management Positions (Paul Emery, Ruth Crabtree and David Lamb)
• Rachel Geddes – Local Sporting Clubs in Australia: An Examination of Organisational Structures and Organisational Efficiency (Rachel Geddes and Emma Sherry)
• Allen Goh – Proximity Effect of New Facilities in Motivating Sports Consumption: A Government Policy Evaluation (Allen Goh)
• Millicent Kennelly – The Spoils of Sport Tourism: National Sport Organisations, Sport Tour Operators and Governments (Millicent Kennelly, Kristine Toohey and Dwight Zakus)
• Kiera Staley – Analysis of Policy Mechanisms to Control Anti-Social Behaviour at Elite Australian Sporting Events (Kiera Staley and Paul Emery)

A special thanks also has to go out to all the keynote speakers for taking the time to address the audience. You provided excellent insight from an outside perspective that helps remind us why we do what we do.

The highlight for me was the option to interact with other academics in the field. The student community seemed especially welcoming and supportive. The conference certainly gave me a lot to think about from a personal experience (enough for another post to come)

SMAANZ is a relatively new organisation, this being the 15th Conference, but it seems to be on solid footing. The AGM and Financial Figures indicated a healthy organisation. Certainly I did not see any of the infighting and posturing that can be seen with many associations. I am really excited to be a member of SMAANZ and am hoping to get involved in whatever capacity I can.

Well that’s an initial summary of SMAANZ and I already can’t wait for the Student Conference in July and the full conference in New Zealand next November…