February 5^th, 2013 
Jacksonville, Florida

Kevin Lewis Tackles New Role
Kevin Lewis has been hard at work with his new job.  Serving as both acting general manager and the VP of day-to-day operations, Lewis faces the daunting task of handling both duties effectively.  Under his new role, Lewis is in charge of maintaining and improving the organization as a whole.  Rather than simply focus on improving the team’s roster, Lewis has the task of improving the organization’s overall structure.  Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Kevin Lewis to discuss with him his new job and direction.

Sitting Down with Lewis
SERENITY: So how are you liking your new job as VP of day-to-day operations?

LEWIS: It’s definitely different and challenging.  In a way, it’s sort of like being a general manager.  Instead of building a winning product on the field, you try to build a winning product off the field.

SERENITY: Speaking of general managing, you still are the team’s general manager.  How is it trying to juggle two different responsibilities simultaneously?

LEWIS: (laughs) Juggling is the right word, alright.  I’ve definitely got my hands full.  Fortunately for me, I have great help in Pablo Durango.

SERENITY: How is working with Durango?  Can you describe how you two work together as a team?

LEWIS: Oh, it’s been a joy working with Pablo.  Truth be told, he actually does a lot of the dirty work for me.  He’s like my pair of eyes.  I see the baseball world through him.  I usually pinpoint our team’s weaknesses and relay them back to Pablo.  He then gives me a list of internal options along with players around the league that could fill our needs.  Based on his recommendation, I make my decision.  I usually have the final say in terms of roster movement but I consult with him frequently.  This is especially true for the amateur draft.  I heavily rely on his scouting suggestions.

SERENITY: Getting back to building a winning product off the field, what is your main focus in terms of day-to-day operations?

LEWIS: I’m heavily involved with the team’s marketing and promotions department.  One of Drew‘s focuses this off-season is increasing the team’s brand awareness.  He wants to be known as America’s new team.  He wants our team’s popularity to extend outside of Florida, so I’ve been working hard at spreading Florida’s image.

SERENITY: Do you think the intent of spreading the Florida brand is purely for financial reasons?

LEWIS: Oh no, not at all.  Everyone that knows Drew knows that he is one competitive person.  He wants to beat you on the baseball diamond.  He’ll beat you off the field, too, if you give him the chance.  He wants to be the best.  He wants to field the best baseball team.  He wants the best for his fans.  His desire to spread the Florida baseball brand is his way of saying, “My baseball franchise is better than yours.  We do everything better.”

SERENITY: That sense of drive and expectation – does that give you a lot of pressure?

LEWIS: (laughs) It does sometimes, but it can be great as well.  He gives me full support in terms of improving our team.  In the past, he’s opened his checkbook to allow me to make a trade for Manuel González and acquire Keitaro Kodo from the LRS.  Most recently, he gave us the green light to acquire George Riley.  That’s the perk you get for working with a guy like Drew.  The other positive is that he instantly elevates your own self-expectations.  Drew expects a lot from himself and, in turn, that makes all of us expect a lot from ourselves.  He raises the bar.  This helps everyone because people improve by pushing themselves.  At the same time, he takes care of us for working hard so it doesn’t feel like a sweatshop. (laughs)

SERENITY: In what ways have you looked to improve the brand of the Florida Featherheads?

LEWIS: As you know, this is a process.  It’s been a work in progress since Drew took over the team.  Developing the Florida brand starts with building a good team – no one likes to follow a loser, so that has always been a focus of ours.  Along with building a winner, it’s all about connecting with the fans.  Our main emphasis has always been transparency.  We want to be a transparent organization.  We want our fans to readily access our team whether it be baseball related information or simply getting to know our players better.

SERENITY: Florida has recently been experimenting with Facebook and Twitter.  Is this an example of the transparency you were talking about?

LEWIS: Definitely.  Social media websites are nothing new.  It’s a great medium to communicate with the fans.  The rage has definitely caught on over in Japan and is now spreading to the States.  It’s something we’re exploring as well.  It’s been a learning experience and a challenge in finding ways to implement it successfully.

SERENITY: A challenge?  Can you elaborate on that?

LEWIS: My personal philosophy has always been that anything you do has to have a purpose.  It has to have meaning.  You don’t do something just for the mere sake of doing it.  We’re still in the process of working with our public relations team to help determine the proper niche of social media websites.  Our main concern is using this powerful tool correctly.  We don’t want to end up spamming messages or just shooting random thoughts.  We want to have a purpose behind our messages.  It’s more poignant when your messages hold substance and actually lead to something.  It makes people want to listen when there’s a purpose behind what you say.  If it’s just random chatter – people filter that out quickly.  Our job has been trying to determine the best use for social media websites.  We don’t want to totally dismiss it.  The world is constantly evolving.  As an organization, we want to be flexible enough to adapt to the new technology outlets.  We feel that it is a great opportunity to extend our Florida brand.

SERENITY: Besides social media websites, what else are you doing to spread Florida’s popularity?

LEWIS: Currently, we have A.K. and Nelly traveling across the States promoting Florida baseball.  Speaking of the duo, they are very much so symbolic of the Florida Featherheads.  Their personalities and interactions within the baseball world have pushed Florida to the forefront.  We have also looked at ways to market our team through sports apparel and team name.  We’re fortunate enough to have one of the better-looking baseball jerseys.  Our team name is easily identifiable with our fan base, as well.  Our local fans have really connected with the state’s Native American roots.  The “Let’s Go Tribe” catchphrase has been well-received.

SERENITY: Speaking of catchphrases, I noticed you have quietly leaked out “Jacksonvillains” as a word associated with the Featherheads.  Is this another promotional tactic?

LEWIS: Fans love catchy nicknames and so do we.  I can’t take credit for it though.  I was reading through some fan forums and ran across the clever “Yuman beings” name – a word play of the Yuma franchise.  That’s when it hit me – Jacksonvillains.  I think it is something our fans can identify with.  It can be fun to be a “villain” sometimes.  Fans love to feel that they are a part of something.  It’s that fraternity and camaraderie feeling that gels a fan base.  For our fans, they belong to the Tribe or part of the Jacksonvillains.

SERENITY: What about the F-Heads?

LEWIS: (laughs) Funny you mentioned that.  Our marketing and promotions has done extensive research on that nickname.  That word originated several years ago when one of Florida’s previous owners started calling his team the F-Heads.  We haven’t used that term since Drew took over.  I am aware, though, that the baseball world occasionally dubs us as the F-Heads.  We don’t really mind being called that, but it is not a term that we promote to our fans.  We feel that “Tribe” or “Jacksonvillains” is better represents us.

The Twitter vs. Facebook Experiment
As Mr. Lewis has mentioned in our interview, the Tribe is heavily experimenting with social media websites.  I have been deeply involved in the testing phase.  It’s been an interesting process.  Facebook and Twitter are definitely different animals.  I have noticed that Twitter is like a phone text.  It is a good way to get quick thoughts and messages out, to communicate quickly with baseball fans and other baseball franchises, including those over in the Land of the Rising Sun.  We have used Twitter in the past in association with our blog, but this will be the first time we push to use Twitter as an actual standalone medium rather than a blog add-on.

Facebook is more like a web space where fans can connect to you.  It gives a chance for fans to speak out on their daily lives.  In essence, it’s the opposite of Twitter.  On Twitter, fans are following your messages.  On Facebook, it appears we are following what our fans have to say.  Like yesterday, for instance, I learned that one of our fans should not go near a stove or any other appliance.

It appears in the war of baseball social media websites that Twitter is winning out.  Twitter has gained much traction in the community.  Regardless of which option Florida opts for, we will always have a strong presence with our website.  It is still our bread and butter for delivering content to our fans.

A.K. & Nelly Branching Out?
The dynamic duo has been widely known for their radio work in Florida’s organization.  I can confirm that Lewis recently sat down with the two to suggest an expanded role with the team.  Lewis envisions A.K. & Nelly to be more than just radio personalities; he sees them as ambassadors for the franchise.  Furthermore, Lewis wants the duo to work on spreading the PEBA brand rather than simply Florida baseball.  That may sound counterintuitive, but Lewis and Streets firmly believe that the Florida brand will go as far as the PEBA brand goes.

A.K. & Nelly are currently on a road trip visiting various baseball towns and locales.  They will be out there promoting Florida’s upcoming 2013 season.  An emphasis will be placed on letting the fans know that Farmer Field has upgraded their stadium and that there are more seats available to watch the Tribe this year.  You can expect the duo to be promoting and hyping up the 2013 PEBA season, as well.