A column by the Kansas City Star’s veteran columnist Diane Stafford is giving the Kansas City Royals a black eye at a time when the team needs all the positive PR it can muster.
Stafford highlighted the team is hosting a job fair with about a dozen potential employers on Friday.
While it initially sounded like a nice community gesture, Stafford then revealed that the team is charging candidates $15 to attend for a chance to land a job.
In return they get a ticket for Friday night’s game with Toronto and a Royals’ pen.
“There’s a $10 parking cost to attend the game, so the cost jumps to $25 if the ticket is used. And unless one goes alone, there’s another ticket to buy,” noted Stafford, adding, “That might not sound like a problem to a lot of people. But for many job hunters, especially those who’ve been job hunting for any length of time, money is tight.”
The real problem might be that the Royals didn’t respond to Stafford’s request for an explanation.
“Multiple attempts Wednesday failed to get an official Royals response about the job fair,” she noted.
Why the team is even hosting a job fair with outside employers is still a mystery.
The Royals are now telling other media outlets that they are charging the fee to simply recoup their costs of staging the event.
However, in the midst of a seven-game (make that 8, 9, 10, 11 and now 12- game) losing streak, charging unemployed people to attend their job fair seems cheap.
And even a bit cruel. And certainly not worth the PR black eye the team is receiving.
ROYALS’ JOB FAIR TURNS INTO PR NIGHTMARE
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Toby Cook is to PR as David Glass is to ownership.
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@BottomLineCom They trying to hire Ball Players via a Job Fair?
Going to Royals’ games is like going to a circus. Flashing lights and a cacophony of sounds bombard the senses. Everything is a distraction from the game. My kids have no interest in the Royals at all. They got bored with the noise after a couple of games.
4-20-12
This takes the cake! The Royals are making money off the backs of the unemployed!?! So what if they get one ticket and a pen?
I saw some tv news this morning and was amazed that anyone would attend this thing. The reporter noted that no one at the fair was complaining about the fee. The anchor dryly noted that those who object to the fee didn’t attend the fair.
A few years ago, I received an invitation to go to a seminar at Royals stadium. If we had enough people pay for the seminar, we would be allowed to “run the bases” before the game that evening. (The brochure made it clear that “run the bases” meant walk the bases, in a group, all at once, stay on the dirt, etc.) Well, ok, still sounded kind of fun.
At the seminar, we are packed in this conference room. Before the seminar begins, some Royals royalty comes in the room and says thanks for coming; oh, by the way, not enough people signed up for the seminar, so we won’t get to walk the bases.
About half-way through the seminar, as others trickled into the seminar, people started barking about the horribly cramped conditions, bad acoustics, etc.
So, some other Royals muckity-muck comes in and apologizes for the small room. He then says the Royals had no idea so many people were coming.
Wait a minute! The room was too small to hold everyone who signed up, but not enough people signed up to walk the bases? FOUL BALL.
If you need to charge the attendees of a job fair to recoup the costs for your multi-million dollars company, don’t hold a job fair!! You find new ways to embarrass the people of KC every year, Royals.
Wow, five responses!
It’s a wildfire.
When you add in the responses on the Kansas City Star and Tonyskansascity it adds up. For a team that has lost 8 (make that 9) games in a row it is not a good thing to foster an image as a cheap and greedy organization.
David Glass.
From Wal-Mart.
Royals, sucking money from the team and games but never a winner.
Now this.
When will we learn?
I really would have enjoyed being present at the meeting where the decision to charge for the Job Fair was made.
I would have advance knowledge of whom to stay far away from at any Royals event.
I read Diane’s column in The Star and had a feeling that someone pulled the wrong lever on this one.
There’s no way that comment came from Toby Cook. Just like this comment isn’t from Matt Damon.
A note was sent to Toby asking for verification and no response was received. It is his email address.
4-22-12
Let me tell you something, Toby. If no one had responded, it was still a classless act by the Royals. And now you, with your smirky response, have revealed yourself to be classless. You’re a good fit for the Royals.
I wonder if the companies who were at the job fair had to pay anything to be at the job fair and if so, how much?
I don’t think Toby or the anyone else with the Royals understands how wrong-headed the Royals look.
When I was a kid, I spent virtually all my savings to buy 4 tickets to the All-Star Game in Kansas City. This time around, I couldn’t care less that the game’s in Kansas City.
The Royals are going to be sold in a couple of years. Are you and your ridicule going to survive the relocation, Toby?
This goes down as one of the ten worst promotions I’ve ever seen. It might get mentioned on Sports Center soon as a gag line if the Royals keep losing.