Hey, welcome to Den's blog! This is my first foray into the world of blogging, so please bear with me. If you've discovered this blog, you've probably done so through my website, www.neplayerpromotions.com , and therefore probably already know a bit about me already. If not, let me bring you up to speed:
My name is Dennis Boyer- I usually just go by Den. My wife's name is Jennifer- she goes by Jenn. We've got a couple of young boys in our lives - Zach and Jeffrey. We live in southern New Hampshire.
Jenn and I are what you would call hard-core, die-hard Patriots fans. We schedule our lives around Pats games. Yes, we love love the Sox, Celts, and Bruins as well, but it's the Patriots that are our passion - our obsession. We split a pair of season tickets with some friends and we love to tailgate. And I'm not talking about burgers and dogs - when I tailgate I'm into tuna steaks, tenderloin, and jumbo shrimp.
Anyway, I love meeting and interacting with Pats players. I often travel all over New England attending player appearances at charity events, grand openings, book signings - whatever. And Jenn is usually in tow.
As a way of documenting these experiences, I began collecting autographs. I have amassed what I belive to be a pretty impressive collection over the years. I've had players sign helmets, jerseys, balls, caps, t-shirts, photos, and even ticket stubs.
I always enjoy meeting the players and I've been to many awesome events, but I have also been dissapointed at some appearances I've attended. They lacked a certain "event" quality . When you see five-time all pro Ben Coates sitting at a table with three people in line to get his autograph, something just doesn't jive.
I've always had a flair for the dramatic - I like things to be "epic". And I do have background in advertising and promotion. I begain to think that I could organize a better event than what I was largely seeing. Better for the fans and better for the player. Bigger and better events with things like raffles and give-aways and other incentives.
Thus was the inspiration for New England Player Promotions. With help and support from my wife, I've been able to form this modest memorabilia company. I still have a full-time regular gig (I'm a civil servant), but NEPP is my true passion.
So here's my goals with the blog thing:
First, I plan on sharing my experiences traveling around New England attending events. Just last Saturday, Jenn and I attended Vince Wilfork's Annual Draft Day Fundraiser - a good time was had by all. A summary of Vince's party will be the subject of my next post.
Secondly, I'll be sharing my personal thoughts and opinions on the Boston sports scene, and life in general. It is a great time to be a fan. As I write this the Celtics are even with the Hawks in the first-round of the NBA playoff, the Sox are favored to repeat as World Series Champions (hope you got your furniture from Jordan's), and I honestly believe the Pats can go undefeated again in 2008.
Thirdly, I'll be offering some article-type posts on things relating to the autograph-collecting industry and hobby. Training camp is coming up, and my experiences have taught me that camp is the BEST place to get free Pats player autographs. More on this, with my own tips and tricks, down the line.
And lastly, I hope to keep anyone interested in player appearances in the loop. If you want to know when and where the players will be - stay tuned. Hopefully I'll be sharing a lot of news on New England Player Promotion events (I've got several irons in the fire now), but I won't be limiting the news to my own happenings. I'll keep you in the loop on the events of other companies as well. (Hey, most of these guys are my friends and it's good for the industry and good for you, the collector.) Also news and info on upcoming charity events and other goings-on. (Larry Izzo's charity karaoke event is coming up - more on that next post, too.)
So, I hope you enjoy the blog. Please drop me some feedback - I appreciate it and am open to criticisms and suggestions. I look forward to hearing from you, Patriots Nation.
Next post - a full summation of Big Vince's Draft-Day Party.
-Den