Alumni Spotlight - Steve Conley, E'92

In this age of rapidly evolving technology and remarkable advancement, networking is a tool like no other. Steve Conley can vouch for that.

Seven years ago, the 1992 graduate of Northeastern University’s College of Engineering was working in the information technology field for a company struggling to stay afloat when he decided to reconnect with a person whom he’d met during his last cooperative education experience.

That interaction eventually helped lead Conley to Yawkey Way, where the Foxboro, MA, resident is now able to do a job he loves for a team he grew up rooting for: the Boston Red Sox.

“The timing couldn’t have been more perfect,” said Conley, the Red Sox’ Director of Information Technology. “About one month after I started with the Red Sox the IT bubble completely burst. I found myself in a stable position with a company that was looking to completely revamp its IT infrastructure. Six months later, the company I had been working for was no longer in business.”

Conley will be the first to admit luck played a role in getting him to where he is today, but he also knows the co-op program put him in an advantageous position.

“Keeping in touch with the professional relationships you’ve developed really paid off,” Conley said. “Even getting a job out of college was a natural progression for me because the company I had my last co-op with, Ernst & Young, created a position for me.

“Part of the reason that I chose Northeastern is because you have to know what you’re good at and what you’re not good at. Four years of straight education was not going to be for me. I liked the mix of education and getting the experience, getting out and being able to take that next step. It was a good mix and it worked out well.”

Conley’s tasks can be daunting. On game days, he not only has to make sure all of the team’s communication equipment and technology is fully operational, but he also has to assure uninterrupted access to high-speed Internet and wireless connections utilized by the dozens of media in attendance. He’s dealt with balky connections and wayward microwave signals from the numerous television satellite trucks along Van Ness Street that can completely bog down the communications network.

At one point a few seasons ago, one of the bullpen phones was malfunctioning, prompting Conley and members of the staff to sprint through the outfield during a break in play to address the problem. About a half hour after making the repair, Conley received an email from a representative of the telecommunications company contracted by the team who had been watching the game in Australia.

"That was pretty funny,” Conley said. “You never know whose watching.”

Conley and his staff have proven to be so proficient in ballpark IT operations that he and his staff were flown out to Colorado during last fall’s World Series to make sure there was no disruption for the hundreds of print and broadcast media as they scurried to meet their deadlines.

“I do something that I love for a team that I love,” Conley said. “But I do have an obligation to the team. It’s not like I can go to every ballgame and not work. We’re expected to provide a service and be a Tier I provider of IT resources and look for ways to be more innovative and help the team make better decisions. I think we’ve done some of that.

“It is pretty cool working for a company that every one in the city and across New England is pulling for,” he said. “This is a dream job, but there is a lot of stress that goes with it. Not every day is a bed of roses, but there’s no other place I’d rather be.”