Dressed in their best blue (or charcoal) interview suits, their hair freshly cut, their shoes recently shined and their fingernails scrubbed and polished…they will come.

Carrying a stack of resumes, maybe a bag or a briefcase and a pad and pen to take notes on future employment…they will come.

Young, old, still in school, recently graduated or working towards their advanced degrees…they will come.

With hope in their hearts, knots in their stomachs and just a slight hint of wavering in their voices…they will come.

It isn’t a cornfield in Iowa and there weren’t any voices that told them to come (or maybe there were). Today is Career Fair Day at The Palace of Auburn Hills…a day when more than 700 bright, talented people descend upon the arena, all with the hopes of working in the sports or entertainment field.

Some want to be marketers. Some want to be in promotions. Some want to be management. Some want to sell tickets or sponsorships. Some, heaven help them, want to be in communications or public relations.

Whatever they want to be, they all want the “dream job.”

This is our sixth year of hosting a Career Fair and to this point we have been pretty successful. We average anywhere between 600 to 1,000 participants and typically have anywhere between 30 to 35 companies that come out to talk to candidates. This year, we will have 35 companies ranging from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Grand Rapids Griffins to the Indiana Pacers to Palace Sports & Entertainment.

Each company comes with an optimistic perspective similar to the candidates: they will find the best candidates for positions they need to fill.

I’ve seen this before. I’ve seen the hope and fire and passion in candidates’ eyes. I’ve seen them stand in line waiting to talk to someone, anxious because they don’t know what to expect. I’ve seen them pump their fists after submitting their resume, relieved because they nailed the handshake and the brief interview and excited about the future. I’ve seen them giddy because they got to the team they wanted to talk to and submitted their resume and got a business card from someone and now, all their hard work is going to pay off because they are going to work in sports or entertainment. They don’t know exactly how or what they may be doing, but they are going to be a part of it.

Passion and excitement are contagious. And in this area, with the economic climate and news of mass layoffs and lack of funding and on and on and on….passion, excitement and hope are necessities.

It’s very encouraging and I wish them all luck.

Late last week I was given a list of people at PS&E that we have hired full-time the came out of Career Fair settings. There are more than 25 names of staff members (almost 10% of the full-time staff) that have come from interviews at Career Fairs.

Names like Jason Maynard our Web structure manager, Mike Potter our Web structure assistant, Dan Edelstein one of our Shock sales representatives, Melissa Neiderheide a sales account executive, Brian Jemison a sales account executive, Lisa Bischoff our Guest Services manager…they all stand out as they all came from our Career Fair (or other team Career Fairs) and are now contributing members of the PS&E family.

And there are countless others that do internships, working part-time for the experience, the networking and the chance to put PS&E on their resumes. The majority come from a Career Fair opportunity. They all have something in common: the saw an opportunity and they seized it. They overcame their fear, their hesitation and their apprehension. They went out and did something to make their dreams a reality. It’s paying off for them.

And if you ever doubt that it is paying off, ask Brian Jemison, the guy who PS&E hired right out of the Cleveland Cavaliers Career Fair, to show you his 2004 NBA Championship ring.

The Sixth Annual Detroit Pistons Career Fair begins at 1:00 p.m. and will run until 5:00 p.m. Admission is $37 and includes a ticket to the game tonight against the Boston Celtics. Participants are encouraged to bring 50 resumes and dress business professional. Participants should also be prepared for brief interviews with individuals from various organizations.