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Brian Coe (right), vice president of operations for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, accepts an award from AHL president Dave Andrews as the league’s most successful executive in promotions.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vice president of operations Brian Coe

Twenty years ago Brian Coe saw an advertisement for now-defunct Pittsburgh Stingers indoor soccer team and thought it would be fun to work for the club

Coe, who was fresh out of college, sent in a resume, got an interview and found himself in charge of public relations. He got to travel with the team and was paid $500 for the season.

While the job didn’t provide much in the way of financial security, it put Coe on a career path that included 10 years with the Pittsburgh Penguins and his current post as vice president of operations for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins where he is in charge of promoting the club in a variety of capacities.

On Wednesday, Coe’s work over his career and specifically last season earned him the American Hockey League’s Ken MacKenzie Award, given annually to the AHL team executive who most successfully promotes their club.

The award was given out during the AHL meetings in Arizona, and Coe called the experience “humbling.” It marks the second time the Penguins have won the award, including Rich Hixon and Brian Magness for the 1999-2000 season. Other winners of the award include famed hockey commentator Michael “Doc” Emrick.

“It’s nice to be recognized, especially in front of your peers, and it’s pretty special to join the names on this list,” Coe said.

His efforts in overseeing the Penguins’ game-night operations along with the endless work to promote the club and communicate with fans via social media were the main factors that earned Coe the award.

But for Coe, it was an experience early into his tenure with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton that ignited his passion for not only promoting the team, but other causes as well.

In 2007 Coe worked with Penguins’ defenseman Matt Carkner on an event to raise awareness for breast cancer. Fans purchased raffle tickets for a chance to win several prices, including the opportunity to shave Carkner’s head at center ice after a game. Teammates Kurtis McLean and Jonathan Filewich also volunteered for the hair cut, and in the end the event raised nearly $10,000.

“That really had an impact on me,” Coe said. “There is a lot of community work and charitable causes that we do behind the scenes that are really gratifying.”

While Coe may be behind the scenes with much of what he does, fans take notice of his work at every home game. In charge of the team’s game-night operations, Coe is responsible for keeping fans entertained and sponsors happy.

That can be a challenge, Coe said, because the Penguins large season ticket base means many fans return every game night and they want to see something different.

“You want fans to come in and be entertained,” Coe said. “No matter what the final score of the game is, you want them to go home happy with the experience.”

Another critical component to Coe’s work is maintaining the team’s presence on social media. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton CEO Jeff Barrett, who originally hired Coe back in 1995 for the Stingers job, said that is one of his strong points.

“We have one of the largest Twitter and Facebook bases in the league. Brian Coe has taken our social media network to the next level,” Barrett said. “He’s really been a jack-of-all-trades for us and Brian’s always the first one in and the last one to leave. We’re very proud of him.”

Coe said social media interaction between the team and fans is incredibly important and it’s an aspect that is always changing. When new avenues for communicating develop, Coe stays on top of it in order to maintain the one-on-one interaction with fans.

“We were one of the first teams to institute our own Twitter and Facebook pages,” Coe said. “Being able to talk to fans and get that message and information to them immediately is huge. It’s just one component of the job that is rewarding.”