On January 20, 2008 when the New York Giants defeated the Green Bay Packers in a thrilling overtime win at the frozen tundra of Lanbeau Field. I called my mom and said you promised to take me to a Super Bowl, and I’m cashing in.  My Mom called me the next day and said’ “Jake we’re going to the Super Bowl.” When I asked my Mom where she got the tickets, she replied she had gottem them online from this company Sports Vacations. Little did I know how important it would be that she bought the tickets from Sports Vacations. I can’t express my gratitude enough to my mom for purchasing the tickets, but more so purchasing them from Sports Vacations.  The first time I met Mr. Damian Williams, the President of Sports Vacations, was when he handed me my Super Bowl tickets the night before the game.  I thought I would never see him again, but he turned out to be my first contact. After the game was over with the confetti streaming on my beloved Giants, tears streaming down my face, I realized this was the greatest day of my life and it still is to this day. By chance my mom and I happened have dinner at the same restaurant as Mr. Williams and his wife. My mom being the big talker that she is spotted Mrs. Williams, and got us an invite to their table.  While having dinner with Mr. & Mrs. Williams I told them that I’m a Freshman Pre-Sport Management major at Ohio University, and I asked them is there any way I could intern for them at future Super Bowl sites.  Luckily for me Mr. Williams told me we could always use some help and he would see me next year in Tampa Bay.  The following year in Tampa Bay, Florida I picked up tickets for customers at hotels in the area.  On Sunday I conducted videotape interviews of customers and former Steelers great Tunch Ilkin’s speech at the company brunch. The next year in Miami, Florida for Super Bowl XLIV I created Super Bowl trivia questions, distributed the sheets to all the tables, and I announced and presented the winner’s prize at the podium during the Super Bowl XLIV brunch. Most recently at this year’s Super Bowl in Dallas, Texas I continued to help Sports Vacations with their client services. I thank Eli Manning, David Tyree, the Giants relentless pass rush, Mr. Damian Williams, and most importantly my mom for the opportunity to intern at Sports Vacations.

By Jake Weinstein, Vice President, Club Affairs

As Zach pointed out, there are a number of reasons why Ohio University is one of the premier sport management programs in the country. Not only does it boast the most professionals in the sport industry, it provides undergraduate students with a lot of opportunities.

As a freshman, those opportunities aren’t always clear. I would recommend talking to those that have experience. We have a number of people in the organization that have spent numerous hours in internships whether it is here in our athletic department or abroad. I, myself, spent this past summer interning in the ticket office here at OU.  Through the course of the summer, I realized that ticketing isn’t what I wanted to do with my career. I would not have not known that however if I hadn’t taken the internship. Despite not finding a career, I met some good people that could help me get to where I want to be. Opportunities are always available, but they may not be obvious. I would encourage everyone to get involved early in their collegiate careers to help differentiate themselves from their peers.

Now, I don’t want to overlap on what Zach said in his blog, so I’ll talk about some other opportunities. The Sport Business Association is a beneficial tool for all sport management students. It gives the opportunity to not only gain experience in sports, but to network. As an undergraduate, there are primarily three things that are drilled into our brains; most of our careers will start in ticketing, differentiate ourselves from our peers and network. The majority of positions in the sport management field are filled based on the recommendation of an employee. The ability to network is what differentiates Ohio University from other programs. It has the most expansive alumni network in the industry. Think of someone you know that shares the same interest as you. Do you feel comfortable that that person would recommend you for a position? There are a number of people in the organization that share the same interest as you (except Dr. Pfahl).  One of these people could lead you to do a job some time down the road.

The Sport Business Association is not only something that shows you have experience, but a resume builder. Being a member of an organization helps you differentiate yourself from the resume on top of and below yours. Again, the magic word is differentiating.

Shortly after Christmas break, the organization takes a trip to Georgia Southern. I have gone on the trip both of my two years here in Athens. Some of the best moments of my life have occurred on those trips. It is a great time. You get to experience a lot of things that you might not otherwise. Finally you get to network with not only your classmates, but students from other universities as well. I would definitely recommend for all of you to eventually take advantage of that opportunity.

College is the most exciting time of our lives. It is possible to have fun while preparing for a future in the sport industry all at the same time. The point is to educate everyone on opportunities that are available and only hope that someone takes advantage of them. Most people (Brandon Hanning) do. I guess that’s why we are at THE Ohio University.

Josh Edwards, Ohio University Junior

No matter which direction we all wish to go in life, as a group of young sports professionals we share one thing in common: a love of sports. We thrive off of the passion, excitement and joy that each respective game brings.

As Ohio University undergraduates, we are lucky enough to not only have a premier Sport Management program, but a great athletic program to support. While obviously it is fun to attend games and root the team on with the “O-Zone,” even more fun can be had behind the scenes.

Sport Management is one of the most rapidly growing majors in the entire country. By the time we graduate, competition for placement in jobs is going to be stiff. Entering my freshman year, I knew this was the case. A very wise professor once told me that the best thing you can possibly do in this major is distinguish yourself from the rest, and do it early. While there are many routes and ways to go about this, I think the opportunities available within our athletic department are too good to pass up.

As a Division 1 program, Ohio has a fully functional athletic department with multiple departments. Each department thrives off of student involvement and relies on it for their operations on a day to day basis. One thing I recommend doing is paying the athletic site a visit and visiting the staff directory page.  This will give you an idea of the different areas within the department such as compliance, development, marketing and media relations.

Personally, I went the route of media relations, but each department is equally helpful and the experience will be very beneficial down the road. There aren’t many students who at the completion of their senior year can list four years of sports-related experience on their resume. Believe me, it will be invaluable. My work in media relations has opened up doors for me that I never would have had access to otherwise.

I guess to sum up this post I would say one thing: this is college. This will be four of the best years of your life and you should enjoy every minute of it. But with our major, having work ethic and a plan on how to reach your future goals comes with the territory if you wish to be successful. I strongly encourage all students to get involved take advantage of the many opportunities we have available to gain hands-on experience in our area of study.

By Zach McDonie, Sport Management Sophomore

Halfway done with spring quarter of my junior year, I took my seat in SASM 301. Without warning, a classmate of mine asked me if I would like to be the stadium announcer for the Southern Ohio Copperheads. After a split second of hesitation, I answered “absolutely.” Although I had no idea what the job entailed, other than reading each batters name before at-bats. Originally I had signed up to be a part of the general staff for the Copperheads, which is a summer collegiate all-star wooden bat team that plays at Ohio University’s Bob Wren Stadium. Within seconds I went from potential game usher and mascot, to the voice of Bob Wren Stadium.

Being a part of the general staff would have been fun and educational, but being the stadium announcer brought upon much more responsibility, and a lot more behind the scenes experience. Although I assisted in assembly and take down of the stadium, I was also required to run through the promotional scripts that took place during each half-inning of every game. For a die-hard baseball fan, this was the perfect way for me to spend my summer. Being able to sit in the press box with 5-10 other baseball fanatics, talking strategy, sharing experiences, was more fun than I could have imagined.

By doing this summer internship I learned a lot about the sports industry that I never would have considered had I worked in an office all summer. The minor-league atmosphere worked perfectly for this college-town crowd, and was exponentially more laid back and exciting than I could have hoped for.

This summer brought experiences that I will never forget. Working with other sport management students allowed me to network constantly with professors, coaches, team owners, and fans a like. For all of those that have a love of baseball, and are looking for real world experience, look no further than the Southern Ohio Copperheads.

Summer 2010 was one which was uncertain for me until April 29th when I got a call from Jenee Humphrey, Vivid Marketing’s recruiter, who informed me that I had been selected as one of Vivid’s interns. I was excited about the prospect of a new adventure to a new place (sorta). It turns out that my best friend and roommate, Paul O’Connor, lived 25 minutes from my office. Thus I had the perfect summer on deck.

From the moment I walked into Velocity’s office (Vivid, Velocity Sports & Entertainment, Isobar, and SRi merged to form one lifestyle agency and house people from each of the four agencies in each company’s HQ) on June 22nd I knew I had landed something awesome for the summer. My boss, and now friend, Erica meet me at the front door with a friendly “Hi Taylor, it’s nice to meet you. Now take off your tie, relax, and have some fun. You’re overdressed.”

The past seven weeks have been a blur. I can’t believe I only have three left. I have learned so much about experiential marketing and have found how important it is. I have met so many great people. From the highest people in the company to the trainees and interns, I have really been privilaged to work with such awesome people. I don’t want this blog to turn into one where I tell specific stories. I am going to save that for the conclusion when I can add more detail. However, I think this picture below explains everything about how much fun we have working for Vivid Marketing. The picture below was from a Pepsi Team building day where we were kayaking around Sprite Island (see the marketing opportunity here???) in the Long Island Sound. If not for anything else, I definitely made my intern impression this day.

Enjoy the remaining days of your summer everyone! We can’t wait for the Student Involvement Fair on Monday, September 6th and our first meeting on Wednesday, September 8th (my birthday incase anyone wants to get me a present) at 6 PM in Bentley 140. See you all then!

By Taylor Evans, President