Activation is the name of the game in corporate sponsorship. LaTrisha Reid has worked extensively in the field for the last 10 years, helping companies from musicians to motorcross exhibitions in the constant expansion of corporate sponsorship opportunities. Reid discusses her passion for developing great B2B, as well as some of the pitfalls that have caused companies to pull back from doing sponsorship with those asking. Twitter: @LkkinAndCompany

Cincinnati has become of an exciting epicenter of a digital ticketing start-up with international potential, that being Tixers.com. Founder Alex Burkhart details how the company started with the simple request of finding a reasonable way to trade unused season tickets into a full-fledged service that has now expanded to a small sample size of users. Burkhart discusses some of the ways in which Tixers.com is not StubHub, how buyers of local tickets in the Ohio area are gaining traction with the service, and what the future holds for the company. Twitter: @Tixers

Marketing and fan experience are discussed with Tim George, who has spent several years in the Big 12 with Texas Christian University and Oklahoma. Now at University of North Carolina Greensboro, George talks about the stark difference between a brand that has been created over several years and in UNCG’s case, a brand which has been initiated only twenty years prior. George details some of the challenges of drawing attendance in ACC country, as well as with smaller resources. George discusses the balancing act of life and work while also serving as a member of a senior athletic administration role. Twitter: @TBGBoro

The world of ticketing has changed over the last fifteen years. Fred Maglione has witnessed that change as head of New Era Tickets, along with his extensive experience with other ticket vendors. Maglione talks about how the customer service aspects haven’t changed even though the platforms have, taking it from store outlet models to online. Maglione discusses the aspect of service fees, whether they should be bundled into the promoter ticket prices, and how the paradigm of ticketing has continued to strengthen, even with secondary markets online. Twitter: @FredMaglione

The Asian markets, especially a massive country such as China, get categorized in a macro sense in the matter of sports business. Rob Mills helps break down each corner of Asia; Shanghai, Bejing, Hong Kong, India, Japan, and Korea are all discussed with intimate detail. As are the countries of Qatar, Australia, and Russia. Mills talks about some of the issues going on with global sports, how the English Premier League has found some backlash to their international touring initiatives, and how American college sports have an untapped potential to expand globally with games set in new marketplaces throughout the world. Twitter: @Millsyrob

A name change can do a lot of things for a minor league baseball club, but the Akron double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians caused a social media explosion when they changed their team nickname Oct. 29 from the Aeros to the RubberDucks. Director of Ticket Sales Brian Flenner talks about the name change, the impact on the community, the internal staff secrecy about the nickname, and the media attention that followed. Twitter: @Flenner1970

Dennis Kalina fully admits that it was easier to garner large donation asks while at men’s basketball powerhouse Gonzaga University as associate athletic director of external relations than Kalina’s new challenge as senior associate athletic director at Binghamton. But Kalina says that he is embracing his new experience, not only as a component of the Bearcats’ senior management team, but also focus on spearheading the department’s fundraising, marketing and ticketing campaigns. Kalina talks about the dynamics of how the paradigm changed toward marketing and ticket selling for college campuses, as well as how his experiences have helped guide him along a path toward becoming a candidate for an athletic director position down the road. Twitter: @DennisKalina

Part of the modern athlete’s image is that of the social interaction on various media platforms. That’s where Steve Dao and his company, Dynamic Sports Media, can help examine each athlete’s branding and work build it into a larger concept of community image. Dao talks about some of the nightmare scenarios of social media’s influence on branding, but also provides advice on avoiding a false athlete narrative in order to avoid controversy, because it lacks the athlete’s genuine character. Dao discusses how Dynamic Sports Media can help clients and athletes navigate the water of sponsorship alignment in order to ensure a cohesive teamwork focused on the right objectives. Twitter: @Steve_Dao

C. Ryan Shelton has been able to successfully operate in both the world of minor league hockey and that of minor league baseball. Shelton talks about his experiences in developing great fan experiences, understand the nuances of customer service, and how he continues to trust with season ticket holders. Shelton expands on the idea of sports sales, talking about his 1-on-1 prospect engagement strategy at the ballpark with a high success ratio. Twitter: @CRyanShelton

The role of NCAA compliance is often misunderstood by the public and sometimes, even those overseen by rules education. Brian Blair talks about his guidance with coaches and administrators to ensure that compliance works for both the athletic department staff as a whole as well as student athletes. Blair discusses how the perception of student-athlete awareness of athletic department issues is presented through SAAC, as well as his own experiences as a student athlete at Wofford. All while wearing a nice bowtie. Twitter: @BToTheBlair