Jim Willits has had a 20-year career in sports, rising to the role of Vice President of Sales for 8 years with the Philadelphia Flyers. Willits talks about the barriers that young students put on themselves trying to break into the industry, especially when presenting resumes or getting a face-to-face interview. Willits discusses how the industry needs for employees has changed, and how a lot of young employees need to be able to adapt to those changes to show value. Willits describes his role as a trainer for young executives, providing them with an affordable alternative in career coaching and development toward landing a job in the sports industry. Twitter: @WillRockSports

Dynamic pricing’s history in English football began with the Derby County Football Club. As ticket office manager for three years during that period, Edward Liddiard saw first-hand the effect of variable pricing on the marketplace and with fans. Liddiard talks about the positive and negative ways in which dynamic pricing changed, as well as how the practice had to adapt to the UK employment system in a working class community such as Derby. Liddiard explains his role in developing and administrating the pricing playbook, which allows football clubs to see what other clubs are charging in order to price their product accordingly. Twitter: @ELiddiard25

The dynamic world of CRM and its capabilities within sport franchise revenue streams is examined with Fiona Green, who has worked with the top European football clubs in the world. Green talks about why CRM capability and customer informational control is so huge for even the largest football clubs such as Manchester United or Arsenal, helping teams and sponsors better understand who is watching and why. Twitter: @Fionagreen66

Kelley Walton has worked in professional sports hiring for over 10 years, as the director of human resources for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Now a practicing lawyer and instructor with Ohio University’s Sports Administration program, Walton has authored a book on breaking into the industry called Prepare for Opportunity: A practical guide to applying for a job in sports. Walton talks about the reasons why she felt the book was necessary, what Gen-Y has to offer the industry, and how lawyers are talking over not only the world as a whole, but especially athletic departments where the legal and analytical issues are beginning to grow larger daily. Twitter: @HRLegalConsult

Summer collegiate baseball can either be something that is not made for the paying fan or it can be essentially a minor league with 30 home dates. Mike Lieberman chooses to believe his East Texas Pump Jacks are the latter. Lieberman talks about how the Pump Jacks go about utilizing interns and two full-time staff in order to bring a full minor league experience to the residents of Kilgore, Texas and remain competitive in the Texas Collegiate League. Lieberman discusses why group tickets are key to filling stands with paying customers and his philosophies toward building long-term revenue and fan loyalty while selling out the house. Twitter: @SportsExec13

The world of sports journalism is explored with the help of Bill Bradley, who has made the jump from the sports editorial pages of daily newspapers to the digital world of the NFL.com. Bradley talks about the environment of journalism and employment in the field means working online, as well as his decision to build his online brand both with SacStateSports.com and finally the NFL.com, covering health and safety issues. Bradley discusses his role at NFL.com and how he develops good, informative stories on serious subjects such as player safety. Twitter: @billbradley_sac

Brian Thornton has worked on both athlete and team branding for over 20 years, developing relationship with over 200 active NFL, MLB, and NBA players. His list of clients has included Larry Fitzgerald, Devin Hester, Greg Jennings, Ndamukong Suh, Deion Sanders, Emmitt Smith, Curtis Martin, Rod Woodson, Jairus Byrd, Richard Seymour, Steven Jackson, Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera, David Ortiz, Mariano Rivera, Amare Stoudemire, and Dwight Howard. Thornton talks about the personal branding side of the modern athlete, which now extends into the social media ranks to where each athlete is now a media channel for certain endorsement or corporate partnerships. Thornton talks about off-field engagements, time management for an athlete between sponsorships and their seasonal endeavors in their sport, and how to manage strategic partnerships into a cohesive relationship between the player and the brand. Twitter: @BThornton1966

Working in sports means learning how sell and being mobile, Jamie Morningstar has done both during her tenure in the NBA. Morningstar talks about her first jobs in sports, including working for the Seattle Super Sonics and the decision to move with the team to Oklahoma City, as well as her time at Madison Square Garden with the New York Knicks and now with the Milwaukee Bucks. Morningstar expands into selling the experience as well as the relationship between a client and team, in terms of retention, even when team performance is down. Morningstar discusses how she managed to study and pass the bar exam after law school while performing inside sales with the Detroit Pistons, as well as her thoughts on the overall expectations of working in the industry. Twitter: @jmelyn30

Being continually sold out of ticket inventory is that “good problem to have” for any franchise, but Joe Cote explains how it can cause some consternation for his fanbase, especially when the perception of being sold out causes patrons to buy off of the secondary market when there are tickets available on the primary market. Cote talks about how the Timbers have embraced the Portland marketplace, establishing a special relationship through a different branding campaign which didn’t use some of the traditional “call to action” methodology and instead focused on showing the Timbers’ fanbase. Cote discusses how he got into the sports business, as well as how the title of vice president means little when it comes to a difference in his performance prior to earning the title.

The Hops just finished their first Single-A baseball season in Hillsboro, Oregon. Team Vice President and General Manager K.L. Wombacher talks about the decision to move the former Yakima Bears franchise more than 200 miles away, re-branding the team as the Hops. Wombacher talks about the challenges facing the team, as well as how the team’s per caps have exceeded expectations, as well as the Hops’ branding images in terms of merchandising outside of Hillsboro and Oregon. Twitter: @Wombokl