While the public may assume that every athlete and sports figure writes their book solely, Michelle Hill reveals that there are a lot of them relying on ghostwriters. Hill owns Winning Proof, and serves as a ghostwriter for high profile athletes, coaches and sports business figures. Hill discusses why a ghostwriter can be invaluable to the execution of a book, getting the entire story narrative out comprehensively, and why a first draft is just a first draft. Hill talks about engaging with her subjects in a way that develops each story or principle, in order to take the reader on a fascinating journey. Twitter: @WinningProof
Sports supervision in college athletics is a crucial component of administration. Maryland's Associate Athletic Director for Sports Administration Tyler Mariucci discusses his passion for the sports monitoring segmentation, which in many ways, helps build future athletic directors by learning how to communicate with program coaches. Mariucci talks about switching over from development to sports oversight, and some of the factors which can help a coach understand where the entire department is headed in a 1-on-1 settling. Twitter: @TylerMariucci
Founded in 1970, The West Coast Conference has been home to that region's private religious schools. WCC Commissioner Lynn Holzman discusses some of the nuances of overseeing a private school conference, as well as how the conference "got" Las Vegas for its annual tournament first. Holzman talks about the WCC's foothold in specific areas such as media rights, and the conference is working on sustainable fan base growth for the future. Twitter: @LynnHolzman
Understanding the fan's true thoughts on pricing and venue product offerings is what Victus Advisors specializes in. Managing Principal Brian Connolly explains that doesn't just mean surveying current fan bases, but also the fans who are no longer coming to games. Connolly shares his insight into what venues can do to change up their facility in terms of premium sections, as well as the actual revenue aspects for stadium suites. Twitter: @BrianHConnolly
Coming out of Wall Street, Jim Dries is seeking to revolutionize the sports data segment with PiLYTix. Dries discusses how to show more about the customer to the sales rep, as well as ensure that it translates to actionable information which drives more revenue for the sports franchise. Dries talks about some of the misconceptions about data gathering, as well as overall pitfalls that occur. Twitter: @pilytix
The Oklahoma City Dodgers have managed to couple two dynamic legacies together into one premiere baseball package; both the Dodgers' historic brand through affiliation and their stadium, which resides in the legendary Bricktown area of Oklahoma City. Senior Vice President Jenna Byrnes talks about how the team engages with the community, as well as positions its marketing power in order to draw its audiences. Byrnes discusses managing young people, expectations and how to ensure that each staff member knows where they stand within the organization.
Frisco, Texas' Justin Wakeland High School is an amazing success story for young teenagers looking to gain a footing in the sports industry. Program instructor Leon Friedrich describes the program, which utilizes real world internships, guest speakers and an intense amount of classroom instruction to create experience for each of the students participating. Friedrich talks about the expectations placed on both students and parents, as well as the way that internships with local teams push engagement across the board. Twitter: @LeonFriedrich
Brad Matthews has been a fixture in the sports sales landscape of Miami for over 16 years, first with the Marlins and Heat, then for 14 years with the University of Miami handling premium sales. Now at Florida International, Matthews discusses his challenges of enhancing the revenue generation concepts by building a sales team as well as how to interact with CRM. Matthews describes some of the ways that he has fostered group leader relationships, keeping in close contact with those who can bring a mass of fans to games.
Mino Solomon has been in the sports sales game a long time, starting with at the tail-end of the Seattle Supersonics and becoming part of the group that headed up the Oklahoma City Thunder sales team. Solomon discusses his time in Seattle and his recent return with the Seattle Sounders FC, along with various ways to tackle both sales strategies and leadership. Solomon shares that he gets irked by leadership statements online, which seem to forget that leading is more by example than anything else. Solomon ends up talking about his 1st anniversary with an accident that he won't soon forget, and why running in the Chicago Marathon would be considered a significant future achievement for him in life. Twitter: @MinoSolomon
Fresh off of being named one of the Forbes 30 under 30 in the sports category, SportTechie senior writer Mark Burns discusses the state of sports journalism today. Burns talks about some of the ways to gather sources on stories, as well as ensure that quotes aren't taken out of context, and highlights issues with aggregation which may lose context amid overall content. Burns shares his thoughts on reporting in general, and whether he is a journalism as much as a content creator, and what that means for the future of reporting overall. Twitter: @MarkJBurns88