The Big South Conference announced the hiring of Mark Simpson as the director of public relations. Simpson will oversee all areas of the league's public relations efforts for its 18 Division I sports. His duties begin August 30.
“Mark will be a great addition to the Big South Conference staff,” said Big South Conference Commissioner Kyle B. Kallander. “His experience and professionalism will serve the Conference and member institutions very well.”
Simpson brings a wealth of knowledge to the conference. He currently serves as a staff writer with Street & Smith’s The Sports Business Daily, a leading daily trade publication on the business of sports. During his three-year tenure, Simpson wrote original features on sponsorships, marketing and advertising, sports media, leagues and governing bodies, facilities and venues, collegiate sports and research based projects.
Prior to joining The Daily, Simpson was the director of media & public relations for the Charlotte Checkers Hockey Club, where he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the media relations department, handling media requests, generating game notes and distributing team information to local and national hockey media outlets.
Simpson’s experience also includes a stint with the Mid-Continent Conference, where he served as the director of media relations from August 1996 to April 1998 and was promoted to assistant commissioner in 1997. Simpson was responsible for the Conference’s national, regional and local media exposure of all 18 championship sports and coordinated all media aspects of the men’s and women’s basketball tournament.
In 1993, Simpson received his bachelor's degree in journalism from Eastern Michigan University, where he also spent four years as a student assistant in the school’s sports information office.