Note:
CoSIDA Third Vice-President Shelly Poe (Ohio State University Director of Athletic Communications) and
Lawrence Fan (Sports Information Director at San Jose State University), Chair of the CoSIDA Job Seekers Committee, represented CoSIDA at the 2011 NCAA Career in Sports Forum in Indianapolis. The Forum is designed to provide more than 300 current stud
ent-athletes with personal and professional development in their pursuit of a career in sports, specifically focusing on intercollegiate athletics. Student-athletes from institutions across the country attended this year's Forum along with other coaches, administrators and facilitators.
On Monday, June 13, Poe and Fan represented CoSIDA and speaking on communications issues for student-athletes and on communications career opportunities during morning panel discussions and an afternon Educational Fair. (The entire Forum runs June 12-15). In her role as CoSIDA's 3rd VP, Poe oversees the membership continuing education program and has coordinated the educational teleconferences and webcasts this academic year. Fan is the long-time chair of the Job Seekers Committee which offers career services, job hunting and resume advice annually to CoSIDA members.
Particiants in the sports of cross country/track and field, basketball, field hockey, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, and volleyball are attending the 2011 Forum. Selected sports rotate each year, covering all NCAA-sponsored sports.
Note: Poe's blog from Monday morning's session is below, while Fan followed with a final blog entry after the afternoon Educational Fair.
Links:
NCAA Facebook page with photos from the Career in Sports Forum
YouTube VIDEO: NCAA President Mark Emmert speaks at NCAA Career in Sports Forum
Indianapolis, IN .... June 13 Monday evening
by Lawrence Fan, San Jose State/CoSIDA Job Seekers Committee Chair
See NCAA Facebook page
Student-athletes from nearly 30 colleges and universities learned more about athletics media relations, communications and sports information and had specific questions for Sh
elly Poe from Ohio State University and myself at the
NCAA's Career in Sports Forum at the Marriott Hotel in Indianapolis Monday (June 13).
Poe, CoSIDA's third vice-president, and I as CoSIDA's Job Seekers chair, spent a day as the organization's representatives encouraging undergraduates and graduates from NCAA Division I, II and II institutions to begin a career in college athletics with the communications field as a launching point.
Student-athletes were encouraged to bring passion, enthusiasm and zest to their work, network and enhance their contacts in intercollegiate athletics by contacting the SIDs, media relations directors and communications leaders of their athletics departments and offering their services to gain experience in knowledge in the field.
On Monday, many of them learned how valuable a resource the SID can be to a student-athlete's career.
Both Shelly and I served first as morning panelists
(see Shelly's blog entry for more on this, below), then met one-on-one with student-athletes in a more informal Educational Fair setting. Those student-athletes interested in communications work stopped by and we explained to the student-athletes that they already have a familiarity with today's technology and how they can use this skill set to enhance a SID or media relations office while adding valuable experience to their resume.
It's really a matter of each student-athlete taking the initiative upon returning to campus and setting up an appointment to meet with his or her SID or communications director.
Following a 90-minute introductory session on communications careers in college athletics, CoSIDA was one of 16 organizations - diverse organizations - participating in the afternoon's three-hour Educational Fair for the 300-plus student-athletes.
We joined the NCAA, the Black Coaches Association, CareerScribe!, Learfield Sports, the Horizon League, Kaplan, the Indianapolis Indians baseball team, USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Customs & Border Protection, the Corporation for National & Community Service, the Federal Protective Service, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Finish Line, and Teach for America as the organizations assembled to talk with the student-athletes.
The Educational Fair was designed to be a rotation of four 40-minute sessions with approximately 80 student-athletes each on the following special topics and group leaders:
· Health and Safety: NCAA
· Sports Architecture: AECOM Ellerbe Becket
· Resource Fair: 20-25 booths (e.g. CoSida, NCAA, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, etc.)
· Resume and Interviews session: AfterSport Group
Shelly and I worked well together as a team, promoting the athletic communications profession and encouraging student-athletes to consider it as part of an athletics administration career. A number of student-athletes dropped off resumes and business cards with us as part of their networking activities.
Right after the Educational Fair, we received an email from a Big Ten Conference SID who was thrilled her student-athlete spoke so highly of the SIDs work. And, later, I talked to a West Coast SID and told him two of his student-athletes were going to visit him soon to learn more about how they can help in the office during the "off-season."
Indianapolis, IN .... June 13 Monday afternoon
by Shelly Poe, Ohio State/CoSIDA 3rd Vice President
Greetings from the NCAA Careers in Sports Forum being held in sunny Indianapolis!
Lawrence Fan 
from San Jose State and I are here representing CoSIDA as more than 300 current and just-graduated student-athletes explore possible careers in the world of collegiate athletics.
This morning, we had the chance to meet with about 80 of the delegates interested in pursuing careers in the communications side of athletics in a spirited 90-minute session led by the pin-stripe-clad
Clyde Doughty, the spiffy athletics director at
New York Institute of Technology on Long Island.
Also joining us on the panel were
assistant athletics director Greg Jarvis from Meredith College in North Carolina;
Kaitlin Burud, assistant athletics director at the College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown, N.J.; and
Kristen Porter who recently joined the NCAA headquarters staff as
NCAA associate director of digital communications and new media after a successful career as a newspaper sports journalist,
After some introductions, the students started firing questions:
• What are the advantages/disadvantages in using your school website to distribute information vs. using traditional media?
• How do you balance long hours and wearing several hats?
• Where do you look for an internship or graduate assistantship?
• Are you ever faced with questions of ethics or integrity when dealing with the media?
• Is it an advantage to work at a smaller or larger school?
• What approaches work best in reaching out to professionals to learn more about the communications industry?
• What’s the best way for your resume and abilities to stand out when looking for your first job?
• How do you help an athlete who has misspoken with the media salvage the situation?
• Will the networks keep paying more and more money in rights fees, and how will that compensate our sports?
• How can we gain coverage for our Olympic sports when so much time is devoted to football and basketball?
• How does the media (and the NCAA) decide which stories to promote?
• Are there classes or training available for students in dealing with the media?
The themes in our answers were constant – communications is a critical component of any career; technology can only enhance the basic communication skills and practices; a great story is of interest no matter what the sport; volunteer and intern to get your foot in the door; networking is the key to advancement so get out and meet people!
The time really flew with these animated discussions. And Lawrence brought the house down with his reference to a PEZ candy dispenser as a career guide: “Passion! Energy! Zest! You can learn the stats and the technology skills, but you can’t get anything out of this career without those three elements.”
Also, check out this Facebook group: I’m a Fan of Lawrence Fan – I am joining right now!
http://www.facebook.com/ - !/group.php?gid=261200626644
There are some remarkable young people out there interested in communications and sports information and we sent them out with a charge to go back and talk to their SIDs about ways they can get involved.
You have been warned!!
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
YouTube VIDEO: NCAA President Mark Emmert speaks at NCAA Career in Sports Forum
This morning during their breakfast, the delegates got the chance to hear from
NCAA president Mark 
Emmert, who shared the story of his career path and took questions from the student-athletes. Some of his comments:
“Map out your plan! Develop skills for your future as you have developed your athletic skills, with work and preparation.”
(
asked about the pressure to generate revenue vs. the risk of exploiting the student-athletes) "That’s a delicate balance and it’s also the question du jour. We have to constantly remind ourselves: This is about the student-athlete.”
(Asked his biggest career challenge) "I think it’s similar to what you experience as an athletic competitor. The challenge is being realistic enough to be hard on yourself, looking for areas to improve. Even when you are perceived as successful, you have to maintain very good self-perspective to keep reaching forward.”
“Working in collegiate athletics will guarantee that you have a profound impact on people’s lives. It’s missionary work. And it’s really fun!”