The CoSIDA Ccolumn below was written by
Eric McDowell, Union College (N.Y.) Assistant AD for Sports Information and CoSIDA's 2nd Vice President. McDowell also serves as chair of the 2013 CoSIDA Convention Programming Committee, and he writes about the upcoming Orlando Convention in this column. This is the first year that CoSIDA will join the NACDA & Affiliates Convention, running its own convention programming and social events but collaborating with NCADA member groups on some panels and social events.
McDowell's column appears in the March 2013 issue of NACDA's
Athletics Administration Magazine.
Beginning with the 2009-10 academic year and with its new partnership with NACDA at that time, the CoSIDA leadership was invited to contribute to each issue of the
Athletics Administration Magazine. In October of 2009, CoSIDA President Justin Doherty penned the first "CoSIDA Column."
In October 2012, CoSIDA President Joe Hornstein wrote a CoSIDA Column on the CoSIDA/Cryder Rinebold strategic branding study; in November, Director of External Affairs Barb Kowal wrote the November column which focused on the online CoSIDA Resource Library, while Academic All-America® Committee Co-Chair Bernadette Cafarelli followed with a December piece on the Capital One Academic All-America program. In February, the magazine was dedicated to social media issues, and CoSIDA's New Media/Technology Chair Chris Syme wrote on how CoSIDA is at the forefront of college athletics social media education, webinars, studies and convention presentations.
Each
Athletics Administration issue is sent to over 10,000 university and athletics administrators, with CoSIDA's voice, thoughts and expertise shared with these key constituents. The magazine is published each October, November, December, February, March, April, June and August.
See the CoSIDA Corner archives HERE.
For more than 50 years, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) organization has provided its members with a Convention filled with timely, imperative and insightful panels with topics that engage, enlighten and educate the membership. The
2013 June Convention in Orlando will be no different in those aspects. Yet, there are some new twists for the program schedule along with the new twist for the annual Convention itself.
For the first time in the organization’s history, CoSIDA’s Convention will join 13 other affiliates at the
NACDA Convention. This year, there also will be four nationally-recognized specialists attending to address the membership in major areas that are important professional and personal aspects of sports communication.
The official CoSIDA programming schedule was announced in January, the earliest announcement in many years. It was imperative that with CoSIDA’s first year with NACDA and the affiliates that our program would be ready to announce by February to show the variety of discussion topics, issues and areas of importance in the profession.
This year, each of CoSIDA’s four days of programming will feature a major speaker. On Wednesday, June 12, the kickoff panel will star
Laura Stack, known as “America’s Productivity Pro.” Stack is the best-selling author of several books including “What to Do When There’s too Much to Do,” “Reduce Tasks, Increase Results,” “The Exhaustion Cure” and “Find More Time.” Stack has been on numerous television shows, including popular morning programs. Her seminars on lowering stress,
saving time in the workplace and improving output will be a remendous benefit to CoSIDA members and NACDA affiliates in attendance, and tips from a productivity and performance expert will
provide a fresh new take on ways to assist our members.
Since CoSIDA consists of sports communications professionals, it is quite fitting to have a professional communicator join us in Orlando. Thursday, June 13, begins with a presentation by
Richard Dufresne, Vice President of The Wellness Corporation. Dufresne’s topic will be
“Effective Communication.” As he states, “we all know how important it is to have quality communication. Effective communication is more than ‘just talking.’ Effective communication is a conscious, purposeful process that can become a daily habit.” Dufresne brings more than 20
years of conference presentation and communication services to the CoSIDA Convention.
With the different hours, nights and weekends, it can be a challenge for sports communications professionals to think about nutritional and health habits. Who better to assist in nutrition, fitness and general health than “America’s Nutrition Leader,”
Zonya Foco. Foco will join us on Friday, June 14, with her entertaining and engaging session, “Excelling Your Career Without Undermining Your Health.” Foco is a master of inspiration, motivation and visual humor providing hard-facts
information and simple solutions that help everyday people improve health, create balance and maximize energy. She is an author and national public television host who will make a difference on our bodies and minds.
One of the most important aspects of the profession is writing. Feature writing, for example. On Saturday, June 15, our final day features the notable
Roy Peter Clark, Vice President for reporting, writing and editing faculty at the Poynter Institute. He was hired by the St. Petersburg Times as one of America’s first writing coaches, and his work has been featured on “Today” and “Oprah.” Professor Clark is the founder of the National Writers Workshops and was inducted into the Features Hall of
Fame. He is the author of 15 books, including the popular “Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer” and “The Glamour of Grammar,” which was praised by The New York Times.
As is our tradition, CoSIDA also will offer panels and topics for the “meat and potatoes” of our profession, serving members from all levels, affiliations and divisions. For example, just some of the sessions we will explore include social media strategies, “You are More Than an SID,” multi-media and digital communications trends and expansion, diversity in the profession, working effectively with coaches, video editing, branding and reputation management.
Annually for the past few years, our CoSIDA Goodwill and Wellness Committee plans a community service event and a 5k fun run/walk event; we plan to do the same in Orlando and work with other
NACDA members on both the community service and fun run events.
We also have an expanded social schedule, as our new CoSIDA Family Committee has put together a tremendous slate of activities for spouses, family members, children and friends of CoSIDA
Convention attendees.
CoSIDA continues to provide programming that provides discussion on traditional aspects of the athletics communications field, as well as new technology and what lies ahead, to assist members as they return to their campuses to serve their student-athletes in the fall. For the 2013
CoSIDA Convention program, “the future is now.”
We are eagerly looking forward to sharing time, networking and fellowship with like professionals at the NACDA and Affiliates Conventions in Orlando.