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Charles Bloom (South Carolina) – 25-Year Award
by Debbie Harmison White, Atlantic 10 Conference Executive Director, Communications / CoSIDA Special Awards Committee member
Bloom with wife, Cindy, daughter, Lindsey and, son, Max.
Taken at the 2012 SEC Football Championship Game.
Charles Bloom knew what he wanted to be when he grew up when most kids were dreaming of driving a firetruck.
“I had an interest in sports and journalism for as long as I can remember. When I was in high school, I didn’t know what sports information was and my goal was to be the sports editor of a major daily newspaper,” says Bloom.
His family moved from the small town of Emporia, Va., to Las Vegas when Bloom was in high school. As a high school correspondent for the
Las Vegas Sun, Bloom worked beside another correspondent who was a student assistant in the UNLV sports information office. Bloom then attended UNLV where he was hired as a student assistant Bill Bennett, who was then in his first year as SID at UNLV.
The rest, as they say, is history.
After landing assistant sports information director positions at LSU and Ole Miss, Bloom moved into a lead role as the Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations at East Carolina, and then landed a career-changing position as the Director of Media Relations at the Southeastern Conference office in 1995. This was followed by a promotion to Associate Commissioner in 2000. In 2012, Bloom was named the Executive Associate Athletics Director/Chief of Staff/Chief Communications Officer at his alma mater, the University of South Carolina, where he currently also oversees external relations.
Charles celebrates his 25th anniversary with CoSIDA this year, and it’s safe to say he has seen many changes in the profession. Along the way, Bloom served on the CoSIDA Board of Directors and ascended to the organization’s presidency during the 2007-08 academic year. Three years later, he was inducted into CoSIDA’s Hall of Fame in June of 2011.
“The biggest change is in technology. In my early years in sports information, we all had tasks such as folding and stuffing the releases and taking them to post office before the truck left on Sunday nights. We also sent releases via telecopier, which took four to six minutes, and then followed up to make sure the media received them. I don’t miss those days,” laughs Bloom.
But with technology comes higher expectations and demands, but Bloom says, “I think these changes have helped transform sports information to where we are now are more valuable in helping navigate our coaches and administrators in a proactive PR world.”
Bloom often gets the opportunity to pay forward the lessons he learned under Bennett by meeting with many college students on their career aspirations.
“I tell students to get as much experience as possible. We have so many opportunities now in media relations, marketing, video or working on campus with student media. But, I also tell them to be diversified with their interests. You may have a goal once you graduate, but that goal may be attained by the time you reach 30, so learn about the entire enterprise and your interests may change as well,” Bloom remarks.
The advice is something he wishes he had known as he was building his career.
“If I had one thing I wish I could have done early on, it would have been to do more of this, such as more education in business or law, which in my opinion, helps those interested in a career in college athletics and help grow in this enterprise,” adds Bloom.
By all standards, Bloom has had an extremely successful career, and like many, realizes “it took a village” to get him where he is today.
“I was very fortunate to have had some great bosses and teachers that helped me grow. Bill Bennett at UNLV, Jamie Kimbrough, Tom Price and Sid Wilson at South Carolina, and Langston Rogers at Ole Miss were great for me to learn from before I was able to lead my own shop at East Carolina.
“Once I got to the SEC, I leaned on all the SIDs in the league to help me grow and used the team approach to build a PR plan for the conference. People like Claude Felton (Georgia), Larry White (Alabama), Bud Ford (Tennessee), Mike Nemeth (Mississippi State), Rod Williamson (Vanderbilt) and Langston at Ole Miss were always there for me. Steve Fink and his staff at South Carolina are now always there to talk shop and help improve the Gamecock brand,” Bloom states.
Decades ago, Charles Bloom already had a plan for his future and CoSIDA and the institutions and conference he has served have benefitted from his foresight.