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Note: This story appeared in the Summer 2019 August edition of CoSIDA 360 Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.
From the President's Desk
What Got You Here Won't Get You There
by Herb Vincent – CoSIDA President 2019-20 / Southeastern Conference Associate Commissioner/Communications
Reading a newspaper was as much a part of my youth in central Arkansas as backyard Wiffle Ball, bike riding and collecting trading cards. I unfailingly scoured the
Arkansas Gazette — founded in 1819 and thus the oldest continuously published newspaper west of the Mississippi River — every morning before school. Every afternoon the
Arkansas Democrat was waiting at my front door.
My world changed dramatically when the Democrat moved to the morning to challenge the Gazette in a good old-fashioned newspaper war. Everything turned completely upside down when the two battling newspapers startlingly merged into one. Similar scenarios played out across the country as afternoon newspapers disappeared and publishers consolidated.
It seemed life would never be the same.
Those changes seemed seismic at the time, but pale in comparison to recent changes in the media. Over time, the
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette implemented an online paywall and, this past spring, made the dramatic announcement it would cease printing newspapers six days a week, offering its subscribers iPads to consume its content. Only a Sunday newspaper will land on doorsteps as of this summer.
Through it all, the purpose of the
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has never changed. It delivers news and information to its readers and, through responsible reporting, is a service to its community. Decisions were made over the years about the way that news was delivered, adapting to how its customers consumed information, so that this 200-year-old organization would remain relevant, competitive and more effective.
Such are the decisions college sports communications professionals face today. Like many media outlets, CoSIDA is a long-established organization that has evolved with time. Founded in the 1950s with a membership of barely 100, it’s now a diverse body of 3,100-plus members from all sizes of colleges and universities. Operations range from one-person shops to staffs of 20 to 25 professionals. Departments are called “sports information,” “strategic communications” and “external relations.”
But regardless of size or resources available to each, irrespective of title — we are all storytellers.
We tell the stories of our universities, our sports teams and coaches, and most importantly, our student-athletes. In whole, we are telling the unique tale of college athletics — its people and its impact — where lessons learned through sports are interwoven with our system of higher education.
Whether managing a crisis, producing a podcast or writing a press release, whether advising a fellow administrator on messaging, mapping out a social media plan or updating a record book, we are telling a story.
The methods in which we tell that story have changed over the years. We’ve told it with written stories and spoken stories. We’ve adapted to tell our tale with video stories, 280-character Twitter stories and Instagram stories.
We’ve told it through our work with the media and now we commonly tell it through our own channels and platforms. We have evolved to be more targeted with our messaging, often to reach and influence specific groups like season ticket holders, donors or recruits.
Author and leadership coach Marshall Goldsmith wrote the book “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.” That title doesn’t define where “there” is, but it clearly means to achieve greater things than you’ve achieved before. This applies to the sports communications profession as well.
There are workplace attitudes, habits and organizational structures that worked for us in the past but may not be the best way to achieve success in the future.
As communications professionals, while our purpose remains the same, we evolve in our practices and philosophies. In front of us are opportunities to use new technologies, to take advantage of research and analytics, and to explore new branding opportunities — all in the interest of telling our story with greater effectiveness.
We cannot be averse to change. Just as important as undertaking new practices, we must identify those things we DON’T need to do anymore — to know when to preserve the past and when to let go of old habits.
CoSIDA must be an organization of members that are ready to embrace change as the communications environment around us continues to evolve, and I look forward to working with the membership in the coming year to identify how we can achieve greater things, so that together we can get “there.”
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