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CollegeSportsCommunicators.com/360 Archive
This story is part of our CSC 360 package for January 2023, to view more stories,
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Thank you to all who have helped get CSC this far
by Beau White – College Sports Communicators, Director of Creative Services @beau_white
They say an ending is just a new beginning.
Those are fitting words as we close the book on the path that has led us to this exciting day with the reveal of the new College Sports Communicators logos and visual branding. So many people have played a part in making this vision a reality. Now the fun work begins.
In the transformational journey that has delivered a new governance structure, the All-In membership model and now the new name and logos, it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact start of the name and logo rebrand process. Conversations started very early in 2021 but the real work began with the first meeting of the core rebranding working group of Doug Vance, Sam Atkinson, Katie Mucci, and myself on August 11, 2021.
One of the main questions that day — how long will this take? We’ve got our answer — 511 days.
In that time we sent out nearly 6,500 surveys, conducted a membership vote with well over 1,200 members participating, interviewed 30 stakeholders, and sought the opinion of 182 leaders at various points in the process. We’ve worked with two iterations of our Executive Board and divisional leadership groups, and engaged with a membership that has already grown by 25 percent. We also welcomed new executive director Erik Christianson.
What can you learn from such a major undertaking?
For starters, people care. This association means a lot to a lot of people, including those who don’t work in the field anymore. Working in this profession is a lifestyle and it’s important to take great care in how we represent our identity.
Secondly, there are a lot of opinions out there and each one is important, but you can’t please everyone. People process change at their own pace. Your purpose should drive you.
Finally, you learn that people crave leadership in which they can believe in. Providing leadership is really what this rebranding has been all about. The world is more confusing than ever. Our present and our future is every bit as important as our past, and it’s up to us to create what we want that future to be.
To paraphrase Theodore Roosevelt, I want to thank the men and women in the arena on this rebranding project.
Thank you to the Executive Boards from 2021-22 and 2022-23 led by two strong women — Cindy Potter and Jessica Poole — for having the courage to lead us to this day.
There are many people to thank and this process could not have happened without the support of the Past Presidents, Advisory Council, Divisional Cabinets, Committee Chairs, Strategic Branding Work Group, National CSC Staff, and our partners Joe Bosack, David Haney, Jennifer Cross and Trip Durham. Thank you all.
Thank you to every individual below who lent your time in large and small ways to the rebranding process along the way. Your voices of support, encouragement, concern and disagreement were all valuable and heard.
Jim Abbott, Val Ackerman, Steven Aldridge, Alisha Alexander, Roy Allen, Sam Atkinson, Riley Baker, Stevie Baker Watson, Scott Barker, Danny Barnts, Angela Barrett-Jewers, Jeff Bernstein, Mitch Blankespoor, Charles Bloom, Tammy Boclair, Laurie Bollig, Joe Bosack, Lucas Calvert, Chris Cameron, Amie Canfield, Alan Cannon, Mex Carey, Rob Carolla, Jim Carr, Gene Cassell, Katie Cavender, Jamie Chagnon, Mary Beth Challoner, Tommy Chasanoff, Travis Chell, Erik Christianson, Jill Clark, Max Corbet, Jennifer Cross, Brad Cygan, Cody Dalton, Joe Danahey, Ryan Davis, Josh Deer, Nicho DellaValle, Iain Dexter, Tom DiCamillo, Emily Dorko, Larry Dougherty, Trip Durham, Bill Dyer, Matt Ensor, Alex Falk, Mike Falk, Sean Farnsworth, Jason Feirman, Josh Fisher, Steve Flegel, Mark Fleming, Lance Franey, Brian Fremund, Dani Gariglio, McKenzie Garrison, Katie Gonzalez, Joe Guistina, David Haney, Chris Haralson, Robin Harris, John Heisler, Brian Henry, Geoff Henson, Joe Hernandez, Keonte' Herrera, Katie Hewitt, Shelby Hild, Jeff Hodges, Jon Holtz, Connor Hood, Brian Howard, Muad Issa, Travis Jarome, David Johnson, Ashleigh Jones, Brandon Jones, Ryan Jones, Nick Joos, Jeff Kallin, Kristen Keller, Dr. Kristene Kelly, John Kelly Jr., Candice Kelm, Ann King, Matt Kinney, Kenny Klein, Rob Knox, Barb Kowal, Theresa Kurtz, Mark LaFrance, Andrew Langford, Kevin Lanke, Brian Laubscher, Gina Lehe, Bill Little, Blake Long, Dale Long, Emily Loux, Michael MacEachern, Brian Magoffin, Mike Mahoney, Mark Majewski, Kevin Maloney, Billy Mangum, Chris Masters, Jason Matheson, Matt McCollester, Dr. Ingrid Wicker McCree, Eric McDowell, Tim McKinney, Shawn Medeiros, Sarah Meier, Chris Mitchell, Pete Moore, Brian Morales, Malcolm Moran, Katie Mucci, Scott Musa, Romanda Noble-Watson, Jason Oliveira, Matt Panto, Ali Paquette, John Paquette, Jessica Paré, DeWayne Peevy, Danielle Percival, Lynnea Phillips, Patti Phillips, Ryan Phipps, Tyler Pigg, Shelly Poe, Jessica Poole, Cindy Potter, Bill Powers, Kelvin Queliz, Jayson Ameer Rasheed, Lenny Reich, Kenisha Rhone, Ashley Robbins, Mike Robles, Scottie Rodgers, Langston Rogers, Will Roleson, Jeremy Rosenthal, Jeff Rubin, Dan Ruede, Chris Sabato, Ryan Sakamoto, Eric SanInocencio, Andy Seeley, David Silverstein, Donnie Smith, Mike Smith, Paul Smith, Ron Smith, Renaud St-Laurent, Brandon Stone, Katie Jo Svenson, Mathieu Tanguay, Blake Timm, Kevin Trainor, Doug Vance, Maggie Veitch, Maura Vizza, Tim Volkmann, Jim Vruggink, Sammi Wellman, Chris Wells, Kelsey Whaley, Beau White, Kendra Willard, Maurice Williams, Mike Williams, Judy Willson, Steve Wilson, Natalie Winklefoos, David Worlock, Chuck Yahng, Amy Yakola.
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