College Sports Information Directors of America

 
Past grant winners reflect on convention experience

by Kobe Mosley – College Sports Communicators, 2023 Intern
 
For the upcoming 2023 CSC Unite Convention from June 11-14 in Orlando, Florida, 22 of the hundreds of attendees will be coming as a 2023 CSC Unite Attendance Grant recipient. This will be the eighth class since 2014 — with exceptions coming due to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 — to attend thanks to the grant.
 
As part of receiving a grant, each winner will aid CSC’s convention operations team and write a post-convention review of their experience.
 
Even years after attending the conference, many grant recipients still remember their experiences at the convention. One of those members is Lamar Carter, a 2015 grant recipient.
 
Then the assistant director for athletics media relations at Howard University, Carter had attended the convention for the first time in 2014 to support a colleague who had won an award. Wanting to return the following year, he recalls now that probably would only have been possible by applying for and receiving a grant.
 
“The grant was a great help,” Carter said. “And it just helped keep that momentum going. When I was there for the first time, I made it a point to network with everyone and keep going [back to the convention], so [I’m] just definitely grateful for that shot to go that second year.”
 
For 2022 grant recipient Karina Graziani, the grant allowed her to attend the convention for the first time. As the associate director of athletics for sports communications at Carlow University — an NAIA school that will soon transition to NCAA Division III — attending with the help of a grant allows schools like Carlow to maintain a sustainable budget.
 
Graziani thoroughly enjoyed last year’s convention in Las Vegas, citing key moments like the Women in Leadership session and Divisional Day.
 
“It’s like getting to see all my family,” Graziani said.
 
Carter recalled the same of his experience when he attended the convention in Orlando, saying he was like “a kid in a candy store” with the array of different sessions you can choose from.
 
“I think CSC has always done a great job with their programming and giving different options of things that you want to brush up on or learn about,” Carter said.
 
Both Carter and Graziani spent their volunteering time at the convention helping with registration, more than willing to do so. It gave them a chance to mingle with their fellow grant winners as well as talk with others they may not have interacted with at the convention otherwise.
 
What kind of advice do they have for those thinking about applying?
 
“Just do it,” Graziani said.
 
Carter agreed, citing “there is literally no downside to taking the time to apply.”
 
Above all, Graziani and Carter both feel that the greatest strength of being a grant recipient and the convention is the opportunity you have to network with your peers.
 
“I just think it's invaluable … all the sessions are great and everything's wonderful,” Graziani said. “But really, it's the connections and finally putting faces to names and getting the chance to kind of let your hair down with everybody who's been working as hard as you have all year … that connection is made because of CSC.”