College Sports Information Directors of America

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Curtis Snyder – University of Colorado, Interim Associate AD/Athletic Communications

CSC 25-Year Award

by Jeff Hodges – CSC Secretary // CSC Special Awards Committee chair

Curtis Snyder is in his second stint of working at his alma mater, the University of Colorado. A 1998 graduate of CU, he also worked at Duke University. Currently, he is the interim associate AD/athletic communications. He shares football media relations duties and heads up the SID responsibilities for CU’s nationally-ranked ski team and the women's tennis team. Among his varied responsibilities, he oversees some strategy and execution of CUBuffs.com and social media, as he formerly was the director of digital strategy and special projects and an associate SID for the Buffs.

Prior to returning to his alma mater, Snyder served at Duke’s director of Internet operations from 2003-08 where he was responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of GoDuke.com and had various SID duties for the football and men’s basketball programs.

Snyder began his athletic communications career while at undergraduate at CU, serving four years as student assistant in the athletic media relations office (1994-98) and then five years as a full-time assistant SID and as well as the Internet managing editor (1998-2003).

He also currently serves as a back-up statistician for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and has worked with the AVP (professional beach volleyball tour).
 
 
What got you into athletics communications at the start of your career?
CS: As an undergraduate, my sister was a few years ahead of me at the University of Colorado. After I decided not to pursue playing college basketball, I applied at CU myself. I was the one who woke up early Monday mornings to calculate fantasy football scores out of the newspaper before school started. My sister had a friend that worked for (semi-retired Colorado Assistant AD/SID and CSC Hall of Famer) David Plati as a student assistant. At some point that friend said it sounds like your brother should talk to Dave. I connected with Dave before graduating high school, ended up enrolling in a summer math class, and started as a student assistant for Dave the Monday after my high school graduation. The rest is history! (Note: Plati currently serves as the CU athletics historian/SID emeritus and handles men's golf media relations).

You started your professional career at the University of Colorado and then returned there. What is so special about CU that you have spent more than 20 years working there?
CS: I’m lucky enough to only have had two schools that I’ve worked for in my 25 years. The timing worked out that as my wife graduated CU and we began our life together, I was able to work at Duke for five wonderful years. (His wife, the former Kami Carmann, was a four-year letterwinner and two-time captain of the CU women’s basketball team).
 
When we decided to start a family the timing was right to come back and as it happened an associate SID job was available and it worked out well for me and my family. 
 
I loved working for Duke and still have several life long friendships from my time there. But CU is home. I was a fourth-generation student at Boulder High School and my grandmother graduated from CU in the 1920s, my grandfather, both parents and only sibling also attended CU. My dad took me to football games early in the Bill McCartney era. I don’t know life in my hometown without CU so CU is very much home.
 
You served on the former CoSIDA Technology Committee for several years and were in charge of internet oiperations at Duke. How have you seen technology change our industry?
CS: I’ve always been enamored with technology and how it defines and impacts our industry. Hearing stories from CSC Hall of Famers David Plati and Fred Casotti early in my career about how the fax machine revolutionized our profession, I wanted to be part of the next evolutions. 
 
As a student I sought out our “IT guy,” the great Todd “Moose” Benson, and helped him build the first website. In my personal life I’ve always been an “early adaptor” with gadgets and technology and that ran into my professional life. While all the technology is great, and I’ve witnessed first hand how athletic department websites and then social media have evolved our profession, I still think the “old school” values of building personal relationships is a must and key factor in being successful as a sports communicator.
 
You have had the opportunity to work with several professional teams and other outside events. What have those opportunities meant to you and how did they come about?
CS: Relationships. My relationship with (former Colorado SID and CSC Hall of Famer) David Plati opened the door to so many opportunities. I was able to have an internship with the Denver Nuggets and also work games for the Broncos, Rockies, Avalanche and more. Tim Simmons was also key in my development and I worked for him for the former women’s basketball American Basketball League’s Colorado Xplosion. The Xplosion was the first women's professional basketball franchise in our state. I also thank Doug Strauss for work at the AVP (Pro Beach Volleyball) for a few summers. I think it’s important to see different ways of doing things and implementing some of that into your day to day work flow, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have had opportunities to do just that.

Talk about the uniqueness of working with the nationally prominent ski team at Colorado …
CS: The CU ski team is a special team to work with. I truly believe its impact on college skiing rivals the impact that any program at any level from any school on their sport. National Team coaches, Olympians, and the first two medals for the US in alpine skiing came from current CU student athletes in 1964. Being a smaller sport, working with them allowed me to diversify my work experience as I am also the SID for the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association, the secretary of the Ski Coaches Association, and have served as the overall tournament director for two NCAA Ski Championships … and for a third coming this next season.