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This story is part of our CSC 360 package for August 2023, to view more stories, click here.
Three Up, Three Down is a Q&A series aimed at highlighting young members of the College Sports Communicators membership, their career paths and what they enjoy in their roles on a day-to-day basis.
Young professionals spotlight: Three up, three down with Danielle Whaley — Director of Media Relations at Villanova University
by Dani Gariglio – Davidson College, Associate Director of Athletic Communications // CSC Young Professionals Committee Chair
Danielle Whaley was the first recipient of a new award in the CSC Creative & Digital Design Contest — the Designer Portfolio of the Year. She took the top honor in the University Division for her collection of designs throughout the 2022-23 academic year.
Whaley arrived at Villanova in November 2021 and earned a promotion to her current role of director of media relations in early 2023. She previously served as the athletic communications and digital media coordinator.
Whaley joined Villanova with a bevy of award-winning content creation and athletic communications experience after serving as Carson-Newman University's associate director of athletic communications from August 2017 to October 2021. She became a 14-time CSC Publications and Digital Design honoree there, earning first-place laurels for her video feature work, men’s soccer media guide and cover designs, and men’s soccer game note while also receiving plaudits for motion graphics/GIFs, infographics, posters and video recaps.
In addition to her creative work, Whaley serves as the media contact for Villanova men's and women's swimming & diving, rowing, water polo and secondary contact for men's and women's basketball. She also works with Villanova's UNITAS initiative which is a framework to build a welcoming and supportive athletic department by creating safe spaces for constructive dialogs, educational programming, and community engagement.
Congratulations on winning the University Division Designer of the Year! What did it mean to you to win this award, and what has been the most fulfilling part of your design work while at Villanova?
DW: Thank you! It’s always an honor to be recognized along with some of the best in the industry in the Creative & Digital Design contest, but this was extra special being my first honor at Villanova. I had been an award winner each of the four and a half years I was at Carson-Newman, so to have one of my submissions be recognized in my first year of submitting at Villanova was surreal - let alone it being the first award for the new category!
While I have been designing for a number of years now, I have explored new avenues of design since coming to Villanova, including designing for webpages, various printed formats, and designing for sports that I did not have experiences with previously. Through all of that, I always find it fulfilling to use my capabilities to help tell the stories of student-athletes, coaches, and programs while also helping to extend and expand the Villanova brand to growing audiences.
As someone who got their start at a Division II institution before moving onto a FBS school, what kind of things did you learn while working at Carson-Newman that have translated well to being a Division I director of media relations?
DW: Working at Carson-Newman showed me what it meant to be in media relations. I had graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in journalism and electronic media with a background in sports reporting and writing thanks to previous stops with the Tennessee Smokies, my hometown newspaper and UT’s Journalism School website. Before that, I had no idea what went into building game notes or media guides or even how to stat a game in any sport outside of using a scorecard for baseball. While I was there, I continued to work on my designing skills, both with motion and still graphics, while also improving in my digital creation skills when it came to video content, on-camera interview skills and hosting podcasts and weekly digital shows. I have seen those skills continue to be sharpened since coming to Villanova, especially with media guide/record book/game note work and designing for a number of our teams.
What’s your biggest piece of advice to someone just getting started in the industry?
DW: My biggest piece of advice is to always ask questions no matter what part of this field you work in. I feel like sometimes in this industry, we are expected to know so much right off the top of our heads whether it be as a communicator or a creator. The only way to get to that point is by asking questions. As I’ve been told by many people I’ve worked with and learned from along the way, there is no such thing as a dumb question because learning is an on-going process.
Danielle Whaley's winning Portfolio of the Year entry
Gallery: (8-1-2023) Danielle Whaley 2022-23 Portfolio
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