As the second-year SID at NAIA Point University (in West Point, Georgia),
Desean Bullock is responsible for promoting and covering Point's 19 athletic programs and managing the website, social media, gameday operations, digital and video. A camera operator and graphics coordinator for the 2023 NAIA Softball World Series, Bullock is a 2021 graduate of Faulkner University after receiving his associate’s degree at Northeast Mississippi Community College where he was a football student-athlete. Bullock attended the #CSCUNITE23 convention in Orlando as a convention grant recipient.
In October,
Madison Oster will conclude her first year as Director of Strategic Communications and Administration at the 13-member NCAA Division II South Atlantic Conference. Oster is a former student-athlete swimmer at James Madison where she earned All-Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) honors (now Coastal Athletic Association).
Brandon Spahn is entering his third year as Arizona State University Athletics Art Director, assisting with ASU branding by creating both animated and static content for athletic social, marketing, recruiting and video boards, etc. He leads a team of student designers, helping them grow as creatives. Spahn also serves as an adjunct professor in graphic design. Prior experience includes serving as the NBA Phoenix Suns’ senior graphic designer and holding the director of graphic design services for athletics role at his alma mater, Indiana University.
Entering her third year as the director of sports information at NCAA Division III King’s College, located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, is
Bridget Walsh. Walsh is a 2019 graduate of DeSales University where she was a four-year letterwinner on the women’s basketball team and also was a four-year student assistant in the sports information department.
What do your family and friends think you do all day?
Bullock: They think I either watch sports all day or work on content.
Oster: It's hard to explain the dynamic of working in sports, especially at the conference level. They know that I create a lot of what you see on our socials, but I'm not sure that they fully know how much work is done behind the scenes!
Spahn: Because I’ve been doing this for a little while now, they actually have a good idea of the types of projects that I work on. They don’t know the sheer amount of content that needs to get produced, but they understand the main pieces that go out. They probably do think that I just stare at Photoshop all day, when in reality I use a lot of Adobe software to accomplish our team’s creative goals.
Walsh: My parents and close friends know the real story, but everyone else is convinced that my job mainly consists of working games and posting on social media.
If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
Bullock: Denver, Colorado.
Oster: I would love to live on a small farm in the Shenandoah Valley. I grew up on a farm in rural Pennsylvania and miss it every day! After going to school in Harrisonburg, Virginia, I fell in love with the gorgeous mountains and would love to experience farm life in that region.
Spahn: Location wise, I’m very happy where I’m at in this stage of my life. I’m sure in the future I’ll have other professional and personal goals, but I’m able to accomplish a lot of them right now in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Walsh: I really do enjoy living in the Northeast and getting to experience all four seasons, so anywhere in eastern Pennsylvania like Scranton or the Lehigh Valley or maybe up in near Boston!
What is your favorite thing about your career?
Bullock: The joy that I see from the student-athletes when they accomplish something they have worked towards and being able to highlight it. It gives me an adrenaline rush to continue to tell their story.
Oster: Thinking creatively. I love the challenge of coming up with new and fresh ideas and then seeing our student-athletes, fans, and community enjoying the final result!
Spahn: I just really enjoying creating. I get to build something new every day and I think that is really cool. I knew since I first used Photoshop when I was 13, that this is what I want to do with the rest of my life. I also really enjoy teaching a graphic design course through The Cronkite School of Journalism, helping students learn graphic design principles and the Adobe software.
Walsh: My favorite thing is seeing our student-athletes progress through their time in college, moving from first years to turning into young adults at graduation. The journeys they have are never similar, so being able to play just a tiny role in that journey is amazing.
How do you top your burgers (meat or veggie)?
Bullock: I top my burgers with cheese, mayonnaise, and mustard.
Oster: I'm a very picky eater but have been trying to expand my palate; I just tried pickles for the first time a few years ago and now I love them on burgers! After recently moving to South Carolina I have grown to love pimento cheese on a burger, too!
Spahn: I put spicy peppers and onions on top of my burgers with a little bit of hot sauce.
Walsh: I always add cheese, the classic lettuce, tomato, and onion, pickles, and definitely ketchup with the occasional mustard and mayo.
What was the last movie you went to or streamed? What did you think?
Bullock: Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 and it was amazing. I loved how Marvel really told the backstory of Rocket.
Oster: The last movie I streamed was Clueless. Definitely a go-to movie night option!
Spahn: I did a rewatch of Ferris Buellers Day Off. It’s a classic for a reason.
Walsh: A while ago, I re-watched A League of Their Own — one of my all-time favorites.
What's your favorite zoo animal, and why?
Bullock: A panda, because I think they are overall just adorable.
Oster: Lemurs have always been my favorite zoo animal. I'm going to attribute that to growing up watching the PBS hit TV show, Zoboomafoo. I recently had the opportunity to visit the Duke Lemur Center in Durham, North Carolina, and it was an amazing experience!
Spahn: I’m lucky that the Phoenix Zoo is one of the best in America, so I have a lot of options to choose from here. They have some rhinoceroses which are pretty awesome, but I always have a good time watching the monkeys or walking past the flamingos.
Walsh: Hands down, my favorite zoo animal is a giraffe. They’re tall and spotted, which I can completely relate to.
What are you most looking forward to as the new academic/athletic year begins?
Bullock: To helping grow our athletic department even more and get our athletes noticed with the proper content that they will cherish and remember during their Point University tenure.
Oster: I love championship season. Although stressful, I really enjoy the gameday environment and seeing the hard work of all our various student-athletes pay off. It’s both exciting and rewarding to support their journeys.
Spahn: I always enjoy rolling out the new creative campaign for each season. We have rules put in place for each campaign, but seeing these rules bend and grow over the course of a season is a lot of fun. I also try to give our student designers projects that I know will help them grow as creatives and get a lot of fulfillment from seeing their improvement - and I’m incredibly happy when they move on to bigger and better things after graduation.
Walsh: Seeing our student-athletes back on campus and back in competition. I truly do miss interacting with our coaches and student-athletes all summer. I also am looking forward to working with my new staff to help elevate our social media presence even further.
This or that... pool or beach?
Bullock: Pool
Oster: Pool, I am a former collegiate swimmer!
Spahn: Beach
Walsh: Pool for sure
This or that... are you a morning person or night owl?
Bullock: Night owl for sure
Oster: Night owl - mornings are always a struggle for me since I can't have caffeine!
Spahn: Morning 100%. That’s when my best work gets done.
Walsh: This really depends on the caffeine intake for the day. I like to say I’m a nice balance of both, especially when we work in sports!
Would you rather be able to pause your life at any time, or rewind and do things over again?
Bullock: I would love to just rewind and do things over again. It would not even be to change anything but really just to get that feeling again that I had in the moment.
Oster: Be able to pause at any time. Especially if I could pause time, take a nap, and then wake up to no time having passed!
Spahn: I guess pause my life, but the question is then would it be a loop like “Groundhog Day?” Or is time literally frozen? Rewinding my life obviously has infinite benefits as well, but I enjoy where I’m at right now.
Walsh: I think pause my life. I am trying to live more in the moment and not dwell on things, so I think it would be cool to pause some of the moments in my life that may have some impact or meaning down the road and really just soak it in!