Kerry Vick represents one of the premier sides of minor league baseball, both as ticket manager as well as in charge of premium seating. Vick talks about the various tasks of attempting to get folks out to the ballpark, some of the challenges of competing in a NFL/NBA city with a minor league product, and how to keep retaining long-term customers.
Ryan Ivey represents some of the new ways that a modern college athletic director can reach out to the public, as well as grow their networking capabilities through social media. Ivey hosts his own Twitter chat #scachat on Sunday nights, bringing together small college administrator issues and people together to discuss the pending challenges in the small college field today. Ivey shares his thoughts on hiring, firing and how to create a long-standing vision for an athletic department. Ivey also talks about his decision to be a NACMA board member, rather than just be a NACDA member like the majority of his athletic director colleagues in the field. Twitter: @RIvey35
Nicole Bucholtz introduces a fresh new marketing term to the podcast: "Duquesne-able." It resides under the notion of what will and will not work within Duquesne University's campus community standards for marketing and promotions at athletic events. Beyond that, Bucholtz shares her vision for making an energetic, fun atmosphere at Duquesne events, and how to engage the student population into attending on-campus games. Bucholtz talks about her past as a graduate assistant at Memphis, an intern at Embry-Riddle and some of the things she's learned along the way, including how to connect and support other young professionals in the field, regardless if they are applying for the same positions or not. Twitter: @NicoleBucholtz
The East College Athletic Conference supports 303 member institutions at 3 levels of the NCAA. That means dealing with various budgets as well as department staffs. Drew Brown discusses his role within an external relations capacity for the ECAC, as well as how to fairly faciliate both operations and marketing from a conference level.
Chris Quinn has the task of filling up the premium seating experience against several new stadium renovations within the Detroit landscape. That includes a new NFL, MLB and NHL stadium coming online as well as the challenges of the Detroit economic situation. Quinn takes on some of the issues with premium seating, and whether there is something to be said about the luxury experience for Detroit Pistons fans and what they are seeking. Twitter: @Chris_J_Quinn
Derek Van Der Merwe represents one of the truest forms of the NCAA spirit. A former walk-on at Central Michigan who became a scholarship athlete, Van Der Merwe stayed at CMU in various roles over 17 years, eventually rising to Deputy Director, before deciding to challenge himself with the Athletic Director position at Austin Peay. Van Der Merwe shares his insights on what long-term stability in one career can help and harm during an interview search, as well as his thoughts on hiring young professionals looking to break into the field. Van Der Merwe also discusses the recent Power 5 autonomy vote, as well as whether it may cause some schools to lose their way in college athletics by virtue of pursuing big time dollars. Twitter: @AustinPeayAD
Ryan Robbins has worked in sports for over 14 years, working for the New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns, Chicago Fire, Oakland Raiders and now the Cleveland Indians. Robbins discusses why the premium sales market is so precious to the bottom-line of any franchise, and some of the ways to improve customer service retention by building trust and loyalty with fans. Robbins also talks about some of the various new ways that the Cleveland Indians are changing their sales model, by enforcing a multi-level sales training approach with their new account representatives, which may turn franchise executive heads around the nation, but may also have a lasting impact in transforming how sales are done for all teams in the near future. Twitter: @RyanMRobbins
Dan Lefton represents a new trend with the sports sales; he left the primary ticket market side as a Vice President at the Brooklyn Nets in order to start his own secondary ticket solution company, Dynasty Sports. Lefton discusses the transition of starting to understand the secondary marketplace a lot more, and some of the challenges that franchises face as they move tickets in the modern era. Twitter: @DynastySE
Brad Wurthman represents the new thinking model of sports marketing; strategic communications. It is about a global understanding of how each message is created, translated, and conveyed to the buying public. Wurthman talks about his time at the University of Cincinnati, where he has built his career from the ground up, as well as what he has learned along the way. Wurthman (a proud Canadian - as if there are any different kind), also chats about his time in the Canadian Football League, and what that experience did to help shape his career. Twitter: @Wurthman
Brandy Mills has worked within the sports marketing space for some time, trying to activate sponsorship for an Ice Arena, International Raceway, and now, Boxman Studios. Mills shares her insights into building bigger brand activations through sponsorships, as well as her thoughts on what doesn't work within the space. In a time when corporate sponsorship is at a crossroads as to what to do to activate its product, Mills believes her work with Boxman Studios can help cause a significant, positive separation within the gameday space with a unique product found nowhere else in the world. Twitter: @BrandyMills_