To Seek a Renaissance

If big-time Division I college athletics is in its Renaissance age, the athletics communications profession has a long way to go. That’s not to say there aren’t Leonardo da Vincis and William Shakespeares among our profession.

In fact there are countless talented athletics communications professionals with great skills who, if put in the right positions and empowered to be their absolute best, could go down as legends in the lore of intercollegiate athletics.

Too often, top athletics communications professionals (not in positions of leadership) are accused of being negative and too quick to complain. While that may be true for some out there, I think what many of those professionals are yearning for is a revolution.

Take the majority of your talented, yet negative athletics communications professionals and empower them. No one in their right mind would do what we do without an incredible passion, but it seems many of us have forgotten our enthusiasm for our chosen profession.

It is a humbling and exciting thought to imagine just what would happen if these skilled communicators were empowered to let their inner light shine and be committed to reforming the profession to bring out the best in everyone involved.

There is nothing more powerful than a large group of individuals who are confident in their strengths, highly skilled in their trades, unwaveringly passionate about their chosen field and dedicated to wake up every day looking to make their profession, themselves and their school the best it can possibly be.

Can you imagine the endless possibility?

But it’s hard. I was having a great conversation with a sports sales representative more than a month ago. I was fascinated in learning about his craft and where it was evolving. He spoke with such passion and was excited about what opportunities lied ahead.

Later into the conversation, he asked - “What are things like in your profession?”

I thought - Wow! I relish the opportunity to talk about the Renaissance I am looking for in the athletics communications profession. I was so excited to be able to share my ideas for reform. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t coming off in a negative tone, so I spoke carefully, as I do when I’m enthusiastically selling my ideas for reform.

“We have a lot of talented people in our field,” I started. “But I think this is a critical time for our profession. We are in need of reform to reverse the growing disenchantment among our professionals and need to find a way to bridge a gap between the ‘new school’ mindset and the ‘old school’ mindset. If we aren’t willing to accept new challenges and solidify our position at the leadership table, with the growing decline of conventional media, our profession could be dying. At the same time, we can‘t get away from the traditional fundamentals and skills on which our success is based.”

I thought - that’s it! I have finally found a way to put together the perfect summary of what needs to happen in our profession and, I was almost inspired by my own words.

Talk about a way to end a conversation.

Change scares people. I knew immediately once I finished saying my piece that the conversation was over. Mine was a call to action and that’s scary to people. Instead of striving to get better, it’s easier to go with the status quo. Even if he thought I was right, it’s too dangerous to make waves.

So, what many people do is not rock the boat. It may be easier in the short term, but it’s devastating in the long run.

At my very first CATSPY Awards at the University of Kentucky, the annual athletics awards show that honors those of most importance in college athletics - the student-athletes, I was an impressionable 19-year-old freshman. In awe of much of the show, I was inspired by the speech given by athletics director Mitch Barnhart at the end of the program.

“There’s no staying the same,” Barnhart told the contingent of student-athletes, coaches, support staff and administrators in attendance. “You’re either getting better or getting worse. There’s no staying the same.”

That stuck with me and, just like many of you, there have been days when I haven’t gotten better. But there are a lot of days I spend trying to get better.

That is exactly what’s happening when we refuse to embrace reform in the athletics communications field. We are refusing to get better and, in the process, we are getting worse.

There is no staying the same.

I’m not saying that I have all the answers. In fact, far from it. One important lesson for any of us to understand is that none of us have a monopoly on wisdom. It does not exist and, while we should always strive to grow, learn and change, we should not strive to monopolize wisdom.

Any mistake I criticize, I openly say that I have made that mistake at some point or another. Sure, I am probably among those listed when negativity among athletics communications is mentioned. But it’s only because people don’t understand the endless possibilities I see in our field and in college athletics as a whole.

I actually consider myself an optimist, who is regularly disappointed because the potential and possibility I see in everything is endless and, almost inevitably, we come up short of that. I can assure you, I am my own worst critic and am harder on myself and my own actions than I am of anyone or anything else.

There is no question I don’t have all the answers. But, what I want to do is discuss the problems. No, not just with the top communicators and not in a formal setting. When we’re honest, we’re all better off down the road, even though it might be hard for some to hear at the time. Let’s get talented communicators together from all levels - I can assure you we would find an answer and a solution to every issue athletics communicators are facing right now.

Why not have an athletics communications Renaissance? Our schools deserve it, our student-athletes deserve it and we ourselves deserve it. If we aren’t the best then we are selling ourselves and everyone else short. Let’s be our absolute best - all at the same time. How awesome would that be?

As Anne Frank wrote “Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!”

Let’s work collectively on a daily basis to bring out that potential - to truly see how good we can be.

But, in conjunction with that, our environments need to be conducive to that - and that’s why there’s need for reform. Surely with that goal in mind, we can all work together to collectively ensure that we are able to put that potential to work - to let our lights shine.

Here are some starting points for change, for opportunity:

-Convert At-Large members of the CoSIDA Board to Elected Positions - Sure there are a number of talented professionals on our profession’s board of directors, but what incentive is there to effect positive change for the majority of the membership? I want the At-Large Board of Directors members to be able to clearly define their position on issues. What are your key causes? Why do you want to be on the board of directors? What is the change you are looking to effect? Additionally, if these positions are elected, that institutes a system of accountability because, just as quickly as you are elected, if you don’t make progress towards what you have promised, you could easily be defeated in the next election. It’s funny how a little accountability makes things get done faster. Make our leaders accountable. I have aspirations to participate in leadership positions with the CoSIDA board of directors. I want to be held accountable by our constituents. If I am just appointed - then I am representing the membership, but they had no say in electing who represents them. Do you want to be represented in the Senate by someone you didn’t have the opportunity to vote for or against? I think not.

-Increase Professional Development Opportunities - I have mentioned these in previous posts. We are in critical need for an accreditation process. There is no formal education process and, thus, no real way to distinguish a talented communicator from someone off the street. Let’s reward those who have invested the time to improving their skill sets and their careers. I’m not saying every SID out there has to be accredited, but let’s have the process available and reward those who commit to it - higher pay, more impressive professional distinction, more respect, better jobs. It’s a no-brainer. Create an Ohio University-like program for athletics communications. I’ve already detailed the curriculum in an earlier blog post. You have to be a certified athletic trainer and a certified strength coach and a registered nutritionist, but you don’t have to have any designation to be an athletics communications director. Think that’s why we have trouble gaining respect in the overall athletics structure? Hmmmm.

-Measure Monetary Effectiveness - If you look in Sports Business Journal, the majority of its 40 Under 40 award winners are marketing professionals. Wonder why? They can prove their worth to the bottom line of the organization. They brought in this much revenue through corporate sponsorships. A coupon for free tickets they bought in the newspaper resulted in so many fans coming to the game. There’s metrics involved everywhere in marketing. Marketing professionals can easily show how they contribute to the bottom line. As athletics communications professionals, we don’t do that. In fact, many of you might be thinking we can’t do that. Just as a Chief Marketing Officer presents his number figures to the boss, so should the Chief Communications Officer. We should be required to submit similar reports. Let’s employ news-clip services. That cover of Sports Illustrated you got your quarterback on for free - how much would publicity have cost you if you bought the cover of Sports Illustrated to promote your program? That three-hour long college football game broadcast on ESPN where they use your notes to speak positively about your program while the game progresses - how much would it have cost your athletics department for a three-hour advertisement from 7-10 p.m. on ESPN during college football Saturdays? We have to help ourselves by proving our worth to the bottom line. It’s definitely there, but people aren’t seeing it. In fact, we contribute to the bottom line more cheaply than the marketing folks - our publicity is free - we don’t purchase any ads or sell any space.

-End the Rising Disenchantment of Professionals - Let’s talk. Seriously - we need to figure out a way to re-inspire the passion that each of you had when you first began the job. What are the main detractors from your happiness? Does most of it ensue from the fact that you aren’t maximized to your full potential? Let’s figure this out. Forget political correctness - do you want soldiers who sit privately unhappy or do you want a team of people who want to be the best? Let’s all be the best. Let’s end the divisions that exist in our profession, whether that be between administrators/coaches and communicators, senior communicators and junior communicators, or communicators and members of the media. We need to find the answers and reform our industry.

I would love to have your suggestions on what we can do to work on the four issues that I have mentioned, and what other issues exist that need to be addressed. I want each of you out there to seek your full potential and reach it. We can’t do this alone - let’s all work together to try to effect positive change.

What could be more fulfilling and empowering than to reach your full potential on a daily basis? There has been no better time - we have all of the resources, all of the new mediums and all of the new technologies. Let’s all work together to create the athletics communications Renaissance.

Will you join me?