Howard W. Hewitt – One of the great things about Wabash College for staff as well as faculty, is working with so many great young men. We bring a different skill set, life experiences, and perspective to their education.
And once in a while we even can offer opportunities others can’t. For example, Career Services has had a great night out to a Pacers’ game for a couple of years. The group learns about sports marketing before the game, then stays to see the Pacers play. Last year Sports Information Director Brent Harris hooked up Bachelor photographer Clayton Craig ’08 with game credentials to shoot photos from the floor.
We were able to do that again this year and set up Alex Moseman ’11 with credentials for Tuesday’s game against the Cavs. Bachelor writer Jonathan Torrez ’10 was along on the trip to write about it for this week’s paper. I asked both guys to share their experience.
Moseman – While I don’t really have a desire to ever go into to the field of sports marketing, the talk was still interesting. The Pacers’ Vice President of Marketing talked about his experience creating ad campaigns. In a nutshell he defined marketing as creating demand. I listened to his talk and snapped a couple obligatory photos for the Public Affairs office, awaiting the real reason for being at the game.
See Moseman’s pictures here.
Howard Hewitt and Brent Harris worked their magic again. They had gotten me a press credential for the floor for the game. Picking up the credential was an adventure all on its own, finding my way though a couple “secret doors” then going through two security checks I finally was able to pick up my pass. While that was exciting in itself, the chance to shoot from the floor was made all the better by the fact that the Pacers were playing the Cavs, meaning that I would be literally inches away from Lebron James.
While I’m not a fan of the NBA, I still appreciate and respect the athletic abilities of NBA players. And someone who can command as much respect as an athlete and a leader as Lebron James is worth getting excited over.
During hafttime I got a chance to talk with a Sports Illustrated photographer. Both of us being sports lovers had the same reaction; he said being a photographer is really a non-job, "someone has to do it and I’m glad to be the person.”
It reminded me that of the 900 students at Wabash I was the only one who was given a chance to go to the floor for the game. In a sense it gave me even more of a drive to take pictures professionally some day.
Torrez – I really cannot start without mentioning this first: THE PACERS BEAT LeBRON! I experienced my first NBA game while researching my career options at Conseco Fieldhouse. Only at a place like Wabash would I have experienced such a breath-taking moment.
A group of Wabash men signed up with Career Services to attend a seminar in Indianapolis to discuss our career choices in sports marketing and sales with Steve Gregory, VP of Marketing for the Pacers. We had a great talk about life in marketing: the different career paths to reach the top, the daily tasks of a marketing agent and creating business while dealing with the current economic crisis.
Career Services, directed by Scott Crawford, has done amazing things. Even while driving, Scott was discussing internships and full-time jobs with students. I have gone to Career Services myself a couple of times in the past and they helped me fix my resume, apply for grants, discuss my future goals and plans, and see what they could do for me next.
My first NBA game – ever – was an exciting one to watch. The game came down to the final .2 seconds with LeBron James fouling Danny Granger, who in turn made the winning free throw. The game was miraculously close with the Pacers short-handed and the Cavaliers trying to get a win after a home loss against the L.A. Lakers.
The atmosphere in the building was electrifying near the final minutes. It was one of the greatest sports moments of my life and I am glad to have spent it with the fine men of Wabash.
