A Whirlwind Week: Recapping The 9th Annual Behind the Scenes with Chicago Sports Organizations Class

By Rachel Bradshaw and Erin Henze

When we signed up to be part of DePaul’s ninth annual Behind the Scenes with Chicago Sports Organizations Class (BTSWCSO) led by Andy Clark, director of the Sports Business program, we knew it would be an exciting course that introduced us to the world of Chicago sports. We were right. This week-long intersession course was all of that and so much more. In just six days, we networked with 64 contacts in the sports industry, visited 15 different organizations, stepped foot inside 10 venues/offices and attended an NHL game.

Monday

On Monday morning, we found ourselves at the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center. There, we were introduced to the course and each other before hearing from Publisher Chris Hartweg from Team Marketing Report.

Chris set the stage for what our week was going to look like and gave us excellent advice for our professional lives. His main piece of advice was to “get as much writing experience as you can” because it’s likely that any job will require you to write in some form. We also learned about the Fan Cost Index (FCI) that Team Marketing Report uses to help teams understand the average ticket prices of four adults going to a game.

From there, we traveled to Guaranteed Rate Field and met with a panel of directors who talked about their careers within the Chicago White Sox organization including, Director of Ticket Sales and Retention Rich Kuchar, Senior Director of Corporate Partnership Sales Development George McDoniel, Vice President of Community Relations/Executive Director of Chicago White Sox Charities Christine O’Reilly-Riordan, Senior Director of Broadcasting Cris Quintana, Vice President of Finance Bill Waters, and Vice President of Sales and Service Jim Willits.

Most of the panelists have been a part of the White Sox for at least more than 10 years, which shows the culture and relationships that exist within the franchise. Following the panel, Client Services Manager Maryssa Cladis took us onto the field for pictures and a taste of the gameday experience.

Tuesday

On Tuesday morning, we arrived at rEvolution, an integrated sports marketing agency, to learn about the inner workings of the company and what makes them unique. We met with Partner Larry Mann, Senior Director of Marketing Communications Mike Hormuth and Director of Hospitality Jennifer Andrus. We also heard from Client Services Associate Theodore Gwyn, Client Services Manager and DePaul alum Celine Soto, Supervisor of Client Services Michael Begel, and Senior Supervisor of Client Services Celsea Herzog. They are involved with a variety of brands and come up with creative ways to promote their clients’ goals. Jennifer talked about how her team helps create “bucket list experiences” as a way of making everyone’s time with rEvolution memorable. It was intriguing to learn about everything that goes into not only creating and planning events, but also producing content to make products look good from a different standpoint.

In the afternoon, we traveled to Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs offices. We started off the afternoon speaking to the Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Colin Faulkner, who talked to us about his career journey. One piece of advice he shared was “do a good job at the job that you have because you never know where you will go from there.”

From there, Colin took us down to the 30,000 square foot Clubhouse where we were able to take pictures and check out where the players go before and after games. Then, we headed to the American Airlines 1914 Club and the Maker’s Mark Barrel Room where Colin talked about the background of the design concepts for those two specific premier spaces. The last stop on the tour was the field, which was set up for the Winter Wonderland.

After the tour, the class got a one-on-one opportunity to sit down and speak with a range of Cubs managers about work/life balance and their careers including DePaul alumni and Account Executive of Premier Sales Diego Chahda, Talent Acquisition and HR Operations Coordinator Claribel Diaz, Ticket Sales Representative Megh Babikian, Executive Assistant Mary Rossi, Director of Hospitality and Retail Brad Johnson and Manager of Ticket Sales Aaron Klein.

Wednesday

Wednesday was a loaded day filled with a ton of insights from three different organizations, starting with Wilson Sporting Goods. When we first arrived, the class received a detailed tour of the beautiful office space. Following the tour, we sat down for some lunch with Global Supply Planning Manager Oliva Vargas, Social Media Strategy Manager Jonathan Lau, Global Marketing and Partnerships Senior Director of Team Sports Amanda Lamb, Digital Marketing Director Aviva Jorstad and Global Commercial Senior Director of Baseball/Softball Michael Markovich. They all spoke about their lives and how they ended up at Wilson. Jonathan Lau discussed the importance of developing trust and a good relationship with consumers, saying “It’s not what we say our brand is – it’s what our community says our brand is.”

It was also interesting to see firsthand how Wilson conducts business. In an adjacent conference room, there were executives from Dick’s Sporting Goods meeting about buying Wilson products.

Following this, we ventured off to the Bulls’ corporate offices to start the afternoon speaking to a wide range of Chicago Bulls managers including Community Relations Senior Coordinator Josh Clark, Community Relations Coordinator Kola Adebola, Integrated Marketing Coordinator Haley Zahn, Digital Partnership Coordinator Ivan Hudson, Manager of Corporate Communications Denae Wilkins, HR Coordinator Mary Clare Crue, Senior Manager of Season Ticket Sales Zayna Ibrahim, Business Analyst David Hu, and Manager of Digital Content Nikko Tan.

Everyone gave great advice, but one in particular was Denae, who told us, “Don’t let not knowing about the sport stop you from applying or interviewing.” Denae’s insight highlights the idea that when applying for a job, your expertise in a certain discipline is more important than a deep knowledge of the sport.

Nikko shared his journey from just overseeing social media to now being one of the team’s photographers. He talked about how during the pandemic, he wanted to try something new, so he tried photographing his high school’s football team as practice. With a ton of practice, he kept improving and told us, “you can gain experience in different areas.”

Next up, we went down to the Blackhawks’ corporate offices to speak with Manager of Development Marisela Rodriguez, Manager of Analytics Elena Kelsh, Corporate Partnership Account Specialist Shilpa Rupani, Marketing Coordinator Sarah Ortman, and DePaul Alum and Account Executive of New Business Erik Lagunas. There, they each separately took time to speak with us about what they do before, during and after gamedays. Erik gave great advice about what it is like when working in sports saying, “sports is a lot of time, but if you’re passionate about it, then it’ll be okay. It’s rewarding.” It just goes to show that sports can be an exhausting industry to work in, but the payout makes it all worth it.

Following, we met with Manager of Premium Membership, Kevin LeClair, who gave us a tour of the United Center’s new features. This included checking out the ice, the CIBC seats lounge, and the new FanDuel Sportsbook (which was newly opened back in October).

After the tour, we were treated to a pizza dinner and got a surprise visit from the Blackhawks In-Game Content Host Genna Rose, who talked about her journey from broadcasting to being a part of the organization. As a recent college graduate, it was intriguing to hear what she has accomplished and her journey to the position that she has now.

To conclude this eventful day, we were able to attend the Chicago Blackhawks vs Edmonton Oilers game as guests of the Blackhawks in great seats. There, we got closer as a class while enjoying the game after absorbing all the information we had gotten throughout the day.

Thursday

Thursday morning featured a trip to the Chicago Bears’ loop offices for a panel discussion with a variety of the team’s managers, including Manager of Employee Experience Kristin Rogers, DePaul Alum and Partnership Activation Specialist Rachel Chessky, Partnership Activation Assistant Victoria O’Connor, Corporate Communications Assistant Miguel Lemus, Manager of Brand Creative Matt Dunlap and Marketing Project Manager Joann Kowalski. There, we all received important pieces of advice that will serve us well as we transition into our professional lives over the next couple of years.

Rachel, who was in this same class, told us that “no job is too small” when trying to break into the sports industry. Rachel completed an internship with the Bears after graduating, which eventually helped her secure a full-time job with the football team. Victoria also urged the class to believe in themselves, saying “don’t tell yourself ‘no’ before anyone else does.” We also learned a great deal about leadership and what it means to manage people within a business. Joann highlighted the importance of finding what works for different projects as well as what leadership and working styles work for different people.

After our visit with the Bears, the class headed over to Paragon Marketing Group’s new offices in the West Loop. We met with Senior Vice President Matt Waitz, Senior Account Supervisor Michael Miller, Senior Account Coordinator Talia Petrosino, and Account Supervisors Jim Perry and Michael Socks. They gave the class a presentation highlighting Paragon’s history, what the company is currently working on, and some of the projects they’re looking forward to in the future.

Paragon’s slogan is, “We ignite remarkable journeys,” a concept that is evident in the way they conduct business and collaborate with brands.

One of the most interesting aspects of Paragon’s history as a marketing agency is their involvement with LeBron James and the televised broadcast of his high school basketball game against Oak Hill. Now, Paragon is fully immersed in the world of highlighting high school talent in a wide variety of sports, including men’s and women’s basketball, soccer, and men’s and women’s volleyball.

After the presentation, students received tips on building a solid resume and were encouraged to apply for Paragon’s “Road Warrior” summer student internship position. We concluded our time at Paragon with a tour of their brand-new offices, located right across from Union Station.

Friday

Friday was a day packed full of school pride! We started the day at Wintrust Arena, where we received a tour of the facilities from arena manager David Kennedy, as well as some additional insight into what goes on behind-the-scenes for games and concerts.

After that, we visited the DePaul Athletics facilities located at Wintrust, including the men’s and women’s basketball locker rooms, the film room, several conference rooms, and a state-of-the-art weight room. We talked with Executive Associate Athletic Director Taylor Stapleton about DePaul’s role at Wintrust, and everything that has to happen before and after a game there to make it a success.

We concluded our time at Wintrust with a Q&A discussion with DePaul Alum and Chicago Sky VP of Sponsorship Alex Teodosi, who is also a former student of this class. Alex talked to us about the importance of prioritizing women’s athletics and how the WNBA is evolving, as well as his role within the organization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later, the class headed back to the Coleman Center in the Loop campus, where we met with DePaul alum Mike Gordon, who is the General Manager of Northwestern Sports Properties. The whole class really enjoyed Mike’s engaging presentation about succeeding in the sports world, setting yourself apart from your competition when applying for jobs, and building a strong resume that compliments your skills and experiences. One of our favorite insights from Mike was his explanation of why the sports industry is different and how it brings people together. He told us, “for three hours, we are uniting people under one common cause,” which allows people to set aside their differences and come together to cheer for their team.

To conclude the day, the class was able to sit down with a team of DePaul alums led by Mike, Alex Teodosi, Partnership Strategy Coordinator for the Chicago Fire Olivia Solimene (who took this class just last year), Marketing Manager at Life Fitness Jen Enright, and DePaul Athletics, Account Executive, Tamas Zador.

One of the coolest things about the class was getting to hear about the career paths of former DePaul students and the mark they’ve made on the sports industry thus far. Professor Andy Clark reiterated this idea, saying, “A cool part of doing this class for several years now is that we are meeting with DePaul alums who were in this same course and now work at these organizations, including the Bears, Cubs, Blackhawks, Fire, Sky and Wilson.”

From our roundtable discussions, we learned how to use our connections with our classmates and professors at DePaul and how to leverage our experiences and knowledge when trying to break into the sports industry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To wrap up this incredible week of networking and learning, the class met for one final session and gave group presentations. The presentations highlighted what we all learned from the week, what impacted us the most, and what lessons we will take from the class.

Each presentation was unique and creative, and every student showcased their passion for sports and gratitude for everything they gained from this class in the way they spoke.

At the end of the day, this course brought all of us together and allowed us to create memorable connections and experiences that won’t soon be forgotten.

From classmates to executives, we met so many amazing people this week. Their knowledge is something we will carry with us wherever we go in our careers, and we hope to one day share our own experiences as well as the incredible advice and knowledge we got from everyone here with students just like us.

To view more photos from the experience, check out this DePaul Newsline feature.

Rachel Bradshaw is a Junior studying Sports Business at DePaul.

Erin Henze is a Junior studying Journalism & Sports Communication at DePaul.