Towson hosts King-White Careers in the Sport Speaker Series

By: Jordan Cope, Staff Writer

Towson hosted the King-White Careers in the Sport Speaker Series Thursday in the Minnegan Room at Johnny Unitas Stadium.

The event, organized by assistant professor Ryan King-White’s “Sport Event Management” class, featured keynote speakers USA Today’s Chris Korman, Director of Event Management at Virginia Allison Slater, Senior Associate Director of Athletics Roy Brown and kinesiology instructor at University of Maryland, College Park Adam Biessel.

“I am extremely overwhelmed by their creativity, the earnestness that most of them gave to this event,” King-White said. “Some of the things that they came up with … my pride is at about 100 percent.”

King-White kicked off the series by giving a brief background about the recent events that transpired in Baltimore before turning things over to guest speakers.

First to take the stand was Brown, who discussed his background in the sports marketing and promotions fields, and reinforced the idea that it is important to establish connections and relationships in the industry.

“I still keep in touch with the owner of the Baskin-Robins that I used to work at over the summer when I was younger,” Brown said. “It is all about establishing those relationships and connections.”

After Brown left the podium, Slater took her turn.

Slater discussed the progression of her career, which began at Maryland-College Park, and later transitioned to Virginia Commonwealth before she ultimately landed at Virginia.

Slater enforced the point that students should always act as if they are being interviewed in the sports management industry.

“It is always good to know what you are going to say about yourself,” Slater said. “Just have a 30 second story in mind. As Roy said, you never know if you will be talking to your potential boss.”

After Slater, Beissel stepped onto the stage.

Beissel passionately informed students that one of the most important things they can do is acquire as much knowledge as possible and never stop learning.

“Every night before I go to bed, I will read,” Beissel said. “Never lose the thirst to acquire knowledge. It is one of the most important skills you can have.”

The final speaker was Korman, who talked about the progression of his career as a sports journalist and the importance of learning.

“I started out at “Sports Illustrated” answering the door for the models that came in for the swimsuit shoot and doing some editing,” Korman said. “But I realized that I wasn’t learning anything at that position and began to work my way up.”

Senior Andrew Heiss of King-White’s kinesiology class found the event to be very informative.

“I came to this event because I was concerned about my future,” Heiss said. “I learned that marketing and sales is the route if you want to make money. I think that I learned a little bit today.”