COM 117

Last Wednesday, I had the pleasure of seeing three prominent sports journalists discuss their current profession as well as their post college journey to their current job.  All three speakers were Newhouse alumni so I knew knew that I would have the same opportunities as they did.  Each speaker did a quick introduction before they opened the door to questions.  Pete Thamel, class of ’99 and current journalist at Sports Illustrated spoke about how he started at the Daily Orange while taking bigger freelance jobs.  He used the Newhouse and Daily Orange alumni networks to get jobs.  Greg Bishop, class of ’02, kept it simple and talked about his current job at the New York Times boxing and tennis writer.  Michael Cohen, class of ’13, realized that he liked writing a lot more than broadcasting and switched his major to Journalism.  He now works for The Post-Standard.

After their brief introduction, they opened the floor to questions.  The first question was about how they handled criticism.  All three answered similarly.  I think this was one of the most valuable and interesting questions because it related to people, like me, who are not interested in becoming journalists.  I really liked Michael Cohen’s answer to the question.  He talked about how five to ten percent of the criticism that he gets are off the wall and irrational arguments.  He doesn’t respond to those.  However, the rest of his criticism he reads and responds to.  Cohen argued that starting a dialogue with a reader who disagrees with him is the best way to learn something new and even if you are right, it works on your persuasive skills.

Although, they focused on sports journalism, many of the lessons they taught could be applied to any profession.  For example, they talked about getting better at your craft.  They all gave the same advice: keep honing your skills.  The more work you have, the better and more diverse your portfolio will be.

Another cool part of the lecture was hearing about some of the stories they told.  Pete Thamel had just gotten back from covering the Iron Bowl and was on the field during Chris Davis’ game winning field goal return.  He told us that he had actually run onto the field as he was returning the ball.  Thamel was fifteen yards onto the field by the time Davis scored.  Thamel then managed to get off the field as the crowd stormed the field.  He then had only a small amount of time to get the article written for Sports Illustrated.

Of all of the speaker events that I attended while I was here, this was one of the coolest.  It’s fun to see some big celebrity but when you have three incredibly successful Newhouse alumni, I could really see what my future may hold.  Listening to how they used alumni networks and the skills that they learned in Newhouse helped me realize that I have a ton of opportunities right in front of me.  I’m really glad I went and I learned a lot.

I recently watched the video of Adam Werbach’s presentation at the Newhouse School a few years ago. Werbach was the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi at the time. His lecture proved to be extremely compelling, and he shared valuable information that is applicable to all commercial communicators and storytellers in general.

Though the two may seem to be inconsistent, Werbach was not only the CEO of a predominant advertising agency, but also a devoted environmentalist. While speaking about his efforts to help the environment, he mentioned that the only way to be successful when you’re facing opposition is to do something completely different. When one strategy is not working, it is often best to think of a completely new way to complete your task. I thought this was an extremely insightful thought. We often get caught up in doing things the way that we have been taught, or by following the example of others. But when it comes to being successful in any realm, innovation is key. In regards to storytelling Werbach’s advice is very pertinent. It’s important not to look to other’s stories for ideas, but create something new that is completely your own. Also, don’t be afraid to scratch what you’ve done and start all over if you feel that an idea is becoming stale. Especially with the pressures of deadlines, starting over and going in a completely new direction can be a daunting thought, but it can be for the best. When an idea is not working, you can rework it as many times as you want but if something  just not clicking then your efforts are futile. I really took this to heart because I have personally experienced times when I know an idea isn’t fitting, but felt that to start over would make all my previous work a waste. But Werbach assured the audience that this would not be a waste but rather practice that could only further your subsequent work.

Werbach also spoke about how in nature there are always disruptions. He used “natural disruptions” as a metaphor for any and all things that could go wrong. In terms of storytelling a “natural disruption” could be anything from encountering a road block in writing, to encountering legal issues while covering a story. He furthered this metaphor but using the example of sage brush. Sage brush is a plant that thrives through wild fires. When the plant burns, its seeds are spread, it re-colonizes the area, and only grows stronger. He mentioned this to assure the young communicators in the room that disruptions are natural and not to be so preoccupied with problems that may arise. This anecdote was really helpful in proving the point that not very obstacle you face in your career is devastating. For example, if an editor rejects a story you have written it might be unfortunate at the moment, but will only benefit your writing in the future.

Finally, Werbach also shared the advice of not getting caught up in trends. He gave the example of an organic Oreo. Though many consumers now are looking for foods that are organically grown, health consciousness has never been an aspect of the Oreo brand. Those that are becoming more health conscious are not comparing regular Oreos and a potential organic Oreo, they are comparing Oreos to something like carrots. Therefore, making an organic Oreo would not only be a bad financial decision but also stray from the brand’s image. The point that Werbach was attempting to make with this example is even if all your competition is going in one direction that does not mean that is the correct direction for you, which also relates back to his first point of staying original.

Overall, Werbach gave some interesting and rememorable advice. His compelling anecdotes will definitely stick with me, and made me think about storytelling a lot differently.

I went to see Greg Stern give a presentation called “My Inadvertent Career” at Eric Mower’s advertising form. He spoke about his time with Ogilvy and Mather and how he matured and became successful in advertising over the years.
Stern spoke about his time working abroad and encouraged each of us to take time to travel. When working for a big company, it is nice to be able to travel on their dime. Seeing the world and building a career helps to build relationships and contacts, and to gain experiences you otherwise would never have had.
When speaking about experiences, Stern spoke about how he matured as an advertiser. He showed a commercial for pizza that has garlic getting killed to get made into pizza. He said that at the time, he didn’t realize that this was such a bad ad. He thought it was funny. But, after maturing, getting experiences, and making mistakes, he found what a good ad looked like.
Stern discussed problems that all companies have. Because the problems he addressed are problems that can be seen across all companies, these issues have become central for advertisers need to address across the industry: Who are we competing against? What type of agency do we want to become? How do we stay relevant? What could we do better?
Stern spoke about the importance of collaboration. He said that people should not try to do things themselves. It is important to tap into other people’s talents. Having a diverse group of people with a wide range of ideas and talents creates an environment for rich ideas and strategies to be born.
At Stern’s company, BSSP, they are focused on developing integrated ideas that break through culture and drive business. The best kind of message is the message that people talk about. If people talk about it, then it is extraordinary. This is what prompted the idea for the Converse campaign. It involved people sending in videos for ads, showing what Converse meant to them. This is an example of user-generated content. It gets people talking, interested, and involved with the brand. It also makes for really effective advertising because it is not even “advertising.” It is not the brand’s idea of what the brand should mean; it is about the consumer. It makes the brand belong to the people, not the company. Advertisers should not focus on advertising, but engagement with the people. Doing this type of ad campaign with Converse was very brave, but worked well. It’s all about storytelling.

On December 4, I went to see sportswriters, Michael Cohen from Syracuse.com, Pete Thamel from Sports Illustrated, and Greg Bishop from the New York Times, speak about their career experiences, their journeys as sports journalists, and give useful advice to students.
One of the major messages the journalists conveyed was that curiosity is the key to success. As students, we should read a lot. We should read people who are better than us and excel—try to match their level. We should get to know the greatest people in our fields and then compare our work against theirs, not because we think that our work is better or could even compete with theirs, but to see the differences. How are my paragraphs different than theirs? What makes theirs better than mine? One of the journalists compared it to how sports players play against someone who is a lot better than they are so they get better. It’s a challenge. I thought that this was really good advice and it made me realize that I don’t know many big names in PR and that I should start doing research to find out who the greats are.
Another great piece of advice was, “Do your job very very well.” This seems pretty basic but I think that it is so often overlooked. People set goals and want to get somewhere without realizing how it connects to what they are doing right now. You need to excel today to get to where you want to get in the future. You cannot start at the top. Your first job will not be your dream job but you will move up the ladder if you make your work stand out. Also, your first job is when it’s time to make mistakes and learn. As one of the journalists said, “Make your mistakes when there are not a whole lot of people watching.”
The overarching theme of the discussion was to stay curious, to write as much as you can, and to take the necessary steps to improve yourself and become successful. During this panel, I picked up a lot of useful advice that I will certainly be putting to use.

December 4, 2013.

This past Wednesday, Newhouse students were blessed with the appearance of three familiar faces – Pete Thamel, Greg Bishop and Michael Cohen. All being Newhouse alumni, the three revisited the campus to discuss their road to eventual success, and through a lengthy Q&A session talked about the positive traits one must possess in order to achieve vocational success. Here is a rundown of the three writers

Hired by ESPN in 2003, followed by a stint at the New York Times, Pete Thamel now finds himself working for Sports Illustrated. He emphasized to the entire room the importance of the internet, stating that everyone interested in pursuing sports writing now is in a perfect position. The advent of the internet and a more global culture supports job positions such as these, and a career may be closer than one might think.

The next writer was Greg Bishop, who continues to work for the New York Times. Focusing mainly on tennis, boxing, NFL and college sports, he highlighted the glamor of the job, recalling a time where he ran into Dave Chapelle, who was curious as to Bishop’s roots.

The last writer, Michael Cohen, affiliated with Syracuse.com, highlighted the importance of networking within Newhouse, not only with professionals but with other students who aspire to be professionals. He explains how even sometimes he calls Bishop if he has a question about a particular field of writing, and emphasized how important it is to know as many people as one possibly can.

After a long-winded introductory phase, the conversation shifted towards the students, as a Q&A session began. The first question was regarding response to criticism. Hearing from these writers was interesting. Upon becoming a professional, they explained that they often are faced with a base of followers, some of which have negative or nasty opinions. They all agreed that although constructive criticism is important, there are always those people that are just completely unable to be pleased. Another question which was raised involved switching employers. The student was wondering whether or not it was like “burning a bridge” when any of the three decide to change jobs. All of them again unanimously agreed that it was a non-issue, and job switching for the sake of advancement is generally always encouraged by the employers.

They wrapped the Q&A up by discussing some of the most general points of breaking into the profession. All of them, once again, agreed that it is extremely important to write as often as possible and get one’s personal work out. Keep your head down, and work better than your peers. After awhile, it will begin to pay off. If there’s one message to be taken from this valuable discussion, it would be that the only reason people are successful is because they are passionate, and they’re willing to work to achieve their goals.

On Wednesday December 4th I went to hear Michael Cohen, Pete Thamel, and Greg Bishop speak about their careers as sports writers. Cohen, Thamel, and Bishop all attended the Newhouse School and now have successful careers in communications. Though they spoke specifically regarding sports writing and their personal experiences, their advice can be applied to all storytellers and communicators.

One piece of advice that I found extremely helpful was their emphasis on writing as much as possible. Though this might seem like a simple and obvious statement, their reasoning really resonated with me. Every good story starts with good writing. Whether it be reporting on a basketball game or writing a fiction script, writing is the foundation for all communication. The three spoke about all the school newspapers and local publications that they wrote for simply for practice, and how they believe that every one of those pieces helped them build themselves and their skills to what they are today.

In addition to practice they also stressed that to write a good story it is important to write what you see. This can be applied literally to the practice of sports writing where accuracy and precision are extremely important, but it can also relate to any communicator. For example when writing a fiction story, though there is room for dramatization, the most compelling stories are those that are rooted in truth. When the audience is able to connect to a character or scenario, they feel an emotional response and are likely to react positively to the message the storyteller is attempting to get across. Therefore, writing what you see is a helpful phrase to keep storytellers from creating implausible stories that an audience would not connect with.

As well as writing stories that are rooted in truth, Cohen, Thamel, and Bishop put emphasis on getting personally involved in the story you are writing. This may seem contradictory to the ideals of unbiased reporting, but getting close to a story does not necessarily mean being partial. Cohen shared an anecdote about how he was covering a story on the Syracuse Basketball team when one of the players developed severe lung and breathing issues and was admitted to the hospital. Cohen decided in order to get the truth, he would visit the player in the hospital to get an account straight from the source. With permission, Cohen sat in the hospital room and talked to the player about the team and his injury, gathering quality information to use in his story. The relationship he fostered with this player was not only beneficial for this particular story but proved useful in covering later stories as well. The importance of this personal connection is relevant for non-reporters too. If a filmmaker for example has a real passion for the subject of a film, this dedication will be apparent. If a storyteller is disinterested in their own story, it is very difficult for him or her to get an audience to be interested in the story. Therefore it is important to create work that is representational of you, and the audience will be much more likely to respond positively.

The advice that these three professionals gave was invaluable for all communicators. Not only was it helpful to hear what they each did to reach the positions they now hold, but it was also extremely insightful to hear what they wish they had known and the mistakes that they made at the beginnings of their careers. I will definitely try to incorporate their suggestions into my future work in storytelling.

Bobby Atkins graduated from Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management in May 2012. Today he came in to speak about the transition from college to professional life and the internship and career opportunities available at Northwestern Mutual. Bobby has been a financial planner at Northwestern mutual for a year and a half now, dealing mostly with clients who are recent graduates looking to start saving early for their retirement or their future child’s college tuition. He also deals with business owners, helping them to set up 401k’s for all of their employees.

He started off by speaking about his experience with internships and the opportunities for internships available at Northwestern Mutual. As a junior he interned with Axa as a financial adviser. He came into Syracuse wanting to be a financial adviser and capitalized on opportunities that would lead him in that direction. He was excited about the idea of people trusting him with their money and counting on him to put them in a better position for the future. Throughout his time at Syracuse he also completed internships with Merrill Lynch and Northwestern Mutual, which eventually lead to a job offer. He remembers going into the interview for Northwestern Mutual not sure if he wanted to stay in Syracuse or if he even wanted to be with that company. That is why he recommends Northwestern Mutual’s six month post graduate internship program. He said it is a great test drive of the company and the profession to see if they are both a match for you or not. Internships are the best way to learn whether you are headed in the right direction or not.

Bobby then moved on to talk about the transition from college to professional life and what he would recommend to students in our position. Although the transition is different for every individual person, it is not easy. Most of us will still be kids at heart and find ourselves wondering where time has gone. He explained that the best way to find a job, which is every college students main worry, is to take full advantage of everything Syracuse University has to offer. Go to the career center to look over your resume and find a starting point for your job search, use your time in college to build up your personalized resume and connect with alumni. Bobby became the president of his fraternity on campus and used that position to network with past alumni of the fraternity, especially past presidents. Although he did not know it yet, joining a fraternity was on of the best social and professional moves Bobby made at Syracuse.

He continued to explain that some of the most important lessons you will learn in college come outside of the classroom. College is where you grow as a person, you learn to live on your own, how to deal with all kinds of people and the harder you work the better the payoff in the end. Bobby stated that you never stop studying and learning after college, you are constantly trying to better yourself and improve upon you work. He is currently studying for his next securities license in order to further his career. He ended by telling us not to worry too much about the future, and to instead focus on what we are doing now and enjoy our time at Syracuse.