In this February edition of our NAIA-SIDA Spotlight series, Rachel Moore visited with Jeff Braun, Assistant AD/Sports Information Director of Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska. The duo visited about Jeff's time in high school athletics early in his career and how he oversees one of the largest athletic departments in the country. This content is produced/provided by NAIA-SIDA.

CSC U Webinar (presented by the CSC U Committee and geared toward young professionals) Getting Creative Original air date: Feb. 6, 2024 This webinar focused on how athletic communications staff - particularly new professionals, interns, undergraduate and graduate student assistants - can tackle the ever demanding world of creative media and design by using modern day tools to accomplish tasks of graphic design, video production, and social media content while also building relationships and harnessing the power of collaboration with others across campus. We also looked at where the creative media realm has been, what the trends are now, and what might be coming on the horizon in order to highlight your school, department, and teams effectively. Note: This webinar, although geared toward the audience of the CSC U Committee — new full-time and part-time athletic communications professionals and emerging professionals (undergraduate and graduate student assistants, graduate assistants, interns) — covered a myriad of ideas and strategies for all college sports communicators, regardless of level of experience. Panelists: Joe Mixie – Siena College Athletic Communications Assistant Amanda Phillips – Oberlin College Associate Director of Athletics for Communications & Digital Media Strategist Jasmine Washington – University of New Orleans Director of Creative Services and Marketing Moderator Alivia Dieterlen – College Sports Communicators (CSC) Assistant Director of Communications and Creative Content

On-Demand College Sports Communicators Webinar Working with men's lacrosse statistics & state rules Learning more about the sport of men's lacrosse and producing accurate statistics. On Tuesday, Jan. 30, we held our sixth in the 2023-2024 CSC statistics/stat rules webinar series. Generating consistent statistics and consistent stat reporting are essential duties of each athletic communications department. This live men's lacrosse webinar familiarized CSC members with a review of rules as they apply to statistics for 2023-24 and discussed how to utilize proper men's lacrosse scoring techniques to register accurate statistics. Please note: This was NOT a training session on "how-to" work with Genius/NCAA Live Stats or Presto stats; rather, it was held to give athletic communicators and statisticians a basic understanding of the rules of the games and an understanding on how to score plays. The discussion focused on: • college men's lacrosse rules and how to score them correctly • best practices for pregame preparation for statistics, setting up stat personnel and job duties of that personnel, and how to effectively work with your opponent SID; setting up rosters, uniform number issues, etc; in-game statistical how-to's; post-game reporting; working with your opponents’ athletic communications sport contact(s) • the use of proper in-game scoring techniques to register accurate statistics, including: entering starters; what sources to use if unsure about a play; recording basic statistics • discussion of difficult/unusual plays, ways to troubleshoot them and the way to accurate stat them during the game; discussion of groundball definitions and scoring • best practices and communications in editing game files and working with your fellow SIDs post-match

On-Demand College Sports Communicators Webinar Working with ice hockey statistics & stat rules Learning more about the sport of basketball and producing accurate statistics. This webinar, held Jan. 24, 2024 was our fifth in the 2023-24 CSC statistics/stat rules webinar series. Generating consistent statistics and consistent stat reporting are essential duties of each athletic communications department. Presenters in this ice hockey webinar familiarized CSC members with a review of ice hockey rules - for both men and women's hockey - as they apply to statistics for 2023-24 and how to utilize proper scoring techniques to register accurate statistics. Please note: This was NOT a training session on "how-to" work with Genius/NCAA Live Stats or Presto stats; rather, it was held to give athletic communicators and statisticians a basic understanding of the rules of the games and an understanding on how to score ice hockey plays and staff contests. The discussion focused on: • best practices for pregame preparation for statistics, setting up stat personnel and job duties of that personnel, and how to effectively work with your opponent SID; setting up rosters, line charts (NCAA only); in-game statistical how-to's; post-game reporting; working with your opponents’ athletic communications sport contact(s) • the use of proper in-game scoring techniques to register accurate statistics, including: entering starters; what sources to use if unsure about a play; recording basic statistics • a review of stat definitions (icing, offsides, shots vs. shots on goal, assists, power plays, penalty types) • discussion of difficult/unusual plays, ways to troubleshoot them and the way to accurate stat them during the game • using assist trackers (use an extra person or use the video stream if you didn’t see it live) • wrapping up the game - what are the best practices in checking final stats and working with your fellow SIDs post-match Panelists • Elisa Mitton – University of Windsor Sports Information Coordinator & Home Event Manager • Tim Volkmann – Rochester Institute of Technology Director of Athletic Communications • Earl Zukerman – McGill University Communications Officer • Moderator: Jenna Jorgensen, Stillwater (Minn.) Area Public Schools Communications and Public Relations Coordinator / former Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Assistant Commissioner

In the January edition of NAIA SIDA spotlight series, Rachel Moore, Assistant AD/Director of Athletic Communications at Central Methodist University, visited with veteran SID Ryan Wronkowicz of Lourdes University on his time at both the NCAA Division I and NAIA levels. Ryan gives us an insight look into the inner workings of SIDs at the NAIA level and additional responsibilities as an Assistant Athletic Director. This content is produced/provided by NAIA-SIDA.

On-Demand Webinar - Presented by CSC and corporate partner Gipper Social Media in College Sports: Expert Insights to Ensure a Relevant Strategy in 2024 Original webinar took place Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024 Click here to access the webinar's slide deck (PDF): https://collegesportscommunicators.com/documents/2024/1/16//CSC_Webinar_Social_Media_in_College_Sports_Expert_Insights_to_Ensure_a_Relevant_Strategy_in_2024_2_.pdf?id=11279 This discussion, in partnership with CSC corporate partner Gipper, focused on the top 2024 trends and strategies in sports social media. The discussion evolved around innovative techniques and tools to use to better engage your audience and amplify your program's brand. Discussion points: • 2024 Trends in Social (social as a search engine; user-generated content (UGC); what is unhinged vs. planned content?; visual branding; AI • Best practices and examples, from college sports and beyond • Tools and tips to help you work smarter, not harder and longer • UGC's using Gipper's content requests • How to leverage your MVP's (your student-athletes) • Personalized video content and examples • Automate time-intensive taskes vis AI (photo background removals, caption creations, video highlights) Panelists: • Matthew Glick – CEO and Founder, Gipper Media, Inc. • Kristen Keller – University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) Associate Athletic Director for Communications and Digital Strategy/ 2023-24 CSC 30-Under-30 Award recipient • Robert Rosa – Creative Director, Gipper Media, Inc. • Moderator: Lydia Thompson – Partner Marketing Manager, Gipper Media, Inc. https://collegesportscommunicators.com/ https://www.gipper.com/

CSC U Webinar (presented by the CSC U Committee and geared toward young professionals) Handling the Overlap Original air date: Dec. 6, 2023 This webinar focused on how athletic communications staff handle the hectic overlapping seasons that happen twice each year: the overlap of Fall/Winter sports and then the overlap of Winter/Spring sports and duties. The panel discussed best practices and strategies to not only survive, but thrive, during the hectic time, including: how to balance out-of-season/in-season team responsibilities and overlapping in-season team responsibilities; strategies to prioritize your work; communicating effectively with in-season coaches, out-of-season coaches and your direct supervisors to deal with issues, challenges and setting up content strategies. Note: This webinar, although geared toward the audience of the CSC U Committee — new full-time and part-time athletic communications professionals and emerging professionals (undergraduate and graduate student assistants, graduate assistants, interns) — covered a myriad of ideas and strategies for all college sports communicators, regardless of level of experience. Panelists: Alisha Alexander Lewis-Clark State College Assistant Athletic Director-Sports Information John Hartrick (Associate Director of Athletics for Communications at Binghamton University) Kevin Hashiro, Chaminade University Sports Information Director Moderator Keonte’ Herrera, LSU Assistant Communications Director LSU)

CAN CSC Webinar (Canadian College Sports Communicators) Communications for Social Justice Topics and EDI Initiatives Original air date: Nov. 29 This webinar touches on how athletic departments have approached social justice topics and EDI initiatives within their own departments and on their respective campuses. The panel brings knowledge and experience both from communications and home game integration perspectives. Panelists Heather Bury – University of Saskatchewan, Sports Information & Marketing Specialist Megan Muir – University of Waterloo, Communications & Game Day Coordinator Amanda Stefanile – Lakehead University, Achievement Program Coordinator Jaimie Mintenko – Lakehead University, Assistant Athletic Director Moderator: Chris Cameron – Acadia University, Sports Information & Communications Coordinator

On-Demand College Sports Communicators Webinar Working with basketball stats & stat rules Learning about the sport of soccer, its rules, and and producing accurate statistics. Slides from the webinar (on team rebound, dead-ball rebound, flopping rules): https://collegesportscommunicators.com/documents/2023/11/14//Bball_webinar_slides_Nov_14_2023.pdf?id=11278 This webinar on men's and women's basketball stats and stat rules was the fourth in our CSC statistics/stat rules series this fall. Generating consistent statistics and consistent stat reporting are essential duties of each athletic communications department. The presenters held a review of basketball rules as they apply to basketball statistics for 2023-24 and discussed how to utilize proper basketball scoring techniques to register accurate statistics, taking attendee questions throughout. The discussion focused on: • college basketball rules and how to score them correctly • best practices for pregame preparation for statistics, setting up stat personnel and job duties of that personnel, and how to effectively work with your opponent SID; setting up rosters, uniform number issues, etc; in-game statistical how-to's; post-game reporting; working with your opponents’ athletic communications sport contact(s) • the use of proper in-game scoring techniques to register accurate statistics, including: entering starters; what sources to use if unsure about a play; recording basic statistics • a review of rebound definitions (deadball rebound, team rebound), and how to ensure that the stats between rebounds and missed shots balance • discussion of difficult/unusual plays, ways to troubleshoot them and the way to accurate stat them during the game • best practices and communications in editing game files and working with your fellow SIDs post-match Panelists • Sarah Boissonneault – Northeast Conference, Assistant Commissioner for Communications & Digital Media / Statistician for WNBA's Connecticut Sun • Kevin Smith – The College of Wooster, Director of Athletic Communication • Terie Smith – Freelance Statistician, USC, NBA's Clippers and Lakers • Moderator: Courtney Day, DePaul University, Associate Athletics Director for Communications and Digital Strategy / CSC Professional Development and Continuing Education Committee member

On-Demand College Sports Communicators Webinar Using web and social media analytics to make data-driven decisions The presenters discussed the importance for athletic communicators and creatives to gather data and insights in real time as it pertains to your web and social media content. They discussed how social media data mining gives you key insights into your audience so you can learn what kind of content they like, when they want to see it, and where they spend their time online. Panelists • Sam Knehans – Sun Belt Conference Senior Associate Commissioner, Chief Communications and Branding Officer • Chris Jones – New York Red Bulls Manager, Digital and Social Content • Phylicia Short –Queens University (Charlotte) Assistant Athletic Director for Communications / Athletics Diversity & Inclusion Designee • Moderator: Eliza Kravitz, Georgetown University Assistant Director of Athletic Communications While many platforms have their own built-in insights, using a social media analytics tool or tools can help you collect all of that data in a single, easy-to-use dashboard; those tools were discussed. Also: Collecting the Data What social media data you should be tracking, with tips for smart social media data collection How to collaborate with on-campus colleagues to deliver data/analytics to support your brand messaging and brand content Phylicia Short (Queens): Led athletic department effort to partner with the Queens business school as they moved to NCAA Division I to create their analytics strategies; suggested schools work with their campus constituents (business school, analytics, masters programs) to assist in collection of data, and to use tools like Sprout Social to collect the data. Analyzing the Data and Making the Case How to use analytics to inform and build your social media strategies to help your brand(s) gauge key metrics like reach, followers, engagement, clicks and conversations Sam Knehans: Ask: To establish your social analytics strategy, ask: What are we using our time on? What content moves the needle? Review of tools the Sun Belt Conference uses. Review your analytics each semester. Chris Jones - Making decisions based on the data, always asking: Why do we think it worked/didn’t work? How can we learn and improve? Review and refine your strategy often. Other Resources August 2023 - Rival IQ's Higher Education Social Media Engagement Report for all NCAA Division I and Division I Universities and Colleges: https://www.rivaliq.com/blog/higher-ed-social-media-engagement-report/ March 2023 - MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference Session: Social Media and Sports: How Consumption and Fanhood is Changing via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOw5vJ_vy6s