Oklahoma City All Sports Association: Megan McGuire

By Natalie Beasley
I was lucky enough to land an internship for the Spring semester, at a great organization in Oklahoma City. Although, nervous about the experience I put myself out there to get the most of the internship. Through the experience I met Megan McGuire, which is why I chose to interview her.
Megan currently works for the Oklahoma City All Sports Association in Oklahoma City. I think what impresses me the most about Megan is how she is not much more than a few months older than me, but I actually look up to her. She has become successful at a young age, and landed a job that many people would dream of. Megan is the Public Relations and Event Specialist for All Sports.
Megan graduated from Oklahoma State University in May 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with a minor in Speech Communication. She accredits being very involved with campus activities and her sorority Gamma Phi Beta for her success.
“Being involved keeps you up to date with everything going on, and leads you to greater opportunities through the people you meet,” Megan said. “Experiences through planning all the different events that OSU holds prepared me to coordinate events on a larger scale.”
All Sports is a nonprofit organization that creates, pursues, promotes, hosts, executes and secures quality athletic competitions in the state of Oklahoma. Some events that are occurring during the Spring that Megan will play a large role in are the Men’s and Women’s Big 12 Basketball Championship, NCAA Women’s Regional, Big 12 Softball and Baseball Championship, as well as the NCAA Women’s College World Series.
“It’s a lot of work to coordinate all the events we put on. It takes a lot of time and dedication to pull of a successful event of that magnitude,” Megan said.
Megan’s advice to being successful in the Public Relations field, and the sports industry is to work hard, and be prepared for everything. The trick to being successful is to be flexible and willing to work with anyone or anything that is thrown your way.

Sports PR - Importance in Communication

Sports PR

My dream job in Public Relations is in the sports world, serving as a broadcaster, sports agent, or media relations/public relations communicator. This field is a fast-paced, constantly growing industry that requires quick thinking and an “on-your-toes” approach.

Because the sports industry provides constant changes and unpredictability, there are bound to be several crises that occur. Crisis management will be a key public relations practice that should be implemented in my line of duty. In “Human Relations: Interpersonal Job-Oriented Skills, 9th Edition,” by Andrew J. DuBrin, he identifies several strategies in handling conflicts before they happen. Some of his preparation advice includes confronting the problem constructing criticism, cognitive restructuring, negotiating and bargaining, and combating sexual harassment.

Another important aspect my job will entail is time management. With an on-the-go atmosphere, time is a limited resource. Career-Success-For-Newbies.com offers the importance of time management for career success. The efficiency of your work is related to the optimum use of your time, which can offer a competitive advantage over your coworkers. When you practice good time management, you often can lower your level of stress by not procrastinating. Your performance will be better acknowledged by your superiors.

Effective communication is also a key aspect in the sports world. As it is often changing, constant communication is a must. 7 keys to good communication provided by Harriet Meyerson, Top7Business, are as followed:

1. Personal contact is important.


2. Develop a network.


3. Always be courteous in your communication with others.


4. Be consistent and clear in workplace communications.


5. Compromise decreases the tension associated with conflict.


6. You cannot hold a person's interest if you have nothing interesting to say.


7. Listen to what others are saying and show interest in the conversation.

Overall, in any job or career in public relations, it is important to remember the code of ethics and practice morals and values when dealing with employers and coworkers. The PRSA Member Code of Ethics is a good guideline to follow when in question about a difficult decision.

My PR Dream Job

My PR Dream Job

Traci Reiserer

Where has the time gone? Just yesterday I felt like I was getting advised as a freshman, and now in two weeks, I will be graduating and pursuing a career in PR.

Since Oklahoma does not have any major sports teams (not yet, at least), when I graduate in May I will move back to Dallas and start searching for a PR job. Although I have been looking on OU Career Services and job sites like CareerBuilder.com, I just haven’t seemed to find the right fit in what I want to do with my life.

I have always been a sports fanatic for all of the Dallas teams, but the Dallas Cowboys will always be a personal favorite of mine. It would be my absolute dream job to work in PR for the Cowboys. I know that a lot of people aspire to be in PR for a major sports team, and I know the competition will be tough.

I would even start out as an intern, if it meant possible full-time placement with the Dallas Cowboys. With a few family friends I know of in the business, I am hoping that working for the Cowboys is a strong possibility.

It is not always easy to get your “dream job” as a recent college graduate, but I feel like with what I have learned here at OU and through my internship experiences that I am ready for the real world and all that comes with it. If I don’t land my first “dream job” with the Dallas Cowboys, I will not give up, and I will know that something will come my way and things will fall into place.

The Job of My Dreams

When I was a little girl, my parents always told me that “when you grow up, you can be whatever you want to be.” Although this is true in our country, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to eventually get the job you have always dreamed of. As I am nearing the end of college, I am now faced with the reality of finally deciding exactly what I want to do. With a degree in Public Relations, I feel like there are so many opportunities for me in the real world. There are many different types of PR to choose from and many other jobs that are related to the field of PR.

There are actually two different types of public relations that I am considering: sports PR and PR in non-profit organizations. These two fields of public relations are very different from one another, but they are the most interesting to me.

I have always dreamed of working for a sports agency because I grew up in a family that loves sports. I actually held a job here at OU my freshman and sophomore year at Sooner Sports Properties. I got to help with some game-day operations and work in the suites at the football games. Sports have always been something I have loved, especially all OU sports, so my ultimate goal would be to hold a job in the sports department at OU.

The other public relations job I am interested in is non-profit organizations. I would love to give back to a non-profit agency such as the United Way or Habitat for Humanity. Going to a job every day where I feel like I am making a difference in the world would be an amazing feeling. I know the money for non-profit is not that great, but that is not important to me if I am fulfilled with what I am doing.

Hopefully in a couple of months when I am looking for jobs, I will stumble upon a great job in either a sports agency or a non-profit organization. Right now, either one of those would be the job of my dreams.

Sports PR: A Dream Career

By: Holly Gibson



A growing and exciting field in Public Relations is coming forth and taking the field over with a storm—Sports PR. For die-hard sports fans in the journalism field, there couldn’t be a better match for a career opportunity. There are many different positions one could choose in the field, the most glamorous and prestigious being the Sports Information Director, or SID for short.

An SID can work for college or professional sports teams. He or she is basically the liaison between the team’s program and the mass media, just like any PR practitioner is between their company and its publics. Their position includes a wide range of job tasks: holding and organizing media conferences, dealing with all of the team’s publicity, writing press releases and newspaper stories, campaigning, publications (media guides, promotional vehicles), game management and supervision, handling crisis situations and compiling statistics and sports data.



Colleges and universities all over the nation are starting to recognize the growing interest in the field of Sports PR. Journalism and Mass Communication departments are starting to offer courses dealing with the specifics of being an SID. One of those colleges is the University of Oklahoma, where SID Kenny Mossman teaches an exciting course where students learn hands-on the duties and responsibilities of Sports PR practitioners.

The sixteen-week JMC course at OU teaches students the ins and outs of the Sports PR world, with a focus on intercollegiate athletics—right from the horse’s mouth, so-to-speak. Mossman explains all of the aspects of his job as the SID at OU, and is able to give in-depth insight to the duties he performs on a daily basis. Students get the chance to visit the football stadium’s media rooms to see where all of the hectic action occurs on game days. Their midterm assignment is to creatively compile a campaign for a college sports athlete. There is even a mock crisis management situation and press conference where students test their PR knowledge and skills in a real-life setting.

The business of Sports PR is difficult to get into at first, as most professionals start out as graduate assistants or interns. Experience is required in writing, research, publications (and publications programs such as Adobe InDesign and PhotoShop) and campaigning. Sports Information Directors have a difficult job, many working 7 days a week and traveling a substantial amount, but for a true sports fanatic, it is absolutely the definition of a dream job.



For information on job openings, visit the NCAA website at http://ncaa.thetask.com/market/jobs/sports_information/index.php.


Links:
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall01/latimer/ -- Sports PR
http://www.jobprofiles.org/eduunisports.htm -- Sports Information Director
http://www.hr.niu.edu/employment/specs/spec1047.pdf -- job tasks
http://soonersports.com/genrel/mossman_kenny00.html -- Kenny Mossman
http://www.cmiatl.com/news_article43.html -- crisis management
http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/pdfs/200101/20010108idsnprof.pdf -- Adobe InDesign