By: Amanda Gianni
I shadowed Kevin Warner, the Associate Director for Athletic Communications at the Men’s Basketball game against Philadelphia University on Sunday October 28, 2012 at JMU’s Convocation Center. I had very little contact with him before the game and was just told when and where to show up. I met him at the court-side press table at 1:00pm, an hour before the game started. I joined about six or seven other students from our class in the front row, directly behind the press table and waited for the game to start.
Just from observation, I could see that the press table was completely set up by the time we got there. There was a group of approximately 15 men sitting at the table behind computers. I was never informed as to what they were doing or what their jobs were. However, from what I gathered, one was controlling the music, one was the announcer and one was producing the television broadcast. Something I was surprised to learn was that the media calls during the game to ask questions about the game! They all were on their BlackBerrys or iPhones and had a walkie-talkie to be accessible at all times, just like we talked about in class.
Before the game, Mr. Warner informed us that he wouldn’t have much time to talk to us or answer questions until after the game, so I sat and observed, like we were instructed to. Once the game started, Mr. Warner was on his iPhone, presumably updating various social media accounts, such as Facebook and Twitter. He also distributed updated fact sheets to all of the men at the press table every so often. At the end of the game, he immediately left to attend the post-game press conference.
Because I had little to no interaction with Mr. Warner during the game, I had a hard time grasping exactly what his job entails. I wish he had talked to us a little before about what he does and what we were observing. I wish I would have had the opportunity to ask him what his relationship with the media entails and what the biggest aspect of his job is. Unfortunately, because he was so busy, he did not have time to answer our questions. And because I could only see what the two people sitting in front of me were doing and since it wasn’t much, I ended up watching the game more than the press table.
I can’t really make a fair judgment about whether or not I liked the job, because I didn’t really get to experience a lot of what he did. I did learn that in order to work in sports PR, you must be very knowledgeable about the sport you are working with. Because of this, I do not think I would enjoy doing this specific aspect of his job simply because I do not know much about basketball or have a passion for it.