Posting a guest blog for PRSSA is Katie Rihn, senior Communication (Sports Information/Sports Broadcasting) major at Waynesburg University. She was one of six students who attended PRSA Pittsburgh's PR Efforts for Pittsburgh's New Consol Energy Center. Below is a photo of the group with Tom McMillan:
Even though my major is not Public Relations, listening to the seminar with Tom McMillan, Vice President of Communications for the Pittsburgh Penguins, was a very rewarding experience. In the field I wish to pursue, sports information, what it boils down to is the promotion and public relations aspects of university athletic programs. Similar concepts can be applied to professional teams as well. It goes along with professional teams as well.
McMillan talked a great deal about the promotions the Penguins are currently using and the success of those promotions. He stressed that even with a successful operation you still can never be satisfied with that. You never know when something that appears to be going so well can start to plummet and you have to be ready with the next great idea to bring that greatness back. In talking with McMillan after the presentation, he mentioned a common misconception about how people perceive his job. The average fan is under the impression that he does his work during the day and gets to relax and watch the games at night. As he informed our group this is not the case. He gave the example of game seven when the Penguins won the Stanley Cup. McMillan was extremely busy with outside work in preparing for events after the game that he was only able to see five minutes of the game.
I felt like I could relate to this because when I started this major I just thought I would get paid to watch sports. After experiencing the job first hand I see all of the work involved and like McMillan said, you have to really enjoy what you are doing. McMillan discussed his time as a sports writer and used the quote, “The moment you become a sports writer is the moment you stop being a fan.” The reason I found this to be so profound is because Professor Krause has told us this in my sports writing class this semester and puts emphasis on it frequently. This shows me that we are being taught the same things the professionals know and I look forward to applying my other skills out in the work force.
Katie Rihn
Senior Communication (sports information/sports broadcasting) major
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