Louthain, Agramonte join IUSP. Hendricks to Purdue Sports Properties
First, hats off to Keith Hendricks, who has served IUSP as General Manager the past three years. Effective December 1st, Keith will be the new Associate General Manager for Purdue Sports Properties while keeping his home in Indy, where he’s lived for 25 years. Keith worked with the NBA’s Pacers and NFL’s Colts before coming to Learfield. He and his wife, Teresa, have two teenagers, Jerod and Hannah.
In related news, Rob Louthain and Jenni Agramonte join IUSP. Rob will serve the property as General Manager. He comes to us from Chicago White Sox where he was Manager of Premium Seating the last four years. Prior to that, he was Director of Sales and Marketing for the Western Golf Association and Corporate Partnership Account Executive for the White Sox.
Rob attended Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. and Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill. He and his wife, Denise, have three children, Sophie (8); Brendan (6) and Gavin (2). Outside of the office, he enjoys jogging, spending time with his family and working on his golf game.
Jenni Agramonte joins IUSP as an Account Executive. She comes to Learfield Sports from Emmis Communications in Indianapolis where she was Director of Events and Sponsorships. Jenni brings 15+ years experience in radio and media sales, and says she’s looking forward to making the move back into sales from management, especially as she will now be representing her alma mater, IU. She has eight-year-old Vincent and five-year-old Mia and enjoys sporting events and scrap-booking.
Brownfield takes top honors, awards at NAFB
The annual meeting of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters was held last week in Kansas City and our Brownfield Network scooped up some of the biggest awards and honors. You’ll find the full story on the Brownfield blog, including links to lots of photos, but here are a few highlights:
- Tom Steever was elected National Vice President of NAFB
- Ken Anderson was elected Vice President of the NAFB Foundation.
- John Perkins received 3rd place in NAFB’s annual “Marketcast” awards
- Julie Harker receive 2nd place in NAFB’s annual “Marketcast” awards
And the big award of the event, the Oscar in Agriculture, went to our own Cydni Young for her “Doing It Right Farm Tour series.
This is a pretty big deal so be sure to congratulate the Brownfield’ers.
-clyde
New National Seller for Northeast
Molly Mullady Arbogast joins Learfield Sports’ National Sales Team on November 16 as National Account Manager-Northeast Region. She will be working from our Penn State Sports Properties office in Philadelphia. Molly’s previous professional experience includes Vice President, Business Development for the WNBA; Director of New Business Development for the NFL Philadelphia Eagles; Director of New Business Development for Palace Sports & Entertainment in Detroit; and Director of New Business Development for IMG Latin America.
Molly and her husband, Craig, have two little boys, Jack and Luke. Molly loves to travel, read, cook and volunteer, and she is a St. Lawrence University graduate.
GM News
Sue and I got to spend an afternoon in the Wolf Bar and Restaurant recently with Dan Hawley and his wife Anne and their two daughters, Hayden and Henley. It wasn’t just an ordinary bar. It belonged to Dan’s uncle and aunt on the other side of the “Snowys” in beautiful Saratoga, WY. We had a great afternoon with them.
Today I’ve learned that he’s taking a new job at Learfield as GM of Boise State–a new property for us. I remember Dan in Laramie when we first signed Wyoming where he worked as Corporate Sales manager for the University of Wyoming. Congratulations, Dan!
Jared Newland moves up to the GM job at Wyoming from Senior AE. Like Dan, Jared is also a UW graduate. He worked seven years as the Athletics Development Officer for the Cowboy Joe Club.
Just before joining Learfield he was Western Region Director for Red Foxx Solutions and has experience at Texas/San Antonio and Utah State. Jared also was an account executive for GEM Group.
Also I’ve learned today that Joe Weiss is the new GM at New Mexico. He’s been the AGM there for three years and before that–for ten years–was the Lobos Assistant Athletic Director for Sales and Marketing. Joe and his wife, Roxanne, are true Lobos. Joe has an MBA from there; Roxanne has both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from there. Darren Dunn, our good friend who has led LSP, is off to the University of Houston Athletics Department.
–clyde
D.J. Volko lands in Louisville
New AE D.J. Volko has joined our Louisville Arena Sports and Entertainment Properties (LASEP) to help Lynn Saltzman tackle the numerous sponsorship sales initiatives for that city’s downtown arena which opens November, 2010.
D.J. earned his master’s degree at Louisville and then worked as a sales executive for the University for two years. Most recently he was VP for Momentum Worldwide, managing the US Army and Coca-Cola accounts. Prior to that he was account manager at Relay Worldwide. D.J. has a ten year old son, Ryan and enjoys basketball and golf.
–clyde
Berridge new media guru
Kirk Berridge joins us a dual role next month: a Regional VP in the Pacific Region and head of digital media. Until he moves to Dallas, he’s helping us in a consulting role. Kirk was the founder and head of Fan Media Network, an independent news and entertainment media company that featured fan video journalism and social media for sports fans.
That’s exciting for me and for Learfield because he’s got a depth of understanding in an area that is defining tomorrow’s media. We feel we’re a leader already, but Kirk gives us a decided edge in the marketplace. Our schools will definitely see this strength as will our advertisers. So, Kirk is a real strong fit for us.
He was founder of SportsAdMarketplace, a online ad network of official pro and college sports team web sites. Isn’t that cool? He sold corporate partnerships for the 49ers, iSL/Big Ten Conference, San Jose Sharks, Cincinnati Cycloses, and the Atlanta Knights. Kirk has a journalism degree from the University of Indianapolis, where he was a scholar athlete competing in pole vault, triple jump and 4X100 relay. Kirk has a five-year-old daughter, Sophia.
SCRN on top of big story
South Carolina’s Second District Congressman Joe Wilson was virtually unknown until he cried out, “You lie!” during President Barack Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress. Though he apologized to President Obama ever since, he has been the subject of derision, ridicule and even adulation throughout the U.S.
The South Carolina Radio Network covers him, along with the Congressional delegation on a regular basis. An in-studio interview was scheduled before his outburst, and immediately after the media onslaught, his office called to say they planned to honor it, thanks to our attention to the issues that concerned him when he was lesser-known. It was a great opportunity to talk to him about life after “You lie!” and other hot-button legislation. Wilson serves the largest military constituency in the state, from Ft. Jackson to Parris Island Marine base.
–clyde
Kay Henderson makes top reporter list
Iowa’s Kay Henderson is recognized by the Washington Post as one of the top political reporters (and bloggers) in the US. Congrats, Kay! Good work.
–clyde
KC crew pitches in at Ronald McDonald House
Monday the Kansas City office, wives and kids, helped serve a meal at the Ronald McDonald House. Left to right are Jenni and Mike Behymer, Mark and Jenell Puett, Laird Veatch, Joshua and Ginny Madden and a whole bunch of their kids.
–clyde
Go Buffs!
Can you believe it? We’ve been successfully operating Colorado’s property for all these years without a contract! Finally we got it fully executed. It shows the mutual trust the Buffaloes had in Learfield and us in them. Got the deal inked yesterday in Boulder. L-R: Mike Bohn, Athletic Director; Andrew Wheeler, GM Buffalo Sports Properties; Clyde Lear; Greg Brown; Tom McGrath, Senior Associate Athletic Director [larger version of photo]
–clyde
