“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.”
These are the opening lines in the 1997 Apple “Think Different” advertising campaign. It is often incorrectly attributed to Steve Jobs who, in reality, was initially unimpressed with this direction for the launch of one of his Apple’s new products.
The idea was actually the creation of a team from advertising agency TBWA/Chiat/Day. That’s according to a February 2013 article, “The Real Story Of Apple’s ‘Think Different’ Campaign” on Branding Strategy Insider. The piece was written by Rob Siltanen, a successful, if relatively unknown, creative director at the agency, who said the campaign was the work of him, agency CEO Lee Clow, and an art director named Craig Tanimoto.
They were the crazy ones who took an idea, a concept, and persuaded one of the toughest businessmen on the planet to change his mind. They were just crazy enough themselves to take on Steve Jobs and it was their drive and courage that helped make it happen. “Think Different” was a direct slap at the “Think IBM” advertisements promoting the new ThinkPad computers. Siltanen himself convinced the legendary Jobs that they were on the right track.
These guys dared to change the game, and the rest is history.
Fast-forward to the present, and a relatively unknown event was held at Beaver Stadium and Penn State Law’s Lewis Katz Building on March 15-16. The first ever Penn State Sports Business Conference (PSSBC) gathered some of the top sports business representatives in the country.
It was a bold idea. It was an amazing success. It also almost never got off the ground.
Hundreds of conferences are held on campus every year. Sports business conferences are held all around the country. Why was this one different? Because this conference was fueled by the vision and passion of undergraduate students, and their dynamic leadership team.
The theme for the conference was “Changing The Game: Innovation Meets Tradition.”
The brainchild of Alex Sheinman and Jon Marcus, the Sports Business Conference became a reality because of their bold, “out-of-the-box” thinking. Equally important was their ability to persuade their faculty advisor and other university faculty and staff to allow their dream to come true. Alex and Jon put together a team of dedicated students who all shared a common passion: the business of sports.
They had a champion in John Powell, the director of the sports business program. They earned the support of John Affleck, director of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism; Stephen Ross, the director of the Penn State Institute for Sports Law, Policy and Research; and Mike Poorman, the director of Alumni Relations in the Donald Bellisario College of Communications. It was a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort that helped make the conference a reality.
“They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward.”
I was introduced to Alex Sheinman just two months ago by good friend Mike Poorman, almost by accident, when Mike said you gotta meet this student. Alex and I became fast friends as we realized we were kindred spirits in our love of sports and our desire to challenge the status quo.
Alex reached out to ask me to come and speak to his team to get them pumped up. Not just for the conference, but also for the hard work it was going to take preparing in the final few weeks prior to the conference. Alex and Jon were the co-founders of the conference and one of their unsung heroes behind the scenes was Alex’s twin brother, Jake Sheinman. I didn’t hold anything back in my message to them and their team. It was showtime and they all needed to roll up their collective sleeves and do what needed to be done.
As the conference approached a scheduling conflict left Alex and crew without an emcee for the event. Before I knew it I received a text from Football Letterman’s Club Director Wally Richardson asking if I would be attending the conference. The answer, of course, was “yes” and Wally asked if I would be interested in assisting. A call from Alex followed and next thing I knew I had the honor of being the emcee for the event.
The conference opened on Thursday with tours of Beaver Stadium given by PSU’s legendary former football manager Brad “Spider” Caldwell and some of the PSSBC staff. The initial panel discussion was held in the president’s suite in Beaver Stadium on “Life After Sports” and was moderated by former PSU football player John Gilmore, the founder of Brandthumb branding agency. The panel consisted of former NBA star Etan Thomas, “The Activist Athlete”; former Canadian National Team moguls skier Stefanie Crosby, president of Triumspear International; and our own former linebacker Jason Cabinda, who is anxiously awaiting the NFL draft.
The evening ended for the participants with a networking social attended by most of the speakers, including the Friday keynote speaker, Kim Pegula, president and CEO of Pegula Sports and Entertainment.
Friday morning was hectic and at times frantic as the students put everything in place for the start of the conference. The presenting sponsor was AT&T and the major sponsors were Dick’s Sporting Goods, The Station at State College, and the Center for the Study of Sport in Society. A big thank you to Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics, for their assistance throughout the event. There were giveaways, raffle items, food including Penn State Berkey Creamery ice cream and Banana Vital bars (created by local entrepreneur Gracienne Myers). Logistically the PSSBC team knocked it out of the park.
After I quieted the crowd and introduced Alex, he welcomed everyone and introduced a brief video welcome from Penn State AD Sandy Barbour (she was in Cleveland with the superhuman wrestling team).The official opening remarks were given by Judy Cavalieri, vice President and general manager for AT&T. Next up, Abe Madkour, executive editor of Sports Business Journal Daily, interviewed Kim Pegula and the Friday portion of the conference was in full gear.
The list of speakers and participants was beyond impressive and included: Mark Steinberg, president of Excel Sports Management (agent for Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar, and Justin Rose); PSU alumnus Casey Muir, director of Client Management, Octagon; sports producer David Check (winner of 25 Emmy’s); PSU alumna Nadege Pluviose, director of client services, New York Jets; Mark French, serial entrepreneur (including the Players’ Tribune); PSU alumna Laila Brock, senior director of operations, College Football Playoff; PSU alumnus Ross Schwaber, director of product management, Bleacher Report; Jamie Kerr, director of corporate sponsorships, AT&T; Larry Rothstein, CEO of Source Communications; and PSU alumnus Scott Shirley, founder of “Lift for Life” and CEO of PledgeIT online fundraising platform.
Our special guest speaker was none other than PSU Head Football Coach James Franklin. In a word, Ah-mazing! I was so charged up after Coach Franklin’s speech I was ready to go tackle someone. He spoke more about “developing educated men that are prepared for life” than he did winning football.
Perhaps my favorite line from Coach Franklin was one I could definitely relate to from my own coaching days: “I am a screamer. Stay authentic. Be who you are. If a guy makes a big mistake, I am going to go crazy and scream at them. If they make a great play, I am going to go crazy and scream at them, and hug them!”
When I introduced the final panel discussion, “Breaking Into Sports,” I reminded everyone that it was this group of young professionals they needed to listen to the most because they were living it. During the discussion I got a shout out from former Penn State Hockey Management volunteer and current ticketing coordinator for Major League Baseball Advanced Media, Justin Charschan. He mentioned that I used to often tell the Hockey Management Association, “Be the CEO of you.”
When the conference was winding down I looked across the auditorium at a very happy and proud Alex Sheinman. I texted him: “I gotta tell you that being a part of this reminds me of the same feeling when my teams won championships! Thanks for asking me to be a part of it!”
Alex texted back an emotionally fired up response not suited for print. Give the guy a break, he just pulled off an amazing feat for anyone let alone a full-time undergraduate student!
“And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
The conference may not have changed the whole world but it certainly positively changed the lives of a lot of aspiring sports business executives in attendance.
Why? Because a group of students were bold enough to change the game.
