There’s a Month for That. Guest Post by Laurie Bollig, CoSIDA

Introduction from Alana:

Today, I’m excited to introduce you to Laurie Bollig, the director of membership engagement for the College Sports Information Directors of America. Laurie’s a reader, writer and a sports fan. She loves sports information directors so much she married one!  Laurie is a natural at recognizing the contributions and achievements of others.  Today, she is launching a week of gratitude and appreciation directed at the audience she serves.  I bet you’ll love this idea so much you consider implementing a similar program for your company or industry!

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Guest Post by Laurie Bollig, Director of Membership Engagement, College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)

laurie-bolligThere’s a day, week or month for celebrating and recognizing just about every person and everything.

Do you drink a lot of beer? Don’t make any plans for September 29, because you’re going to be busy drinking September 28. The first week in December is National Hand Washing Awareness Week – oooh, germs. Betcha didn’t know July is National Baked Bean Month.

You get the idea.

One of my brilliant co-workers thought it was time our association, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), instituted similar recognition for sports information directors. For those who don’t know what a sports information director is, let me educate you. In every athletic department on every college campus in North America, there is a staff of storytellers who promote the teams, keep the game statistics, run the social media accounts and update the website.

These men and women have different titles – media relations director, athletic communications director, sports information director. While we can’t seem to agree on the most descriptive title, one thing is a given. They tell impactful stories of student-athletes who are making a difference on campuses and in communities.

And because they are behind the scenes, there’s not a lot of glory in their work.

The idea of introducing our own recognition week took root.  We did what associations do – we formed a committee – and we went about planning the inaugural CoSIDA Membership Recognition Week. November seemed the ideal time because it is the month for gratitude and thanksgiving.

Set for November 7-13, 2016, this week is all about our 3,000-plus members. Activation plans include:

  • Sending a thank-you card to members that will include incentive prizes to share an idea or resource with others in our online community.
  • Sending letters of appreciation to athletic directors and university presidents, highlighting the important professional development activities our members are doing to enhance their careers and make their departments stronger.
  • Encouraging prominent broadcasters to recognize the work of sports information directors during nationally televised college sports events, including basketball and football.
  • Supporting the week with social media posts that illustrate what kind of work our members do and include the hashtag #ThankYourSID.
  • Initiating a donation campaign for our members to make contributions to CoSIDA scholarship programs in honor of a mentor in the profession. This campaign will span the next seven months leading up to the celebration of our association’s 60th

While it’s a small thing, saying thank you to our members shot to the top of our priority list as we planned how we could highlight the great work of these hard-working men and women.

Time will tell if our unique idea of thanking an SID becomes a thing in college athletics. But that initial step has already been well received and much appreciated by our members.

Well worth the days it took to plan the week.

To learn more about the college sports information profession, visit CoSIDA.com.

2 thoughts to “There’s a Month for That. Guest Post by Laurie Bollig, CoSIDA”

  1. As a former assistant sports information director, I think this is a great idea! Writers and broadcasters would be lost without SIDs.

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