FEARLESSPhotography and Athletics in Education

Brian Schneider

About Me (Professional)• Commercial story-teller based in Baltimore, MD

• Creative partner working with The Ohio State University, Loyola Maryland University, Old Dominion University, lululemon athletica, Under Armour, other universities, ad agencies, and editorial outlets.

• Got my start taking pictures when not playing baseball for the high school yearbook. I then went to school for computers and became the photo editor of The Tiger.

• After freelancing around Clemson, I moved to Baltimore to take a job in the defense industry with my new computer science degree.

• Re-started my freelance business and grew it organically while working full-time. Left full-time employment a few years later.

When I’m Not Taking Pictures

• Home renovations — bought a 109 year old row house in 2011

• #FetchWithAnnie

• Coffee, craft beer, and gin

• Foster labs — 16 of Annie’s Foster Friends

OFFICES

Importance of Collegiate Athletics

• Greater impact on the student body composition at an educational institution (D1 is 5% athletes, D3 is 25-40% athletes – Malekoff College Sports Project)

• Leadership development of student athletes – helps lead to jobs after graduation (Sternberg - College Athletics: Necessary, Not Just Nice to Have)

• University sprit, engagement and memories (Sternberg)

• Lifetime fitness (Sternberg)

• Alumni loyalty and engagement (Sternberg)

• Community engagement, especially at smaller schools (Robinson – Marketing Intercollegiate Athletics at the NCAA DIII Level)

• Chance to engage and promote the educational institution’s brand

ABOUT NDMU• Founded in 1895

• Notre Dame of Maryland University – previously College of Notre Dame, Maryland

• Only women’s college in Maryland

• First Catholic Women’s college awarding 4 year degrees in the US

• Small school of about 500 women, located next to larger Catholic school Loyola Maryland University

• Mixture of athletes – high level athletes and participants

• Worked with them since 2011

FEARLESS & FAITHFUL• One day I was on Facebook in late 2013 and came

across “FEARLESS and FAITHFUL”

• A fundraising campaign to commemorate the 180 year founding School Sisters of Notre Dame in Bavaria

• Originally was supposed to be in St. Mary’s, MD but too sparsely populated and no support

• The story of the university’s founding was one of extreme challenges, hence FEARLESS and FAITHFUL

FEARLESS

• fearless – free from fear : brave

Creative Process

• We describe athletes as brave, heroic, warriors, fearless, strong, powerful, intense

• Society’s view of women athletes

• Intense and gritty portraits

• Pitched the project to them and we rolled with it

Creative Execution• Two Shoot Days (1 in Dec and 1 in April)

• Multiple locations:

• Blue wall in gym

• Classroom

• On the tower

• Numerous logistic issues to fight through

• Snow (horrible winter in Baltimore)

• Availability of athletes (Shot near exams), multiple time reschedules

• Selling the idea to the girls

WOULD YOU STAND ON THIS LEDGE?

Campaign’s IMPACT• An increased level of pride for both athletes and athletic department

• Help AD become cohesive with the university brand

• Brought the D1 experience down to D3 athletics

• 5% Increase in overall winning percentage across sports – better materials help coaches recruit better athletes

• 6% Increase in student involvement in athletics – 82 athletes participating across 8 sports

• Improved visibility of athletes and athletics on campus

• 3.0 cumulative GPA over the last 5 years

• Increased funding for athletic department in the newest strategic plan

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BRIAN SCHNEIDER PHOTOGRAPHY

baltimore, md + nyc + south carolina

brian@ebrianschneider.com

(410) 929-4390

(864) 497-9590