Sports Business Club Strategic Plan 2017 2017-2018 · Sports Business Club Executive Summary and...

Sports Business Club Strategic Plan 2017-2018

April 7

2017 This strategic plan outlines the history of the Sports Business Club, its beliefs, values, and day-to-day operating procedures. The plan has been crafted in order to provide insights into the management of the Sports Business Club for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Authors:

Alan McGlone – email:

[email protected]

Justin Lucker – email:

[email protected]

1 Sports Business Club Executive Summary and Strategic Plan

Contents

Organizational Background Information ....................................................................... 2

Executive Board and Organization Composition ........................................................... 3

Executive Board Members and Roles: ........................................................................ 3-7

Member Breakdown ..................................................................................................... 8

Active Membership Growth………………….………………………………………………….………..9

Organizational Flow Chart .......................................................................................... 10

Organizational S.W.O.T Analysis ............................................................................... 11

Organizational Vision, Mission, and Values ................................................................. 12

Event Exploration……………………………………………………………………………….……….13-14

Company Involvement……………..………………………………………………………………………15


Organizational Background Information The Penn State Sports Business club was founded in the Fall of 2011 at the University Park campus. The founding President Ryan

Zemke felt that Penn State students should have an organization to meet the demand from students who want a career in the

sports industry. The original goal was for students to have access to networking and guest speaker engagements within the

industry. Over the past six years the club has expanded its focus towards hosting more engaging events and opportunities for

members. The ultimate goal is for members to learn skills from the classroom, develop them through club events, and apply these

skills towards the pursuit of future internship and job opportunities within sports or related fields.

The Executive Board makes up the leadership for the organization. At the founding of the club, the officer positions were President,

Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. The club has expanded and specialized into specific officer positions and committees to

better organize, plan and execute the club’s goals. The Webmaster/Athletic Director, Marketing Chair, Professional Development

Chair, Special Events Chair, THON Chair, and THON Vice Chair positions now exist within the club’s Executive Board and serve vital

roles to the club. The Marketing Chair, Professional Development Chair, and THON Chair each lead small committees which helps

them meet their strategic goals while allowing more members of the club to get involved.

The Sports Business Club has attributed its success to providing a welcoming environment for members to engage with like-

minded students and professionals to develop business skills, all while creating lasting relationships through the power of sports.

Despite the pre-existing demand for networking in the sports industry, there were no student organizations available to meet that

need. The Sports Business Club came into existence to satisfy interest that was not prioritized within the Smeal course curriculum.

We aim to provide students with knowledge of relevant technical and social skills that can be directly applied to the sports industry.

Moving forward, we are looking to provide more opportunities for members to make meaningful connections that will lead to

future employment and the creation of a powerful, interwoven network of professionals and members of our club.


Executive Board Members and Roles:

1. President: Alan McGlone (Senior, Finance Major, Economics and Psychology Minors)

The primary role of the president is to guide the Sports Business Club toward its goals and ensure

that needs of members are being addressed. Specific roles include but are not limited to directing

specific marketing campaigns, bringing in guest speakers and setting up special events, organizing

room locations, and creating weekly meeting presentations. The President is also responsible for

leading a cohesive Executive Board by assisting its members with tasks, creating incentives to

maximize creativity and effort, and acting as the main point of contact for any activities involving

the organization.

External Involvement: Vice President of Corporate Relations, Net Impact

2. Vice President and Professional Development Chair: Justin Lucker (Senior, Marketing Major)

The Vice President is second in the chain of command in our organization. The Vice President is the

leader of the Professional Development Committee, where he will have a small committee selected

at the beginning of each academic year. The function of this team is to contact and develop

relationships with guest speakers across a wide spectrum of backgrounds and experience. The Vice

President will guide the creation of professional development sessions that are designed to elevate

members’ professional foundations through exposure to various applications. In addition to guiding

Executive Board and Organization Composition In addition to the roles outlined below, the main goal for the 2016-2017 Executive Board is to execute all tasks effectively through collaboration. We

will take all efforts to hold each other accountable, make informed decisions, provide quality feedback, and make every decision based on the needs

and desires of our membership. The Executive Board member class standings and majors are reflective of the 2017-2018 Academic year.


the professional development team, the Vice President is in charge of assisting other Executive

Board members with tasks and event planning.

External Involvement: Recruiting Operations Intern, Penn State Football

3. Marketing Chair: Devin Naylon (Sophomore, Marketing Major)

Our Marketing Chair is primarily responsible for promoting the club and our values to prospective

members and current membership. Responsibilities include designing grass roots marketing

campaigns, creating appealing posters and flyers, maintaining our social media presence, and

organizing our club’s social and fundraising events. The Marketing Chair will be the team leader for

the Marketing Committee, which will be comprised of a small group that is chosen at the beginning

of each academic year. Our Marketing Chair is also the head of our club fundraising efforts, which

will be used to provide value through conferences and special events on campus.

External Involvement: PSMA Non-Profit Lead, Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society Member

4. THON Chair: Kaitlyn Vander Woude (Senior, Marketing and History Major)

The THON Chair is responsible for all of our THON related activities and goals. Tasks include

organizing canning trips, ensuring that all canners have attended a mandatory canning seminar,

creating THON fundraising events, and being proactive in getting THONvelopes and THON

information to our members. The THON Chair is also the leader of a small THON Committee

selected at the beginning of each academic year. The THON Chair also aims to drive THON

involvement and provide a valuable THON experience for members choosing to participate.

External Involvement: THON Rules and Regulations Committee Member

5. THON Vice Chair: Ryan Lawrence (Junior, LER Major)

The THON Vice Chair’s primary responsibility is to help our THON Chair with all of her

responsibilities, as well as managing the money that we receive through canning and fundraising

activities. The THON Vice Chair plays a vital role in creating and executing fundraising opportunities


for the club, and also assists in driving THON involvement. The THON Vice Chair also ensures that

committee operations run smoothly.

External Involvement: Director of Events for the Blue & White Society, THON OPP Committee Member

6. Treasurer: Tom Kerner (Sophomore, Risk Management Major)

The primary responsibility of our Treasurer is to manage all of the cash inflows and outflows of our

organization. These include managing dues and fundraising events, as well as buying club t-shirts

and registering for conferences. Our Treasurer is also responsible for going to ASA to reimburse any

club member for purchases made on behalf of the club. This requires knowledge of the proper

object codes and the use of a purchase order form. Finally, the Treasurer is responsible for

maintaining an active budget which can be accessed by our Executive Board, and will serve as a

guideline in our decision making for event planning. Our goal is to analyze our cash inflows and find

more effective ways to raise funds, as well as analyzing cash outflows to find ways to cut waste and

provide the most value per dollar. The Treasurer will be transparent with our members regarding

finances.

External Involvement: LionTutor, Club Basketball Member

7. Webmaster and Athletic Director: Mike Reasor (Junior, Finance Major)

The Webmaster and Athletic Director has the unique responsibility of presenting our organization to

others while driving involvement through sports related activities. The Athletic Director role is

tasked with organizing fantasy sports leagues, creating and driving intramural sports teams, and

analyzing new ways to create athletic events. The Webmaster’s primary role is the continued

maintenance our club website (http://psusportsbusinessclub.weebly.com), which provides an

updated view of our club history, events, THON, and other opportunities. Both roles include

collaboration with the Marketing Chair to organize all information into a comprehensive location.

External Involvement: Member, Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society


8. Secretary: Rachel Waite (Junior, Supply Chain Major, Psychology Minor)

The primary responsibility of the Secretary is to organize an effective management system for

membership data. The Secretary creates a system that combines attendance data from meeting

sign-ins, fundraisers, and dues. The Secretary is able to identify who within the club is an active

member, and will provide this information to the President on an as-needed basis. The Secretary is

expected to provide accurate attendance information to the Executive Board, and work alongside

the Marketing Chair to analyze which marketing campaigns and events were successful. The

Secretary is also responsible for sending weekly emails to our members informing them of

upcoming events and meeting locations. Finally, our Secretary is responsible for creating a mid-

semester and end of semester evaluation surveys to gather honest membership feedback to

improve future operations.

External Involvement: Cheerleader, Penn State Club Cheerleading

9. Community Outreach: Sydney Eckert (Senior, Economics Major)

The Community Outreach Chair’s primary focus is to create relationships and opportunities

between our club members and the surrounding community. These include charity events, food

drives, and volunteer opportunities that allow our club members to make a greater impact outside

of typical meetings and events. The Community Outreach Chair is also responsible for exploring

new outlets for our club to make an impact, as well as working alongside the Treasurer and

President to create corporate sponsorship proposals. The Community Outreach Chair is also

involved in event promotion and membership engagement to maximize these opportunities.

External Involvement: THON Rules and Regulations Committee Member


10. Special Events Chair: Harrison Haushalter (Sophomore, Business Undecided)

The primary role of the Special Events Chair is to focus on the creation, planning, and execution of

large-scale club events that are different than weekly club meetings. The Special Events Chair will

work closely with the President and Vice President to coordinate events that draw a higher

attendance and provide more networking opportunities for students. The Special Events Chair has

the option to include club members and the Professional Development Committee for planning

specific projects, and he will work with the rest of the Executive Board to determine optimal

marketing strategies and event structure.

External Involvement: Business and Society House Member, Club Cross Country Runner


Organization Composition

Class Standing: Our club is comprised primarily of freshman and sophomore

students and make up a combined 66% of our active membership. This is a

reflection of how young our group is, and we look to create a more even mix of

students by focusing largely on retainment of members. Providing unique

opportunities each semester and creating an even more inviting meeting

atmosphere will be vital to retain our membership.

Majors: Our club has grown into a more diversified club over the last two

years, with a wide variety of majors represented. The top 3 majors are those in

the Division of Undergraduate Studies, Finance, and Marketing. We are heavily

represented in the Smeal College of Business, and some of the majors located

in the “other” category include HM, LER, ECON, and COMM. Moving forward,

we would like to continue to diversify the number of majors while focusing on

the growth of our Smeal membership.

*Membership data for class standing and majors is directly taken from our attendance

database reflecting the 2016-2017 Academic year*

Membership Breakdown:


Active Membership Growth:

The club has grown every year since its inception in 2011, and we

project that our club will continue to increase membership moving

forward. This will be driven by our meeting structure, Executive

Board decisions, and the creation of member value.

*Includes updated information not provided in active roster information by

Smeal*


President: Alan McGlone

Vice President and

Professional Development

Chair: Justin Lucker

Marketing Chair:

Devin Naylon

Secretary:

Rachel Waite

Treasurer:

Tom Kerner

Web master and

Athletic Director:

Mike Reasor

THON Chair: Kaitlyn

Vander Woude

Marketing Committee Professional Development

Committee THON Committee

THON Vice Chair: Ryan

Lawrence

Organizational Flow Chart

Special

Events Chair:

Harrison

Haushalter


Organizational S.W.O.T Analysis Internal Strengths External Strengths

Highly relatable to Freshman and Sophomore students, which gives us high growth potential

We are a niche organization that can use sports to expose students to a popular field that is not a major within Smeal

Ability to create successful large scale events, which increases credibility Strength and relationship with Penn State Athletics

Quality of Guest Speaker appearances Ability to attract more prominent guest speakers for events

Internal Weaknesses External Weaknesses Lack of motivated members and issues with retainment Our market for members may not be as large as we think

Relationship building between members themselves and the Executive Board

Location of campus provides difficulty in attracting guest speakers to physically visit our club

Lack of generating feedback and communication amongst the Executive Board

Limited budget and lack of long term relationships with some guest speakers

Internal Opportunities External Opportunities We have been very team focused, and have resources to diversify the types of meetings and speakers we present to the club

Partnerships with other student organizations to create more exciting meetings and combined events

Create mentorships within our club to promote greater bonds between members

Require less demanding fundraising requirements for active membership by developing corporate sponsors for our club.

Use past event success to create and manage larger events throughout Smeal in the future

Create case competitions and projects with teams and companies to drive membership involvement

Internal Threats External Threats Poor follow through with planning can lead to events that do not meet expectations or maximize value

Other outside clubs and activities may compete with our meetings and events, which leads to lower turnout

Repetitive nature of guest speaker appearances and topic relevance may lead to disengagement

Unpredictability of guest speakers dropping out and having effective contingency plans in place

Predictability of meetings and their structures can cause further disengagement

Sports teams and partners may not be willing or able to work with us


Organizational Vision, Mission, and Values

A. Organizational Vision:

The vision of the Sports Business Club is to be a prominent Smeal Organization that provides members with a deep

understanding of the sports industry while providing professional development in an engaging environment that leads

to success in the industry and business world.

B. Organizational Mission:

The mission of the Penn State Sports Business Club is to foster the growth of students’ knowledge in the sports

industry through professional lectures, workshops, and other networking opportunities that aim to provide students

with internships and careers in the sports industry and related fields.

C. Organizational Values:

Integrity: Under all actions of our organization, we will hold ourselves to the highest standards of honesty and proper

ethical conduct.

Resourceful: We strive to find creative strategies and use all available information to maximize value for our members.

Determination: Our club will continue to promote the values of hard work and focused thinking that create dedicated

members and leaders.

Accountability: We strive to make responsible decisions that are in the best interests of our members, and leadership

is expected to hold each other accountable with every decision.

Empowerment: We look to empower members to make a positive difference within our club and use membership to

gain experiences and opportunities with career implications that they may have not been previously exposed to.


2017-2018 Event Exploration

Hosting Events:

MLB Event: Networking panel discussions between representatives from professional major and

minor league baseball teams. We would like to make this event very interactive for attendees. The

ideal timeframe would be towards the end of September (9/19, 9/26 are ideal dates).

Sports Networking Night: Provide Smeal students the chance to attend panel discussions and

one on one networking opportunities with representatives from companies in the sports industry.

We aim to include more than 25 representatives from at least 15 companies, and provide students

the ability to attend more panels and engage in more discussions. We would aim to have this event

towards the end of January (1/23, 1/30 are ideal dates).

New Event Leads:

Coaches Caravan: Create an event with Penn State Athletics Coaches to provide students with an

in depth look inside the athletic program while having the opportunity to interact with coaches.

Ideally this event would take place later in the Spring semester.

Case Competition with Dick’s Sporting Goods: We would like to work alongside Dick’s Sporting

Goods to create a business case competition for our club members to participate in teams. Ideally,


the case competition would take place at Dick’s Sporting Goods Headquarters and also include

teams from the University of Pittsburgh’s Sports Business Association.

Case Competition with Under Armour: We would like to work with Under Armour to develop a

case competition focused around different aspects of their business. We would be able to work

with other Smeal clubs, as well as other sports business clubs, to form teams to answer the initial

case. The finalists would be chosen by Under Armour to present at Headquarters in September or

October.

Meetings:

Sports Teams, Sports Agencies, Retail Firms, Companies that Market through Sports, Sports

Media. Includes speakers from all levels of the company.

Conferences:

MIT Sloan Sports Analytics


Company Involvement:

Companies and Financial Involvement:

While we are still a young organization that is growing, we are looking for financial growth and

opportunities that will allow us to create larger events within Smeal for the future.

Please see attached Corporate Sponsorship Proposal for more information about sponsoring events with

our organization.

Companies and Professional Involvement:

At meetings that do not include guest speakers or large events, we provide our members with professional

development opportunities. Moving forward, we would love to host workshops with companies

surrounding the following areas:

o Resume building

o LinkedIn and proper social media usage

o Interview preparation

o Research skills and opportunities

1

Corporate Sponsorship Proposal

The Penn State Sports Business Club

Hello Corporate Recruiters,

My name is Alan McGlone, President of the Penn State Sports Business Club. Our

Executive Team is very proud of the growth our club has experienced since being founded in

2012. We believe that there are some great opportunities ahead to further connect our

membership with opportunities in the sports industry. As we look to grow as a student

organization, we are looking to engage with companies through the creation of corporate

partners. Our Executive Team has outlined some sponsorship opportunities and more details

about our club below, and we would appreciate the chance to further discuss corporate

partnership opportunities with you!

1. Our club was able to receive $2,400 in dues money in the 2016 fall semester. We aim to

maximize the value for members by spending money on professional event costs, club sports

outings, conferences, and social events.

2. Another source of revenues are the football parking fundraisers in the fall, which provided us

with $1,800 in fall 2016. Completion of football parking fundraisers has been a membership

requirement up to this point in time. While the football fundraiser provides us with funding, it is a

2

major deterrent to students who want to become members and attend our events, and we hope

to phase this out of our active membership requirement. We also bring in money through

various alternative fundraisers held on campus throughout the year.

3. Our largest expense is attendance at the MIT Sloan Sports Conference, which costs about

$3,000. We provide club tee shirts that cost $800 a year, social events that cost $300 per

semester, and a champions dinner (for our Executive Team and top general body members)

that costs about $200 each semester.

4. With the help of faculty, staff, and your involvement, we can promote different classes and

coursework that can make our members prepared for work for your company. This could include

classes or tutorials about Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, as well as classes related to specific

functions of a corporation.

The following chart represents our current sponsorship layout, which is composed of 3 levels

with various benefits to each level of sponsorship.

3

Sports Business Club Sponsorship

Level of Sponsorship Bronze

($250)

Silver

($500)

Gold

($1000) Company Logo featured on club

website and general marketing

materials

Featured emails and social media posts

to membership for campus events

Logo featured on banner of semi-

annual 3v3 Basketball Tournament

(months of October and April)

Featured emails and social media posts

to membership for internships, jobs,

and deadlines

Ice Cream or Coffee social with club

members and Dick’s Sporting Goods

associates

Dinner with select club members and

Dick’s Sporting Goods Associates in the

fall semester

Company Logo featured on club tee

shirts (distributed in the Spring

semester)

Please reach out to me at [email protected] or via phone at 484-369-3038 if you have

any questions or comments regarding our club or sponsorship levels. The Sports Business Club

is excited about building future partnerships to advance our club’s mission throughout the Smeal

College of Business and Penn State campus.

Best Regards,

The Sports Business Club Executive Team

mailto:[email protected]

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