The Pittsburgh Center for Sports Media and Marketing is re-opening its doors for a second year on campus. The center, located in room 704 of the Student and Convocation Center, will be hosting an open house with tacos, T-shirts and a Pirates ticket raffle on Thursday, Sept. 20 from 4 to 6 p.m.Point Park alumni Tom McMillan and Mike Fetchko created the center to give students an opportunity to meet sports media professionals and learn about current topics in the industry.“We started from scratch last year, and Mike Fetchko and I had a vision we wanted to create,” said McMillan, co-director of the center. “We were very pleased with the first year and especially the reaction of the students and the faculty.”The success of Point Park’s communications and sport, arts and entertainment management (SAEM) programs, coupled with Pittsburgh’s reputation as a sports city, made Point Park’s campus seem like the perfect home for the center, according to McMillan.The center began hosting events in fall 2011 and established its office in the Student Convocation Center the following semester. Two computers were recently set up in the office, which students can use to learn about the sports industry. Thursday’s mixer will be held in the office and its adjoining balcony, which overlooks Station Square. Micky Haney, graduate assistant at the center, thinks its on-campus presence will help it gain more recognition from the student body.“This is the year that things are going to get rolling, and I think it’s definitely going to provide a bigger impact,” Haney said.Some of the guest speakers from the last academic year included executives from ESPN, TNT and TBS; president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Penguins teams, respectively; and Mike “Doc” Emrick, NBC Sports play-by-play announcer. Topics ranged from the role of social media to effective sports branding and marketing.Theseminars teach students about the sports industry in a way that enables them “to really see what it’s all about,” according to Haney.“It’s more than just being a fan. It’s a business,” Haney said.Haney, who is enrolled in the concurrent Master of Arts. in journalism and mass communication and Master of Business Administration programs, said she especially enjoyed the seminar featuring a staff writer and editor-at-large of Sports Business Journal.“It was definitely more about the sports business and how things work rather than just the glamour of sports,” Haney said. “There’s something bigger than just watching people play football.”This semester, a student advisory board will help organize events and serve as a liaison between students and McMillan and Fetchko. Student advisers were chosen based on active participation in last semester’s events, as well as a strong interest in communications and the sports industry.The 2012 and 2013 advisory board includes eight students within the communications and SAEM programs: Aaron Cooney, Matthew Desmond, Dylan Grunn, Christopher Hoffman, Courtny Jodon, Amelia Hackimer, Cody Williams and Evan Schall.Schall, a junior SAEM and business management major, said an additional benefit of the center is that students can receive advice from McMillan, who is vice president of communication for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Fetchko, managing director of Integrated Strategic Marketing-USA.“Mike and Tom can be a fantastic resource for any student. Tom works for the Penguins, and Mike has his own company,” Schall said. “They’re eager and willing to help any student.”While no seminars have been finalized for the fall, the student advisory board is hoping to bring back ESPN, in addition to new guests. One tentative plan is to host a panel of Pittsburgh sports commentators, such as Bill Hillgrove of the Steelers, Greg Brown of the Pirates and Paul Steigerwald of the Penguins.“We’re looking forward to an even better year this year,” McMillan said.