The Pittsburgh Center for Sports Media and Marketing is bringing two accomplished professionals to Point Park on Sept. 13 to discuss live sports trends and the influence they have on their fans.

Chris Eames and Jamie Kerr will team up at 1 p.m. in the Lawrence Hall Ballroom as part of the Center for Media Innovation grand opening day to speak about “The Speed of Live: Why Sports Matter Most to Fans & Brands.”

Eames, Vice President of Multimedia Sales at ESPN, has previously worked with Mike Fetchko, co-founder of the Center, and wanted to come out to Point Park to explain to students what he does, what ESPN does and the trends of the industry.  Kerr, Director of Corporate Sponsorship at AT&T, is a client that Eames works with closely.  Their companies worked together to create the SEC Network, which covers sports at the collegiate level.

“The best way to learn is not necessarily out of a book, but it’s from people who are in that position, who were once in our shoes,” said Kelsey Veydt, graduate assistant at the Pittsburgh Center for Sports Media and Marketing.

Students can expect to learn about the background of Eames and Kerr, what their jobs consist of and their daily responsibilities at work.  Students will also gain a better understanding of live sports and how they influence our culture and how involved media is with sports. On top of that, Eames and Kerr will be discussing sponsorships for sports and how sponsors connect to the sports fans. At the end, there will be a Q&A panel for students to ask Eames and Kerr any questions that they may have.

“They’re really going to emphasize branding,” said Jess Martin, a Student Advisory Board member of the Center for Sports and Media Marketing. “The Center helps students connect and network. It’s a great learning experience.”

Students don’t necessarily have to show an interest in sports to come out to the event. All students from any major are encouraged to attend.

“Business is business,” Veydt said. “These people deal with people every day, and everyone needs to know in whatever their career is how to talk to people, how to work with people and how to communicate.”

Although sports seem to be the main topic, these businesses deal with broadcast reporting and advertising, so it’s not only relating to sports, arts and entertainment management majors, but it’s also relating to students in the School of Communication.

The Pittsburgh Center for Sports Media and Marketing plans on utilizing the new CMI building.  With this new space, they plan on focusing more on the media aspect of sports. The Center wants to possibly use space available in the CMI building for smaller seminars

“We’re using it right off the bat,” Veydt said, explaining that there will be events in the near future.  Both the Center and the CMI would like to work with each other to support and market for each other’s events.

“Mike [Fetchko] and Tom [McMillan] always do their best to get interesting speakers for these events,” said Dani McSweeney, who is also  member of the Student Advisory Board.