COMMENTARY: NASCAR seeks communications professional, insults sports athletic PR profession

September 2, 2010

in Membership,

College Sports Information Directors of America

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Editor's Note: A front-page article in Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal earlier this week covered NASCAR's goal to upgrade its communications department with new leadership - a chief communications officer and perhaps as many as 20 new positions, nearly doubling the staff - and a new focus. It is the comments from NASCAR CMO and Senior VP Steve Phelps which have a stinging effect for all members of the athletic media relations/sports information profession. It is this disparaging comment about the SID profession (see bold quote, below) which was the impetus of a September 1 [blog entry](http://stevedittmore.posterous.com/nascar-seeks-communications-professional-insu) by Dr. Steve Dittmore, assistant professor of recreation and sport management at the University of Arkansas.

Around the nation, college athletic communications have embraced digital/social media - and are leaders in their department when it comes to strategic branding and use of digital media. In the last month, a half-dozen former SID's have ascended to athletic director positions at universities and colleges across ALL divisions of competition. On campuses and in conferences, thousands of SID's are veterans when it comes to managing and dealing with crisis communications issues.

As stated in its logo, CoSIDA represents "Strategic Communicators for College Athletics." In turn, it is the goal of CoSIDA's leadership to continue highlighting and promoting our organization's branding and strategic messaging initiatives - now going on year No. 3 for the organization - to support and coordinate professional development education and professional growth opportunities for athletic media relations pros. The successes so far in educating and assisting CoSIDA members to become better strategic communicators and campus/national leaders is a boost to the profession while also helping to change the perception and attitudes about collegiate athletic PR professionals/SID's from those inside and outside collegiate athletics.

Dittmore's blog entry appears below the quotes from the SportsBusiness Journal article.

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