Rowan University hosted another big event for their sports communications students at the Pfleeger Hall yesterday with host of First Take on ESPN Stephen A. Smith. These events wouldn't happen without the help from Neil Hartman who runs it and a social impact at Rowan. Hartman is well known in sports industry as he has tons of experience calling games, writing articles and being connected world wide. Neil also runs sports broadcasting camps for the youth from ages 10-18. Sports Communications Students had the opportunity to hear from one of the best in our industry Stephen A. Smith.
This event was free for everyone as it got packed in the Pfleeger Hall and people ready to see him. Jen Tole who is the assistant dean at Rowan University, she did the opening to start, then brought up Neil. Hartman then told a story about Stephen A. Smith on how he first saw him and asked him last year to speak at Rowan. After that, Neil brought out Stephen A. Smith as everyone was cheering loud and chanting his name. It was a great atmosphere in the building with a lot of students wanting to be in same industry as us. Stephen A. Smith jokely started talking about the Dallas Cowboys to the students and then told about his story getting into sports industry.
Stephen A. Smith talked about important stories on how to succeed in our sports industry as he brought up real life situations also. Smith made sure to install all the information for their students in a positive way and when they get into tough moments. He also brought up a great point when talking about bigger stories which people are more interested will get you more money and numbers. Then they did a question/answer segment at the end for their students asking Stephen A. Smith about how to get into this industry. What a fantastic turnout yesterday along with my co host Kia Lyons as we got to meet new people.
After the event finished they took us upstairs to VIP party where we got to interact with amazing people, talk to Stephen A. Smith more and take pictures. It was a great opportunity for me to be there in person and finally meeting Stephen A. Smith. I told him about my mentor Leonard Marshall who won two Superbowl championships with the New York Giants as they were Frat brothers back in 93 at LSU. I learned a lot from this event and speaking with Stephen A. Smith was awesome which will help me in my Sports Journalism career.
Shout-Out to Neil Hartman, Jen Tole, John Giannini, Linda DiGennaro and Rowan University for making this happen and connecting with us.
