IU Indianapolis sports management students take advantage of Indy's network as pathway to career success
In the sports industry, having a solid network of other professionals in the industry is imperative. The IU Indianapolis sports management program emphasizes that so students are ready to make an impact as soon as they graduate.
Recent grad Cory Davis, M.S. Event Tourism 2017, took advantage of the networking opportunities he was provided while in the program, which has shaped his entire professional career to this point.
It started with David Pierce, Ph.D., and his Intro to Sports Marketing class, where former Beyond Monumental executive director Blake Bolden was a guest speaker.
“I was fascinated how one single event, an event I had never heard of, could have such an impact on the city of Indianapolis,” Davis said. “After class, I introduced myself to Mr. Bolden, and six months later, I accepted the business development intern role for Beyond Monumental.”
His time with Beyond Monumental led to him making connections with two Indiana Sports Corp (ISC) employees, where he eventually completed an events internship. His work with the organization led to a graduate assistant role being created.
His network continued to grow when Ryan Vaughn, the President of ISC, introduced him to the people behind the Techstars Sports Accelerator program. Davis' role with the organization, which works with startups in the sport tech space, led to an account manager role with Project Admission in Nashville, TN.
“I’ve easily tripled the size of my network within these past three months, and I’ve accepted two separate job offers to continue working with two of the startup companies in the program,” Davis said. “I’ve never been more excited about my future, and it all began with a guest lecturer in a sports marketing class at IU Indianapolis.”
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