Courtesy of Talladega College
In October, Talladega College sent eighteen students to the Get in the Game conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Get in the Game is a three-day event for students of color and HBCUs to gather and learn more about the sports business industry. The conference aims to expose the multitude of career options available within the sports business industry, including finance, design, sales, marketing, and data analytics.
Following the mantra, “exposure expands,” the College’s Interim Director of Career Exploration & Professional Development, Calvin Littlejohn, said that bringing Talladega College students to the conference is imperative in helping to build professional relationships that can thrive post-graduation. “I feel it is necessary to provide as many exposure opportunities for our students as possible to ensure that they are prepared upon graduating. I truly believe that their attendance at the conference allowed them to see beyond their current scope and opened new career opportunities for them to explore [what] they may have never experienced,” he said.
Still in its beginning stages, the conference offered numerous sessions related to resume development, networking, mock interviews and interview readiness. Attendees were also able to listen in on panel discussions led by industry leaders for major companies like Under Armour, Dicks Sporting Goods, and more.
The discourse covered topics like, How to Land Your First Job in Sports, and was moderated by Sports Business Research Network (SBRnet) co-owner and conference co-host Mark Sullivan. For college students interested in the sports business, SBRnet provides resources and marketing analytics. Sullivan feels that curating a conference like Get in the Game was an organic next step. “SBRnet provides data and other resources to college students interested in the business of Sports, so launching a conference to educate students about the business and provide them with contacts who can offer them internships and jobs was a natural extension of our mission,” he said.
Business Administration major, Shamika Thomas believes that connecting in a space with industry leaders and like-minded peers was an invaluable experience. “At the conference, I got the opportunity to learn and practice my networking skills. Also, I learned a lot of valuable information from the many speakers about advancing my career.”
According to Littlejohn, the experience in Baltimore laid the groundwork for Talladega students to secure internships for the upcoming year. “To date, two of our students who attended the event have secured summer internships for Summer 2024, with two more pending an offer,” Littlejohn said. Talladega student Joshua Gardiner enjoyed that companies pitched to the students and now has a pending internship with shoe giant Clark’s, slated to begin next year. “When we got to the conference, the entire setup was amazing, each company had an opportunity to give their opening pitch along with what they can offer interns as well as long-term opportunities. A few standout companies at the conference were Asics Footwear, Clarks, Onn, and Under Armor. With the help of Mr. Littlejohn, Mrs. Swain, and the grace of God, I was able to land an internship with Clark’s Footwear at the headquarters in Boston summer 2024.”
Additionally, Littlejohn was able to establish potential strategic partnerships for the College. “Attending the conference allowed me to establish new alliances with organizations that have never recruited from our campus. We now have partnerships with Sodexo Live, Junior Golf, Clark’s, and On Running,” he said.
Vowing to keep a continuum of momentum post-conference, Littlejohn is excited about attending the conference next year with more students.