Experiences at Illinois High School Association

In my position as Asst. Executive Director of the Illinois High School Association I wear many hats. I have administered statewide championships in a number of sports and non-athletic activities. That administration included, but was not limited to, site selection, contest official assignments, scheduling, employee management, customer service, preparing and managing budgets. I have also been the staff administrator charged with developing and implementing the associations marketing plan; which included all sponsorship sales, advertisement, promotions, fulfillment, and the development of a comprehensive licensing program. That role allowed me to establish some excellent contacts and working relationships with several fortune 500 companies, as well as work with nationally recognized advertisement/public relations firms. I serve as staff producer of the IHSA TV Network, a statewide television network which consists of over the air stations as well as independent cable outlets. I assist in sales, production, and distribution for the IHSA TV Network and the 43 statewide events that we televise annually. I also have some compliance responsibilities where I handle, student, coach, and school eligibility issues, and serve as the association's media relations coordinator. I am responsible for media credentials for events, development of media policies, communicating to the media on behalf of the association about issues, or programs, as well as coordinating press conferences, etc. On a day-to-day basis I manage a staff of 5 with more than 10 others that are not direct reports, but I do oversee. With my compliance and management responsibilities I have been able to develop very good communication skills; I have made numerous presentations at legislative and conference meetings across the state of Illinois, as well as professional association conferences nationally. I have served on four national committees for the National Federation of State High School Associations (Marketing, Strategic Planning, Summer Conference Committee, and Baseball Rules Committee). I oversee the student recognition programs for the association as well. I was able to triple the annual contributions to the charitable foundation that underwrites those programs. I increased opportunities for those programs that were already in place (additional scholarships, increased visibility and recognition), and started three additional programs that were supported by corporate dollars that I secured specifically for those programs....