On Sunday UCLA students were given the opportunity to not only gain insight into the rapidly developing fields of sports and entertainment but also network with some of the leaders of those industries.
The recently founded campus group, Sports & Entertainment Business Network, hosted its first annual Spring Summit, featuring dozens of leaders in the sports and entertainment industries and over 100 UCLA students Sunday afternoon in Covel Grand Horizon Ballroom. The event was co-sponsored by the Office of Residential Life.
SEBN co-president Allen Secretov said that speakers gave valuable insights to students who are largely inexperienced in the rapidly growing fields of sports marketing and entertainment.
“(Students) really get some knowledge on the industry that they wouldn’t get from anywhere else,” Secretov said. “A lot of people have rosy conceptions about what exactly the sports industry is like or the entertainment industry, the film industry, the music industry, whatever. The fact of the matter is … it’s a lot of business, a lot of sales, a lot of advertising.”
Among the notable leaders providing insight in their fields that the conference were UCLA Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero, UCLA screenwriting instructor Paul Castro, winner of the second season of “The Apprentice” Kelly Perdew and Executive Director of the Entertainment Media Management Institute at the UCLA Anderson School of Management Nelson Gayton.
Gaining insight from panels of leaders in the fields of sports marketing, new media, sports management and film and television, conference-goers learned the specifics of entering the fields of sports and entertainment.
“One of the panelists was saying that … you don’t have to know everything about sports (to succeed in a sports marketing company),” fourth-year political science student Whitney Goodman said. “But you do have to have the drive and motivation.”
Goodman, who is planning on entering the field of sports marketing, added that the conference gave her more confidence to pursue her goals.
Also, with the failing economy providing university students with fewer job opportunities upon graduation, SEBN focuses on helping students find their niche in the entertainment industry.
“In a world where there seem to be fewer and fewer opportunities for young people in traditional industries after they graduate, there is this huge industry … around the world called entertainment, and that includes sports, music and social media,” Gayton said.
The fields of sports and entertainment are strongly geared to young people.
The future of those industries, according to Gayton, who is also the adviser to SEBN, depends on university students.
“These industries are inherently young businesses, and young people … could be the real leaders because they are the consumers of all this kind of stuff,” Gayton said. “And it seems to me with (25,000) undergraduates at UCLA, there should be a place to learn about these businesses as well as a place that can be the hub of networking.”
With the conference focusing on so many aspects of sports and entertainment, SEBN brought together students with various interests.
Fourth-year political science student Jariel Bytheway said that the panelists taught him the key to succeeding in sports entertainment is to persevere through difficult, entry-level positions.
“You use your work ethic and your skills once you’re (at the top),” Bytheway said.
SEBN Events Coordinator Kaitlyn Banchero explained that NYU started a similar conference eight years ago with around 100 students in attendance.
Now, they bring over 2000 students.
“Our mission was to make UCLA the west coast location for sports and entertainment knowledge and have people want to come here and learn that,” Banchero said.