One of the most underappreciated qualities in an attention starved, shout over everyone to get noticed world is the ability to listen, digest what you hear and learn from those around you. With so much white noise out there, channeling the good from the useless or mundane can be difficult, bit learning to be a good listener is a trait we all preach to those coming along next. (All the links bring you to a particular show).
So it was about a year ago my Columbia colleague Tom Richardson and I embarked on a listening journey, learning and talking to colleagues, friends and various professionals in the form of a podcast. We call it the CUSP Show, the Columbia University Sports Podcast, and we are now a pretty solid 48 episodes in, with a guest list that we think has been both varied and interesting for anyone with a nose for sports business, be they executives or students. Along the way we have been shepherded by two grad students, James Appell and Maurice Eisenmann, a pair of super smart and very diverse Columbia grad students who kept us recording and posting throughout the year. They too are featured in a podcast on the list, James talking about his experiences as a British media member in Russia and then what he has seen and learned in his time in the States; and Maurice, an Amsterdam native who started in the music world, went to Yeshiva University as a soccer player and found his way into eSports while gleaning lots of tidbits from life around the Columbia campus. Without them, well, there wouldn’t be a podcast for sure.
So what else have we touched on? We have talked with former Olympians now making their mark in the world of sports, philanthropy and international business; we have talked broadcast media with 54 time Emmy winning producer Ross Greenburg, business media with Bloomberg’s Scott Soshnick, storytelling with Inc columnist Mandy Antoniacci and sports media with veteran media personality Tina Cervasio and former MLB player now VICE reporter Fernando Perez.
Want to learn about eSports? In addition to Maurice you can listen to Twitch’s Nathan Lindberg, or analytics with PERFORM’s Angus McNab. We have covered events with the award-winning head of Lead Dog Marketing Dan Mannix and Tough Mudder’s Donna Goldsmith, the business of the NFL both in the US (with Jets President Neil Glat, former NFL star Adrian Wilson and current NFL wide receiver and Columbia student Andrew Hawkins) and abroad (with Jacksonville Jaguars head of European Ops Hussain Naqui).
How about the digital space? You can check in with Bleacher Report president Rory Brown, R/GA head and Dodgers Accelerator co-founder Jonathan Bradley, youth sports entrepreneur Jeremy Goldberg Excelle Sports founder Kim Donaldson or NBC’s Kevin Monaghan. Want to hear from some rising stars in areas like social media or philanthropy? Then try JR Jackson or Harrie Bakst. Heck we even talked the business of podcasting with DGital Media Spencer Brown and got a history of the NBA from two early hires in the David Stern era, Terry Lyons and Brian McIntyre.
We also have mixed in various key topics like entrepreneurship, the soccer business, the law, sports gambling, college sports, the business of the minor leagues, even drag racing, with a host of our fellow professors and started a season-long look at the men’s and women’s basketball programs at Columbia with staff, administrators, fans and players.
It has been a wonderful, insightful learning experience for Tom and I and those who have logged in, and in addition to good listening skills, a few other key themes have emerged, like the need to constantly be curious, the value of relationships, the building of one’s personal brand, and the need to always, always be willing to learn and adapt to what is a volatile and very fluid multibillion dollar sports and entertainment industry.
So there you have it. If you haven’t listened yet click a link, few are more than 50 minutes, and let us know what you think. We haven’t had a repeat guest or even a full topic yet, and there is so much more to cover in 2017 with new topics, guests and hopefully a few surprises.
To all that have participated, thanks, and to all that have helped us get better at what we are trying to do…including our students. Thanks as well. It has been fun, and engaging.
