Collected Wisdom - Brian Sisson

Collected Wisdom is a series of interviews featuring insights from small college athletic administrators. Our thanks this week to Brian Sisson, Associate Athletic Director at Lewis University for participating.

How did you get started in college athletics? Funny story. After some internship stints (Kane County Cougars (minor league baseball), ESPN Radio, Chicago Bulls, and Chicago Cubs) during college and my first year out, I was driving to meet with the front office staff of a local minor league baseball team. I was meeting with them to accept a marketing entry level gig, (finally made it right?), and on my way I received a call as a follow up to previously having interviewed with my alma mater Loyola University Chicago. I had interviewed regarding their ticket and promotions manager position within their athletic department. I was offered the job, pulled over to think about it for about 10 minutes, and called back to accept it right then and there in my car. I had to call the minor league baseball team to tell them thanks but no thanks and that I had accepted another position. It was the best decision I ever made. My soon to be wife and I were living together downtown and the Loyola stop was a great five year experience. It took me one day in this industry to catch the college athletics bug. I was fortunate to work at my alma mater, not everyone has that opportunity, as well as get an advanced degree.

What are your primary responsibilities as the Associate AD of External Relations? The percentage breakdown can differ on the minute, day, week, or month but I break it into five key areas.

1)Athletic Fundraising 2) Athletic Marketing & Promotions 3) Community & Campus Enrichment 4) Numerous Administrative Duties with Sport Oversight 5) Other Duties As Assigned (PA announcer, custodian, whatever is needed)

Creating new revenue streams and maintaining existing revenue requires balance. How do you approach prioritizing where to put your efforts? Fundraising here, as is at most small schools, is vastly important. That being said, we all wear a ton of different hats in our roles. Each day, month, year I try to better our department. All the time. But the key I have found is to work smarter. We have had success in new revenue streams whether it has been our online store, our annual crowdfunding campaign, new corporate partners, or our inaugural Flyer Red Dinner last year. But at the same time it is always easier to keep a current partner/donor and grow that relationship than attain a new one. Now don’t go telling anyone that we don’t want new donors/partners. Of course we do and we work at that. But we have also had some great relationships turn into a much larger impact on our student-athlete experience by listening and giving everything we can to those that support us. I relish in building relationships and growing events into the best they can be. In any collegiate athletics role you need the work ethic, plain and simple. But if you can try to work smarter and have the things that work for your department get incrementally better you are in a good place. As appealing as it may seem, you can’t do everything. You will sell yourself short and burn out real quick.

You’ve had a lot of success in increasing corporate revenue at Lewis and your last stop (Benedictine). What have you found to be the most important factors in creating new corporate partnerships? First and foremost there has to be a natural fit. You have to know your campus, your student body and most importantly where athletic and university dollars are being spent. Secondly you have to engage and be able to customize the needs and wants of that partner. Everyone is different in how a relationship with us would be of benefit. Lastly, you have to stay afloat to what is going on within your region. Find the niche that works for your campus and always be honoring and enhancing that relationship.

Your crowdfunding initiative, the Flyer Friends and Family Fundraising Campaign , was the most successful athletics fundraiser in school history. How have you utilized this initiative to continue momentum for your program? Actually we transferred this success and idea into a program specific crowdfunding campaign recently and we have seen success as one part of the overall funding needed in sending our men’s volleyball team to an overseas trip to Rome this summer. We are very close to hitting our overall funding mark for this endeavor that will be a life changing experience for that program and that has been very positive. We may use this model in the future for other team specific trips and projects.

As it relates to continuing momentum, I think the positive results and vibe from something like this have helped in other events such as our Flyer Red Dinner. Our signature fundraising event for us that incorporates a new class inducted into our Hall of Fame each year.

Also, as we go into year five of our annual crowdfunding campaign, we realize that this annual campaign can’t be the same thing each year. That is why we have tried to tweak things year to year to make it unique and have it evolve. We incorporated all athletic alumni into this past year’s campaign and look towards growing that segment in years to come. This campaign works for us now and has been done at many other campuses but it also is important to look ahead at what other giving trends may be best to utilize in the future and what works best for your campus environment as it relates to giving and internally as it relates to staffing and priorities.

What role do coaches play in generating revenue at your institution? Coaches are critical to our overall fundraising piece. No program has their needs checklist crossed off entirely by any means. However we have generated new and increased revenue and aim each day to alleviate the overall burden but still all of our coaches have to fundraise. They are great at being active at our annual events and with their respective sports’ own alumni, family and friends base. But the truth is that we fundraise to stay afloat and survive.

I think the last couple of years we have gotten on a better schedule and communication has been much better in terms of realizing the importance of annual giving and when not to interfere with certain campaigns and events. I suggest you have your calendar and stick to it as best you can. You never want conflicting giving cycles whether it be department wide or from a specific program and you always have to be sensitive to fundraising fatigue. It is true that if you don’t ask you will not receive but you also can’t ask every month.

You helped launch ShopLewisFlyers.com – the online store for your department including apparel, novelties, and accessories. What did the process entail? Well we have a Follett run campus bookstore so the fact that Advanced Online is under their umbrella makes for a great continuance and further growth of that relationship. The sixth month process involved our athletic department, student life, and university marketing. It was good for us to get together to review our brand and at the end of the day this was all about being able to grow our brand, have all of our programs represented to the fullest, and offer the best shopping experience for Flyer supporters. We feel we have done that and then some. I highly suggest if your institution is not offering this customer service experience to raise your athletic profile that you look into it. It has been a great addition to our overall branding portfolio and has helped bring in a new revenue stream. Year one was fantastic and we look to keep things growing from that end.

What are your career goals and plans? Simply put my career goal is to be a Division II AD and everything I do each and every day goes into the planning process to get there. I would not be where I am today without having been a student-athlete in college (soccer). Being a student-athlete is an unmatched one of a kind experience and I hope to one day have the fortunate opportunity to share my experience to better the lives of some of the best future leaders this world will see. The experience, the commitment, the friendships, the overall life skills one develops is unmatched.

Who are some of your mentors/people who have encouraged you along your career path? You can’t do this line of work without a strong support staff. I thank my mom and dad first and foremost for always supporting my brothers and me to follow our passion. Secondly my wife is a saint. I have an almost three year old son Landon and an almost six month old daughter Elin. They are amazing and at the same time the dynamic with working in this industry has just been different as of late. A great different but different. I have always been a good multi tasker and you just learn the schedule that works for you.

As for mentors, many. First and foremost my boss and friend and Lewis AD Dr. John Planek who gave me my first start in this industry. Others are mainly from the BOSCA/SCA Chat community. More specifically Jim Abbott, Matt Donovan, Mark McHorney, Jason Carmichael, John Phillips to name a few. Thank you. Really this small school community is so tight, helpful and encouraging. It is great. Also I have to mention Jameson Adams. For more than a year we basically have talked weekly about working in this industry, the good, the bad, the ugly and just having someone to bounce ideas and thoughts off of. I urge you to find someone in this industry who wants to do what you do, connect, and grow and learn from each other.

What advice do you have for young people looking to start a career in college athletics? Get involved early, as in freshman year, outwork everyone and get experience. There are so many opportunities on college campuses. You don’t have an excuse not to have experience in your own athletic department.

What is the most challenging part of your position? I am still learning when to say no and to properly delegate. This role has a lot of moving parts and really just navigating through it all can be challenging but on the flipside that is also what makes it so extremely exciting and exhilarating to take on new challenges every single day. I don’t always get it right but I feel that with my work ethic and passion, I am consistently learning to be the best resource to our student-athletes and staff that I can be.

What do you do to continue growing professionally? So many things that I can’t possibly cover it all but here are some that stand out.

1)Professional Development Conferences

a.NACDA, BOSCA, GLVC External Conference (we are currently planning our third year)

2)Keeping up with all the Ticker’s

3)Within this industry call on my mentors, friends, and sometimes those for the first time to share ideas, learn about each other, and get better.

a.I have an hour drive roughly to work. I always try to talk to colleagues during this time as much as I can. Never be afraid to pick up the phone.

4)Preferably everything Twitter

5)When timing is right, ask for new responsibilities

6)Read Read Read…….

a.Enjoy anything on Leadership, Higher Ed, Student-Athlete Development