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Melissa Katz Sports Public Relations

Welcome! My name is Melissa Katz and I currently live in Denver, Colorado working in college athletics as the Assistant Director, Strategic Communications at the Mountain West Conference. Originally from the east coast, I graduated from the University of Maryland in 2015 with a degree in journalism and a minor in sustainability studies. Over the course of my young career, I have been fortunate to work in the sports communications, public relations and public affairs industries at the collegiate, professional and international levels, both in league and team settings. These opportunities have afforded me the chance to to develop a well-rounded skill set, while building a diverse portfolio of experiences.

Feel free to take a 'scroll' down to learn more about my experiences in the industry and to see some of my recent work. Writing samples are linked throughout the site and are available through my LinkedIn page as well.

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Assistant Director, Communications | Mountain West Conference

Colorado Springs, Colorado | June 2019 - Present

•Managed communications and social media efforts for women’s basketball, volleyball, men's and women's tennis and swimming & diving.

•Spearheaded publicity and digital efforts for the conference’s academic honors, community relations projects, esports and student-athlete advisory committee initiatives.

•Navigated crisis communications with conference membership and executives across all platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring cohesive messaging among partner organizations.

•Coordinated annual virtual women’s basketball preseason media event, establishing best practices and increasing impact with 1.2 million impressions across conference social platforms.

•For championship events, ensured smooth media operations with build-up messaging, storyline generation and on-site media requests.

•Tasked with establishing community relations and public affairs department to grow communications beyond sports, elevating community work and social justice campaigns, while increasing brand recognition in member regions.

Organizational Communications Manager | USA Swimming

Colorado Springs, Colorado | April 2018 - January 2019

  • Primary business, corporate and multicultural communications contact, ranging from the Olympics to learn to swim, for the National Governing Body of the sport of swimming in the United States.
  • Served as secondary sport communications contact, assisting with event management, media publications, athlete relations, digital content creation and social media efforts at all national competitions and events.
  • Communications lead on the national water safety publicity tour, the Make a Splash Tour, garnering publicity in local and national media outlets such as Good Morning America, Essence Magazine, Newsweek and USA Today. Placed over $1 million in earned media and 193 million impressions during the four-stop tour.
  • Served as the liaison with Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority in the promotion and execution of the Swim 1922 partnership, aimed a reducing the drowning rates in the African-American community.

Collegiate Partnerships Specialist | United States Olympic Committee

Colorado Springs, Colorado | July 2017 - April 2018

  • Key member of four-person team responsible for promoting the impact of collegiate participation on Team USA through communications, marketing, public affairs and digital initiatives.
  • Responsible for developing over 70 communications toolkits in the lead up to PyeongChang aimed at amplifying the college footprint and streamlining the celebration of NCAA athletes and coaches throughout the Olympic Movement.
  • Department lead on the launch of the ‘#TeamUSAStudentAthlete College Shout-Out’ social media campaign across college and Team USA social platforms, culminating in over 175+ unique posts in the first weekend of the campaign.
  • Developed, designed and created all content for the #TeamUSAStudentAthlete microsite on TeamUSA.org and served as the liaison to the communications and digital media departments for all Collegiate Partnership initiatives.
  • Spearhead garnering publicity of initiatives and activations of the newly formed USOC Collegiate Advisory Council, comprised of 10 Division 1 Athletic Directors, while serving as the lead logistics contact for all CAC events.
  • Quantify the collegiate impact on Team USA through data and analytics in Tableau.

Media Relations Graduate Intern | Denver Broncos Football Club

Denver, Colorado | July 2016 - February 2017

•Member of the public relations staff that oversees the day-to-day football and corporate communications initiatives of the Denver Broncos Football Club.

•Oversaw and managed the credential distribution process for all Broncos home games during the 2016 regular season, including the 2016 NFL Kickoff Game and two additional primetime contests. Served as the point of contact for visiting teams, local/national media and television production crews regarding credentials and parking.

•Assisted with the strategy and activation of the day-to-day corporate communications and 'off-field' public relations initiatives of the organization.

•Responsible for writing select press releases throughout the season and designing the flip card in InDesign for home contests.

•Coordinated and facilitated player and staff interviews with local and national media outlets, while assisting with media availability and open locker room sessions during the season.

•Contributed statistical research and written content to the 200+ page weekly release, including the weekly game recap and produced content for the game day program.

•Traveled with the team to away games, providing PR assistance at all home and road contests.

Will Hancock Communications Assistant | Big 12 Conference

Dallas, Texas | July 2015 - June 2016

•Primary conference communications contact and spokesperson for wrestling, tennis, swimming & diving, rowing and equestrian. Secondary contact for men's basketball, football and soccer.

•Responsible for all online content, weekly releases, social media, press releases, conference publications, statistics and publicity for aforementioned sports.

•Garnered the conference publicity in national outlets such as USA Today, FS1 and the NCAA.

•Manage and coordinate all media services as the media coordinator for the 2016 Big 12 Wrestling Championship at Sprint Center in Kansas City.

•Developed and executed the 'Social Media Room' at Big 12 Men's Basketball Media Day creating over a combined 500,000+ Twitter, Instagram and Facebook impressions.

•Develop and activate conference branding initiatives, such as the 'Champions for Life' campaign

Media Relations Student Assistant | University of Maryland Athletic Department

College Park, Md. | August 2013 - June 2015

  • Primary media contact and spokesperson for the Maryland Softball and Gymnastics teams.
  • Responsible for social media, game publications, game notes, press releases, statistics, media training and publicity efforts for both teams.
  • Pitched and gained publicity in local/national media outlets such as The Washington Post, WUSA9, Big Ten Network and ESPN980.
  • Key contributor to the football, men's and women's basketball PR teams. Wrote press releases, updated statistics and game notes, coordinated and facilitated interviews and transcribed press conferences.
  • Utilized platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to generate unique content and publicity for Maryland Athletics, along with game day social media for all teams.
  • Assisted with the local and national communications efforts for the transition into the Big Ten Conference.

Public Relations Student Associate | New York Rangers, Madison Square Garden Company

New York, New York | May 2014 - August 2014

  • Member of New York Rangers and NHL PR staff during the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final.
  • Pitched, researched and cultivated content in the launch of the official New York Rangers Snapchat account.
  • Worked in NY media market to pitch off-ice stories to local and national media during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
  • Contributed as an Assistant Editor to the 2014-15 NYR Media Guide as well as the 2013-14 PR Season Recap.
  • Coordinated post-game and practice media availability and press conferences, oversaw credential requests and distribution, and assisted with daily compilation of statistics and scouting guide for the coaching staff.

Skills

  • Adobe CS
  • StatCrew
  • HTML Code (Basic)
  • Credentials
  • Video/Audio Editing
  • Social Media
  • Event Planning
  • Team Publications (media guides, press releases, game notes)
  • Branding and Brand Management
  • Crisis Communications
  • Event Planning and Management

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Feel free to reach out on any of my personal social media accounts or drop me an email (Melissakatz0712@gmail.com), I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for visiting!

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Melissa Katz
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