Innovision Spring 2021

16 | INNOVISION MAGAZ INE SPRING 2021 | 17 FEATURED SPEAKER JaneleUrbanskyMarek (’00) is a Kutztown University success. She graduated with a marketing degree and was interested in pursuing a career in either sports marketing or advertising. During her senior year, she volunteered for theWinter Goodwill Games, so she applied for an opening as Marketing Assistant for the USA Luge team. Janele stated that her volunteer work definitely created opportunities for the USA Luge Team to review her resume as she was able to mention the people she worked with. She also slid skeleton during her volunteer work and has the scars to prove it. After leaving the sports life, Janele spent over 10 years in small advertising agencies in account management trying to learn and absorb as much as she could about account management. Growing up in small agencies was best, she observed, as she got to touch everything and learn so much including the variety of and uses for media and print products. She was able to work with some big clients like Hanes brand, Lowes Home Improvement, Ekornes/ Stressless (Norwegian home furnishing brands) and Fruit of the Loom. Janele mentioned that there were some real cool days on the job, for instance “when I got to put on the Apple suit from the Fruit of the Loom guys, seriously I did that. It was awesome. Or when I got to go to the Emmys to see our Stressless furniture being used backstage in the Architectural Digest green room, Incredible!” JANELE MAREK Currently, Janele works at Highmark Health, and has done so for the past eight years. She mentioned that there is no typical day and her day to day workload depends if they are preparing for a new campaign. Janele said, “Out of everything I’ve done, I find healthcare more rewarding because I’m helping people. No, I’m not the one actually testing patients, but I’m the team behind them- I am telling the stories of the patients/members and the doctors, so people know of the quality care we provide.” “Never stop learning. Always takecalculated risks. That’s what will separate the good from the great.” The success Janele has reached includes winning several Effie Awards, the most prestigious in the field of advertising. How did Janele achieve these successes? “Set goals at the start of the campaign and never give up on them. Sometimes you need sheer will and the passion to convince a team of people to join you in your project. If you believe hard enough, people will help. They will feel your passion and passion is contagious.” That is how she was able to work on the #MyWishForMoms project as her team worked with Chrissy Teigen, model, author, and mother, to run a successful social media campaign raising awareness for postpartum depression. Her advice to undergraduate students getting ready to enter the workforce is, “Never stop learning. Always take calculated risks. That’s what will separate the good from the great.” SPORTS MANAGEMENT Kutztown University Sport Management and Leadership Studies students won 2nd place April 23rd at the 2021 Pennsylvania Sports Business Conference (PASBC) Case Competition. Sport Management major Cole Single also received an Outstanding Student Award at the conference. The PASBC Case Competition is sponsored by Living Sport and this year’s case provider is the University of Akron’s Athletic Department. “I had a great experience as a participant in the PASBC Case Competition. I loved collaborating with my teammates while trying to solve a real-world problem for an actual sport organization. Although it would have been nice to travel and meet everyone in person, Zoom served as a great platform for live presentations. Although we wanted to win, our team achieved second place in the case competition which we are proud of. Talking with professionals in the field and sharing our ideas was a valuable experience that anyone who is in the major should take part in.” “I believe the PASBC Case Competition was a great success for our team at Kutztown. The exposure and generation of new marketing ideas and strategies for the University of Akron was a great experience. Thank you to all members involved in the competition!” “Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the case competition. Getting to compete with my teammates and obtain feedback from some professionals in the field is a great learning experience. Although I wish the competition was in person, the competition did not miss a beat despite being on Zoom. It was a great experience and I highly recommend it to all students in the major.” “As this was my second case competition, I was able to use what I learned two years ago to help the team improve our finish from 3rd to 2nd. The event as a whole, even in a virtual setting, was a great learning experience for young sport industry professionals like myself. I look forward to the future when we can have Kutztown University students go back to the PA Sports Business Conference in-person. It really is the best experience and networking opportunity that we currently have in the major. I recommend anyone who is willing and able to go in the future to do it.” CONNOR FAHIE Janele Marek is pictured on the far left in the front row. LOGAN KEMP ZACHMILLER COLE SINGLE