Kathleen Hessert, CSP
After nearly a decade as an award-winning television anchor, reporter and talk show host, Kathleen Hessert changed competitive arenas. She took her ability to ask tough questions and put it to work for those on the receiving end.

Since 1989, Hessert has been media and speech coach to Olympic gold medalists and college gridiron greats, to those in the ranks of the NBA and the PGA. Race car drivers, bull riders and tennis pros are among the many who have sought her counsel in learning how to excel in the increasingly important arena of public opinion and reputation management.

Says Hessert, "For today's athlete, coach, or sports executive, winning isn't enough. The stakes have risen considerably, and so has the scrutiny on every aspect of their lives. Those who excel as communicators distinguish themselves from the rest." Hessert’s answer: Sports Media Challenge, a nationally renowned consulting firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In 2004, Hessert launched SMC’s Digital Media & Fan Engagement division with the introduction of Buzz Manager™, a proprietary search engine which mines, monitors and analyzes internet word-of-mouth conversations. Buzz Manager™ provides clients with in-depth quantitative and qualitative analysis of online conversations about their brand and relevant issues.

Hessert has also authored an interactive social media glossary of terms: “Winning Fans Through Social Media,” as well as user guides for rapidly-growing social media: Twitter 101,Twitter Best Practices, and Facebook 101. Hessert’s social media expertise gained international acclaim with the launch of NBA great, Shaquille O’Neal on Twitter. Her strategies resulted in Shaq’s gaining 3 million Twitter followers around the globe. Sports Media Challenge also entered into a partnership with ESPN to create a daily feature called “BlogBuzz” on their premiere show “SportsCenter.” BlogBuzz powered by Buzz Manager™ was the first such feature to showcase the voice of fans through blogs.

Clients have included Madison Square Garden properties, the Texas Rangers, the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers, The PGA TOUR, Super Bowl MVPs Peyton and Eli Manning, and NASCAR’s Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon. Hessert also works extensively at the collegiate level with, among others, the Universities of Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas, Tennessee, Auburn and Virginia.

Hessert is the author and voice of "Winning the Media Game: A Guide for NFL Players," "Power Training: How to Win the Media Game," and “The Coach's Communication PlayBook." She is on the Advisory Board of The Foundation For Tomorrow (501c3) a non-profit organization providing education for orphaned and abandoned children in Africa. She is also the recipient of the prestigious CSP, Certified Speaking Professional designation, the highest earned designation of the National Speakers Association.


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Joshua Baer, Chief Technology Consultant
Recognized on the national and international scene as an online marketing guru, Josh Baer joined Sports Media Challenge as CTC in early 2005 and as a principal in the company's latest advancement and sister firm- Buzz Manager. Recognizing the growing impact of Internet communications in the sports arena, Josh joined forces with Sports Media Challenge to lead the development and provide technical direction for the company's leading-edge Internet communication and branding service- Buzz Manager. The first of its kind dedicated solely to the sports marketplace, Buzz Manager provides reputation management and rumor control through use of a proprietary search engine for online business intelligence regarding sports brands and issues. The proprietary tool combined with the best in sports public relations expertise monitors, measures and analyzes brand or issue "buzz" then accurately presents the results in time saving, easy-to-use reports for marketing and public relations needs. Josh guides all ongoing search engine and other technical development to ensure that Buzz Manager remains the leading such service in the sports marketplace.

Josh grew his email marketing solutions company, SKYLIST, from a dorm room dotcom at Carnegie Mellon University to a privately-owned, profitable company and a leader in the email space. In addition to his CEO role at SKYLIST, Josh is Co-chair of the ESPC Technology Committee, keeping his finger on the pulse of current hot topics. In his roles with ESPC and as a contributing analyst with Ferris Research, he has authored documents and whitepapers on authentication and reputation systems, as well as a testing tool for companies to test their compliance with authentication standards.

Josh currently resides in Austin, Texas with his dog, Jasmine.

Jackie Adkins, Community Manager/Media Analyst

Having always been a sports fan and athlete, Jackie Adkins is passionate about working in the sports industry helping teams, athletes, and businesses navigate the world of social media. Although Jackie is fascinated by all aspects of social media marketing, his focuses within Sports Media Challenge (SMC) are Facebook and social video. In addition to being an account manager, he helps maintain and build SMC’s community of sports business professionals and bloggers.

Jackie graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a business degree (marketing concentration) and joined the SMC team as an intern in 2008. Away from work, Jackie blogs at The Curbside Marketer, designs WordPress blogs, plays soccer, and tries to golf.

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Liz Barrett, Strategy Consultant

Liz pulls from 5 years experience in traditional communications and social marketing, to work with SMC clients in developing new media strategy to enhance and protect their brand. Her other SMC responsibilities include Community Management and planning and execution of SMC’s internal communications. She is experienced and knowledgeable across all social media platforms with a special focus on location-based social games.

Liz started her communications career as a Marketing Assistant with HarperCollins Publishing Co. in New York and later as a Promotions Coordinator with Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. Prior to joining SMC, she spent 2 ½ years with a cause- marketing agency managing communications efforts and leading the company’s social marketing efforts.

Liz has a B.A. in American Studies from the University of North Carolina where she walked onto the school’s nationally ranked field hockey team. She currently resides in Charlotte, NC and enjoys cycling, running, and traveling.

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Matt Garner, BuzzMgr Liaison/Media Analyst

Matt uses his understanding of the sports fan along with information discovered from Buzz Manager to provide insight and knowledge to clients on how to best enrich, protect, and grow their brand. Matt works directly with the BuzzMgr developers to ensure that the program is continually improving to provide better results for SMC’s clients.

Matt originally joined SMC as an intern during the Summer of 2008. Previous to SMC, Matt gained valuable experience in understanding the methods of professional sport organizations following internships in the public relations department of the Charlotte Knights (AAA Chicago White Sox) and Charleston Battery (USL-1). With the Knights, Matt helped orchestrate events to continuously improve the Knights involvement in the community. As a member of the Charleston Battery staff, Matt was provided the ability to see the many sides of a sports organization, from ticket sales to marketing.

Matt graduated from Winthrop University with a Sport Management degree. He is an avid supporter of US Soccer and the Winthrop Eagles. Matt currently resides in Tega Cay, SC.

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Linda Hutchinson, Executive Assistant

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Brittany Lane, Media Analyst

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Hannah Patrick, Media Analyst

Hannah’s responsibilities at SMC focus on training, consulting and media analysis for major sports celebrity clients such as NBA Superstar, Shaquille O’Neal, IRL and NASCAR’s Danica Patrick, and MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden to name a few. She is savvy across all social media platforms but focuses her attention on helping clients grow their brand through Twitter.

She also championed SMC’s efforts with the innovative social media segment for SportsCenter’s Blog Buzz segment. In conjunction with SMC’s proprietary BuzzMgr®, she monitored the sports blogosphere and ranked fan’s Top 5 Sports Stories on a daily basis.

As social media strategy consultant and media analyst, Hannah develops comprehensive and executable new media strategy & leads execution for a wide-range of clients including the Big Ten Network, Conference USA, and ESPN Regional Television.

Hannah graduated from East Carolina University, where she majored in Communications. As an undergraduate she focused her studies on journalism and public relations. After graduation, Hannah worked for a motorsports marketing agency in Charlotte where she learned the ropes of NASCAR sponsorship and had a hands-on role in the production of a nationally syndicated motorsports television show. She joined the SMC team in 2008.

Hannah currently resides in Charlotte, NC and spends most weekends traveling east.

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