Field Trip Recap – Cubs, Bulls and Paragon Marketing Group
I begin every semester by leading a field trip of University of Iowa students to a larger city to explore careers in the sport industry and network to find internships, jobs and mentors. This semester, my trip took 59 students to Chicago to meet with executives from the Cubs, the Bulls and Paragon Marketing Group.
Iowa alumni greeted us at each stop along the way. Mark Dorfman (UI 2015) and Ben Guendel (UI 2015) hosted us at Wrigley Field with a panel discussion that included executives from sales, sponsorships, customer service and Cubs Charities, followed by a tour of the organization’s new offices.
At Paragon Marketing Group, company executives presented background on PMG’s client roster and some of the many sports marketing services PMG provides, such as sponsorship activation for Gatorade at AAU basketball tournaments, and producing marquee high school sporting events for broadcast on ESPN. Iowa alumni Nick Stachowiak (UI 2013), Tom Brenner (UI 2014) and Chloe Fabella (UI 2017) also visited with the students about their transitions to careers at PMG after graduating from Iowa.
We made a final stop at the United Center to meet with Bulls executives, including Joe Gleason (UI 2017), who is now a Bulls Ticket Representative. Chicago Bulls sponsorship, business analytics and ticket executives answered student questions, and the president of the Windy City Bulls, the Bulls' new minor league team, talked about the unique challenges of running a minor league franchise in Chicago. The highlight of the trip for many students was a tour of the Bulls locker room before leaving United Center.
Once our business was finished, we returned to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs defeat the Braves, and Mark Dorfman sat with our group for several innings while letting every student try on his World Series championship ring. It was a memorable day that will inspire students throughout the semester and provided several job and internship leads.
With the successful Chicago field trip behind us, I am already making plans for the spring field trip to Minneapolis/St. Paul – stay tuned for updates!