University of Houston Athletics
A Look InSIDe!
10/19/2001 12:00:00 AM | General
Oct. 19, 2001
By Amy Abramczyk
Assistant SID/Publications Coordinator
A Look at UH's Publications
One aspect of the Sports Information Department that often goes unnoticed, or perhaps goes without much consideration and thought outside of the "SID World," is that of publications. Essentially all of the printed materials that have to do with Cougar Athletics originates and at some point passes through our office and across my desk. As the publications coordinator, it's my job to oversee the design and production of every project, talk to printers, gets bids, and make sure every project gets to the printer by deadline and then gets back to us in a timely manner.
And let me tell you, the world of publications is much more time-consuming and intense than many people realize! In addition to the 11 media guides we write, layout, edit, design, create, organize and publish per school year, we also design and produce posters and schedule cards that you see around campus and Houston, any kind of brochures, flyers, game notes, Cougar Tracks, game day programs for football and men's basketball, hire photographers, you name it. So, at any given time we can have 10 different projects going on or be working with five of the 16 UH sports simultaneously (for example, right now we're working on the finishing touches of the men's and women's basketball posters and the media guide covers for tennis, baseball and golf).
So what's in a publication?
The ultimate goal of every publication we produce, and the most important thing to remember, is that every publication--whether it be a media guide, a poster or a schedule card--represents the University of Houston Athletic Department not only to the media, but to the outside world across the country. A media guide, for example, is like an open window. It offers other universities, colleges and prospective student-athletes a glimpse of the University while showcasing a particular sports program's history and tradition, which explains why coaches use their respective sports' media guide as a recruiting tool. How else do you think the folks working the nightshift at ESPN in Bristol, Conn., who have never been to UH know that the Athletics/Alumni Center has an indoor track--the largest in the southwest United States, in fact--which can be converted into a full-size football field, or visa versa?
Thus, the overall appearance of the media guide itself, from cover to cover, must be aesthetically pleasing while providing the necessary information, and it's our job to make it, in a word, "flashy."
Behind the production
When I first came to UH last summer after three years in Major League Baseball (the last two with the Milwaukee Brewers), I have to admit that I didn't realize all that would be involved with this position or how institutional of a role our publications are to the Athletic Department and University as a whole. I oversaw many of the publications for the Brewers, but the philosophy was slightly different and we put more emphasis on stats and records rather than showcasing the team with pictures and graphics. So, as you can imagine, it was quite a change!
Over the past 15 months we've made a lot of changes in respect to our publications, and I think we've come a long way. One thing we've done this academic year is try to create an identity of Cougar Athletics by maintaining uniformity in the design and layout of each media guide. Since we produce all of the publications right here in our office at the Athletics/Alumni Center, another thing we've done this year is utilize more of our resources in-house, such as obtaining new pictures with the digital camera (thanks, Bryan!) and organizing projects more efficiently (we've even managed to save some money alkong the way! ).
And while I'm talking about our steps forward, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize and pass credit to our graphics intern, Rodney Echols. Rodney, who started working for us last month, is a student here at UH and is the creative mind behind all of media guide covers, posters, schedule cards, you name it. Before him we had Kelly Mason, who graduated in May, and without either of them, this department would never be as smooth-sailing. Both of them have made such an impact on the whole athletic department, and I cannot tell you how many compliments I have heard about their respective work. Hats off to you both!
In closing...
All in all, the world of college athletics publications is very challenging and rewarding, not to mention important to the success of the sports information sector. At times it can get very stressful in this office--especially when there are five projects to get out within one week!--but I have to admit that there is nothing more rewarding than a coach telling me that they really liked the way their media guide turned out, or fellow SID commenting on how great a poster looks.
