The Temple University Public Relations Student Society of America recently hosted the 2025 Mid-Atlantic District Conference, Game On: PR in Sports, on March 28 and 29. The two-day event was held in the Howard Gittis Student Center.
Attendees from schools across the East Coast attended including Boston University, Messiah University and Kennesaw State University.
The Friday evening welcome event featured PRSSA National Committee Vice President of Events and Fundraising and incoming International PRSSA President, Alicia Caraccicolo. The University of South Carolina junior spoke about her experience in sports, from working events like the 2024 Women’s College Basketball Final Four and the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Additionally, Caraccicolo reiterated the importance of importance of taking advantage of every opportunity that comes your way, because you never know where it could lead you.
The night concluded with board games and networking with other attendees.
The next day, the morning started with the Women in Sports Communications panel moderated by Lauren Bullock, STH ‘03. The panelists included Claire Smith, KLN ‘79, Lauren Templin and Mia Nardone, STH ‘22. The discussion revolved around their experiences of working in sports.
“[The coaches] are all different personalities. They’re all very gruff.” Templin stated. “I have noticed they speak to me differently than they speak to my male counterparts. I’ve accepted that that is how it is. I know if I did have a problem with them, my boss would be the first person to have my back and stand up for me.”
Attendees then had the opportunity to attend breakout sessions of their choosing. Templin, the associate director of athletic communications, continued her discussion about college athletics. Andy Carl STH ‘07, who oversees Temple University’s athletic collective, described the process of a name, image and likeness (NIL) package from start to finish.
Jeanie Davey KLN’17, senior commnications specialist for NRG Energy, spoke about corporate sponsors and the importance of choosing the right sponsor.
Chris Adams, the manager of fan development at the Philadelphia 76ers, reiterated the value of connecting with new people. Adams started at the 76ers in the mail room and made his way up to working full-time.
Keynote speaker Kate Kizitaff, KLN ‘20, manager of team publicity for the Philadelphia Flyers, took attendees through the cycle execution of a published story. The Klein graduate explained each step she and her team go through from finding the best platforms for it to be shared on to event converge.
Another set of breakout sessions continued with the recent Super Bowl-winning communication team including social media coordinator Miyah Sizer and communications coordinator Shane Ramsey, from the Philadelphia Eagles.
Sizer was a division three basketball player from Nazareth University. Although sports had been in her life for a long time, she was still dealing with “imposter syndrome,” while working in the sports media industry.
“We are not perfect people,” said Sizer. “It’s fine to strive for perfection. Obviously, perfection is always the goal, but we also can’t get so hung up on being perfect all the time because that’s never going to be the case. Something’s going to come up and mistakes are going to be made.”
Ramsey told stories about chasing players like AJ Brown across the field for interviews. The Maryland graduate spoke about spotting players’ comfortability based on what they are like when conducting interviews.
The day continued with the option of a community service session where attendees could make cards for Cradles to Crayons Philadelphia or participate in a breakout session with Anthony Nelson STH ‘03, a senior national accounts director at the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Game On concluded with a PRSA Philadelphia panel with professionals and their advice to incoming graduates and students. In addition, attendees were selected for the raffle prize giveaway which included signed memorabilia from the 76ers, Eagles and Flyers.
District Conference Coordinator Elena Erdley, is highly satisfied with the result of this year's conference.
“This event exceeded our expectations, and I am thrilled about what we were able to achieve,” said Erdley. “Philadelphia has some of the best sports professionals in the business and this event highlighted their incredible talents.”