Knowledge is something that can only be gained with experience. And on Wednesday, members of the Steelers public relations department shared their knowledge to help the next generation as they look to gain experience and grow their young careers.
It's something that has become a tradition for the group as they hosted the annual Steelers Public Relations Student Summit on Wednesday at Acrisure Stadium.
The summit, which was hosted by the Steelers communications staff led by senior director of communications Burt Lauten, assistant director of communications Michael Bertsch, communications manager Angela Tegnelia, communications coordinator MacKaiya Cherry and communications intern Spencer Krock, provided students with everything they need to know about working in professional sports and then some.
"When started this, we came up with an idea to infuse the thoughts of getting into the sports communication world primarily to local students," said Lauten. "Over the past several years we were able to make it virtual as well to extend from just the students in the tri-state and surrounding areas. Now we have the opportunity to reach schools all across the country.
"It's been evident over the past couple of years how many students are interested, not just in sports communications, but sports management as well. It's a great opportunity for the local students to come on site and spend a day with us, to learn more about the business, but also the people that we're able to reach virtually are still involved. They're still interacting virtually and getting the opportunity. We have had other teams reach out because it's been very successful. It gives college juniors and seniors the opportunity to dig a little bit more into their profession, into their career to see if this is something they ultimately want to do.
"We've had success not only hiring people for internship through this program, but a lot of the students go elsewhere, whether it's in the NFL or college athletics, whatever it may be, and it's been very rewarding in that aspect."
Approximately 250 students took part in the summit in person and virtually, giving them an opportunity to learn and make connections, while at the same time giving the communications department an opportunity to learn about individuals, with several past participants landing roles from full-time intern to game day and training camp staff members.
"The main thing I would want the students to know walking away from the summit about this business is, if this is something they're interested in, we all didn't have our current jobs when we were just coming out of school," said Bertsch. "So don't be disheartened if you don't get an NFL internship at 22. I didn't get a full-time job in the sports industry right away. If you want to work in sports, it can happen. Don't get intimidated by taking a job at a smaller college or working in minor league sports. It's the same type of work and can lead to a lot more."
Among the topics addressed were an overview of NFL PR, managing the media, working with athletes, resume building and how to land a job.
"The one thing I'm always impressed with from the students is the avenues they take to get whatever experience they can on their resume," said Bertsch. "Even if it's working March Madness for two or three weeks. That's two or three weeks of meeting people in the profession, working with coaches and press conferences and student athletes and networking. For some it's working in whatever areas are available at their college, whether it's the school paper, radio or broadcast or in sports information.
"They are showing through a body work they will do whatever is possible to gain experience. That's really when you start to see some students separate themselves from students who aren't coming to the summit, or who aren't taking advantage of whatever avenue is available to them. We really appreciate the effort they go through to get there, whether it's in person or virtual, and their excitement to engage, talk and participate. They don't come in and just view it as a lecture. They want to participate."
One of the main things the summit offers the students is an opportunity to be interactive, with a Q & A giving them a chance to ask a variety of questions, from how to handle players in tough situations, to specifics about games, including how they handled the weather-delay this season before the Dallas Cowboys game. And the staff even turned the tables on the students, asking some of them about any unique situations they have handled in the internships they have completed so far.
In addition to hearing from the PR staff, the students also gained insight from Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth and KDKA reporter Rich Walsh, with Lauten hosting a panel discussion.
One of the first topics was the difference between the media attention in college versus the NFL, with Freiermuth sharing his experience at Penn State, where the locker room was closed, to the Steelers, where the locker room is open.
"At Penn State, being in college, a lot of it was structured for us talking to the media," shared Freiermuth. "They weren't in the locker room every day. We only had one media availability throughout the week, and it was normally just one or two people talking. I would only talk to the media four or five times a year. Here I am talking to the media almost every other day. It's a lot more protective in college than it is in the NFL."
Walsh covers the Steelers, as well as the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State, and he has experience first-hand what it's like to cover teams where you can approach a player on a regular basis in an open locker room setting.
"The access is very limited in college," said Walsh. "When I cover Pitt, they determine who you are going to talk to. I covered Penn State too and I don't know if I ever talked to Pat. You focus more on the Coach rather than the team. Pitt does a good job of asking who you want at a game, and they bring those guys in.
"But when you meet a lot of the new players in the NFL, the rookies, they don't expect us to be in the locker room. I am in the locker room five days a week. College players aren't used to that. It takes time to get used to that."
Other topics that were discussed, including those that came from questions from the students, included how they got to where they were in their careers, and what they would expect from a PR intern or young media members covering the Steelers.
"I would expect them to keep it professional," said Freiermuth. "Keep it about the sport itself, about football. My biggest pet peeve is everyone wants clicks. There are times they don't know the scheme we are running and go from their perspective. Make sure you are reporting the right thing. I know everyone has a job to do. I have a job to do. I never get mad if someone reports what their job is, it's just about the ones trying to get the clicks."
