MallettMaggieHawkenProjects2021

 Although I have only just begun my project, I have already learned so much and really enjoy what I am doing. I did my own research on the Cleveland Sports Commission prior to diving in with my mentor or anybody else, so I already had a strong basis to go off of. I got to have an awesome conversation today with Mr. Gilbert (my mentor) and get really in depth about the organization.  There are many sports commissions in cities around the country, and although the Cleveland Sports Commission only has fifteen full time staff members, they are one of the three biggest in the country. One of the most interesting things that I got an overview of today were bids, which are how the Commission gets events to come to Cleveland (as they compete with approximately 200 other cities to do so). It entails the financial side of things, how much they are willing to pay to get the event to come, as well as many other specifics depending on each event, such as facilities and services that can be...

For my senior project, I will be diving into event management and production. I have always had an interest in this due to the work my dad does in this area. I also love sports, and have found a great way to combine both of the two. I am going to be working with the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, a nonprofit that improves the economy of the greater Cleveland area by attracting, creating, managing, and enhancing significant sporting events. Since 2000, they have attracted over 200 sporting events to Ohio, providing over 780 million dollars in economic activity to Northeast Ohio. This is something really exciting to me because it involves directly helping the community but also doing so through something that I love to do; sports. I plan to learn about the different areas of the organization including event operations and planning, sponsorships and marketing, and community outreach and programming. I think it will be extremely interesting to see how all of these components work tog...