Ryan Gordon graduated from UMBC’s Media and Communication Studies program in 2016. Now, he works as a producer for Overtime Elite, a Brooklyn-based social media production company that covers grassroots basketball leagues. I spoke to Ryan about his professional life since graduation, his favorite parts about sports broadcasting, and what he gained during his time at UMBC.

Q: What have you been doing since graduation? 

A: I worked a couple of retail jobs and landed a remote government job at one point through a family friend. The work that provided me with the most value, however, were the freelance gigs I did on the side in the sports media world. Making highlight tapes, telling stories of local athletes, etcetera. Those opportunities I carved out for myself ended up leading me to where I’m at today. 

Q: Where do you work now? What are your job responsibilities?

A: Currently, I am a producer for Overtime Sports, Inc, a social media company based in Brooklyn, NY that built an enormous following off of being the first to market with grassroots basketball highlights. Last year, they launched the first ever American Professional basketball league that pays high school athletes to play. Each athlete gets a minimum of 100K and an opportunity to take an alternate path to the big leagues. 

Before the league began, I was flown around to different parts of the country filming day-in-the-life videos with up and coming athletes like Paige Beuckers. But when this league popped up, my role shifted a bit and I became responsible for filming scenes for a docu-series that we were producing about the entire operation. Additionally, I would help film our live games and continue to produce and edit one-off storytelling pieces. 

Throughout the first couple of months, I decided to start vlogging my experience at the league to give my personal audience a much clearer picture of how the whole endeavor worked. The chief content officer saw this and gave me the opportunity to launch my idea on the company’s YouTube channel. So now my responsibility is to grow the league’s second YouTube channel (that focuses on off the court content with an all-encompassing vlog), to give our social team content that they can use for the various platforms, and to develop personality pieces that can be featured in our live broadcasts. 

Q: What is your favorite part of your job?

A: The best part of the job is being able to wake up every day and be myself. I set my own schedule, figure out what stories I want to tell, and build strong relationships with the young players and staff members in the building. I always say that the toughest part of the job is feeling like I’m not being creative enough, and if that’s the only issue I have, I’ll take it. 

Q: Tell us about the "ref cam" you're developing as a new addition to sports broadcasting.

A: The beautiful part about working here is that the focus is always on innovation. The executive producer for our long form content asked if I’d be interested in this new idea that was brought to the table and it was a perfect fit. The goal is to be able to interview players, refs, coaches, and more while the game is in play. It’s really cool. Our chief content officer is all about giving our fans access like they’ve never had before, and what better way to do that than by giving them insight on what players' thoughts are during a free throw! 

Q: What has been your process for developing this project?

A: Due to the nature of my job responsibilities, I’ve been able to build solid relationships with the players. So, I try to keep my questions succinct and as casual as possible. As a hooper myself, I don’t want to disrupt the flow of the game so I try to balance comic relief and asking questions that articulate what I feel they’d be focused on in that particular moment. As I walk around the court, I’m always looking for holes I can fill in to provide that high-level access. 

Q: What do you hope this project will contribute to sports broadcasting?

A: My hope is that this will spark a revolution within the sports world. I’ve always wanted to be as close as possible to the game and this is about as close as anyone in the world can get. If I could be a pioneer in this regard and help other organizations get their version of this up and running, that would be amazing. 

Q: What are your future plans for this project?

A: Ideally, I’d like to take this show on the road. There’s a lot of money and opportunity in contract work. More importantly, it’s a unique niche that could build up a heck of a social media following! As a husband and a father now, if I could get paid a substantial amount of money to be a personality - count me in!

Q: How has studying Media & Communications prepared you for your career?

A: Being granted the flexibility to be very creative in my assignments. Also, the history of the media landscape is always interesting. Learning what people did before you is always a great way to anticipate what’s coming next and how you can innovate. Joining a program that allows you to flex that creative muscle played a large role in my approach to the corporate world. I’ve found that nobody really knows the answer and the best ideas always win. 

Q: How has attending UMBC shaped you, either as a person or as a professional?

A: Being that it’s a commuter school, UMBC really helped me accept who I am as a person. I was a bit of a loner and relied on myself a lot to navigate from day to day. There’s a lot of smart people there and the folks you rub shoulders with are the people that may be able to help you down the line! It’s an honor to have a degree from there and I hope to be one of those people that can pull up the next kid that needs a boost. 

By: Elena Kim

The MCS department has very exciting updates for the upcoming fall semester. Not only will there be a new elective, MCS 370: Data in Marketing, but the MCS department will also be gaining a new professor who happens to also be a UMBC, MCS alumni, Elliot Talbert-Goldstein. I have the privilege to introduce Professor Talbert-Goldstein and share about his journey after graduating and about the new MCS elective that I hope will be insightful for you, MCSers.  

Elliot Talbert-Goldstein graduated from UMBC in 2011 as a MCS major and a Sociology minor, and currently works in digital marketing at UMBC. He shared that his fun fact is that he really enjoys cooking and nerds out on tahini (for those who do not know tahini, I googled it for you, and its said to bea Middle Eastern condiment made from toasted ground hulled sesame often used in hummus). Professor Talbert-Goldstein is also looking forward to finishing up coursework for his PhD and teaching the new MCS elective. I split the blog into two sections: the first part is about Professor Talbert-Goldstein and his journey with MCS and post-graduation, the second part reveals exclusive details about MCS 370: Data in Marketing coming out in the fall semester. 

How has MCS impacted you and your career path?

Understanding the media landscape is incredibly important in this day and age. That includes both theoretical and real-world knowledge. If you can apply what you learn to your work, in conversation, and to interpret the world around you, you will go far.

Communication is incredibly important, whether between you and your friends, family, teachers, coworkers, or between governments, companies, and leaders. Having a rigorous understanding of those skills will help set you up for success in any role. Applying this to professions like marketing, public relations, and management is also great. But being an excellent communicator regardless of what you're trying to do, and expanding that skillset, especially in conflict management, has always been a great way to break down barriers and find the things you're looking for. My mantra (I like this word, a 'sacred utterance') has been "things always can be communicated better," I think about this in every conversation, email, blog post, research paper, advertisement, whatever: how can I communicate this better?

MCS prepared me for a more in-depth understanding of how people communicate in any setting, professional or personal, and study more complex problems academically.

What is/are the careers(s) that you have worked on post-graduation.

First I did a lot of freelance/contract marketing for NGOs & nonprofits, especially in digital. In 2013-14 I did my master's degree in international conflict resolution & mediation. This was a great mix of international relations, management, and communications. I'm now an instructor in this program, teaching mediation in a UN certified workshop to graduate students.

I worked for a few years as an account/project manager supporting international companies to create digital marketing tools including interactive applications, VR, training tools, mobile apps, and websites. I also did a little bit of technical work at a startup before coming to work at UMBC.

I'm currently the director of digital marketing strategy in the Division of Professional Studies, and a PhD student in the information systems program. I oversee all of our digital marketing and marketing technology in this division, and work with lots of people on campus on those topics.

What did the position(s) entail?

I have done a lot of technical project management. I was never a *great* designer, programmer, or copywriter, I'm much better at bringing all those people together to make really cool projects. In my master's I learned a lot about supporting cooperation and managing healthy conflict, which has been super important and something I have focused on as my career has grown.

I'm also a PhD student in IS, studying software engineering and cybersecurity. I really like the communication and cooperation aspects of these studies, and I'm learning a lot about how people need to work together to create technology that meets user's needs and protects their privacy. Learning about computing academically is also rewarding. I like to say that I'm studying "Technology Conflict & Cooperation."

What is MCS 370: Data in Marketing?

The goal of the data in marketing course is to give students a look at how data is used everyday to create and sell products and services. Whether you work in marketing, or are just curious about how companies use your information, this course will be very informative. We will look at a lot of the major tools and approaches that are typical of modern marketing departments large and small, and use a research methods approach to identify best practices. We will also look critically at the marketing industry and learn what is concerning to consumers and regulators, e.g. ethics and privacy.

For example, what information is important for an advertiser to sell you a car, a local government to promote public health, an influencer promoting a product, or a VR company trying to reach new customers?

The original title of the course was "Data-Driven Marketing" but we wanted to make sure it included some critical components and that students who weren't necessarily planning to be marketers could enjoy it as well. What this means is that students who are curious about how to conduct social science research, use data in their daily lives, and who want to be informed consumers will have a lot of great takeaways.  The plan is to have active and applied coursework that can be used immediately in the real world.

How can it be useful outside of the classroom setting?

Students will get hands-on experience and anyone interested in pursuing marketing/communications work would be able to use this information from day 1 to day 3000 of their career and beyond. Because we are looking at fundamental research methods approaches, this will also be a good course for those interested in the basics of research in any social science. Students will learn skills such as data storytelling, data analysis, and ethics, as well as popular tools to do this work. Students with an interest in how digital media works regardless of their career will have a greater understanding of how data is collected and used by companies, what your rights are, and how you can make informed decisions about what types of data you want to share, as well as when, and where you share them.

Is this a skill the marketplace is looking for at the moment? If so, why?

Being able to collect, analyze, use, and share data are incredibly important skills for anyone in their career. Whether it's conducting interviews, sending out surveys, using Excel, or digital advertising, being literate with data is always in demand. We will also look at industry standard platforms so that the first time you hear about them isn't in your job interview.

In my work we heavily regard data analysis skills and we expect our team to be prepared to interpret data, whether it's quantitative or qualitative. Being able to read charts and graphs, interpret feedback, and convey that information to your peers and superiors is a skill everyone needs, and with the right experience, will look great on a resume.

What can I expect from MCS 370: Data in Marketing?

Students can look forward to learning about the daily tasks and processes that companies go through when they think about data in their marketing efforts. On the flip side, it will also cover the things we need to think about to be informed consumers. We will review the basics of modern data use, from granular topics like pivot tables in Excel to broad theories like surveillance capitalism. This includes research foundations, software tools in use, critical thinking and ethics, as well as relevant laws and regulations. We haven't finalized the coursework yet, but students can look forward to work focused on practical applications and performing tasks in the real world.

What are you most excited about being an MCS alumnus to teaching an MCS class?

As a former student I'm very excited to come back and show what I've learned over the years and bring it back to the knowledge I gained in the program. I still think back to the terms and concepts I learned throughout my degree and I look forward to making those connections for the next generation of students.