Another Year, Another Convention

So, I finally got back home on Monday night from the annual NCAA Convention in Nashville. Despite not having diving catches, last second goals, or electrifying celebrations, the convention is something that I've come to enjoy for a couple reasons. First of all, since the NCAA is headquartered in Indianapolis, we primarily work with them over the phone or via e-mail. Thus, whenever we get to see them face to face, it is always nice to work with them side by side. Additionally, the convention has evolved a little bit over the years photographically, largely due to the fact that two years ago the staff at the NCAA News decided to put out a daily newsletter that is delivered every morning to the hotel room of each attendee who is staying on-site. They put out 4 newsletters throughout the 5 day event and it is a very nice tri-fold glossy newsletter with articles and photos from the previous day's 'action' (if you want to call it action). Because we don't want the newsletter to look boring and redundant, Steve (my colleague) and I are pushed to make creative images that keep the look fresh throughout the week. I'm not going to lie, it isn't easy. There's only so many ways that you can shoot someone speaking at a podium. Thankfully, there are some pretty neat events that take place within the convention that lend themselves to making more creative images.

This year marked the first annual Convention 5K. It was FREAKIN' FREEZING at 6am when it started, but I can definitely see it growing into a bigger race. Additionally, every year they have the Honors Celebration where the Association dishes out various awards to current and former student athletes for their various accomplishments. This is always a highlight as they usually honor some pretty big names such as Sally Ride or Paul Tagliabue. This year was no different as the list of honorees included Bob Woodruff (unfortunately, he wasn't there because he was on assignment), Robin Roberts, and the one and only John Glenn. Even more touching is the Award of Valor that is given to former student athletes who have given the ultimate sacrifice. This year they were given to Major Doug Zembiec and 2LT Emily Perez.

I've included some pics below from the week and I hope you can see that they're not just photos of people at podiums.

Next, I'm off to Aspen on Monday for a week in Aspen and the X Games which begin on the 24th.

Hope you're all having a great week,  TSB2

Division II President Chuck Ambrose silhouetted against the background...

The Honorable John Glenn speaking after receiving the Theodore Roosevelt Award...

Some lady speaking during a seminar.  I like the effect the ripples in the vinyl backdrop create.  They look like rays of light to me...

Sage Steele (right) of ESPN makes a point during a lecture on Minority Women in College Athletics...

Look at this party!  Pulled out the ol' levitation skills to snap this pic...

Saw this in the mirrors on the doors of one of the conference rooms...

Watch out buddy!  You're about to get trampled by those cross country runners behind you!

I think my fingers froze to my camera while shooting this...

College Kids Like to Sleep...A LOT.

Well, I'm back in Nashville again, this time to shoot the annual NCAA Convention.  This is the 4th year that I have covered this event and I must say, while it might be the least exciting photography I do every year, I've come to enjoy the event because I get to see all of my favorite people from the NCAA.  Additionally, this year marks the launch of a new quarterly NCAA magazine called 'Champion', and this morning I had the opportunity to photograph the cover for the second issue which will come out in April.

One of the things that the NCAA really tries to get across in their PR is that the athletes are STUDENT-Athletes.   Shan Foster, a basketball player at Vanderbilt University is no exception to this theory.  Besides being a total stud on the court, Shan (pronounced Shane) happens to be a very accomplished piano player.  Thus, for this shoot, the folks at the NCAA wanted to show these two elements of his life.

We showed up at 8:45am to meet our contact Rudy at the Blair School of Music at 9:00.  Since Rudy wasn't there yet, Arnel (the art director from Sport Graphics) called to ask him if we could start setting up in the amphitheater since we found an open door.  Now, if you've never dealt with Theater-Folk here's a little tip.  Never, and I mean NEV-ER, go into a theater to set up for a shoot before the manager is there. When Arnel asked him if it was cool to set up before he got there, Rudy blew not just A gasket, he blew SEVEN THOUSAND gaskets.  Upon Rudy's arrival, we calmed him down by telling him that we just meant if it was okay to unload our stuff from our car into a hallway near the back of the building.  He promptly relaxed and was a pleasure to deal with the rest of the morning.

So, we proceeded to set up for the shoot and 10am (start time) rolls around...No sign of Shan.

10:20...Still no sign of Shan.

10:30...Vanderbilt's Sports Information Director and Assistant Sports Information Director are working the phones trying to find Shan.

10:45...Still no Shan.

10:50...Shan is woken up in his dorm room by a teammate.  I wish I could have seen his face when he realized he was almost an hour late.

11:15:...Shan shows up and proceeds to apologize a billion times over.

Anyway, he got there and we shot for about an hour and forty minutes.  We got a ton of stuff and Arnel was very happy with the images.  I've included a few that I just quickly grabbed so you can see what we did.  The last two probably won't see the light of day since there isn't a piano in them, but I shot them anyway since I saw this beautiful hallway in the building the day before when we scouted the location.

Hope you like them and please feel free to add comments at the end of the post.

See ya next time!

-TSB2

Oh my god, it's Usher's twin!

Even though this doesn't show his friendly personality, I really like this pic...

One of the last pics we shot.  Right up my alley...architecture, geometry...

I really dig his look here...