Speaker 1 00:00:12 Hello, welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Soro of Wichita State University's strategic communications. Thank you for listening. Today we have Conor Phelps. Connor is the Director of marketing and fan engagement. He returned to Wichita State in September after working at Lipscomb University in Nashville as a director of marketing, he's gonna tell us about, uh, the atmospheres at Corina for volleyball and basketball, changes being made and getting people ready for, for basketball season. Connor attended Wichita State. He has a master's degree and an undergraduate degree in sport management. He worked in marketing for the athletic department as a student here at Wichita State. So Connor, you're from Wellington. You attended Hutchinson Community College for two years before you transferred to Wichita State. Tell us a little bit about your background and what led you to sports and marketing as a, as a career.
Speaker 2 00:01:02 Yeah, thanks for having me on. Um, I mean, you covered a lot of it. Um, grew up in Wellington, Kansas, just south of Wichita here. Um, was very active playing sports throughout, really my whole childhood. And, um, definitely into high school. Played football, basketball, baseball. I'm just a, a sports junkie, sports nut. Um, it's all I watch on TV too, so, um, just kind of a natural fit to kind of make a career out of it. Um, I always think it's a pretty, uh, pretty good blessing to be able to get paid to be at a sporting event, working it, watching it, whatever it is. So
Speaker 1 00:01:34 What was your favorite sport as a Wellington High School crusader?
Speaker 2 00:01:38 Um, they have a pretty good tradition around football, around there, so I, I, uh, I enjoyed that part of it. Um, baseball, probably my favorite sport to play, but there was just something, um, special about Friday night, like football in Wellington, Kansas,
Speaker 1 00:01:52 So. Okay. Yeah, Wellington does have an excellent, excellent athletic career. Uh, what was best moment highlighted your time as a crusader?
Speaker 2 00:02:00 Um, we made it to state and basketball one year, so that was probably, um, a highlight that was about as far as we ever advanced in anything, was the first round of our state tournament. So that was kind of a cool opportunity to see how those tournaments are ran and be a part of that, playing on a little bit of a bigger stage.
Speaker 1 00:02:18 And of course, shocker baseball. Uh, Lauren Hibbs is from Wellington. Yeah. Is there a statue of Lauren Hibbs? Is he, is he is his presence around the, around the gym, around the baseball stadium out there.
Speaker 2 00:02:31 Hey, our football field is, uh, named, um, Hibbs Hoot and Stadium. Okay. So that's definitely his family name there. And then funny story, actually, when I was in high school and like graduated, I received a scholarship in Scooters name. Okay. It's the Lauren Hibbs scholarship, and it's, um, I think usually given to a baseball student athlete. Okay.
Speaker 1 00:02:52 Baseball. So Lauren Hibbs played baseball at Wichita State early eighties on some of those great teams as now the director of operations for the, uh, for, for the Wichita State Baseball Program. So yeah, he was a big, big deal in Wellington. And, and his brother, uh, football coach also Lynn, right?
Speaker 2 00:03:06 Yep. Yep. And he was, we just miss each other. Um, he wa he never coached me, but, um, he was a teacher for a few years while I was around. So love, loved Lynn Hibbs, his family, and, um, definitely familiar with Scooter.
Speaker 3 00:03:29 Hi, this is Rick Nema, president of Wichita State University. Check out the latest episode of the Forward Together podcast. Each episode I sit down with different guests from Shocker Nation to celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita State University. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 00:03:58 So Connor, you're a product of Wichita State's well regarded sport management program. Tell us about sport management at Wichita State. What makes it such a good place to study?
Speaker 2 00:04:07 Um, I think really the hands on experiences that they kind of encourage and provide, um, through their internships, the practicums that they obviously kind of require as part of course, credit. Um, but it makes us kind of go out, seek out these opportunities, get the experience, um, kind of get a baseline foundation of knowledge that, um, we can obviously take with us into our next experience, um, and eventually into our full-time career. Um, you know, in the classroom they obviously do a good job of providing, again, kind of a, a foundation of knowledge that can be applicable. And so being able to take that into those experiences as well is big.
Speaker 1 00:04:45 So as a student, you worked around the athletic department from 2018 to 2021. What kinda lessons did you learn during that time?
Speaker 2 00:04:54 I mean, that was my first real introduction to being around an office setting for, you know, a real professional career. So really just a sense of professionalism really in terms of how you just kind of handle yourself around the office. That was really your number one step, number one. Um, and then it kind of grew into, you know, kind of gaining an understanding of how an athletic department operates, um, what each department does, how they kind of interact. Um, and then it kind of turned into, um, learning some more of the details and going from, Okay, here's, you know, how you do things well, here's how you do things well and great. And so, you know, as I've continued to progress, there's a lot of things you pick up and I'm still constantly learning, you know, um, having had a full-time job now for two years, very much still learning. And so, um, it never stops. Um, but
Speaker 1 00:05:55 Do you have a favorite memory, favorite experience from your time as a, as a student?
Speaker 2 00:06:05 I would say as a student worker, probably one of the best events that I worked was the, um, blackout basketball game against Memphis like I was in 2019. Um, that atmosphere was just completely different than really any other atmosphere I'd experienced in Charles Cook Arena, which really says something obviously because, um, our fans definitely bring it every night. But there was just something special about that night.
Speaker 1 00:06:29 Okay. We're in the midst of volleyball season. Uh, we've got basketball seasons ramping up. Uh, the women have an exhibition November 1st against Missouri Southern. The men have an exhibition against Newman on November 2nd, then they open the regular season, the women on the ninth against Alcorn State, the men against Central Arkansas on November 7th. So fans are gonna be coming back to co arena. Let's start talking about the, you know, what, what for them to expect with, uh, take us behind the curtain. Tell us about your role, uh, writing game scripts. You're directing. When I was at Shocker Madness last night, you were the guy with the headphones trying to keep everything organized, running on time, all that kind of stuff. Coordinating the music, the promotions, the cheerleaders, the band. There's a lot of stuff going on. Take us through your, your role a little bit and what you're doing on a game night.
Speaker 2 00:07:14 Yes, there's a lot going on. Um, I mean, all of the, I'll say show aspects of what fans see is kind of what, um, I'm working on controlling and, you know, obviously the game, the, the players on the court a good product in itself, but we wanna make sure that we're providing, um, a good experience during those dead times, timeouts half times before the game, even after the game. Um, so really it's kind of my job to come up with that programming, utilize, um, the different areas as you alluded to, band, cheer, dance, um, to really make sure that we're putting on a really good show for our fans and just making sure that the whole experience is something that's memorable for them and that it'll keep coming back. So
Speaker 1 00:07:58 How much of it is scripted, uh, in a concrete way? And how much flexibility do you have to call audibles?
Speaker 2 00:08:08 I'm a, I like to be prepared and I like to script as much as possible. Um, but you definitely have to be willing to adjust and adapt on the fly of how the game's going, how, you know, things have just kind of played out around you. Um, you know, working in sports, you never know what's gonna go wrong, especially when there's technology involved. Um, but, you know, even people calling in sick at the last minute or something like that. So you definitely have to be able to adapt, adjust, think on the fly and, um, I like to be prepared, but you just always have to be prepared to kind of deviate from the plan as long as you're accomplishing the same goal, I'd say it's all good.
Speaker 1 00:08:45 What's a typical prep time for a game?
Speaker 2 00:08:48 I mean, it seems like, you know, as soon as one's done, you're on to the next. Um, it's really nonstop, you know, I like to utilize Summer to get ahead on a lot of things. Um, that way, you know, when you're in the thick of it and things are getting thrown at you kind of last second kind of helps alleviate the workload there and, um, really enables you to do a lot more as stuff comes your way.
Speaker 1 00:09:13 How do you describe the atmosphere you're, you're looking for at Coke Arena?
Speaker 2 00:09:17 Just high energy, um, making sure people have fun. Um, you know, again, kinda enhancing what's going on on the court. Um, you know, when our teams do well, when they have a good period during the game, like we want that energy to continue into the timeouts, um, because as soon as they take the floor again, um, again, just keeping that momentum going. Obviously the fans are a big part of that and really it's our job to, um, provide the fans kind of that outlet to, um, encourage our team to keep going.
Speaker 1 00:09:53 Connor, do you have a favorite pump up song that you like to hear at your athletic events?
Speaker 2 00:09:57 I think being a shocker, it's gotta be Seven Nation Army, um, just the natural tie in with the lyrics mentioning Wichita. Um, you know, how fans can sing along to it. I mean, the student section always gets going with it. So I think that's kind of the, the go-to. But of course I got a lot of a C D C I think is a pretty standard. Like, you can't go wrong. If you hit an ACD song, ACDC song at a big moment,
Speaker 1 00:10:21 How many options do you have? Do you have like a universal infinite playlist you can pick from or are there limits to the music that you have?
Speaker 2 00:10:29 Um, outside of being appropriate, I wouldn't say there's really any limits. I mean, I'm always looking for, um, different stuff because, you know, you go to a lot of places and they are gonna play acdc. So anytime I can find kind of a different song that maybe fans haven't even heard and all of a sudden they just kind of fits that moment, um, that's, that's a minor little win in my playbook. And then I'll obviously keep that song in the rotation. Um, but the more we have the merrier, I I try to keep things fresh, Don't want fans hearing the same songs at each game, seeing the same things. Um, so I try to have an expansive library of music and really that's, that's my favorite part of the job. We got DJ for the Win, you know, um, doing a lot of our music at men's basketball, but luckily at volleyball, women's basketball, baseball is always a fun one to kind of do the music and sound with. Um, we kind of got some, some freedom to do stuff there on our own. So, um, I appreciate those opportunities as well.
Speaker 1 00:11:25 Do different sports call for different types of music, like baseball you might sing more organ or more traditional? Do you think about it in those terms or, or not? Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:11:36 For sure. Um, there, you know, baseball just totally different game flow, um, really throughout all those sports volleyball, I love working volleyball games, doing music for that just because of the flow of the game, the, you know, momentum from team scoring four points and you kind of get some of the similar stuff at basketball when you go on a six oh run or whatever. Um, and you know, when the timeouts are coming. So volleyball is kind of tougher in that regard. Where timeout could be called after any point, you never know when it's coming. Um, you know, of course you have the set breaks, but yeah, basketball, a little more flow to it. Um, and then baseball, a lot of dead time to fill, gotta kind of have some fun, get creative with it. Um, and softball, I mean, fast-paced sport, um, kind of similar to baseball, but, um, there's a little less dead time, which is nice. And a lot of the action on the field kind of provides a lot of the energies. So just, just definitely a different feel with each sport and you kind of just have to, um, really get a feel for that, you know, as you go.
Speaker 1 00:12:43 Are you the type of person that when you go to a, say a Royals game, or maybe you went to a Predator's game when you were in Nashville, or you're watching a game on tv, you're looking for stuff to steal, I like that song. I need to track down that song. I like the way they present this promotion or, or something. Are you always taking those kind of notes?
Speaker 2 00:13:00 A hundred percent. I mean, I'll never be able to watch a game as a fan, the same again as, you know, before I started this job. Um, because exactly what you said, I'm always looking for new things to bring here that work well at other places. Um, you know, maybe mixing 'em up a little to fit Wichita State a little better. But it, it's exactly what you just said. I mean, always looking for the next big thing, um, to bring here to Wichita State.
Speaker 1 00:13:25 So basketball has the pep Band dynamic, which is probably unique for some other sports cuz you're always gonna have people who that's, that's college athletics to them is the, is the pep band. How do you balance that, the pep band versus the, uh, you know, versus the whatever you call it, the, the, the music.
Speaker 2 00:13:41 Right. Uh, that's definitely the hardest part of my job is trying to appeal to everyone, if you will, because we all obviously have different tastes and we all want to hear different things. Um, shocker Pep Band is awesome and I love them. Uh, Lucas Heitz, their director, he's done a great job at getting them ready. The shocker Sound Machine has been a great addition to our Shocker game days. Um, they crushed it at Shocker Madness the other night. Um, and so, you know, there's definitely a nice balance. You want to incorporate kind of those traditional elements of a collegiate game day through band cheer, but she also want to kind of keep things fresh as well with, um, the music that we're playing. You know, some songs that we're gonna play through our computers just gonna engage the crowd a little different. Um, and then the band's gonna play some songs that, um, engage the crowd a little different. And so just really finding a nice healthy mix between the two is key. Again, you know, some people would love if we played band the whole game. Some people would love if we played our own music the whole game. And really it's just trying to make as many people, uh, happy as we can. And, you know, it's, it changes really, again, based on game flow. Um, but, you know, there's really no correct or wrong answer. It just, it's kind of a feel thing in trying to make as many people, um, happy as we
Speaker 1 00:14:59 Can. Yeah. Yesterday I asked you about the Low Brass Cheer, which was a real signature song in the eighties and then kind on and off again, and that was this first song that the Shocker Sound Machine Yep. Played last night. So I'm taking that as a good sign for people who remember the eighties Low Brass Cheer is, uh, is at least somewhat, somewhat prominent again. Uh, shocker Madness. Give us a review. How did, how did that go?
Speaker 2 00:15:21 I thought it was good overall. I mean, it seemed like a good show. Um, the trick or treating portion, the autographs, everything up on the concourse, um, before the show started seemed like a hit. I mean, a lot of kids there in costumes, which is awesome. Um, you know, that's the stuff that I see in my job that really just makes me happy because that's who I'm doing it for, is, you know, little me when I was going to games and stuff, what did I enjoy? And so to see kids get to interact with our players, have fun, come out with their families, that's really what it's all about. And then, you know, getting into, um, all the encore activities obviously rolled out a couple new things, um, with the MCs obviously being kind of the main focal point of all of that. Um, and I thought they did a good job last night, kind of ushering us through the, the dunk contest, the three point contest.
Speaker 2 00:16:10 So I'm really looking forward to having Jillian Carroll and Fa o ota, um, continue to be around in co arena throughout the season. Um, those one off events from mine to things are always tough. Um, again, it's not the same flow as a regular basketball game, so we prepare as much as we can ahead of time, script things out, and you, you just never really know how things are gonna go on the court. And so, um, overall I thought everything went well. Teams, you know, scrimmaged, it's always good, good to get a good first look at them. And, um, definitely looking forward to getting into the real thing now with the, the season coming up fast here. So
Speaker 1 00:16:49 We live in an era of instant feedback from social media and there's always gotta be a balance of, I gotta take this constructive criticism. Uh, these, there are other things that we're, you know, that we're doing our best on that we'll get better that worked well, can't please everybody. How much do you pay attention to that kinda kind of stuff. And really kind of take a, a pulse of the fans who, and not everybody's on social media, but fans who are on social media.
Speaker 2 00:17:14 Yeah, we definitely listen. I mean, again, at the end of the day we're doing it, or especially me in my role, I'm doing it for the fans, making sure they're having a good time. Um, you know, so we see a lot of the feedback and you know, to some of the stuff, you know, we, we wanna fix as much of it as we can. And so as we roll out these new things, the MCs, um, you know, moving the DJ to the student section, adding some additional elements throughout our arena, there's definitely gonna be some things to work through. And we, we know that on our end, um, you know, Kevin saw our new ad has, you know, really empowered me to try new things. If it fails, we're gonna go back to the drawing board, see what went wrong, we're gonna fix it. Um, if we need to scrap it, we need to scrap it, but we're gonna try new things, um, to, to give shocker game days a nice little refresh. And, you know, I hope the fans have a little understanding of all that, um, because things will improve as they go along. Um, so just kind of be patient with us. We, we know we want to get it fixed ourselves too. So we're really looking forward to all the new things and you know, the fans are really at the forefront of what we're doing outside of the student athletes of course. So,
Speaker 1 00:18:25 So whatever your, your preference is a fan. Uh, boy, it's really clear. Wichita State is putting in a lot of effort to say, you know, we want you in Coke Arena, we want you here for volleyball, we want you here for basketball. There are new concession stands, new foods, concessions, prices are flat. There's several new ticket deals, uh, the shocker way mezzanine, you've got the MCs that you mentioned, shuttles to the basketball game. Uh, what should fans know about this, this effort and, and how things are changing?
Speaker 2 00:18:54 Yeah, you touched on a lot of it. Um, we had some listening sessions where we brought fans in, heard what they wanted to see, um, heard what they like, heard what they don't like. Um, tried to do some things on our end to cater to what they want to do going forward. And I mean, you hit on a lot of it concessions. Um, we're looking at bringing it and a lot more, um, family. So we have some affordable family deals through concessions now. Um, we'll have some halftime specials, um, where fans can get a beer and a pizza for $10. Um, branded concessions. So fans are, have a little clearer understanding of which concession stand to go to for what. And then we're adding additional point sales to, to hopefully, hopefully, um, eliminate wait times. Uh, we, we obviously don't wanna be waiting in the line as the game's going on.
Speaker 2 00:19:45 And then, um, again, kind of focusing on the whole experience of a game day. We have the shocker way mezzanine great new edition to game days. Um, that'll be up in the, on the upper level, the mezzanine obviously, um, of the, of the concourse. It's a good opportunity for fans. Um, $1,200 gets you the whole year. Um, you get in 90, 90 minutes for tip off. Um, enjoy yourself up there with a, um, open bar crafted sandwiches by Mochas. A lot of good stuff up there. Um, and then, you know, once you get into the arena, um, again, got the MCs, Jillian Fola, bringing it with the extra energy DJ for the win's gonna be in the student section. Hopefully add to the atmosphere over there. Um, we're looking at bringing in some more halftime acts, Frisbee dogs, um, some other fun stuff, balancing ladders and what all that stuff that you see, um, we're looking at doing a lot more of that.
Speaker 2 00:20:42 And then, um, you know, a lot of our fans love the band performing than National National Anthem and being able to sing the lyrics, but we're also gonna experiment a little bit with bringing some live national anthem singers back. So, um, new twist to, to some of the good things that we've already been doing. Um, I'm super excited. I'll kind of tease it a little bit with, um, a new little light show we have coming here. Um, so that's in the works. Might not be ready for game one, but I think it'll be a super cool addition to the, um, intro video starting lineup side of things. And then maybe even later in the game two, we'll see, um, kind of rewinding, you know, beyond all of that. That's obviously what you see in the arena, but part of my job as a marketer kind of to, um, focus on the driveway to driveway experience for fans.
Speaker 2 00:21:33 Um, and so, you know, I would even say it extends beyond that with social media. As soon as you wake up on a game day, I hope our social media people are hitting you hard. Um, and you you're engaging with soccer analytics in some way, but then once you're headed to the game, um, you touched on it, we got some new, new, uh, parking locations for shuttles. Shuttles will pick fans up 29th and Woodlawn. Nice big parking lot over there. Um, starting two hours before games. Um, we'll have the buses picking fans up, taking 'em to Coke Arena. Um, every 20 minutes a new bus should be in that parking lot up there. Um, it'll stop at some of the crosswalks along the way between Corina and that parking lot. Um, Braver Square, also another good parking option. Um, you know, pre-game obviously you got some good spots over there between fuzzies and, you know, shocker store to get some of your shocker gear.
Speaker 1 00:22:25 Social tap.
Speaker 2 00:22:26 Yep. Social tap's, another good one. A lot of good spots over there for fans to enjoy pregame. And then we hope you get over here early to enjoy some of the pregame festivities as well. Um, but you know, works out pretty well. Postgame as well. To go back to fuzzies social taps, Celebrate a shocker win over there.
Speaker 1 00:22:42 So 29th and Woodlawn would be the metropolitan complex. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> that your people would be familiar with that. Yeah, a lot of parking over there. So we've got Shock Burger, Smokey Joe's Barbecue, American Grill, Woo Shock's, Pizza Cave Fairmount Dogs. Shout out to the original name of, of Wichita State University. And then, uh, cuo, which is a, is a hold over. Have you sampled any of the new concession offerings?
Speaker 2 00:23:05 I have not.
Speaker 1 00:23:06 I have not. We'll have to, we'll have to get on that. I know the signs are up so people will be able to experience that. That kind of stuff. Book or movie recommendation, that's a covid question that I started when everybody was on Netflix and I've held it over. Let's wrap it up by, what are you reading? What are you watching that, that people would be interested in?
Speaker 2 00:23:26 Um, I'm very interested in like books that pertain to, I guess, kind of people that start their own businesses. I love to see how, um, businesses come about. And so Shoe Dog is a book I read recently by Phil Knight, Nike. So it's got the sports tie in as well, obviously. Um, anything, you know, kind of about leadership, I'm always trying to become a better person for the people I manage, people I work with. Um, movie that's tough. I mean, I'd say my, my favorite sports movie is probably, Remember The Titans. I used to watch that like all the time at my grandma's house. I'd always request to watch that and watch it a lot in high school for class and stuff it seemed. So that's kind of the go to. But I like to stay up to date on all the Netflix shows, you know, Game of Thrones, um, all, all those big ones. Cuz again, as a marketer, you're trying to kind of bring in that pop culture into the game day experience. So kind of staying up to date on what's hot on Twitter, what's going on on Netflix like that. That's honestly a key part of my job. So I like to stay updated on all that.
Speaker 1 00:24:48 Thank you for listening to the Roundhouse podcast. Courtesy of Wichita State University's strategic communications. We appreciate your time. We encourage you to rate reviews, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, such as on iTunes or Google Play. You can find more roundhouse
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Speaker 5 00:25:09 Hey, let him pass it up court, and then it gets picked off along. Free by Pango. No good. One second. It's over. Its over. And Wichita State has beaten the number one team in the nation to go to the Sweet 16. Go crazy. W I know you are.
