Pop quiz. You are a college student and want to learn about media relations and the operation of the Summer Olympic Games in London. You best choice is to:
A) Sit in a huge lecture hall and try to avoid napping by playing Words With Friends.
B) Drink tea and eat a "biscuit.
C) Watch TV and text friends about the attractive volleyball players.
D) Travel to the Olympics in London with sports management faculty and fellow students, and actually experience the behind-the-scenes at the Games.
If you chose (D), you would be our kind of college student. If you choose the others, not so much...
This July, we will accompany 12 of our students to England to learn about media relations and major sports event management, all by actually experiencing London 2012 in Lynn University's "The Olympic Games Experience" course.
The Olympics class is a piece of our unique "Sports Experience Series," a one-of-a-kind group of three-credit courses during which sports management students learn through actual, real-world experience.
We just returned from Los Angeles, where our students worked with ESPN for two weeks to run the Summer X Games; we'll do the same thing with the Worldwide Leader in Sports this coming January in Aspen at Winter X, as we have each of the last three years. We have gone to three Super Bowls and over the last six years, we have brought students to the NCAA Final Four, to work and learn about advertising and sponsorship.
As part of The Olympic Games Experience, our students have already learned how to identify reader interests, spot relevant stories, conduct effective background research and write articles on everything from history of Olympic venues to Olympian profiles. They have learned how to leverage social media as a legitimate news tool and, most importantly, they have learned it all by actually doing it.
Not simulations. Not case studies. Not hypotheticals. This is actual work -- the very same work that our students will be paid to do as sports industry professionals when they graduate from Lynn University.
Our Olympic course began in April, with meetings and conference calls with Cartan Tours, one of the oldest and most-respected sports tourism companies in the world. As part of a valuable relationship we have built with Cartan, our students have written articles for the company's client-newsletters, tweeted on the company's behalf and grown the company's Facebook page following in advance of the Games.
Later this month, when the students are in London, they will continue to report via both traditional and social media, this time on behalf of Lynn University. They also will tour every major Olympics venue and meet with Olympic officials and compose written and broadcast reports on the sights and scenes of the London Summer Games.
Every day, you'll follow our faculty and students as we meander through the Olympic Village, take our seats at Olympic competitions and meet fans from the UK and around the world. We will give you an insider's view of the Summer Olympic Games.
And they will be right here. No pop quizzes. We promise.
Follow Prof. Ted Curtis and Dr. Chad Barr on Twitter at @LynnUSportsMgmt and on Facebook.com/LynnSportsManagement.