Breaking Barriers and Building Bonds with the Bulls Community

You pick up a textbook. You read it. You take a quiz. You forget everything afterwards.

You work on a project. You pitch it to actual businessmen. You remember the hands-on experience for the rest of your life.

This fall quarter, Andy Clark's Sports Management class in the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business gave us that unforgettable, hands-on experience. We had the special opportunity to work closely with Tony Rokita, director of alumni relations at the Chicago Bulls, and Eric Shainock co-founder of Philanthropy Playmakers and marketing manager at BMO Harris Bank, to cultivate a proposal for the Bulls organization.

Tony Rokita and Eric Shainock with Philanthopy Playmakers Co-Founder Erica Prosser in a 2019 class. Photo Courtesy of Kathy Hillegonds.

We were split into three teams. We began brainstorming as soon as we received our team titles: Team LaVine, Team Sloan, and Team Jordan. In collaboration with our teammates, each team was tasked to come up with creative ways to educate the Bulls community, while connecting and continuing to build strong bonds.

Given the current state of the world, we were asked to focus on COVID-19 and/or Social Justice and Equality issues. Naturally, this brought each team to ideation of a virtual space, where the Bulls could connect with their fans, spread awareness and grow their community.

It’s not often that we, as students, get exposure to real-world clients -- emphasizing the importance of experience rather than just textbook material. This opportunity gave us a chance to create something we were really proud of. Working directly with Tony and Eric not only pushed us to work hard, but inspired leadership, creativity and confidence within each of our teams. With their positivity, impactful guidance and feedback, we knew we were all on the right track to accomplish something great.

The title slide of our Breaking Barriers presentation.

As part of Team Jordan, together with our teammate Ronnie Griggs, we put our heads together to try and come up with an idea that we believed could be both educational and powerful, while still being effective during this virtual transition in today’s world.

The goal was to create something that could be useful not just in these times, but for the long term. So we thought of creating an IGTV series called “Breaking Barriers with the Bulls” for the Bulls’ Instagram page.

Our IGTV Series idea, where Bulls athletes and other front office staff would interact with minority communities, was met with great excitement by both Tony and Eric.

We were encouraged to keep digging and find the spark that would make our idea come to life. Since the NBA is known for its exceptional branding through social media, we thought IGTV would be a free, powerful way to reach diverse audiences. Our IGTV Series was inspired by our desire to raise awareness about ongoing issues in our world regarding minorities, BIPOC and any groups of people whose voices and stories have gone unheard.

With Eric’s feedback, we were asked to dig deeper in identifying and presenting the action items for each of our ideas. What is the long-lasting impact going to be and how is it going to inspire positive change?

Tony encouraged us to think about the Four E’s: Educate, Elevate, Entertain and Empower.

We concluded our presentation with the 4 E's that Tony stressed throughout the quarter

With their words of encouragement and inspiring guidance, we were proud to present our final project.We aimed to create an inspiring and powerful concept that could not only educate the Bulls and their community, but continue to cultivate and build on those

Our Sports Management Class following our final presentations with Tony and Eric.

The other teams also presented impressive ideas.

Team Sloan’s concept was a Virtual Garage Sale of Bulls items and collectibles, to help benefit both the community and the Bulls organization during challenging times. Team LaVine presented an idea similar to ours in that it would be a virtual video series (such as cool TikTok videos), bringing Bulls in-game entertainment, placing special emphasis on arts and creativity, and benefiting After School Matters.

We are extremely grateful for this invigorating and educational experience with significant people in the industry like Tony and Eric, and are looking forward to other possible business collaborations in the future -- whether it’s with Tony and Eric or with our classmates.

Bella Michaels, MA Sports Journalism Class of 2021

Megh Babikian, MBA Class of 2020