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Wednesday, April 30, 2008

WWE'S CAREER ACTION DAY AT SHU

Courtesy of Sacred Heart University:

For Immediate Release
April 29, 2008

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – On Monday, April 28, ten executives from World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) met with graduate and undergraduate students at Sacred Heart University to discuss the varied professional opportunities enveloped in global corporations.

The executives offered an open interview session for any students interested in pursuing employment at the Stamford, Conn., based company, and led workshops to teach the different facets of running an international sports and entertainment company. The sessions included explanations of WWE’s corporate departments, including Marketing, Creative Services, Consumer Products, Television Production and Digital Media.

WWE is offered “Career Action Day” program as part of its ongoing relationship with the Sport and Entertainment Marketing Consortium at Sacred Heart University’s John F. Welch College of Business. The consortium, founded in 2007, is a virtual collection of high-level executives in the fields of sports and entertainment who are working in synergy with the school to help enrich students’ education and career opportunities.

“The mission of the consortium is to bring executives to campus to talk to our students about what they actually do in these types of positions, so that we can bring the real world to the classroom, and the students can hear firsthand what the challenges and opportunities are in these fields,” says Dr. Peter Maresco, assistant professor of Marketing and Sports Management at SHU. “WWE is one of the ultimate marketing machines anywhere. To have a relationship where we can bring these people in is fantastic. It provides opportunities for our students, especially in marketing and sport management, that they ordinarily wouldn’t be able to take advantage of.”

SHU students were offered the same program in March 2007, when approximately 500 undergraduates attended a presentation by WWE Executive Vice President of Consumer Products Donna Goldsmith. According to Rick DelVecchio, the director of career placement in SHU’s Career Development office, the 2007 program resulted in eight to ten students starting their careers with jobs at WWE.

“It’s important to us to be able to establish ourselves as a preferred employer in the area,” says Jon Weiner, a WWE recruiter. “Along those lines, we have a good relationship with Sacred Heart, and we’ve been able to identify some good talent for opportunities at our organization.”

WWE executives who participated in this year’s program included Tom Boland, director of Interactive Marketing; Florence DiGiorgio, vice president of Global Licensing; Mark Frankel, recruiter; George Germanakos, senior manager of Asset Media; Donna Goldsmith, executive vice president of Consumer Products; Christian Lum, creative director; Alexandra McMahon, director of Human Resources; Liz Montgomery, production director; Courtney Pustay, production assistant (and Sacred Heart alumnus); and Weiner.

The following day — Tuesday, April 29 — Tony Romando, vice president and editorial director of WWE’s Magazine Group, will offered a lecture in SHU’s Schine Auditorium about the challenges of publishing the company’s magazines for its adult and child demographics.

On Tuesday, April 15, WWE Vice President for Sponsorship and Talent Brands Ethan Greene also lectured at SHU. Speaking to an audience of about 100 people, Greene discussed how the WWE brands their wrestlers outside of the ring to attract viewers from other markets.

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. is an integrated media and entertainment company founded by Vince and Linda McMahon. WWE has been involved in the sports entertainment business for 25 years and has developed into one of the most popular forms of global entertainment today. The company is headquartered in Stamford, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Shanghai, Tokyo, Toronto and Sydney.

About Sacred Heart University

Sacred Heart University, the second-largest Catholic university in New England, offers more than 40 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs on its main campus in Fairfield, Connecticut, and satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland. Approximately 5,800 students attend the University’s four colleges: Arts & Sciences; Education & Health Professions; University College; and the AACSB-accredited John F. (Jack) Welch College of Business. The Princeton Review includes SHU in its “Best 366 Colleges: 2008,” U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2008” ranks SHU among the best master’s universities in the North, and Intel rates it #11 among the nation’s most “unwired” campuses. SHU fields 32 division I athletic teams, and has an award-winning program of community service. www.sacredheart.edu

Contact: Funda Alp, 203-396-8241, alpf@sacredheart.edu