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Jim Bloom
Vice President of Business Development, Txtstation Corporation
Topic: "Impact: Building the Most Effective Campaign"
On Thursday, May 4, 2006, students in San Diego State University's Sports Business Management MBA program were pleased to welcome Jim Bloom, Vice President of Business Development for the Txtstation Corporation.
Formed in 2001, Txstation Corporation is revolutionizing the way sports fans interact with live sports broadcasts through its state-of-the-art mobile messaging technology. This technology allows broadcasters, event owners, sponsors and general media to communicate with viewers or fans directly through their mobile phones.
A 1982 graduate of San Diego State University, Jim Bloom has worked in professional sports for over 13 years, and is a veteran executive of three Major League Baseball franchises. Prior to joining Txtstation Corporation, he served as the Director of Consumer Marketing for the Toronto Blue Jays, where he acted as the direct liaison between marketing, promotions and public relations for ABC, CBS, ESPN, FOX and NBC. Mr. Bloom reflected on the lessons he has learned in his latest role, as well as through his experiences working with Major League Baseball, and discussed openly with the Sports MBA students the "do's and don't's" of sports marketing.
One of Mr. Bloom's most profound experiences as a sports marketer came during his time with the Toronto Blue Jays. He recounted with the class the impact Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) had on the Toronto community, and the resulting challenges he faced promoting to the community the value in continuing to support their MLB franchise. He stressed to the class the importance, during such times, for the sports team to stand out as a beacon of hope for the community. Sport represents a refuge, a distraction, and a forum for community interaction. Mr. Bloom discussed how various promotional segments helped the Toronto Blue Jays become the lead item in the news, and ultimately garnered support from the CBS Evening News to run a live show from the Skydome. The Blue Jays' inspirational promotion even helped win a sponsorship agreement with General Motors.
Mr. Bloom shared several more experiences with the class, and concluded by fielding questions on such topics as brand positioning, reducing burn-out, and disguising advertisements as front-page publication articles.
The students, faculty, and staff of San Diego State University's Sports Business Management MBA program would like to thank Jim Bloom for taking the time to visit our program and share with us his professional experiences in the sports industry.
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