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Hey world! On Thursday of this week,
my class talked about a subject that I found to be both very relatable and
interesting: communities of practice. I felt there was one club that I have
been heavily involved with since I was a freshman at the University of Arizona
that seemingly connected with this idea. The club is called Sports Marketing
Association (SMA). Feel free to check out their website here or follow them on Twitter here. SMA was created for people who want to work in the sports
industry. There are bi-weekly meetings with guest speakers who currently work
in sports. After, members can ask questions about anything that stirs their
curiosity. This is a fantastic chance SMA offers their members to truly broaden
their knowledge of the sports industry. Furthermore, every board member either
has an internship or works hand in hand with the Arizona Athletics department. This
is another great way that members can learn valuable lessons about working in
sports. Networking trips are also a huge plus to this club in how they work to
gain insightful perspectives that are tremendously beneficial to club members. The
problem is that working in the sports industry is one of the most coveted
positions to have. SMA is such a special club because they offer people a way
in. By volunteering, members can network and experience in the industry as well
as put themselves in a position to acquire a job with Arizona Athletics. Finally,
I think there is more than enough proof that this club is so successful because
of two reasons. They won outstanding club of the year here at the U of A and I now
have a job with Arizona Athletics by diligently working as a volunteer.
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Hey Beau, I really enjoyed reading your post! I actually was very interested in SMA for a while and regret not following up with it! That is so cool that you are able to engage in that group. There are definitely many different types of groups and it seems to me that SMA is a secondary group. It has more importance and it some what like a work force with all the seriousness in your groups collaborations. Instead of it being a planned group where you are not in it by choice, you actually chose to do this and love it. That is awesome, really liked your blog.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you brought up the subject of networking within communities of practice. Personally, I don't automatically think of networking when I hear “community of practice,” but thinking about it, the communities I am involved in are the ones I network with the most. It’s great that you were able to show the knowledge domain, as well as how the Sports Marketing Association practices. It sounds like the SMA has a great group dynamic! The group shows a great deal of interdependence, as it counts on the members to strengthen their community, and many members count on this organization to jumpstart their career.
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