One of the great benefits of being in the MSC Program is that you are part of the School of Communication. As a result, you have access to attend private events with prominent professionals in their fields. Recently, I just attended an event where Len Kasper, the Play-by-Play Broadcaster of the Chicago Cubs spoke about his career and how he entered the field of sports media.

He had some fantastic advice for the students sitting in the lecture hall. He said that “experience is paramount for broadcasting” and he had to learn it by taking advantage of any opportunity he received. He also said that if we are passionate about something to just do it as much as we can because that’s the only way we will get better.

Also, since he works in the world of television, he has some fascinating insights to the business. He said that within the next five years, an internet company like Google or Yahoo is going to buy the television rights for a professional sports team. This will allow fans to watch the games on their computers and devices instead of their televisions. The world of sports is constantly changing which offers more opportunities to enter the field than when he first began. He encouraged us to be creative with these new entry points and find a way to make ourselves known in whatever profession we want to be in.

The last interesting comment he made was that he understands the magnitude of importance his job as the voice of the Chicago Cubs is. His friend was in a hospital during the season and every room he passed, he could hear Len’s voice on the televisions broadcasting a Wednesday afternoon game for the Cubs. For the hospital patients and all Chicago Cubs fans, it is comforting to hear Len’s voice narrate each Cubs’ game.

I would encourage anyone to take advantage of the opportunity that have and attend these events hosted by the School of Communications.