Jersey City, N.J. – September 12, 2013 – Paul Tagliabue H ’05, former commissioner of the National Football League and member of the board of trustees for the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee, will serve as the spotlight speaker for the Saint Peter’s University 42nd Annual Regents Business Symposium on Friday, November 8 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Mac Mahon Student Center. As a spotlight speaker, Tagliabue will address this year’s theme, Brand Alignment: A Powerful Marketing Tool, which will touch on the impact of the Big Game, which will be held this year in New Jersey in February 2014.
The Symposium is one of New Jersey’s longest-running forums designed to inspire and educate an audience of all ages, professions and industries regarding business trends, challenges and best practices. This year’s Symposium is focused on heightening an organization’s brand exposure through alignments that enhance reputations, shape customer attitudes and differentiate a brand from its competitors. Additional panelists include Porter Gale, former vice president of marketing at Virgin America; Bill Rasmussen, founder of ESPN and Steve Stoute, founder and chief executive officer of Translation. Attendees of the event will leave with an understanding of the importance of brand alignments, tools on how to measure the value of alignment opportunities and tactics on how to secure sponsors.
Tagliabue shepherded the NFL into the 21st Century and expanded the league’s global reach during his term as commissioner from 1989 to 2006. A transformational leader, he enhanced the NFL’s overall brand with his keen sense of business, making the NFL the most competitive professional sports league and the gold standard by which other leagues are measured. Now, as senior of counsel for Covington & Burling LP, Tagliabue uses his experience to advise clients on matters of organizational structure and governance, develop strategic risk mitigation approaches and assist in managing unfolding crises. He also serves as a leader of Covington’s Strategic Risk and Crisis Management initiative.
From 2007 to 2011, Gale led Virgin America’s marketing and advertising efforts as vice president of marketing with a focus on digital media opportunities. Prior to that position, she was general manager at Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners, where she worked with clients Vegas.com, Coach and Snapple Natural Beverages. She was awarded the Changing the Game Award by Advertising Women of New York (AWNY) and was featured on AdAge’s Digital Hotlist in 2011. A blogger for AdAge and The Huffington Post, Gale is also the author of Your Network is Your Net Worth, which won the “Business: Careers” category of the 2013 International Book Awards.
Rasmussen is the founder of ESPN, the all-sports cable TV network. His innovations in advertising, sports and broadcasting include not only the creation of ESPN, but also the concept for Sports Center, its flagship program that provides television’s most thorough presentation of sports news, highlights and analysis. He broke the advertising barrier to cable television by signing Anheuser-Busch to the largest cable TV advertising contract ever. Sports Illustrated named Rasmussen one of the “40 for the Ages,” reserved for individuals who have significantly altered and elevated the world of sports in the last half of the 20th century. Rasmussen is also the author of the best-selling book Sports Junkies Rejoice! The Birth of ESPN.
Stoute is the founder and CEO of the brand development and marketing firm Translation, whose client roster includes the McDonald’s Corporation, Anheuser-Busch, Estee Lauder, Microsoft and Coca-Cola, to name a few. In addition, Stoute also authored The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture that Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy, in which he teaches corporate America how to understand and reach today’s young adult market. Prior to founding Translation, he spent 10 years as a senior executive at several leading music labels, including Urban Music at Sony and Interscope Geffen A&M Records.
If guests register before Friday, September 13, admission is $125 for the general public, $100 for alumni and $75 for graduates of the last decade or graduates from the class of 2004 to 2013. After September 13, the ticket price is $150 for the general public, $125 for alumni and $100 for graduates of the last decade. For more information or to register, please visit alumni.saintpeters.edu/event/rbs2013 or contact Claudia Pope-Bayne at (201) 761-6111 or cpopebayne@saintpeters.edu.
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Saint Peter’s University, inspired by its Jesuit, Catholic identity, commitment to individual attention and grounding in the liberal arts, educates a diverse community of learners in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs to excel intellectually, lead ethically, serve compassionately and promote justice in our ever-changing urban and global environment.