ESPN ever-changing, VP says

ESPN employees have moved from interest in only television to expertise in many different media, and college applicants to the cable network should have the same flexibility, ESPN vice president of Communications Chris Laplaca said last night the College of Communication.

Laplaca told approximately 100 students about changes to the communications sector of over the two decades he has worked at ESPN and how ESPN has remained successful.

Laplaca talked about the need to be able to think a step ahead of others. Technological changes have added a lot of complexity to the media, even the once-simple area of sports broadcasting, he said. When he joined ESPN in 1980 during its early years, having a cable network devoted only to peoples’ pastimes seemed ridiculous to most.

‘There were a lot of people the networks that scoffed at the idea of a cable sports channel,’ he said.

Laplaca emphasized being able to ‘step back from all the details of life’ and see the larger picture. It was this type of innovative thinking that made ESPN successful, he said.

There are niches in the media available to communications students with flexible skills and optimistic attitudes, he said. He said ESPN needs employees with a variety of skills because it has grown to become a radio network, magazine and website, as well as a cable sports channel.

Laplaca praised Boston University, which he was visiting with his daughter, a prospective student in COM, for the opportunities that are available to communications students. Because of the reputation of BU’s communications program, he expressed confusion over BU’s lack of cable in dormitories, though he said later he does not feel it is his place to tell BU administrators how to run the school.

‘It’s deservedly noted for an outstanding communications school,’ he said after the event. ‘It just somewhat perplexes me.’

Most curious students, though, wanted to know about the opportunities for internships and jobs with ESPN. He said the prospects are encouraging.

‘Across the board, internships are available’ in many parts of ESPN’s operation, he said.

However, he jokingly hesitated to mention the internship application director, for fear of receiving an overload of requests, and after saying the name asked the arranger of the lecture, COM Professor Ed Downes, ‘this thing isn’t being recorded, is it?’

Two upcoming graduates looking at possible jobs for next year said the event gave them a much better picture of what opportunities are available in their field.

‘It was interesting to hear about all of the opportunities that are available,’ said Adam Castiglioni, a COM senior studying sports public relations. ‘I would like to have an internship at ESPN.’

The experience of working at ESPN seemed to have been a positive one for senior advertising major Ian Zweig.

‘I came to shake this guy’s hand,’ he said, referring to the speaker. ‘He gave me an internship two years ago.’

Laplaca also answered students’ questions about how ESPN manages its international markets. The network has local firms manage the programming because they best understand what the audience wants to see, he explained.

The sports that international audiences prefer vary greatly from one country to the next, Laplaca said, though ‘soccer is huge everywhere.’

‘We buy a lot of [television] rights for soccer,’ he said.

ESPN’s most successful venture in its approximate 30-year lifetime has been SportsCenter, the wildly popular sports news and highlight show hosted by anchors who make wacky comments with a deadpan style, he said.

ESPN’s most challenging venture, according to Laplaca, has been implementing high-definition television. He was enthusiastic about the technology’s development, discussing how HDTV would cause advances like allowing baseball viewers to see the third and first baseman from the camera view located behind the catcher.