Southern Conference commissioner John Iamarino announced the hiring of four new staff members and the restructuring of duties for two others.
“Our new hires bring a wealth of experience to the Southern Conference,” Iamarino said. “I am excited that we have attracted such a wide range of qualified people as we move into the new season. We have reassigned some duties and emphasized others in an effort to place added emphasis to new technologies and to streamline the office organization.”
Mike Mitchell, former assistant athletics director for marketing and development at UNC Asheville, has been named senior account executive for SoCon Sports Properties. His primary responsibility will be to service the Southern Conference’s corporate sponsors and educational partners. A native of Windsor, Ontario, Mitchell worked in radio and television for six years, the City of Kitchener, Ontario as well as at the University of Western Ontario and Longwood prior to joining the staff at UNC Asheville. Mitchell will serve as a liaison between the conference and its marketing partner, Host Communications.
Laura Hayes has joined the conference as assistant to the commissioner. A native of San Antonio, Texas, Hayes handles a variety of administrative tasks. She assists with daily management of the conference’s business and financial operations and aids with the planning and execution of conference meetings. She serves as a liaison between the league office and member schools and coordinates the conference’s Graduate Scholarship program. Hayes earned a degree from Greenville Technical College in 1999.
Jonathan Caskey, former assistant sports information director at Appalachian State, has been named assistant director of media relations. A 2003 graduate of Furman, Caskey was a public affairs assistant at the Southern Conference in 2003-04 before moving to Appalachian State. For the last two years, the Greenville, S.C. native has worked with the International Service Corps in Delhi, India. His responsibilities at the Southern Conference include serving as primary media contact for a number of sports, assistant at conference championships and writing and editing the league’s publications.
After a year as public relations coordinator at the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in Indianapolis, Ind., Curt Cassell will serve as the Southern Conference’s public relations assistant. The 2003 Dayton graduate worked in the athletic ticket office as an undergraduate and worked with State Insurance Agency prior to joining the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in 2006.
In her eighth year with the Southern Conference, Mandi Copeland is taking on a new role as the league’s director of multimedia services. She joined the Southern Conference in 2000 as assistant director of public affairs and served as director of media relations for two years before moving to the newly-created multimedia position. A native of Greer, S.C., Copeland is responsible for overseeing the conference’s video streaming efforts as well as the development of the league’s web-site, www.SoConSports.com. She is also responsible for various aspects of television and radio. Copeland serves as the conference’s technology consultant and works with the conference’s video-streaming efforts. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida State in 1998 and a master’s degree in 2000.
After serving as an external affairs assistant for one year, Brandon Neff has been promoted to the newly-created director of championships position. In his new role, the Alta, Iowa native is responsible for championship administration at conference championships and overseeing a majority of the league’s 19 championship events. Neff earned a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State in 2003 and a master’s degree from Northern Illinois in 2006. Neff has worked with the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference, Chicago Bears and the Mid-Continent Conference before joining the Southern Conference in 2006.