{"href":"http://player.captivate.fm/services/oembed?url=http%3A%2F%2Fplayer.captivate.fm%2Fepisode%2F6ec8b3f8-daf8-4586-a5be-26c079d587f8","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Captivate.FM","provider_url":"https://www.captivate.fm","width":600,"height":200,"type":"rich","html":"","title":"Dr. Joey Gawrysiak: An Education in the Business of eSports \u2013 Work In Sports Podcast","description":"Shenandoah University's Dr. Joey Gawrysiak joins the Work In Sports podcast to discuss the first-of-its-kind, newly launched, multi-track eSports major and minors!\u00a0Hi everybody, I\u2019m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged leanring for WorkInSports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast\u2026We\u2019re going to go into the wayback machine for a bit, but I\u2019ll make it quick and it\u2019ll have a point.Back in 1997 I was in my first year at CNN/Sports Illustrated and my cousin said to me, you know what we should do, we should make a website where all of the sports people you come in contact with can write their sports opinions and share them on the internet.Now that doesn\u2019t sound like much, but this was 1997, the internet was a relatively new place, it wasnt the source of everything like it is now.\u00a0The internet was like Las Vegas in the 1940s before Sinatra and the Rat Pack made it a destination. It existed...but it was basically a desert with a little bit of make-up.My cousins idea was essentially what would have been the beginning of sports blogging. We had all this major talent, from reputable sports anchors like Nick Charles, Fred Hickman, Vince Cellini and Bob Lorenz - to up and comers like Laura Okmin, Chris Rose and Steve Berthiaume.\u00a0We had analysts from all the major sports -- guys like James Lofton, Trev Alberts, Bob Golic...who by the way has the largest hands I have ever shaken\u2026 dude had articulated cast iron pans for hands.\u00a0But you know what I did -- I told my cousin, no way, no one would ever read that, I don\u2019t think it would work.\u00a0You know how you have those moments you look back on in life and cringe\u2026 yeah, that\u2019s one of mine. I didn\u2019t see it. Not one bit. In about 2-3 years time everything sports related was on the internet.\u00a0BUT, this moment has shaped me. I never forgot my lack of vision...so since that date I\u2019;ve taken this and turned it into a positive. I listen more to ideas, I try to see the forest through the trees, I don\u2019t summarily dismiss anything. I try to see how things can work, rather than how they can\u2019t.Analytics, social media all things I had a much more open mind for. eSports...well, that snuck up on me. I\u2019m not a gamer, I think it looks like fun, don\u2019t think I\u2019m being highbrow because I\u2019m not, I\u2019ve just never committed the time to it.\u00a0But I didn\u2019t see it as the gigantic business it\u2019s become. The business of eSports is huge and there is money and careers in it, not just for the gamers themselves for all the people that make these huge global events a reality without controllers in their hands.\u00a0And with this demand, comes need. A need for educated students tailoring themselves to the business of eSports. New this semester, Shenandoah University is offering esports management major and minor, an esports media and communication major and an esports performance minor.\u00a0This program is the brainchild of todays guest -- Dr. Joey Gawrysiak\u00a0 -- who is going to share mor about the growing world of eSports and how students today can become a perfect match for this growing field.\u00a0\u00a0Questions for Dr. Joey Gawrysiak, Shenandoah University's eSports Program Director1: In my experience \u2013 and please to all my professor friends listening out there don\u2019t take this personally \u2013 but in my experience, advanced education is slow to respond to newly emerging trends. For example, analytics was all the rage for a decade before schools started incorporating this into their curriculum.You and your team at Shenandoah are challenging this perception \u2013 explain how this concept of adding an academic esports major came about.Follow up - You have this radical idea, something no one else is doing - you come up with a plan/strategy etc. \u00a0and you have to present that concept to your bosses \u2013 did you have a moment of doubt where you thought \u2013 this is insane! Or did you feel pretty confident throughout?","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/3290b2c7-22d1-4539-ba08-24b261342c43/wispod-cover.png"}