Say hello to Rachel Epstein, the newest WPS employee. Rachel began as our Director of Marketing on Monday and two days later she was on a flight to Boston to meet in-person with our marketing agency, FUSE/ideas. Together they are discussing the league’s marketing roadmap for the buildup to the inaugural 2009 season.
With an impressive background including five years at ESPN, we’re lucky to have Rachel as part of our office staff and know she will make a visible impact on the branding and positioning of the league.
Rachel isn’t the only one earning frequent flier miles this week. Commissioner Tonya Antonucci is in Denver today to meet with potential franchise investors and to participate in the Women’s Soccer Celebration Summit. The Commish is discussing the future of the women’s game as a member of a panel which also includes U.S. Women’s National Team player Abby Wambach and W-League and WPSL representatives. Friday the Commish travels to another city to discuss placing a team in that market.
Senior COO Consultant Joe Cummings is also on the road this week. Leaving his base in Boston where he also serves as the Breakers’ president and general manager, Joe is at the league office in San Francisco through next Thursday to address a number of league matters including developing the allocation plan for the U.S. Women’s National Team players and working on the WPS player contract.
Other items on the WPS radar screen include:
- The Commish spoke with U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati to update him on the league’s progress and to exchange ideas regarding how the two organizations can form a partnership.
- Joe and the Commish held a lunch meeting Wednesday with some well-known names to discuss a Bay Area team for 2009.
- WPS Expansion Consultant Jeff L’Hote joined Chicago President and CEO Peter Wilt, Chicago General Manager Marcia McDermott and Chicago General Counsel Jack Cummins to meet with a potential investor group from Atlanta.
- The league has received a proposal for review from Fox Soccer Channel regarding television coverage of its games.
- FUSE/ideas delivered suggested taglines for WPS to use beginning this summer.
- Internet Producer Karyn Lush and the Commish have begun the search for a new website platform by authoring a RFP and distributing the document to a number of companies.
- League Development / Relationships Manager Aaron Burch has spearheaded a grassroots marketing plan to spread the word about WPS at a number of youth tournaments this summer.
- Aaron is also leading the organization of WPS’s presence at next weekend’s AYSO National Annual General Meeting.
- The entire staff has continued to interview candidates for jobs ranging from Director of Communications to Associate Counsel/Business Development to summer internships.
And we have another new employee starting Friday. More on that later…