Hayden Heard, 2025
The Dallas Sports Commission (DSC) tasked me with completing a hospitality portal. This Capstone Experience - Business Project consisted of creating quarterly meetings for key partners and a questionnaire for clients after using the DSC’s services. The DSC has given me a great opportunity to use my skills based on prior experience. Being a Dallas native, it provided great insight into the sports business in Dallas.
Words of Wisdom
- Stay organized and trust your skills.
Remi Vanderpool, 2025
The Thornton-McFerrin Coaching Academy's certificate ceremony planning experience is fun and rewarding, combining creativity and logistics. Organizing the ceremony, choosing a venue, and communicating with attendees are all detail-oriented work. Making graduates feel celebrated is rewarding, as you work closely with instructors, staff, and students. Ensuring the ceremony runs smoothly, creating personalized certificates, and arranging speeches contribute to a memorable event. A big challenge is balancing the formality with the personal touch that makes the ceremony special and unique.
Words of Wisdom
- Communicate
- Adapt
- Delegate
Gessica Oliveri, 2025
For my Capstone Experience - Business Project, we organized a Play4Kay event at Bryan High School to support the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, an organization dedicated to funding research and raising awareness for all cancers affecting women. The event featured a girls' basketball game with freshman, JV, and varsity teams. The fundraising activities included a raffle table, I Play For cards, and a bucket donation drive during the quarters in the game. Most importantly, we had the opportunity to recognize local cancer survivors and thrivers for their strength and resilience. The goal was to raise money to create a sense of community and offer support in the fight against cancer. In this project, we collaborated with school officials, local businesses, and volunteers to make the event successful. We helped get donations for the raffle, organized the plans to honor survivors, and made promotional materials to raise awareness. It all needed to be very well-planned with communication and creative thinking. By the end of the night, individuals could see how significant community involvement and kindness really are.
Words of Wisdom
- Make sure to stay organized and be ready to adjust if things don't go as you had planned.
- Bring prepared for anything can make such a huge difference.
Travis Plumer, 2025
My experience was incredibly valuable and allowed me to learn a variety of skills that I can apply in my future career. I gained experience in various areas, from social media management to operations. Much of what I learned came from hands-on work, but I also benefited greatly from research.
Initially, I focused on social media, which involved creating posts and researching what to post and how to engage our audience. This role transitioned into handling sponsorships, where I checked package prices and contacted potential sponsors. After securing a sponsor, I shifted my focus to event operations, ensuring everything was ready for the tournament. I also played a role in running the event to ensure it went smoothly. Ultimately, I concentrated on developing a timeline guide for the organization.
Words of Wisdom
Lawson Moore, 2024
I worked with FieldhouseUSA for my Capstone Experience - Business Project. FieldhouseUSA wants to improve its Corporate Events Program to bring more people into the Frisco, TX location. This project was an amazing opportunity for me as someone who aspires to work in event coordination. After researching FieldhouseUSA, visiting the facility, and researching competitors, I was tasked with creating a Frequently Asked Questions Page and Inquiry Form that could be implemented into their website. The FAQ Page lists any questions a prospective guest may have about Corporate Events at FieldhouseUSA. The Inquiry Form allows them to select a date, time, and any preferences they have for an event. I learned so much throughout this semester about FieldhouseUSA, event coordination, and myself. I was very fortunate to have helpful business partners at FieldhouseUSA and guidance from Dr. Geyer during this project. I had setbacks that I had to overcome, but those setbacks taught me very valuable lessons, and I am grateful for that.
Words of Wisdom
- Please don't dwell on a setback, find a way to learn from it and keep moving forward.
Cameron Patek, 2025
My Capstone Experience- Business Project was working with Athletes in Action, specifically their new 65,000 square ft. facility, the Wooden Family Fieldhouse. I was tasked with developing a program plan, researching competing facilities, reviewing high school, AAU, and club schedules, developing a marketing plan, and creating an event to be run in the Spring of 2025. My supervisor, Mr. Steve Harrell, was invaluable during this project, teaching me many things and giving me quality feedback on my work. Overall, I wouldn't change anything about this experience, and I'm blessed I could be a part of it.
Words of Wisdom
- Always ask questions
- Remember to have fun
- Adapt and overcome when things don't go as planned.
Jazzelle Lopez, 2025
My Capstone Experience-Business Project with Texas A&M Women’s Basketball has been an incredibly rewarding journey. As part of the project, I worked closely with the Director of Basketball Operations, gaining hands-on experience and taking on various administrative responsibilities. I contributed to organizing merchandise, coordinating post-game meals, and managing the TeamWorks calendar. The opportunity to support the team in these areas was enjoyable and insightful, and I truly valued the skills and knowledge I gained throughout this project.
Words of Wisdom
Grace Andros, 2025
My Capstone Experience - Business Project partner Gessica Oliveri and I had the pleasure of working with Paula Williams and the Kay Yow Cancer Fund to organize a Play4Kay game with the Bryan High School girls basketball team. We were the first students to work on this project so we experienced a lot of trial and error. Paula was wonderful in leading and encouraging us in our weekly Zoom meetings with her. We worked on event planning, organizing, marketing, and execution. We had to contact local schools in our area, coordinate with them to pick a date, make social media posts advertising the game, create raffle baskets to sell, and find local cancer survivors and thrivers in our area. Not only did we have to communicate effectively with each other, Paula and Coach Geyer, but we also had to use these skills to talk to the coaches at Bryan to make sure they were involved every step of the way. This business project truly was such a valuable experience for me as it gave me a chance to learn more about multiple different areas like marketing and event planning. I also want to see what it is like to work in fundraising, as it is a completely different world than for-profit organizations. We were given the goal of raising $1,000 and were honored to have just hit that goal! This goal was achieved by raising money at the game and before via social media. Overall, this was a wonderful experience that taught me about working in sports and helped us give back to our community!
Words of Wisdom
- Persevere
- Communicate
- Drive
Jack Williford, 2025
During my Culminating Experience - Business Project, I worked with Jimmy Kibble, CEO and founder of the National Scouting Combine. The National Scouting Combine is a football combine for draft-eligible athletes. Even though they prioritize football testing, they’re looking to expand into other sports, with one being baseball. I came up with a plan to potentially host a baseball combine. I researched and evaluated the essential elements pivotal to executing an innovative baseball combine. These components include the ideal venue, modern technology, price, evaluation tools, and more. Overall, I enjoyed this experience and learned how to plan a successful and appealing baseball scouting event methodically.
Words of Wisdom
- Pursue a project that you’re passionate about but also gives you unique opportunities to learn and grow.
Hannah Brown, 2025
For my Culminating Experience, Business Project, I was given the opportunity to create and execute events for TexAgs. Some of these events include a fundraising night/kick-off party for the Aggie soccer team, tailgates for Texas A&M football games, and hosting a movie premiere for TexAgs partner company Texas Filmswork's newest movie, Breaking Tradition. Throughout my semester working for TexAgs, I gained so much experience in event management, and I now have the tools and foundation needed to succeed after college.
Words of Wisdom
- Imposter syndrome happens to everyone.
- Realize that you were chosen to do a job for a reason.
- Time Management is of the utmost importance.