Norby Williamson believes the College of Charleston is a “kick-ass place,” and
that’s a pretty good endorsement coming from a senior executive at ESPN.
“Don’t second-guess yourself, but if the path you’re on is not the right one, take a different one,” Williamson said. “That was the lesson early on at ESPN – figure it out as you go along, put the work in and you’ll succeed. You have to have the concept of being able to evolve yourself.”
Williamson knows a few things about evolving.
Starting as a production assistant 28 years ago at ESPN when
it was a fledgling cable sports network, Williamson worked his way through the
ranks to his current position where he has been since 2007.
Along the way, Williamson produced “SportsCenter,” “ESPNEWS,” “Baseball Tonight” and “NFL Gameday.”
Prior to taking on management duties alongside production work in 1999,
Williamson earned five awards, including Sports Emmy Awards for “SportsCenter”
and “NFL Gameday.”
He also was responsible for major programming such as Monday
Night Football, College Game Day, NASCAR, college basketball and football, plus
on-site coverage of major sporting events like the Super Bowl, BCS national
championship, Men’s and Women’s Final Four and the MLB All-Star game.
“There’s nothing impressive about me. I was in the right
place at the right time, working my ass off,” said the 1985 graduate of
Southern Connecticut State University, adding that students should be comforted
that he made it at ESPN. “You can succeed by being tactical, taking strategic
risks and working hard.”
Williamson acknowledged today’s students have a tougher
environment to navigate for a job, but that isn’t always a disadvantage.
“It’s a mess out there,” he said, “which is good news for
you.”
With the explosion of digital content and social media, ESPN
and other networks are hungry for grads with storytelling skills, not
necessarily technical expertise.
“Storytelling, writing, making a connection with the audience….that’s a lot more important,” Williamson said. “We hire smart people. We think we can teach you what you need about production, but we want creative, smart people who like things the way they are but are open to doing it different.”
In a social media-dominant world where athletes can control
their own messages, and immediate
still isn’t fast enough, Williamson said resonating with the audience is still
the most important goal – whether it’s in a reality TV show or a 140-character
tweet.
“It’s crazy. The greatest thing about social media is immediate
feedback; the worst thing is immediate feedback,” Williamson said, admonishing students
not to lose focus on what will connect with their audience. “A good story is
always most important.”
Among his sage advice for the soon-to-be grads, Williamson
reminded students to do what they are passionate about, always be decent to
people and to stay curious.
“Ask yourself if you’re going anywhere,” he said. “Now is
the time to take risks.”
