ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen Speaking at HCI Workforce Planning & Analytics Conference in Atlanta Today at 4 p.m.
Atlanta,
GA – February 7, 2013 -- ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen, the legendary entrepreneur who founded
the World
Wide Leader in Sports, ESPN, will deliver the closing keynote speech Thursday,
February 7th at the 2013 Human Capital Institute (HCI) Workforce
Planning & Analytics Conference, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Atlanta.
Rasmussen,
selected as the closing keynote, will speak at 4 p.m. His presentation, “Build Entrepreneurial
Capital and Foster Innovation”, will challenge every employee to become an
entrepreneur no matter their position, as well as impart the story of how ESPN
was conceived, funded and launched in only 14 months.
During his presentation, Rasmussen
will tell the story of the birth of ESPN and the creation of a global sports enterprise. He will also speak about leadership and the
skills necessary to create such a successful global brand icon. It’s a rare opportunity to hear and feel the
stories of a man who was considered by the three major television networks at
the time (ABC, NBC & CBS) a
dreamer and all-around “crazy man” to even think that he could compete with
them.
The 2013 HCI Workforce Planning & Analytics
Conference at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta is a two-day event
presenting new trends and insights into the people and technology constituting
today’s Strategic Workforce Planning landscape. HCI, the global association for strategic talent
management, has lined up a roster of thought leaders and talent-minded
thinkers to serve as keynotes for this event. Additional information about the
event is available at http://www.hci.org/2013workforce/overview.
Rasmussen was recently named Executive in Residence at The Robert
C. McDermond Center for Management & Entrepreneurship at DePauw University. He began his new post on October 1st. He is a 1954 graduate of DePauw, and received
his MBA from Rutgers in 1960.
Try
to imagine the world without ESPN
and Sports Center, and for many, it
is impossible. It is safe to say that Rasmussen
changed the face of sports, and the face of television. His brainstorm for a 24-hour cable sports
television network, born out of adversity, has become the Worldwide Leader in
Sports, ESPN. A former radio and television sports
broadcaster, Rasmussen had been the
Whalers Communications Director, but when the Whalers didn’t make the 1978 WHA
playoffs, Rasmussen and others on
staff were fired. His idea for an all-sports cable TV network captured his
imagination, and he incorporated the fledgling network on July 14, 1978. He had
already begun to seek out cable television companies, sponsors, investors and
partners.
With
an idea that was truly ahead of its time, and running out of cash, Rasmussen found one investor who
believed in the concept in February, 1979, and by September 7, 1979, ESPN was on the air for the first time,
14 months from Rasmussen’s moment of
inspiration.
A life-long entrepreneur and sports fan, Rasmussen’s innovations in advertising,
sports and broadcasting are numerous, including the creation of ESPN,
the concepts for “Sports Center,”
wall-to-wall coverage of NCAA regular-season and “March Madness” college basketball, and coverage of the College World Series. He broke the advertising barrier to cable
television by signing Anheuser Busch to the largest cable TV advertising
contract ever.
Named
“The Father of Cable Sports” by USA Today,
Rasmussen was named to The Sports
100, honoring the 100 most important people in American Sports History. His place in sports history was further
recognized by Sports Illustrated in
1994, when he was honored as one of the “40 for the Ages,” one of 40
individuals who has significantly altered and elevated the world of sport in
the last half of the 20th Century.
Rasmussen was named to the
2011 class of “The Champions: Pioneers & Innovators in Sports Business,” an
award from the Sports Business Journal
and the Sports Business Daily
recognizing the architects and builders of sports.
Rasmussen
is
the author of the best-selling book, “Sports
Junkies Rejoice! The Birth of ESPN” (available in paperback and e-book at ESPNFounder.com). He is a gifted raconteur and a popular public
speaker discussing American entrepreneurship, innovation, and the birth of ESPN, and a frequent guest on radio and
television shows. His recent appearances
include nationally-syndicated radio shows “Sports
Byline USA with Ron Barr”, “The
Dennis Miller Show” and the FOX News Channel’s “Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld.”
He has been touring the nation over the past
two years, with a national speaking tour that has included recent appearances
at Arizona State University, Union
College, DePauw University, Azusa Pacific University, University of
Connecticut, University of Kansas, Rutgers University, The Wharton School of
the University of Pennsylvania, University of South Carolina, Wichita State
University and Auburn University. Rasmussen
has also recently spoken to audiences at a number of private, corporate
events, in addition to speaking at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of
Management, Villanova University, Princeton University, University of Florida
School of Law and The Center for Sports Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth
University, among others.
Additional information about Rasmussen
is available at http://www.ESPNFounder.com. You can also follow Rasmussen on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/ESPN-Founder-Bill-Rasmussen/124610977602209)
and on Twitter (https://twitter.com/@bill_espn).
Media Contact for
ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen:
Jim DeLorenzo
Jim DeLorenzo
215-266-5943