By Sydney Nelson
When the Dallas Cowboys have a home game, SMU alumna Kelsey Charles interacts with fans out on the East Plaza of AT&T Stadium, co-hosting a pregame warm-up rally that keeps Cowboys fans entertained and engaged with activities and prizes.
Even when it is not game day, part of Charles’ job with the Dallas Cowboys is to keep fans engaged. She runs a website for the team called 5 Points Blue, which she describes as “essentially a Cowboys blog written from a female perspective.”
“It’s a new concept in the sports industry, so it’s really exciting to be a part of it,” said Charles, who graduated from SMU in 2013 with a degree in Convergence Journalism. “Also, all those personal websites that I had to create in [my] Digital [class] totally paid off.”
Charles credits social media with helping her land a job with the Cowboys. She said that while she had always used social media casually, it was her internship with the Cowboys and classes at SMU that trained her in how to identify useful tools in shaping her online professional presence, including Twitter hashtags and, especially, her personal online portfolio and blog. Charles used her profile to market herself to future employers, particularly making an impression on her current supervisor.
Charles ultimately attributes gaining her current position to skills learned back at SMU. She said that her classes at SMU helped her acquire critical knowledge pertinent to success in the industry. Such skills include: producing, writing, editing, reporting, and blogging, which she uses in her day-to-day life.
“As cliché as it sounds,” Charles added, “the stuff you’re learning [now at SMU] will help you in the future. I promise.”
Of Charles’ many accomplishments at the Cowboys, she has taken over as the independent producer and host for the “Cowboys Break Radio Show” and the “Writer’s Roundtable.” Commenting on these learning experiences, she said “ it was intimidating at first, but I have learned so much to keep getting better with every show.”
Sydney Nelson is an SMU senior journalism major who is interning with the Dallas Cowboys.
