Full Sail University

Full Sail University Collaborates with Red Bull to Host Athletes in Campus Workshops

Among those in attendance were Lolo Jones, an Olympian and World Champion track and field athlete, and Parks Bonifay, a professional wakeboarder.

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On November 10, Full Sail University hosted the Red Bull Athlete Summit, a one-day event in which 16 Red Bull athletes attended campus workshops designed to hone their skills in the areas of social media and storytelling. Among those in attendance were Lolo Jones, an Olympian and World Champion track and field athlete, and Parks Bonifay, a professional wakeboarder.

Kristen Zimmerman, Full Sail Course Director for Sports Marketing & Media, says the day kicked off with a presentation from Red Bull’s marketing team.

“In the afternoon the Full Sail team began teaching mini-workshops,” explains Kristen. “Everyone sat together and learned about digital storytelling and how to reach an audience through quality content that tells a story.”

The Red Bull marketing team and athletes then split into teams to discuss social media and branding – with an emphasis on fan engagement and content optimization. The athletes later competed in a storyboarding challenge to practice and demonstrate those skill sets.

Throughout the day, a total of 14 faculty members from the Digital Cinematography, Sports Marketing & Media, and Media Communications degree programs led and/or contributed to the workshop sessions.

“I follow the athletes on Instagram and Snapchat,” says Kristen, “and it was pretty awesome to see them applying the lessons learned to their social media channels.”

“Collaborating with Red Bull makes so much sense for Full Sail,” says Josh Mora, Full Sail’s Director of Sports Partnerships and Curriculum, “because their audience is our population. The impactful way their company integrates their brand reverberates across so many different aspects of our programs. We’d love to do this again in the future, since they’re great partners, and we’re honored that they brought the idea to us.”