About

The Sports, Entertainment & Media Association at The McCombs School of Business, or SEMA, exists to help graduate students leverage their experience into satisfying careers in sports, entertainment, and arts management.

The goal of the inaugural 2009 Sports, Entertainment, & Media Business Conference is to provide a platform to discuss key issues such as Social Media, Freeware, Pricing and Entrepreneurship and gauge their impact on Sports, Entertainment, & Media. The conference will bring together industry professionals and students interested in changing the dynamics of these industries. This will provide SEMA members and outside participants the opportunity to challenge one another and learn from the discussions and networking within the event.

Organizers

Brandon Aldridge, SEMA President and Co-Chair of Conference

Brandon is a second year MBA student at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. Prior to business school, Brandon worked for American Media Inc.  In his Programmer and Business Analyst roles he was involved in sales, distribution, and analysis initiatives.  Before joining American Media Inc., he also worked at The Coca Cola Company in the Business Systems function.
As SEMA President, Brandon is co-chairing the 1st Annual McCombs Sports, Entertainment & Media Conference. Brandon graduated from The Georgia Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Minor in Finance.  At McCombs, Brandon is a consortium fellow and Sports Chair of the Graduate Business Council.

John Vollbrecht, SEMA VP of Sports and Co-Chair of Conference

John is a second year MBA student at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas and VP of Sports for the McCombs Sports, Entertainment, and Media (SEMA) Club. Prior to McCombs, John worked for 4 years as a Commercial Analyst at Wachovia Bank. As a SEMA officer, John is co-chairing the 1st Annual McCombs Sports, Entertainment & Media Conference and coordinating the 2010 San Antonio trek. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Politics.

Rory Anderson, SEMA VP of Internal Affairs

After graduating from Brandeis University in 2001, Rory worked in the financial services industry for seven years in various roles including operations analyst and senior compliance consultant. Now a second year MBA student at McCombs, Rory is looking forward to establishing McCombs as a premier destination for cutting edge sports and entertainment discourse and thought. When he’s not studying, Rory can be found questing for the perfect taco and traveling with his wife, Lindy.

Richard Donahue, SEMA VP of Entertainment

Richard is a second year MBA student at the McCombs School of Business concentrating in Marketing. Upon graduation from UCLA in 2002, Richard worked for Red Bull Energy Drink before moving into the Advertising world, where he spent 5 years. In his second year at McCombs Richard is focusing on helping to create a Sports, Entertainment & Media Conference that will continue to grow and evolve while squeezing in a round or two of golf.

Zainab Zaki, SEMA VP of Events

Zainab is a Class of 2010 student at McCombs. Prior to joining McCombs she spent 3.5 years in the IT industry working as an SAP consultant with Capgemini Consulting Ltd. At McCombs, her interests lie in entrepreneurship and strategic marketing. She led a Plus project to develop recession marketing strategies for C3Presents and worked with Blue Avocado, an Austin-based startup to create a marketing campaign for their new product launch. Over the summer she developed a business plan and capital campaign for the East Texas State Fair Association, an event management firm in Tyler, Texas.
She is VP Admin of the Graduate Business Council, VP Events of Sports, Entertainment and Media Association and a member of the McCombs Admission Committee in addition to being an active member of GWIB, GCG and IGBA.

Xiaoqing Qian, SEMA VP of External Affairs

Xiaoqing is a second year MBA student graduating in May of 2010 from the McCombs School of Business at UT. Prior to attending graduate school she spent 3 years working in the automotive industry doing business development for Mazda North American Operations. During that period she spent many weekends traveling to Louisiana to help on independent films. She is looking forward to working after graduation in the entertainment industry and excited about what’s to come for both herself and SEMA.

Moyo Aluko, SEMA VP of Media and Technology

Moyo is slated to graduate in 2010 from the McCombs School of Business. Prior work experience includes time as a Systems Integration & Technology Consultant within the government practice at Accenture, and time working two different internships within different business units of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Prior education includes a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland – College Park, and a Engineering, Entrepreneurship, and Science certificate for work completed during summer enrichment at MIT. Moyo’s current focus is on entrepreneurship and he hopes to enter the world of sports and entertainment post graduation. For this conference, he is responsible for the creation and maintenance of this website.

Anna Shields

After graduating from Duke University with a double degree in Classical Civilization and Economics, Anna decided to put her theoretical studies to good use in the world of business. She has worked in public relations for the NFL Minnesota Vikings, internet advertising with Red McCombs Media, and media relations for SmartyPig. Anna is currently a second year MBA student at the McCombs School of Business, while still working in Business Development for McCombs Enterprises. In between classes and work, Anna can be found training for her next Irish dance competition.