Name: Bryan Hammond
Position: SMI Dir of Partnership Success
Age: 34
Where I’m from: Wilmington, N.C.
Where I call home: Charlotte
Focusing on right now: We have the Sprint All-Star Race coming up this weekend, and Sprint is one of my accounts. I co-lead with another guy on everything that is happening race day, soup to nuts. That’s one of my craziest event days of the year.
Best advice: Always inspect what you expect. Make sure you’re following protocol and the steps are done so the final product is something you would be completely proud of. Just make sure you’re doing due diligence so it’s a quality product. BRUTON SMITH harped on that when he first gave me an opportunity 12 years ago.
A must for a new hire: A tenacity, the want to be involved and someone who always puts their name in the hat to volunteer. Also be able to hold a conversation with anyone at any time. I like to ask people random questions in job interviews just to see how they’ll handle a moment. People in this business need to be able to think quickly on their feet.
Exec I admire: Former Fox Sports Chair DAVID HILL. He’s a true innovator in the sports industry, especially on the broadcast side. He’s done so much for sports in general, and having the ability to work with him on some events we’ve done, it was something really special for me.
First thing in the morning: I’m a big drinker of coffee and a consumer of sports radio. So immediately the radio goes on to news talk or sports talk, just so I can stay up to date on the things going on in the world.
Talking tech: From our point of view, trying to get fans to come to the race tracks, the in-game and in-race experience is important. One of the cool new products for race fans is the FanVision Bolt, which can be clipped onto your phone, giving fans a scanner and the option to see a number of different camera angles. Anything that can help the race day experience is technology we’re constantly looking into.
Must-have music: I love any kind of jam band. O.A.R. has always been there for me, I’ve been a huge fan of what they do and where they’ve come from. Also NEEDTOBREATHE. Those are two that are almost always on some sort of a playlist or in some sort of rotation. We've got a CHRIS STAPLETON concert Thursday.
Food for thought: Being able to travel this country and go all over the place gives you some pretty unbelievable opportunities to try some different things. I have a strict policy of no chains on the road. Anywhere in California is great. If I had one meal for the rest of my life, it would probably be sea bass. Also at home, I love to just open the pantry and just throw stuff together with what you’ve got in there.
How I unwind: I love to travel and explore. There are so many great places all over the world to just go check out. I try and mix up my vacations. One of my favorite countries is Switzerland -- I spent a lot of time there last winter. I went everywhere just trying to find new places to go.
Day in the life: I’ve been doing public address work for a while now for the Charlotte 49ers at UNC Charlotte, where I went to school. I had been doing basketball, but that just became way too cumbersome with the NASCAR schedule. However, this is my fourth year being able to do PA for the football program. It’s a lot of fun -- to be able to come in on the ground floor with the new program has been really cool. I’ve also been able to do some work on the NCAA Tournament when it’s in town. I’m a former radio guy, so anytime I can be behind a mic, I love it.
