(October 11, 2018) Brian Rothenberger’s lack of graphic design experience was killing him in a minor league hockey play-by-play job market that requires broadcasters to wear multiple hats. Instead of lamenting his fate, Rothenberger did something about it. Now he is the new Broadcast & Communications Manager for the Quad City Storm.
The Storm is an expansion team in the SPHL.
“The opportunity to work for a brand-new organization that is blazing a trail in an incredibly unique hockey market is awesome,” Rothenberger says excitedly. “It is a franchise that has materialized over the last several months on the backs of an incredibly hardworking staff and ownership group.”
After graduating from the University of South Florida in 2015, Rothenberger spent the past three years broadcasting a variety of sports for BEK Network in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Hockey has always been Rothenberger’s ultimate goal but his job applications were coming up short. “I was frustrated hearing from teams that they loved how I call games but weren’t confident that I could handle the media relations side, specifically graphic creation. I knew I could learn it, but their concern was valid because it wasn’t on my resume,” he recalls. “I reached out to Jon [Chelesnik of STAA] and he suggested getting InDesign and creating examples to show interested parties I had the skills.
“I believe that advice went a long way to helping me secure my current role.”
To learn Adobe Creative Suite, Rothenberger attended YouTube University. “YouTube is a wonderful thing,” he grins. “And it wasn’t incredibly difficult — frustrating at first, but a little time goes a long way.”
Rothenberger first contacted the Storm early in the summer. “At that time they were looking for someone to handle broadcast responsibilities only. The needs of the position changed and they kept me on their radar. I was thrilled to get the call.”