Salisbury a A Maryland University of National Distinction 410-543-6016 ‘To Whom It May Concern, | had the pleasure of working with Chris Mackowiak for three and a half years as his supervisor while he worked with the Sea Gull Sports Network (SGSN), during his time as a student at Salisbury University and | am honored to tell you why he would be such an asset to your organization. Chris came to us through an open email to new students as we looked for individuals to fill our staff of more than 25 student workers for our online network, carrying live webcasts of our varsity athletic events. While | and our full-time assistant director oversee the SGSN students day-to-day, when the events begin they are entirely on their own to run the productions from the announcing, to the ‘camera work, and the technical direction. Chris has done a bit of each of these jobs, but primarily worked as a play-by-play announcer for Us. He had experience doing this in high school, but from the first day he worked with us, it was easy to tell that Chris was a special person and a special talent. As an announcer, he excelled at describing the situation in front of him at the game he was announcing, but his skills went beyond that. A true team. player, Chris was often asked to take our younger workers under his wing for leadership and guidance as they learned their craft. We quickly decided to make roles for our top workers in each discipline to help us teach the newer workers how SGSN operated, and what our expectations were. While we had three lead workers, the decision to elevate a few of our standouts was based upon Chris’ successes and his ability to lead. (One of the things we like to say is that anyone can sit behind a microphone and tell you what's happening in a game, but an excellent play-by-play announcer leads an entire broadcast, brings his color ‘commentator into the conversation, and gives the viewer new information to make it an entertaining and informative broadcast, The greatest announcers do this through great preparation and care for their craft. In our time running the SGSN with student broadcasters, Chris is head and shoulders above all ‘over workers in the work he puts in away from the press box to prepare for his time on air, ‘While I'm certain Chris has an amazing future in broadcasting, if that’s the way he chooses to go, his preparation, hard work, team mentality, and great leadership abilities will allow him to thrive in whatever he opts to do moving forward in his career. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, Tim Brennnan Sports Information Director Salisbury University